LittleJoe

Hey, my brother's a cover model!

The US Postal Service does a food drive each year. Folks leave non-perishable food at their mailbox, and the mail carriers collect it and then see that it's distributed to help feed the hungry. After last month's  food drive, one of my brother's colleagues took a pic of Pat unloading food and submitted it to The Postal Record - the national monthly magazine that is mailed out to all letter carriers nationwide. Anyway, Pat was surprised to see his mug as the main pic on the cover! (click the thumbnail image to see a larger pic) ...I guess the poor guy's been taking a lot of ribbing now from co-workers. Hey, it's got to be tough being a super model :)

Hurricane season starts in 10 days

Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. Last year the first tropical storm (Arlene) ran June 8-13. So one cannot assume that the real storms come later in the season (the first hurricane last year - Cindy - reached hurricane status on July 3). OK. Time to crank the hurricane preparations into full swing.

I've recently begun using the very handy, easy-to-use, and free :) Ta-da lists from the clever folks at 37signals. Pictured here is my to-do Ta-da list of items to get done soon. Last year, I installed tracks for storm panels all around the house. And we caulked all of the windows. We bought some brackets to use to secure vertical 4x4's behind the garage doors - even though the doors are the newer variety that are reinforced to handle high winds. I feel better having a hefty post every 8 feet or so. Of course, the brackets aren't installed yet, and we need to buy the posts.

Even though we have panels to cover windows and doors around the house (leaving ourselves 2 exit points for safety), we want to buy some clear panels to let light in. We'd bought one last year to experiment with and decide if it was worth it to get more. YES! The clear panel gets installed in place of a metal one, provides the same protection, and brings in some natural light, so one can reduce the 'cave' feeling that one gets when the house is shrouded in panels and the power is out.

Yesterday I finished caulking between the soffit and wall in the peak above the garage. The gap was up to 1/2 inch (ok, a little more than that in places), and when horizontal rain is blowing with gusty winds, there's too much chance of water intrusion and flying metal soffits. So I feel real good to have that done. Then there's the updates to video/photo inventory, refilling some of the emergency supplies, etc., etc. It's going to be a bit busy around here for a couple of weeks (so what's new!).

OK, people, if you live in a hurricane area, get busy!

Home net adjustment

Been real busy with work and work around the home, so very little time lately to post. BUT... I was doing a little tuning on our home network, and decided to change the name. So in honor of His Noodly Appendage, our home network is now named fsmnet, in reference, of course, to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It brings a little smile to my face every time I see that fsmnet on my screen :)

55mph speed limit and energy sense

I like driving fast. Here in Florida, if you're not doing at least 10-15 mph over the speed limit, you're almost a hazard on the road. Quite often, I'm driving 75-80 mph.

Well, as much as it pains me (for multiple reasons), I must admit that Nixon was correct in implementing the 55 mph national speed limit. Driving more slowly save gas, and saves lives. If we are serious about conserving fuel, reducing pollution, restoring at least a little sanity to our lives ...we will drive more slowly. So I've taken a first step of trying to hold my speed limit to no more than 5 mph over the limit. Believe me, that is not very cool during the morning commute! For the parts of the drive during which traffic is flowing, I have to be very careful. Folks get pretty pi$$ed - even with me in the 'slow' lane - if I'm 'only' doing 5 mph over the limit.

Well, most people are self-absorbed enough that I do not think we'll achieve more sensible driving without legislating it. OK, so who out there among the elected officials has the balls to take a stand and make a positive difference?

In a related vein, many are touting bio-diesel, ethanol, and/or hydrogen fuel. Well currently, it takes more energy to produce these fuels than the energy we get out of them once produced. So the process needs attention. How about using renewable energy sources - solar, wind, wave, geothermal - to supply the energy needed to produce these fuels for transportation?

We're taking baby steps here at home. Solar-powered battery chargers that I don't use often enough (I tend to not plan ahead enough and use a plug-in charger more often); a solar powered attic fan, which has reduced the attic temperature by 10 degrees, but we need to add another fan yet; keeping the thermostat adjusted to 78 or so to help reduce cooling; converting the back yard to mostly xeriscaping to minimize the water and fertilizer that a traditional lawn would consume; slowly converting the indoor and outdoor lights to fluorescent; taking advantage of my employer's allowance and telecommuting a day or two a week and carpooling some of the other days. And I'm going to call the company that did our solar pool heat and see what they can do for us with photovoltaic on the roof. We already pay a small extra charge each month to get 25% of our power from renewable sources, but we need to take advantage of being in the SUNSHINE State and generate some of our own electricity. No, it won't 'pay for itself' in 5 years or whatever using current economic models, but that's not the point. The point is that we all need to do what we can to make some progress. If I'm just sitting on my a$$ hoping things will change, then I'm not really helping anything.

