the united american party

Happy Easter and Other Misinformation From the Radical Evangelical Right

The Restored Church of God

Great site! Learned a lot! Thought I would share.

Got there from here, Dances With Fruit Flies. Good article, but all wrong! Evolution; Facts, Fallacys and Implications explains why.

In the article, Dances With Fruit Flies, from USA News, it states that "some 55 percent of Americans balk at the idea that humans evolved at all." How accurate do you think this statement is? And why might this be? These are the first two questions that popped into my head. So, off I went in search of clues that might lead to what I am going to call the "dumbification" of America.

First stop, The Christian Broadcasting Network. CBN is the broadcaster responsible for the 700 Club that boasts a viewership of approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Seen in 95 percent of the television markets across the United States, the program is carried on ABC Family Channel cable network, FamilyNet, Trinity Broadcasting Network, and numerous U.S. television stations, and is seen daily by approximately one million viewers. CBN WorldReach broadcasts, which include the international edition of The 700 Club, have been translated into more than 70 foreign languages, can be seen in more than 200 countries, and are accessible throughout the year by more than 1.5 billion people around the world.

Very impressive numbers to say the least. This is what CBN, Pat Robertson and Dr. Jonathan Wells had to say about evolution,

Wells evaluated ten major textbooks on seven examples of evolution. Out of the seventy total grades, the books earned 25 Ds, but mostly Fs — 40 of them to be exact. In other words, all the books flunked the truth test.

For example, the books discuss an old experiment supposedly showing how chemicals came together to begin life. They won't admit the presence of oxygen in the early atmosphere because oxygen would prevent evolution from even getting off the ground.

This wouldn't have anything to do with outdated textbooks in the classroom, would it? Or the strain that the No Child Left Behind Act puts on local budgets? Or is it that schools are delaying the ordering of new textbooks, materials and supplies because President Bush wanted to cut even more money from the education budget? Maybe. But lucky for us the G.O.P. moderates in Congress came through and voted to add back the $5.4 billion that President Bush would have liked to have seen slashed from the federal budget this year.

With outdated textbooks, budget cuts and an outright attack on education from the radical right, coupled with faith-based community leaders teaching our children to ignore evolution it's no wonder 55% of Americans today are dumbing down.

Next stop, Focus On the Family. All aboard!!! The train to stupidity is leaving exactly when the big hand hits twelve and the little hand hits eight (for those of you that have a Casio digital watch). 

Focus On the Family states that their newsletter reaches some 2.6 million readers, give or take a few thousand lost souls with a ton of baggage.

Worldwide, Focus on the Family is broadcasting in 25 languages on over 8,300 radio facilities heard in 164 countries.

Dr. Dobson's commentaries are heard by more than 200 million people by way of radio every day, including a program translation carried on state-owned radio stations in the Republic of China. He is seen on 80 television stations daily in the U.S.

This is what James C. Dobson and Mark Hartwig have to say about evolution,

Now we’re in a position to give a broader description of specified complexity: Specified complexity is displayed by any object or event that has an extremely low probability of occurring by chance, and matches a discernible pattern. According to contemporary design theory, the presence of highly specified complexity is an indicator of an intelligent cause.

I guess "random" isn't as random as it used to be. Strike it from the dictionary and tell Random House to change their name to Specified Complexity House. This is hardly what I call candidates for Faith-Based Initiatives here in America.

The Administration has eliminated regulatory and policy barriers that have kept faith-based organizations from partnering with the Federal government to help Americans in need. It has also worked to put into place regulations to ensure that faith-based organizations are able to compete on an equal footing for Federal funding within constitutional guidelines, without impairing the religious character of such organizations and without diminishing the religious freedom of beneficiaries.

James Dobson holds a doctorate from the University of Southern California (1967) in the field of child development and is a licensed psychologist in California. These are hardly qualifications for debunking the theory of evolution.

Mark Hartwig has a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Active in the origins debate since 1985, he was one of the early organizers of the intelligent-design movement. These are exactly the qualifications needed to manipulate and intimidate the minds of America's youth.

