Wikileaks - Who's that lady? (Who's that lady) Beautiful lady...

wiki

Anna Ardin

When Sweden native Anna Ardin threw a party in honor of WikiLeak's founder,  Julian Assange, he had no idea that she would be one of his accusers only four months later.

According to AOL News,  Swedish Authorities have confirmed that Mr. Assange is not wanted for rape but for "sex by surprise" or "unexpected sex".  Take a moment to think on this.  When was the last time you had unexpected sex?   Would sex by surprise be something that you get from a dick in a box?

Australian News site Crikey.com, reports that left wing feminist Anna Ardin, one of two original accusers of Mr. Assange, has stopped cooperating with Swedish authorities and her own lawyer and has left Sweden for....wait for it....the Palestinian territories!  This story writes itself.

Crikey.com writes,

Ardin, who also goes by the name Bernardin, has moved to the West Bank in the Palestinian Territories, as part of a Christian outreach group, aimed at bringing reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis. 

According a report in The Raw Story, Julian Assange

Sofia Wilen

had consensual, protected sex with Anna's friend, Sofia Wilen. However, at a certain point during the sexual act, his condom failed resulting in an unexpected sexual event.  Ms.Wilen did not appreciate Mr. Assange's failure to control the event, believing that there was an intent to cause the malfunction.

Being familiar with the quality control of condoms through personal experience, we can report with a relative degree of certainty that condoms can malfunction. This can be due to a variety of reasons ranging from faulty manufacturing, improper sizing, and over exuberance during use. Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, will have a hard time proving this case.

In the second event, Mr. Assange allegedly had protected consensual sex in the evening with Anna Ardin, then the next morning, they had unprotected consensual sex.  In our experience, the morning after sex is usually due to a continuation of passion that has not yet abated.  Unfortunately, most men only carry one condom at a time in their wallet. Ms. Ardin later became uncomfortable with the unexpected morning sex and filed a complaint with the Swedish police.  Mr. Assange's sexual adventures with both women allegedly occurred within one week of each other.  Did he expect that these two women would not compare notes?

Swedish Prosecutor Marianne Ny

It is entirely possible that Ms. Ardin became uncomfortable at about the moment she discovered Julian Assange also had an unexpected sexual event with Ms. Wilen.  Mr Assange is now learning three valuable lessons in his Westminster jail cell- next time you have sex with two Swedish women, make certain they are in the same bed with you at the same time, bring more than one condom, buddy- you're gonna need 'em, and never underestimate how far The Company will go to ruin you.

Counterpunch.com's Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett summed up Mr. Assange's behavorial problem quite nicely when they wrote ,

Julian Assange now stands accused of: (1) not calling a young woman the day after he had enjoyed a night with her, (2) asking her to pay for his bus ticket, (3) having unsafe sex, and (4) participating in two brief affairs in the course of one week. 

As President Clinton famously once said,  "I feel your pain."

WikiLeaks Update- Julian Assange in Jail - Quick, Someone Mention Al Qaeda

Nice Graphic: Stolen then Released

This story keeps twisting and turning in a hundred directions. CNN reports that Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks and number one enemy of embarrassed governments worldwide, has been ordered to jail by an English Magistrate- do not pass secrets, do not collect 200 dollars. Mr. Assange would not provide the judge with a permanent address, making him a "flight risk".  We're almost certain Julian wants to tell the whole world where he lives, but that would be kind of a dumb idea, considering the tense situation over at the WikiLeak  Alamo.  Even the Mexican Army is ready to kick down his front door.

The Queen

It is important to point out that Mr. Assange has not been charged with any crime. In Europe, arrest warrants are issued in order to interview a potential suspect. This is much different than how the U.S. judicial system functions. Could it be there are very high-ranking officials in the British Government who want to intimidate the Australian native and coerce him into pulling his WikiLeaks site offline? Somebody call and ask the Queen.

Mr. Assange has a response for Goverment leaders who want him taken out. He has prepared a massive, encrypted file, which has been downloaded to 100,000 users. If anything unfortunate happens to Mr. Assange, such as his untimely demise, his city-sized accomplices will be given the key to unlock the file, which his attorney referred to as a "thermonuclear device". We were wondering if that was an exaggeration?

boom

Perhaps Mr. Assange found a way to get to that old nuclear material lying around in Pakistan. Recent wiki-leaked diplomatic cables reveal the United States has been trying for years to get permission from Pakistani leaders to remove this aging stockpile of highly enriched uranium and return it to the United States. Since we provided the technology to allow Pakistan to create the nuclear waste back in the 1960's, we have been mildly suggesting that it is our responsibility to clean it up and bring it home- before a couple of Allah-praising radicals in a Toyota pick-up find it and take it to their home. Never mind that. If we toss Julian Assange in jail and close down his Wiki-leaking truth machine, the world will be a safer place. Nuclear-Shmuclear.

