Sunday, July 18, 2004
Security Problems at Los Alamos Again.
These boneheads are in the press again for security problems? When it the Government going to crack back on these idiots. if there is anyplace in the country that should be secure, it is Los Alamos. I tend to think if they were to give UCLA the boot some of this stuff would go away.
These are the same clowns who, I believe it was last year, had some security problems reported by some security personnel. The solved the problem by firing the guys that reported it. Read about the latest security breach right here:
Los Alamos
Posted at 09:25 pm by RWO
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Don't ever go with you wife on a Girls Night Out.
Hey guys, if you are ever invited to a Girls Night Out, be forewarned, they may act a little differently then you are used to. My wife and I have been married for almost 23 years now. For the past year or so her and her friends have been having what they call the Girls Night Out once a month. I think it is great and she always seems to have a great time and it gives me the house all to myself to play on the computer and watch TV.
Well after much prodding on her part the wife finally convinced me that I should go. Friday I managed to get off work very early, which was good as I have a few errands to run, like picking up the dry cleaning, and going to the Post Office.
Right after I got home, I got the good ole phone call from the wife saying they were going out after work and did I want to go. I gave her my standard, no I’ll stay home, but she finally talked me into it.
Well I proceeded to spend the afternoon getting some worthwhile quotes for Laila’s, More Than Quotes Blog, and taking care to make sure it was formatted properly when the logistics phone calls started coming. In addition to me attending this event my daughter was also going. Well the first phone call was that the wife was going to ride with some of her friends and I was supposed to take the daughter up in the wife’s car. After talking on the phone I started working again on my posts however I had several tabs open and instead of closing an unwanted tab I unintentionally closed Netscape and lost all my work.
Well after talking to myself about what a dummy I am I started again and then got another phone call. This was the first of the logistical changes for the evening out. My wife’s friend Michelle would pick up my daughter and then I would pick up the wife at work and we would go up together. She also wanted me to go to the bank and get some cash. Well I went ahead and told her “no problem” and then went back and immediately did the same thing to my desktop again losing my post and links. Well after a few nice thoughts about my computer skills, NOT, I decided I’d get the bank thing done.
I came home from doing that and while driving and listening to the news go some ideas of other subjects to post about, started doing that as soon as I came home. Then came another logistical change. The wife was going to be late and so instead of picking her up at 4PM I had to pick her up at 5PM. And of course what did this 48-year-old man of the world, who has been using computers since 1982 do? You guessed it, desktop gone again. Well now I decided I was having a bad computer day, so I logged off and figured I’d just do it later if doing it at all. I watched the news and it had all the Martha Stewart fiasco and said to myself, I have to quote some of this stuff so I logged on and started again. I managed to get it all posted this time before the next call. Melissa got stuck in traffic and wasn’t going to make it to the house in a reasonable amount of time, and I was almost out the door to pick up Rose.
Well I told Melissa to just meet us at work and we would all go up together. No problem, we got downtown, Melissa was there, and though rose was a few minutes late, we all got together and off we went. So anyway, I ask them where we are going and they said Barona Casino and Resort. No problem, off we went and everything was fine until we got to about 1 mile from our turn off route 67 to get up to Wildcat Canyon Road, when we virtually were stopped due to traffic. While we were stuck in traffic I happened to have the Michael Savage show dialed in on the radio and his Guest Host was Rick Roberts, out of KOGO radio right her in San Diego. He started the show by talking about Whoopi Goldberg, who Rose loves, but the show took a turn and they started talking about why do people need to use Slim Fast in the first place. There were a lot of totally stupid people calling the show, and even the wife, who hates talk radio with a passion, was laughing her butt off. That actually made the traffic jam tolerable. Until, I found the cause of the traffic jam. Some clown ran out of gas and all of the looky loo’s thought it was an accident.
Well we got to the casino, and the girls all started swapping cell phone numbers so they could locate each other. I thought that quite odd, but figured they do this once a month so they must know what they are doing.
