Musings in Search of a Muse

"The office phone number of a federal judge who ruled last week that a national do-not-call registry is unconstitutional was among the thousands already on the list."

Ha! Gotcha! Hipocracy in action! Not only does cream rise to the top, but apparently so does crap. Throw the bum out, ump!

Has anyone else been following this privacy issue? Yahoo! News - The New Wireless Supply Chain: "Using RFID along with GPS enables real-time tracking of goods, people and assets anywhere. "

There is mention about this in most articles on the subject, but none seem to mention the fact that RFID chips can be small enough to go unnoticed by casual observers. So even though illicit tracking might be outlawed, there will be a lot of "outlaws" doing it. The world of "Minority Report" might not be so fictional after all.

Peace & Prayers

Do Not Call Registry not dead yet: "A U.S. judge has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating the national do-not-call list against telemarketers." Honestly, I can understand the main arguement that the FCC should have spearheaded the fight.

What all sides need to consider, however, is a point that I've continually made: I pay money to have a phone for my use. I do not pay money for salespeople to have "a foot in my door," so to speak. For example, if Radio Shack wants my business, they will build a store in my area. I don't directly subsidize their costs to build a store so why should I provide facilities in the form of my phone for other businesses?

This argument also extends to e-mail. Even so-called "free" accounts have at least some consumer costs associated with them. This could include anything from the cost of a computer & Internet service to bus fare for getting to a library with a public computer.

When I propsed this latter idea to my Senators in Washington I got, in order: No answer; A reply that had little to do with my subject. I guess no one is listening.

Sign up for the Federal "Don't Call Me" list here. Peace & Prayers.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Aids 'threatens African security': "A senior UN official has warned that if more is not done to combat HIV/Aids then the security of African nations could be at stake, with the prospects of rising crime and more civil wars. "

So for those of you who have been reading my blog .... HA! I told you so!

Now, don't look at the human cost. Afterall, there is no humanity in politics. What could this cost the world's economy? What could this mean for the distribution of military force? Really, no matter how you look at it, though, it is not worth it! Makes you wonder why people don't try to prevent it.

And I mean Africans, too. They aren't that stupid. And African-Americans? Proud enough to hyphenate the name but not proud enough to help the ancestral home? Almost sounds like racism.

More to come ....

Wanna hear a good one-liner? A bank gives a 30-year mortgage to a 70-year old woman.

It's not a Vegas nightclub-quality joke for sure. But it is my mom's situation and is funny, if only "funny peculiar." Makes you wonder if our financial system is terribly well thought out.

I'm 40-years old and I work three jobs. Wonder what kind of mortgage I could get? Wonder if I really want one. Not like I have anyone to leave it to when I die. Though it's probably a good investment, if nothing else.

I was just thinking "Who would have thought that we'd see an American Secretary of State in Iraq?" but it struck me that this is not unusual as top diplomats frequently travel to meet with officials in foreign governments.

Ooops ... that's right ... Iraq has no government. Sorry ... I forgot.

Yes, it's good that Saddam is gone. Here's what I would have done (yup ... everyone else is armchair presidenting so why can't I?): Take all the resources, personnel, and cash that we are spending in Iraq and finish the job in Afghanistan. If you haven't been reading the news of late, it seems that the warlords are back in business and that the remnants of the mujahideen. That would be in the form of the Junbesh-i-Milli-yi-Islami (National Islamic Movement) and the Jamiyat-i-Islami (Islamic Society). Do a Google search with these terms Afghanistan government warlords mujahideen and see what you come up with. See?

No, we aren't bloody likely to rid any nation of groups that dislike the United States. Simply trying generates more groups. But if a democratic stability existed, the groups would be much less prevalent.

By the way ... You go Israel, figuatively and literally. Kick out Arafat. But also kick out the settlers who knew better in the first place. Someone starts building a house on my land? Right. If the police can't do the job then I might have to do it.

Peace & Prayers anyone?

Every day I see that more and more areas are moving to 10-digit phone number dialing. Calls made without dialing the area code first do not go through. This is because of the coming of Local Number Portability -- the ability for people to take their phone numbers with them when they change service providers.

My advice: Take some time now to program all your cell phones and speed dials with all 10-digits of the phone number you want to call. It doesn't cost extra to call with the full area code, exchange, and number and you don't need to put a 1 in front of it. "Yet," that is, though I'm sure that will be here in a couple years.

For now, it will primarily affect calls to cell phones, whether from a landline or from another mobile phone. Soon it will affect calls to landlines, as well.

BTW - Did I mention that I don't teach much anymore but now work for a major wireless phone service provider? Peace & Prayers