Always Reliable Toyota Truck

Meanwhile, a significant fuss is being made by the United States and Great Britain about WikiLeak's release of 2009 diplomatic cables that list potential targets for Al Qaeda. It was only a matter of time before some government official mentioned Al Qaeda. In their eagerness to exploit the Qaeda card, officials overlooked one minor point. Why were State Department diplomats preparing these lists at all? Are our intelligence services so inept they can't find dams and power plants in foreign countries?

We thought diplomats had more of a public relations job. Hey, diplomatic list-making person- have you added the power plant on River Road to your list of American sites? Just curious, because I noticed that the guard shack is occupied by a 70-year old, 5'4" tall, retired district justice, some razor wire, and a few cameras. Looks a bit sketchy to us, better classify this TOP SECRET.

A Real Al Qaeda List  

The Al Qaeda reference is puzzling when you think about the uniquely effective methods of terror they've used. There was the speedboat filled with explosives in Yemen, the  attack on the Taj Majal hotel in Mumbai, the bombing of United Nations in Baghdad, the bombing of trains in London and Madrid, the bombing of the holiest Shiite shrine in Samarra, the cold-blooded killers who took flying lessons, boarded four separate commercial planes, hijacked them, and used the planes as explosive missiles to kill innocent Americans. Al Qaeda doesn't need lists prepared by diplomats in the State Department.

 By the way, who has the list of locations where Osama Bin Laden is hiding? It has been nine years since he murdered nearly 4,000 U.S. citizens on our native soil. Someone should get on that ASAP.

We would like to help the major world powers get their priorities straight. We've prepared our own list:
1. Free Julian Assange
2. Catch Bin Laden

Any questions? Now off you go, hard-working diplomats.

Diplomat  

WikiLeaks - One Government to Censor Us All

PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1  

You have to admire how well our government can function when they have a singular purpose, one clear goal, and are determined to work together to achieve success.  In order to see the full picture of  the U.S. government as a well-oiled machine, we only have to put together five stories from the past 24-hour news cycle.  Our first story begins with those pesky Republicans. 


Encouraged by their recent mid-term election success, the Republicans have been beating their elephant chests with pride. Not only will they clog Obama's wheel of change, they will spin it backwards, to the point where it started, which would be.....um, the collapse of our banking system and the beginning of the great recession.  


Here is their chance to be true mavericks. Will they praise Julian Assange for bringing transparency back into our governement, for using the free market system to reveal our secrets-on classified stamped memos, and for embarrassing the pants off of President Barak Obama? Yesterday, on Meet the Press, Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave us a hint of his party's stance.  

I think the man is a high-tech terrorist,” Senator McConnell stated when asked about WikiLeaks by host David Gregory, “He’s (Assange) done an enormous… He’s done an enormous damage to our country, and I think he needs to be prosecuted to the, the fullest extent of the law; and if that becomes a problem, we need to change the law. I think it’s done enormous damage to our country and, and to our relationships with our allies around the world.”    

I think to change that particular law, we would need a constitutional convention, Senator.   Here is a video of the interview.  I swear on my mother’s tiger-eye jewelry I did not manipulate the video in any way.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Not to be outdone, the democrats sent  Attorney General Eric Holder out to meet with the press and express his determination to hold Mr. Assange accountable in some vague way.  According to the article written by Voice of America’s Jim Malone, Mr. Holder condemned, in strongest terms possible, WikiLeak’s publication of classified diplomatic cables. 

Photo:AP

When asked by reporters on the type of action he intended to take, Mr. Holder said, 
"With regard to all the tactics that we can do or can use to ameliorate the consequences of these actions, I do not want to get into those as well," he added.  "But we will do everything that we can both to hold people accountable and to minimize the harm that will befall the American people."


Dance, little puppet dance!  Frankly, we will have to accept this as a typical kinda-sorta democratic response that fully supports the capture and crucifixion of Julian Assange. Democrats just don't know how to be strong, forceful, and determined. They just don't want to offend anyone.  But no worries.  As soon as Senator McConnell gets a new law passed that extends our legal boundaries into every other country in the world,  we can hang that bad boy, Osama Bin Laden Julian Assange.


Our third story originates at the State Department, the TMZ of our government services.  An overzealous State Department employee warned Columbia University officials that students who want to have a career at the State Department should censor themselves from participating in anything resembling WikiLeaks.  As reported by Digital trends reporter Molly McHugh,  students were warned in an email that said, well...read it yourself:

From: “Office of Career Services”

Date: November 30, 2010 15:26:53 EST:

Hi students,

We received a call today from a SIPA alumnus who is working at the State Department. He asked us to pass along the following information to anyone who will be applying for jobs in the federal government, since all would require a background investigation and in some instances a security clearance.

The documents released during the past few months through Wikileaks are still considered classified documents. He recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter. Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government.