I have to admit Einstein and Darwin have nothing on these guys. Two psychologists from California influencing millions of people every day is just what we need to further the intelligence of our youth in this great nation of ours.

The Nazi propaganda machine of the 1930s and 1940s had about as much education as these two guys and they were able to mobilize millions to kill hundreds of thousands worldwide.

Goebbels was the father of modern propaganda in a totalitarian state (a term that he coined), in which he made use of every available means. The propaganda he spread was remarkably replete with defamations, libels, and lies; he was convinced that people would believe the lies if only they were repeated often enough, and the bigger the lie, the better chance it had of being believed. Goebbel's propaganda always incited hate against some enemy. He was a radical and fanatic anti-semite, but his hatred of Jews was also based on utilitarian considerations of exploiting anti-semitism for the furthering of his propaganda aims.

I have to ask, is this a danger? Is this a campaign for the hearts and minds of our youth in America? Is this a terrorist campaign within our own borders? Here's the definition of "terrorism" taken from Webster dictionary published by Specified Complexity House.

Noun

1.

terrorism - the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear Synonyms: act of terrorism, terrorist act

Now at this point you are probably saying, "Come on Bastard, that's a stretch!" But is it really? They have all three symptoms of a terrorist group, they're just not blowing things up yet! They use the intimidation of funding to push our politicians around, they use coercion to convince their parishioners that evolution is a myth and they instill fear into their followers by telling them that gays, activist judges and Planned Parenthood, among other things, are the downfall of this great nation. And they repeat this hatred over and over and over again. These radical right preachers are employing Goebbel's strategy for propaganda. This is no different than the terrorist mastermind telling the next fanatical suicide bomber to save one of their 72 virgins for him.

They don't need to blow anything up, they are psychologists using the one WMD that fails to be listed as such, the manipulation of the human mind. The end run to win the hearts and minds of our youth. Governments use this tactic all over the world. These radical right organizations are using it within our own borders and calling it religion.

Not only are these organizations at the forefront of the "dumbification" of America they are also being funded by the government. Yes, your tax dollars are going to help these cults teach our children that evolution and other silly theories do not hold water next to the preachings of these upstanding citizens. Again, from the Specified Complexity House dictionary,

Noun	1.	cult - adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
	2.	cult - an interest followed with exaggerated zeal; "he always follows the latest fads"; "it was all the rage that season" Synonyms: craze, fad, furor, furore, rage
	3.	cult - a system of religious beliefs and rituals; "devoted to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin" Synonyms: cultus, religious cult

I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and learned that 55% of the U.S. population had died from drinking a mix of Kool-Aid and cyanide because these radical evangelical leaders had expressed an interest in catching the next comet to heaven.

Well anyway, Happy Easter! Have a great day and let's not worry about the  "dumbification" of America.

P.S. You thought this post was actually going to be about Easter, the bunny rabbit and all the chocolate and eggs? Well, sorry. But not to let anyone down, you can go read that stuff here, the festival of Eastre.

cross posted at (Bring It On)

Where Do We Go From Here?

contributed by The Cranky Liberal;

To the left, or to the right.

That’s the debate being waged in liberal circles these days as we are trying to figure out how to “right the ship” and rebound after loosing the last two presidential elections. A lot of people are arguing that we need to embrace the middle ground and try to capture some of that moderate right vote – the people who may not be comfortable with the James Dobson’s and Pat Robertson’s and all the influence that they wield in the Republican Party these days. And, I agree we need to reach out to those people, but I don’t think we should do it by trying to embrace the “rights” policies. I think we need to do it by articulating our own policies. If we need to move more to the right, what does that say about all the issues that we’ve fought for and believed in for the last century?

That we’re wrong?

Now, I know some people out there would say that’s exactly it – we’re wrong, but think about that for a second. Is what we stand for wrong? What do we stand for? Equality; Tolerance; Freedom; Personal Liberty; Equal Opportunity. Those aren’t bad things. Those aren’t things I want to throw away just to pick up a few votes. I’m not willing to compromise on those issues because, THOSE issues aren’t mine to compromise on. They are fundamental human rights! You don’t get rid of equal opportunity to control the White House. You don’t trade away Civil Liberties to control the Senate. You can’t negotiate with those things because they are non-negotiable.

