There's a point in the evolution of society where you can imagine a bunch of children being given a process....a tool....a great step in society, and they simply can't handle it.
This past weekend in Denver....a family came up to Denver (from Tulsa) and were going to have a long ski-week. Somewhere in the midst of this....one member of the family has decided to have an experience with weed...since it's legal now in Colorado.
The young guy (23 years old from what the news folks say)....had a college education and probably was fairly smart....at least on the books.
He ended up buying around $75 of marijuana and edibles.
There are precise written instructions on the packets that you buy. Each is packed into a box or plastic baggy that says each is one unit (10 mg of the active ingredient of marijuana). Then it notes....you need to give it some time (like 60 to 120 minutes). It kinda hints....don't react stupidly and try two or three edibles....expecting a bigger reaction or faster reaction.
With family members around.....the guy does one unit of edibles. He's expecting some high. It's not coming like he expects.
So he does another edible. Nothing. He will do five edibles (five times the normal dose of marijuana). The family simply notes that around an hour later.....he's a bit different. Eventually, the family will leave the hotel and think he just needs some time alone.
He will pull out a pistol and end up shooting himself.
What the local doctors will say is that he 'overdosed' on the edibles.....five times the normal dose.
Toxicology results will be a month away. The authorities will wrap up the death certificate then, and simply note an overdose leading to his own actions.
Generally, one joint is one unit, and one unit is one high. Once we entered into this modern era with all types of possibilities and no legalized control....it was wide-open. A dimwit could walk into a weed-shop....buy a dozen edibles and in two hours find himself in a fallen mental state and deduce the need to kill himself or others over some mental fantasy or worry.
The world is a bit less safe than we'd like to admit.
Friday, 27 March 2015
Thursday, 26 March 2015
The Bergdahl Story
A simple take on Bow Bergdahl....the Army guy who paid five Islamic terrorists for and some cash via the middle-guy....who yesterday was announced on the short list for court martial. Charges? Desertion and misbehaving before the enemy.
If convicted on desertion....he gets five years max.
For misbehaving before the enemy? This is an odd charge and rarely if ever used. You'd basically have to have some evidence of a sort that indicates that he cooperated with the enemy and helped them in some fashion. For this....you get life in an Army prison as the max.
For those who might think this is like the OJ case and the court episode will take weeks and months....no. This entire court case will likely wrap up in seven to ten court-session days (two weeks or less).
The prosecution merely needs to show that on X-day....Bergdahl is reported missing, and indications are that he walked out....leaving his weapon behind. Enough bits of evidence exist (mailing his gear back to the state the week or two prior was the big hint with months left to go on the tour) to show his intention.
Around twenty members of his unit will testify and it'll go fairly negative for the defense. There are few questions that can trip these guys up.
Then we come to the defense moments....Bergdahl was crazy. He was crazy when the Coast Guard discharged him from boot camp. He was crazy in high school. He was crazy when the Army granted him a waiver to join after the mental issues were noted on the Coast Guard paperwork. He was crazy when he deployed and he was crazy for the whole time that the Taliban guys were holding him.
The Army response will be that they have 500,000 crazy folks and none of them ran off to the Taliban.
For the jury, the crazy factor will help on the one charge of misbehavior with the enemy. If he was nuts....he couldn't be held responsible for his actions. The desertion thing? Oh, that's acceptable and he'll do the five years for that. At that point, the jury will wrap things up....convict him on one charge and he quietly does four to five years.
Upon release? Well....it's just me talking here.....but I'm of the mind he'll board a plane and make his way to the Pakistan, where he'll be captured again. Yeah.....he IS that crazy and stupid enough to do something like that.
A movie on this? Maybe....but it's going to be hard to make him look anyway....but plain stupid and crazy.
If convicted on desertion....he gets five years max.
For misbehaving before the enemy? This is an odd charge and rarely if ever used. You'd basically have to have some evidence of a sort that indicates that he cooperated with the enemy and helped them in some fashion. For this....you get life in an Army prison as the max.
For those who might think this is like the OJ case and the court episode will take weeks and months....no. This entire court case will likely wrap up in seven to ten court-session days (two weeks or less).
