Sunday, May 31, 2015

"I'll Never Ask" (poem)

I will never ask
for what I gave in friendship
I know you'll do the same
as it makes you what you are
No money, cars or diamond rings
will make you change a word
and this is why your voice has been
the sweetest sound I ever heard

There are many things
some hope to find,
an ancient cup,
an olden rhyme,
a way to save
this world in time
but still it turns
and there's one girl
my only search
is to find her world

She's somewhere near a tree that sings
Music comes from everything
Light and Love shine from some lost star
and it really doesn't matter
if the trail leads far
one day I will find
my
way
there


(Jetzt auf Deutsch:  "Ich Wird Nie Fragen")

"How to Keep Away ISIS and Tories ... with a backbeat" - Silas Scarborough (video)

It's got a back beat,
you can't lose it



Shut up.  Tune it.  Play it.  No stinking rehearsing.  Just do it.

You'll see no Tories and no-one from ISIS shows.  100% effective.  You also won't see anyone who gives a rip about ISIS or Tories.  Coincidence?  Probably not.

This one gets an Oscar as the light stand behind me is what landed on me yesterday.  It wasn't the whole thing but rather the support on one side so it sucked but didn't break anything.  The left side of it was all the way over to the wall in the back.  Yesterday was a non-stop glory and I'm feeling it today but you won't see it in the video and I like that.

 I haven't tested to discover if any or all still work as I don't need to see anything else that's busted just now.  That's all part of it too.  Kick out de jams.

Cat, neither you nor the music are forgotten.  Computers are only a nuisance that gets in the way.  The video will show where my real interest lies and it's not in computer hexadecimal.

Computers are only what I do while I wait.


All video shot on a Canon HF-G10 and all audio was captured via the camera's external microphone. There is very little post-processing because, frankly, I don't have the patience for it at the speed of this machine.

The video is a trial run for the full deal in building up the loop.  That's the piano part but it just becomes rhythm after it kicks up and it disappears because all you really want is the backbeat.

The extended song will be the one for "The End of the World in Fort Worth" and that song is taking on additional meaning as the extent of the chaos across the state becomes more clear.  This tune isn't in the same key as the intro music for the video as it exists now and it needs to be musically consistent to satisfy me or I'll nitpick it after.  No need for details but it will get resolved in some way that doesn't make me want to rip it out of YouTube two weeks after I upload it.

Republicans Never Respond to What I Write

And that's because every word of it is true but agreeing with me undermines what they say publicly.  Disagreeing with me is pointless as I can open any reference to prove what I say and those who have bothered to learn the material know it.

There is no interest in One World Order or much of any conspiracy theory although some are true.  Exposing them has nothing to do with Alex Jones as he is only a paid fearmonger and will say whatever his masters tell him to say just as with Fox News.  Simple Greed prevents a One World Order as the richest of the richies is always taken down eventually ... by other richies.  In my view, a One World Order is logically impossible as their nature never changes because that's what makes them richies in the first place.

The example of how Manifest Destiny applies to Mexico and California (this blog) is a review of the circumstance from a strategic standpoint whereas conservatives will typically approach it tactically with such mindless refrains as 'Remember the Alamo' and William Randolph Hearst did the same thing with 'Remember the Maine' at another time but for exactly the same purpose of fomenting an unjustified war.

War hawks show tactical genius in the manipulation of such events as they know they can get the public all frothy with them as there is one consistent trait in the public on which they can always depend:  the public is comprised of some seriously lazy motherfuckers who couldn't be bothered to verify anything.  Wars get started, someone else's kids die, and no-one sheds anything but crocodile tears as you can see by how readily they do it again.  (Example is Chris Kyle, American Sniper, who had no idea why he was in Iraq)

There's no chance the U.S. will tolerate a strong power on either the Northern or Southern flank so the strategy in Manifest Destiny was to ensure that could never happen.  As to what America does to keep Mexico powerless today, you can review the way drugs are trafficked into the country.  So long as there is minimal border security, deliberately, the preferred path for narcotics traffickers is through that access path and thus the country providing it becomes increasingly dependent on the trade thus increasingly powerless for anything else.  Talk of increasing security on the border is disingenuous rubbish as it serves a specific purpose.

Canada has never been a major power and it would be interesting to see what would happen were Canada to invent some kind of weapon the U.S. did not have.  The sociology of that circumstance could be fascinating to watch as my prediction for it is you would then get a crew of Canuck bashers and signs would start going up about 'know the enemy' and 'Remember Montreal' after some type of false flag episode there.

False flag campaigns aren't part of any conspiracy theory but rather are a hackneyed method of making a political point.  The fact of something being hackneyed never stopped a politician from doing anything.  Neither did morality, for that matter.  Remember the Alamo.

Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders - Differentiating from Mediocrity and Corporate Mendicants

The general field is one comprised of corporate mendicants none of whom have much of anything of value to say.  How could they when their existence is a pose from the start.  Mendicants live on alms.  When corporate alms consist of millions of dollars, golf junkets, and jet aircraft, all of us should live a life of public service.  Perhaps you noticed Dennis Hastert, previously a teacher and a wrestling coach, had millions of dollars after his Senate 'service' to pay off the kid he was nailing while he was a teacher.

Note:  it's not a 'very existence' as 'very' only exists to identify second-rate journos.  Two words are never better than one unless they are 'fuck off' which, coincidentally, is heard frequently in reference to second-rate journos.


Rand Paul stands seemingly steadfast against the greatest affront to America since the McCarthy Era which is represented in the Patriot Act.  The previous was to defend against the Communist enemy and now the Muslim enemy.  The only thing in common is both enemies were fantasy.  Whether Rand Paul is grandstanding is still not clear but he is not backing away from the position.

Bernie Sanders stands against every current insult to America but he has the luxury of no pretension of winning.  Rand Paul is not among those ranked as the Top Five of the GOP contenders but one of those is Mike Huckabee and he's carrying around a pedophile as part of his entourage and makes no bones of it.  That the others have not destroyed him for it may well take all of them down.

It's not likely anything will differentiate the poser mendicants but Paul believes he has a chance and he's right in that differentiating himself from them is his only chance.  The question is whether he will do an Obama and flip on what he said if he gets the job.  You can trust the mendicants won't as they say up front they will screw you and you can be absolutely sure they will, their history shows that.

The Face of Terror #unitedfortahera

Here's a picture to strike fear into anyone ... if you have an inordinate fear of pink lipstick.  (You can read how America did her in "United Airlines - Bigotry Takes to the Air")


Previously, the biggest consequence of using pink lipstick was they would force you to be Prom Queen but these days it means you will be vilified, hated, and cowardly maniacs like Pamela Geller will protest where you pray.

(Ed:  she's a Muslim)

What does that have to do with pink lipstick.

America is also a country where many hate Jews although the fundamentalists frequently quote from the Old Testament.  It's so stupid to be hated for anything but by such staggering ignorance compounds the insult all the more.

United Airlines - Bigotry Takes to the Air

Tahera Ahmad had the unbridled temerity on a United Airlines flight to ask for an unopened can of Diet Soda.  She was advised the unopened can could be used as a weapon and the flight attendant would not give her one even though an unopened can of beer had just been given to a man near her.

She asked others if they had seen what had just happened and one said, "You Muslim, shut the fuck up."  (CNN:  Muslim chaplain claims discrimination on United flight)

Tahera Ahmad, surely a face to strike terror into anyone.

Picture from CNN


This is what Pamela Geller, the GOP, and people like them have wrought.  It's not so different during McCarthy's Communist witch hunt in the 50's except the irony is the ways of Communism against which McCarthy wanted to defend America (e.g. excessive state surveillance, heavy-handed police state tactics, etc) are all now in effect here and Russia watches with amusement as if to say, "See it was never us trying to do it to you.  Great job you did it to yourselves, tho."

The answer to dissent in the 50's was to put you on the black list.  These days they just make you an outcast but, either way, it comes out the same.

Blood isn't thicker than water as politicians know their urine destroys either one.  I've seen it happen ... many times.

America does have courageous people ... but most of them are firefighters ... and Tahera Ahmad who braves what Pamela Geller sows every time she leaves her home.

CNN:

Ahmad was recognized at the White House last year "as a leading Muslim female in the United States" during Women's History Month, according to Northwestern University. She had previously attended a Ramadan dinner hosted by President Barack Obama.


The pilot and the flight attendant apologized before she left the flight but that doesn't do anything to change what happened at thirty thousand feet.

Why is it almost always innocents who take the brunt of America's cowardly and despicable fears.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Using an SD Card as a Boot Volume for OS X

In other news, yah, you can do this.

The SD card is mounted as if it is a disk so you install a bootable copy of Yosemite 10.10.2 on it.  This will not work for porting from System A to System B, however.  My first whizbang idea was to install 10.10.2 and then boot it on the iMac.  However, that doesn't work as you need to generate OS X on the model of machine which will use it.