So we'll see what we can get the local and national government to do, and I'll report back on progress here at home. Cheers :)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was "Arrrgh!"

Yes, we have been thirsting for the truth for too long, so tonight we purchased The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. OK, the truth is that I'm disgusted at Bush and so many other hypocritcal, greedy, deceitful, deceptive, heartless, so-called religous people claiming to have some monopoly on truth, and cramming their agenda past millions of people who support the neo-con agenda solely because Bush and others claim to be 'Christian'. Whatever the heck that is supposed to mean anymore. Starting a war that kills tens of thousands of civilians (the number is most probably much higher), intentionally implying a connection between 9/11 and Saddam, then finally stating that he'd never actually said that the 2 were related ...spouting off about being 'pro-life', yet not seeming to give a hoot about sending so many to their deaths, raping the economy to benefit the few at the top while constantly eroding the opportunities for those at the bottom, preaching against abortion but not fighting to ensure the needed support services for the 'saved' children born into poverty ....these are most certainly not the actions of a follower of the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, and so many prophets and guides through the ages. And it makes me sick.

While the FSM book provides a bit of humor to help get us through the disgusting actions of the Bush administration and the ongoing Culture of Corruption, on a more serious note, I've also recently begun reading American Theocracy. This book is written by Kevin Phillips, a life long Republican, member of the Nixon administration, and totally disgusted with what Bush and his ilk have done to the Repulican party and the country. He points out, with very thorough supporting references, just how insanely terrible a president George W. Bush is, and why we need to WAKE UP and not let the country continue any further down this path of self-annihilation. More to read... lots more. I've heard the author speak and what I've read so far of the book does give me hope. Hope that there are millions of Republicans who do still remember when Republicans knew something about fiscal responsibility, and actually supported the Constitution, rather than viewing it as a hinderance. There is still hope, but both major parties are, to a very real degree, owned by the money of corporations, and Bush is the worst - absolutely the worst - president this country has ever seen. Far worse than I ever imagined in 2000.

Lime trees and compost

Lime 'trees' We go through a lot of limes, what with Corona, mojitos, Mai Tais, and various other libations. Strictly for the health benefits of course. The other day we picked up a couple of lime 'trees' at Lowe's, and they will be getting planted approximately where they are shown here. Eventually, they will be full-sized lime trees (well, we'll keep them pruned so they stay easy-picking height). In the background you can also see our compost bin, which is really a pretty cool invention (purchased at our local Worm's Way store). Just open either end, toss in the yard waste or vegetable scraps or coffee grounds or whatever, and give it a turn once a day. The stuff all cooks down to beautiful compost for the garden.

What's really cool is that one of these little guys even has our first lime getting ready for plucking :)

Guess it helps to clean the filters

Air return in hall The pollen in Florida this year is especially heavy. There's been no rain for over a month, and the trees seem to have been almost snowing down a yellow-green blanket of pollen. Cars have been coated, and many people, Shirley included, have had a real tough go of it. Well, we finally realized that we'd neither replaced nor cleaned the filters in our air returns for close to a year. For those who don't know, they should be cleaned or replaced every month! We have this large 18x30 inch unit in the hallway ceiling, and a 12x12 inch filter goes in the air return in each bedroom.

First Shirley started to vacuum the incredible amount of dust and yuck from the large filter. But then we decided to go to Lowe's and buy some new electrostatic filters and just replace the lot of the cheap filters. Shirley's still suffering a bit from the pollen, but at least we know that we're not wasting as much energy on heating / cooling, and we're not recirculating as much crud through our home's air.

Bamboo - a year after planting

Bamboo, one year later Almost a year ago, Ben and I dug this 50 foot long trench, lined it with metal roof flashing, mixed in some compost, and planted 10 bamboo plants. A few weeks ago, we noticed new shoots finally poking up from the ground, and now they are growing like crazy. Another year or two and this will be a beautiful stand of bamboo.

Here's the view from the pool area today.

