Music you haven’t heard…The M’s, N’s and O’s…

Bill Middleton is one of the most depressing musicians ever. His song A Brighter Beat http://www.malcolmmiddleton.co.uk/ABrighterBeat-Video.mov is enough to make you cry. Give it time to load…
Crappo the Clown is music on Zanex. There is more here http://www.malcolmmiddleton.co.uk/audiovideo.htm
It’s not bad music at all, he just needs a happy pill.

Maria Taylor comes from Nebraska, of all places. She’s cute and just manages to not be another “breathy” chick, like Tori Amos. Her music is laid back and a bit serious, but all good. http://www.myspace.com/mariataylor listen to the songs.

Michael Nesmith got the short end of the stick, in my opinion. His DVD Elephant Parts should be in every house in America. Here’s some tune from that http://www.videoranch.com/html/magiclarge.html
And a comedy bit, that isn’t music, but it’s too funny http://www.videoranch.com/html/NNSlarge.html
And finally Cruisin’ (a must see) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWTz3zY1WY

Nash The Slash is a wacky electronic Canadian artist. He uses a violin run through a processor and a beat machine to create some of the most original and enticing music I have ever heard. Dance After Curfew, from the Album Children Of the Night was fairly popular http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErBzGe9hMdk
I can’t find any reference to his cover of the Jan and Dean song, Dead Man’s Curve. It’s an excellent, funny and very original rendition. He wraps himself a bit like a mummy and almost always wears an outrageous outfit with top hat.
=
Bill Nelson’s album Atom Shop is a step back into the 60’s mod/jazz scene with an electronic twist. It’s a bit like Bowie sometimes. Atom Shop from 1998 blew my socks off when I first listened to it. You can hear a few tracks here http://www.billnelson.com/html/salon/atom.php

Nelly Furtado is, well, hot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO6SnX9s5-w I don’t really know how popular her music is. You probably have heard this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4k219qd2Gc

Nick Cave is a bit of an enigma, from the 1990’s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOiUPl5GjTE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lneSAju-Xtc
I can’t say its “good” music. Different though.

Nouvelle Vague is another breathy chick band that does cover songs (from what I have heard). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4efME9Vnlc I like their website. You HAVE to listen to the cover of the Clash’s Guns of Brixton. Take a qualude and enjoy. They take a punk tune and kick it down a few notches. It makes me laugh out loud. http://www.nouvellesvagues.com/english/music.html They have an occult quality that they embrace fully.

Of Montreal (this should be in the O’s yes?) are a pretty young pop/alternative band out of (shocker) Montreal. If you go to their site http://www.ofmontreal.net/flashsite/index.html and click on media, there are links to audio and video. I Was Never Young is a great song and the tune Wraith Pinned To The Mist has been corrupted into the catchy Outback Steakhouse commercial’s music. You have to turn a buck, right?

Ok Go is just out to have fun. I love it. http://www.okgo.net/music_music.asp

Olive is no more. I wouldn’t rewrite their history, but you can read it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_(band) This song hit #1 in the UK.
This was the only video I could find.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48NCJmgwWEY

I can’t wait for the next part of this series; I am digging onto some of my favorite bands.

Music you haven’t heard…The I’s, J’s, K’s and L’s

Izz is a hard band to describe. One minute they spew one sound and the next it’s something completely different! But I like it, a bit prolific at times. Two free MP3 Downloads here http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=9980#mp3
The CD I bought has a good review here http://www.amazon.com/My-River-Flows-Izz/dp/B000C1ZTNA

Jack Johnson is pretty mellow and had some air play with Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KefLz4DDrjo He’s big on the acoustic guitar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u57d4_b_YgI

Jars of Clay are a good solid Pop band, with a twist of lime. They toss in something you don’t expect when you least expect it. http://www.jarsofclay.com/ If you click Multimedia on their site they have some interestingly small videos. Search the band name on Youtube for more.

Kaiser Chiefs are yet another UK band, that have a lot of passion in their music. A good solid fun band.
Oh My God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzbTm-OKbzs with some real nice Guitar work.
I Predict a Riot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spYcp0ZB4nM Rocks.
Ruby http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDcOViViNY

Kennedy is an asshole, who works as an intern on a LA radio show. He has a few disco songs that are funny though. Your Mama is funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHa81UKTamk
And so is Mama Made Me a Pimp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sb1_EZ9ZXQ
He is an ass though and the bangs are hideous.

Killers are (shocker) another UK band. They have a lot of music on the Music link (duh).
http://www.thekillersmusic.com/ A really good band with good lyrics and good sound. Did I say good enough? Their videos are pretty good too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVCkSMwaGGc
I like Read My Mind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oec8RuwVVs
They had a few songs hit the charts in the US last year.

I alluded to Kings Of Convenience earlier in this series. I have their three full length CDs, Versus, Riot on an Empty Street and Quiet Is The New Loud. All excellent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2emj7HXv6Ic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9r9sQ6PHOM (very cute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCgRk2HDyW8 (mellow, but rich)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAx6-7ZIdjM (I can’t classify this one…travelling?)
A great group that I miss a lot.

LCD Soundsystem pumped out their first full CD, with the band’s name as the title in 2005. The hit there was Daft Punk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbaOFkC8tQE by my perspective, but the whole CD is good. The new CD, Sound Of Silver didn’t catch my attention at all. The title track is just a repeat of the title over and over…lame.

Lowen and Navarro are unsung song writers who sold their songs to the likes of Pat Bennetar in the 1980’s. They released their own rendition of We Belong Together on their CD Walking on a Wire. The title song had some air play in the US too. If you like acoustic music with strong lyrics and passion, this is a must. No links, just go buy it.

Music you haven’t heard…The F, G’s and H’s

The Feeling is a band I just recently discovered and dig, big time. Go get their CD Twelve Stops Then Home, you won’t be sorry. I promise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB4W-7Fs_Zg and another http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-6i1DZ4gsc and one more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRpgzHbDGQQ

Fountains Of Wayne enjoyed moderate success with the song “Stacey’s Mom”, but their album Welcome Interstate Managers failed to win them the Best New Artist award, though they did get nominated. The album is in my top 10 of all time because I love almost every song. One threw me off a bit. Check them out, these got no air play that I heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtKhFaW2Z1E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF3GHiiUcjs

Four Tet are a mainly Electronic Music band, but mix in some great beats and unusual sounds (a bit like Eno sometimes). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXrBEkSHLJ0 They mix in ambient sounds when you least expect it and really spice up their music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KYShWUA9D8 and you have to hear this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY4VbtaoKW0

The Go Team is what appear to be a bunch of kids that just graduated High School. I picked up their album Thunder Lightning Strike, on a whim. The first thing that struck me was the sound, very under produced. It sounds like it was recorded in a basement, which it actually was. Ok, that’s raw. But I listened on and it drew me in, like good porn does (That’s an analogy, ok? Don’t read anything dirty into it). Many of the songs have no lyrics, so it’s just the tune hanging out there. Heavy beats and horn accompaniments are the status quo. The lyrics are regularly replaced with a rarity in today’s music, a Harmonica. The songs that do have lyrics are very repetitive and basically cheers. The youthful sound snagged me and had me locked in as a fan. Next thing I know I was hearing the songs in advertisements on US TV. Someone got something right. They are in studio now working on their next album. I wish them the very best of luck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lT2Tq2rC9I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0eso4ARXzk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56UF9bogGy0 One from a WP show in the US http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjaE7cPbm7k

Gossamer is an all electronic music endeavor that I can’t find anything about. Their one available album Closure, is available here with samples. I think they came and went already. http://www.amazon.com/Closure-Gossamer/dp/B000050684/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1855985-4076917?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185140711&sr=1-1

The Grates are a fairly new band out of the UK, very energetic music. They swear in some of their songs, so they probably won’t get much airplay in the US, but the songs are fantastic. Even if you have to play some of them away from the kids, check them out. The videos are cute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecuC8Iumd2A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k35b7M-BtYI

Great Northern are a newly formed group of seasoned musicians. They have tunes on their site and a neat video about the band. They call themselves “Indie Rock”, but they step into Pop shoes here and there. http://www.greatnorthernmusic.blogspot.com/ The Label site has media too http://www.eeniemeenie.com/greatnorthern

I know everyone knows Greenday, but what most people haven’t heard or seen is their DVD of the concerts they did in the UK called Bullet in a Bible. If you like the band or just like live music, check out this DVD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBwzXyHU1f4 The energy on this is overwhelming.

Habib Koité and Bamada have what I read as an Afro-Cuban sound and the guitar play will have you tilting your head like a dog hearing a high pitched whistle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAmxXizTKSY I don’t know what the video is all about, but the song is great http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8RIIJKJ3Gw

Hot Hot Heat came out with Elevator and I jumped in with two feet. They are another UK band that has made a nice splash. Go to their site and check out the videos, Middle of Nowhere and Goodnight. http://www.hothotheat.com/ Go into the HTML site!!

Dear Jesus…

I thought I would drop you a note asking for a little favor. Here on the central East Coast of the USA, we are having a heck of a drought. No rain in ages, in most places and the little we have had, has been scattered. The grass is all brown.

