Bottom Floor Opportunity

So I've been 'smoke free' for 10 days now. Cold Turkey/no patch or gum. Hasn't been too bad. Little urges every so often but nothing driving me to suicide or murder. Yet! Have been thinking about it a bit though. Seems I got some pleasure from tobacco that is really hard to explain. Must be some chemical in the brain sort of stuff. Some chemical that would have a person ignore the cost. Ignore the mess. Ignore the smell. Ignore the anger and hatred of others. Well sometimes that fit into the pleasure part too. Just getting people ticked at you can have a beneficial boost to the psyche and ego.

So I came up with an idea. All I have to do is figure out some product that people will willingly get addicted to. Is not illegal. They won't care what they spend on it and my manufacturing and distribution costs are minimal. Tack in a percentage to the government for "SIN TAX" (another term for political payoff)And I'm on my way. Seems though since tobacco is already run by people that wouldn't want me horning in on their action I have to come up with something different. Any suggestions??? I'll cut you in on it.

Social Security and FBI Sharing Info

Zippp! Zooommmm! Zappping through Cyberspace and suddenly I came to a screeching halt. - (Many of you may think the word screeching very apropos) - What is this??? Party of the Purple (Combination of red and blue. Get it? Got it? Good!) Mark Owen had made a list of news articles and cartoons that backed up his world view. In the midst of the list was this link to a N.Y. Times Article: "The Social Security Administration has relaxed its privacy restrictions and searched thousands of its files at the request of the FBI as part of terrorism investigations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, newly disclosed records and interviews show." - end quote -

Well, the link actually led to a page that the Times Syndicate set up as a buffer. A log-in page. To save the privacy concerns of our more cynical readers we at prying1 did a Google Search and found that PrisonPlanet.com has the standing story and requires no sign in. Prison planet may or may not record your visit through your I.P. number. So it goes.

Which brings me back to the story. - Here are some quotes -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The privacy policy typically bans the sharing of such confidential information, which includes home addresses, medical information and other personal data. But senior officials at the Social Security agency agreed to an "ad hoc" policy that authorized the release of information to the bureau for investigations related to Sept. 11 because officials saw a "life-threatening" emergency, internal memorandums say.
............
Social Security and law enforcement officials said that they were sensitive to privacy concerns and had put safeguards in place, but that they believed that the information gave investigators a valuable tool.

"We ran thousands of Social Security numbers," said a former senior FBI official who insisted on anonymity because the files involved internal cases.

"We got very useful information, that's for sure," the former official said. "We recognized the value of having that information to track leads, and, to their credit, so did the Social Security Administration."
............
Some privacy advocates and members of Congress, although sympathetic to the extraordinary demands posed by the Sept. 11 investigation, said they were troubled by what they saw as a significant shift in privacy policies.
............
James Huse, who was the inspector general at the Social Security agency until March 2004, said his agency provided relevant identifying information to the bureau on possible terror suspects but relied on the tax agency to determine what information it would turn over on a suspect's income and employment.

The FBI requests "came in by the thousands," Mr. Huse said in an interview. "They would give us the names of people suspected of being terrorists for whatever reason, and we'd match them against Social Security indices to see if these people were real, did they have Social Security numbers, things like that."

He said that most of the names and numbers run by the bureau did not match up to Social Security records, and that he was unaware of cases of governmental abuse in the requests. Mr. Huse added that "on a big-volume name check like that you wouldn't really know if you had a frivolous name thrown in or not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ end quotes ~~~~~~~~~~~

So the issue really is as far as I'm concerned (and really most American's), "Will the FBI swoop into my house and drag me and mine away because of info shared between government offices." Conspiracy Theorists will cry out that the issue as they see it is to protect ALL Americans from ALL government conspiracies. It may indeed be their intent but is that what they would DO if by stopping interagency sharing of info they would allow an evil person to continue his devious plots and plans unabated. Who would be howling if the government agencies had the info to take the bad guy out of circulation but would or could not because of interagency squabbles. It looks to me like the Social Security and FBI put a few safeguards in place to watch for abuse. I say they should continue working hand in hand as they are and at least share if SS #'s are valid and more info if they are not. Where do we draw the line otherwise?

Howl Away! I Think it is Funny.

OK, Rove Rant! My rant, not his. It is my blog so I get to say what I want. Rove will have to start his own blog. - I'm really enjoying the ballyhoo and watching the dust fly higher in the breeze.
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Karl Rove the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State, "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," - End Quote -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The White House is refusing to paint him with a laser and blast him out of existence. Good for them. I wrote a quick note to president@whitehouse.gov saying, - quote - "Stand firm - No apology for or from Rove - Laugh and smirk each time
it is brought up. That'll get their goat more than anything." - end quote -
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Now the moon howlers are out in force ballyhooing how much they support our troops. Viet Nam veteran John (I voted for the money before I voted against the money after I voted against my voting again)Kerry is running around trying to look presidential and rubbing his hands like he's trying to wring the ketchup off 'em. What a jerk and I'll say that to his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Told of Mr. Rove's remarks, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, replied: "In New York, where everyone unified after 9/11, the last thing we need is somebody who seeks to divide us for political purposes."

