malada

About the *latest* school shooting:


"I asked myself, why the f*ck should my daughter and her classmates and teachers have to practice a plan to barricade themselves in a classroom against a shooter? What are we buying with this trauma? Space for some dickless, neckbearded f*ck-nugget to dress up in camou and parade around in the woods playing Rambo? That thought had a corollary: F*ck your f*cking hobby, a--holes!"

Read the full version here:

https://www.balloon-juice.com/2018/02/16/this-time-its-personal/

-m

To the workers at the Center of Disease Control,

It has come to our attention that certain words are triggering to members of Congress. Since we want to keep Congress a Safe Place the following words are to be forbidden:

“vulnerable” - we can't talk about things that aren't Great. Only Great things are to be talked about. Like Amerika.

“entitlement” - this is just another word for 'hand outs' to the lazy, filthy layabouts who won't work for a living - like babies. If they want their milk their going to have to pull up their diapers and get a job!

“diversity” - having more than one thing is confusing. Monopolies are good especially when the right people run them. Yes, the Right People. White and Male People. Rich White Male People.

“transgender” - no icky-ness! God - our God of course - made people Male and Female - and that's it! Oh don't tell me what your multiple studies tell you about the health of these... people... and how acceptance and guided transitioning is good for them... who cares?! Men are Men. Woman are Women. Men to the Boardroom and women to the kitchen. Now go make me a sandwich, honey while I check my Grindr account and post a few new dick pictures.

“fetus” - more icky-ness! No more icky-ness! They're baaaaaybbbbeeeees! Cute, adorable, lovable baaaybeees. Until they shit their pants. Then they get handed off to the nearest female. Why do the sluts have to keep having them?

“evidence-based” - who needs evidence? I know what's right for me and for you! Now shut up with your facts and figures and kneel before god... and me. And while you're on your knees....

"science-based” - eggheads! Elite eggheads! All that sciencey shit gets in the way of making money! Anyways, I've got a PhD myself.... in Horribleness.

What the CDC needs is less science and more political correctness! This list will be a big help in protecting the delicate feelings of all us hard working politicians.

Truly,

Senator Snowflake and Representative Thin-Skinned

I'm resurrecting a Windows 7 machine and I installed the discs on Saturday.

It's still pulling and installing updates.

And when it gets stuck on an update, it causes my Internet to hiccup.

I do get a lot of updates on my Linux boxes but they usually don't take days and most times I don't even need to reboot.

Anyways, I'm hoping to find a good home for the Win 7 box when I'm done... someone who doesn't have and needs a (relatively) updated computer.

-m

There's so much to talk about it's hard to pick any one thing to discuss.

Anything with Trump is a disaster. That was easy.



Charlie Rose is a f*cking perv and apparently has been a f*cking perv for a long time. I'm glad he's gone.

The only way to stop politicians from waving their dicks about in inappropriate ways is to have politicians who are women.

Ditto with bosses. And movie producers. And talk show hosts.


I've got a new CPAP mask! I different type than I'm used to. The plastic is softer and gentler but it's still taking time to get used to. I am sleeping a little better although I still wake up at a 1 PM and I'm up for several hours.

I tried a sleep medication... and after a week of being cranky and irritable and still not sleeping I went off it. I'm better now.

Work was sending a pile of computers to the recycling center. I .... um... took a few. No hard drives but I looted a bunch of RAM. I actually managed to snag the full install, driver and software disks for one of them. I'm a Linux Grrl but everyone once in a awhile you need a Windows machine. One will be an XP machine the other will be a Win 98 machine... because I can. Also, sometimes you just need a 16 bit machine.

Bummer... my Win 3.11 disks are too old. I tried several drives and they can't be read any more.

I'm writing again... slowly. A long dormant story is been revived and I'm getting a lot of insights into it. It's just taking a lot of time because the story is so dense.

-m

Nobody saw it coming.

People who knew him said he wasn't a 'gun guy' yet he owned almost 50 firearms. Because that's 'normal'?

Even the gun shop owner who sold him a couple of guns said he seemed normal... which is like talking to a dope dealer when one of his customers has an overdose.

Thousands of rounds of ammo. Is this normal?

Modified rifles to shoot faster. Is this normal?

All legal.

He had cameras outside his room so he knew when the cops were coming.

He shuffled up nearly 30 weapons - many of them modified semi-automatic rifles - into his room over a period of days. Is this normal?

I don't care about his motives. His methods were clear. He wanted to kill as many people as possible and went about it in a methodical way. He bought lots of high powered guns - guns whose DNA is military - their purpose is to kill people. He modded them to shoot more, shoot faster - and proceeded to do so.

Not shot guns. Not bolt action hunting rifles. Rifles designed to kill. Is this normal?

He found himself a nice sniper's nest, stocked it over a period of days then rained lead down on a country western concert. I know gun nuts, their biggest wet dream is to be there when some lunatic starts shooting and they - the calm, rational man (it's always a man) pulls out his concealed weapon and removes the killer from the scene. Yeah, this time... you would have needed to fire *up* a few dozen stories.

And with silencers... he could have kept on shooting while they tried to figure out where the gunfire was coming from.

His reasons are unknown... but his methods are clear: semi-automatic weapons and lots of them. That he brought so many with him is overkill. And these those puppies don't come cheap either. He had a small fortune (compared to what most people have in the bank) in killing iron in his room and at his home.

