Decoration Day

Today it is called Memorial Day.

Never forget why they died.

WP

GUEST POST: From the pen of Jim Huston

Things have been a bit hectic the past two weeks and I see no need to go into detail- suffice to say, things have been hectic. Now, this morning, when I checked the Paranoid in box, I found a request from Mr. Jim Huston asking to if he could submit a guest post. Now, if you do not recall, a few weeks back, I posted a link to as well as a good portion of a post that CSMK brought to my attention entitled, A Defense of Defense. I was surprised by his request but more than happy to oblige this man, as I truly respected that short essay, and without further ado, I gladly post more of his words and thoughts.

WP

I am presenting some of my thoughts on Millions, Billions and Trillions. I have been simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the dollar amounts being used in all of the "Bailout" and "Deficit" articles and wanted some amount of scale, for my own understanding. I fashioned this as a narrative...

My ignorance knows no bounds.

I readily admit that I do not know the currently accepted definition of "man" or "mankind." The genus "man," as applied to the meaning of "human," is estimated to be about 2.5 Million years old. But do not worry; this is not about quibbling over the details of precise definitions. This simply is a preface to introduce some of my confusions.

I was reading a column that included some "ancient history," and wondered how old that history had to be, to call it ancient. A quick check for the term, taking only minutes in this age of computers, revealed that ancient history is considered to begin with the advent of writing; the ability, oddly enough, to record history; somewhat circular I know but as I said, is that anything to quibble about?

Another computer check found that the term "ancient history" validly applies to many civilizations, those of Persia, China, Rome or Greece, for instance. Recorded "Ancient History" itself, is said to begin with that of ancient Egypt, at about 4000 BC, for a culture that then lasted for 5,000 to 5,500 years.

My original wonder about the word "ancient" in relation to history was prompted by a column about finance and the current state of the economy; the budget and the bailout. And while you may consider this foray into historical age to be a tiresome digression, I was fascinated by the fact that in history, for the genus "mankind," the entire period that our species has existed on earth, mentioned no number larger than "million," and even at that, it was a paltry 2.5 Million years..!

Yet here I was reading figures in, not just Billions, but Trillions and the meaning of the numbers had begun to lose all meaning. Despite the fact that it is the primary function of numbers to express quantity, they had lost that value. One article told of Microsoft having the problem of possessing too much money; needing to find a valid use for its Sixty Billion Dollars in cash. That's $60,000,000,000, 60 followed by nine zeros!

The author evidently had the same problem as he attempted to give this some scale, with: "that is more than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Hungary. It is more than the GDP of Iceland, Luxemburg and the Slovak Republic combined. Kind of him, but this of course does not help me, as neither the population nor the GDP of these countries are familiar enough for size comparisons; it might just as well have said "A Bunch."

I do know that the US has a total population of about 333,000,000 people (that's 333 Million) and even I can mentally multiply by counting 333 to 666 to 999 to find that I remain, at three times our population, at 999 Million, still under 1,000 Million (one billion). Rounding that up to 1,000 Million still requires counting ten times; 100, 200, 300, ... 900, 1000 (to ten hundred million) to reach One Billion.

I am neither lazy nor innumerate, but I had demonstrated to myself that Bill Gates may be perfectly and properly compared to the early comic book character Scrooge McDuck, fond of swimming in his money bin.

While the real dollar value still escapes me, I am overwhelmed and impressed with the magnitude in the difference. But here is the quandary: I have only considered Millions and Billions, and most of the articles on the debt and the bailout are talking about Trillions of dollars, neither subtle nor academic; as the full phrase used by the senators is "Trillions of Taxpayer Dollars."

So; is the difference between Million and Billion comparable in magnitude to the difference between Billion and Trillion? Can it be expressed as a ratio: Million is to Billion as Billion is to Trillion? How might this be illustrated?

I did attempt some research on this. I saw the "dollars laid end to end to circle the earth" descriptions, complete with graphics. I've also seen the "dollars stacked some number of miles high" graphic, along with the lists of how much could be bought with this vast amount of dollars. None of these, for me, conveys the amounts or values in any meaningful way. But I thought of one comparison that could resonate for almost anyone: A Time and Dollars equivalency.

