The Short List - Political Criticism

Why is it perfectly acceptable to vilify George W. Bush for his presidency, and that is considered socially acceptable, but attempt to vilify Barack Obama and you face extreme criticism and are often cast as a bigot or a racist.

I don't understand this. Especially when I consider the things that those who hate Bush have touted that he "ruined", "adversely affected", or as some have said "compromised". Here is a short list of such things as compiled from a liberal democrat's site that goes on and on about George W. Bush. Apparently that author holds that George W. Bush is a villain in the following areas:

• The truth
• America as we knew it
• The Constitution of the United States of America
• The presidency
• The moral high ground
• The presidential oath of office
• An independent press
• Accountability in government

Now these are just some of the reasons given on that site. Most of the rest were lists of names, I don't know who most of the people are. I presume Republicans of some infamy in their eyes. But what about this short list in light of the first 1.75 years of Barack Obama?

The Truth

Obama promised, repeatedly promised, to have an open administration and government. In his own words "encourages accountability through transparency," and said: "My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government."

But what happened when his own efforts were in jeopardy of passing? Closed doors, secret meetings, outright bribery, and in some cases coercion in the passing of "health care reform". Oh but some protest, "that was not the president's doing" they would say. Oh really? When did the president tell them to open the meetings, allow Republicans to be present and contribute, and someone tell me when he told them to create the bill with enough time for people to actually read it before voting on it? He did not do those things because it suited him not to.

He cannot hide behind the Congress and say "they did it". The buck stops at the white house. And for a president to promise transparency as he did, there you go, an outright lie.

America as we knew it

The liberal democrats in office, under the leadership and goal setting of Obama, have attempted to completely change the America I grew up with. Was America about government takeover of business? Was America about ramming legislation through the process that the public was at best split over? Considering health care, the nation was split and it is still split. That is hardly a mandate.

What about American borders? What has Obama and Congress done to protect our borders, specifically the southern border? Nothing. They are using the issue as a political token to get immigration reform. When did America allow open skirmishes with armed foreign groups to occur on our soil. This is happening now. When the governor of Arizona asked Obama for help securing the state's borders, she was urged to "be his partner" in working toward a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration system. There was no help. No troops. No fences.

This is not America as we knew it. Would any president up to and including George W. Bush have allowed armed insurgents to engage in open warfare on our soil without a response? No. Not one.

And how about blatant socialism? And please, taking over corporations, running the health care system, those are socialist actions. Go read your high school civics books. Those are examples of socialism.

The America I knew and grew up in was not socialist. And I pray it never will be.

The Constitution of the United States of America

This is a particularly tricky issue for Barack Obama. He has already openly violated the constitution on several points. here are a few:

• Violated Article 1, Section 6 by attempting to vote Hillary Clinton a pay raise while waiting for her to become Secretary of State. It is against the constitution to do so.
• Violated Section 9 by taking Chairmanship of the UN Security Council, it should have gone to an ambassador and the constitution requires a congressional vote to approve such a title for the president.
• Violated Article 1, Section 2 by attempting to give the census job to his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. It was not within his authority to do so.
• There is no constitutional support for the appointment of "czars". Obama has appointed numerous czars to oversee issues that are constitutionally within the realm of the legislative branch of government. Their existence is constitutionally wrong.
• Violated the 1st Amendment by the confirmed attempt to silence Laurie Williams and husband Alan Zabel for Criticizing Cap and Trade.

The Presidency

Remember when Obama's transition team leader was asked if he was ready to take office? Her response was he would be "ready to rule on day 1". That should have been a clear warning sign to everyone who paid attention. When oil was rushing into the Gulf of Mexico, why did Obama not allow foreign support to come in early? And why did he go golfing so much when this crisis was unfolding? Why did he wait so long to do anything? Perhaps because it was useful to him to have a crisis such as this so they could push through further legislation to shutdown ocean oil drilling. Perhaps he just had no clue what to do.

Obama has used the presidency as a political tool, not unlike many other presidents, but he has not even attempted to mask his efforts. People spoke of George W. Bush as being an arrogant president. He arrogance is nothing next to the arrogance of the Barack Obama presidency.

The moral high ground

I am not even sure why this was so often applied to George W. Bush. If people even remotely understood how the government works, they would see that Bush more often than not retained the moral high ground. As for Barack Obama, why was he always in company with those that preached violence to others and those that spoke of the government of the United States as being "criminal" and "violent"? Where does that show a moral high ground? Consuming preached hatred does not make for a moral high ground.

The presidential oath of office

Gaffs aside, the oath contains this part: "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States". See the part about violating the Constitution above.

One who so willingly violates the Constitution is not so faithfully defending it. Or, he is simply incapable of understanding it. I don't know. I assume its the former.

An independent press

This was applied to George W. Bush and honestly, I have to wonder what that web blogger was smoking. The press had never been overly kind to Bush. In fact, many times he was made the fool of in the open press. If the press were to treat Obama the same as the treated Bush, there would be calls of racism and demanding that those responsible would be fired.