Regards,
Office of Career Services

Apparently, learning the truth about U.S. diplomacy would call into question a future State Department employee's ability to deal with confidential information, which is based on being truthful with your superiors about your political situation.  


Not to be outdone by the State Department, our military brass jumped onto the speeding bandwagon.  Our fourth story comes from gawker.com.. Iraqi soldiers who attempt to access WikiLeaks are greeted with a warning page from the Department of Defense that...well, read it yourself. This is a quote from a spokesperson for U.S. Forces, as reported by gawker.com:.

"U.S. forces in Iraq have not blocked any news websites from being read. Because of the Wikileaks release of secret documents and their easy availability on the web, USF-I has posted a warning page NIPRNet computers go to first. This page simply warns the user that the website they are about to view may contain classified documents and that such documents should not be viewed, downloaded, or distributed on NIPR computers. There is a button at the bottom of this warning page that then allows the user to go to the website."

Now we have the Republicans, Democrats, State Department, and the U.S. Military all on the same page, which apparently is not classified.  That should be enough to drive our wagon down the hill and over the almost deceased corpse of Mr. Assange, right?  If you answered in the affirmative, please sit down, this lesson on "government in full cooperation" is not quite finished.  We haven't mentioned the Library of Congress yet, or the Social Security Administration.


We are of the opinion that the Library of Congress is a stuffy old building where millions of books sit on shelves half a mile high.   To one day work at the Library of Congress must be every librarian's dream.  What a magnificent repository of the history for our culture. Certainly, this great institution would be date-stamping those classified diplomatic cables  and scanning them into their computers for all future generations to view.  Is there a quote? Of course, there is a quote!  From their own blog,:

“The Library decided to block Wikileaks because applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.  Unauthorized disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents’ classified status or automatically result in declassification of the documents.”

 We could go on, we do have one more.  Oh what the heck, this is such a long article, if you made it this far you might as well  suffer to the end.  According to Undernews, the online report of  the Progressive Review,
the SSA has restricted access to WikiLeaks.  The Pregressive Review reports it received a copy of an email sent to SSA staffers with the subject line "Information Security Bulletin: WIKILEAKS"   that states,

"Earlier this year a large amount of United States government classified information was illegally released to the public website WIKILEAKS. The documents on WIKILEAKS could place military personnel and United States supporters in Iraq and Afghanistan at an increased risk of harm.

"Despite these documents being publicly accessible over the internet, the documents remain classified and SSA employees should not access, download, or transmit them. Individuals may be subject to applicable federal criminal statutes for unlawful access to or transmission of classified information."

Following this posting on UNDERNEWS were some excellent comments. My favorite was from Anonymous,  

 Oh, I see. We do not want Americans or federal employees having the same access to information as the rest of the world. Got it, brilliant.

The one person having the most difficult time staying on the internet is WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Yet despite being cut off from his swiss bank account (something about him not being an actual resident of Switzerland, if that makes any sense), and struggling with a personal problem/smear campaign in Sweden, Mr. Assange is adamant on releasing all 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables.  We can cry, whine, censor, restrict, threaten, intimidate, arrest, and  prosecute and it will not matter- we will still have to take our medicine. With over 500 mirror sites now releasing documents, WikiLeaks is here to stay.


But it is nice, in a perverse and disturbing way, to see our national government work so perfectly together. Imagine how good our health care would be, how deep our pockets would be filled, and how much more meaning our lives would have if government agencies and political parties were working together to improve the world around us instead of shielding us from the world around us.

The American Fool- What's in Our wallet?

How much debt are you carrying?  Do you have car payments, mortgage payments, and credit card payments?  If you sneeze incorrectly, does your bank charge you thirty dollars?  Did you ever wonder who collects your money?  At the end of the day, your interest payment on your debt ends up in someone else's pocket.  Companies are run by people. They sit on the Board of Directors, they attend the galas in the Hamptons, they are CEO's and CFO's and they have grand salaries, stock options, and insider trading tips.  They have drivers, maids, personal chefs, and yachts with a full crew.  They float around from resort to resort, watching your money grow in their bank accounts.

When we got angry and declared, "We can't afford this 26% interest rate on our credit cards, we are swimming out of this whirlpool that empties our pockets and sucks us down", we declared bankruptcy in huge numbers. Those folks on their yachts dialed up their Senators and Congressional representatives, and demanded the credit laws be changed.   Congress and then President Bush passed a law that appeared to help the debtors, but actually helped the wealthiest hold us down, with their greedy hands permanently stitched into our wallets and pocketbooks, even after bankruptcy.  Welcome to the modern-day debtor's prison.  You can expect to be imprisoned here for the rest of your life.