How old are you; how long have you been alive? How long do you expect to live? How old will your children or your grand-children be when the public debt is once again under control or paid off? Here are some relevant time/dollars:

One Million seconds is 12 days.
One Billion seconds is 31 years.
One Trillion seconds is 31,688 years.

I can now treat spending and time as equivalent examples: one dollar can be expressed as one second of time or one second may convert directly to one dollar. Thus, with 86,400 seconds (or dollars) in one day; in spending $1 dollar per second for 24 hours, you have spent $86,400 dollars.

One Billion seconds from your birth, you will be half way to retirement (to retire at 62 years or Two Billion seconds).

Microsoft's 60 Billion Dollars, spent at a rate of one dollar every second, 24/7 would last 1,860 years. That may be fine for that Egyptian civilization mentioned, but our country is just a bit past 230 years old.

And most amazingly, the difference in magnitude between Billions and Trillions displays that the human race was just beginning to walk upright and to acquire those traits that make them human One Trillion Seconds ago, or 31,688 years in the distant past.

That first Man, had he begun spending at the rate of $1 dollar per second, (86,400 seconds or dollars per day) and continued doing so, round the clock 24/7 to the present time, he would have both lived and spent only One Trillion seconds and Dollars in the entire history of the human race.

He would, however, have spent less than 1/10 (one tenth) of the National debt, which is now reported at 10.7 Trillion Dollars. A group of ten of those "first men" doing the same would still be short of the National debt by .7 Trillion - 700,000,000,000 (Billion) short.

None of this addresses "The Bailout" as I can find several differing figures (estimates) for that amount. Suffice it to say that it is well past and beyond my comprehension. Of course I am not alone; I do not believe that any congressman understands or appreciates these magnitudes any better than you or I do. I suggest that there are some congressmen and other politicians that cannot even write the figures for Billion or Trillion correctly.

The cost of the war in Iraq is stated to be: $255 Million per day. That is spending at a rate of $ 2,951.40 dollars per second for that one day. Said differently, it takes a full 12 days of seconds to equal 1,036,800 (one million 36 thousand 800 dollars) and that twelve day's worth of seconds is spent daily. Again said differently, that $ 255 million per day for one year, or 365 days, is: over 93,075,000,000 (Billion dollars) or $280 dollars for every man woman and child of our population. That calculates to $ 1,118 dollars for a family of four, just for the costs of that war per year.

I still cannot claim a thorough understanding of magnitudes expressed in such figures, but I know with a personal certainty, that neither I nor the taxpayers can afford to pay at the rate the government is spending. Period.

Jim Huston

Lessons from the Columbine School Shooting

Schneier on Security

A blog covering security and security technology.

Lessons from the Columbine School Shooting

Of course, there never was an epidemic of school shootings -- it just seemed that way in the media. And kids are much safer in schools than outside of them.

Though Schneier's post is a short one, it is the comments that are worth viewing- such as this one:

"It pays to be nice to *everyone* if the alternative is tomorrow they come back with a gun." Or if they do, have means of making that disturbed outsider cease and desist.

I carried a knife starting around 3rd grade through the entire rest of my life, until the invasive fools at the TSA made me not do so when flying. I never thought of the knife as anything other than a tool, until I was perhaps 22 or 23 years old. To me, a gun is no different than a golf club, a hammer, a knife, a car or many other potentially misused mechanical devices. The difference is the mindset of the person in control of the device. Focusing on the device is always going to result in failure to defend against the misuser. Having the means to thwart the misuser of the device will always succeed. As Robert Heinlein wrote, an armed society is a polite society.

Posted by: Toy at April 29, 2009 7:30 AM

Take note however, there are several other whose comments deserve rebuke:

The gun you're carrying completely fails to protect you against the influenza that I'm carrying.