But as it turns out, that will never happen. Obama is the darling of the liberal press and is favored in their reporting. This is a general thing for the liberal press, they love liberals, they hate conservatives. To deny this reality is living a lie. Open your mind for yourself and look around you. Pay attention to the how the press treats liberals vs conservatives. There are exceptions and some of those are on both sides: there are some major news agencies that are overtly conservative - maybe 2 at best.

So while it may not be Obama's fault directly, where is his criticism of them? Where is the president urging fairness? Where is the president leading? He is not.

Accountability in government

Barack Obama has been placing people in position to disrupt accountability in government since he took office. The "czars" he has appointed work for him. There is no independence and they are in in bed with most major sections of government. While it may sound like conspiracy theory to suggest he has done this to protect himself, one can hardly deny it will vastly help. Given that Obama is not stupid, he would have known this from the beginning. Did the potential backlash sway him from this? No. Did he ever address this? No. It seems like a willing act.

And as for the promised transparency, we have yet to see any of it. Obama's presidency remains secretive and he remains unaccountable for the failures so far.

So there it is. That is my short list of criticisms of Barack Obama. I criticized him on what he has done and what he has not done. Not who he is, not his religious beliefs, not his ancestry, not his wealth, not on anything other than what he has done in the race for president and as president.

I am not attacking the man. I am criticizing the man, based on his own merits of his presidency and actions. Anyone who rises up to lead has by that very action opened themselves to criticism.

I also stand by what I wrote and quoted as being accurate as best I could determine. If you have criticism of something I wrote based on its accuracy, please share. I shall correct it. If you have criticism based on your disagreement with my opinion, you are free to write your own position and post it where you have permission to do so legally.

I ask that if you disagree, then don't read this anymore and don't post any comment. I will delete them anyway. If you agree with my position then don't post any comment, I will delete those as well. This is my opinion and my position. It is not up for debate and it is not up for mockery. Please respect my opinion and position and I will respect yours.

Flame me and you just confirm my opinion of liberal slander and show me to be correct.

And if you already commented, it just proves you failed to read the whole post.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

Where Are Your Friends?

Some time ago, my wife and I attended her 20 year high school reunion. I knew no one but it was fun learning about her friends from high school. Seeing the juxtaposition of the pictures of the kids in high school and now walking around in their late 30s at the party was amusing. My wife was the quiet type in high school and didn't have a huge circle of friends she would hang out with. There were several old friends she was quite happy to see and some that she found it easier to speak with now more than she did back then. All in all, a good evening.

With this event still fresh in our minds, my wife and I went for a walk the next morning. We were staying the weekend with her sister in modern suburbia, replete with stone faced town houses, well maintained lawns, sparkling cement sidewalks, and an incredible lack of people moving around this morning. My wife asked the question "I wonder how many people who live here really know each other?"

So I told her what I had seen in my time staying here with her sister and brother-in-law (I have stayed here a lot for work), and that I have seen some amount of interaction of people at times. Granted, I am not the best one to speak for the level of interaction as I am not really here at times where such interaction would be at its highest, but you can get a sense of things over time. I told her about various people that I have at times spoken to and interacted with in my movements around the neighborhood. Then I made note that where we live, in a very rural area, that we probably really don't know many other people much better. We know the people we go to church with, our neighbors, and to some extent the families of our children's  friends. But how well do we really know them?

My wife and I moved into rural NC at different times from different places. My wife has been in this location since marrying a man from the area about 16 years ago. After they divorced, she remained with her children, deciding that it was the best thing to do at the time. She and I married five years ago and I moved into our little rural NC house and have really struggled to "fit in" and establish a set of good friends, the kind that you can call on to help, will call you to help, and will generally just be happy to "hang out" with you.

I grew up in rural Appalachia and in my years since college, I have lived in multiple states and in multiple settings including suburban, rural, and in-between areas. I have had to adapt to multiple neighborhoods and local customs. Though I am no expert on the subject of "fitting in", I have had to do it many times so I at least have some experience.

After five years of attempting to fit in and reach that point of inclusion, I find that I am no closer to the goal. While I have many "friends", that friendship has its limits. My wife and I have talked about this extensively. She is still at the same point of fitting in as she was 16 years ago when she first moved here.

Now its not that there is anything wrong with the people where we live, nor do I think there is anything inherently wrong with us. At least I hope not. Rather I think there are two different forces at work to keep people at arm's length, so to speak, that work differently, but have the same end.

For those who live in the suburbs and find themselves in neighborhoods that don't really come together, I think they are seeing the "mobile workforce indifference". The mobile workforce indifference comes about when people, and quite often knowledge workers or other professional, move a lot for their jobs. Many such workers don't know how long they will be at any one location and they find that its difficult to invest the right amount of time needed to really fit in. Its hard to get several years worth of knowing someone in less than a year. People don't have that kind of time anymore. So in the end, they just don't try very hard. And to the people already there, they don't know how long these newcomers will be here, so they don't try too hard either.