I know it’s really up to your Dad, but doesn’t he think the UK and China have had more than their fair share, to the point that it’s a detriment?? Come on Bro (and I think I can call you that, since “We are all children of God”), throw me a bone dude.

Oh, and can you do something about the bit of Carbon in the air, just to get Al Gorey to shut up? Ya know, snap your fingers like Jeannie used to do, http://www.idreamofjeannie.com . It's freaking the guy out and I worry about him making too much money off his "panic" scam. It might corrupt him!

If you can put a bug in your Dad’s ear, I would appreciate it and thanks for your time Bro.

Boz…Out….

Music you haven’t heard…The D’s and E’s

I can combine these.

Dean and Britta have some songs on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/deanandbritta I like their music a lot, nice harmonies wrapped up in solid melodies. Lookup their videos on YouTube.

The Darkness (Canadian’s I think?) have songs on their MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/thedarkness They are mimics of 80’s big haired rock bands and do a damn good job at it. They are in the process of breaking up and reforming as something completely different, so keep an ear to the ground. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-4VOLeKBOw

Division Day hail from LA CA and have a solid sound, but I wouldn’t call them remarkable. They consider themselves “Alternative”, but I don’t think they rank that http://www.myspace.com/divisionday

Dogs Die In Hot Cars, out of the UK are a lot of fun http://www.myspace.com/dogsdieinhotcars They don’t take themselves too serious and I bet they would be great to see live. If you remember Madness from the 80’s, that’s a bit what they sound like, but I like DDIHC better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9N1jgaXbl8

The Doves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-v02c4sx6o have been around for a while. I think they got some airplay in the US. They are in the studio right now working on a new Album. I won’t put up a link to their web site because it’s having problems. Look around though, check out “The Last Broadcast”, great CD.

Editors, another UK band I like a lot. Here’s one video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xRVm-JX5Rk They are still active, putting out new stuff. The Back Room is a great CD if you want to check them out. They have a lot of media here; http://www.editorsofficial.com/music.html

Erlend Øye is out of the Netherlands and used to be ½ the band Kings Of Convenience (who I will cover later). After the band folded (the other guy wanted to finish his Psych degree), Erlend struck out on his own and has made quite a splash across Europe. His music ranges from Electronic Dance to almost easy listening, but every song has a beat you can dance to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6Ym6yMY0c I am not a fan of dancing, but his music makes it hard to stay in my chair. A few more tunes; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBc9So685A4 . This is one of my favorite tunes of his http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72uI3HsGTk

How did the US lose in IRAQ?

The simple answer is, we didn’t try to win, from the start. Go back to the first days of the UN sanctioned “war” where we had news reports of US troops (oops, I mean “coalition” troops) advancing 20 miles a day. They were reporting how far we had left to go till we reached Baghdad from the beginning. Nothing was said about what we passed and left along the way.

Ask any Military officer and they will tell you that to win a war, you have to take ground and hold it. We didn’t bother with that in Iraq and pay the heavy price for the mad dash to Baghdad now. All of the weapons and explosive ammunitions we sauntered by so easily are now being used every day as IEDs. Duh. I was pissed off the day this war started because of the poor management of it, which all points to Dick Cheney and Carl (the Architect). Look at what you built guys?

You failed at the basics, to reach an unrealistic goal set by Bush. I watched the Saddam statues being pulled down and in the crawler text, read about US troops being kidnapped. That wouldn’t happen if you cleared and held your ground. It has been a mess ever since.

If the US had established a line of defense and fortified it, all of the bad guys would have lined up to attack it. We could have killed them all. Nope, not Dick’s plan, let’s spearhead into the Capitol and let all the elite troops fade into the populous, so they can come back later to infiltrate the new national forces, that we need to take over control. Oh, please also have all those explosives we ignored while we rushed in to attack all these statues! They have it all now.

At this point in time, we can’t undo the mistakes, but we can only undo the mistaken. God rest all the souls lost in this atrocity and may sanity prevail some time soon. We can’t leave, because we started it and you all voted for it. Start a small draft. Finish it right and don’t run, or all those who have fallen were for nothing. That’s no way to live or die.

The 2007 Atlantic Hurricane prediction…

SUMMARY
NOAA’s 2007 Atlantic hurricane season outlook indicates a very high 75% chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 20% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season. This outlook is produced by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC), National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Research Division (HRD), and Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). See NOAA definitions of above-, near-, and below-normal seasons.
The outlook calls for a very high likelihood of an above-normal hurricane season, with 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes. The likely range of the ACE index is 125% to 210% of the median. This prediction signifies an expected sharp increase in activity from the near-normal season observed in 2006.
The prediction for an above-normal 2007 hurricane season reflects the expected combination of two main climate factors: 1) the continuation of conditions that have been conducive to above-normal Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1995, and 2) the strong likelihood of either ENSO-neutral or La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
An updated Atlantic hurricane outlook will be issued in early August, which begins the peak (August-October) of the hurricane season.

End of the official message.

So it’s now almost August and I haven’t heard of a single “named” Hurricane yet, and only two little tropical storms. So where are all these terrible storms? Why can’t NOAA get it right? They blew it last year too (go look). Um, maybe…it’s…because…YOU CAN”T PREDICT THE F-ing WEATHER?? No better than you can look out the window and see what fer.

We pump tons of dollars into these institutions for nothing, most of the year. They should shut down in October and open up again in June each year. The rest of the year is a waste, much like their “predictions”. I am so sick of predictions from all parts of the government. It’s like we are Gypsies. And if one of these A-Holes gets something right (rare) they jump up and down saying “Look at me, I guessed right”!! Ok dude, you are a psychic, …you ass. Go apply for Mrs. Cleo’s job. Get out of my government.

I really feel like I could puke right now.

Rugby Queers?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4135077a19715.html
Too funny. Take a long look at the picture.

Music you haven’t heard…The C’s

I have to give Brian Eno honorable mention (yes, I am back stepping again) and I understand that many people are “aware” of his many accomplishments, but I know even more people are not, so this is for your sake. Check out this terrible amateur video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6n9s1e8EXs Don’t watch it, just listen to the song, trust me. It’s from the album “Another Green World”, which I listened to fist as a teenager. It’s like taking a tour of sounds you never encountered before and even today I hear everyday random sounds that remind me of one part or another of this album. Some of the songs give me goose bumps every time I listen to them. If you like this one explore his other stuff!! I will toss these in (bonus) I love these songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zVNAZI-c-M This is one of my all time favorite songs, and it makes me feel like crying, but very relaxed, and I don’t even know why http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erOVB0bZi1A And finally Ascent, which is part of what Eno did for the Apollo IMAX documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOgQyIMX_XU
So that’s my props for Eno!

Child Bite sounds like they need to take a chill pill. They make me laugh. http://www.suburbansprawlmusic.com/artist.php?a=Child%20Bite
A Michigan band with no direction, because they are all over the place.

Cibo Matto are a Japanese duet that have a very haunting sound (I don’t think they are still a band). This is a really neat video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=659LXeV9ZPQ

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is a band that I think wants to be the next “They Might Be Giants. Draw your own conclusions… http://www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com/video.php I still think they are missing an “And” in the title of the band.

Clearlake. I will just say that I love this band and go do your own Googling and buy their CDs. You won’t be disappointed. They are all over Youtube.
Ok, I can’t resist; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntA7NdgB4qA

Conjure One has a top 40-ish sound (sometimes) but when you aren’t looking for it, they slink into something historical and epic. Very rich and sometimes religious. http://www.myspace.com/conjureone I love the music though.

Cornershop got some airtime in the US and UK, but a lot of their music has gone unnoticed, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rQmB7SCrzc Do some digging fool.

Cursive is a band I have just scratched the surface of. Let me know if you find anything interesting about them.

Clem Snide: I think they want to be country, but I think they are a cross-over band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-JTVNuHCJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kUEZzmH1x8
I am not a fan of their videos, but I like the music!

Music you haven’t heard…The B’s

I have to start by adding an omission from the A’s. Air is a really cool band from France (I think). This video has balls, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV_oBB1iQQk Another video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6INvkUrrPg and one more, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgfmWfJ11s You get the idea, damn good sounds.
This is a funny cover of them from a freak band, stop watching when you stop laughing, but wait till the dancing girls show up, at least. The guy looks like Doug Henning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZnXCX1Qx2Y
There are some videos from their latest CD here, but I like their earlier stuff better; http://www.astralwerks.com/air/ Enough of these guys..

While I was looking for audio from the band Air, I stumbled onto “The Air Band”. A cheap way to get hits on a web site if you ask me and the music is mostly noise, but you haven’t heard it. The Brownstone song is interesting and Peter Gunn Funn is probably the worst produced song I have ever heard, but it’s still yet another Peter Gunn cover (that rhymes). All of their instruments are custom made electronic interfaces. http://www.theairband.com/main.php?mod=music

Honorable mention: I can’t find much media on a band I heard called Ali & Arzu. They do semi-traditional Turkish music that is so rich and colorful it would have a quadriplegic tapping their toes (a-hem). If you run across them, stop and listen. I found these videos, but they are a slower tempo… http://www.myvideo.de/watch/51070 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVLhAvUGOds .

This blog is a mess, it’s supposed to be the B’s! Ok on to them now…

Bright Eyes is about the most depressing band I have ever heard and I don’t think they care one little bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaV-nGQ5yqw They are musicly qualified to be a band, but just need some “happy pills”. Plug “Easy/Lucky/Free” into google and watch the video. If you aren’t searching your house for a razor blade, you must have your own “Happy Pills”!

Built To Spill is a good humored band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously, which I love. They have several tracks here http://www.myspace.com/builttospill and videos on YouTube, if you want to look them up.

Bob Nelson has a CD out called Atom Shop that I liked enough to buy. I can’t find any online media (shocker, everyone is so uptight these days about their "media") but he used to be in a British band called Be Bop Deluxe. If you want snippets, go to Amazon.com and plug in “Atom Shop”. It’s pretty good, like he wishes he was David Byrne.

Broken Social Scene has several excellent CDs out. They hail from Canada and put a lot of wit into their snappy tunes. This is one of their slower tunes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwBg_wrbJhE. This one's funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWGwylbB3PA This is more upbeat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h_yQDyEhqw

That wraps up the B’s. There are other B’s you haven't heard, but I don’t like them enough to mention here.

Music you haven’t heard…The A’s

Music you haven’t heard…The A’s

I think you haven’t. You should, though.

Andrew Bird: http://www.andrewbird.net/news.htm With a free MP3 Download.

Action Biker: http://www.myspace.com/actionbiker A few interesting songs here.

Akeboshi: http://bliinkk182.free.fr/22-Wind.mp3 it works best if you right click the link and save the file.

Andy Hunter: http://www.mp3.com/albums/551751/summary.html The site only has previews of the music, but it’s all really good. Yes, I know it’s a “I love God” CD, but the music kicks ass. Some songs don’t even have lyrics.

Apollo Moon: http://music.download.com/apollosunshine/3600-8591_32-100393950.html
A Boston band with some rockabilly funk, if you only want to hear one song pick I Was On The Moon, but they are all good!

Athlete http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=17404576 They are a bunch of wimpy white guys, funny name for a band. You have to click the songs and Play them. I wish they had “If I Found Out” on the web site, great tune! Half Light is really good too.

Aveo: http://www.sideload.com/cb/track/?id=112509 Click the Listen To This Track button. Sounds a bit like the Smiths, but they rock a little harder.

Ok, one “B” for today, but I will have to continue this tomorrow…

Bloc Party: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=5152238 A self proclaimed “Indie Rock” band. Listen to “I Still Remember” at least. Not a bad band at all and I expect much deeper material as they mature (which is a nice way of saying they have a lot of shitty life events left to go through to make them more bitter).

President for 2020

I am today officially announcing my candidacy for President of the USA in the election year 2020. This gives me plenty of time to gather funds and get my message out. It will also take some time to figure out what my message actually is or what “party” I would be part of.

I think my platform will be based on stamping out stupidity and will probably be made of pine wood. I would impose abortion on those deemed stupid, so we can beef up the gene pool. Is that too controversial? If it is, just disregard it, because I don’t think I’m really qualified to decide who is or is not stupid. I might have to think about this more, but I have time on my side.

By 2020 the wars should be over and I figure the middle east problems will be settled, one way or another. Social Security will have imploded by then, and will no longer exist. The terrorist’s will have blown all of themselves up. Global warming will have been proven to be a farce. So I won’t have any issues to worry about, so I will probably just run based on my snappy magnetic personality and boyish good looks.

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please send your entire wallet to the address below.

BozThx 2020 Presidential Campaign
North Pole, 00001
(Not Santa’s place)

Vista Reduced Capability Mode

Vista Reduced Capability Mode

I work in IT and have been testing Microsoft Windows Vista, their latest Operating system (OS). It seems to work OK and they tout it as “more secure”, but I have no evidence for or against that yet.

So we finally got our act together at work and setup the server so the new OS can validate its authenticity (yes, Microsoft is worried about LOSING money because of piracy. How many times have they been dragged into Court for doing that themselves???). After the techs set my PC up to use that server, I took off for home and booted up my laptop there. It came up in Reduced Capability Mode, because I was outside the secure work network and could not connect to the server.

In Reduced Capability Mode, all you get is an IE browser window, that's it. It will tell you it is in this mode, but not why. What you HAVE to do is type in “c:\windows\explorer.exe" into the Address Bar in the browser, so you can go start your network and/or wireless services, so you can connect. In my case I had to also start a secure network connection to work, which worked fine. I was up and running normally in minutes.

So please remember this when you are in Reduced Capability Mode, because without doing this, you are screwed!

Stop Bashing Flat Panel Displays!

This one has bothered me for a while....

I have heard over and over (mostly from Al Gorey) that flat panel TVs and flat panel computer displays use "more energy than CTR displays" and thus contribute to Global Warming. Bunk!

I just got a new PC that came with a viewable 21" (measured to opposing corners) flat screen and draws 1.5 Amps. Amps are the measure of power usage for any electronic device.

My old 17" CRT screen is rated at 2.0 Amps. I am saving the world .5 Amps here people. Go get a flat panel display immediately!! Don't believe everything you are spoon fed and look into the facts yourselves.

Has Evolution Stopped?

I wondered if it has, but the story I read earlier this year about a kid in the Orient that had a perfectly formed third arm made me think otherwise. The extra arm was fully functional and protruded just below one of the usual arms. How many times have you or I wished we had a spare hand to do something? Think about that, third arm, what a bonus.

When I heard the news about this boy, I was ecstatic. What a great improvement! Maybe the wave of the future. Then I read on and the parents of the boy had decided to have the arm “removed”. They mutilated their child to give him a “normal” life. Who the hell has a “normal” life anymore?

It would be like realizing your child could sing real good, so whack him in the throat so he doesn’t go through the punishment of being a rock or opera star. WTF?

My point is we are trying to arrest change in this world, and that covers natural and unexplained change. Without change, we die, because the world changes all the time and we have to be allowed to adapt and evolve. It makes us smarter and better.

Remember; one day a “freak” walked out of the Ocean and onto the land, for the very first time. We owe that “freak” our existence, unless you don’t believe in evolution. In that case, get back into the Ocean you freak.

Climate Change (the new Global Warming)

There is some big concert this weekend for all those folks overly concerned about man kind’s introduced climate change. It will be quite a suck fest, I am sure.

Just today BBC reported on a paper from The Journal of Science that provides evidence that Greenland was once Forested and had insects, at least in the south of the Island. This was over a ½ million years ago, before mankind had industry. Today, it is completely covered with thick glaciers, which the scientists core drilled to get the DNA evidence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6276576.stm

Ok, with that said; Why is Greenland covered with ice now (and some glaciers are growing), if we humans are causing climate change? If that part of the world was forested that long ago and the glaciers there are melting now, could this be a natural long term shift in temperature? If you think about it, almost the entire North American continent was covered in glaciers (fact) thousands of years ago, way before man had any industrialization or manmade pollution. Why did they melt, too many manmade farts?

I just hate the panic over “global” climate change, when the amount of “global” science inspection is nil. Every bit of evidence for climate change is regional and these change often.

Ever heard of a drought? Look at this from NOAA; http://droughtoutlook.com/maps.html

So looking at 1860 (well before industry was prevalent) and 1950 (well after industry was prevalent), why isn’t the 1950 chart worse and what made it change anyway? Because it’s a regional condition!!

Stop panicking, it’s not that bad and we are working on the Carbon emissions. A friend of mine from years ago used to quote his father as saying “Don’t worry about the planet, it will take care of itself”. And it will. Maybe in 35 more years we can have another panic like we did in the 1970's that we were entering a new ice age. Silly.

What is Comedy?

What is funniest about the question is that a multitude of books have been written about it, that dissect every type of “Comedy” these authors can define. I sum it up as; it is what makes me laugh. Need there be more discussion?

Today my friend John and I went to a Chinese Restaurant we had never tried out. I warned him that we have never had a positive or negative endorsement for the joint, but we still went.

When we walked in, the place was completely empty and I am not just talking customers, there was no staff. We could have grabbed all the laid out silverware and made off with a ton of moderately clean utensils.

An elderly man appeared and pointed to the booths, so we sat and ordered drinks, then food. They old guy didn’t write down the orders, just kept saying “Yes” as we spoke. The drinks arrived, which were a flat soda and an odd tasting Iced Tea. The food came, not quickly as some places. I hated the Egg Rolls that came out first. Then the main dishes arrived, which were smaller portions than I am used to seeing. I wasn’t upset because I usually get portions that are too large.

The old guy who brought the food and took the order was real slow moving and John compared him to a character Tim Conway played on the Carol Burnett show. Funny comparison.

We finished and went back to work. I noted to myself that I had the song “It’s Raining Men” stuck in my head, which was on the music service at the restaurant. After a trip to the potty, I went by John’s desk and said “We won’t be going back to that place; Not because of the flat soda, slow service or crappy egg rolls. We aren’t going back because I have “It’s raining men” stuck in my head.” Funny too, but not a belly laugh.