Now I have been out gambling with Rose before and she is very conservative, playing the penny video machines and such. Not this night. She was off playing machines that I have never seen her play and betting more than she normally does. Well we ran into more of their co-workers there and I just kind of went off in my own little world playing the same way I normally do.
Dinnertime came around and we went to the buffet. It is an all you can eat deal and they had Alaskan King Crab Legs, which all the girls seemed to love. I myself am not big on seafood so I had fried chicken and some Mexican Food and ate a lot of fruit. These folks devoured I don’t know how many Crab Legs, but they had crab on their hands, their arms, and in their hair. They had a huge plate of crab shells in the middle of the table that turned into a virtual mountain of shells. I actually got a little embarrassed.
After dinner it was back to the slots, and these folks were awesome. Someone runs out of money, no problem, just get some from someone else. And they kept going until 4:30 in the morning. I finally got everyone dropped off and I got home at 5:30. The only problem with that is that on Saturday mornings I teach a class of seniors from 10AM-1PM on how to use computers and various software.
Anyway, while it was fun, I think I will continue to pass up Girls Night Out, in the future. These people get crazy when grouped together.
Posted at 09:21 pm by RWO
Laila has started a quote blog and I am one of her guest posters. We will be posting news quotes, political quotes, funny quotes and others. Check it out. You can reach it by clicking on Laila's quote Blog in my favorites section over on the left side of my blog. Hope you enjoy it. Actually you can also access it by clicking on this link too:
More Than Quotes
Posted at 06:48 pm by RWO
Elton John is upset about censorship here in the United States:
Elton John
Sorry Elton, you need to wise up and get a clue. No one is being censored. What is happening when Music and Hollywood Stars speak out, is they are being the victims of their own words. The silent majority here in the United States were awakened on September 11, 2001. They wiped the sleep from their eyes and said, what the hell has happened to my country.
Now when some of these Hollywood and Music people speak out they are being heard. The majority of the American people are answering them by not buying thier records and not watching thier movies or the products they sponsor. That is not censorship Sir Elton, that is the Free Market expressing it's opinion of what you say to the big crowds that these famous people attract.
Basically if you are going to use your popularity to push an issue, or make a political statement, then be prepared for those that do not agree to not buy, listen to, or watch your material. Frankly there are a lot of Movies I used to watch frequently on cable, that I can't watch anymore. When I see forks like Danny Glover, Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Ed Harris and others I would rather put a boot through the sreen that have to watch these blowhards. Rather than damage something I have spent money on, I change the channel. That is not censorship, it is personal choice, and frankly I have lost taste in watching them on my TV set.
Posted at 05:54 pm by RWO
Thursday, July 15, 2004
I as well as many Americans am really getting fed up at all the crap our country is receiving from the foreign press. I haven't been following Bill O'Reilly as much as i used to, because I am beginning to think he has gotten a big head and seems to be more interested in selling books and Factor Gear, but he hit the nail on the head with this article:
Bill O'Reilly
Posted at 04:26 pm by RWO
And I thought I was a bit harsh.
Michelle Malkin is a Filipina American and I was wondering what her take might be on the Angelo dela Cruz situation and the Philippine Government's handling of the situation. I thought I was a bit harsh in my views until I read this:
The mollycoddling milksops of Manila
And in my opinion she is right on!
Posted at 04:16 pm by RWO
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
While out searching the internet for some good quotes to post on Laila's new blog I happened upon this:
John Kerry
How can John Kerry even imagine he is running a kind campaign with International Answer and Moveon.org on his side, as well as these statements being made from his supporters. The Bush ads have highlighted Kerry's voting record and things he has said in the past.
John Kerry is running a smear campaign, though he will never admit it. He should have walked out of the big Hollywood bash held in New York, but didn't. Now that Whoopi has lost her job as a slim fast representative, and others that support him see their careers go up in smoke (Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and Alec Baldwin) to name a few is he going to get the message that "George is a liar", isn't cutting it.