The problem isn’t our ideals; it’s our lack of cohesion. Right now we don’t have two equal combatants in this market place of ideas. You have a well funded, well organized “radical right” that’s spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to shape the messages we hear every day. Then you have a group of really smart and really smug individuals who all think they each have the right answer to the worlds problems – and if you don’t share their answer your just as bad as the idiot in the White House.

That’s the attitude we need to stop.

We need to start compromising, but it needs to be with each other not with “the right.” We need to come together and form a cohesive unit and realize that while I may not agree with everything you say, by working together we will be a lot better off than we would be alone. By working together we will be a lot stronger than we ever could be as individuals.

And we need to start now!

We can’t afford to waste any time. We need to use every opportunity we have to get our message across.

We need to come together, we need to work together and we need to go on the offensive. We need to quit being so timid that we’re even afraid of being called liberal. When they call us a “tax and spend” liberal, ask them what they are – a “big deficit” conservative?

When they say “You’re pro-abortion” tell them that no one is “pro- abortion” and ask what they are doing to cut down on the need to have abortions. Ask them to join you in supporting real sex education and access to birth control. If they’re not willing to do that, ask them who is perpetuating the abortion industry now.

When they say “You’re being divisive” tell them hell yeah you’re being divisive because it’s not your job to support stupid policies. It’s not your job to sale your kids down the river so that Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay and Dick Cheney can all get richer off of their backs.

And when they say “Your being unpatriotic” because you question the president” remind that America was founded by people who disagreed with their government. What could be more patriotic than that?

We NEED to stand together now and just say NO. We need to tell the radical right that we are not buying the bill of goods their trying to sell anymore. Now is the time for us to be Churchill and not Chamberlain.

We don’t need to move to the right.
We are Right.

cross posted at (The Cranky Liberal and Bring It On)

Medical Terrorism????

Did I miss something or did Al-Qaeda actually infiltrate a Florida hospice?

"House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) called the removal of the feeding tube "barbarism" and "an act of medical terrorism."

Terri Really Isn't That Important

George W. Bush commenting on the Terri Shriavo case.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life,"

George W. Bush March 21, 2005

REALLY?????? Then while Governor of Texas why did you pass this law?

Texas Futile Care law which expressly gives hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes.

Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother's wishes in Texas just this past week. A 68 year old man was given a temporary reprieve by the Texas courts a few days later. Gee that guy was lucky that atleast one hospital thought he was a keeper plus he could pay.

The truth is George W. Bush and the radical right don't really care about Terri or the 6 month old baby that was pulled off life support. They only care about the 25 seats up for grabs in the 2006 election as explained here.

Hey, right to lifers where was your prayer vigil for this case?

A Question for the Terri Fan Club

Did you ever think that maybe God sent for Terri 15 years ago and all you rightwing, Bible humping fucknuts are just meddling in divine will?

You go against science when officials say stem cell research will possibly save thousands of lives because you all believe that would be "playing God." But,  you all "play God" and back science up every time you force the feeding tube back into this lady.

Yeah, that's right, she is alive only by the miracle of science and not the hand of God. She's alive because all you Bible cock stars have personal agenda's. You will defend her because you say she is defenseless but your the first to pull the switch on retards and minors because they did something wrong. They might not understand what they did wrong but Fuck'um, pull the switch! You can't have it both ways, either defend everyone or keep quiet. Your intentions are meaningless if you don't defend everyone. Are we not all Gods children? Or does that only apply when you want someone to send in a check?

The Radical Right Says, "F**K YOU, PAY ME!"

"If the debtor be insolvent to serve creditors, let his body be cut in pieces on the third market day. It may be cut into more or fewer pieces with impunity. Or, if his creditors consent to it, let him be sold to foreigners beyond the Tiber."

A report released last month by Harvard Medical and Law has been nice enough to point out that our bankruptcy system works differently from ancient Rome's; creditors carve up the debtor's assets, not the debtor.