The naysayers will point out that it is our own fault if we have huge debt. We spent that money, we knew the interest rate on the card, and now we must reap what we sow.  This position appears to make sense, but we must examine our own weaknesses as human beings to fully understand how we are being manipulated by the powerful elite to fund their million-dollar parties and feed their investments.  

How many Capital One card offers do you get in the mail each week?  We are averaging one per day.  There are large envelopes, smaller envelopes with "Important- Time Sensitive" stamped on the front, envelopes with a simple return address, thick package style envelopes that dump out various shapes and sizes of offers and advertisements.  Have you been throwing them out too?  Now turn on your television.  What's in your wallet?

Capital One Bank saturates us with their tempting offers, day after day after day. They will, at some point, catch us in a weak moment, and soon afterwards- our very own card will arrive in the mail.  The interest rate will be low, perhaps even 0%.  Now we can buy that Sony LCD screen we always wanted and we will pay it off before the nasty 26% interest rate kicks in.  Right. Sure.  You think Capital One would give you a 0%  interest rate for six months if the statistics determined that 95% of credit card users paid off their entire debt within that time period?  Capital One is nearly certain there will be a balance on our card when the 26% rate kicks in.  They know we are the American fool.

Here is a true story.  My ex-wife had a wealthy uncle through marriage, who aspired to be one of the wealthiest Americans.  He married into her family, took control of the grandfather's finances- who was a locally successful builder before his death- and played the stock market while building up his own business.  

Uncle Bernie (named changed) was a Jewish plumber who hired young men with no experience, promised them an apprenticeship,and paid them minimum wage. When they became experienced enough to know they were being taken advantage of, he would fire them and hire new recruits. His work was sloppy and sometimes he got sued- but his business thrived.  He bought a million-dollar (modest) house in a private gated community in the Florida Keys called Ocean Reef Club.

Bucci Island at Ocean Reef Club

This wasn't some gated slum in the Poconos. Ocean Reef Club includes a 5-star hotel, a full-service shopping center, 27-hole golf course, 3 marinas, 9 restaurants, post office, and a 30-man private police force.  Cash is not accepted anywhere within the community.  You must use your Ocean Reef Card for all purchases. They are even making interest off of each other.

When the children were young, we spent a few days within the gated walls of ORC, and swam in the large, lovely swimming pool and lake at the recreation center, Bucci Island. We heard the story on how they once kept dolphins in the moat around the recreation center, but "those damn animal activists" made a stink and ORC had to release them back into the wild.  

We walked along the marina where wealthy yachters would dock for a few days, get in a few rounds of golf, before sailing off to the next Ocean Reef Club-like community charted for their life of leisure..  Bernie would point to the multi-million dollar yachts as we walked past, "That one is owned by one of the heirs to the Campbell Soup fortune. This one belongs to the owner of the Detroit Lions."  One boat was so large, we could look through the huge cabin windows see the grand piano and full size Christmas tree in their living room.

Ocean Reef Golf Cart (typ.)

Every morning, Bernie would drive his golf cart to the hotel for the complimentary (free) coffee and newspaper made available for residents.  One morning I tagged along with him.  Every road in the community has a matching golf cart path, and most homes have a separate carport to house and re-charge their golf carts.  Some people have their golf carts customized to match their own cars.  We saw golf carts with Rolls Royce, Lincoln, Cadillac, Jaguar hoods during our stay.

After we picked up our free Columbian coffee, I accidentally spilled  half my cup on the hotel floor.  I offered to tell the staff at the front desk. Uncle Bernie dismissed my offer with an impatient wave of his hand, "They have people for that,"  he explained..  I turned around and looked back at my spill and already there was a Hispanic man with a bucket and mop moving into position for clean-up. Ah, they have people for that.

"We have people for that."

They have people for everything, for their every need and desire.  Life is a warm, cozy bubble, with money as the insulator.  After a few days of living like this, it becomes obvious that they have created a separate world from our own, and admission is based on the color green. If you have it, you're in. If you don't have it, you're out.  Most of us don't have it and we never will, unless we either rip off our customers and family, or are born to a family that already has it.  Look again, what's in your wallet?

Is there a solution? Short of revolution, probably not. The human propensity for greed and power is well-documented throughout  the ages.  Even Moses threw down the tablets.  Think about that.  He hand-chiseled the ten commandments into stone.  That required a great effort (and stone-carving talent)! He must have chosen stone so that the rules would be remembered for ages to come- something permanent for his people. 

Moses chiseled ten community guidelines that he received directly from our Supreme Being, the One who created us all.  Then Moses returned home to find a big drunken orgy, everyone wearing bling, praying to golden statues- a bunch of drunken, naked, wine-drinking nymphomaniacs.  SLAM!  Down go the tablets into a hundred pieces.  You have to be very pissed off and disgusted to destroy the ten commandments entrusted to you by the highest Authority in the universe.