John and I went into a meeting and I was seated between John and Phil, which is always a prescription for trouble. I tried the previous joke on Phil after John brought up the Tim Conway comparison. Then at the request of one of the ladies present, Phil and I broke into “It’s raining men”. Funnier.

We were shooed, because the meeting was supposed to start and we were reviewing several system change requests (the system is not important). One request came up that was really old and John commented “Why is this coming up again?” To which I replied, “You are talking about lunch again.” which brought everyone to tears. That is “Comedy”.

Hollywood gets stupid

I could't agree more with this;
http://www.hollywoodtuna.com/?p=3235 What is she thinking?? Maybe she will go to Africa and adopt a baby, or worse. It's pretty sad, to me anyway.
It's a good site to visit.

Has al-Qaeda has gotten wimpy?

I say yes. If the best they can do are little car bombs, I have to say they have lost their bite and are now just a nuisance. The taking of life on such a small scale is futile (though bad), which will eventually sink in. When they run out of fanatics willing to die in these minimally spectacular attacks, they will just go away.

If you look at their organization, they are spread out all over the globe. Mistake number 1. What “force” has ever been effective in that posture? With today’s communications monitoring ability, they will have no chance of coordinating a large attack almost anywhere.

The last big holy war that I can think of was the Catholic Crusades. That was a nice one. They were terrible, but successful, because of their sheer size.

Another mistake al-Qaeda makes is lack of a clear message. If they sent a quick note saying why they are doing what they do to us, it might have more impact. I know they are mad about Israel and non-Muslims on “their land”. To that I would say, why are so many Muslims on my land (or any land outside the Middle East)?

What are they getting away from? Uh, DUH!! Maybe extremists? So how much good are you doing when your own people abandon their homeland? Come on guys, wake up. You are losing. If you would like to come speak to your Cell in person, please let me know. You will have to cover travel and lodging, but I have no speaking fee.

The Don and Mike Show

If you don't listen to this, you should start. Jump ahead to 12 minutes in if you get bored with the intro.
http://www.wjfk.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=832361

Wow, that is Body art!

http://nellyrecchia.com/index.html

A bit erotic, but very cool looking. I guess this stuff sells in Vouge?

Who was the Playboy Playmate when you were born?

NSFW

http://playboymagazin.freeweb.hu/playboy/index.htm

I have to say that mine, 11/62 looks ahead of her time! Cutie.

The Vegas vacation, part 3.

Almost everyone in Vegas must be filthy rich, but not the homeless people you see under the highway overpasses. Everyone else has a big ass pickup truck, van or SUV. There is some smog downtown, but the constant breeze keeps it from getting too bad.
My family is politically divided and it was just a matter of time before simple banter turned to fairly heated discussions. I tried to stay out of it, but had to chime in when I heard some very faulty “facts”.
My Mom and Dad were talking about the current matters of the country. My Mom brought up the national debt, and my brother mistakenly confused the national debt with the trade deficit (which he blamed on Clinton and NAFTA). These are two very different monsters. I offered that the national debt was not related at all with the trade deficit and when Clinton left office, the budget was balanced and the national debt was nil. My brother just shook his head, like I was full of shit. It’s a fact that people get brainwashed by “political” radio shows, that’s why I don’t listen to any of them, especially when they play ridiculous parody songs that bash the other side. It’s not constructive and only fuels malcontent and partisanship.
It was too hot, so I went back inside. I think everyone is allowed to have their opinions, but please get your “facts” correct and stop listening to one sided pontiffs. You will never get the complete honest story that way. But I think some people don’t want the truth, they only want to hear what pleases them.
We took my Dad out to dinner for his Birthday, which went great. The kids were pretty well behaved and I thought the waitress did a great job, but my sister in law thought she had an attitude. The waitress may have had an attitude, but she did her job and fixed whatever problems we had (mostly very strong drinks, but who normally complains about that?). The check was very reasonable and no one was able to clean their plate. That's a compliment to the establishment.
One funny thing was my older brother giving my youngest brother crap about not using his turn signal on the way to the restaurant (no one in Vegas uses them). On the way back home, he was sure to use his signal, or even over use it. We were laughing, wondering if it was being noticed.
The next day I had an early lift to the airport with my son. We made it there in plenty of time, but traffic was a concern. We bade farewell to my brother and Dad and headed into the terminal. This time, I decided I would carry the one bag we have onto the plane. I had to throw away my second lighter on the trip (which my brother bought for me, thanks!), because of this choice.
We got to the gate fine and I figured I would spend the few quarters I had in my pocket on a 25 cent slot machine, but I found they only take bills. I skipped it, so I can honestly say I broke even in Vegas, only because I didn’t gamble at all.
The plane left on time and made it to DC in the expected time frame. It was funny that before we took off, the concierge (her term/title, not mine) got on the horn and said the plane was short on supplies for the flight and we can make an issue of it (which meant waiting) or just take off. With laughs, everyone raised their hands, saying to just go.
I will note that young children seem to become demons when they board an Airplane. They don’t cry like they normally do, they hiss a shrill scream that had me balling my fist in a way that my finger nails dug into the palms of my hands. It is really like something out of a horror movie. The parents just laughed.
Speaking of movies, they ran Shooter, with Marky Mark. It was pretty good, but predictable. And man did he kill a lot of Americans!! They squeezed in Wild Hogs next, which was the worst movie I have even partially watched in a long time. The only saving grace was the very hot Marisa Tomei. Geerrowwll. :)
We landed after Maverick maneuvered his plane like a F-14, but was actually an Airbus. It took longer than normal to disembark the plane. I blame kids for that, and most things. Someone behind me commented “check your bags like everyone else”. That had me a bit on edge because I would have to get my own bag out of the overhead. I made every effort to do it quickly and actually had time to help the guy in the row in front of me get his stuck bag out too. So blow me ass.
The drive home sucked, but I was able to listen to Don And Mike while sitting in traffic. I was not able to hear the show in Vegas at all. I found out they were going on vacation next week, which bums me out, but I won’t complain.
We made it home just in time for me to fire up my PC and make moves in the online chess tournament I am in. I had less than an hour left to make my mandatory move within 2 days before the game site forfeited my game to the opponent. I will probably lose the games anyway, the guy way out ranks me.
I noticed my American Flag (which flew over my boat when I was in the Navy) has a tear in it, about 2 inches long. I will get that sewn up pronto! My dogs are the same, annoying. We ordered pizza and my friend Jenny came down to take part and I popped in my just arrived Kids in the Hall DVD. It wasn’t as funny as I remembered it being, but it’s better than 95% of the programs on TV nowadays.
It was a whirlwind trip, and realize now that I forgot to mention the Dust Devils we saw in Vegas. One was at least 1000ft high, but most were pretty small. They are cool to see none the less. I told my Dad about the dust devils on Mars, which seemed to amaze him. http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20050819a.html
It was great to see my family, even if we don't all agree on things, we know we love eachother and will support eachother whenever it is needed...I think.

The Vegas vacation, part 2.

We arrived at my youngest brother’s place and my son, Dad and I were left there. My Mom took the rest to her place. I sat outside and had a beer with my brother and his sweet wife. My son kicked stones around the yard, there is no grass there. We chatted and I noted how much clearer the sky was, compared to Maryland. I could see the stars at least twice as clear.
I pointed out Venus, trailing the crescent moon, and my sister in-law grabbed her son and made a point of letting him know it was the planet. I guess they had pondered it a night or two before. That was kind of cool. We crashed shortly afterwards, but I didn’t sleep well. The smoke alarm tripping for no good reason was not helping. My brother came into the room asking me what was happening. I told him the alarm went off, then stopped. I learned later that they have had other electrical problems in the house.
In the morning, my brother and his wife had to go to work, so I made eggs and had my son help with toast for everyone. I couldn’t find a plastic spatula to go with the no stick pan, so I flipped the eggs like pancakes. My Dad was impressed that I could crack eggs one handed (and not break the yoke). I can’t think of where I learned that, I just know that I can do it.
We spent the morning watching the sun heat up the desert around us.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=adobe+grande+street&sll=36.330339,-115.220833&sspn=0.115336,0.225906&ie=UTF8&ll=36.325222,-115.223966&spn=0.230687,0.451813&t=k&z=11&om=1
That photo was taken before the houses were built, but trust me, the whole gated community is there now and thriving.
Later that day and the next, I went outside and noted a few things. I never hear dogs bark. I don’t see kids outside playing. I don’t hear other families even talking outside. It’s too hot. Everyone is inside. The temp is 105-110 F during the day (up to 130 F in July and August). There are few bugs and fewer birds than in a cat house. My brother confirmed that this only goes on for 3 months out of the year. I was then sure, that no matter how much my mother nagged me, I would not be moving here. It is her dream though. She even tried to trick my son into saying he would like to move there.
We all went to my Mom’s place, about 15 minutes away. I got to see my next youngest brother, who I think doesn’t really like me much or anyone, but we had a pretty good time talking and joking. I do love him and wish he would realize that. I miss him actually, even though we were not too close as kids, he was always my brother. To this moment, I can say honestly, that I would die to save him, if it came to that.
I cleaned up a Trojan on my Mom’s computer and removed the MacAfee software that was generating pop-ups on her computer. It’s sad that a product that you PAY FOR starts spamming you! They do.
My Mom fixed up my older brother with a friend she works with. It’s a bee’s hive of a thing to do, but they seemed to really hit it off. We headed back to my brother’s place and we were having fun goofing on my older brother’s fixed date. We got to meet her later and she was fetching, to say the least. She managed to tolerate my family and I think assimilate, or rise above our crude behavior. If he can, I hope my brother works out a way to keep her.