- prying1 sez: Schumer is a rectal aperture showing his ignorance or trying to deceive us. - Look no further than the purpose of politics in the U.S. which is TO divide citizens into camps so they can elect people that will push forward the ideals and values of the larger camp. Another jerk and I'll say that to his face too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Boston.com) White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush wouldn't ask Rove to apologize. McClellan said Rove was referring to people who have sought to fight terrorism with the law instead of by war, though he declined to name anyone specifically.

"There are many who have looked at the war on terrorism and said it is a law enforcement matter, that we should prosecute people," McClellan said. "The president recognizes that it is a war and that we must stay on the offensive, we must take the fight to the enemy."

prying1 sez: McClellan declined to name anyone specifically. The record of the past few weeks and months is readily available. The liberal howlers can go through the blogs of the past few weeks and see which side wants to fight to win the war by destroying and/or detaining reprobate terrorists and which side wants to throw lawn furniture all around trying to trip up the process.

See a Pop-Up? Hold On To Your Wallet!

Had a popup appear suddenly as I was surfing Blog Explosion. Earlier I was surfing for funny videos to download and that might have been when I got the cookie. Anyway. Here I am zigzagging through Cyber Space when I'm accosted by a window that claims I can make money simply by filling in my name and email address. Such a deal. They didn't even demand I use my real name. Is this a great country or what?

Well I right-clicked on the window and clicked on properties to find out who they were before I'd take a chance on giving them a phony name and junk email address. This is how I discovered 'ReferralWare'. I have no problem with people throwing money at me as these folks proposed. Especially for free. BUTTTT!!! - I have a major defect in my emotional well being. I'm a skeptic... - I thought I would perform one more test. What I call the Company Name/Scam Google Test.

Real simple. Go to Google. Type in the company name with the word 'scam'. Open a couple suggested reading links Google so nicely provides.

HMMM -

624 Google references for - referralware scam -

Ultimately (Less than 60 seconds) I was led to a page that had testimony from a referralware scam victim. It seems the company charges you to join 3 companies and then you get to pay for lists of people to drag into the scam after you. $400 given to ReferralWare vs. $11 received from ReferralWare. Now I'm not a mathematician but even I know that at that rate it will take a long time to clear the first million.

Close all windows - Run Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy
- Chew up and spit out the cookie that got through. - Blog on! -

I love a happy ending.

Detainee Package Abuse Now Center of Investigation!

It is now a Red Crescent package that is at the root of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo. Cadres of liberal lawyers poured forth into the streets of U.S. cities screaming, "Pick me to represent him! Pick me!"

At the center of this melee the tear stained package remains unopened. "I'm just too upset to even wonder if there are dried figs in it." said Hoshinin Yureer as more tears fell from his eyes. It seems the package was handed to Hoshinin upside down and backwards.

"It was like I was slapped in the face!" he said. "And there was a rubber stamp used on this package that had an alcohol base in the ink. It is tainted and unclean." He continued, sobbing, "Now I am unclean and will have no way to collect my 72 virgins even if I could remove from this planet enough infidel dogs to make Allah smile at the bloodshed..."

Attempts to interview the brutal U.S. guard were met with a stone wall. "That's the wall right there ya basterd." were the words given to the news correspondent. "We set him up right there and shot him so you basterds would'na be able to interrogate him. We put him outta his miserable existence so you *&*#! would'na put him through hell!" U.S. Soldiers have been complaining of abuse by U.S. & foriegn news correspondents.

Old Records to CD'S

Hat Tip to My Best Gadgets who has the scoop on a single machine for getting LP's recorded to CD's.

LP to CD Recorder System cost $400 bucks and looks like a pretty good system. Should get the job done with minimum fuss anyway.

Cure for Snoring in the Works!

Canyon City, IA (UPS) Scientists have discovered a simple cure for snoring that looks very promising says researchers from Interstitial University of Canyon City, Iowa.

"It is really quite simple and impossible to make any money from this one." said researcher Ivano Credutt. "It all has to do with time management."

The researchers noticed while working with control groups that some volunteers seemed to snore more than others. About this Ivano said, "We got it down on paper who snored when and have proof of a simple technique to control snoring."

When questioned further Ivano did admit that insomnia played a big role in the drop of time spent snoring. "Stimulating insomnia played a big role in the drop of time spent snoring" said Ivano.