Posted at 10:58 pm by RWO
I forgot to blog about the trip to the Casino over the weekend. I have to tell you we had a god time and it was great to get away from the house for a couple of days.
Ma RWO had a great time while winning approximately $1600. In the meantime RWO blew $1500 so we came out slightly ahead. Ma RWO likes to play the penny and nickel machines, betting the minimum bet while sitting there forever. She usually wins. I on the other hand go for the gusto. Isn't that what gambling is all about. Bet the farm and see what happens. What usually happens is RWO loses his butt and then has to go play the sad eyes, I'm broke, hand out, and Ma puts money in it, for my next charge.
Well anyway at least the evening buffet was great, while the morning was a little lacking. Anyway, we were going strong and after two days of ma playing her penny machines, me blowing my wad of cash and heading to the room to watch TV and enjoy the A/C, then coming back and blowing some of Ma RWO's winnings I found a great machine. I put in my $20 and played that thing for a couple of hours, getting it up to $200 at one time and never dipped below $50.
Unfortunately the time came for us to leave as I had to go teach my seniors Power Point class. i told Ma that as soon as i topped $100 again I'd cash in and we would leave. That happened a couple of pulls later and I cashed out. Some old lady that had been sitting nearby jumped on that machine in a heartbeat and three pulls late won $32,000. Talk about a little upset with myself.
The other thing was that I figured it was all set that it would be my lucky day as yesterday was the 12'th of July. i joined the Navy 12 July 1974, so it should have been my day.
Anyway, win or lose, it was great to get away, and we had a great time. We managed to earn another free room later this month or early next month and will definately use it.
Maybe i'll be the big winner next time instead of Ma, though with my luck she might just take our daughter and leave me at home, Ha, Ha.
Posted at 12:02 am by RWO
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Well the sunroom part of our remodeling project is moving along great. It is completely enclosed now, and the roof has been tiled just in time for possible thunderstorms tomorrow. That could be news tomorrow if they come because it seldom rains here. Anyway while the sunroom is now enclosed and the drywall partially installed, the floor is still a cement slab. Well we moved the doggie door to the sunroom.
The beasts have found out that when they go to the sunroom and bark, they hear an echo. While they might feel that is a great thing, the barking has been driving me nuts. At least they have finally worn themselves out fromthat little game and have gone to sleep.
On other doggie news, we wound up keeping one of the pups from the last batch. the guy that took him brought him back because he cried to much. well we found out the guy was locking the puppie up in his garage over night and the poor little pup wasn't used to that. Well since we didn't find an owner right away he has become mama's newest little boy so we are keeping him.
He had his shots today and was really feeling miserable. Ma RWO spoiled him by giving him a few peices of steak and so he is in hog heaven and also sleeping. One thing that surprized me was that while my daughter was a the vet with him today getting his shots a woman offered her $1000 for him. For her sake she didn't take the woman up on it as I think Ma RWO would have had a cow.
For the guy that wanted to keep the eight week old poodle pup in the garage overnight, I only wonder. Does he know the responsibilities that come with the ownership of an animal. They are like your children, and must have care and attention to have a happy life. There are far to many people that have pets and after a few days the new pet is out in the back yard lucky to be fed regularly.
While sometime a serious pain inthe rear, ours sleep with us, they all know thier position in the bed. They never want for food or water. Sometimes they don't get all the attention they want individually, but they all get attention. I am so glad that we rescued this one from someone who would have been a bad owner.
Posted at 11:43 pm by RWO
I don’t know how many times I have started and re-started this entry for Laila’s contest. It’s hard for me as an American to fully understand fully the politics of the Philippines. My access to particulars has been limited to talking to a few friends that are now American Citizens, some folks that currently live there, what I have been able to find on the internet, which consists of news articles and blogs, and what I have seen on the news here in the states, which is also very limited.
Anyway, here is my understanding of the Filipino situation, from what sources I have been able to find, and I would like to remind you that I am no expert on this topic. This is an opinion piece that I have made from what I have been able to find.