When Moses returned from his prophetic meeting on the mountain, he found the Ocean Reef Club.  If Uncle Bernie had been there when Moses threw down the tablets, he would have casually waved Moses off, " Hey, don't worry about it. We have people for that."

Moses Destroys the Tables of the Ten Commandments (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

Justin Bieber? Really?

Justin Bieber, heartthrob to millions of 12-year old girls, received his first Grammy nomination last night, further eroding the respectability of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).  Once considered a sometimes stuffy, archaic symbol of the older generation of music lovers (this is still true in some categories) , the Academy has now jumped across the abyss to the party-filled, celebrity side of fame and fortune. Actually, we like Justin's energy and his dedication to his music.  If he would only comb his hair back on the sides (like real folks do) and fire all the people who are preening him to be a pop icon, we'd feel more comfortable with his mindless, bubble gum music.

Nevertheless, we rode our musical mule to the bottom of the canyon to look for the phenomenal artists who were thrown off the Grammy cliff.  Not too much here...some oldies and few newbies- it's been a down year for the majors.  Any artist who doesn't score a hit on the charts gets dropped off the cliff. Finding them on the canyon floor, mixed in with all the indies and self-releases, may prove impossible.

Ok, we are at the bottom, surrounded by millions of albums, Cd's, and digital downloads.  Ow!  I just stepped on an illegal torrent.  They really hurt. The RIAA would not be happy with this.  Oh here's the "How to Train Your Dragon" Soundtrack.  Oh my, look at all these indie albums and self-releases.  Let's see if we can find an artist worthy of a nomination who may have been overlooked.  Linkin Park?  Linkin Park!  What is A Thousand Suns doing down here? It could be Linkin Park missed the weird cut-off dates that the Grammy folks have devised. These are cunning people.  

You would think that there would be a huge pile of old-timey rock and rollers down here in the Grammy discard file.  I should be drowning in Tom Petty, Neil Young, Jeff Beck, and Pearl Jam albums.  But there isn't a single one down here.  Wait a minute, I'm getting a phone call.  Wow, really?  All of them?  Any newer bands?  Muse?  Any others?  Oh my, that is sooo old school Grammy-like.  yeah, I agree.  The day the music died.  Mainstream rock is dead.  Well, thanks so much for the call, Mr. Portnow.


We've climbed back out of the abyss and are happy to report one of our favorite albums, Porcupine Tree's "The Incident" was nominated.  Unfortunately, there isn't a category for prog/metal or even for progressive rock, or for conceptual rock albums.  The Incident tells a dramatic story, and while not considered by PT fans  as the best album, it is certainly their darkest piece.  Did the Academy recognize a great album yet could not find a proper category?  What about BEST ROCK ALBUM????? Instead, the Grammy-elite nominates it for Best Surround album.  Really?  Best surround?  We had better hook up two more speakers.

What a surprise to find Switchfoot nominated in a gospel category.  Despite the band's on-going effort to appeal to a wider audience with their sometimes spiritual message, they are stuffed right back where NARAS thinks they belong.   But hey, it's a nomination, right?

Did you know there is still a Best Metal Performance category?  Quick. Think of three metal bands that have released performance albums in 2010.  Slayer?  good job, that's one.  Megadeath?  Excellent, that's two.  Ok. One more.  Don't worry about the quality, just popular names. That is all the Grammy people want- popular names.  Are those crickets we hear?  Come on, you KNOW this!  Think voluptuous maidens chained in iron. No, not the new Hurricane video from 30STM- we are talking about Iron Maiden.  The main  reason these three bands were nominated? They are the only ones that 50 year old stoners can remember.

You would think that Avenged Sevenfold would have been nominated.  If you can drop Switchfoot into gospel and find two categories for a mediocre Elton John/Leon Russel album, there has to be a place for this amazing band and their 2010 release, Nightmare.

We noticed Adam Lambert was nominated for his lame, very lame single.  We saw Adam perform live at Musikfest in Bethlehem this summer. Waterbunny turned to me, mid-performance, and said this, "He is a male Cher."  I couldn't disagree, but Cher should be offended.  Adam has a great voice, everyone agrees- but based upon his own music, his Grammy-nominated own music, he couldn't fill one half-toe of Freddy Mercury's shoes.   His nomination may be an even bigger travesty than Justin's Best New Artist.

Back to Justin Bieber, for a minute.  Really?  Justin Bieber?  This is the cream of the crop?  I don't think he could make the finals of American Idol.  Was he ever on American Idol?  I will take Lee or Chris over Justin.
Thankfully, there are four other nominees for Justin's Grammy:  Drake; Florence and the Machine; Mumford and Sons; Esperanza Spalding.  Any one of these will do fine, thank you.  Cast your vote, NARAS members!