The prosecution merely needs to show that on X-day....Bergdahl is reported missing, and indications are that he walked out....leaving his weapon behind. Enough bits of evidence exist (mailing his gear back to the state the week or two prior was the big hint with months left to go on the tour) to show his intention.
Around twenty members of his unit will testify and it'll go fairly negative for the defense. There are few questions that can trip these guys up.
Then we come to the defense moments....Bergdahl was crazy. He was crazy when the Coast Guard discharged him from boot camp. He was crazy in high school. He was crazy when the Army granted him a waiver to join after the mental issues were noted on the Coast Guard paperwork. He was crazy when he deployed and he was crazy for the whole time that the Taliban guys were holding him.
The Army response will be that they have 500,000 crazy folks and none of them ran off to the Taliban.
For the jury, the crazy factor will help on the one charge of misbehavior with the enemy. If he was nuts....he couldn't be held responsible for his actions. The desertion thing? Oh, that's acceptable and he'll do the five years for that. At that point, the jury will wrap things up....convict him on one charge and he quietly does four to five years.
Upon release? Well....it's just me talking here.....but I'm of the mind he'll board a plane and make his way to the Pakistan, where he'll be captured again. Yeah.....he IS that crazy and stupid enough to do something like that.
A movie on this? Maybe....but it's going to be hard to make him look anyway....but plain stupid and crazy.
After Watching Breaking Bad
I'm one of those guys who generally misses big-name TV shows and catches up months and even years later. Seinfeld, The Seventies Show, Law and Order, Friends? Most I ended up watching three to five years after they ended. That's mostly because of life overseas.
Today, after an entire month....I've finally watched all of Breaking Bad. It ended around two years ago. Yeah, it just wasn't on my must-watch list at the time.
So my five observations after turbo-viewing the sixty-two episodes?
One. It is probably one of the best written and epic stories that TV ever produced. I should point out....it wasn't the big three (CBS, NBC, or ABC) or the Cable thugs (Showtime or HBO). It was an AMC production. They didn't go over the top or hire four-star actors....they knew they could get decent actors....give them a great script....and they'd turn in four-star performances.
Two. From the first ten episodes....I was all bought into Walt's idea and mission in life. I was all connected to Jessie maturing and getting clean one day. By the final ten episodes....I hated Walter White immensely....his character was no longer a likable guy. As for Jessie....somewhere along the bitter end....he wised up. They leave you with a mystery on what happens to Jessie next. Maybe in five years.....Jessie turns up somewhere in another show.
Three. Breaking Bad is a great tool to lecture people on the business side of drugs. There is a distribution system, a manufacturing system, an advertising system, a regulatory commission of sorts, a customer complaint system, and rich guys at the top who act as CEOs.
Four. By the end...with about six exceptions....virtually every single character that you met along the way is dead. Saul, the crappy but dependable lawyer? He survives, and one might suspect him turning up one day....maybe in Mississippi or Jacksonville. My favorite short-term character? Jessie's heron girlfriend. You could tell in the first five minutes upon introduction.....she just wasn't going to be around for more than five or six episodes.
Five. The big three (CBS, NBC, and ABC) have a problem. They can't produce shows like this. The public will eventually figure this out.
After you sit and watch fifty-odd hours of this....you have a good idea of the meth world.....the characters involved...the business connection....and marginal amount of time you have to make money, then lose money. Maybe in some way.....there's a great business side to Breaking Bad....showing the decision process and how a company can fail quickly on bad decision-making.
Worth watching? Yeah. Just don't get attached to any characters.....some get whacked pretty quick.
Today, after an entire month....I've finally watched all of Breaking Bad. It ended around two years ago. Yeah, it just wasn't on my must-watch list at the time.
So my five observations after turbo-viewing the sixty-two episodes?
One. It is probably one of the best written and epic stories that TV ever produced. I should point out....it wasn't the big three (CBS, NBC, or ABC) or the Cable thugs (Showtime or HBO). It was an AMC production. They didn't go over the top or hire four-star actors....they knew they could get decent actors....give them a great script....and they'd turn in four-star performances.