Early in my career I was stationed aboard the only supply ship home-ported in the Western Pacific. Though we were stationed out of Yokosuka, Japan we spent most of our in port time in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, as that was the site of the Navy’s largest supply depot in Westpac.
I first went to the Philippines in 1976 when the Marcos imposed Martial Law was in full swing. Most of the Filipino’s I knew were very unhappy with the Marcos regime but were very hesitant to speak out about it as folks the did not tow the government line had a habit of either being arrested or disappearing.
One thing I had a hard time with was the poverty that the Filipino’s suffered. You have to remember that I was a young sailor in my late teens early twenties at the time and I had never left the United States before, so my knowledge of world affairs was pretty limited.
The people all seemed to be hard working, that ports were full of ship’s picking things up for export, and the United States was paying some pretty high rent for the use of Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base. Additionally there was a lot of money coming in from the servicemen and tourism so there was no excuse for some of the poverty I saw.
Martial law was a little strange to me as I had never been any place up to that time where armed troops were guarding street corners and where you had to be off the streets before curfew. It was some strange times for me. It was great back in the mid to late eighties when Martial Law was lifted, though many of the Filipino’s I knew were very distrusting of their government under Marcos.
Upon the election of Corazon Aquino, many of my Filipino friends were elated as they felt that she, being a simple honest person would be able to correct the corrupt government and the Philippines would be on the road to recovery. The only problem was that when Marcos left the Philippines, so did the Treasury. Under the Presidencies of Aquino and later Fidel Ramos the country was making a slight recovery though money was always a problem. A lot of folks were making money off the backs of the Filipino’s but it was all foreign businesses and the money as well as manpower was leaving the country.
Also in the southern Philippines the government was having problems fighting radical Communist Groups as well as Muslim extremists.
The Filipino’s then elected Joseph Estrada as President who returned to the Marcos ways of accepting bribes and corruption and he was removed from power in 2001 and replaced with his Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a political rival.
Under Arroyo, the Philippines has remained a troubled country with the Muslim extremists and Radical Communists still making waves, with money and people still leaving in droves for financial stability overseas, and the people continuing to live in poverty in their home country. As I traveled throughout Westpac in the last few years of my career, I ran into more and more Filipino’s working in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Japan. It seems like the Philippines is supplying the maid service and manual labor force for Asia, though there were also many Indian’s and Pakistani’s also working in these countries.
Along comes the 2004 Philippines election. Fernando Poe Jr. (An actor friend of Estrada’s) decided to run against Arroyo and after the election the government was unable to come up with a clear-cut winner, as accusations of election fraud and voting irregularities surfaced. Depending on whose side tells the tale, Poe won or Arroyo won. They decided to have the election solved by recounting the votes under supervision of representatives from both camps, however with the ballot box stuffing, disappearance of poll workers, and a few other problems this was probably not the best way to do things.
Finally on June 23 they proclaimed Arroyo the winner amid protests from a good portion of the Filipinos. Talking to different Filipino’s you get pretty much a split of opinions. Basically Arroyo supporters say it’s great she was elected and non-supporters feel robbed of their vote through a bogus recount process that was unconstitutional.
From what I see as an outsider, the Philippines will continue to see their wealth deteriorate. As long as businesses see turmoil in the Philippines (the people rose up and ousted Marcos and Estrada, will they do it with Arroyo?) they will be hesitant to invest there. As lack of investment trickles down the Filipino people will suffer, as the government coffers will continue to run dry.
The imposing of an “under the radar” Martial Law, which I understand from a few folks, (can’t find any reports on it) will fuel the outrage that the Poe supporters have over the election results. Depending on how far this outrage goes, Arroyo’s days, like Marcos and Estrada before her may be numbered if the Filipino people keep the protests up.
One thing I find really interesting is that she is going to build a palace in Cebu to thank the folks there for putting her in office. To move the capital like that would be a pretty costly proposal in a country struggling to make ends meet.
