2014 archive
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A little better.
(snip)
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits decreased by 8,000 to 2.91 million in the week ended Feb. 22, the fewest this year.
Where the Heck Is PgUp? 0
Adjusting to a slightly different keyboard on a new laptop is annoying.
Aside:
The keyboard on my new machine is easily the best laptop keyboard I have ever had. The keys have a good solid feel and are well-placed: it even has a discrete NUM pad.
Facebook Frolics 0
There are six billion persons in the world and over 300 million in the US.
It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that more than one of them have the same first and last names.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Two Different Worlds, Reprise 0
Reg Henry tries to make sense of out what’s happening in Ukraine and of possible courses to take. A nugget:
Moral equivalence? No, logical equivalence. I think we are the good guys and Vladimir Putin is a weasel, but good guys and bad guys all have their reasons. It is necessary to understand those reasons if we are to act sensibly.
Instead, those who loved the Cold War are delighted that it’s back . . . .
The Duke of Hazardous Has Friends in High Places 0
The Charlotte Observer observes:
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Duke was issued notices of violation late Friday for failing to have storm water permits at six of its N.C. power plants. That came only after a 48-inch storm water pipe without a permit ruptured at Duke’s Eden plant, spilling some 39,000 tons of toxic coal ash into the Dan River.
Getting the permits would have involved inspections that might have cost Duke a few nickels and prevented the coal ash spills, and we couldn’t have that, now could we, because of the fee hand of the market or something.
More observations at the link.
Two Different Worlds 0
At Asia Times, Mikhail A Molchanov, a professor of Ukrainian descent at a Canadian university, tries to provide a Russian perspective on the events in Ukraine. Whether or not you find it credible is not the issue; the issue is that there are other ways of interpreting what’s happening there than we are not hearing from our media, whose coverage seems to boil down to “Russia. Bad.”
I urge you to read it.
Here’s a snippet:
(snip)
The fact is, no matter how corrupt or weak Ukraine’s Yanukovych is, he remains the democratically elected president deposed in a revolution which had full support of the West from the beginning.
Our media are not known for analytical brilliance or balance as regards foreign policy. They have obediently sold us wars based on lies from the Mexican War on down; just in my lifetime, they led the cheers for the Viet Namese War, the overthrow of Allende in Chile, the Dominican invasion, the Nicaraguan incursions, and the Crusades of George the Worst, just to mention a few.
Grains of salt are wise additions to the news junkie’s diet.
“Self-Professed Behavior” 0
That phrase (which, when parsed, turns out to be meaningless but important-sounding jibber-jabber) seems to be the latest wingnut word salad for defending the mistreatment of persons they don’t like.
Via C&L.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, March 6.
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)