Two. From the first ten episodes....I was all bought into Walt's idea and mission in life. I was all connected to Jessie maturing and getting clean one day. By the final ten episodes....I hated Walter White immensely....his character was no longer a likable guy. As for Jessie....somewhere along the bitter end....he wised up. They leave you with a mystery on what happens to Jessie next. Maybe in five years.....Jessie turns up somewhere in another show.
Three. Breaking Bad is a great tool to lecture people on the business side of drugs. There is a distribution system, a manufacturing system, an advertising system, a regulatory commission of sorts, a customer complaint system, and rich guys at the top who act as CEOs.
Four. By the end...with about six exceptions....virtually every single character that you met along the way is dead. Saul, the crappy but dependable lawyer? He survives, and one might suspect him turning up one day....maybe in Mississippi or Jacksonville. My favorite short-term character? Jessie's heron girlfriend. You could tell in the first five minutes upon introduction.....she just wasn't going to be around for more than five or six episodes.
Five. The big three (CBS, NBC, and ABC) have a problem. They can't produce shows like this. The public will eventually figure this out.
After you sit and watch fifty-odd hours of this....you have a good idea of the meth world.....the characters involved...the business connection....and marginal amount of time you have to make money, then lose money. Maybe in some way.....there's a great business side to Breaking Bad....showing the decision process and how a company can fail quickly on bad decision-making.
Worth watching? Yeah. Just don't get attached to any characters.....some get whacked pretty quick.
The Radio Shack Listing
As Radio Shack proceeds through bankruptcy (yeah, it's been a written goal of theirs for two decades to fail)....they've come to announce that they intend to sell their customer database as part of the proceedings.
The list? 117-million customers.
Various parties are hostile about this customer database being sold and don't think it's ethical. Some folks have pointed out that everyone had the chance to say 'no' and just not give the information. Some will say that the list has value and might be worth in the range of five-million dollars (on the high side, if you ask me....I'd value it at $200,000 max).
I've sat and pondered over this. It's an odd thing. If you really had 117-million active customers....you wouldn't be going bankrupt.
So I pondered upon this. I can remember in 1976 walking into the Radio Shack of the town where I grew up and buying an item, and they collected the customer data even then.
I'm only suggesting this because they certainly won't admit it.....but this list of 117-million names probably is every single customer they've had since the mid-1970s. I would even go a step further.....that twenty-percent of the listing are simply dead people. And I'll even suggest that twenty-five percent are people who've moved in the past twenty years.
I've used Radio Shack on fifteen-to-twenty occasions since 1977 when I joined the Air Force. They've probably got my name down, with at least six different addresses.
Actual value, if proven true? Maybe $10,000 because you just don't know how accurate it really is.
This brings me around to the long-term strategy plan of Radio Shack. I'm one of those people who saw the writing on the wall in the 1990s. Whatever strategy they had....it was simple and limited to probably a three-by-five inch card. Once we emerged into the technology era of the 1990s....they should have picked up the hint.
They could have put a new look onto the stores. They could have been at the front of the cellphone sales era. They could have aimed more gadgets at kids. There should have been a Xmas gift catalog every single year with emphasis on guys.
Instead....they just stayed with the 1970s scheme...a shop for geeky guys. It lasted fifty years and it was simple. Lets face it....before Ebay or Amazon came along.....if you wanted some hard-to-get electronic items....Radio Shack was 'it'. You usually couldn't find another special store like this within 300 miles of your home. They just didn't figure out the strength of the on-line competition until it was too late to fix anything.
Amazon buying the 117-million customer list? No. I'd lay down a good bet that they don't have any interest. In fact....it's hard to think of a name-brand company who'd like to lay out hundreds of thousands on this type of listing.
Bottom line? Radio Shack spent thousands of hours collecting this stupid data, and never knew how to really utilize it. Now? They think they have something of value? It just doesn't make sense.
The list? 117-million customers.
Various parties are hostile about this customer database being sold and don't think it's ethical. Some folks have pointed out that everyone had the chance to say 'no' and just not give the information. Some will say that the list has value and might be worth in the range of five-million dollars (on the high side, if you ask me....I'd value it at $200,000 max).
I've sat and pondered over this. It's an odd thing. If you really had 117-million active customers....you wouldn't be going bankrupt.
So I pondered upon this. I can remember in 1976 walking into the Radio Shack of the town where I grew up and buying an item, and they collected the customer data even then.