Posted by: Pete Austin at April 29, 2009 9:38 AM

AND

@blake

"With the good guys disarmed by policy and law, the active shooters have free reign and don't stop until the run out of ammo or they meet armed resistance."

Will good guys always be good guys? How often do good guys go crazy? In a culture of fear and mistrust good guys will occassionally (how often?) shoot people because of a false alarm. It is a trade-off, and the heavier weaponry people carry (i.e. the less physical effort required to assault someone), the heavier the consequences. I wonder what the stats are or would be on 'lives rescued by brave fire-arms carrying citizens' versus 'lives lost because good citizen had an off-day'. I come from a very different culture and am glad to live in a country with no debate on the right to carry arms. I can see this is different from the USA, I see the historical/cultural reasons for it, and I believe it has dire implications.

Posted by: Stijn at April 29, 2009 10:56 AM

There are many good comments and it is good to see some very supportive posts- we just have to remember, there are lots of geeks (especially tech security geeks) who are armed, and they tend to know how to use them.

The CNN article linked at Schneier's post is nothing more than a Propgandasist Foot Soldier's attempt to glorify the STATE and the UK video proudly displays the indoctrination of our British brethren's children being taught to OBEY the STATE! Both articles tell us THE GOVERNMENT IS YOUR SAVIOR! When in fact we know that it is not. The CNN article fails to even mention the cowardly ONLY ONES who hid behind there cars ten years ago, just as they recently did in Binghamton, New York.

I do not think children ARE safer in the propaganda camps known as the public education system than outside, but a stupidly common mistake made by many, and some people are stuck with them, and then correct the propaganda at night at home, or in the car, or when walking the dog, or any spare moments of time we can make for our children to correct the bullshit from the propaganda camps known as the public education system.

WP

GO FUCK YOURSELF CASS SUNSTEIN!

U.S. regulatory czar nominee wants Net 'Fairness Doctrine'
Cass Sunstein sees Web as anti-democratic, proposed 24-hour delay on sending e-mail

Posted: April 27, 2009
8:41 pm Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has advocated a "Fairness Doctrine" for the Internet that would require opposing opinions be linked and also has suggested angry e-mails should be prevented from being sent by technology that would require a 24-hour cooling off period.

The revelations about Cass Sunstein, Obama's friend from the University of Chicago Law School and nominee to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, come in a new book by Brad O'Leary, "Shut Up, America! The End of Free Speech." OIRA will oversee regulation throughout the U.S. government.

Sunstein also has argued in his prolific literary works that the Internet is anti-democratic because of the way users can filter out information of their own choosing.

"A system of limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government," he wrote. "Democratic efforts to reduce the resulting problems ought not be rejected in freedom's name."

But wait, there's more!"

"We propose a Civility Check that can accurately tell whether the e-mail you're about to send is angry and caution you, 'warning: this appears to be an uncivil e-mail. do you really and truly want to send it?'" they wrote. "(Software already exists to detect foul language. What we are proposing is more subtle, because it is easy to send a really awful e-mail message that does not contain any four-letter words.) A stronger version, which people could choose or which might be the default, would say, 'warning: this appears to be an uncivil e-mail. this will not be sent unless you ask to resend in 24 hours.' With the stronger version, you might be able to bypass the delay with some work (by inputting, say, your Social Security number and your grandfather’s birth date, or maybe by solving some irritating math problem!)."

Take your tired, commie-ass elsewhere and both you and your idiot partner Thaler can stick your bullshit where the sunstein don't shine.

In fact, I am going to go dump a sunstein&thaler in just a few moments...

Angry and uncivil enough for you Nancy-Boy? If not, click the link you traitorous pansy.

WP

The 60s: Assassinations, a School Shooting, and Nazi Gun Control

The 60s: Assassinations, a School Shooting, and Nazi Gun Control

by Michael Gaddy

The 60s were a tumultuous time in America. There were the Vietnam War and its subsequent peace movement; the Kennedy assassinations; the Martin Luther King assassination, and the mass shooting at the University of Texas by Charles Whitman. The high-profile assassinations and the mass shooting prompted the government to lobby for stronger gun control, leading to the passage of the unconstitutional, NRA supported, 1968 Gun Control Act.