And here's what it looked like just after planting a year ago.

Republican Culture of Corruption - deeper and deeper

I try to read a lot: the newspaper, several periodicals, news web sites, blogs, emails. I follow links from the various sites and try to verify references and check sites like Snopes and FactCheck, or search the web for the US government sites that have the actual law referenced, or locate the original news story or actual film footage when possible. And there is a LOT of stuff that's going on and has gone on in the past several years that has me believing that the Bush administration is comprised of the most dishonest, unethical, misleading, hypocritical slime this nation has seen.

Often I'll skip blogging because I need to read something more uplifting. It becomes a matter of maintaining sanity. There's still plenty of good in the world, and we all need to expend the effort to realize that, and to be very conscious of the positive. But I'll let you do that as a homework assignment. Here are a few of the things that have me pissed off at the Bush Republicans and their Culture of Corruption of late:

• Diebold Whistleblower Facing Three Felony Counts
• Bush administration's NSA spying and refusal to comply with FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). As I read it, the Attorney General has failed to meet the requirements to report to the court and to the Senate. Either George W Bush broke the law, or John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales broke the law. Quite possibly all three. So does Gonzales, to perform his duty, need to file charges against himself?
• Did 308,000 cancelled Ohio voter registrations put Bush back in the White House? OK, I don't really believe that. I believe that this is just one piece of the rampant electoral fraud - very well-executed - in the past 2 presidential elections. Read the post at The Brad Blog and download the PDF of the Affidavit. Read the report from Rep John Conyers (House Judiciary Committee) and read the blog about the hearings.
• Just how much did the Bush Administration know - or allow (or worse) regarding the attacks of 11 Sept 2001?
• Bush chose to wage an unnecessary war on Iraq, ignoring the CIA, resulting (so far) in close to 2,300 deaths and nearly 17,000 wounded military persons. And then there are the tens of thousands (or many times more) of Iraqis killed. We send our troops over there ill equipped, and render the National Guard units here at home ever more-depleted in their supplies (we're talking really fundamental supplies like rifles!)
• The Bush policies have plunged the USA into incredible debt while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans. He has ignored the true conservatives that had belonged to his party in the past, and has instead reduced taxes during a time of war. It would appear that the notion of a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility has become, as Alberto Gonzales referred to the Geneva Conventions in a 2002 memo to Bush, "quaint".

Bush is, without a doubt, the worst president ever. I love this country and I truly am afraid of how much longer this can go on.

Word for the day: Kakistocracy

As in:
Here in the USA, we live in a kakistocracy

(courtesy of my buddy JL, up in Washington state)

Voting irregularites from Florida machines

OK, for anyone who still doubts that there were serious problems (if not more nefarious issues) with the "election" of 2004, read this latest story about Sequoia voting machines in Palm Beach County, Florida. The election was on 02 Nov 2004. But somehow there were votes recorded as cast before the early voting had started, and even some data that was dated 2010!

Fortunately, we've been told that everything was fine. I feel better knowing that, because otherwise I would be concerned about the over 100,000 errors on the machine logs just in that one Florida county.

PROOF: Invasion of Iraq forgone conclusion

"What the hell!  What are these guys thinking about? . . . Can't you get these guys back in the box?" - Secretary of State Colin Powell to General Hugh Shelton after Rumsfeld had brought up the possibility of attacking Iraq in a September 16, 2001 National Security Council meeting.

This and several other Quotes on Bush's Policies are posted on Thad Anderson's site (with references). So what's this have to do with "proof"?

Well, Anderson posted last March about a CBS story of 2002 talking about Donald Rumsfeld meeting with staffers the afternoon of Sept 11 2001 and trying to dredge up some way to use the murders and devastation of that day to justify invading Iraq. But Anderson didn't stop there. In July 2005, he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Defense to get copies of the handwritten notes of Stephen Cambone - a staffer who was in the meeting with Rumsfeld. And 2 weeks ago Thad Anderson received the material from the DoD. Anderson has posted PDFs of the notes, and has also made these available on Flickr.

The fact is that the USA invasion of Iraq was decided ...I don't know when. But it was before 11 September 2001. It was a war waiting for a reason ...a reason that has been - and is still - lacking.

