She Looks Like Peter Tork

Just to get this thing kicked off with a bang, over 8,600 vulnerabilities have been found in pacemakers. Don't leave the frigging house.

• So there was only one act of terror over the weekend (that got any press) and that was another van running into people in England, on the London Bridge. There were fatalities.
• There's an awful lot of this going on. I get a strange feeling we're being manipulated. Last time England claimed they needed net censorship. This time they claimed they need worldwide net control (censorship). BINGO. False flag operation, designed to obtain control of the (mostly) free internet. Let's watch closely. Nothing happens out of a vacuum.
• Speaking of which, the policeman who shot and killed three of the terrorists has been suspended.

Your cell provider knows where you are at any moment. Is it ok for the police to know, without a warrant? The Supreme Court will rule. Watch this case, if Ginsburg can stay awake that long.

• This is not new, but the Secret Service got color printer manufacturers to have printers encode date and serial number of the printer on each document you print. This was initially for counterfeiting measures, but now it's for the children. Yet more collusion with government. This is how they outed the latest NSA leaker.
• The leaker, a white woman, stated online that 'Being White is Terrorism.'

Thought for the day: I commit terrorism every day by deliberately being white.

I read that Dickey Betts recently made peace with Gregg Allman. Good timing. This is not the burden you wish to carry for the rest of your life. Please remember this.

• British Airways' IT Glitch, that took down the entire airline last week, was caused, as previously typed here, by a power surge that knocked even the backup system offline. Additionally, outsourcing made it worse, with the foreign workers not having the knowledge to restart the systems. A brand new cause has been found... a systems engineer switched off the power to the IT systems. It was switched back on, which allegedly caused physical damaged to the systems.
• Just a note: switching the power off to the systems is not the same as a large surge or offshore contractors not being able to power up the systems.

Another thing learned from COPS: meth chicks are skinny. I like skinny.

Latest on the students of Evergreen State College: protesters are running around with baseball bats. An administrator released a memo, instructing students to get rid of the bats immediately (or he'd release an even more stern memo).

• Memo to London: Those three men in a van who just ran into people on the London Bridge? They were known to authorities. People called with concerns about them. One was in a jihad film. With all this knowledge, they completed their mission. With one camera for every eleven people, your government couldn't protect you. MI5 says it will be a generation before they catch up - they're woefully understaffed.
• Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.  -Ben Franklin
• Your government isn't going to protect you. You will simply give away your rights, like after 9-11. This applies to all countries.
• In related news, Welsh police have picked up a man with automated facial recognition for the first time. Automated facial recognition is built into US drivers licenses.

Canada's Minister Freeland stood up and gave a rather stunning speech on global leadership, suggesting that Canada should not take a free ride on the US train and step up to take the mantle of Global Leader.

Naturally my Skepticism Meter<tm> ran off the scale, first wondering how much of his family is in the defense industry. But I really like the tone of the speech and how Canada wants to Do The Canadian Thing: Step Up.

With this in mind, we present our Global Leadership Trophy and T-shirt to Canada, with three cheers. Huzzah! (eh?)

And I dare you to read his speech in a voice other than South Park's Canadian accent.

• Rod Stewart is touring with Cyndi Lauper. Concert starts at 8:00. Be there at 9:00.

Just remember: to a dyslexic, bowling is blowing.

Much as I despise phones ringing, I finally found a good use for them: I spent the last week trying to locate a bunch of phones by calling them from other phones. Otherwise I ignore them or shut off the ringer, which makes them even more difficult to find. I wonder if they travel when I'm not looking.

STIGMA

Somebody asked me how to be a good friend/supporter/family member when someone goes to the Happy Place (Booby Hatch, Loony Bin, mental hospital). There are no absolutes, but here are some suggestions:

• find out what the patient wants. If they'd like visits or calls, do so. If they want no contact, don't contact them.
• the family or whoever is home when the patient goes in might need some support or a hand or a burger. Are there kids?
• even if nothing is wanted, it helps to be a solid, supportive friend, in whatever way you can - just being you.
• don't go beyond what is requested, if anything.

'Crazy' is relative. It has been treated poorly since the beginning of time. When Mrs lefty got her bipolar diagnosis, many years ago, she was shunned at work, as if it were contagious. Interestingly, she was shunned by people who spent nights and weekends getting so blasted, you couldn't talk to them.

Your Fridge is Holding Your Food Hostage

I rant constantly against the Internet of Things, as all three of my readers will attest. When a leader in the field of security rants, it's time to pay attention. I'm with him right up to 'a government that prides itself on minimal intervention' of course. Give it a read.

• The slippery slope has gotten slipperier. The European Union's European Council, which sets political direction an priorities, has approved a set of proposals that would require Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to block videos that promote terrorism, incite hatred, or contain toxic, violent content. The UK already has hate speech laws, under which it's not ok to complain about Muslims or ISIS blowing up things and killing people. You can be prosecuted for this.
• Think about this for a second. These are laws on what you can't say. Upside Down World has taken its next illogical step. Thoughtcrime will run rampant. People can't be allowed to go around thinking and saying what they want.
• America has issues but Freedom of Speech is still mostly alive.