Research into the health and mental effects of insomnia were not in the plans for this terms agenda. "We can't make no money off this." said the dean of Interstitial University who refused to be named. "How we gonna afford research for that? We'll have to see about sticking it in next years budget cuz we spent all the money they gave us this year already."

The Answer for GITMO!

I've blogged on this before. The problem with detainees in the war against terror. Some questions are: Where do we hold them? Under what circumstances? For how long and how do we treat them.

Dennis Prager has invited Amnesty International onto his show and they have refused to go on. Amnesty International does go on shows where they are given the microphone with no opposition to their diatribes. Amnesty International makes it's motives suspect as a result of this and ALL they say is subject to intense scrutiny with a very critical eye. Liberals that love the truth should now turn from Amnesty as a source of their criticisms of the handling of the war on terror. Especially since the info they continually feed us is influenced by murderous, religious, fanatical terrorists. I believe they have removed themselves from the discussion through their obvious use of 'mis-information' designed to put forth their agenda, whatever that may be.

The idea of closing GITMO is nonsense. These detainees are not members of poetry and garden clubs. They must be kept somewhere and they are being detained because they are willing to commit murder on a daily basis. It would be inhumane to release these men. They will be out butchering people with impunity. Bringing them to the States would be tantamount to the Mariel Boatlift seeing 800-900 Cuban criminals coming to the shores of the U.S. Once they made it on our shores it would be only a matter of time before the bleeding heart liberals would be screaming for their release into our nation's streets. Don't tell me they wouldn't. Liberals ARE that stupid.

Under what circumstances should we be detaining these thugs? It is because they are thugs that we are detaining them. How do we treat them? Had it been my choice they would not be treated as well as they are. These characters are being treated much nicer than they deserve as far as I'm concerned.

~~~~~ prying1 sez: ~~~~~
Leave 'em at Gitmo until the end of the war on terror. That war will end when the terrorists are defeated, killed, and no longer blowing up pizza parlors. The left would be serving their own stated agenda by encouraging their talking heads to encourage terrorists to cease hostilities as opposed to making blanket statements against the U.S. and encouraging the terrorists to continue...

Please check Sailor in the Desert's post on Gitmo. Start disseminating the truth. Liberals lie for what??? - Just to TRY to show Bush as a bad person because their boy (and girl) is famous for lying. Lying is BAD! Tell a lib today to face the truth instead of covering it with blankets of lies...

In the comments I would appreciate liberal commenters to stick to suggestions as to what they feel should be DONE re: GITMO... Please avoid restating allegations on our treatment of terrorist detainees that have no basis in truth. We have heard it already and reject it.

I Missed a Week of Blogging!

Those who have been visiting my blog for the last few days I'm sure have been wondering why I have not been posting. The same goes for my email. None answered since Tues the 14th of June.

I guess I'll put it to you the same way I told my buddy Mike on Saturday - "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is I've quit smoking. The bad news is I had open heart 'triple bypass' surgery." Mike wasn't sure if I was joking or not and I told him I was as serious as a heart attack. Actually I was a little less serious than that because I had no damage to the heart prior to the surgery. With a cadre of prayer warriors at my back the Lord met me with blessings in spite of the situation. Wednesday morning the camera work inside my veins showed that stints were not applicable. I needed full on bypasses in three veins because they were up to 90% blocked. The only signs I had were pain coming and going in my left arm and what felt like a touch of heartburn that would only last a few seconds or so...What finally convinced me it was time to go in was when I thought of how ticked off my wife Renee' would be if she woke up in the morning and found I had died during the night...

The surgery on Friday morning went smoothly and I was in ICU recovery within 4 hours. My wife and friends were locked out of ICU but one pal, Barry Goldman, the Chief Musician at Jubilee Fellowship, the church I attend, managed to find a back way in to the ward. Imagine my surprise when the first moment I open my eyes I had Barry hovering over me, smiling and welcoming me to the land of the living. It certainly is a picture I will not forget. Even if I wanted to I could not forget it.

Speaking of pictures I thought I'd include one showing my new scars. It's sort of a guy thing. I was going to post the picture here but my daughter suggested it might be in better taste to just link to it. - Click here for my 'sort of a guy pic' showing my new scars. -

The healing part is going pretty well. I was out of ICU in a little over 24 hours and a couple days of being pampered by some wonderful people in the Little Company of Mary Hospital they released me back into the wild. I will still need a touch of prayers re: the smoking bit. Although I got a week head start I found the temptation was still out here in the big wide-open world. Two things are helping in this area. One is I've made a quality decision to cease and desist 'cause I'm fed up with it. It holds me back spiritually. The other is that I'm certain the Living God let me off easy this time. Next time The blessings might be a little on the short end compared to the way they were this time...