For those not familiar with this history, Mr. Gaddy lays things out quite well.

WP

Fuck the Earth Day!

A big thank you to Hammer!

WP

Gun Free Zones

You criminals pay attention!

A thank you to CSMK.

WP

The border for dummies

The border for dummies

National Post
Published: Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Can someone please tell us how U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job? She appears to be about as knowledgeable about border issues as a late-night radio call-in yahoo.

In an interview broadcast Monday on the CBC, Ms. Napolitano attempted to justify her call for stricter border security on the premise that "suspected or known terrorists" have entered the U. S. across the Canadian border, including the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack.

All the 9/11 terrorists, of course, entered the United States directly from overseas. The notion that some arrived via Canada is a myth that briefly popped up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and was then quickly debunked.

Informed of her error, Ms. Napolitano blustered: "I can't talk to that. I can talk about the future. And here's the future. The future is we have borders."

Just what does that mean, exactly?

Dear National Post (since there is no By-Line),

We in the united States would like an honest answer to both your questions but do not think we will ever receive honest answers.

However, I will try to answer, as many of us firmly think she was hired by the Kenyan Muslim because of the following:

• She is a Democrat
• She is a Woman
• She seemingly hates Herself
• She seemingly hates the united States
• She seemingly hates our shared English history and Culture

As for what it means, many of us firmly think she & the Kenyan Muslim are attempting to mitigate the facts that:

• Mexico wants our borders erased
• Mexico wants the Southern US because we kicked it's ass and then paid for the land
• Mexican MIGRATION, not IMMIGRATION is part of the plan to do so
• She seemingly hates Herself
• She seemingly hates the united States
• She seemingly hates our shared English history and Culture

I hope this helps clear things up.

WP

Tim Berners-Lee is right.

Plans by Internet service providers to deliver targeted adverts to consumers based on their Web searches threaten online privacy and should be opposed, the founder of the Web said Wednesday.

"I just want to know that when I click on a link it is between me and the Web, and the Internet service provider is not going to immediately characterise me in different categories for advertising or insurance of for government use," Tim Berners-Lee told a Web conference in Madrid.

"The postman does not open my mail, the telephone company does not listen to my telephone conversations. Internet use is often more intimate than those things," he added.

New software called Webwise allows Internet service providers to show adverts to their clients based on their Web browsing habits instead of based on the content of a single Web page as currently happens.

Of course, there are SO MANY who want to listen and it is not just governments.

WP

3 of 21

CSMK let me know-

Alaska Sovereignty Resolution on way to Governor

Posted on 21 April 2009

In Alaska, House Joint Resolution 27 is “Awaiting Transmittal to the Governor” as the State Senate passed it on April 19th with a vote of 19-0 (1 absent). The resolution previously passed the State House with a vote of 37-0 (3 absent) - and the revised version passed on the 19th with a vote of 40-0.

Read the final version of the resolution here:

SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 27 (2d RES)

Relating to the Sovereign Powers of the State

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and

WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS some federal actions weaken states’ rights protected by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and

WHEREAS art. IV, sec. 4, Constitution of the United States, reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and

WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S.Ct. 2408 (1992), that the United States Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS all states, including Alaska, find themselves regularly facing proposals from the United States Congress that weaken states’ rights protected by the Tenth Amendment;

BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution serves as Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; all other members of the 111th United States Congress; the presiding officers of the legislatures of each of the other 49 states; and the governors of each of the other 49 states.

I tip my hat to you Alaska and your legisture- now Governor Palin, do your people proud and sign it.

Texas Leg and Good Hair Perry- you listening?

UPDATE

CSMK & No-Neck brought me up to speed and let me know I missed something several days ago.

1. Montana
2. TEXAS - HCR 50 was announced by Perry April 9, and over 70 members of the house have put their name on this House concurrent resolution, currently it is open for public hearings.
3. Alaska

Thank you both!

WP