Your share of National Debt: $27,613

Now, if you are a family of four on one income, that income needs to cover US$110,452. Sucks that we're at a savings rate of negative 0.05%

Oh, and that's the number for today (18 Feb 2006). It goes up $2.21 billion every day. So the family of 4 needs to cough up thirty bucks a day just to keep from sliding deeper. Time to look for that third job, 'cause Bush likes to start wars and cut taxes and that's pretty much a formula for disaster.

Numbers are from Ed Hall's National Debt Clock, which includes links to a lot more info. The US Treasury Department's number is slightly higher (ok, that's relative - but when the numbers get this huge, the difference is a tiny fraction).

If you're a USA citizen and you're reading this after Saturday 18 Feb 2006, just add $7.40 per day per person in your household to that $27,613. Have a nice day :)

Bush approval rating: 39%

There is hope. As America learns more about the lack of integrity (to put it extremely mildly) of the Bush Administration, as evidence mounts about the 911 cover-up, lies to start the Iraq War, gross mismanagement of the war and reconstruction, ineptitude dealing with tragedy of the hurricanes and flooding in New Orleans and along the Gulf, skyrocketing debt, deficit spending, illegal NSA wiretaps, secret CIA prisons, and on and on and on ...

The latest Gallup poll (14 Feb 2006) shows Bush's approval rating now at 39%.

Wiretaps: Who cares about the Constitution?

From Ohio (of course) Sen. Mark DeWine:

...there’s been some controversy about whether or not this program is legal or is not legal. I think we need to get beyond that... we don’t want to have any kind of debate about whether it’s constitutional or not constitutional.

That quote is from DeWine's appearance on Fox News, as reported on the Think Progress site yesterday. The White House supports DeWine's proposal to exclude the NSA wiretaps from FISA law. Just more demonstration that this administration is determined to do whatever the hell they want, and in their eyes, the Constitution is just a quaint piece of paper.

Don't believe the 9/11 conspiracy story...

The video link below was broken. It is now working. We have been LIED to ...many, many times. And the lies keep coming from Bush and co. WATCH THE VIDEO!

The Bush camp would have us believe that the horrible events of September 11, 2001 were the result of a conspiracy of Arabs who acquired incredible skill flying jet planes and made the impossible happen. Before you believe the official conspiracy theory,  watch the Loose Change 2 video ...all 1 hour and 21 minutes of it.

I'm not saying that this video answers all the questions. But it does ask some very good questions and provides some solid evidence for why we should be skeptical of the official story.

Snow ...in TAMPA?!?

Florida weather in the winter is always entertaining. The prediction is for the temperature to again be above 80F (27C) by the end of this week ...but for now it's chilly. And tonight and tomorrow we could even see some wet snow! The snow - if it does fall a little - won't stick (the temperature is not supposed to get cold enough for that), but still ...Snow in Florida sounds a little weird!

Good Night and Good Luck

Good Night and Good Luck: If you don't see this movie, you're a Communist. Or even worse - a supporter of current President George W McCarthy :)

This evening we popped down to Sunrise Cinemas, our favorite Tampa theatre. After a wonderful dinner and some great wine at The Wine Exchange - the attached restaurant that could do well anywhere - we watched "Good Night and Good Luck". This movie was directed by George Clooney, who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-stars in the movie. The story is about Edward R Murrow of CBS News speaking out against Senator Joseph McCarthy during the time of McCarthy's crusade against Communism.

The parallels to current events are striking. The "you're with us or against us" stance. Accusations without allowing the accused to face their accusers. A preponderance of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). How can anyone not see this?

Next movie I want to see: Why We Fight

Danish cartoon re Mohammed - misc thoughts

Flemming Rose, the editor of the Danish paper that published the cartoons is now on indefinite vacation. That might be appropriate, given his incredibly poor judgement.

The newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, had invited caricatures of Mohammad. 25 cartoonists responded, and some of the drawings / cartoons were published. I hope that most people could understand that these cartoons would be offensive. But I'm hesitant to join those chanting about free speech rights if they ignore that Muslims would be offended. Here is the USA, there are millions who profess to be Christians. Imagine how Christians would feel if there were caricatures of Jesus - in an uncomplimentary portrayal.

In fact, there had been some caricatures of Jesus submitted to Jyllands-Posten, but the editor refused to publish them, believing that many of the 175,000 subscribers to the paper - mostly conservative - would be offended. Shouldn't it be obvious as well that Muslims would be offended by the cartoons that were published? ...Especially given that the Muslim religion teaches that there should be no worship of idols and that there should be no paintings or statues of Mohammad.

