The appearance and reality of impropriety..

Lawdog, in his recent post on professionalism, highlights one level of inappropriate behavior that undermines good LE sorts everywhere...and apparently some sort of karmic floodgate was opened, when what do I run into but the rant blog regarding what sounds like a rather nasty situation in St Louis ...

Interesting....

Don't know quite what to do with this one - I just got the first blogvertisement/semi-spam, and I don't know if (just this once) I'll refrain from deleting it. I'm a sentimentalist, you see, and the product in question and some of its related IP tools were good friends of mine in my first IT kind of job - and while I'm mostly operating from the command line these days (there's just something warm and fuzzy and comforting about having it all out there in front of god and everyone where you can easily track back, step by step, error-hunting as opposed to the occasional "wtf did the client do" moment...command line enforces a certain precision), I remember the clients fondly and think that for folks who aren't either geeks or aspiring geeks, that gui clients that just make it all automagically happen, are just dandy...and sometimes even for geeks and geek wannabe's.

On other notes, I'm just not a drinker these days, so going out clubbing without good company rapidly grows boring at best and annoying at worst - particularly as I find I have less patience for the cliche's and the club bunnies with every passing year.

Dinner with a friend, good live music (I'm still trying to get to this blues club I've heard of down on the waterfront), and making the effort to try and think kindly of those as may, from time to time, annoy me as the years pass seems more satisfying these days than many of the other options out there.

Could be that maturity is setting in, or I've simply sinned with enough vigor and variety that in the immortal worlds of Lili von Schtupp ("Blazing Saddles") I'm just tired....

Lili von Schtupp - "I'm Tired"

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On the other hand, I did have a great weekend hanging out with a friend clubbing...so perhaps I'm not *entirely* grown up yet :)

FTP, a couple o' thoughts...

Once upon a time neither 'net, blogs, nor e-mail existed. Neither laptop nor desktop computer graced the land, and such computers as existed filled rooms and used funny shaped paper cards with holes punched in them to get information in and out of the behemoths - and someone to carry the boxes from computer to computer. Big boxes.

This quickly grew tiresome, and lo. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) was born, a way to send information over a wire in a standard/predictable fashion that folks at the far end could predictably and reliably read - a fax machine for computers. FTP was and is a manual (do it by hand) way of doing things, without any (in the modern sense) servers to handle fancy things like addresses - if you want to send it someplace you put in the address yourself!

The first e-mail was simply very small FTP transfers between machines - Bob in Seattle making a copy of a note on an engineering spec to Billy Joe in Atlanta and sending it along with the engineering logic. That sort of thing.

Pretty quickly, however, folks figured out that just leaving a file for someone to stumble across and read at their convenience (or when prompted by a phone call) was pretty much for the birds, and the beginnings of modern e-mail wafted up from the depths of ingenuity.

Still...e-mail was always for quick/small messages - not for serious file sending. Even today, with larger hard drives and file size limits, most e-mail servers will choke up at attached files over 1mb (megabyte) in size, or not long after, size-wise.

FTP remains, for all its' age and kludginess, with it's cousin SFTP (Secure FTP), pretty much king of the pile for moving big files like pictures and sound files back and forth - or moving an entire hard drive across country - just start up the FTP session, point the files you want moved at their destination, and go away while it automagically happens. You can get fancier, but that's the fundamentals.

And really, with modern clients and servers, FTP isn't all that kludgy - it's just another tool we've got (the battleaxe compared to the scalpel) to move information back and forth, reliably and far faster than big boxes of paper. Heh.

Just thought I'd mention it, as some of us do share pics of kids and grandkids and cool guns and neat toys - and start beating our heads against the e-mail size limits at some point, either just bot being able to send what we want, or our account fills up and bogs down - neither of which bites you in FTP.

Latest News

Things are better on a number of fronts - whilst I'm still on (conceivably somewhat infectious) from direct hospital visits, I am improving nicely due to the twin blessings of steroids and anti-virals in conquering the vast annoyance that is Bell's Palsy. Have most of my face back under my control now, and consider this a real benefit.