The above may still be possible if OS X 10.10.2 can be downloaded somehow to the iMac and then installed on an SD card in the builtin SD card reader.  A 2012 Macbook Pro has one as well and that's how I know this works.  The SD card is, in effect, a not very bright but exceptionally fast SSD.

The value in the exercise is successfully running OS X 10.10.2 on the iMac means unquestionably there is a bug in Yosemite 10.10.3 as we've seen it fails even when no other software is installed on the machine.  Successfully running OS X 10.10.2 proves there is no esoteric weirdness about this particular machine which is crashing OS X 10.10.3.  After all the testing, that probability is vanishingly small but that test would lock it to zero.

"You've Got to Larf" - Silas (video)

Times have been hard in Texas for a lot of people. This one comes to you from Fort Worth where we have been lucky so far. The video has some thoughts while wandering about the yard looking for some kind of inspiration in the face of disaster all around.  It's more thoughtful than amusing but you may enjoy it anyway.

Note: Some NSFW language und ach ein bisschen auf Deutsch (a little is in German).




Note:  although the preview looks strange, that means nothing as the video plays just fine.

The Rock-Bottom, Last Resort, Worst Way to Buy an Apple iPhone

There are three ways to buy an Apple iPhone:  buy it outright, buy it with a contract, or rent it.  Not surprisingly, renting is the most expensive and I'll get to why.

Buy an iPhone unlocked:  $750

It's all yours and do what you like with it.


Buy an iPhone with a two-year contract commitment:  $299 (16 GB)

This is the standard deal and you can spend $499 if you think you need 64 GB but consider well if you need 64 GB of memory on a cellphone then your actual need is a life.


Rent an iPhone with the AT&T Next plan:  $0 up-front / about $30 per month for two years

Absolute worst way to do it.


Add up the costs for the two year commitment to AT&T Next.  Over two years, that comes to $720.  In other words, it would cost almost as much as the price of an unlocked iPhone if you pay for it that way.  And that doesn't pay one dime toward a carrier support plan.


All of the above approaches will require a service plan with a carrier and these may be anywhere from $40 to $100 a month based mostly on how much data will be transmitted with phone time and message texting being lesser considerations.

Megyn Kelly Discusses the Profit in Pedophilia for the Duggar Family

The family of Jim Bob and Michele Duggar was fading into the deserved obscurity of their mediocrity in their talentless family but then Providence entered into it ... along with Megyn Kelly.  (The Guardian:  Duggars to discuss son's sexual abuse controversy in Fox News interview)

Now the Duggars will get the opportunity to tell the world exactly how much money the Duggar brand made in-between when they learned of Josh Duggar's pedophilia and when the secret was blown and they had to come clean about it.

How long was that, Jim Bob ... Pastor Man ... Christian Man ... and how many Christian dollars did you make on the backs of those little girls.


That this low-life slime has the unmitigated gall to show his face on television anywhere is incredible but where else would the lowest form of sleaze go ... Megyn Kelly.  The Catholic Church had at least the grace to recognize what their priests were doing was wrong ... but Megyn Kelly goes one better to make an incestuous pedophile a television star to encourage other pedophiles and show them it's really not such a bad thing just so long as you tell Jesus you're really, really sorry.


Next question is how much Fox News stands to profit by exploiting the Duggar family's incest before relegating it to criminal court where this felonious conduct belongs.



Note:  I know full well Jim Bob and his squeeze stand alone and represent no Christian anywhere.  What I write is directed to them alone.

Disaster Follow-Up Report

Nothing is busted in me but now it's stiff and it hurts.  I could tell Toby the Dog but he only knows Bark Language so that leaves out whining.

Status of lasers is unknown as that has to wait because the fans make a lot of noise and that will waken Yevette.  If you don't know the advisory on pissing people off before they have had their coffee, you are either dead or will be soon.

It sounded dramatic and in fact it was but I'm not any more damaged than I was previously but stuff got pulled a bit trying to save myself ... and further contributing to the disaster.  That's nothing chronic but rather the body's way of telling you don't be a dumb ass.

I did shoot a video with Toby the Dog some time after and it was about "The Life of Brian" as in when life's a bowl of ...   However, the video was more sanguine than that idea seems as self-pity isn't interesting to anyone.  It may be ok but it's a hassle doing anything with it.  I will take a look later and maybe it's good for an upload.  The talk included 'Cat, immer ich liebe dich' so that's not sounding morose to me.  I'm not sure if anything else was auf Deutsch but not much, if any.


In other disaster news:  it is not likely there will be an update on the iMac before Tuesday, the next time Chuck will be on-station.  He works four ten-hour shifts which, even if nothing else, gives him back a lunch hour he would have had to give to his job and would not have been compensated.

Every company in the country does that as none pay for the lunch hour even though the corporation controls when you will take your lunch and, in many cases, where you will eat it.  Thus far, I have never seen anyone voluntarily go to a workplace cafeteria.  And this is just one in the list of How Americans Are Screwed Twelve Ways from Sunday by their Jobs.


As to flood news:  this location is about fifty feet above the low ground and that, cleverly enough, is where they placed a golf course.  I don't think it's flooded but I can hardly be expected to be interested when the only concern is it may wash away some rich golfers.  Maybe I'd ask them to carry candles so they can light one and we can watch them while they float out to sea (sob).


That flooding is at least minimized is due to a system of levees constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers thus demonstrating the Army really is capable of doing good things for America but when they do hardly anyone says anything about it.

Any punk can shoot people but it takes a real bad-ass when you face danger with nothing but a firehose or a civil engineer's tools.  Multiple of the dams in Texas are in trouble and at least one has already given way.  The Army Corps of Engineers works to prevent losing any others.  Would you work on a dam which may cave at any moment.  Well, would ya?  The question is do you feel lucky because, just like the movie, you don't have a gun but, for this, a gun would be dead weight.

All You Have to Do is Open Your Eyes Like a Child

Do you remember the first time you realized not only is there life under water but it's life you can see.  Feel the moment.



Ed:  who is she?

Si:  the girl in the picture

Ed:  yes

Si:  yes, what?

Ed:  ok, where is the girl in the picture?

Si:  in the water

Ed:  ok, wise guy, where is the water?

Si:  in the picture

Ed:  yes, the water in the picture ... where is it?

Si:  ok, the water is on the shore of the ocean somewhere, or a lake, or a really huge backyard pond.  how should I know?

Ed:  ok, who sent you the picture?

Si:  God

Ed:  I don't think God has a camera

Si:  it came from the Internet with electrons.  I have never seen an electron and do not believe in them.  Therefore I conclude God did it.

Ed:  fair enough.  I never saw an electron either.

Si: but no-one has ever seen an electron, even scientists.  it's the Cheshire Cat of Physics.  they even have a theory to explain why you can't see electrons.  It works much like the Patriot Act.  Even though you see no terrorists, the Patriot Act shows they are there ... we just can't see them.  Honest.

Ed:  so you're saying you don't believe in God?

Si:  i'm saying I don't believe in electrons.  Thus far, I have seen no evidence God has an interest in electrons either, spiritual or otherwise.

Ed:  maybe all you need is to open your eyes like the kid.

Si:  maybe so, maybe so.



Yes, dear readers, that was the first official equation of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and the Patriot Act.  (takes a humble bow)

Hat Tip to Usama Shami, A Man of Grace and Peace

Usama Shami recognizes the First Amendment for what it is ... and what it's not (i.e. the way Pamela Geller manipulates it).  The recommendation throughout the Muslim community was 'do not engage' as Geller's people are what happens when Islamophobia meets the gun culture.  (CNN:  Mohammed cartoon contest: Protest held outside Phoenix mosque)

Just as the people protesting outside abortion clinics usually are not and never have been clients, it doesn't appear the people protesting Pamela Geller and her Fascist Wunderkind were actually Muslims.  This is the finest kind of conservative shadow boxing.  Make a big show and no Muslims were even there.

My favorite was some idiot skinhead talking about hating Muslims and then he refers to his service in Iraq ostensibly helping Muslims to power.  Blitzer asked him about that and the skinhead started puking green stuff and spinning around.  First time I ever saw Blitzer score and I didn't think he had it in him.


From Ritzheimer the Brainless Skinhead:

"I think the whole thing, the cartoon contest especially, I think it's stupid and ridiculous," Ritzheimer said beforehand, "but it's what needs to take place in order to expose the true colors of Islam."

Tell you what, Ritzy Baby, some true colors were exposed but Islam had nothing to do with them.  

Happiness is a warm gun,
Happine-eh-eh-ess is a warm gun
Bang, bang, shoot, shoot

Terrorism is my thing
Terrorism is my thi-ih-ih-ing
Bang, bang, shoot, shoot

A Day Starting with a Disaster Proves Again the GoB is Back

Let's reconstruct each glorious step of this morning's disaster so we can savor every delicious nuance in each stage of it.