Note that its not that the people who were already there, or the people who moved there are necessarily rude or indifferent, its just that they are living busy lives and its difficult to put forth a lot of personal time investment in something that may be short lived.

For those that move outside the suburbs, into the rural and semi-rural settings, and find themselves in areas where they really just don't gel with the local population, I think they are seeing the "not-family indifference". The not-family indifference comes about when people move into a region that has long family histories - those counties where 80% of the people can trace some kinship via family lines to most each other. When people move into an area where they are not related to the local population in some way, there simply is little room for them in most people's lives. This can also happen when a person divorces and is "out of the family", as happened with my wife. When you are not related by family ties to people in the rural and semi-rural areas, you are something of an outsider. Others always have something going on in their lives that involve family or others who they have known since childhood and thus are "like family" and consequently don't have much extra time for non-family events.

Note that its not that the people who were already there, or the people who moved there, are necessarily rude or indifferent, its just that it is difficult to put forth a lot of personal time investment in others who are not family, and thus possibly be accused of slighting family. For those that move into such areas, its difficult to gauge how much they can push themselves until they are met with unanswered calls and a cool response. Its a precarious balance for both sets of people.

Of the two, I think the mobile workforce indifference is the easiest to overcome, as I have done so in times past. You tend to find others who are like you, mobile, and thus its easy to take on new friends knowing that any of you may be heading off to some new location at any time. Since its expected, it drops the bar of expectations and makes it easier for some people to deal with this kind of fitting in. But the "not-family indifference" is more complicated and involves more touch points for those who live in those family ties. They have to be careful with taking on new friends so that they don't create problems with their own family and family commitments.

Both of these situations lead to the virtualization of friendship. When you are mobile or an outsider and thus find it difficult to meld into the local environment, you can find stability in online friends. People can move, lives change, phone numbers change, but as long as you have that email address, online social network hook, or MMORPG guild buddy, you can have a friendship that can be stable and fulfilling.

For those that are not as hooked in the online world as myself, that statement may seem very odd. But think about it. You can have a friend that is always reachable, always there, and you can meter the amount of involvement you have with them (and them with you). And contrary to what some may believe, you can actually develop very strong ties to people you have never seen in person and live in other states, other continents, or move from place to place. Internet connections are ubiquitous, these friends don't necessarily move out to where you can't reach them, unless you or they specifically want to.

Back to the conversation I had with my wife that morning. It occurred to me that I knew more about the lives of people I have never met physically than I do about many people I see weekly. I spend more time sharing jokes and stories with online friends than I seem to with local people. And there are online friends I have who I would sooner pick up the phone and call them with some problem I wanted to talk about, than I would with some locals.

It would be easy for others to judge me and say that I am too aloof from local humans, or that I spend too much time online. It would be easy, but it would be entirely incorrect and reflect that those who would say such a thing really do not know me. I am an extrovert, ready and willing to talk to anyone about nearly anything. I find it easy to talk to people I don't know and strike up conversation. I live an open life and don't really hide much. Yet, I find myself still on the outside looking in when it comes to fitting in the local environments.

Through work I have built some of my strongest friendships. Many have lasted for years, keeping in touch via online means. Others just melted away due to changing lives or simply losing contact. Currently, my best friends have come through work and through church. And those friends are awesome, yet there are very few times I actually find myself "hanging out" with any of them. Unless there is some motive, some reason to get together, it just doesn't happen much.

Perhaps I am wrong, but I feel that my situation is not unlike that of many others who find themselves building closer ties to online friends over time. At least others over the age of 24 or so. Those younger humans  have entirely different social patterns which are based on their erroneous belief in immortality.

But the appeal to online friendships and relationships is you find others with similar beliefs, interests, or quirky humor and they are always there, no matter where you are or where you move to. They post something nearly every day and at the oddest times, and sometimes, they post just the right thing to lift your spirits when you need it. Its not often that at 3:00 a.m. while you can't sleep, a friend just happens to call you or come see you and give you that pick-me-up you need. And its a good thing they don't. It would be entirely awkward considering you got the pick-me-up post while sitting on the toilet using your smartphone to access Facebook.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

Why Executives Love Windows

Executives love the Windows operating system and can't understand why techs and engineers want to use Mac OS X or Linux. It just doesn't make sense to them. After all, Windows is consistent and standard and reliable. So to even suggest something else, some kind of alternative, is crazy. After all, with all the money they have invested, they don't want to lose compatibility by switching to some niche operating system or science experiment.

Consider the backwards compatibility with Windows. It has had the same base name... Windows... as the previous distros... I mean versions... for years. Oh sure, nearly all device drivers had to be rewritten, and a lot of applications, but they needed to evolve anyway. And so with enough versions of the drivers and applications, they are backwards compatible in name. However, don't mention the problem that Win 7 home groups are only designed to work with other Win 7 machines and cannot communicate with any other systems, not even Windows XP. After all, if Microsoft decided a change was needed, then of course its for the better. This is a point where it was decided you don't really need all that much backwards compability.