Dad is doing better, from reports - I'm hearing he's on the respirator part time while he's fighting off an infection, but despite a challenged swallow reflex and the tracheotomy, he is more alert and has better color than he has had in some time.

Off in the wonderful world of work, well, I'm learning lots and my eagerness to learn has gone a whole week without being a tight rope stretched across the the hallway for myself and other, more innocent sorts, to trip over and and do the concrete hug.

Presently, I'm re-exploring after some time away from it, basic linux bash scripting - or "how to make it all happen automagically" in relationship to some otherwise very tedious tasks that because of their scheduling and very tedium, tend to generate human error.

This week, things are looking up, and today I get to clean out the garage!! Wallrat and another friend will be over to help load and keep me out of trouble, and a trip to the dump will be made. And perhaps a trip to storage. And a barter trip with the rental van to pick up a futon for friend #2.

Freedom isn't free...

Occasionally, I'll read something, and it will sit and gnaw at me for a couple of weeks or months until I can formulate some kind of response or somehow make sense of it.

Thus it was when an individual I respect as both a writer and an individual knocked out a piece attempting to carve out an exception to MYOB for seatbelts and motorcycle helmets. I could easily, softy that I am, see the humanitarian and fiscal sides of state intervention in requiring vehicle operators to ensure that they and all passengers wear seatbelts while an enclosed vehicle is in operation, and helmets when a motorcycle-style rig is in action.

The fiscal and humanitarian arguments spoke to me, orating on the horrific human and financial costs of brain-injured survivors and the needlessly deceased - formerly contributing members of society struck down in their prime, immediately reduced from functioning parent/child/caregiver/citizen/etc to dead or dependent for a lifetime of intense care.

Yet something troubled me about the regulatory approach, and initially I thought it might simply be that I get twitchy around the word "regulatory". Most regulation, after all, emerges from an honest (if misguided) belief by the originator(s) that a given problem can be resolved or prevented through careful regulatory application of the dead hand of the state - regardless of the said regulations real world effects after the law of unintended consequences kicks in.

For the classic horrible example with which most are familiar, Carrie Nation and her Temperance league were not setting about prohibiting alcohol as a means of promoting criminality and organized crime.

Though many laugh at them today, they saw before them the very real problem of addiction (to alcohol, in this instance) and its' effects on the alcoholic, the alcoholics family, and those in the vicinity of the out of control alcoholic - and made the logical leap that if they could remove the implement of addiction (alcohol) that all would be well with the world, as the addict would be deprived of the EEEEEVIIIIIIILLLL substance that turned them into a beast.

Didn't quite work out that way. Left, I think, a lot of us rather twitchy about the whole concept of regulation and unintended consequences. Supply, meet Demand, and his cousin, Greed.

More recently, the "War on Drugs" and the latest of the genre (the incipient "War on Tobacco") are in the process of working out about as well. There are many producers and suppliers of illicit recreational substances that, should they contemplate such things, are immensely grateful for the unintentional price supports for their products provided by the laws within the United States, and our fine nations tireless efforts to export those laws abroad.

All of which brings me back to my contemplation of honestly well-intended laws requiring seat belts and helmets. I suppose my take is that, hard-hearted as it may seem, the spectre of state intervention has sufficient historic downsides that I can get really supportive of educational efforts, but oppose governmental punitive measures with equal alacracity because of their tendency to backfire and splatter unintended consequences all over the landscape.

And so it goes...

Woke up last Weds with what felt like a bug bite or a hive slightly off-center on my back, and was quite bothersome as I dealt with that as my workplace presented high adventure. A rash spread out to about 2" or so, but I thought nothing of it...

Woohoo.

Sunday, I woke and about mid-day discovered my left eye was "blinking funny" and not closing properly. After much suggesting I was over-reacting, I nonetheless called the insurance nurse line where an RN walked me through and suggested that Bell's Palsy and shingles were possible, and that I should call the on-call doctor. I did, and he basically said don't panic, see someone in the morning.