05:30:00  Number enormous booms and explosions wake me from sleep with the thinking this is a) nuclear war, b) an artillery bombardment, or c) a SWAT team creating 'probable cause' as it searches for Mexicans.

05:31:00 Understanding comes that sleep will not likely return in the midst of a nuclear war or before a SWAT team kills me and realizes later I'm the wrong person

05:31:15 Draw on myself to stand and carefully walk through darkness while avoiding floor units for the guitar.

05:31:45 Successfully reach the side of the room

05:31:46 Step on something as yet unknown which bites something out of my foot like it's a bankster that smelled money

05:31:47 I start going down

05:31:48 I grab for something in the darkness

05:31:49 I realize the something I grabbed is one support leg for the light stand which goes over and lands up against the wall

05:31:50 I end up on the floor in the dark with a metal support across me and thinking never, never ask if things can get worse.

05:31:51 A scream goes out against the empire and scaring the bejeebers out of Yevette in another room: THE FOOKIN' GoB IS BACK!


(Ed:  what is a GoB?)

Believe me you don't want to know.  If you must, the first two parts are 'Ghost of' ... figure it out.

Arizona Shows Pamela Geller She's as Boring as an Abortion Rally

The part Pamela Geller doesn't understand is she's the abortion.

Yesterday her freakshow went to Phoenix and, just like an abortion rally, people on both sides of the street shouted at each other while cops stood in the middle thinking, "Why me?  Why the fuck me dealing with these yokels?  Why couldn't just in a while I get the art museum detail?  Instead I get pissed off cranks who can't get laid so they make infantile cartoons.  The only saving grace is they don't draw dicks on the walls of toilets ... at least as far as we know."


Tips for Pamela Geller:

1) Hook up with Cliven Bundy

Pro:  he's already familiar with cows so Geller's brown eyes will turn him on
Con: it's a good match as he's just as stupid as Geller although not as evil


2)  Join ISIS

Pro:  she finally gets a man
Con:  there are no cons when it gets her Fascist ass out of the country


3)  Wait for Personal Invitation from Jesus

Pro:  it would be pretty cool
Con:  it will go to the rest of the Universe, even the slimebugs on Betelgeuse, before it ever comes to her and her band of mindless skinhead goons


Just as predicted, even terrorists won't go to Arizona and, here's a shocker, the Muslims in Arizona are not terrorists.  Sorry it was such a boring day, Pammie, but maybe you can get people killed somewhere else.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Yosemite 10.10.3 and Full-Tilt Systems Programming by Apple

Today was connection with the Gods Beyond the Genius Bar and I told Chuck I had been an IBM systems programmers for thirty years and what I learned from that is don't be one now.  In other words, he doesn't need editorials, nostalgia, or pics of my puppy to do what he does.

And so he dug into it with an Apple utility which captures the screen but does not permit changes (i.e. Apple can't click anything).  This permitted reviewing all particulars about the situation as the first task of systems programming is to find out just what the hell is happening.

That data gathering went on for an hour or so and, despite a furiously-inadequate cellphone, it went well and demonstrated precisely how frequently the system crashes and there is simply nothing in it.

What will come is the data will be gathered and submitted to Apple Engineering for review.  Either they find something unusual in the way things look here or it generates a fix that goes out in the next OS X update (or however that sort of thing is scheduled within Apple).

This is hardly Mother Teresa but it may well turn out to have been a public service.

Something I've known throughout is the absence of diagnostic logs on this end means nothing was ever getting transmitted to Apple and there was no reason to believe their systems staff was aware of the problem.  There's no way they can be unless the information is reported some other way.

What this means in terms of time-until-fix is not so good as there may not be a fast one.  However, the difference between today and yesterday is now I believe there will be one.  This has been an exceptionally high-stress time as it has been going nowhere.  The steps I've taken were appropriate and would have fixed it were it anything a user can fix.

So, off to Engineering with it and we see what comes after that.  The system crashed immediately after Chuck gave me a utility to transmit diagnostics to Apple.  I am waiting now for confirmation on the steps to proceed before booting it.  After booting, the diagnostics will get transmitted and then over to Apple for the next move.

There will be more delay but there is progress and that's feeling pretty good right about this time.

Confirmation on the next move just arrived.  Naturally, the system crashed while I was trying to do it but I know the steps and they will be completed as the system permits.


Update:  process is complete and data has been uploaded to Apple.  Nothing for it to wait to see what comes next.

It's still not appropriate to install anything on the system as any of this could be blown away if necessary to fix it.

Lewis Black Talks About Apple, Android, and the Ever-Popular AT&T

Not many can bring up an open laugh but he's right on it with all of this stuff.

What Mexico Looked Like Before Manifest Destiny

Conservatives scream bloody murder about illegal immigration but it only shows what they were doing during American History class (i.e. sitting about with their thumbs in their, um, mouths).  The map below shows all the states which typically scream the loudest and not one of them was part of the United States before Manifest Destiny made it ok to take every square inch of land regardless of whomever lived there already.

The Lousiana Purchase gave a quasi-legality to the Midwest but there wasn't even that for the Southwest and California.


Viva Havana!

Seeing Cuba removed from the official United States terror list, in itself a form of terrorism, is an excellent thing.  Havana was one of the party capitals of the Universe and those days will come again.  That may not be so good for the city as big bucks may turn it into another Miami and I'm sure no-one wants that.

Even so, it's time to learn to salsa and do learn those spins, slinky mama, and also learn about 'spotting' or ... well ... you'll get dizzy and fall down.  I have never seen such incredible dancers as Cubans.  Puerto Ricans are very good but Cuba ... unbelievable.

'Spotting' is a technique bellydancers use for spins.  They pick a point in the room and focus on it each time around the spin.  In some way this keeps them level.

It's such a short hop to Cuba that it's an obvious choice for an inexpensive vacation as you have to go almost to Venezuela to get to Aruba.

This makes me happy for Cuba and America as peace comes after all these years.  It's a beautiful thing.

Yosemite 10.10.3 Back in Play on Poor Suffering iMac

Yah, yah, sing them bluez.

Crashing the system is effortless and one way seems to trigger by starting Safari too quickly after booting.  The SSD boots OS X so quickly that Internet connectivity is not fully-established.  Prior to the last crash, I started Safari and received You Are Not Connected to the Internet.  With a second or two, the screen was black.

However, this time I waited for a while before starting Safari and no crash.  Maybe just a coincidence but add up the coincidences and pretty soon you've got a conspiracy theory.

That's it:  my Mac troubles are caused by chem trails from aircraft.  I should have known.


Call has been placed and just like a kid on prom night, I'm waiting for the phone to ring.


Note:  I never (sob) went to prom.  That's why I turned out this way.  I never went to graduation either.  Basically, I didn't attend much in high school.  It got as much attention as it needed (i.e. not much).

George Carlin Describes Rush Limbaugh (video)

Whether this is tasteless you would have to ask Rush Limbaugh


Hillary Clinton Pantsuit ... the New Nehru Jacket

A pantsuit was the thing to wear to define yourself as professional woman who wouldn't be interested in sex with Fabio, much less your creepy ass.  This was true maybe back when the seas were ruled by Spanish galleons but women have matured since then and a woman is free to express her femininity, regardless of whether she is in the workplace, as any man who can't control himself in that situation proves only he is not much of a man.  As you may recall, Bill Clinton's third half was wearing a blue dress.  I rest my case.

In general fashion terms, a Hillary Clinton pantsuit is interchangeable with a nun's habit as neither will get you anywhere but both guarantee you absolutely, positively will never get laid and, what's more, the pantsuit says you don't fuckin' care.

Rock me, baby.  Rock me all night long.

Yah, (cough) right.

The pantsuit is symbolic of failed feminism as it's entirely a reaction to oversexed men, in fact rolling over for them just as surely as if it were for a mattress.  If you're not free to be a woman, what the hell kind of feminism is it you want.  That thinking just leads to everyone wearing grey Mao Tse Tung outfits.

A woman ought to be free to be beautiful ... or not ... and maybe my boobies don't bounce like Betty Boop anymore but they've sure as hell got enough left in them to bounce your punk ass out of the way.

Helen Reddy said I Am Woman so, yeah, be one ... and definitely not wearing one of those pitifully whipped pantsuits, Ms Nehru.  You couldn't represent Old School any more emphatically if you tattooed it on yer butt.

Now, if'n your wearing a peasant blouse that just barely makes it over your nipples and they're playing peek-a-boo because you're not wearing a bra, that's teasing and that's bullshit in the work place.  That's fine after-hours but at work it's manipulation.  The response from men would be to wear Speedos and I'm pretty sure you don't want that at work ... well ... or anywhere else either, for that matter.