I'm only suggesting this because they certainly won't admit it.....but this list of 117-million names probably is every single customer they've had since the mid-1970s. I would even go a step further.....that twenty-percent of the listing are simply dead people. And I'll even suggest that twenty-five percent are people who've moved in the past twenty years.
I've used Radio Shack on fifteen-to-twenty occasions since 1977 when I joined the Air Force. They've probably got my name down, with at least six different addresses.
Actual value, if proven true? Maybe $10,000 because you just don't know how accurate it really is.
This brings me around to the long-term strategy plan of Radio Shack. I'm one of those people who saw the writing on the wall in the 1990s. Whatever strategy they had....it was simple and limited to probably a three-by-five inch card. Once we emerged into the technology era of the 1990s....they should have picked up the hint.
They could have put a new look onto the stores. They could have been at the front of the cellphone sales era. They could have aimed more gadgets at kids. There should have been a Xmas gift catalog every single year with emphasis on guys.
Instead....they just stayed with the 1970s scheme...a shop for geeky guys. It lasted fifty years and it was simple. Lets face it....before Ebay or Amazon came along.....if you wanted some hard-to-get electronic items....Radio Shack was 'it'. You usually couldn't find another special store like this within 300 miles of your home. They just didn't figure out the strength of the on-line competition until it was too late to fix anything.
Amazon buying the 117-million customer list? No. I'd lay down a good bet that they don't have any interest. In fact....it's hard to think of a name-brand company who'd like to lay out hundreds of thousands on this type of listing.
Bottom line? Radio Shack spent thousands of hours collecting this stupid data, and never knew how to really utilize it. Now? They think they have something of value? It just doesn't make sense.
Thursday, 19 March 2015
More Than Enough Worries Already
Today in Alabama news, I noted one of these oddball medical stories. Specialist from Morgan County, just south of Huntsville.....noted the first ever case in north Alabama of leprosy. Yep....leprosy.
They won't say much about the guy except he's not a local guy. One might assume he's from another country....but they were careful not to suggest that.
A big deal? Well....if you had it and just avoided doctors throughout the stages....yeah, you'd be pretty bad off and would eventually watch your body 'crap-out'.
Naturally, Bible-thumpers would pick up on this and start talking of various chapters where leprosy was mentioned and it's a hands-on thing from God.
What is generally said is that around 6,000 cases a year usually turn up in the US. Kinda shocking numbers and I have my doubts about this.
Treatment? Generally, as long as you get to it in the early stages....there's treatment for it.
The thing here though...is that folks around Alabama have a list of about 1,000 things they worry about: snakes, food-poisoning, meth-heads, tornadoes, rabid dogs, mad bulls chasing you in the field, blow-outs on the interstate, vengeful red-haired ex-girlfriends, chainsaw accidents, drunk relatives with guns, tractors flipping over, bass boat sinking in the river, ministers hooking up with your wife, staying overnight in Chattanooga, Bible prophecy, snowfall of more than six inches, new neighbors moving next door who lived in California for their entire lives, gambling casinos, Alabama getting a five-year suspension from the NCAA football business, lightning striking you on the patio while a thunderstorm rolls through, Aliens kidnapping you, and your minister finding out about your big refrigerator in the garage for bulk beer purchases.
And now? Another extra worry? Leprosy?
Yeah, it's something we just didn't have to worry about.
They won't say much about the guy except he's not a local guy. One might assume he's from another country....but they were careful not to suggest that.
A big deal? Well....if you had it and just avoided doctors throughout the stages....yeah, you'd be pretty bad off and would eventually watch your body 'crap-out'.
Naturally, Bible-thumpers would pick up on this and start talking of various chapters where leprosy was mentioned and it's a hands-on thing from God.
What is generally said is that around 6,000 cases a year usually turn up in the US. Kinda shocking numbers and I have my doubts about this.
Treatment? Generally, as long as you get to it in the early stages....there's treatment for it.