Unfortunately, Mr. Rose must have thought that his newspaper would not be seen by many Muslims. It must have not even entered his mind that anyone viewing the paper would have a problem with the cartoons. Well, some lessons are not easily learned. In a further display of incredibly poor judgement, Mr Rose actually offered to assist Iran in their quest to acquire and publish cartoons of the Holocaust! Two wrongs do not make a right.

Yup. An indefinite vacation is a good idea.

Culture of Corruption: Convicted in New Hampshire

OK, I missed this story back on Dec 16 2005. As reported by the Concord Monitor in New Hanpshire, James Tobin, who (among other Republican Party posts) served for a time as the New England chair of the 2004 Bush campaign, was convicted on two counts related to his work to jam Democratic phone lines on Election Day in 2002. A Washington Post article last year reported that John Durkin, attorney for Allen Raymond (convicted last year for his part in this scheme), had told the judge that Allen Raymond was acting on orders from James Tobin.

Democrats who kept pushing for investigation had been chastised by some - folks who would say that the Demo's were just pouting over a lost election. Well it's important to keep fighting for the truth to be revealed.

And now Tobin and Raymond have both been convicted, and the civil trial against Tobin - that had been on hold pending the federal investigation - can move forward.

More evidence re lying and spying from Bush camp

Articles on Daily Kos and on Slate discuss details from yesterday's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing and possible law-breaking by the Bush administration regarding data mining of citizens' personal data (emails, phone calls, banking records, travel records) in direct violation of congressional ban of Sept 23, 2003. Interesting reading.

And sadly, not surprising, as the details of the Culture of Corruption continue to be revealed.

Dubya is not a liar

OK, personally I think of Bush as a murderer. He started a war based on deception ...he never said that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, but he implied it over and over by mentioning Saddam and 9/11 together ...and of course the whole WMD deception. Thousands have died (Americans, Iraqis, and coalition partners), for Bush's war started on false pretense.

And Bush - through inheritance - stands to make a handsome sum of money in war profits, since his dad has been heavily involved with The Carlyle Group (Bush senior retired in Oct 2003).

The Iraq war and Bush's statements about it are just one of a series of deceptions from Dubya. But he rarely tells an outright lie; he says things that are usually literally  true, but intentionally misleading. Well, personally I couldn't stomach watching and listening to the SOTU address last night; the man makes me sick. I think I lasted about 3 minutes. But fortunately the good folks at FactCheck.org (who rip apart misleading statements from any party) have posted an analysis of the speech.

The Culture of Corruption and the Dubya Deceptions haven't changed a bit.

Medical Breakthrough ...a must read post ;-)

Fellow Tampa blogger Dave has posted this rather attention-grabbing piece on one approach to dealing with many issues. I'm not sure if this is the best way to treat these ailments; I have tried this with mixed results.

Listen to Barak Obama's podcasts

If you have not already been doing so, DO be sure to listen to Barak Obama's podcasts. You do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast; podcasts are simply audio files (usually ...sometimes there can be video as well). Basically if you have a personal computer that allows you to listen to music or other audio, you can listen to podcasts.

Senator Obama has been recording and posting podcasts since at least September 2005, and now has many of them available and easy to listen to from the podcast page on his site.

I was impressed as heck by Senator Obama at the Democratic convention (before he was a senator) and have been more and more impressed with him each time I hear him speak. At this point I believe that there will come a day when this man is our president.

Voted for Clinton once; don't know that I can vote for Clinton next time

The first time that Bill Clinton ran for president, I voted for Ross Perot. I thought then (and still do today) that it was critical to have someone in the White House who would take fiscal responsibility seriously, and I saw Perot as being far more direct with his discussion of the economy. As it turns out, Clinton won the election, and I did vote for him the second time around. There were many good things about him; integrity wasn't one of them. Of course, the current president makes Bill Clinton look like an altar boy.

There has been a lot of speculation that Senator Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2008. But I no longer think I can support her. I'd been feeling more and more over the past weeks that her statements are far too political - trying to appeal to all sides. I like the idea of a woman president - or a 'minority' president - I pretty much just like the idea of moving beyond the notion that the president has to be some white guy. But I'm caring for Hillary less and less as time goes on. And then today I read this article by Molly Ivans. I don't agree completely with everything that Ivans writes ...but pretty darn close :)

Pics from Mexico vacation are posted

We spent an incredible week at Aventura Spa Palace - about an hour south of Cancun - earlier this month. Now that I'm back from the Lotusphere conference (which was also incredible, btw :) ...I've finally had time to post the pics.