Even the Flying Nun had a better grip on her femininity than professional women.  Stand up and be somebody (i.e. yourself).


Observations from my own experience were that women who dressed like women were usually confident and intelligent whereas those wearing pantsuits would often be carrying a chip on the shoulder, trying to prove something.  The others didn't wear sexy, provocative stuff as they just dressed like women with other things to do just now and it was the same with men as the general uniform was Dockers and Dovers which are the guaranteed least provocative clothes a man can possibly wear.


The sexist aspect from the male standpoint is when they move up to thousand-dollar suits and power ties as the only purpose of a tie is to say I Have a Dick and the purpose of the outfit is to intimidate anyone, man or woman, as the contest with men is who has the biggest one.  If you want to lose some sexism in the work place, go after that.  The ties are just ridiculous, out-dated Freudian conformity and there's no reason at all to keep those beyond the intimidation effect which is blatantly sexist.  And, if'n that's not true, tell me you can see a woman wearing a tie without laughing.

Enabling Automatic Login on Restart for Yosemite 10.10.3 - Update

When you use an iCloud Keychain under Yosemite, it's not possible to login / restart your Mac without entering your login password.  When no-one else uses your machine, that's a ridiculous nuisance.  Here's how to enable automatic login:

- Go to System Preferences
- Open Security and Privacy
- Change the login password
- Enable automatic login

Done


As to why you would use an iCloud Keychain, that will be pursued further as I intend to disable it.  Regardless of the encryption, passwords don't need to be anywhere but here.



Update:

Nope.  That still doesn't work although presumably it will if you use an iCloud Keychain.  Bleedin' stupid.  I verified iCloud Keychain is not enabled on my system and never has been.

Do it from Login Items in Users and Groups.  Unknown who changed that but I assume that was our friends at the Apple Store.  That function is what selects the account for the login.  If not specified, you will be prompted.

Explained:  it just dawned that Apple previously did a clean install of Yosemite 10.10.3 and the login prompt must have been the default.  Therefore, no-one changed anything as that's stock out of the box.


Note:  this is coming to you from the laptop via WiFi.  So far, the iMac hasn't been used for anything except reviewing System Preferences.

Once past the peek-a-boo, this will get down to some debugging.  Oh joy.  (write your own editorial for enjoying this like ...)

Even the GOP Doesn't Want to Hear Bobby Jindal's Bleating

When you consider the next governor of Louisiana has a felony conviction for something or other, it should give some idea of what kind of dog show they run in that state.  That Bobby Jindal thinks he has anything to offer anyone must have come from drinking too much bayou water but the amusing part of it to me is Fox News won't even carry him on their (cough) debates.

Another one ruled Too Useless for Prime Time is Carly Fiorina and that one is an obvious loss as well but it's amusing to see the filtering taking place already.

In short, Fox News has abandoned the GOP's 'cheaper by the dozen' approach and will 'limit' the debates to ten people thus guaranteeing the chance of any serious content from any of them is close to absolute zero.  Most of them will likely get more time in make-up than they will in speaking and that's a blessing for all of us when most say the same thing.

America wants you to take the elections seriously but they don't give many reasons why.

Yosemite 10.10.3 Was Crashed By Morning

That the iMac has crashed after less than twelve hours gives some idea of the level of amateurism of testing at the Apple Store.  That aspect is complete as they have been useless in the past (e.g. refusal to work on the laptop) and they are continuing the tradition.  Hipsters ... pfft.  Just another word for knowing too little and thinking too much of that knowledge.

The iMac just crashed again less than fifteen minutes after the first time.  So that pushes the review of the examination by the Apple Store from amateurish to completely incompetent.


The contact I made after my last highly-useless talk with the Apple Store will hopefully be more productive and that will start up sometime after 11 a.m.  Couldn't deal with it yesterday as I'm strung up like a snare drum after five weeks of it.  At 11 a.m. it starts again and hopefully this drives through to a fix.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Formation of the United Nations of America - Viva le UNA

The United Nations organization has been vilified by conservative Americans since its inception with typical statements being there's no way America will surrender sovereignty to an external organization.  That America expects this of every other country goes right past them.

The John Birch Society had a famous bumper sticker which became a laughingstock in the sixties but which has been resurrected since then:  Get US Out of the United Nations.  Now we deal with John Birch's demonic grandkid who wants to make a United Nations of his own.

The United Nations of America is well underway as that (cough) family includes any nation with a NATO base and America seeks always to expand that as part of the ongoing doctrine of Manifest Destiny.  America does this because it has a right to do this.  Thus far, no-one has any idea what justifies that position other than having the most guns and a prolific determination to use them.

An example of it is today's statement by Joe Biden that he's annoyed with European opposition to sanctions against Russia imposed by America.  The first question is who gives a shit what he thinks and why does he think anyone should pay attention to him anyway.

Whoops ... hold it on that.  I'm the only one who read the article.  No-one paid attention to him.


One of the war cries of Manifest Destiny was 'remember the Alamo' but what they don't remember is the Alamo was not in America but rather was on Mexico's land.  Texas became part of America through exactly the process the right-wing accuses Mexico of using now.  The Texas region was a target for American immigration and when they had enough people embedded, they took it for their own.  Alamo is in America now but it wasn't at the time.  That sort of thing doesn't matter much to conservatives as they, more than anyone, know there is no law in America unless you get caught.  Just ask the banksters.

The above is something you will absolutely never hear in American History class in high school.  This country has been whitewashed like a Huck Finn masterpiece.


As to why I write this material when it only makes people hate me, I'm accountable for whether my soul burns and how you dispose of your own is in your hands.  Whether there are Pearly Gates is not, in my context, relevant as the accountability is before you die and you'll know you will burn long before the lights finally go out for good.

Yosemite 10.10.3 Wars Return to the Rockhouse

The iMac has returned, problem unresolved, and I'm working up the heart to wade back into this Yosemite 10.10.3 war again.  I looked back and this started on April 22 so it's now almost five weeks the iMac has been a smoldering wreckage.

Apple Store was advised the problem was not resolved but I would be taking it forward with AppleCare.  I advised the guy that one fellow had suggested waiting for Yosemite 10.10.4.   (waves hand in his dismissal)  Sit down.

He laughed.  At least someone gets it and the campaign moves along.


"Once more we play our dangerous game"

That may be the best little-used systems programmer movie line ever.  They love to use expressions like 'lock and load' and 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning' and those are ok for phony bravado in the face of something which can only hurt you if it shorts out and catches fire.  'Once more we play our dangerous game' has more of an air of benign foreboding and I love that.

Putin Is Precisely Correct on America's Motives for Laying Waste to FIFA

The first question regarding FIFA is what business is it of the U.S. (i.e. none and the country doesn't even like European football).

The second question is why they proceed anyway.  That's the one Putin answers.  (CNN:  FIFA scandal: Putin accuses U.S. of 'illegally persecuting people')

The extension of that is why does America try to occupy every country in the world with NATO bases, ostensibly based on a threat from Russia but which doesn't really exist.  Even a cursory review of Russia's military arsenal makes clear it's defensive but the nuclear weapons can finish any war America may start.  They have no imperialist strike forces of the nature of U.S. Navy battlegroups and the U.S. is the only country in the world to possess such a thing.  During all that time, the deal has been with Russia in don't start anything you can't finish and Russia has the capability to finish anything.

That was fine ... until Obama started getting stupidly adventurous and now Ukraine has been turned into yet another American military disaster area.  Of course McCain says this is the best thing for America but he wouldn't recognize something good for America even if it bit him on the ass.

To all global evidence, there's nothing America starts that it can finish and the reason there is no plan beyond destruction.  Each country 'assisted' in the so-called War on Terror has been destroyed by it and not one of them is anything close to a welcomed member of the world community.

Putin is precisely correct.  America needs to back off, way the hell off.  They might even risk peace in the world if they did.

Father Bill Pruett of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma

Maybe you want to take a look at Father Bill Pruett of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma.  He was a good friend in the Army and I know he's a good and bright man. If he speaks, I will believe him.  I may disagree with some of what he says but I will believe his Truth in what he sees.  Politicos I don't believe for a moment as they seek only to curry favor with honest men such as Father Pruett.

There has been no contact although I have followed, with admiration, his career, devotion, or whatever you call it.  I've never been quite sure what to say as hey, Faddah, can God make a rock that he himself cannot lift it.  I'm sure he would be amused and he would know the source of the line.  I've been oddly afraid to get in touch with him but that means immediately only one thing: do it.

So, Faddah, can God, uh, lift a rock ...



Note: the above was lifted from a following article about politicos and which was updated after I originally submitted it.  I frequently do that with articles as I'll review them to further proof them and mistakes always get through.  Often I will add something at the same time.  In any case, the political aspect is trivial and they only speak of trivial things but this one takes me to Deep Thought.