The Vegas vacation, part 1.

Flight out: We (my son and I) left for the Airport a bit after noon on Tuesday and made it there in good time, even considering the mass of DC a-holes in the left lanes going under the speed limit. When we parked the car, I saw the threatening thunderheads to the east, but figured we should make it out before they arrive here.
We got to the gate and boarded without much incident. I had a bit of a problem getting the boarding passes from the new automated computer terminal. When I asked the live cute gal behind the counter for help, she told me to pick up the phone and call customer support. Why was she even there? Why didn’t the web site tell me to save the CONFIRMATION NUMBER!! Duh…
As we boarded the plane, I did notice that a guy in front of me was bringing a bag no bigger than the one we checked in. I made a mental note to not check in the bag on the way back. The seats I had reserved on the web site went down the toilet. I was in one window seat and my son was 4 rows behind me. I thank UniTED for that. Actually, TED, which is part of United Airlines (get it?). Ted is the red headed stepchild, really. We waited 2 hours on the plane, before we had approval to taxi out to take off. It never rained where we were, but storms were in the way of where we wanted to go. What happened to flying around or over? Finally we were off, though.
It was funny that by the time the “snack cart” made it to my seat, they were all out of the “snack pack” I wanted (just $5) so I passed on the alternative yogurt based whale lovers meal. I just had a beer and tried to sleep. The cute mother 2 seats over had different ideas for me. She let her cute sleepy Czech speaking sleeping son, sitting between us, kick me nonstop through the flight. She didn’t even have the courtesy to wake up and let me take a piss when I smacked her sleeping ass on the shoulder multiple times. I was tempted to grab her thigh (she was wearing jeans) to see if that would rouse her. I caught a break when the drink cart rolled past and was able to drop a small lake in the lav. The rest of the flight was uneventful.
At the Vegas Airport, my son and I made it to baggage, where I spotted my Mom right away. She was dressed in a bright all over blue outfit. She stood out. I greeted her and she was amazed at the size of my son, who she hadn’t seen in about ten years. Kids grow.
We went and got our bag (we shared just one). I will say my son is always better at this than I am. He has a very keen eye for these things and pulled the bag out before I even saw it. We then waited with Mom for the rest of the family to arrive. Had we made it there on time, we would have had a 2 hour wait, which I could have spent in a bar, so I still can’t justify the initial delay.
Eventually, my Dad and older brother, with his daughter, arrived. We gathered their bags too, then we headed to the van my Mom had rented for the occasion. I am not sure why she felt the need to do that, but I suppose it would have been crowded in a 4 seat car.
My Mom drove us to my youngest brother’s place, which was fun. My Mom has a bit of an impediment when driving at night, um she can’t see things too well. It must have been a matter of genius, though. She had a perfectly good complaint for every lane she swerved into and red light she ran. My Dad actually had his head in his hands, on his lap. I was just laughing and giving Mom crap the whole time, I am quite the smart ass. I was cracking jokes about “Granny Road Rage” and she fueled them the whole way there.

A Pandemic, Part 7 of 7

25 Sept 2008.
The gas came back on yesterday and the water had picked up enough for drippy showers. We had a hot meal of ravioli and I boiled some water and made hot chocolate from the powdered stuff. It’s getting cold at night now, so this helped warm us and having something sweet was great.

The news was getting better about things, here in the DC area at least. The Hospitals were able to get back to almost normal and they were starting to inoculate the people who had not been done before. The new A.B vaccine (covers both of the current strains of the virus) would be distributed, again from the local schools, but they were saying anyone who only had just the A vaccine before needed to get the A.B one. They were not saying how to tell who has had what inoculation before, though. Very frustrating. I asked my son if he had noticed A or A.B anywhere on the supplies when he was vaccinated back at school, so damn long ago. He couldn’t remember. I decided we would both go when our day came up. They are doing it by first letter of the last name. So we will wait and listen for our letter to come up. They were starting with the T’s and H’s.

The body trucks came through today, yes trucks! The second one waddled out into the field and put a bright yellow plastic flag on the car that had burned, I am guessing to identify it for investigation later.

One of the Oldie stations came on today, no commercials. Kind of cool. I am old enough to appreciate the Beatles and CCR and don’t really think of them as “Oldies”. It was a marathon of those, then the Stones, then The Who. I ran down the batteries in the radio and had to replace them with fresh ones, then I went back to just monitoring the news.

27 Sept 2008.
THE POWER CAME BACK ON YESTERDAY!!! The first thing I did was the very nasty job of cleaning out the fridge and freezer. Bagged everything and put the bags out front. Trash pickup has to resume sometime soon, or this will get messy. A neighbor told me the local grocery was reopening now that power was on. I figured we could walk up there to see what they had. I just wanted to get out of the house really.

I instructed my son to keep his distance from everyone, since our number had not come up for vaccines yet. They announce that “E” and “Q” named people were the lucky ones next and “U” and “I” would be the following day. While walking to the store, my son figured out that they were using “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” to schedule these. Hat’s off to you boy! So we don’t have too much longer to wait. He had taken a typing class in Middle School.

There wasn’t much at the store really (no batteries, consumables) and we did a really good job staying some distance from people. They had setup large fans to blow the smell of the food that had rotted, out of the place. It wasn’t working too well. When we went to checkout with the few items we had picked up, I found out they were not taking credit at all, cash only. The credit authentication services were not back up yet. I have a standing policy of keeping several 20’s tucked away in the back of my wallet, so we were covered. I keep a few hundred in cash stashed at home too, just in case.

The phones are back on and I was able to check-in with my family after multiple failed attempts. Everyone had gotten through this, but my next youngest brother was in the Hospital recovering from exposure to the virus. They are hopeful he will recover fully.

From this point things will start to get back to normal, for sure. This event will have to go down in modern history as a tremendous tragedy and one that I hope people and policy makers will learn from. I will have to wait and see what comes of my own fight to defend myself too. The police have a lot to deal with at this point, so maybe nothing. That will probably be another story for another time.

A Pandemic follow-up.

Ok, I didn’t have an animated Penguin or Speed Boats worked into the story, but I did have Aliens, Spaceships, Gore, Sex (kind of) and Swords. My house was the Castle, so shut up.

I am off on vacation the rest of this week, so there probably won’t be any posts till the weekend. I am sure I will have some tales from the trip. If you enjoyed the Pandemic story, tell a friend.

A Pandemic, Part 6 of 7

21 Sept 2008.
Yesterday, my son and I got back to what I wanted to be a daily routine; exercise, homework, scan stations, check if water or gas is on, police the house. I checked all of the provisions and we easily were covered for 15 more days. It started to rain mid day, so I rigged some funnels and some almost empty water bottles to try to collect some rain water. We did collect an inch or so. Might come in handy.

I saw several people out walking their dogs and meeting each other, talking out in the open. I am still not comfortable enough to be doing that yet. When I start hearing some valid news that it’s safe, then maybe. We are set for a while, so no rush.

One provision I had forgotten to check was cigarettes! My doctor will be elated to know I have quite smoking, not by choice. I started chewing toothpicks though and that seemed to at least satisfy part of the addiction. I have been eyeing the longer butts in the ashtray outside, but I won’t go that low. I bagged them and put that in the trash can.

I know the lack of nicotine was getting to me because I wound up going off on my son about the way he was sitting, hunched over, playing his Gameboy. I yelled at him to sit up straight, for no good reason. I apologized once I realized I was being an ass and told him to ignore me if I do something like that again.

23 Sept 2008.
The body truck came through yesterday! It picked up all of the dead in the neighborhood. I told them about the ones behind my house. They said they couldn’t do anything about them. To bring them up to the curb.

That got me to thinking about the body out back and the fact that I might get into trouble about it. I figured I could easily drag the body out to the field when it got dark, but someone had seen it there by my fence. I decided I would take my lumps for what happened and bagged the body. I put a note in the bag that a group had tried to break into my house and that I defended myself. I put my name and address on it and dragged the bag out front for the next time the truck came.

There was no one around so I walked out to the car that had burned and noticed that besides the charred driver, there was another body in the back seat. It looked like someone young, in their teens.

Today I scanned the radio and the local news radio station was on. They had no commercials and everything seemed very poorly produced, like some interns were doing it on their own. They have been able to setup some satellite phones with the help of DHS, in most major cities. The groups in each are relaying news about each city to the others and also pass out CDC and Federal notices.