Xanga does RSS ...who knew?

My good friend and flaming liberal (which is a very good thing!), Dr Lavine (listed among the Links over on the right-hand side of this page), has his blog hosted by Xanga. Well, I do the vast majority of my blog reading (and reading of news, for that matter) via an RSS reader (most of the time I use SharpReader, but there are many; my wife uses BottomFeeder on her iBook). And usually, when I want to configure my RSS Reader to pull in the updates from someone's web site, I look for the XML icon or RSS icon or other link on their site indicating the URL for that feed. Or I'll open their site, use the View Source feature to see the HTML behind the scenes, and look for a line containing something like: <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://littlejoe.typepad.com/blog/index.rdf" />

The LINK tag with rel="alternate" is what I look for to spot the URL that will point me to the XML feed for a given site, and I then enter that URL into my feed reader so that the site is added to the many sites that I already read from one single aggregator.

But Xanga doesn't make it as obvious, and all this time (years) I've thought that Xanga sites just didn't have RSS or Atom or other XML feeds. Without an RSS feed, I would sometimes go for days without checking the blogs of my Xanga friends. But that has now changed.

Dr Lavine's RSS feed is at http://www.xanga.com/rss.aspx?user=blavine ...and the RSS feed for any Xanga site is found at http://www.xanga.com/rss.aspx?user=username

So how did I discover this? I finally simply Googled on "Xanga rss" :)

Don't tick off the US; we'll kipnap your wife

OK, this story is just the latest among the many disgusting things for which the Bush Administration is responsible.  On more than one occasion, when the US has wanted to locate and imprison an Iraqi, the US has kidnapped that individual's wife (including seizing a nursing mother - just how LOW will this administration stoop?) - in hopes of enticing the wanted individual to turn himself in.

Yup, these are compassionate conservatives all right. Bastards.

IMPEACH BUSH

I believe that George W Bush and his cronies engaged in election fraud in each of the past 2 Presidential elections. There was, at a MINIMUM, a willful lack of comprehensive investigation after the attacks of Sept 11, and there is mounting evidence that our government had at least some knowledge of the impending attacks; reality may be much more dastardly (there is a long history within the United States and around the world of nations deceiving their populations in order to garner support for armed aggression; there is suspicion or evidence of the US doing this to stir support for wars with Mexico, Japan, and North Vietnam).

Bush tries to be portrayed as a president who respects life. He seems to be anti-abortion and anti- stem cell research; that is the end of his pro-life stance. He is FOR killing thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, for a war knowingly started on false pretense. He is FOR capital punishment, even when there is an ever-growing number of inmates found via DNA and other evidence to be innocent. He is FOR tax cuts for the wealthy and reduction of social support for the very lives he would bring into the world - witness the growing disparity between classes of rich and poor. In other words, George W Bush will claim that life is sacred ...and then fail to respect that life once born. And if you claim to be pro-life, and yet support capital punishment and do not support a social system to offer a solid foundation for the young children born into poverty, then you are a hypocrite.

The most blatant recently-disclosed impeachable offense - if proven to be true - is the illegal spying on United States citizens. Courtesy of my friend  'Dr Lavine', I listened to this stirring clip from Al Gore. And courtesy of fellow Tampa liberal Cookie Christine, I've been turned on to this incredible article.

It is time to call or write your elected representatives and demand that an investigation be launched into what appears to be an attempt by Bush to operate above the law. It is time to very seriously investigate grounds for impeachment.

Palace Resorts rocks

As we landed in Miami on the way to Cancun, Mr Garcia called my cell. I told him it was fine with us to stay at either place, and we just needed to have transportation confirmed to and from the airport. Mr Garcia called back in a few minutes with the confirmation number for our airport transfer to Aventura Spa Palace. So here we are, and it's wonderful. This is, without a doubt, the nicest place we've ever stayed. There was a bit of stress as we were checking in, when they were telling us that we needed to pay an additional US$500 ...but that was soon cleared up. The confusion was because we'd originally booked at Beach Palace, which is not as high-end as Aventura Spa Palace. Beach Palace is closed until Dec 2006 for reconstruction due to hurricane damage. Palace Resorts had assured me when we agreed to stay at a different facility that there would be no additional charge, and the local check-in desk needed a little time to confirm that.