Another Great American entered the legal system this week, as some lady is suing Jelly Belly, the company that makes the best flavored jelly beans, because she didn't know there was sugar in there.  This is the lowest form of American, abusing the legal system like a pro. Did all that sweetness come from cardboard, perhaps? When does personal responsibility enter the equation (never)? Spend more time on gray matter and less on stuffing your face.

Jelly Bellys are a magical little piece of well-flavored sugar. I had the opportunity to tour the factory, which was a great time. At one point, the guide told us that they used 45 tons of sugar daily. I brightened up and let the group know that was more than I use. They were amused.

• I just saw a commercial for a game show called Beat Shazam, with Jamie Fox. Proving there's absolutely nothing new in Hollywood, this is directly stolen from a show called Name That Tune. Next season there will obviously be a Beat Shazam II.

Ben & Jerry's in Australia are protesting the inability of gays to get married. They are going about this by not allowing two scoops of the same ice cream on the same item. The effects of this action are being felt across the nation, with rioting breaking out in Brisbane. The government has stated that they will not be dictated to, especially by American concerns, but have told reporters, off the record, that they are preparing for widespread looting and possible large scale deaths. They are very quietly drafting same-sex marriage legislation. The rest of the public is very confused, as they never order two scoops of the same flavor.

• That didn't take long...the UK government is getting ready to pass legislation modifying business' encryption of data, so it can be handed to them upon request. In other words, deliberate backdoors. Hmmm... a nail bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber and now there is convenient legislation to allow the government access to encrypted data. What incredible timing! Also coincidental is the fact that UK businesses were ramping up their encryption to make data safer against hackers. This will thwart their safety measures and now the hacker is the UK government. I wonder if the citizens can take a break from protesting Trump or whatever today's cause is to notice this.

In the Just Desserts Department, three Nigerian scammers have received 235 years of total jail sentences in the US.  Three down, three thousand to go.

• We haven't had a great headline in a while, so I give you "Husband files for divorce after wife's girlfriends sent him videos of them having lesbian group sex"

Hunter College will be offering An Abolition of Whiteness course this fall to discuss the role of "White supremacy and violence."  After graduation, students are invited to return for "Decorating your parents' basement because you can't get a job due to putting An Abolition of Whiteness on your resume."

Just in case you haven't had your daily fix of College Lunacy, in good old Washington state, black Evergreen State College students have siezed the campus. The only outspoken opponent, a professor, has been advised to hold his classes offsite, as it's not safe for him to come on campus. The miscreants have, of course, filmed their activities and posted them on social media (because nothing exists or happens until it's posted on Faceyspaces) and are now upset that everyone can see them, so they're demanding the videos be removed. The students are stopping cars, looking for the professor or information about his whereabouts.

In any other universe, SWAT would be out with all their lovely military gear, only they can't because the administrators will not let them on campus, promising a "major review" to find out why the students are so upset. They don't want to discipline the children - they want to find out why they're upset. The students, of course, have demands, including annual sensitivity training for staff and police, emphasizing the eradication of anti-black racism (anti-white racism was not mentioned). This link will give you more details (try to look past its very right-leaning bent).

Can you see the resumes?
* Led student riot and takeover of the college.
* Set up roadblock to find white racist professor.
* Demanded institution of African American agenda
* Fuck whitey

If your child and your money went to Hunter College, you might be an upset parent, no? Did you have high hopes for your child's education in actual subjects, as opposed to a degree in siezing the college? If/when graduated, they should probably avoid trying to take over McDonalds, IF their degree qualifies them for the position.

• British Airways had 'a spot of a problem' over the weekend. BA had to ground all flights out of London's two main airports, affecting call centers and online booking sites. More than 1,000 fights were canceled and 75,000 passengers stranded. At fault was another "global IT system failure," reportedly the sixth such incident in the last year. 
• A power surge was blamed, allegedly so strong it affected the backup system's ability to start. BA is still working to figure out the precise causes. There are two large data centers near its headquarters.
• The union representing the IT workers blames the incident on outsourcing to India, which didn't understand how to restart the system.
• As someone who has done similar work, I'm calling shenanigans. My non-profit job had incredible redundancy and backup capabilities. Why didn't British Air? More accurately, why didn't they work? Weren't these systems routinely tested, as necessary?
• With the CEO blaming a power surge, IT blaming outsourcing, and both agreeing that the backup system failed to start, we have a notable situation.

If your day seems to be going downhill, imagine being a New York City policeman, chasing a runaway horse on 11th and 52nd. There were ten cars in the chase. The horse, meanwhile, took a left on 51st and hid out in a Chinese massage parlor, where everything had a happy ending.