I made an appointment for 10:45 the next morning. But as I was in the office, a co-worker pointed out my left face was drooping...as if I'd visited the dentist. I'd noticed some tingling, but since I had an appointment anyway...but given my Dad's recent adventures, was seriously distressed about potential stroke issues...

Got going, went to Dr. early, he saw me, and sure enough - Bell's Palsy with shingles (thankfully mild, thus far) for salsa. Also had a little lecture for me about appropriate use of the ER...

Summarized as "if bilateral symmetry goes wrong, get your ass to the phone, call 911 or make someone do so, and don't muck about - and don't try and drive yourself - and don't listen to anyone that tells ya otherwise!"

Heh. I suppose I do take the butch thing a little far...hopefully the Bell's will resolve favorably.

A few brief thoughts

It's late, so I'll keep it short. Others have covered the "remembrance" aspect of 9/11 far better than I hope to, and at far greater depth...thus, another path.

I remember the wonder as a child of going with my father to the airport to wave goodbye as he departed for, and returned from, his many business trips. He always brought Planters Peanuts for my brother and I from the flight on the trips home, and every visit to the airport was precious watching the miracle of those great big planes taking off and landing. For years, whenever I traveled, a bit of that wonder remained with me every time I flew or picked up friends at the airport.

I remember privacy, the aftermath of the freedom of speech movement (that miraculous time when it seemed one could say anything without fear of a federal agent turning up to chat), a time when our national pride was in resurgence.

I remember the day when it began to crumble, when out of fear and a need to appear to be doing something our leaders gladly passed the abomination of the Patriot Acts.

I miss flying and being met by friends and family at the gate. I miss not having to carry ID and the spontaneity of ticket counter sales. I miss the checks and balances of competing agency interests prior to the mutant stepchild of Homeland Security. I miss bookstores and libraries who didn't have to worry about getting "National Security Letters" to cough up your reading habits because someone needed to look busy.

I am a firm believer in "you break it, you bought it" - we clearly needed to have a little chat with Afghanistan after 9/11. I am less sure of the need for our chat with Iraq, beyond the eternal truth that it is better to squash the villains whilst they are small and have not yet precipitated multi-continental conflicts. I am sure, in both instances, we went in (necessarily or not, an argument for another day) and stomped some rather bad folk, and in the process busted up the allegorical bar.

Honor requires we pay the barkeep. We need to commit the troops and treasure to restore both nations to a condition where they are at least vaguely self-sufficient, and not terribly much worse off than prior to our arrival, sans a few missing villains who will likely be replaced by eager volunteers.

We lost lives on 9/11 in as big a peacetime tragedy as I believe we've seen in the U.S. - but then we got busy about it, and threw a lot of what makes life worth living as an American away. "May I see your papers please? Do you have a permit to chance your residence or travel?"

Thompson for President. Perhaps he can slow the slippery slide to perdition.

New Link

You'll have better luck if you've a livejournal account , but if you can see it, Wallrat is a man of wit, gentle humor, and great technical knowledge. And a good friend. Read & enjoy!

And how's Dad doing?

Was over at the hospital tonight, left Dad a note as he was zonked off in happyland. They are currently sedating him in the evenings.

Nurse told us that they changed the canula in his tracheotomy (the tube thing) and he is requiring less suction; it is yet to be determined if he is (a) simply starting to control his own secretions or secreting less, (b) a bright shiny new canula is all spiffy and making things better, or (c) some combination of the above. Social worker discovered from Mom he had his dentures there, and first session post-discovery with lipreader was apparently improved.

He is quite weak, and this concerns both Mom and I. Depression is an ongoing issue for him, so I've suggested to the relatives that keeping upbeat cards and letters coming is a *good* thing as Mom will read them to him and they seem to cheer him. He has his "talking computer" I built, but is not presently either up to, willing, or able to use it (weakness, remember?) ... it's hard to tell which.

Mom is doing reasonably well, though pushing herself quite hard - Tuesday was the first day she'd missed visiting the hospital since this all began back in mid-June. I'm very pleased that she is driving again and broadening her horizons, but somewhat concerned regarding potential exhaustion - which seldom ever increases ones effectiveness.