So ....holy cow. The facility and location are beautiful, the food and drinks incredible, the staff is incredibly friendly and attentive. Yup, we're in paradise. Man, it's going to be hard to leave this and go back to work next week!

Palace Resorts in Cancun Mexico: after the hurricanes

Update 10-Jan-2006 - Things worked out very well. See 10Jan posting.

Palace Resorts includes a number of properties in the Cancun area: Beach Palace , Cancun Palace , Sun Palace , Moon Palace , Playacar Palace , Aventura Spa Palace , Xpu-Ha Palace , and Cozumel Palace .

In October, we booked a vacation. This was to be at Beach Palace, from 08Jan2006 until 15Jan2006. Due to hurricane damage, Beach Palace is closed. I received a call from Mr Garcia at Palace Resorts on 06Dec2006, asking if we would like to change our reservation to Moon Palace. The only difference would be that we would need to pay the all-inclusive fee immediately, rather than at check-in. I provided my credit card number, and received a confirmation email and a voucher (in PDF format) from Mr Garcia on 06Dec2006, confirming our reservation at Moon Palace.

We had a problem with our air transport, and so we won't be leaving for Cancun until tomorrow (09Jan2006).

HERE IS THE PROBLEM:
I called Moon Palace to let them know that we will arrive one day late. They told me that they do not show a reservation for us at Moon Palace; they DO show a reservation for us at Aventura Spa Palace. I asked the date on which that reservation was made, and they said 12Dec2006 ...almost a week after I received confirmation of our reservation at Moon Palace.

I have left a phone message at Palace Resorts (their main reservations office is only open Monday through Friday), and have emailed Mr Garcia. I have read several online reviews from guests who stayed at the Palace Resorts during the past couple of weeks. Some were very happy and some felt that they had not received the arrangements that they had been promised.

The Palace Resorts are known for exceptional customer service. We have paid a lot of money expecting this service. My hope is that when I post an update tomorrow or Tuesday that I will be able to report that this was a simple mix-up and that our reservation at Moon Palace has been straightened out.

Microsoft releases official patch to WMF flaw

Microsoft has released the official patch for the Windows Media File exploit (the link I included here is for the patch for XP systems; go to the update page for this patch if you need a different version). If you did the smart thing and installed the hotfix from Ilfak Guilfanov earlier, you need to uninstall that before installing the official patch. So:

1. Download the patch from Microsoft, saving the file to your desktop or any location you can easily find
2. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel
3. Double-click Add or Remove Programs
4. Scroll down until you find "Windows WMF Metafile Vulnerability Hotfix 1.2"
5. Click once to highlight "Windows WMF Metafile Vulnerability Hotfix 1.2" and click Remove
6. At this point you'll probably have to reboot your machine
7. After rebooting, locate the downloaded patch and double-click to run it
8. After the patch installs, you'll need to reboot once more

Microsoft hemmed and hawed about releasing this patch before next Tuesday (when they'd normally be releasing patches anyway). Fortunately, there was enough outcry that Microsoft decided to release the patch as soon as they finished testing.

SERIOUS Windows flaw - patch is posted

There is an extremely serious security flaw recently discovered in Windows - ALL versions of Windows are affected (Win95, Win98, WindowsME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and server versions). There is no patch available yet for Win95, 98, ME. But if you are running Windows 2000 or newer, a patch has kindly been provided by Ilfak Guilfanov.

A link to the fix is posted by Steve Gibson, a very well-known and long-respected expert on Windows Security. I'm not familiar with Ilfak Guilfanov, but I am familiar with Steve Gibson, and I definitely trust his recommendations. Steve Gibson has examined the source code to the patch provided by Ilfak Guilfanov, and has recommended this approach for ALL Windows users.

If you'd like to stay current with security news, I highly recommend the Security Now! audio report (a podcast, Mp3 file, whatever you like to call it - just an audio file), produced every Thursday, featuring Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson.

Taking Down Lights

Yesterday was January 1, 2006. New Year's Day is when we typically take down the holiday decorations. Back in Washington state, that often meant bundling up for the cold rain - a rather miserable affair. Here in the Tampa Florida area, that meant slathering on sunscreen, wrapping my bald dome with a couple of bandanas to catch the sweat, and working amidst the blooming hibiscus bushes :)