And let us not forget browser compatibility. Internet Explorer has kept the same name and most of the same bugs for years now. And all those security problems, they are just "issues" that are being addressed in the next version of Internet Explorer. After all, when web sites are coded for IE6, I mean IE 7, I mean IE 8 in compatibility mode (or are they doing IE 9 now?) you have amazing... compatibility of a sort. They can render HTML all the same, mostly. And after the next releases of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, then you will see what features will be in Internet Explorer in its next release.

Oh let's talk ease of use. Let us not forget ease of use. Microsoft products are well known for their ease of use and consistent user interfaces. In fact, on any Windows distro... I mean version... you have numerous examples of their consistent look and feel.

Consider Wordpad and Paint in Windows 7. They have a very useful UI ribbon. And the Task Manager and Notepad, two venerable applications well known to Windows users for killing stuck processes and reading security notes, use the same menu bar that has been around for years. And we can't forget the ribbon bar of Office 2010, a Microsoft self-proclaimed amazing invention, that has so many features, they don't even know them all. Of course, its a different UI ribbon than what is used in Wordpad and Paint of course. Can't have too many good things you know.

And then there is good old Internet Explorer in all its many incarnations of web support. It does not use a ribbon because it has its own special, well thought out, and different UI menu bar because it needed its own consistency. Its not the same as the old menu bar in Task Manager and Notepad as their menubars were getting old... I mean retro... I mean... they were... different, so a consistent one was needed.

And let us not forget file system interoperability. Windows can read and write ntfs, fat32, fat16, ISO 9660 and old MS-DOS format file systems. And with those file systems available, there is no need to be able to read and write any others. Who needs ext2, ext3, ext4, udf, ufs, hfs, hfs+, reiser, or any of the other 50+ file system formats? And really, who needs to mount a CD or disk image file as a device anyway? No one really would need to do that. Just burn the image to CD and then mount the CD like we have been doing for years. Why mount it virtually when you can make yet another coaster for your home from the temporary CD?

And security. You know Windows must be the most secure operating system. After all, there are at least a dozen major anti-virus software vendors out there. And you can find all the anti-spyware software you need, if you look for it, on the Internet. It must be the most secure operating system because all those vendors went out of their way to write security software for Windows. You can't argue with numbers. Windows anti-virus tools have databasesd over 287,000 Windows viruses. While Macs and Linux tools only have a few dozen in their databases. They are so far behind.

And standards? Where do I start? Windows is totally about standards. After all, they are compatible with MS OFfice. And they can connect to the Internet. Now that is standards compliance.

Of course, there are some web sites out there that use so called "international standards" that were specified and voted on by international committees, but really, can they know more than Microsoft? They are meant to be ignored. And since most... I mean a lot... I mean a third... I mean almost 25% of all web sites out there run Microsoft web server, those standards really don't mean much anyway do they?

And in the end, Windows is the least common denominator. Most people don't have the time to go and learn a new operating system when all they want to do is browse the web, read email, post on social networking sites, write some documents, print some things, and play Solitaire and Mine Sweeper. And you can do all that with the modern features of Windows 7 using only a 1 GHz CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB hard disk space (minimum), and a DirectX 9 graphics card with 128 MB (if you want the pretty Aero interface).

I mean really, who has the time to switch to a different browser? They would have to learn a whole new menu bar when the IE menu bar is so ... available. And sure there are other word processors out there like Abiword and OpenOffice, but really, don't you just love the unique... yet consistent... somehow... UI ribbon of MS Office? And why would you ever want to do this on limited hardware? Everyone should upgrade their hardware with every Windows and Windows SP release so they have fewer reasons to complain. And if they can't afford upgrade, why do they have a computer in the first place?

So just forget about any alternative operating systems. The executives know best. Buy the $600 PCs with Windows 7 and MS Office and you will be compliant.

Just don't tell any of those "regular users" on tight budgets that they can run Ubuntu Linux with OpenOffice for free on a machine that costs less then $200, or even one of those older machines that you still have somewhere that used to run the Windows XP or Windows 98 distros... I mean versions.

Choice will just confuse people.

Use Windows. Be compliant.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Play?

I wrote this last summer and I buried it as a note on Facebook. After re-reading it, I decided to move it to a more public viewing area.

It was 3000 degrees outside. The air was so thick with humidity I had to use a machete to cut my way through. The few times I ventured outside I was quite ready to go inside where my AC struggled to keep up. After several very non-active hours indoors, I finally managed to cool off.

Then the little one came into the bedroom where I was just watching TV. She grabbed hold of the side of our bed and struggled to pull herself up. I gave her a boost up and she played "king of the daddy" on my belly. It was fun, even if painful for me.