They were also nice enough to point out that after conducting their survey they found out that half of the bankruptcy filings in 2001 were due to medical causes. Here are some highlights from their study;

Who Files For Bankruptcy?

The average debtor was a 41-year-old woman with children, and at least some college education. On average, each bankruptcy involved 1.32 debtors with 1.33 dependents. The 1.4 million personal bankruptcies filed in 2001 involved a total of 3.7 million people: 1.9 million were the debtor and the other 1.8 million were their children or dependents. More than one quarter cited illness or injury as reasons for their bankruptcy, 46.2% fit the criteria for "major medical bankruptcy," 54.5% met the criteria for "any medical bankruptcy."

During the two years before filing, 40.3% had lost telephone service; 19.4% had gone without food; 53.6% went without needed doctor or dentist visits because of the cost (but wait, aren't they sick?); and 43.0% had failed to fill a prescription (but wait, how do they get better?).

Following bankruptcy filings, about one-third of debtors continued to have problems paying bills (under the new law they should have no problem paying some of it back). 3.1% were turned down for jobs (don't worry, they will be able to pay it back); 5.8% were turned down for mortgages; 4.9% were turned down for apartment rentals; and 9.3% were turned down for car loans because of the bankruptcy on their credit reports.

In three-quarters of cases the person experiencing the illness/injury was the debtor; in 13.3% a child; and in 8.2% an elderly relative.

Almost 60% of families bankrupted by medical problems indicated medical bills (from medical providers) as the primary reason for bankruptcy; 47.6% cited drug costs; 35.3% had curtailed employment because of illness---often (52.8%) to care for someone else.

Almost 76% of these debtors were insured at the onset; 60.1% initially had private coverage, but one-third of them lost coverage during the course of their illness. 5.7% had Medicare, 8.4% had Medicaid and 1.6% were veterans with military coverage.

The Human Face of Bankruptcy

Debtors' narratives painted a picture of families arriving at the bankruptcy courthouse emotionally and financially exhausted, hoping to stop the collection calls, save their homes, and stabilize their economic circumstances.

Many of the debtors detailed ongoing problems in access to care. Some expressed fear that their medical providers would refuse to continue their care, and a few recounted actual experiences of this kind. Several had used credit cards to charge medical bills they had no hope of paying.

The co-occurrence of medical and job problems was a common theme. For instance one debtor underwent lung surgery and suffered a heart attack. Both hospitalizations were covered by his employer-paid insurance, but he was unable to return to his physically-demanding [sic] job. He found new employment, but was denied coverage due to his pre-existing conditions which required costly ongoing care. Similarly, a school-teacher who suffered a heart attack was unable to return to work for many months, and hence her coverage lapsed. A hospital wrote off her $20,000 debt, but she was nonetheless bankrupted by doctor bills and the cost of medications.

A second common theme was sounded by parents of premature infants or chronically ill children; many took time off from work or incurred large bills for home-care while they were at their jobs.

Finally, many of the insured debtors blamed high co-payments and deductibles for their financial ruin. For example, a man insured through his employer (a large national firm) suffered a broken leg and torn knee ligaments. He incurred $13,000 in out-of-pocket costs for co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services---much of it for physical therapy.

It's time to play political hard ball with this issue! If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you don't want to play with the big dogs than go sit on the porch you rightwing corporate lap dogs!

Before you radical, Bible thumping, ass clowns start spewing onto your blogs that people need to be responsible for their bills and stop applying for credit cards, maybe you should do some research and think for yourselves. Your usual ramblings of the rightwing party line are not only getting boring, they are downright ignorant to the problem at hand.