It's not that I should get in touch with him but really I must as reviewing the evolution of perspectives could be a fascinating correspondence.  Perhaps nothing comes of it because he's become a hard-shelled philosophical turtle.  Sometimes that happens but he is the last in whom I would anticipate that.  He's a man of thought before dogma so, yep, the answer is the same:  get in touch.

He may be annoyed at the way I slam Oklahoma but his perspective on it would be absolutely fascinating.  He's right in the thick of it, dead center in the Bible Belt, so what you do see, Father Bill?


My purpose in contact isn't for guidance or support but rather I desperately need to find people who don't throw narrow-minded bullshit at me.  He has seen many things as I met him in the Army and he was not a priest at the time.  He has also served in Vietnam but not as a priest.


In fact, it would be wonderfully excellent to shoot a video in which the two of us were to talk of the State of Things.  Quite some time ago, G. Gordon Liddy, a clownish but exceptionally bright right-wing speaker, did a tour with ... get this ... Timothy Leary.  Although I did not attend, I'm told the conversation they had with each other was and you don't hear this one too often: scintillating.  When you have some bright people with sharply opposing views and they can talk without throwing things at each other, that can make a fascinating evening.  Politicians only shadow dance but talking with Father Pruett could be for real and I'm getting highly intrigued by the idea.

There is an odd reticence and that's unusual but the answer is still the same.

FIFA Steals Enough for Banksters to Tip the Hotel Staff

The crooks in FIFA are the current object of world outrage after they have solicited and collected about $150M in bribes from countries wanting to host the Olympic Games.  The scandal works perfectly for America and England as it distracts altogether from the banksters stealing that much before lunchtime and blowing it on hookers and coke in the afternoon.

What's really bugging America is it must have been the low-bidder for the 2018 Olympic Games and they will instead go to Rio.  That there is corruption in FIFA isn't a surprise to anyone but America's timing on doing something about it is amusing and even more amusing is that America thinks it has jurisdiction.  It's unclear why anyone listens but so it goes and now there's a front-page scandal.  Yahoo.  Join the parade.  Maybe they will follow this with another photograph looking up Lindsay Lohan's skirt, it wouldn't be the first time.

Greece has a right to be frosted as they invented the concept of the Olympics thousands of years ago and the modern international Olympics first came from Greece in 1896.  In all that time, the Olympics returned to Greece only one other time.  However, that time was in 2004, during the reign of the current corrupt-o-jocks.  Did Greece actually have to bribe FIFA to bring the Games back to Athens.

America hosted the Summer Games in 2002 and that also was during the corrupt-o-jock reign so presumably the same bribery existed as the claim is the corrupt-o-jocks have been at it since the 90's.

Nothing is said until thirteen years later.  Well.  That's unusual, isn't it.

How You Know Russia's Interest is Only in Defense

When you start considering the great threat to the United States said to be posed by the Soviet Union, consider looking for some facts of your own.  For example, did you ever look to discover how many aircraft carriers the Russian Navy supports.  What you will find is that either Russia or China has one but that's the only one.  I know China bought a used aircraft carrier from the Russians and that may well be the only one floating.  If it's not there are very few others.

What other conclusion can you draw than the military positions of both countries are defensive and not aggressive.  That Russia has as many submarines as the US means nothing as their only capability is to destroy the planet with their nukes as they can't do anything else.  They can't bring squadrons of fighter aircraft to regional conflicts as they don't have any mechanism (i.e. aircraft carriers) for delivering them.

As the GOP swears relentlessly the Russians are coming to destroy you, maybe it would be worth your time to ask just how they hell these wild-eyed GOP warmongers think the Russians will bring it to you.

In short, the only global war the Russians can fight is with nuclear missiles so, sure, keep screwing with them as the Bear has already shown what he will do to defend Mother Russia and you would be well-advised to learn from it.  The only aggressor is America and specifically the Republican Party as they still don't know Stalin is dead or that Communism hasn't meant anything in decades.


Note:  the GOP will tell you with immense passion of the incredible things US Navy submarines have done in the last fifty years.  Maybe you ask how would they know when all nuclear submarine missions are classified ... but no-one ever does.  They speak with great authority ... about nothing whatsoever.

Clinton Plays Religion As Quickly and Transparently as the Others

CNN tells us With scripture, Hillary Clinton wins over a voter but what CNN doesn't tell us is Clinton has already been clear she's disappointed the Iraqis don't share her enthusiasm for killing Muslims and she's been a warmongering harlot with a front row seat who was integral as Secretary of State in selling fighter planes to Pakistan.   She's the Obama equivalent of Rumsfeld and is just as guilty of enabling war crimes.

In other words, what she says about religion makes no difference whatsoever as her record shows clearly it does nothing at all toward any morality in her decisions.

Just as the GOP cannot dance away from what Bush did, no matter how hard Jeb Bush tries, the Democrats cannot dance away from what they did over the last eight years.  If this is what religion brings, the world doesn't need it.

Note:  this is not what religions bring but rather what politicos bring in religion (i.e. nothing of value).


There has never been such an overt display of simplistic fundamentalist religious philosophy in world leaders unless you go with men who wear dresses and hit themselves with chains (i.e. Iran).

Even Rick Santorum has said he runs as presumably he couldn't find a tent revival anywhere.  And Huckabee, King of the Failed Preachers, is in it and showing loyal support for the child molester, Josh Duggar.  If he read that in the Bible, just where the fuck was it.  They not only insult the country with their simplicity, they disgrace the religion with their transparent abuses and manipulation of it.


I've known preachers who were actually exceptional people but the current crop of politicos is not among them.  Maybe you want to take a look at Father Bill Pruett of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma.  He was a good friend in the Army and I know he's a good and bright man.  If he speaks, I will believe him.  I may disagree with some of what he says but I will believe his Truth in what he sees.  Politicos I don't believe for a moment as they seek only to curry favor with honest men such as Father Pruett.

There has been no contact although I have followed, with admiration, his career, devotion, or whatever you call it.  I've never been quite sure what to say as hey, Faddah, can God make a rock that he himself cannot lift it.  I'm sure he would be amused and he would know the source of the line.  I've been oddly afraid to get in touch with him but that means immediately only one thing:  do it.

So, Faddah, can God, uh, lift a rock ...

When Journos Call Something a Potty-Mouthed Play

To curse or not to curse: the problems of publicising a potty-mouthed play (The Guardian).

When you're a journo and you use an expression like 'potty-mouthed,' it's a good chance you need to review your career objectives.  Do I want to be a career prig, a government censor, or do I want to review art.  If the latter, reject it and start over.  You are not qualified with such thinking in your head.  At best, you could judge witches in Salem.

One of the plays in question is "Motherfucker in a Hat" and I'm sure that title has already traumatized your life or it likely will if you're as provincial as the journo writing the article.

When there's a Deeply Profound Issue in a single word, it should be readily apparent the problem is not in the word but rather in your puerile loading of it.

The complaint doesn't come from the Proud To Be Provincial crowd from some Banned in Boston neighborhood but rather from the country which invented the language ... and is now shocked by a single word within it.

How unutterably banal.  The Land of Shakespeare has come to this.  Send the journo a DVD of "Sound of Music" and you'll never hear from the simple-minded rubbishmonger again.


Of course the Puritans remain in England.  That's the country which invented those too.  As to the name of the journo ... what difference does it make.


Note:  I did not read much of the article as what point given the premise but I did see the author has no understanding at all that playwrights are fucking with him/her.  The question is asked about why they should give titles to plays when advertisers and reviewers will use asterisks to replace part of the name.

Consider that's exactly why they do it, Hambone.  They mock your standards.  Think about it and take as long you like.   Thank you for serving as a tool for them and if you listen carefully you will hear the playwrights laughing.

But look at the bright side ... you could serve as an understudy for Wolf Blitzer.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Advisory on OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 is Not Lifted

Based on multiple series of hardware tests all of which came up green, there isn't the faintest reason to believe the crashes on the iMac were caused by anything but software and, specifically, OS X Yosemite 10.10.3.  My system was rock-solid under Yosemite 10.10.2 and it exploded after going to 10.10.3.  It has been exploding ever since (e.g. twenty crashes in a day).  There is no clear trigger although Safari is up most of the time when I use the machine so it's conceivably the common thread.

My purpose is not axe-grinding as this will be pursued to resolution and it will be resolved.   That resolution will be published as opening the issue and then leaving it hanging isn't fair.

This is being pursued harder than the blog reveals because it would be boring to itemize but one thing I learned above all from systems programming ... whoops ... I mean the movies is 'maximum use of available resources.'


If your Apple desktop computer is newer than 2013 then likely the odds of problems decrease substantially but a good many reports I've seen from people describing symptoms as with mine were using a late-2013 iMac.  Older machines seem affected and this one is barely two years so that's highly harsh for incompatibilities to be materializing but that's the observation.