For the near future Arroyo will pretty much get her way as her party has the majority in the Philippine Congress. I see two things that could result in her downfall. The first one is, if the people who continue the protests over the unfair elections oust her. I see this as the more likely of the two, especially if Poe doesn’t let the issue die. The second is if the status quo remains in effect, meaning she continues to do nothing about the poverty. People with no hope tend to reach a breaking point, and as the regular guy sits out there with unreliable electricity, weak job prospects, among other things, he will reach that breaking point.
I see an even bigger problem looming for the Philippines though. That is the fact, that as the Filipino people remain divided over this election they still have problems with the Muslim extremists. They will get bolder and bolder. As that happens the Philippines can say goodbye to foreign investment as the returns for that investment would be questionable and there are plenty of safe places to invest. If that happens the Philippines will continue to go backward in the world economy.
While my government has expressed congratulations to President Arroyo, they did make it a point to mention that the election results were questionable. Also whether you agree or disagree with the US’s war on terrorism and Iraq in particular, if the Filipino’s cut and run, it would be a bad thing for the Philippines as the current US administration would consider it a slap in the face. In dealing with the Abu Sayyraf terrorists in the Philippines, the Philippine Government doesn’t deal, however they will pull up stakes over this hostage in Iraq? Angelo dela Cruz has been getting a lot of press here in the States, as is the Philippine government considering pulling their humanitarian workers out. While we all hope and pray that Mr. dela Cruz will be released, if the government of the Philippines caves, their relationship here will suffer.
While most of the world sees the American Press and treats it as gospel, what people from other countries don’t know is, our press is very biased to the left, controlling what the people see and hear. There is a silent majority here in the states that have awoken since the attack on the World Trade Center, and that awakening will prevent the liberals from being elected to office here. Additionally conservative talk radio, a few conservative newspapers, and the Fox News Network are thriving here as more and more people have all of a sudden wondered, how did something like that happen in our country? They then see how Christianity is under attack here, people pushing to legalize drugs and homosexual marriage, and political action groups equating the President of the United States with Adolph Hitler. This kind of stuff is waking up the mainly silent majority of people here, and these people are a huge voting base.
That will not sit well for the Philippines, if they do not remain allies of this administration and that would also be unfortunate. This administration has been extremely helpful in training the Philippine military and helping with Muslim extremists. I doubt if future requests for assistance would be freely granted if the Philippines pulls their support. If Kerry were elected it would be even worse for the Philippines, as he would do nothing without direction from the United Nations and we see what a fantastic job they are doing in Africa.
In summary, until the Philippines can hold an election that is fair and accepted by all, they will not advance. They need to get rid of the folks currently in power, who will do anything to hold on to that power. They need to let the world know of their plight, so the world takes more of an interest in what is going on there and takes an interest in their political system. This is difficult, as much of what is going on is not released outside of the Philippines, since the government there suppresses free speech to a certain extent (from Filipino’s I know). They haven’t suppressed the Internet yet, as China has done, so the Philippine people must use this medium to let the world know how they feel.
While it is great that many Filipinos are finding work, it is work outside of their country. This means a great influx of cash for the economy, but is breaking up the family unit. Jobs for Filipinos must be created in the Philippines for family stability. I see a lot of hope in that several American countries have been outsourcing work to the Philippines with effective results. That will not continue if there is continued turmoil.
Again, I have to say I am not an expert on the Philippines, just a friend of several Filipino’s. Also Politics is such a hard subject to address without ruffling a few feathers. If I ruffled your feathers a bit I apologize. I make my opinion on what sources I found, personal experience, and talking to friends. No doubt, some of the info I got from friends is most likely biased, as anyone talking to me about US politics would bet my biased view.
In closing I hope and pray that a good solution presents itself to the Philippine people, as they deserve to live in peace and prosperity, rather than oppression and poverty.
Posted at 11:15 am by RWO
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