"It seems to me to be fair to those people to whom they pay their debt. We preserve the principle of a fresh start, but we also establish a principle that if one has the ability to repay some of their debt, they are not going to get off scot-free,"

Senator Charles E. Grassley

Now let me be the first to translate this into plain English so that all you rightwing nuts can understand the basic concept of the new law if passed;

“That’s the way it was with a wise guy partner. He gets his money no matter what. You got no business? Fuck you, pay me. You had a fire? Fuck you, pay me.  The place got hit by lighting and World War III started in the lounge? Fuck you, pay me…”

Mobster Henry Hill

This is not a Republican versus Democrat issue! We all get sick in similar ways and all have the same problems with medical coverage. This is about greedy corporations wanting more and Bush & Co. all to happy to oblige them. Is this what you call compassionate conservatism?

So, if this law passes the House, all you rightwing fanatics that think this is all about people being more responsible with their credit cards can take this post, put it in your pipe, smoke it, get cancer, go bankrupt from treatments, claim bankruptcy, get turned down and die (in that order)!

And to think they also wanted to cut Medicaid!

Comment Here!

Hang the Bastard, He's A Foreigner

On Monday, March 28th SCOTUS will here another argument involving capital punishment, this time the case involves a Mexican national named Jose Ernesto Medellin. Those of you not familiar with the case, Jose Medellin was charged and convicted of a brutal double homicide that took place on June 24, 1993, for a better understanding of the brutality of the case you can go here. Jose was 18 years old at the time the crime was committed and was sentenced to death under Texas state law.

Jose Medellin was assigned a public defender who according to briefs filed with the Supreme Court was less then competent to handle the case.

B. The Decisions of the Texas Courts.

On June 29, 1993, law enforcement authorities arrested Mr. Medellín, 18 years old at the time, in connection with two murders in Houston, Texas. Mr. Medellín, a Mexican national, told the arresting officers that he was born in Laredo, Mexico, and informed Harris County Pretrial Services that he was not a United States citizen. It is uncontested that, nevertheless, Mr. Medellín was not advised of his right under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention to contact the Mexican consul. The United States recognizes that the consular assistance Mexico provides its nationals in capital cases is “extraordinary.” At the time Mr. Medellín was arrested and tried, Mexican consular officers routinely assisted capital defendants by providing funding for experts and investigators, gathering mitigating evidence, acting as a liaison with Spanish-speaking family members, and, most importantly, ensuring that Mexican nationals were represented by competent and experienced defense counsel.4 As a result of the Article 36 violation in his case, however, Mr. Medellín had no opportunity to receive the assistance of Mexican consular officers either before or during his trial. The Texas trial court appointed counsel to represent Mr. Medellín, who was indigent.

On September 16, 1994, Mr. Medellín was convicted of capital murder and, upon the jury’s recommendation, the trial court sentenced Mr. Medellín to death on October 11, 1994.

On March 16, 1997, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Mr. Medellín’s conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion.

On April 29, 1997, some six weeks after the affirmance of his death sentence on direct appeal, Mexican consular authorities first learned of Mr. Medellín’s arrest, detention, trial, conviction, and sentence. They promptly began rendering assistance. During the course of the preparation for Mr. Medellín’s trial, lead counsel was suspended from the practice of law for ethics violations in another case. During jury selection, he failed to strike jurors who indicated they would automatically impose the death penalty. During the guilt phase of trial, counsel called no witnesses. At the penalty phase, he presented only one expert witness (a psychologist who had never met Mr. Medellín) and Mr. Medellín’s parents testified only briefly. The entire penalty phase defense lasted less than two hours.

The incompetency of Mr. Medellin's lawyer is, unfortunately, not the reason this case is going in front of SCOTUS. To sum it up in a nut shell, the Mexican government is arguing that the United States violated Mr. Medellin's rights by not informing him or giving him access to the Mexican Consular when he was arrested. For this reason Mr. Medellin's case needs to be reviewed siting that local law enforcement violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and Article 36 within this treaty that the United States, itself, designed that allows the World Court to hear disputes over consular access.

This case was in fact brought before the World Court and the court ruled that the United States was in fact in violation of Article 36 of the treaty and that Mr. Medellins case would have to be reviewed again. The United States is not unfamiliar with Article 36 of the treaty because they used it in 1979 to successfully sue Iran for the taking of American hostages.

Now the right wingers are arguing that this is just another instance of international law, U.N. law interfering in our domestic affairs and that the international community does not have a right to influence decision within our courts.