In keeping with that, I have not upgraded the laptop to Yosemite 10.10.3 and it remains stable.  That's how I discovered Final Cut 10.2 will run under that release.  Getting back to Yosemite 10.10.2 will be difficult but alternatively perhaps 10.10.3 can be fixed and then continue at the level.

More to be discovered and it will be posted.  The laptop takes minutes to boot but the iMac does it in less than thirty seconds.  The situation is crushing and I'm sure you can infer the editorial.  How I feel doesn't matter toward getting it fixed as I'm not the only one hurt by this and I'm keenly aware of it.

This is day-in / day-out and it will get fixed.  This is not a plea for help as there's nothing you can do but I do appreciate bearing with it as I have never seen a computer situation this bleak before.  It WILL get fixed as I'm nothin' if not determined.  I have played a guitar over forty years without a single groupie ever coming in through the bathroom window so determined is definitely covered.  This will get fixed.

(Ed:  is that really true?)

About the bathroom window, yes.

The NSA Doesn't Have to Be Omnipotent

The NSA only has to seem like it's omnipotent as then the terror spreads itself all without them ever changing the channels on their televisions.  For all you know, there's a pack of stoners in Bluffdale who are blowing joints and laughing until they cry when they watch the news.

FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) is the oldest game on the Internet and the only bigger hustle is Three Card Monte on the streets of The City.  Pro tip:  don't play, wiseguy.  You will lose.  They love it when wiseguys come to town.  That advisory comes from someone I know is one smart mofo ... but they still snaked him.  This is The City and they know this game going back generations.  There is no chance you will win unless they want it to happen.


Back in Bluffdale ...

Joe .... Joe ... check this:  they believed it.  They fookin' believed it.  Here, take a tok on this.  Man, they come up with some funny stuff.

Yah, I heard them say the other day Netanyahu is an NSA hologram.

He's not?


People worry so much about the NSA and them sending the black helicopters but you've got to figure if they send Seal Team VI then they're going to crash at least one of them and instantly your odds get fifty percent better.


There really is a Seal Team VI?

Fark, no.  bin Laden isn't dead but is playing in a punk band in Algeria.


Who is making up all this bullshit?

Anyone can.  They will believe anything.  Remember Benghazi ... or something.

"Painted On My Heart" - The Cult (video)

Some will say this is just pop.  Fine.  Let's hear Taylor Swift do it.  Pfft.

There are love songs and then there are love songs that kick ass.




Note:  the original "Gone in 60 Seconds" is the masterpiece as it probably still holds the all-time record for the most cars crashed in a movie in the shortest period of time.  Mostly I hate it when a movie gets Hollywaxed but this newer version came out pretty cool.

In the end, it's all about Eleanor.  Maybe you ask who is Eleanor but you'll have to watch the movie.  It's been out for over ten years.  Maybe you could fit Eleanor in your schedule.  I will tell you this much: her figure is indescribable.





Tip:  Eleanor is the hottest Ford Mustang ever built and definitely from the class made to be ridden by cowboys rather than high school dilettantes who only want a Mustang with an I'm-Not-Gay exhaust note but they never realize it doesn't convince anyone.

Outcome from Apple Store and Yosemite 10.10.3 - Mixed

Resulting in no surprise at all, the Apple Store reported the iMac has no hardware problems.  That's where we were once before and it resulted in a clean install of Yosemite 10.10.3 which crashed even with just a few Safari extensions installed.

Cutting immediately to the punchline, Apple cannot do a clean install for Yosemite 10.10.2 on this system and that version I know to be stable.

This was not acceptable and there is now contact with a gentlemen who is, in effect, an ombudsman for difficulties of this nature in which everyone says there is nothing wrong and yet the system still crashes.

It's conceivable all of this comes down to being poisoned by a single Safari extension incompatibility. As the system had run OK for a day before those were installed and it crashed immediately after the extensions were installed, it seems clear there must be something wrong with at least one of them.  Nevertheless, it crashed even after they were uninstalled and using the Safari utility to do it.

The situation is still grim but there is a prospect and I very much appreciate Chuck's intervention.  I don't know his last name and I don't suppose his first name is a security violation.  Hereinafter, he shall be known as Chuck the Big Gun from Apple.  He is connected and can ask for help from Engineering.  They're the ones who write the code and they need to know of this situation or they can't fix it for anyone else.  The system crashes so hard it leaves no diagnostic log so nothing was ever transmitted to Apple whereas the system otherwise reports every diagnostic with Apple's call-home implementation.

This may well result in a public service but, frankly, I'm a selfish bitch at this point and I just want it to run.  Nevertheless, if this debugging fixes it for other people as well, so much the better.

Again I apologize but fault doesn't even matter anymore.  Sometimes things will get dark with computers and you have to stay cool or you'll never get out of it.  The other choice is to roll over and spend the rest of your life playing canasta.  Um, thanks but no.  The battle continues and I apologize it takes so long but sometimes it gets that way.  As it stands, there isn't anyone who knows what's wrong with it and I'd even ask Santa Claus if I could find him.  That doesn't mean it's impossible, it's just a bitch right now.  Any computer can be fixed but they love to see you feel some pain first.  I tell you they hate us all but that editorial can keep for another time as it's ain't particularly funny at this particular moment.


As it stands right now, kit is all over the place from switching back and forth between the computers multiple times.  That leaves cables in disarray and consequently nothing much works.  That doesn't mean it won't but rather there's chaos from an in-between situation.  The laptop will move to the front of the house so I have some stable connection while further analysis takes place on the iMac.  I will pick it up in the morning and get cracking.

"How to Let Altruism Be Your Guide" (Matthieu Ricard in TED talk - video)

"How to Let Altruism Be Your Guide" is the left wing the way I see it as socialism is a voluntary sharing and humans really suck at it.  Ricard is rigorous in looking to see if altruism is real and, confirming what he said, it's been reported to me of baboons offering themselves to some predator in an altruistic suicide for the good of the tribe.

Living with less isn't such a huge deal as much of that is reducing waste.  That alone would make a tremendous difference.  I don't want to abandon the space program as mankind will go to the stars but I absolutely want to eliminate the thousands and thousands of gigantic SUVs which are incredible resource hogs and serve not so much for transportation but to proclaim an artificial sexuality on the part of the owner.  That kind of waste is ludicrous and it's insufferable in the face of widespread starvation in the world.

One of the biggest wastes for every country in the world comes in the military as peace is the most economical thing for the entire world.  These nuclear subs have been floating around playing underwater cowboys and Indians for fifty years.  At what point do you cut a deal and say, hey, Brother Vlad.  What say we shelve this stuff and build something we will actually use.  Nobody wants to use it because everybody dies so why should that be a hard deal to make.

Typically gainsayers will blow this off as bleeding heart babble but that's only from a short view of things.  The vision is long past the next election as there's a tremendous sentiment that the end of the world is coming and we're all screwed.  Either it's the Ultimate Holy War, some pestilence, or space aliens from the sky.  There's a cultural depression and there are many playing new-age Neros because they've got lots of jingle but the same sentiment exists everywhere.

There has to be a belief in the future before people will be willing to share anything as the first move anyone will make in a disaster is to gather what you can to survive.  There is no long view when you may not last the day.

The first move in any move toward increased socialism is to ameliorate the fear as people are bombarded with it and they're terrified.  When you can talk honestly to those fears, life will get one whole lot better for everyone.  Ricard presents clear justification for meditation and take what you will from his studies but one thing is certain:  it will do no-one any harm.

In the end it's about sharing and socialism is a voluntary sharing, it's so obvious it doesn't need an 'ism' at all.


I recognize the conflict in the resources I use to make electronic music and broadcast it and I'm aware of the hypocrisy.  I don't use much but I do use that ... which is all part of the overall mania for consumption.  There's no good answer without giving up what I do so I damn sure better play something that doesn't suck.

"Taking a Walk with Cat in Fort Worth" (video)

Cat and I have walked around in quite a few countries now but not so much in America.  This one isn't about music unless you count the birds ... and there are lots of them.  You won't see them but you will know they are all around.  This isn't downtown, there are no statues, and there is no modern art.  All of that stuff is around here but this is where people really live.

For security reasons, the house in which I'm staying is not shown.  That has nothing to do with the neighborhood but rather the Internet.




The audio is unusual and footfall sounds really do seem to be my feet rather than the camera jostling around as I didn't notice it or not much when walking over grass.  So it's unusual but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

The first house you will see has been in restoration for a long time as these aren't rich Yuppies doing it but rather people who come out when they can and slowly rebuild.  You'll see they are doing remarkable jobs on them.  This is not regarded as a good place to live because it's largely Hispanic but I don't carry a gun and I have no need for one.  Guns are attracted to booze, dope and money and, baby, I ain't carryin'.  It's just me, nothin' in me pockets.