After a few minutes she looked at me with those clear dark eyes and asked "play?" in that oh so cute way. She then scrambled down the bed and headed out of the room. I did not follow.

Back she came, another boost up, more beating on my abdomen and again she asked "play?" once more. I said "ok, go play."

She slid back down to the floor and headed around the bed, but stopped before leaving the bedroom. For the third time she climbed our bed, with my help and got back in my face. "Play?"

Ok, I am dense. It took 3 times but I finally got it. After a quick search for her shoes, and mine, we ventured outside, which was only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun by this point.

By the time she was finished climbing around on the tractor, her little "gym" set, and the trampoline, I was soaked with sweat. Granted I could sweat in Antarctica during a blizzard, but yeah, it was pretty bad.

As the biting and stinging bugs were now venturing out, I managed to talk my little girl into a ride in the car. We have a long circular driveway and I drove around for about 15 minutes with the AC on high. Never left my driveway, never got above 8 MPH, but she was having fun, she was with her daddy.

She insisted on using the seat belt, a combination lap/shoulder belt definitely not designed for toddlers. Still, she sat there looking so satisfied that she was doing things like her older siblings. And I sat there satisfied that for now at least, its the simple things that make her happy.

One day, all too soon, she will be like her older siblings, and simple things like she enjoyed today will just not cut it. It was just the day before this "adventure" that I sat in the airport with her 18 year old sister as she was headed off to Dallas for a month. And it doesn't matter how old they get, they are still "little" to me.

I watched intently as my high school graduate made her way through security, wanting to be by her side and instructing her the entire time, but I couldn't. I had to let her fly. But she is still my baby, no less so than the toddler that convinced me to come outside in the stifling heat with just a word and a smile.

Even my son, now 20, who has moved in with my mother for a while and is working, he is still my little boy. He may be taller than me, wear bigger jeans, but still, he is "little" in my head. And the days when he was satisfied with simple things are long past. And even now, he is not at arms reach any more. But I will always remember how we played when he was just a toddler himself.

Such is the way things are. We have these kids and they can absolutely drive us nuts. Then when we see them actually taking steps out of the nest, it is hard to just let them fly. But that has always been the goal. Raise and release.

Well, after having this epiphany in the car with my toddler, and missing my son and the eldest daughter, I finally convinced the little one to go back in the house. Back through the stifling heat and back into the house with our struggling AC. She headed off in search of more mischief. I sought only a dry shirt and a fan.

I could have been watching Mythbusters or snoozing. But I chose to "play", in the manner my little girl chose, despite the heat, the humidity, and my lethargy. It was a good choice. It may be years away, but it will be all too soon she prepares to leave the nest and start her own life apart form her parents. There will be few chances to play then.

I can still see her little face and those expressive eyes as she got in my face and said "play?" A heart melting thing for sure.

And I am so glad I went out into the miserable heat. After all, playing with her was not miserable at all. It was a treasured moment. And there are only so many such moments to go around.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

Scratches and Marks

The other day while doing some home improvement I sat down to rest for a few minutes at my dining room table. As I sat there trying not to think about all I had to do, I was idly looking at the surface of our table. It is covered in scratches, marks, dings, and stuff that is probably the result of a child being sloppy while eating. It doesn't matter how often you clean it, those kids just keep coming back.

I thought back to years ago when I bought the table and I specifically looked for a table with a top made from solid wood so it could one day be refinished. Knowing that kids would render any furniture to devastation given enough time, I tried to get something with durability. Thoughts of refinishing that table keep coming back to me. It gets so much use, it is dire need of some TLC.

Our house is crowded with lots of kids and their friends seem to be coming and going a lot. And quite often, the dining room table is the center of our little home. Granted, a few children may seclude themselves away to watch TV or play video games in another room, but invariably, the dining room table becomes the communal water hole. All the herd seems to gather there at one time or another.

When kids and adults come through the back door, anything and everything in their hands seems to be deposited on the table, at least for a while until they get it moved, usually a forced issue by mealtimes. And the same happens when leaving. The table becomes a staging area where stuff is piled before it is removed from the house.

So I sat there thinking about how worn the table looked now after years of use. And in doing so I thought of countless homework papers, school projects, tax forms, computers, and a wide assortment of household items that have at one time or another had some quality time on the surface of that table. So many things have happened around that table, mostly good, but some not so good, and a few which are downright bad.

My old table is at times a work bench, a lab bench, an artists horizontal easel, a desk, a chair, an examination table, a really big shelf, a podium, and sometimes, when the time is right, it is bared, cleaned, and becomes a place to eat.

There are years of memories scratched and marked into the surface of that wooden table. But still it serves us in so many ways. Its not as pretty as it used to be, but just as valuable to me. Perhaps more so now that I think about it.

One day I will probably refinish that old table and give it a fresh look. I don't need to see the marks and scratches to be reminded of all the good times had at that table. I carry them in my memories always.