On Sen. Craig

I've given this one a bit of thought, and can't say I care much for it. Yet forward through the flaming hoops of slime we shall tumble, in hopes it will be educational (or at least, having vented, I can ponder other imponderables).

First off, "ewwwwww" is a miserable basis for legislation. God knows it's tempting, but it's a slippery slope with rocks at the bottom. Personally, I would tend to favor requiring licenses for spandex and tight-fitting garments on aesthetic grounds - but where would such a thing end? Law should and must address injury, economic or physical (i.e., measurable) to some individual, and only then should it factor in such immeasurables as psychological damage and such.

Then let's look at the charging specification, shall we? The arresting officer states Sen. Craig engaged in behavior "often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct."

Oh, goodness my. If we are to see even-handed enforcement here, there won't be a singles bar (gay or straight) open in Minnesota by Friday. Perhaps I'm just hopelessly libertarian, but to me, any time one competent adult communicates to another competent adult a desire to engage in sexual conduct (say, in 20' letters of fire written across the sky - or perhaps more subtle mechanisms), unless one of the adults is *me* or my to-be-fondly-hoped-for spousal unit - it promptly becomes neither my business or anyone else's.

There are exceptions to the above rule. If someone is overly insistent in their amorous intent once declined, it is only reasonable that it become a matter of police interest; similarly, if force is used; again, if one of the parties is over-enthusiastic in expressing their disinterest in a liason (initiating the aggressive use of force is BAD, after all). But simple queries of, with greater or lesser diplomacy and verbiage, "Hey, wanna ____?" seem logically covered by freedom of speech, though they are frequently a bit blunt.

If I don't have to watch, listen, participate, or take notes on technique - I don't see how I have any interest in the matter. And neither should a police department with limited resources.

Tacky is not a crime, or entire regions of the nation would be depopulated and there wouldn't be enough jails to hold the guilty.

And then we come to Senator Craig, specifically. Sen. Craig is, in my estimation, a bit of a toad. Pity about that. I am seldom a fan of anti-gun politicians, nor am I any more a fan of anti-gay politicians. Sen. Craigs record speaks for itself.

Nonetheless, out of fairness, let us look at the possibilities. Trying *really* hard to be kindly and charitable, here.

First off, it could be that the good Senator is simply a dork. Coming from Idaho, certainly no hotbed of insurrection by the Festive Nation, Sen. Craig may very well have been *unaware* of the significance of his conduct to the same extent that many of the heterosexual persuasion are unaware of the "hanky code" of yore, or a fair amount of other rather specialized history and triviata in the LGBT community. Could be the man is simply dumb as a stump.

Secondly, let's look at where the man comes from in terms of both time and place. Sen. Craig emerges from the *very conservative* State of Idaho, a place where unlike say...Houston, Seattle, Minneapolis, or Toronto of today (recall, he's not precisely a youngster, and his values and world-view were formed a good while back), it's much easier to pretend *really hard* to be what you want to be (straight & accepted & successful) and do the whole "get married, try to have kids, and fake it" bit - particularly when in the Senator's long-distant youth he was coming to an understanding of the world...and explain away occasional "slips" as misunderstandings (drunken or otherwise), somebody elses fault, or temporary lunacy.

Given that frequently the "pretend really hard bit" involves going way the heck overboard in the opposite direction (taking an often physically violent, punitive, bigoted stance against LGBT folks), I wouldn't be really all that surprised if Senator Craig was an old-school closet queen.

The problem, though, with the "pretend really hard" approach is the cost. More than ever, in an era of rapidly diminishing privacy, secrets will out. And, even in conservative Idaho, denial can only be sustained for so long by even the very most understanding spouse/child/friend/acquaintance. There's an upper limit to the number of possible misunderstandings before certain questions become rather....obvious. Usually followed by a few rounds of "I'm not gay, never have been, never will be" by the closet case in question.

And once the biowaste mets the rotating oscillator, there is plenty of devastation, hurt, drama, and pain to go around for everyone. Divorce, ostracization, and more!