A lot of people say this isn't America but I'm living in the middle of it and you'll see the flags.  Regardless of what you may think of overt patriotism, there's a bigger meaning to it here.  They face heavy opposition and they love the country anyway.  And assuming the people are illegal is vicious rubbish.  People tell me they see so much but they will have to open their eyes to convince me.

I hope you enjoy it.  Much love from both of us.

Superficial Christians Really Hate My Ass ... and I Love It

When Christians don't see their own irony, it's drop to the floor funny for me.  When they talk all this love your brother stuff and then start killing, bashing, and hating all over anything they don't like, it's like the most ludicrous freakshow in town and it costs nothing to watch.

What really pisses them right off if you ask them when Jesus said that.  Through the roof into the stratosphere they go.  YOU SATANIC BASTARD!

Wow.  Really?

So I say, yah, you tell me what's in the Bible ... but what did Jesus say?

That's when they bring out the grenade launchers.

Satan done took my soul and, Christian brothers and sisters, I'm goin' burn for eternity.

And that's because I don't support killing people, don't give a shit if men give each other blowjobs so long as I'm not one of them, and really don't care what parts people add to or remove from their bodies except for tattoos and body piercing which are foogly beyond things which slither on the ground.  Also, what do I care who gets married.  If you want the state in your life, that's your own twisted business.

I'd pay a big ticket to see them in nursing homes as that would be hilarious.  It can't be that tragic as they're not dead but all their silicone will be dragging on the floor, the piercings will have fallen out and the tats ... well ... they look so hot on wrinkled flesh, don't they.

Here's a nightmare for your very own, my children.  If those old fogies are movin', they're fuckin'.  Yah, think of it ... buck nekkid old tattooed fogies getting all sweaty with each other.  That'll put the fear of the Lord in you ... but ... who cares, they're all going to hell anyway.  You get the tats, you gots to burn.  It's in Leviticus.


Those old fogies also know things about tenderness that took fifty years to learn.  That's how they got to be such old fogies.


They say they never judge but they judge the fuck out of everything they see.  Well (stamps her little foot), that's not very Christian of you.  That one came a lot from a woman who was universally loathed in the neighborhood as she was dropping that crap on everyone.  It had nothing to do with religion, people just didn't like her because she was such a judgmental bitch.


Real Christians don't care what I think.  They believe whatever they want and I can believe whatever I like.  I'm wrong.  And I'm fine with that.  I think they may have a few disorders in their logic but they're fine with that ... because I'm fuckin' wrong.  That's not a reason to shoot each other but those crazy ones, those cross-burnin' lunatics, that's a whole different breed.

"Jesus Gonna Buy Me a Jetplane"

While the "Waiting for Death in Texas" video is not insensitive to the reality of people dying in these waves of storms in Texas, it is not sensitive enough and I won't release it.  Here's why:  CNN / Texas floods: More rain on the way as 13 people remain missing

The purpose in shooting the video was to show God some healthy contempt in the face of storms, lightning, and tornadoes which are all, according to the generally-accepted wisdom, acts of God.

However, we understand why God hates Texas as it keeps inflicting on the world Texas politicians and they invariably say they represent God.  Obviously they don't believe any God is listening or they wouldn't say the vile things they do (i.e. wipe out Mexicans, etc).


The following was not in the video:

Who is going to tell me Jesus ever said, man, I just fuckin' hate those sneaky Mexicans.  Don't ever trust those bastards in your house.

So, sure, it's not at all hard to understand why God is pissed.

You represent me and you say this shit. You put one piece of shit Texas preacher after the other on the television where he makes millions of dollars but here's a tip on that.  I never saw a fucking dime and I don't need private jet aircraft.  If you don't like the killer storms then talk to those creeps and ask them why they come.  Hot tip, cowboys:  if you don't like the storms, you'll really hate the frogs.

Maybe that's today's song:  "Jesus Gonna Buy Me a Jetplane"

But the Lord done threw it to the ground
Jesus bought me that jetplane
and I flew it all around
but then Jesus saw how we party
and he done threw it to the ground
He done threw it to the ground

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Final Cut Pro 10.2 Does Run Under Yosemite 10.10.2

This changes everything.

All I need from Apple is to put Yosemite 10.10.2 on the iMac and I'll put the system back together from there with no chance whatsoever Yosemite 10.10.3 will ever see it.

If they do not find a solid lead on a hardware problem then that's the answer.  Restore Yosemite 10.10.2 and I'll install every piece of software beyond that.  I needed Final Cut Pro 10.2 but I couldn't care less about Yosemite 10.10.3.  They were released at the same time but the idea of a dependency was apparently an illusion.  I've mentioned I couldn't back out because of Final Cut 10.2 and Apple people didn't correct me.  Most unusual.

Photos is a trivial replacement for iPhoto which was already so slow that I wouldn't use it unless it was for stuff I wanted saved until they resurrect a hairy mammoth.  It wouldn't surprise me if there's no dependency in that either but maybe there is some toy-specific code (i.e. iPhone, iPad).  Unknown but it doesn't matter much.

All the Euro pics are now in the Photos library so that would be a tragedy to lose but Cat and I already did that trip.  Much better to make another one than sit around to look at pictures anyway.

Final Cut Pro 10.2 will start on the laptop running Yosemite 10.10.2.  It's as slow as Congress debating whether the sky is blue but it works and more than just to start it and get past the splash screen.  I did not test any of the whizzy new features as the laptop would likely melt but it was stable in doing mundane things.

The nightmare view is I know the iMac is stable under Yosemite 10.10.2 as that system never crashed.  Safari would get sick due to Flash content on Web sites but there was never a black screen.  If I were to go back to that and then get a black screen it means I'm all the way up the river as I won't get the machine back until Apple is satisfied there is no hardware problem.  If the system then fails under 10.10.2 then that confirms there definitely is a hardware problem.  Given the nightmare this has been already, you've got to be ready for anything.

I don't anticipate the above happening but one thing I know above all:  the videos are not lost.  Unbelievable.

The other possibility is they do find a hardware problem and it's convincing.  Unknown how I'll pay for it and maybe it waits until payday but it will happen.  I can't do idle.  This is not mania but rather I hate wasting time.  When it's time to waste time then I cheerfully do it but all day long?  Screw that.  No way that can work.  And now it looks like that doesn't even matter.  Amazing how much things can change in seconds.

Unknown how Final Cut slipped through as I turned off automatic updates as soon as I saw the troubles with 10.10.3.  I'll chalk that up to a stoner error that permitted it through as my attention was on the iMac but it was a most fortuitous error.

It's major forward progress and that tastes pretty damn good after all these weeks.  Unbelievable.

Storm Blows On By Fort Worth

That got kind of exciting for a while and some big bangs but Fort Worth has been very lucky.  It's been quite a few years but downtown got whacked by a tornado one year.

The battery backup gets credit for a save as the power dropped but only briefly.

Zero casualties here in Fort Worth.  I'm not making light of it as there may be elsewhere in Texas.  They even sent an emergency flash flood warning out on cellphones.  Even for flood there's not a big concern as this area is at a higher elevation than the Trinity River by maybe twenty feet or more.  I'm concerned about flooding but not worried about it.

Here's hoping no-one was killed anywhere else in Texas.

"Waiting for Death in Texas" (video)

"Waiting for Death in Texas" is a video I shot with Yevette as we sat on the porch and watched for tornadoes and waited for death.  People really are dying from the storms around here but Fort Worth has been doing ok so far.

The video isn't uploaded as it would take a Star Trek to do it on this machine.  I have no idea how long a Star Trek might be but it seems like a long time.  Then came the flash:  Yevette has Final Cut on her machine.  This clip isn't dependent on any other so welcome to Final Cut, Yevette.  She's been wanting to tangle with it but hasn't had any particular reason to do it.  Once she knows how to do it then maybe she comes up with reasons and it would be interesting to see what she does.

There's no ego for me in the videos.  I enjoy doing them but my art is my music ... or it's not.  The videos can help tell a story but they aren't THE story.  It would be just as cool for me if Yevette were shooting video as she brings her own ideas of things she wants to see and that adds new blood to it, always good.

So that's a plan as that machine is much more powerful than this one.  It's the one in the Save the 2006 Mac Pro campaign but that is frozen for now as it's very bad juju to jack around another computer while the primary has its paws in the air.  It would be very cool to put the extra chips in there as they will give a huge boost to compute power but there are some Immutable Laws of Computers.  You never screw with a second one while the first one is down.

The reason for Final Cut is the video has some brief glimpses of Yevette and those aren't permitted either by her for her own reasons and mine because the video isn't to show our faces.  We're the pitiful, faceless voice of the Great Flood of Texas just before we meet our ends or get washed away to Cuba which actually wouldn't be too bad.

Whether it stays funny through an edit is the test.  Making a giggle one time is not such a big deal but it has to have some beef if you don't hate it before you're finished editing.