The thing here though...is that folks around Alabama have a list of about 1,000 things they worry about: snakes, food-poisoning, meth-heads, tornadoes, rabid dogs, mad bulls chasing you in the field, blow-outs on the interstate, vengeful red-haired ex-girlfriends, chainsaw accidents, drunk relatives with guns, tractors flipping over, bass boat sinking in the river, ministers hooking up with your wife, staying overnight in Chattanooga, Bible prophecy, snowfall of more than six inches, new neighbors moving next door who lived in California for their entire lives, gambling casinos, Alabama getting a five-year suspension from the NCAA football business, lightning striking you on the patio while a thunderstorm rolls through, Aliens kidnapping you, and your minister finding out about your big refrigerator in the garage for bulk beer purchases.
And now? Another extra worry? Leprosy?
Yeah, it's something we just didn't have to worry about.
Friday, 13 March 2015
Net Neutrality Discussion
The FCC "net neutrality" document got released this week. I sat down and read through 75-odd pages of the 400-page document. FCC 15-24 is the document....it's free to browse and read off their server. I'll make these five observations.
First, when people expected it to sound like 'rules'.....they were expecting too much. I've written rules for the government (particularly DoD), and it just isn't that type of document. I'm very familiar with white papers, point papers, situation awareness papers, etc. This document doesn't read like them either. Oddly, it reads like a thesis paper, written by some masters degree program. It works itself to be type of argument for convincing the reader of some bluff (a word that I would use to describe intentions to convince someone of something but without any heavy weight).
Second, citation-wise....it's an amazing document. Whoever wrote it.....has heavyweight experience at writing a thesis-like document. Everything is absolutely cited. In fact, I'd say that half the pages in the 400-odd page document are heavily cited....to the point that a quarter of the page is the cited references. Odd? When you write a rule document....it's rare that you reference anything. I can say this because I've written at least forty regulations in my life.
Third, I kinda noticed one particular organization listed in the references a good bit....a George Soros-sponsored media group. They got mentioned forty-six times. The author? They had a heavy hand to use significant references from the Soros group. An agenda? It would be curious to ask the three who voted for the document if they knew what the author was doing or if they've ever met any member of the George Soros-sponsored group....."Free Press".
Fourth, ID theft? It's one of top five problems with the internet today. In the 400-pages? It's mentioned two times. Yeah....two times total. I did the word check at the conclusion of my reading. Obviously.....the commission didn't really care to go after one of the biggest issues with the internet. What does that say? This is the one thing that they could have said was their top priority and we might have stood behind them for fixing ID theft. Zero effort.
Fifth, who wrote the document? Unknown. No names attached to the beginning or conclusion. I seriously doubt that the five members wrote this. Some editor stood in the middle and constructed the document. Who? We will never know.
My conclusion or bottom line? It's a neat thesis paper. Whoever started this paper.....probably started it as a college project and it simply grew. Someone read it....pushed it along....and eventually it was turned into the FCC net neutrality project. It's value as a monumental regulation? On a scale of one to ten....I'd say it's closer to two than anything else. Rules and regulations from this document? No....just positions....nothing else. For a thesis paper? I'd give it a "A".....written well and well cited. Beyond that.....it doesn't say much except everyone ought to have the same speed. Yeah....400-pages wasted on a position of speed for Americans.
First, when people expected it to sound like 'rules'.....they were expecting too much. I've written rules for the government (particularly DoD), and it just isn't that type of document. I'm very familiar with white papers, point papers, situation awareness papers, etc. This document doesn't read like them either. Oddly, it reads like a thesis paper, written by some masters degree program. It works itself to be type of argument for convincing the reader of some bluff (a word that I would use to describe intentions to convince someone of something but without any heavy weight).
Second, citation-wise....it's an amazing document. Whoever wrote it.....has heavyweight experience at writing a thesis-like document. Everything is absolutely cited. In fact, I'd say that half the pages in the 400-odd page document are heavily cited....to the point that a quarter of the page is the cited references. Odd? When you write a rule document....it's rare that you reference anything. I can say this because I've written at least forty regulations in my life.
Third, I kinda noticed one particular organization listed in the references a good bit....a George Soros-sponsored media group. They got mentioned forty-six times. The author? They had a heavy hand to use significant references from the Soros group. An agenda? It would be curious to ask the three who voted for the document if they knew what the author was doing or if they've ever met any member of the George Soros-sponsored group....."Free Press".