Faced with (in that era) ostracism, criminal charges, abuse, and poverty should he remain in Idaho on the one hand; vs. leaving family and friends behind as quickly as possible and building a life someplace more accepting; vs "pretending really hard" - in this scenario, a callow and somewhat shallow Craig voted for "pretending really hard".

A lot of folks have "pretended really hard". Just enough have gotten way with it to offer false hope to the desperate. Usually it ends badly, and in todays more accepting environment (in most areas, and if you're not in one of those areas, it is far easier to get out to someplace more accepting today - if nothing else, there are more such accepting places) it is thankfully a less common occurance.

I'm not particularly offended by Sen. Craig. Depending on what facts eventually come out, I may feel sorry for him as a relic of a past era; I may giggle and think a busybody bigot got precisely what he had coming to him; I may gasp and wonder "how could he not KNOW better?". Might even be a combination thereof.

Only time will tell.

Murphy, Romance, and Gay Death

Whingeing (sp?) is a fine old tradition, and one gloriously indulged in the blogosphere, so it's time for me to do my small part.

In a world where "gay dating death" occurs for the most part on one's thirtieth birthday, the prospects get a little thin on the ground something over a decade later - even considering the currently distorted demographic.

Between the two-legged petri dishes, the bugfuck crazy, the well-marinated in various recreational substances, and finally, the ones that're already hitched - the ones both available and interesting are somewhat limited in number.

This, of course, is where Murphy arrives on the scene giggling madly at his latest madcap prank - of the remaining number of potential mates, barring hell freezing over, there will either be a distinct lack of chemistry, actual visceral repugnance (as one observes the howls of terror from the dogs and small children shrieking over the horizon after exposure to a regrettable visage or fashion sense), or other factors shredding any realistic hope of romance.

That's not to say there aren't good folk and fascinating conversationalists amongst all of the above; just a distinct shortage of marriageable, or even dateable sorts.

Grr.

That will be the kvetch for the day. That is all.

Feh. In the cool gray light of morning, when less cranky about long walks chasing urban transit and other matters, it seems only fair to admit that I've my own share of flaws and "unavailabilities" that contribute to events. Simply, like an old pair of jeans that're on the verge of falling apart, they're worn in and comfortable and haven't irritated me lately. (edit 0700, 08/29).

A brief introduction...

I really shouldn't be so greedy, keeping CrankyProf's blog full o' erudite snarking all to myself. So I won't. Read, share, enjoy! And good luck to the Squeaker!!

Ninnyhammers

State Assemblman and State Senate candidate Mark Leno graciously provides us a link to his campaign blog where we can all make our opinion of his stand to protect the residents of the City and County of San Francisco from the dreaded scourge of exercising their rights and being treated like adults.

He proposes to ban gun shows from the Cow Palace, a facility owned by the State Department of Agriculture and thus outside the reach of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his deeply misguided (and costly) attempts at a San Francisco wide gun ban.

The good folks at Pink Pistols (a LGBT pro-self-defense group) publicly took a stand against this silliness in 2005 during the attempt at the Great San Francisco Gun Ban (overthrown with the gentle help of a federal judge and the Second Amendment Foundation in 2006), but the misguided sorts seem to be coming back for another go-round.

Now, surprising as it might be to some, I actually have a nice word to say about a Democrat. State Senator Carole Migden - she's not Mark Leno. While not without flaws, she's not Mark Leno. While bereft, as far as I can tell, of any particular virtue...she's not Mark Leno. Helpful kinda guy that I am, I'm even going to provide a link to her campaign website where folks can donate.

The basic reality here is that for the foreseeable future, San Francisco and Marin County is going to continue electing whacky folks that'd be considered utter loons in the vast majority of the rest of the country. (See: Nancy Pelosi) Our sole hope is to contribute where we legally can (and yes, I know the argument "it's my money, dammit, I'll give it to whom I please" - it's just various judges and legislators disagree quite unpleasantly), and speak out loudly and with derision for the very worst of the lot.