The demon on your shoulder tells you, man, this is complete crap.  After a couple of edit passes, maybe you agree, yep, it's complete crap.  Then you burn it.  Evolution in action.

This one may get chucked but that would be ok as we would just make another one and I think Yevette leans toward that anyway.  The next shot at it would be to use a static camera but that one has a much better mike and it's got a windscreen on it.  Using that one also means there's no chance of slipping and getting either one of us in it.  Her voice isn't so loud in this one but the other mike should handle that nicely.  I can fix the audio in this one but jacking the audio up and down can give a herky jerky feeling to it.

We'll see.  A video is sure to come of this eventually as there's not a whole hell of a lot else to do when the Big Cheese has rolled over dead.  So improvise, improvise.

Yevette thinks I jinxed us by shooting the video and now we really are going to die.  Uh oh.  I figure, wtf, if it happens, it's written already.  There's nowhere to go so kick back, smoke a bowl (she doesn't), and be cool.

Power is kicking in and out.  Taking the kit down.

Note:  I have no intention of dying and neither shall anyone around me.  Thems the rules and they're not negotiable.

The $100 Chick-Fil-A NO FAGS Gift Card

I didn't ask Chick-Fil-A to send me their (cough) love but they did it anyway and I send it on to you to feel the love, tolerance and understanding of the entire Chick-Fil-A family.

Tip 1:  don't spam me unless you are willing to accept the price for it.

Tip 2:  you won't like the price.



What do you suppose our conservative, chicken-eating friends have to say about Josh Duggar.  We've already heard from Mike Huckabee.

"The End of the World in Fort Worth" (music)

Yesterday I'm playing this bit because I'm oh-so-bummed and it was rippin' along pretty good, feeling pretty good about it.  There's no name but, what do I care, I just want to play.

The looper melt earlier looks to me like the LED is burning out.  It may be more but unknown.

Just now I wanted to know if the looper is at all functional and, yes, it functions fairly well.  It's a ten-year-old device so functioning fairly well is not so bad.

There's one thing "The End of the World in Fort Worth" video was missing and that was the song for the Final View from the Rockhouse part.  That wasn't a concern as it takes as long to record as it does to play it ... and I'll play it anyway.  That ain't no concern at all.

But then the epiphany.  If what happens just now isn't "The End of the World in Fort Worth" then what is it.  I don't mean the floods as those suck mightily but they're in a different part of Texas.  The song that happens now must be "The End of the World in Fort Worth."  What else could it be.

That doesn't mean it's a secret until I can make the video as I can upload a single-view video with unmodified audio.  The sound will be highly suck but maybe not and I will try that today.  I even took a bath ... well ... yesterday.


But then that damn Artist showed up and said it should have a deeper meaning.  I punched him and I'm not ashamed.  (There is no Artist.  He's a demon who sits on my shoulder busting ass on everything I do.)

If It's Necessary to Abandon Yosemite 10.10.3 Because Apple Can't Fix It

The video for "The End of the World in Fort Worth" wasn't supposed to be real life but so it goes.

What that means to me is I will abandon the existing video, existing video only, and start again shooting "The End of the World in Fort Worth" as that was the only live project.  All the other videos will be lost but starting again with the live one would work, at least for that and any other madness I should dream up in the future.  The expense is about two terabytes of video I shot myself but it's worth the price if it gets the music and video happening again.  Apple, obviously, will never be forgiven.

But they can continue with their toys so long as I can continue with my video and forever after I will cheerfully stomp iWatches like they stomped the cock-a-roaches in "Starship Troopers."  What kind of self-absorbed puke would even want one.  Tip:  the question answers itself.

That means restoring Yosemite 10.10.2, restoring the appropriate version of Final Cut and then freezing any Apple updates to the computer until there is a 14-carat, solid gold guarantee from Apple that Yosemite 10.10.3 doesn't break anything.  They say it runs on millions of machines but of course it does as it's over a year and a half later and Apple has sold all kinds of iMacs in that time.  Obviously they're compatible and, equally-obviously, late-2013 iMacs are not.

Note:  I have contacted PowerMax, where I bought the computer, and they confirmed they have heard of this problem as well.  Their recommendation is to go back to Mavericks.


This is not final but that's the recovery if Apple can't come up with a good answer.  It's brutal and it sucks worse than flies buzzing you while you try to sleep but that keeps music and video alive on the new used iMac and goes forward them there ... although not the software.  If I get video power back, I couldn't care less about the software, just make it work.

In fact, that would be the challenge to Apple, show me this happens with Yosemite 10.10.2 and the original version of Final Cut.  Given that I'll believe the iMac has a problem but right now I don't believe it for a millisecond.

Nevertheless, it can be fixed.  It's just that the fix sucks bad.  The music isn't lost but rather it's not accessible at any practical level.  I can't get to iTunes from the laptop at all without reconfiguring it.


(Ed:  what about shelving the video in case Apple issues a fix at some time in the future.)

That will definitely happen as it would be stupidity to delete it out of hand.  However, I still would not install the software until I was absolutely sure it worked or I just end up back where I am now.


It could also happen that the logic board really is sick and it only rolls over when the rare but just right combination of cosmic rays hits it.  What the hell, it could happen.  In that case, there's a decision to make as the question is to get it fixed here or send it back to PowerMax for an additional two weeks of downtime in shipping time alone.

Must wait and there's only one trouble with that:  I fookin' hate waiting.

Only Cranks Respond to Surveys

So this one did as Apple requested I answer a survey on the quality of my service experience.  Well ...

No-one who is satisfied with something will respond to a survey as what should you say ... had a great time, would have been better with hookers (shrug).

The summary was straight-up:

Late-2013 iMac ran perfectly until Yosemite 10.10.3 and has been crashing relentlessly ever since.  No-one has any idea what's wrong with it.  It is at the Apple Store again now.

The next question:  Will you accept a phone call about this survey.

I replied that I would.  It did not (cough) ask for a phone number, tho.


The thing that has me shaking in my boots is the Genius Bar heavy suggested a monitor problem but think that through.  The problem with a busted monitor is usually the opposite:  you can boot the machine but you can't see what it does.  Either that or it crashes during the boot but it's hugely unlikely that a busted monitor or a busted video card would prevent altogether the ability to boot.  The machine has a hot-rod video card in it but there was no sign of failure.  Sometimes it goes that way and they just die but the above still applies.  That's not likely to prevent booting.

That suggests card swapping and I don't have the money to bail it out of there even if they only have to replace a power cable.  I also don't believe I'll need it as I have zero reason to believe this problem is not due to Yosemite 10.10.3 or some incompatibility problem it creates.  Incompatibility with external devices has nothing to do with it as it crashes when they're not present.  External software makes no difference either as I didn't load any until the Safari extensions.  That shouldn't be too tough for Apple to duplicate as Apple is the front for the extensions.  They don't write them but serve as a clearing house to present them.  In other words, they are hardly tough for Apple to find.

The Safari extensions are:

AdBlock
Translate
Stop/Reload
SafariRestore (reload tabs from last session)

All are from the first page of the Apple Safari Extensions page.  There was nothing else in the system as no third party or optional Apple software was installed.  After installing the extensions, it crashed immediately and never really recovered.  Next stop was the Apple Store.

Yes, Sometimes I Do Crack Myself Up

My all-time most heroic exhibition of comedy featuring huge balls in the face of immense screwage was the radio broadcaster in London during the Battle of Britain and how he opened each show by saying, "You've got to larf!"

According to legend, he did not even take shelter during the bombing as he felt it more important to 'do his bit' to maintain morale.  Inasmuch as I still know the story and it's over seventy years later, I'd say he sure did do his bit.


Regrettably, I can't find a shred of confirmation the legend is true.  The story came from my ol' Mother and she was in Edinburgh at the time (luckily, Edinburgh was not bombed but Glasgow was) so it seems likely she would have heard of it.  She was not the in habit of telling fairy tales as she left tall tales to my ol' Dad because he was a grandstanding mofo since the day he was born.  So, even though I cannot find confirmation, I still believe, until specifically refuted, the legend is true.

Small things give big inspiration to me sometimes and I know always so long as you can still laugh, you're not completely screwed.


Don't for a moment confuse him with Lord Hawhaw as he was some asshole who went over to the NAZIs and broadcast propaganda for them in English with a mock upper class accent.

A Laughy, Daffy, Splashy Poem for a Ducky, Ducky, Ducky

Ohhhh,
I'm completely fucked
but ...

I love you, love you, love you,
little ducky, ducky ducky.
Will you, won't you
come along
and take a little swim with me

It's a laughy, daffy, splashy world
I'd love for you to see.
Will you, won't you
come along
and take a little swim with me

Ohhh ...

I love you, love you, love you,
little ducky, ducky ducky.
Will you, won't you
come along
and take a little swim with me