News from Atlanta was especially bad. When the police and Georgia National Guard tried to impose the curfew, a few kids were killed in a scuffle (I would not propose it was accidental). Full blown riots erupted and they think now that the crowds that gathered and mingled managed to infect many more people than would have been otherwise. The death rate there was estimated to be around 30%. They were identifying the remains now and moving the bodies into a strip mine outside the city. Over 140,000 had perished.

A Pandemic, Part 5 of 7

17 Sept 2008.
Yesterday was quiet, still no power and the water pressure has dropped, to little more than a trickle. We filled up every container we could find in the house and put them in a corner in the living room.

I scanned the radio twice on batteries and there’s nothing. I am still very worn out, but managed to put some more screws into the boards over the doors and windows. It will take a sledgehammer to get through these, unless someone tried to burn them. I filled two buckets with water and placed one near the front and the other at the back of the house.

It was mostly quiet overnight, except some distant shouting, right up till dark. I heard people out back, they were trying to be quiet, bet failed miserably. They were trying to get into the backyard through the gate. I went upstairs and sent my son to the front of the house to watch for anything there. I had placed the trim from the doors to throw as spears (not pretty, but it should be shocking). I also had two heavy brass fire hose nozzles’ up there, that I saved from being thrown overboard back when I was in the Navy. I use them as bookends normally. I also had my heavy leather work gloves up there.

I was being quiet as possible and watched as each of the 6 people clumsily jumped the gate, helping each other. I put on the gloves and threw one of the 4 foot lengths like a spear and hit someone, they didn’t go down, just hollered. I grabbed one of the nozzles and threw it as hard as I could at the leading shadow and missed, they were on the porch now and clawing with something at the lattice. I threw the second nozzle and someone went down, fell off the porch unmoving. Someone else went to that person and I sent down another shorter piece of trim, thrown with an end over end spin. They were throwing things back now, so I grabbed some of the trim and headed downstairs. There was a loud crash behind me, I figured they sent one of the nozzles back through the bedroom window.

Once I got downstairs, I could dimly see the outline of the attackers through the gaps in the lattice I had built, just from the starlight. They were screaming threats and trying to get in, one lattice was coming loose. I took a long piece of the trim and laid it between the lattices about bellybutton height and went to the far end. I waited till someone was right over the tip, then pushed hard, fast as I could. There was another scream when it hit, but I was able to pull the trim back in, it was dark on the end, blood. I reset it at the next higher gap in the lattice and waited to see if any of them came close again.

They were throwing anything they could find at me now, but it wasn’t coming through. A few minutes later things quieted down and I went to the window in the kitchen. That had been shattered by something during all this. I could see the shadows going back over the gate. Someone shouted that I was a “dead man”, over and over. It trailed off. I told my son everything was fine, but to stay in the basement for the night. I went upstairs to keep watch as long as I could, I was exhausted.

Looking out the shattered window, I saw a bright star far to the south, which was strange. I then thought it must be a plane, but realized that was wrong too. It was the International Space Station, which I had watched fly over several times before. I hadn’t even considered what their status was up there. Do they have food and air? I started thinking the Soviets could send up an unmanned Soyuz to save them and blacked out.

My son shook me awake in the morning.

19 Sept 2008.
The last two days have quiet. I dragged the body in the back yard to just outside the fence. I noticed another body a few houses away sitting on the ground, but leaning against the fence. I went back into the back yard and reseated the one board that was broken loose during the last attack. That was all I could muster.

The gas was out now, no cooking and the water was totally gone. I took the bottles of water out of the freezers, it was all thawed now and the food still in there was now starting to rot. At first I was going to use the water to refill the toilets so we could flush, but decided to save them for drinking, they should be fine and why waste them? I had saved 4 coffee cans incase we ever had to do the “shelter in place” during a terrorist attack.

We finished the thawed frozen food that didn’t need cooking and closed off the fridge and freezer. Anything left in them would be unusable. I had the emergency stock of canned ravioli and Spagettios that we can eat right out of the can. I had also set aside a pack of paper plates and plastic cutlery (spoons/forks). We wouldn’t be able to run the dishwasher, so the silverware and regular dishes were unusable.

There was a loud knock at the front door around noon today. Some idiot I have never seen before was out walking his dog and stopped by to tell me there was a body behind my house. I told him to get away from my house and to not come back. He started to point to the bodies from out in the field and say something, but I was not listening. I went to the basement and scanned the radio. I thought this guy must have heard something, to be out and about like that. There was nothing new, just the weak Civil Defense broadcasts.

I checked the scanner and found out that Hurricane Michael had driven straight north into Connecticut and Rhode Island. Some Ham radio operators were actually able to pick up the International Space Station’s reports of the visual track of the storm and got the word out the best they could up there. I am sure it’s a nightmare for them. The Ham guys/gals were relaying some useful news, finally. Some of the operators were kids who had taken over in their parent’s place. One that received a lot of note, was an 8 year old kid in Ravine Pennsylvania that called himself “The Tower”, who had taken over his father’s post and managed to relay info from the north east to Ohio, West Virginia and other operators. They passed it on from there. The Tower will be a hero in some circles for years to come.

A Pandemic, Part 4 of 7

13 Sept 2008.
Yesterday around mid-day, I heard a commotion behind the house, outside my yard. I looked and 3 young guys had a girl pinned to the ground on the small hill about 15 yards away from my back fence. It looked like they were trying to rape her and she was screaming “no” and “stop” over and over. I haven’t mentioned the machetes I have before now. I went in quietly and took one up in my left hand and went back outside. I have gravel around the base of my AC condenser, so I grabbed a handful of the in my right hand. I went to the gate and opened it.

The 3 kids were oblivious to the fact that I was there. I stepped out of the gate and threw the gravel at them as hard as I could. The two standing up turned to see me and started to say something until I raised the machete menacingly. The both took a step back and the guy on top of the girl stood up and back up too. I took a step forward and growled at them to get out of here, raising my voice as I spoke. They ran.

I looked at the girl who was topless and her jeans/panties down half way to her knees. I didn’t recognize her. She stood and covered her breasts while trying to pull up her panties and jeans. I took off my shirt and tossed it to the girl, who was crying. I asked if she had a home or somewhere to stay and she mumbled yes. I told her to go home and stay inside, then went in myself. I looked back and she was heading in the same direction the boys went.

The power came back on last night; it scared the crap out of me when the lights and radio in the room came on. I quickly shut them off and then went around the house killing the other lights, except the motion sensor controlled flood lights on the back of the house. I want to stay as dark and quiet as possible. I put the scanner on charge.

Since I was awake, I scanned the radio stations quietly and quickly, AM and FM. The local news radio station was down. I just got static up and down except a few very crackly civil defense recorded transmissions. I speculated those might be from the local National Guard posts, just a guess. I switched on the scanner and was not getting much on the police freqs and nothing on emergency. I did hear on the NOAA channel that hurricane Michael had skirted the NC Outer Banks and was heading due north. It already devastated the Bahamas. On the civilian freqs, it was show time. Every nut job out there was spewing about recent events and bellowing doom and gloom, some preachers out there too. I wish they would pass on some damn news and not preach.

In the morning it was real quiet, so I went out to the field. I could see there was a burnt body in the car that crashed into the tree; the driver didn’t make it out. I didn’t see another body in there, so I don’t know why those guys were shouting two names after the crash.

I was feeling really run down today and realized we had been stuck in the house now for almost two weeks. I decided my son and I would both start some regular exercise. We did the stairs (literally walking up and down the stairs) for 15 minutes, then light weights until we were too tired. I decided we should do this twice a day, to the best of our abilities. Then I started thinking about what else we should be doing daily.

I hadn’t started the car in forever, so I had my son stand watch on the front porch and I went out and ran it for 10 minutes (I don’t have a garage). I was afraid it wasn’t going to start, it took a few tries, but it is a fairly new car and did. That body bag was still there by the curb across the street, propped up and looking back at me in the side mirror.

That night, I was right in the middle of cooking some spaghetti for dinner when the power came on again. I had replaced my electric oven with a gas one a few years ago (after a hurricane knocked out power for 3 days), so I didn’t need it to finish dinner. We played cards and Scrabble, anything to break the boy away from the Gameboy for a while; he is using up all the batteries. He is doing ok on the homework, but the Geometry escapes me! I never took it in high school.

The power went out again after a few hours.

15 Sept 2008.
Yesterday was a nightmare. My concerns over the sliding glass door came true. Around 7PM my son called me because there were people IN the back yard. The curtain was pulled almost shut, so we could see out and they couldn’t see in, since it was still pretty bright outside. My son and I each took up a machete. I hadn’t heard any other break-ins since that first attack, but the neighbors might have had their doors sitting open for all I know.

There were two men, moving slowly towards the house. They looked like hell, filthy and maniacal. There was no way they were getting into my house, sick or not. I moved into the kitchen staying low and once I was near the window in there, I yelled at them to get the hell out and smacked the machete really hard on the window, harder than I wanted to, because I cracked the glass. The men were surprised and backed up a bit. The sound caught the attention of my old deaf dogs too, who moseyed into the dining room to see what’s up. I went to the door and pulled the curtain back and the dogs went crazy once they saw the strangers outside. They scare me when they get like that. It was enough to get the men to backup to the far side of the yard while they rethought their intentions.