While I'm a strong supporter of same sex marriage for fairly non-intuitive reasons, I'm also a big supporter of folks being able to defend themselves until the nice folks with badges and flashy pretty lights show up to take over the show - and this leads me to the notion that Newsom and Leno (among others) have crossed a line.

Specifically, a line sufficiently broad to require that I at least speak my mind in the most public venue available to me, and share my unvarnished opinion thereof - and encourage others to take such lawful actions as are available to them to remove these ninnyhammers from public life.

MYOB

The laws of probability dictate that even the whack jobs and the conspiracy theorists get it at least partially right now and again, more or less in the same way that a broken clock is right twice a day. Thus it is with a certain broadly derided blogger who expresses reservations regarding the RealID act - RealID is a bad thing, though for completely different reasons (and much more rational ones) than she cites.

RealID creates a National Identification Card via devious means, inflicting an massive unfunded mandate enforced with punitive measures against the non-compliant upon the states to create a standardized identification card out of their former drivers license programs and generates four main rational arguments against itself, with a plethora of lesser arguments in opposition.

Cost leaps out right away as an issue for all those who understand the notion of TANSTAAFL - the bills must be paid, and given the distinct lack of a National ID fairy flitting about the landscape dispersing nine figure sums of cash, the burden will fall almost entirely on the already cash-strapped states - to the tune of 120 million dollars a year, on average. Financially alone, RealID is a very bad notion. One reason that 17 states have passed legislation barring participation in the RealID scheme.

States Rights. Once the trite and discredited creed of apologists for the Old South, more and more folks in the West and the unfallen Northern states have hearkened to the old call in recognition that a dynamic tension and division of powers between and amongst the states and the federal centrist government is fundamental to preserving the basic freedom and diversity that allows each state to screw things up in it's own unique fashion (allowing fifty potential chances to get things right) as opposed putting all our national interests in the single basket of a top-down national government. RealID is a hefty step forward towards that top-down hierarchical structure of a national government simply instructing subordinate bodies.

Privacy. Because of the structure of the proposed RealID program wherein RFID chips with weak encryption are utilized carrying key personal data, a broad array of private and governmental misconduct becomes possible including enhanced opportunities for identity theft, improved stalking opportunities, indiscriminate commercial/private/governmental tracking of location/transactions/etc, and a fundamental breakdown in the concept of privacy (barring a warrant) from governmental and other intrusion. This does not even begin to contemplate the inevitable database intrusions and inadvertent (and occasionally malicious) data exposures.

From our beginning as a nation, a fundamental tenet of our national conversation is that we are all innocent until proven guilty in a court of law - accompanied by the equally important tenet that we are, in lieu of due legal process, secure in our papers and belongings. RealID reverses all this when, unless we take deeply inconvenient and questionably legal steps, our every move through life is tracked directly or through inference and maintained in massive national databases available to any schmo of a clerk in some organization trying to look busy.

For a particularly painful example, let us contemplate our lives as gun owners. I choose, because I have a dear friend in NYC, to visit dear friend. No problem thus far. However, the NYC Mayor, being a non-fan of private firearms ownership has implemented a plan to ensure his cities safety from bad thoughts.

He has instructed NYPD to implement a search of all incoming passengers data against the national databases containing CCW licenses, ammunition purchases, and firearms purchases in the last twenty years. Having bought a nice .45 LC revolver in the last year, and shooting it regularly, and made these purchases using my visa card...as soon as I board my plane in Portland, I'm targeted for a *very special greeting* from NY's finest on landing at La Guardia.

You can do wonderful things with data, just like any other tool, but you can also misuse data manipulation in direct proportion to the potential benefit.

Oh, those 17 states? They cover the political spectrum. Try Tennessee, South Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, North Dakota, Washington, Montana, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine. (Courtesy of the Epic website.)

By the way - MYOB is "mind your own business". My government doesn't *need* to know what I own, where I travel, or to have the authority to deny me the right to travel until such time as they can get a judge to go along with the deal in public. Nor does any government I'm terribly comfortable with supporting. MYOB. (MYOB isn't mine...for it's origin, look to Eric F. Russell and "Then there were none".)