This cannot be farther from the truth, the fact of the matter is that we signed a treaty with 166 other countries in the world that if our citizens get arrested in their countries or their citizens get arrested in our country they would have unfettered access to their consular. That's it, its that simple, its not about international influence, its not about the death penalty, its about honoring a treaty that we signed to help protect our citizens abroad.

And you would think in these times we live in this would be high on the agenda of the Bush administration to protect our citizens abroad. Well folks, its not, just last week in an effort to influence the upcoming SCOTUS hearing the State Department said it has withdrawn from the optional protocol under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention. In effect putting every U.S. citizen abroad at risk of having their individual rights violated.

Now when your in Mexico or anywhere else over seas and you get arrested, you have no rights accept their rights. And they have the right to remember this case and lock you up with 7 or 8 butt loving conquistadors all named Paco and throw away the key. No one would ever know because since we are not part of the treaty anymore they don't have to tell anyone you are there.

I can hear it now, oh, you don't think this guy needs to die, oh, your against the death penalty. Well, lets put an end to the spin before it begins, there is no doubt in my mind that this guy needs to be strung from the highest tree in Texas and they have every right  to do so. But the bottom line is that Mr. Medellin has rights too and local law enforcement violated them after they arrested him.

You want to blame anyone for this guy not getting the chair you need to blame the local law enforcement for not doing their job. Don't they watch Law and Order? The city prosecutor is always yelling at the cops for not crossing their t's and dotting their i's because they might put the case in jeopardy.

Activist Judge or Doing What He's Paid To Do?

Contributed by The Crank Liberal via Bring It On

Those damned judicial activists are trying to destroy "traditional American values" again. In San Fransisco today, California Superior Court justice Richard Kramer ruled that there didn't appear to be any "no rational purpose" for denying marriage to gay couples.

"Rational" conservative critics are already debating the merits of the judges case:

"This is a crazy ruling by an arrogant San Francisco judge who apparently hates marriage and the voters. Kramer has trashed the people's vote to keep marriage for a man and a woman and violated his oath to uphold the law instead of making new laws out of his own head. This is the worst type of judge. This case will be immediately appealed."

"As the majority of the members of the Massachusetts Supreme Court went, so went a loony leftist judge in...San Francisco, California."

"For the second time in the last month, an aberrant judge has launched assault on the bedrock of our society." Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council

Of course, what those same critics fail to mention is that Judge Kramer is both a Catholic and a Republican. They also fail to mention that this is the same judge Kramer that was lauded by conservatives when he granted full party status to Campaign for California Families. According to Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel who represented CCF:

"We are pleased that Judge Kramer granted full party status to Campaign for California Families to defend California's marriage laws. Judge Kramer clearly recognizes the benefit of hearing all sides of the marriage debate, not just those arguments advanced by the same-sex couples and the Attorney General's office."

This is also the same Judge Kramer that in January :

...refused to remove statements on reparative therapy from a lawsuit that challenges California law on the definition of marriage as a one-man, one-woman union. The judge has also refused to allow the city of San Francisco to add any statements to the lawsuit that are designed to refute the statements made by such experts as Dr. Jeffrey Satinover and Dr. George Rekers, both NARTH members.

Does that sound  like the workings of a crazed activist judge to you. Is that what you would call a judge that let all the parties speak, tired to keep the case to legal points and  made his  decision based after hearing all the arguments? No that sounds like what we elect our justices to do.

Ladies and Gentleman, this doesn't smack of judicial activism, it smacks of the conservative attack squad turning on one of their own when he doesn't tow the party line. The speed and severity of their attacks should come as no surprise to anyone who pays attention to their methods. They don't want free thinkers, only people who follow the leader in jack boot unison.

Their message is clear do as we say or suffer our wrath!

It's time to fight back and not accept this bullying and vindictive name calling without challenge. It's time to take the fight to those who want to discard facts and reason and substitute irrational diatribes in their place. It's time to look these blowhards in the eye and say Bring it On.

Oh yeah baby Bring it On. I dare you.