I ran upstairs and opened the window in the spare room and hurled several heavy tin toys at the men, yelling at the same time that “we” (important that they think we have more people in here) were going to let the dogs loose now, pretending like I was talking to someone else inside too. The guys fled, one paused and displayed a gun for me, but never pointed it at me. Probably a toy.

A minute later, as I was coming back to the main level and I could see one of them outside through the curtain opening. As I entered the dining room, he threw a large rock at the sliding glass door, right in front of me, shattering it. The rock skidded across the floor and landed at my feet. The dogs tried to get out and one cut a paw in the process, this is all I need right now. I went outside after some time passed and I had my son posted upstairs to stand watch. I closed the gate and DUH, locked the padlock. One dog was gone, I guess chasing the men? I didn’t hear barking.

When I came in my son was on his way downstairs to check the pooch, he had seen the blood. We cleaned the cut and put gauze on it and taped it up tight (dogs hate Hydrogen Peroxide BTW). Seconds later the dog was trying to take off the bandages. My kid sat and pet the wounded dog to keep him occupied for over an hour.

Now I have to fix the broken door. I don’t have any plywood, but a bunch of 2x4s and some 2x6 planks leftover from a porch job I helped a neighbor with last year. My son and I cleaned up the glass (saved all the broken bits in a cardboard box) and took the trim off around the broken door, which I took upstairs to be used as spears if we get more “visitors”. I shored up the opening in the door and slept very near it that night.

The next morning I got the longest screws I had and made a lattice with the lumber, only over the broken part of the door. I went outside and did the same out there over the whole of the door. I used the leftovers to shore up the other 3 main floor windows on the inside, removing the trim of each one before hand. I was exhausted afterward and collapsed.

A Pandemic, Part 3 of 7

9 Sept. 2008.
It’s Tuesday morning and my son has no cartoons to watch (he still likes them, and the G4 network). The TV stations all have a test pattern or Civil Defense patter. It’s all useless crap at this point. We watched a few episodes of Monty Python on DVD, brilliant! It lightened our moods.

Yesterday, around lunch, there was a freak I have NEVER seen before walking in wide circles out in the field. He was large and stocky with a ball cap and a black garbage bag with holes cut out for his bare arms. He looked like a creepy alien in his sun glasses…stunned, like something out of MIB. He went away after an hour or so and didn’t cause any alarm for me, but it’s just weird. People…

Last night I was listening to my scanner (a great gift from a good friend) and someone on the DC PD was talking to a local precinct about the “unexplained suicides” downtown. People were walking in front of ambulances and jumping off buildings. Some people blame the “Tami-flu” drugs that have been distributed sparingly to the second tier of “non-essential” government workers. They are the ones who didn’t rank the vaccine and are most of the people I work directly with. It’s supposed to help combat the flu, but it was reported to be the cause of like suicides in Asia and England. As a contractor, I didn’t qualify for a “share” of the drug, which is fine by me. I’ll get by without it, ahem. At this point I am feeling fine as is my son.

There was more activity outside last night, not right out front, but out in the field. There was a lot of screaming, very late. I looked this morning and there are 3 bodies out there, lying fairly close together. It’s raining today, but if it lets up, the animals are probably going to get to them. I will go out and sack them up tomorrow if they are still there. The news radio station announced that anyone with dead can bag them (as best you can) and put them out by the curb for removal and to identify the bag as a body, “Put something boldly red on it” they say. They are asking that the dead and living have their Social Security numbers written on their forearms in indelible ink. I did this for my son and myself. It was very freaky to do that.

I talked to my next door neighbor across the fence today and his son and daughter are very sick. They must have not been in school when shots were handed out, but I didn’t ask. They are Indian and often take their kids out of school, not sure why. I didn’t know what to tell him, except to take them to the Hospital if they are really sick. A sick kid with a cold sucks real bad, two are worse, so I can’t imagine what this must be like for him. He said they are all set with food and water though. I noticed later in the morning that his one car was gone.

Later in the afternoon, a car went ripping through the field, doing doughnuts and fishtailing all over the place. I watched while I had a smoke out back on the deck. It was obviously kids on the loose. They went on for about 10 minutes and trashed the ball field completely, mud everywhere. The car managed to not run over the bodies in the field, before loudly hitting a pine tree head on and catching on fire. Two people crawled out and were shouting the names “Ashley” and “Justin” back at the car, which was soon engulfed in flames. The two limped away as best they could, after a few minutes. The tree they hit caught fire too, which added to smoke plowing upward into the sky.

The fire department never came, or an ambulance.

Outside in the distance, I saw other plumes of smoke, obviously bigger than the one from the car and tree in the field. I went back to the scanner to try to get some details on what was happening, but I was not getting any local details, just more about late evacuation matters downtown in DC. Where will these people go at this point?

The police and emergency sirens I had been hearing most days recently have all but stopped, as has the bulk of interesting chatter on the Police and Emergency scanner channels.

11 Sept 2008.
Yesterday my son and I went out and bagged up the 3 bodies in the field early. We used two bags each with duct tape to seal them and had to fold their arms and legs tight to get them in. We used a plastic sled to drag them up to the edge of the parking lot, one at a time. My son was crying lightly because he thought he knew one of the kids. They were beaten badly and blood was oozing out of them, mostly around their heads. I probably should have bagged them alone first. We took shards of an old red T-Shirt to flag them as bodies for pickup.

This morning I got out the Circular Saw and cut a 4x4 wood plank to fit and propped it against the front door knob on the inside. I nailed 2x4’s around the base to the floor, to secure it in place at the base. Someone tried to get in the house last night and I was not going to allow myself to be robbed or killed like that. I was able to scare away whoever it was with some yelling, banging, flashing the lights on and off and then threats.

My son was petrified and he certainly had his vocabulary increased, listening to me during the whole scene. “Shove what where?” he asked me the next morning. He ran downstairs from his room, in the middle of the event, which ended when I smashed out one of the little windows near the top of the door and shone the bright flashlight out at them. I threatened to use my gun, which I don’t really have. It was a mixed group of young men and women, black and white. I think the lights being on are drawing attention.

I rigged the 4x4 so I can remove it if needed, but once in place, someone would have to pretty much take the whole door frame down to get in. What to do about the Sliding Glass door on the back of the house and the ground floor windows though?

Later, I heard banging and screams somewhere in the neighborhood. I expect the punks broke in to another house. I don’t really want to know what happened right now.

News is getting very patchy. The internet is all but down, connections to any site just hang. I was able to IM my friend to the north again to just find out that they had a major outbreak. Everything there is pretty much like here, except my friend and his whole family (kids too) are sick. I could only wish him luck and hope for the best. I could not get a VPN connection to work, so that appears to be down totally. Since I am a contractor, I will not be getting paid for the duration, but I bet the government employees will. I probably shouldn’t gripe.

I saw the body truck (one of the Recycling contractor trucks) come through the neighborhood this morning. There was nothing to pickup in our area that I saw, besides the 3 we had bagged. That reminds me, trash service hasn’t been operating and they should have come Tuesday. I didn’t have much so I didn’t put mine out.

We had a strong thunderstorm this afternoon and the power went out. I have had several ½ gallon bottles of water, frozen in the freezers, to help in this sort of situation. We have been eating the frozen food first, because the other non-perishable food was the last resort. I still have my gas stove to warm the food up.

I tried to call my family to the west (Detroit and Vegas) on my one land line phone and that is all dead. So the phones are dead, the internet too and my Blackberry. I charged the scanner last night, so that would be all I can use to get info for now. I heard on the scanner that some of the police and fire stations are closing. Before I went to bed, I noticed a bagged body was out, across the street, with a red sock around the tied off top of the bag.

A Pandemic, Part 2

5 Sept. 2008.
I live in a fairly small townhouse, in a usually quiet neighborhood, with my son. A friend of mine asked me once, why I didn’t live in a single family home? To which I answered, that I didn’t need anything more than this. Why would I want a bigger house with more rooms to clean and more lawn to mow? I like my little place and little Mortgage.

I did telework yesterday and today. There’s not much going on that is work related, mostly just chatter about the spread of the Pandemic. I am able to use VPN software to securely connect to the work intranet and then use Windows Remote Desktop to connect to my work PC. It’s like being in the office. My Blackberry service (Cingular) has been spotty, more so than normal. I’m not sure if it’s Pandemic related though. I also noticed I could not get to Rocketboom.com, a daily VLOG that I never miss, out of New York.

The news out of NYC is bleak. After a city council vote and the Mayor’s approval, they are loading the bodies onto garbage barges and burning them at sea. They have lost 8500 souls in two days, up sharply from last week’s totals. I do understand the health concerns of having so many bodies lying around. At least they brought in Army Reserve clergy who can administer last rights for many religions, which should help stem the outcry over the choice of disposal. They expect things to get worse, as many dead may be undiscovered, in their homes.