Each of us are in ways like that old table. We are many things to many people, trying to help where we can, getting scratched, marked, and scarred through life. We may look worn at times, but there are countless memories for each of us along the way.

Come to think of it, I could use some refinishing myself.

Copyright 2011, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

Stand or Kneel?

It occurs to me as I ponder my own family's contributions to our nation's security through the armed services that we owe a great debt to them.

First, I think of my father who was in the air force during the Korean War. My uncle who was in the Navy during WWII. And my other uncle who was an army ranger during WWII who earlier this year was named a "Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France" by the president of France - a title roughly equivalent to English knighthood.

There are so many others in so many different conflicts and during the times between conflicts. Men and women who stand and fight for freedom, for justice, and for selfless ideals for the betterment of others. Most people are not so noble, not so courageous, and not so selfless as to risk it all for the sake of nameless and faceless neighbors and fellow Americans, many of whom are not even grateful anymore.

And I try to not think about the countless ignorant masses that stand in the shelter of the blood of others and yell obscenities at them for spilling blood. Our soldiers are there doing their job not because they are war-mongers, but because there are war-mongers out there that have no intention of compromising or negotiating. Some people never understand this. They still live in the kindergarten of life and cannot conceive that someone may actually not relent when told to.

I just hope that the youth of today learn to understand that if you do not stand and fight, you will fall and kneel. Freedom was not given. It was fought for and taken. Let us not be so willing to give it up merely for comfort of body or pretense of conscience.

Americans must either stand now, or kneel later. There are no alternatives to these paths. Choose wisely. 

Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

 

Looking Ahead by Looking Back

As I look ahead toward my next birthday, I can't help but look back over my shoulder at how I got here and stand in awe of how God has been the orchestrator of so many amazing events in my life. Not all of these have been joyful during the time I have experienced them. But they were amazing in looking back. Seeing how those events shaped my life and have brought me to the place I am today, or rather the man I am today, I can lift my head up and say "I am truly thankful."

None should live in the past and that is not what I am suggesting. Rather, I am simply looking ahead by looking back. Mere rhetoric? Not hardly. It is by experience we are prepared for the future. And it was the the collection of our life experiences that has us where we are today. If we don't understand those experiences, we may have to suffer subsequent repeats of them.

Looking back on my own life, there are many wonderful and exciting experiences that perhaps would not be so bad to repeat. But also, there are many, many terrible experiences I wish I could completely erase. But I cannot blot out those things from my mind. Perhaps that is a good thing. I dislike even the memory of them so much, I would go to the greatest lengths to never repeat them.

Over the years I have experienced the death of relatives, grand-parents, my father, loved ones, and even the death of a marriage. None of those experiences are something I desire to repeat again. But each of them formed in me a new will, a new understanding, and a new commitment to love the family I have and be the best son, husband, and father I can be.

Having experienced the utter betrayal of a spouse and then having the experience of handling the fallout of that event in the lives of my own children, I can attest that kind of experience will definitely cause your knees to buckle. But the experience with my children as we redefined and reshaped our family was something I hold dear. It was a mysteriously good time for us, despite how we got there.

Even then, in the aftermath of that turbulent time, I also endured the experience of losing a close friend, for reasons I still don't know. In fact, the death of my marriage spilled over to impact nearly all my friends to one degree or another. I am still finding evidence of the fallout now several years later. In some cases it is the result of misinformation, but in some cases, it is purely the result of lies spread by others, for whatever reasons they purposed in their heart.

In the midst of such complexity to my life at times like that, I was often the recipient of amazing blessings, though I must admit, I did not always realize at the moment. As an example, even when I was not looking for a wife, God led one right to me. But that was one of those times I recognized a blessing. There are moments in a person's life when there is a defining choice to make: to trust God, or trust others. I chose to trust God and ask that woman to be my wife. And since she was trusting God as well, she said yes. And she has been a blessing to me in many ways.

As I look back over all such experiences, good and bad, I see many of those defining moments. A decision was to be made. And time and time again I have seen the best choice was to seek God first. He has never led me astray. I am led to believe, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that no matter what the situation, He really does cause all things for my "good". Sometimes I just don't understand it at the moment, but once again, looking back, I can see it.

And now, as I look at some of my most recent experiences, I am simply in awe at how good God has been to me. In the past four years following the betrayal and abandonment by my first wife, I have gotten married to a wonderful woman, received her three wonderful daughters to raise as my own, watched my oldest two children reach an age some may call "adult", and was there for the birth of my youngest daughter. I count all my children as blessings - though at times they may cause some cursing, such is the nature of children.

So what have I learned from this little look back? Mostly that I cannot even begin to predict what is in store for me and what is yet to come. But I can say this, I know that no matter what it is, ultimately, God is good to me. That much I can definitely look ahead to.

Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Need A Sweater?

With all the talk of global warming... oops, I forgot, they are calling it climate change now... anyway, we all need to get ready for the global heat wave that will melt ice, raise oceans, and otherwise change things up a bit.