Our only real hope for the February 13, 2011 Grammy Awards is that Eminem wins all ten awards, Muse wins for Best Rock, Florence and the Machine wins Best New Artist,  Pink gyrates from ropes hung from the ceiling, and Adam has a nervous breakdown after he loses. Anything less and NARAS might as well put up a FOR SALE sign to the highest bidder and hope Dick Clark Productions has enough cash and stock to buy them out.  Dick Clark.  Really?

The Temporary Writer - A Printers Guide

A non-writer will look back at his youth based upon memories, photographs, and videos.  A writer will look back by reading what he has written in his youth.  His words show his frame of mind and his attitude towards others.  His sentences highlight his passions, his thoughtfulness, and his arrogance.   His paragraphs define his mental condition, his maturity, and his foolishness.  It is a much harsher review of self, an introspection that can be unforgiving.

There are five-hundred million users posting their thoughts and desires on facebook. Hundreds of millions more are posting on other similar websites. These writings are mostly transitory, reflecting a moment in time but not carefully preserved for the future.  You can't put the pages into a box and store them in the attic.  Most people don't backup their computer hard-drives.  Most hard-drives eventually fail.  Meanwhile the internet pages keep scrolling down. There won't be enough historians to review all the pages of the 1.9 billion internet users currently online.

The pictures we upload may last a while longer, but eventually even those will be compromised when our favorite websites disappear from the Earth forever.  It is all wires, computer chips, ruminations in the cloud- there is no guarantee your website will be there tomorrow.  I remember when mp3.com first arrived in cyberspace.  I was one of the first hundred thousand to post music there.  It reached over 2 million users, all songwriters and musicians, before it blew a financial gasket and fell into the abyss.  Efforts by new owners to resurrect it have mostly failed. Those music pages of mine are gone, the music played out.

Even these posts on blogger may not survive as long as we expect.  We write, we post, then we prepare to write the next post.  Show me the print button on my blogger dashboard, settings, or elsewhere.  There isn't one.  If you are a writer online and you aren't printing out your words, you are risking the future of your art. It isn't enough to save it, not even to CDR or a memory stick.

The format keeps changing and your writing will get lost forever on 5/1/4 discs, 3.5 discs, CDRs, and USB memory sticks.  Print your blogs, your short stories, and your essays. Place them in a box, and toss them in your closet.   Twenty years later, when you open the box- all your writings will be there, to your amazement, for your entertainment, and possible embarrassment.

My next post will be about those old writings of mine from yesteryear.

Stalking Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives - Ways to Spice up the Blog

We’ve been tossing around a few ideas on how to spice up this blog. Ideas have been tossed around like American footballs and we think we have a plan you will enjoy. Here is our list of ideas to date:

1. Stalking Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
We think this is our best idea yet.  For those outside the United States who haven’t seen this television show-  Chef Guy drives around the country in a convertible to unique diners, drive-ins, and dives in search of the comfort food,  crazy cuisine, and fine dining in low places.  It is a wonderful, entertaining show even though Chef Guy hates eggs.  How can you go to a diner for breakfast and not have eggs?

We don’t plan on tailgating Chef Guy and getting ourselves arrested.  We just want to be certain  *cough cough*  that his reports are accurate and reliable.  While we don't have chef credentials, we do have 4-star palates and really, what more do you need?   This will require taking many day and overnight trips to places like Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey.  Oh wait,  we’ve already been to Jefferson Diner in Sparta.  We can scratch Jersey from the list!

2. Writing about Local Government Meetings
    On second thought, this is a bad idea.

Phoenix Roller Coaster

3. Wooden Roller Coaster Review
This idea could very well turn into a Vlog.  We would travel across the United States, Canada, (and Mexico after the drug war is over), and ride every wooden roller coaster we can find and then file reviews on our blog.   We would establish a strict ratings criteria that would include:  Upchuck Meter, Velocity,  Air-Time Evaluation,  Rickety Factor,  First Car Vs. Last Car,  Speed Factor, Fear Factor.

4.  Stalking Man vs. Food

Adam

This is a spin-off idea from the first idea.  The one HUGE difference is we will try to win every challenge Adam has lost. We think we can do this. Bunny, stop shaking your head, we can DO THIS!  There will also be a strict ratings criteria which would include:  Upchuck Meter,  Upchuck Velocity,  First Bite vs. Last Bite Smile Meter,  Fear Factor

5.  Gnome Reality Show

Derek Acorah

This is another great idea.  We would create a Vlog reality show about the gnomes that live under the basement of our 1870’s house. We would chronicle their on-going battle with the possessed bunnies in the backyard.  We hope to have a guest appearance from Derek Acorah, the psychic from “Most Haunted”. He was the first person on television to declare that bunnies could be possessed.  In fairness, we will ask the gnomes to sign a release.  I don’t want to blur their gnomish faces.

"Mr. Pigeon, you're under arrest."