Speaking of the Army, they recalled all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan last week…every last one. The outbreak was widespread there too and they couldn’t maintain support lines. The bad thing is that the planes carrying them home will take them straight to confinement, to minimize the spread of infection. The ships returning are in a worse state, because the infection’s spreading in transit home. There may be some ghost Carriers or Destroyers out there before this is over. Just big war ships floating out there in the Ocean, uninhabited by anyone living. I expect they will get vaccinated though and it might not be a problem.

Several of my neighbors have decided they are heading to a camp ground away from the urban area; I declined the invitation to join them. I like my home and my creature comforts. I think I am prepared enough; still it’s a bad situation we all share now. The spread hasn’t slowed and most of the country has gone from spotty outbreaks to full fledged. It’s beginning in earnest now. The traffic out of the major cities has been real bad and the National Guard has setup road blocks between cities and they are only letting food and supplies pass through.

The few neighbors I am friendly with stopped by, but I would only talk to them through the cracked open door. I don’t want to risk exposure and the vaccinations have been completed to “the best the government could do at this time”. I didn’t rate a shot, shocker. There were two schools of thought on distributing the vaccine; one being the elderly, young and first responders. It was argued that this would leave the country with no viable society, work force or Military if the majority of people 20-40 are dead. I liked the argument, but don’t denigrate my son getting his shot. The other idea was the opposite, but also included first responders as a priority. It’s a very tough moral dilemma, to say the least. They are still hurriedly preparing more vaccine, but I don’t see how they can distribute it at this point?

Since I am the President of our communities HOA (Home Owners Association), I had more than my share of people asking me questions. Like I get special consideration/information from anyone just for being in the position?? It’s the lowest rung of the governmental food chain. I made suggestions on how they can get through the mess and told them to watch the news.

7 Sept. 2008.
I didn’t sleep well last night, mostly because of all the yelling outside. In a row house community like mine, anyone yelling out in the middle gets trapped between the houses and it’s like you are standing right there. Note to self; Move when this is over! It sounded like the local “gang” as they like to call themselves. Mostly, just kids who spray paint their “mark” around and steal Halloween candy from kids who wander into the adjacent field on that day. How do their parents let their kids stay out all night though? I don’t get that.

Yesterday, the NBC and ABC networks signed off indefinitely. CBS and FOX are maintaining some news coverage, but it’s turning into news re-runs. Fox ran a marathon of the Simpson’s and CBS ran one episode of CSI Miami. I hate David Caruso.

I heard my local Giant grocery store is cutting hours to just 10AM-4PM. They are out of fresh produce, no more trucks are coming. They are just clearing out whatever is left. The government continues to ask people to stay inside their homes except for emergencies.

Around lunch time, I was IM-ing with a coworker who lives about 30 miles more north of DC than I am, the hicks, and he said things there were not too bad. People there are still getting around and the stores are all open.

I am turning to the radio for news, here in DC there is only one real 24X7 news station, but most of their coverage has been local. That’s fine, I guess I should be focusing more locally as this progresses.

My most favorite radio show, “Don and Mike” signed off just now. Mike has taken ill and Don came in to do the signoff by himself. He tried to keep it lighthearted, but sank into a pretty dismal appraisal of things. He wished everyone luck and was gone in a flurry of Larry King insults. Buzz does the news and had (as usual) nothing good to say, but had terrible news out of Florida. He reported that a group of people impersonating local medial staff had taken white Vans and trolled around retirement communities distributing fake shots. They charged $100 cash and were reusing needles. That is disturbing on so many levels. The show is usually just funny, the best thing on the air, and I will miss the banter that keeps me amused for 4 hours each weekday.

A Pandemic, Part 1

This story is obviously fiction (previously posted elsewhere, but I am “beefing” it up). As of today the Pandemic Flu outbreak has not yet started. When I originally posted this, over a year ago, I had read on the CDC web site FAQ (seriously) that the “Bird Flu” has already jumped person to person. It didn’t spread because the people infected got so sick, so fast and died, that it didn’t have a chance to spread. Today I look and there is nothing on the main CDC.gov web page linking to Pandemic Bird Flu. It dropped off the radar like SARS and West Nile Virus. The next scare to be swept under the carpet will probably be "global warming". Ahem..

The scenario I paint here is not at all out of the realm of possibility, I do think.

1 Sept. 2008.
Schools closed today and they had just opened this week! My son (17) came home on the bus half way through the day. They had their flu immunization shots at school this morning. Someone’s using their head there. Then they sent the kids home and locked everything up. The kids have all their books and lists of work to do each day for 30 school days, as long as they are well. They provided a sealed packet of quizzes that patents are supposed to administer and return when the kids go back to school. The Flu has only spread badly through New York and southern California, but there are spotty cases/outbreaks in most populated areas. Of those it looks like Minneapolis, Atlanta, Salt Lake and Dallas are the worst.

There is little news coming out of Africa, where things started, that is at all good. One week ago the Flu was said to be at its peak there. A lack of food, communication and medical care resulted in devastating casualties. Some estimates are as high as 30% of the overall population is dead and nearly 90% sick. I am sure the poor are bearing the worst of the casualties.

All of the other continents have outbreaks, but Brittan has managed to stay Flu free. They were the first country to close their borders entirely, even to their own citizens outside the country. It’s easier when you are an island I suppose. They gave a weeks notice and put everyone entering that week into quarantine and it has worked, so far. Now they just have to stick it out.

Europe as a whole is doing OK so far. Spain and Italy have massive problems and I heard the islands of Cyprus, Sicily and Sardinia are completely lost. The riots and looting left the islands wasted and travel was completely cut off.

Russia has been totally dark as far as information goes. They have probably taken drastic steps to close their borders and combat the problem, but who can say.

3 Sept. 2008.
The US President announced yesterday that all non-essential, civilian Federal Government agencies will “close to traffic” the day after tomorrow. This means all non essential staff will work from home, if possible and are able. It will impact all of the parts of the civilian government like, HHS except the CDC, the NSF, IRS, Treasury, FCC, etc. I work at NIH and they were sending anyone home who even "seemed" sick, which included me. I smoke and have a bad Ragweed allergy, so “out you go coughing-sneezing guy”. Fine by me. I hit the liquor store on the way home, to stock up, just in case things get bad. I have stocked up on about everything else I could, last year.

Sitting at home watching the news, I see that today all US airlines suspended flights as mandated by the FAA. The CDC was concerned that at least two variations of the Flu exist now and don’t want to contaminate one part of the country with another’s Flu. The Surgeon General was on TV announcing the move. When I went out for a smoke, I thought that I haven’t seen the skies this empty since late September 11th 2001.

The State Pandemic plans, which were tossed together hastily, were just today “unified” under a Federal plan. It was announced by the Press Secretary, who had a bad cough and was alone on stage. Marshal Law will be rolled out as the Pandemic spreads. New York and San Diego are already there and are doing their best to deal with the looting and general unrest. In New York its worse, some Hospitals have bodies piling up fast and they are trying to decide the best way to handle the problem. Arguments were feverish about some of the more gruesome options, but they have nowhere to put them all. The whole northeastern US is now in some stage of Pandemic and it is spreading south. Some states are limiting travel, but not really enforcing it. To top all this off, I just heard a category 2 hurricane “Michael” is churning in the middle of the Atlantic, heading west and a large tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico is raising concerns too.

The Bridge

http://thebridge-themovie.com/new/index.html

This movie looks interesting and sickening at the same time. Some of the jumpers have stories of survival, so it's not all bad. I would be interested to know where people go to do this in other cities.

Perfect Launch

The US Space Shuttle Atlantis had a perfect launch a few minutes ago. I tear up at the sight, because I am patriotic and these are a huge win for our country.

I am jacked up that we plan to send people to the moon again, I just hope we find something more meaningful for them to do there this time. I don't know I will live to actually see it happen, but I will watch the progress closely.

It will of course scare people when we start screwing with the moon, which we will. There has to be something up there we can use, which we will. In the next few generations they will have to grapple with rights to the moons of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, which will all be treasures. Liquid Methane lakes, um, what's something like that worth?

We are on the brink of ultimate war or greatness. It will be up to the people at the top to let this all happen nicely, but knowing the animal that in Mankind, I expect you kids will see more war and death. It is our "Nature" to do so.

Iranians

So I was talking to this young gal at work, reviewing some software updates (she is a developer) in her cube. I noticed a piece of paper in a language I didn't recognize, so I asked what it was. She said it was Farsi.

I said "I didn't know you were Iranian", which surprised her. Most Americans wouldn't put the two together. She seemed impressed. I told her I had done some reading, because of all of the problems between the US and Iran. She said the problems were not with Iran, but with the crazy Government.

When I said I was scared to travel there, she became almost livid. She is very pro Iran, but doesn't like the Government. I figured we should stop there, so I said we can talk more about it later. We finished our business and I left.

What I didn't want to sit in her cube and say out loud (all those nosey people around) was that I had been in the Military and had a Top Secret clearance back then because I had worked with Nukes.

Do you think if I jumped on a plane to Iran, their Government wouldn't investigate my background and find that out? I doubt it.

If anything interesting comes of our subsequent talks on the subject, I will let you know. Oh, this is good too. http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-203/0706016686151816.htm
And they arrested a scary US Grandmother http://www.freehaleh.org/. Yeah, where's my plane ticket??