But let's not be too hasty to believe something merely because some politician pushes an agenda to take away your money. Instead, let's sit back, think a moment, look at the real data, and think some more.

So if things are heating up, why have the four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) all released data showing that over the past year, global temperatures have gone down, not up.

Oh yeah, and another thing. All that ice that is melting and making headlines... apparently those are just local phenomena. In fact, in 2008 the antarctic ice actually increased overall.

In addition, from 1940 until 1980, recorded temperature measurements of the earth show cooling. The argument is that there has been warming since then but, in fact, almost all of that is due to what is called the "urban heat island" effect – that is, that the weather stations are around the edge of cities and the cities expanded out and distorted the record. When you look at rural stations – if you look at the Antarctic, for example – the South Pole shows cooling since 1957 and the satellite data which has been up since 1978 shows a slight cooling trend as well.

So let's think about it. Why would politicians hype up a "global emergency" of global warming as they called it, especially leading up to an election year? After all, it would be irresponsible and unethical to tell people that there was a global emergency when really they were just pushing a liberal agenda to expand government and taxes.

So... if they all clamored about global warming, and yet the data does not support a warming trend, and it is unethical to stir up people with a lie like that...

What does that say about the current administration?

I wonder.

Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

The Dark Ages

According to Wikipedia, the Dark Ages is a term referring to a period of cultural decline or societal collapse that took place in Western Europe between the fall of Rome and the eventual recovery of learning. The concept of a Dark Age was created by the Italian scholar Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) in the 1330s and was originally intended as a sweeping criticism of the character of Late Latin literature.

But did you also know that it really was dark?

The sun's brightness hasn't changed much over the last 20 years. But it has been brighter for the last 60 years than it has been at any time in the last 1,150 years. Consider the following:

According to scientists, the Sun's radiance has changed little during this period [60 years]. But looking back over 1,150 years, Sami Solanki [Professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland] found the Sun had never been as bright as in the past 60 years.
The team studied sunspot data going back several hundred years. They found that a dearth of sunspots signaled a cold period - which could last up to 50 years - but that over the past century their numbers had increased as the Earth's climate grew steadily warmer. The scientists also compared data from ice samples collected during an expedition to Greenland in 1991. The most recent samples contained the lowest recorded levels of beryllium 10 for more than 1,000 years. Beryllium 10 is a particle created by cosmic rays that decreases in the Earth's atmosphere as the magnetic energy from the Sun increases. Scientists can currently trace beryllium 10 levels back 1,150 years.

During the Medieval maximum of 1000-1300 there was an extremely large Sunspot which is believed to have warmed the Earth higher than normal. There were no accurate measurements of the weather to call upon during this time but the discovery and colonization of Greenland by Eric the Red supports this hypothesis. Eric was exiled from Iceland for manslaughter and sailed west discovering Greenland. He then led many ships, filled with people who wanted to make a fresh start, to this new land. For 300 years Greenland flourished, new communities settled, trade with other countries grew, and the population increased. Around 1325 the climate cooled down considerably, people started to abandon the northern settlements. By 1350 glaciers covered the northern settlements, and the southern most settlements were dying out as well.
The Sporer minimum of 1400-1510 and the Maunder minimum of 1645-1715 were each known as a "little ice age." They were both droughts in Sunspot activity, and a link to a time of abnormally cold weather on Earth. In addition to finishing off the Greenland colonies, the Sporer minimum showed increased rates of famine in the world, and the Baltic Sea froze solid in the winter of 1422-23. Some of the more notable effects of the Maunder minimum included the appearance of glaciers in the Alps advancing farther southward, the north sea froze, and in London there was the famous year without a summer where it remained cold for 21 consecutive months.

The history of our planet is one of thawing and freezing and thawing again. The planet itself records the fact that for most of its existence demonstrates this kind of cycle. And although our blue planet is warm and comfy most of the time, it has spent an enormous amount of time in some form of an ice age.

And if one were to look at sunspot cycles, it is apparent that increased solar activity warms the Earth and decreased solar activity allows the Earth to cool. These are simple and demonstrated truths.

If you were to take this to its logical end, the higher solar activity in the last 60 years is a "peak" of the sun over a 1,000 year period. This means that there should be an expected natural warming of the planet with a subsequent cooling cycle. Since sunspots and solar surface activity eludes predictive methodologies, it is unclear at any time what may happen 60 or 100 or 1000 years from now.

But what should be obvious is that the sun is expected to start a downward trend of solar activity at any time, or already has. Once the downward trend begins, we will have a new minimum similar to the Maunder Minimum with decades of much colder weather.

Or conversely, the sun could crank up the surface activity and solar flares and sunspots increase dramatically. In the event solar activity increases further, the Earth will see temperatures rise more than what models predict for consequences of greenhouse gases.

The long and short of it is that Sun has just peaked. It is little wonder that there has been a 4 degree increase in temperatures over the last 100 years. My bet is the next 100 years will see the cycle begin again and the Earth will begin to cool, just as it has done for eons without any help at all from us.

Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

He Said What?

Al Gore has said that the polar bears are drowning because of melting sea ice. I quote:

"That's not good for creatures like polar bears that depend on the ice. A new scientific study shows that for the first time they're finding polar bears that have actually drowned, swimming long distances up to 60 miles to find the ice. They did not find that before."

However, Al was wrong. The real inconvenient truth:

There have been no studies, scientific or otherwise, that indicate any such thing is happening. What did happen was that four polar bears were found drowned because of a storm.

Amazing. How could the Nobel Prize winner have messed that up?

Politics suck.

Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)

Time Passes Quickly

It has been months since I last posted in my blog. Why the delay? Why the absence from sage and sound pronouncements and potent musings on the state of life, living, and all?


I don't know.


I think mostly because there is simply too much going on and I could never sit down and sift through life and pull out something that stood out above the others enough to warrant its own entry. Perhaps its the ennui of winter dragging out into slow spring. Or maybe I really am that ADD.

So many things have happened and so much has changed. Too much to really cover in a few pages and I would not want to bore others to the point of self-mutilation. So maybe a spring recap is in order and then perhaps I will be on track going forward.

The first thing I have to say is that being an old dad ain't so bad after all. When I first learned that I was going to be a father yet again at 42, I was "concerned" to say the least. After the shock, I added up all the kids including the one coming and my legs buckled under the weight of six kids counted on my fingers.

And yet, here I am with what has to be one of the most wonderful little girls any dad could ever hope for. Having four other girls I have to be careful with comparisons because I have learned over time that females (young and old) can get their feelings hurt pretty easy. But I also know that even her sisters would have to say that our little bundle of joy is the "most awesomest baby ever". They said so. That proves it.

So life with a 5 month old is not much different than life with a teenager with the obvious exception of the diapers. And I think my experiences and even my age have qualified me to better appreciate the joys of a new baby. The first time around I was a complete amateur. But this is my third baby and sixth child, I have been able to apply some mellow to my attitude this time around far easier than before.

I mean really, its not the end of the world for a baby to smear food on their head, or a pacifier to drop to the floor. Wipe the head down, brush the pacifier across your jeans a couple of times and press on. And for any that would say "oh my, you let your baby have a pacifier that has dared touch the dirty floor" to that I would say "yeah, and I remember seeing my pre-toddler son eat a dead spider before I could stop him." Really, babies are not as fragile as you think. Mine survived. That has to count for something.

So I have the most awesomest baby that smiles most of the time. What else could stir me so?

I have the most awesomest wife. She is the most awesomest mother. I have five other kids that are sometimes the most awesomest and sometimes the worstest - well, not really but they are kids. Those things stir me too.

I also have to say that there have been some down times this winter as well. My wife's father passed away unexpectedly. And now her mother has moved to Florida, a few states away. It also seems like it is the time in my life for those adults I remember from childhood to pass on also. There have been so many. I think back and its saddening to think of all those people that I once knew in various capacities growing up that are now gone.

But let us not dwell there. I also remember all the fun times that involved those people. I remember their kindness, their smiles, their laughs, and their presence in my life. It made my life better and from my perspective their lives were not in vain. They brought much into this world with all they did, even when they did not know they were doing anything special because sometimes, it was only special to me.

I have been blessed with the ability to recall memories in exquisite detail - with the exception of calculus, no memories there - and I can easily think back and picture those now gone. I see them from my youth and later. I can see their mannerisms and their peculiarities. Sometimes I recall events and I see them smiling, laughing, helping, caring, and just doing what they always did.

I guess the other big item that stirs me now is stress.

Anyone feeling stress from the economy? Well I am. I am stressed over my job, stressed over my work situation and the insane work distance arrangement I have. And I am stressed as a husband and dad just trying to keep it all going.

Its a good thing God is there with me because really, no man can do this on his own. Anyone is a fool to think otherwise.

And in the midst of all this what happens? Hernia surgery. Not the regular kind. Oh no. I have to have umbilical hernia surgery, something normally corrected in childhood. I remember seeing my first two kids both have this surgery and they were bouncing off the walls in about 2-3 days. For me, two weeks later I was still feeling it.

Oh well. I at least gave my family something to laugh at when they came into the living room where I camped out and would ask me questions just to hear my vicodin-induced answers. I did catch on when the 11 year old asked if she could take the tractor out for a drive. After initially nodding and muttering "sure" I quickly come to with a "what? no!".

So there it is. I reduced five months of living to just a few pages.

Oh, one thing to add. Just in the last week or so the baby has started the "da-da-da-da" phase. And when I look down at her smiling - and sometimes not smiling - face, and she says "da-da", stress is forgotten, bad memories fade, and she melts my heart. Yes, this old crusted bonehead has turned into a soft mush over the years. So I pick her up and hold her close. All is good.


Copyright 2009, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)