6.  Zoning Cops     'Bad boy bad boy, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when the zoning officer cites you'    Inspired by the “chicken bones incident” this past week where the complainant witnessed his neighbor throwing chicken bones and a pork chop into the brush across the street. “I have two witnesses!”. cried the complainant. He also threatened to write a letter to the Mayor if I didn’t take immediate action.  I went to the house, approached the front door, and the tenant made a break for it.  I gave chase and we leaped fences and jumped cars until finally, I tackled him and forced him to sign the non-traffic citation.  Exciting!!!!!!

7. Zoning Court
    Are any of the actors from Night Court available for this?

8. Impressions of a Tourist in....

In this scenario, I would get paid to travel all over the world with my brother, Russ, and he would chat people up, I would listen, and then record my impressions, quoting foreigners without their knowledge or consent.  I would change their names to protect them from the 30-50 readers who drop by Mutant Mouse Chronicles each day.




9. Blogging  While Doing Household Chores
We are stoked about these ideas and will get them right into production (except no.2).  I can’t wait for our first report!  Now, if you will excuse me, I have to finish folding the comforters and get the hell out of this laundromat.

I don't know this person.

Impressions of Holland and Germany by an American Tourist

I wonder if I should write this story. I have doubts.  I can not trust my impressions any more than I can trust the foreign cab driver who drove us to an empty parking lot after dark, two blocks away from our hotel in Düsseldorf, and told us to walk through the woods to get there (we didn't).  I am puzzled, concerned, and uncertain we fully understand, even after 911, the depth of our cultural differences with the rest of the world.

The facts are simple.  My brother Russ and I traveled to Netherlands and Germany.  My main purpose was to witness my good friends in the rock band Shadow Gallery begin their first (and long overdue) European tour.  After that, Russ and I vacationed in Amsterdam. Our last night was spent in Germany before flying back home.  The second day after our arrival, the United States Government issued a travel warning for U.S. citizens in Europe.  We were advised to remain alert and be aware of our surroundings.  We followed that advice.

With our sense of personal security heightened, we listened closely those people we met, observed carefully those we were uncertain of, and paid attention to the continuing news reports on the television and internet.  We arrived home safely.  Is there anything more than this to write about?  I am not sure of the answer.  I have impressions of my experience that I cannot shake. I will try to sort it out, place it before you, the reader, and let you find your own place within this story.  There is no grand drama, no great heroics, no single authority on the meaning of this experience, just the sense of something missing, a disconnect, a chasm between cultures that is growing, not receding- and a reminder that age is relative.

The Irish Cabbie
We were staying at a very nice hotel on the edge of a town in Western Holland, near the German border.  After dinner at the hotel, we called for a cab to take us to the town center.  When our taxi arrived, it was driven by a Irish national named Donny (name & nationality changed). He was a lively lad who didn't hesitate to take us on a tour of the town. Our ride culminated in a visit to a coffeehouse, where marijuana is legally sold and smoked.

On the way, the subject of our travel warning came up. Donny spoke with the blunt authority of a cabbie who has seen it all.     "The Muslims tell me how much holier they are than the rest of us. But they sit in the coffeehouses and smoke, they fuck their best friend's wives, they drink till they pass out, and they eat food on Ramadan.  They are hypocrites, horrible hypocrites. I drive them to the bars, the restaurants, the whoreouses, the coffeehouses. We are so holy and you are all infidels, they say...but I know the truth.  They are no different than the rest of us. I tell them too.  Piss off with your holy politics."

Weird Moment at McDonalds 
Russ wanted a hamburger happy meal.  Donny drove us to one in the center of town.  We ordered our food and sat down to wait for the fries (some things transcend cultures).  I noticed that two young men were sitting at the next table.  One teenager was clearly Arab, the other Dutch or German.  As I sat there, munching on a salty burger, Russ walked outside to chat up the manager.  The Arab boy stared at me, then spit soda onto the floor.  I was amused at his childish behavior, but it was his eyes that amazed me the most.  They were full of hatred.  The second time he spit on the floor, he made certain I was watching. I kept up my end of the staring match, then he and his friend got up and left, leaving behind a total mess in the restaurant.  Either he was making a statement about his hatred for Americans or he was just an other idiot teenager trying to be cool.  Maybe it was a little bit of both.  Of course, he was eating McDonalds before we arrived. He bought and ate food from the infidels.  Hey, thanks for buying American!


Victor the Retired Portuguese cop
We met Victor sitting outside a coffeehouse next to a delicious Argentina Steakhouse where we had dinner.  Victor had been smoking marijuana at one of the outside tables. I sat down with an espresso and the three of us talked for over and hour.  The conversation rambled through Dutch and American politics,  ending with Victor's feelings over life in the Netherlands. His was a cautionary tale, with a statement of Dutch female unity that was amazing, if true.