Fourth, ID theft? It's one of top five problems with the internet today. In the 400-pages? It's mentioned two times. Yeah....two times total. I did the word check at the conclusion of my reading. Obviously.....the commission didn't really care to go after one of the biggest issues with the internet. What does that say? This is the one thing that they could have said was their top priority and we might have stood behind them for fixing ID theft. Zero effort.
Fifth, who wrote the document? Unknown. No names attached to the beginning or conclusion. I seriously doubt that the five members wrote this. Some editor stood in the middle and constructed the document. Who? We will never know.
My conclusion or bottom line? It's a neat thesis paper. Whoever started this paper.....probably started it as a college project and it simply grew. Someone read it....pushed it along....and eventually it was turned into the FCC net neutrality project. It's value as a monumental regulation? On a scale of one to ten....I'd say it's closer to two than anything else. Rules and regulations from this document? No....just positions....nothing else. For a thesis paper? I'd give it a "A".....written well and well cited. Beyond that.....it doesn't say much except everyone ought to have the same speed. Yeah....400-pages wasted on a position of speed for Americans.
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
The Nixon Health Care Episode
At the end of the Nixon era....in the middle of Feb of 1974....Nixon decided to take a major step toward a health care option for Americans.....basically converting Medicare into a device for all Americans.
The order given down? Here's the significant part of the Nixon plan:
"The plan is organized around seven principles:
First, it offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;
Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay;
Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health financing and harmonizes them into an overall system;
Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;
Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.
Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources; And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work–consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government."
What happened to the Nixon plan? Oddly, the Democrats of the House and Senate picked this up, and put a package together which conformed to the majority of Nixon's ideas. At some point, it got out to unions and older Americans that there would be a cost factor involved and regular Americans would have to cover the price difference between what the lower-class could pay and the rest of America. Newspapers, Time, Newsweak, and the big three networks carried the message to the public, and the Democrats simply could not sell this to the public.
Ford came into office shortly after this, with Nixon's resignation....and the Democrats just said adios to the whole idea.
The no-new-taxes part of the scheme? Oh, he was right about that.....it would be built into your monthly deductions for medicare. So he was right....no extra taxes.....just more onto what you already paid.
When this usually gets brought up.....Republicans of today usually go into fits and deny such a thing ever occurred. The odd thing? Well....Nixon spoke up that NO new taxes would be added to pay for this.....kinda like the plan we have today. Nixon also said that you could keep your doctor (in certain words), if you wanted to, and the doctor would work for you, not the government....which is a President Obama-situation that popped up.
The order given down? Here's the significant part of the Nixon plan:
"The plan is organized around seven principles:
First, it offers every American an opportunity to obtain a balanced, comprehensive range of health insurance benefits;
Second, it will cost no American more than he can afford to pay;
Third, it builds on the strength and diversity of our existing public and private systems of health financing and harmonizes them into an overall system;
Fourth, it uses public funds only where needed and requires no new Federal taxes;
Fifth, it would maintain freedom of choice by patients and ensure that doctors work for their patient, not for the Federal Government.
Sixth, it encourages more effective use of our health care resources; And finally, it is organized so that all parties would have a direct stake in making the system work–consumer, provider, insurer, State governments and the Federal Government."
What happened to the Nixon plan? Oddly, the Democrats of the House and Senate picked this up, and put a package together which conformed to the majority of Nixon's ideas. At some point, it got out to unions and older Americans that there would be a cost factor involved and regular Americans would have to cover the price difference between what the lower-class could pay and the rest of America. Newspapers, Time, Newsweak, and the big three networks carried the message to the public, and the Democrats simply could not sell this to the public.
Ford came into office shortly after this, with Nixon's resignation....and the Democrats just said adios to the whole idea.
The no-new-taxes part of the scheme? Oh, he was right about that.....it would be built into your monthly deductions for medicare. So he was right....no extra taxes.....just more onto what you already paid.
When this usually gets brought up.....Republicans of today usually go into fits and deny such a thing ever occurred. The odd thing? Well....Nixon spoke up that NO new taxes would be added to pay for this.....kinda like the plan we have today. Nixon also said that you could keep your doctor (in certain words), if you wanted to, and the doctor would work for you, not the government....which is a President Obama-situation that popped up.
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