Comment here

The Perils of Wireless

This piece coming to you from the Cranky Liberal (yea, Republican or Democrat we all share the same compuer problems). It would seem Cranky had a modern day Watergate at his house this weekend. If only Nixon had this capability back then. Without further delay here is what Cranky has to say about wireless networking and your check book.

I’m a computer guy by trade. I know, I know, with my brilliant and insightful political analysis, you probably thought I worked for some huge think tank - but alas, so far I still have to work a real job to earn a living. Anyhow, I’m a computer guy, or more precisely a network engineer. I build networks, design security etc for a living. I solve hugely complex problems on a daily basis, some of which actually involve computer and networks. Because of this, I get really frustrated when I can’t get my own home network running properly. This weekend I was beyond frustrated - I was downright Cranky.

My home is wireless to the extreme. My computers network is wireless, my phones are wireless, my surround sound speakers are wireless. Hell even my headset for my Xbox is wireless. Aside from the fact that my brain is slowly being cooked from all the radio signals bouncing around my living room, the system works great. Or I should say did work great.

A few days ago I notices that my computers kept losing their connection to the network. It would reappear in a few seconds, but it was rather odd. I checked and rechecked everything. I rebooted all the devices (yes, that still fixes 90% of your problems) but it kept happening. The only thing I could think of was a hardware problem on the router. One quick trip to the store and $59.00 later I thought the problem was fixed.

When will I learn people, when will I learn?

I struggled for a few hours trying to get the router working. Every time I think I had it fixed, it would go start it’s maddening Up-Down, Up-Down routine again. Of course having my 4 year old try to discuss the intricacies of a Power Ranger plot while I’m trying to solve “Really Hard Daddy Problems” didn’t exactly make it easier. I was really starting to get pissed off when I noticed two things:

1. One of my neighbors had a new wireless network.

2. It had a REALLY strong signal (almost as strong as the router in my house).

Now, being the helpful neighbor I am, I took a look at their new wireless network. Amazingly, it wasn’t a secure network. In fact, it was completely wide open just inviting the neighbors to jump on and enjoy it. Which I did. Man they have a fast connection.

What they don’t have is any common sense. They hadn’t changed the password on the router. I know that because I logged into it using the default “password”. From there I was able to see how many computers were on their home network (2), what their names were, and how to access them. Even more amazing, when I tried to access the living room computer, I was able to see that my neighbor had his printer shared (an HP Deskjet 610) and his D: drive shared for all of us to look at. How friendly this guy must be to share his .mp3 collection (not to mention his Quicken files) with the world.

I really could have been a jerk and “fixed” the problem myself by turning his router into mush and changing the password (he could have reset it people, I’m not that mean) - but I didn’t. Instead I decided to send my neighbor a friendly little note telling him I was on his network, browsing his computer. I mentioned he may want to secure his rather LOUD wireless network (and gave him some hints) on how to do it. Then I printed it out to his printer (no name of course).

That wireless network was down within the hour. Can you imagine the look on Dad’s face when he saw that? I hope I scared the crap out of him. Maybe if this sounds like your house, I’ve scared the crap out of you too. When you play with wireless, you need to know what your doing, or the guy checking out your computer may not be as nice as I was.

Oh and after all that, I think my problem was an overloaded wall outlet and bad power. Once I fixed that everything seemed to be OK.

Go figure

Making Up Sources and Checking Them Twice

Pia over at Bring it On has some thoughts on using sources and I think she summed it up pretty nicely, blogs are not the places you go to obtain your news, information or facts when writing a piece for your own blog.

They are opinion pieces that might help you find what you are looking for but that's all. I like to equate blogs to everyone sitting around the dinner table talking politics but instead of everyone throwing out unsubstantiated blurbs they now have boat loads of information (i.e. the Internet links) to back their comments up to try and convince you they are right. But that still doesn't stop someone from smacking you in the face with something from the Enquirer and insisting it is fact! At which point you pick up the turkey leg and club them over the head and dinner is over! Well at least that's how it used to play out in my house.

Comment here!