 " I am a retired policeman, formerly in the military...for the past ten years I have worked the streets of Amsterdam....the Muslims know everything, they have infiltrated the police and the government at every level.   The Dutch women refuse to fuck them.  You will never see a Dutch woman with a Muslim man in Holland.  The women, they are not interested in a family if it means they must give back their own freedom.  The women want the Muslim men to leave Amsterdam and so they have made a pact.  Do not fuck the Muslims.   The Muslims will leave and never come back.  It is very bad here."

Hans, the Night Manager, Amsterdam Hotel
He was young, hip, educated, and opinionated.  "If the economy is good, everyone is happy.  If the economy is bad, everyone is unhappy.  They want to fix everything, change laws, make new laws.  They only need to fix the economy and everyone will be happy again. The Dutch women are very beautiful, we fall in love with them, they have our babies, they throw us out and we pay and pay. The terrorist warnings, ha! We have them every day, we don't pay attention to them any more...if it happens, it happens...it will not change us...we are all one family here. We loved Clinton, but Bush, he was bad for the world.  It is good he is gone...what do you think of Obama? Obama has already done more than Bush..he is the first black man elected president...that is quite an accomplishment for your country"

Train Ride to Germany
We bought first class tickets on the ICE train to Germany. Sitting in our comfortable compartment, we were soon joined by Pieter, a German salesman for a mechanical device company.  Russ is also a salesman and boy, can they talk.  Pieter told us that he was born long after World War II had ended and yet he pays a war reparation tax. "And Hitler wasn't even German, he was Austrian. Does Austria have to pay for Hitler's war?  No!"  Russ replies, "Hitler was also half-Jewish."  Pieter appears surprised at this information.  Pieter continues, " Hitler made an arrangement with the Catholic church, to keep the Pope's silence over his behavior in the war  The Pope agreed but only if there was a church tax..  The war is 50 years old and, because I am Catholic, the church tax takes 100 Euros of my paycheck every month. Why is this allowed to be? This was not my war."

We reach Arwen and Pieter says, "There is a famous bridge at Arwen from the war.  Perhaps you heard of it?  I think the Americans made a movie about it." We nod in the affirmative and then there is a moment of silence. We realize that, in our father's time, we were enemies.  Now we are riding in a train together, talking  about those times.  After a few more comments about the war, the conversation drifts to sales, equipment, and travelling. Pieter tells us his German company is actually a subsidiary of an American firm located in the Carolinas.  Pieter has been to the corporate headquarters a few times.  We apologize for the South and encourage Pieter to visit the North and then we all laugh. The Arwen bridge passes underneath in silence, the train floating on air.

"Dinner in Düsseldorf, Germany
After arriving at our austere hotel near the airport, we took a taxi to the old town, Altstadt, in the city center.  There were several outside cafe's on numerous streets, similar to Amsterdam in architecture, but missing the lovely canals and lovelier bicycle riders.  The large, visible police presence in Amsterdam was absent here.  Russ observed one policeman, talking loudly to a patron at one of the cafe's.

We found a cafe' with a menu to my liking. Russ wanted Burger King.  We sat outside, closest to the pedestrian walkway, and ordered dinner.  Directly across from us was a bookstore.  On either side of the bookstore were two more restaurants with outside seating.  Additional outdoor cafe's were present along the entire block.  There were probably 300 customers enjoying the ambiance of the outdoor restaurants on our street.  Only service and emergency vehicles can gain access to this area.

As we were finishing our meal, a florist delivery van drove onto the walkway, then stopped directly opposite our table.  I looked over and locked eyes with a young Arab man.  Without taking his eyes off of me, he put the van in reverse, slowly backed up, then placed the van in drive and pulled forward, facing the bookstore.  The young man jumped out of the van, gave us one more long look, then strolled down the walkway, cellphone in hand. Check, please.

It's that easy.  Every evening, the florist van pulls in and parks at the bookstore.  Its movement becomes part of a larger city rhythm.  Police pay little attention, the van is like any other service vehicle- the driver just another worker doing his job.  Then one day, the van pulls in and parks, the driver exits the explosive-laden vehicle and walks away- cell phone in hand.  Once he is at a safe distance,  he detonates the van and 300 people die. It is way too easy and it may always be that easy in free societies.  I hope that van keeps bringing flowers.

Düsseldorf Airport Security
Russ forgets to trash his lighter. He tries handing it to the security official.  "No. no", says the German equivalent of our Homeland Security, waving his hand, "you can keep that."  We move forward, ready to remove our belt and shoes.  No one is removing theirs so we change our mind and walk through- our shoes intact, lighter in hand. No wonder Germany is a target.

Final Observation
I think about a conversation Russ and I had with a college student/waitress at our first hotel.  "Well, you are a young country, "she said with an air of authority,  "you still have much to learn about the rest of the world." Indeed we do, young lady, indeed we do.

Authors Note: Names have been changed to protect those individuals who spoke candidly with us.  Our thanks to each one, this story is also their story..




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