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I hope this is an exception.

The means and methods to the mass killings in the past few decades are clear - guns. Lots of them. Time to get rid of them.

Oh... by the way... how many of those over 500 wounded have enough health insurance to cover their wounds? Yeah, go figure *that* into the cost of gun ownership.

-m

Hey, Jeff Sessions ... civil forfeiture? Let's be honest, we all know it's just a grab at people's cash and belongings. It's a violation of due process and we both know it. It's a government overreach that any conservative should be ashamed of.

That said... I've got a mark for you.

He's a noted swindler. He's got extensive property holdings worth millions... even billions! Think of all the SWAT teams you could afford to equip that that! He has mafia connections galore and recently had a shell out 25 million dollars in cold hard cash to settle a massive fraud suit. Like any drug cartel he has extensive connections with foreign dictators and several of the buildings he owns have been sites of large scale money laundering operations!

Mr. Sessions, it's time for you to stop squandering your efforts on penny ante drug users and step up to the big time - we're not talking a few thousand dollars here, with one fell swoop you could net billions for law enforcement and take out and international crook!

I am referring to .... Donald Trump.

Yeah, I think you're too chicken shit to go after your boss the way you go after poor brown people, Jeffy-poo. You're a coward and a hypocrite.

-m

Bastille Day

Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Lyrics: Neil Peart

There’s no bread let them eat cake
There’s no end to what they’ll take
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth
Wash the salt into the earth

But they’re marching to Bastille Day
La guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Free the dungeons of the innocent
The king will kneel, and let his kingdom rise

Bloodstained velvet, dirty lace
Naked fear on every face
See them bow their heads to die
As we would bow as they rode by

And we’re marching to Bastille Day
La guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Sing, oh choirs of cacophony
The king has kneeled, to let his kingdom rise.

Lessons taught, but never learned
All around us anger burns
Guide the future by the past
Long ago the mould was cast

For they marched up to Bastille Day
La guillotine – claimed her bloody prize
Hear the echoes of the centuries
Power isn’t all that money buys

-m

For a brief time, Micro Soft was allowing people to download ISO images of Windows 7. Since most computers don't come with a separate disc with back up software, they were allowing people to download the operating system so they could have it. At least, I think that was the reasoning.

I grabbed Windows 7 professional both 32 and 64 bit for the two Win 7 machines in the house.... just in case. Of course you need an activation key to make they work. But since I have them with the machines that's not a problem.

Now there are places on line that will sell you activation codes - usually from systems that have been retired or recycled. Usually. I did find a site that posted a whole pile of codes for 'student use'.

I got two computers with dead hard drives. I used some live Linux distros to check the rest of the hardware so I know they both work okay. One worked surprising well with Linux finding the built in WIFI chip and weird AMD graphics set up.

The question is.. could I replace the hard drives and load up Win7 on them with the disks and codes I found on the Internet?

Short answer? Yes. Long answer? Not really. The result is kinda sketchy because they're not Genuine MS products. If you just use the bare ISOs and sketchy activation codes you get basic Windows 7. It takes hours to load up and then you get the barest of drivers. So then you hunt down the drivers... and reboot after each one is installed. More hours of work. Then there's the many many updates and security patches to Windows to download... best done overnight IF you don't have one that asks you questions (and some do). One of the things about the updates is that some of them are designed to find sketchy installs - like the two I did - and let you know that the software is not genuine, registered software and won't you really like to buy the real thing?

There are ways around these notices... for now. I'm sure MS has a few people working to shut down any sketchy operating systems with the next security patch. The machines do work. Sort of. Usually you need to dig into the Registry to make them function. But even after all the work of getting the operating system, the hardware drivers and dodging the notices that say 'hey, this isn't really registered software' ... you have to download Firefox or Chrome and all the other software that make a computer productive.

So after spending days patching together two sketchy Windows 7 machines... the thought occurs to me: do I really want to deal with sketchy Windows machines?

Nope. They're a pain in the ass and who want's pirated software? I did this more out of curiosity than wanting to own a Windows machine. If I really want a Windows 7 machine I'll buy one second hand.

It's a log of work wasted in a sense, but I'll be wiping the hard drives and installing Xbuntu. The installs won't take is long, the updates are quicker, and they come with all the standard software already installed. Web browsers, graphic viewers, media play back _already installed_. It takes less time, less hassle, you get more and it's all legal and nice!

Oh, did I mention that Linux is both more secure and free?

-m

So... Trump is going on a trip to visit foreign countries - where he does *not* have a resort.

With his staff in chaos, not a one of them a seasoned foreign affairs expert, does anyone think he's going to come out of this looking good?

Top points! He's visiting the pope! Why? In god's name, why?

He's going to Jerusalem! After outing an Israeli intelligence source to the Russians?

He's going to Saudi Arabia! Is Melania or Ivanka going to cover up?

Yes, he's a huge embarrassment to our country... but at this point I just want to get out the popcorn and watch him get skewered.

-m

Dear congress critter...

I read with alarm how cozy you were with President Trump and his tax plan. I don't know if you remember any of the previous tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. I do. They got a whole pile of cash and the deficit blew up.

Let me tell you something about 'trickle down' economics: it doesn't. Whatever money that the wealthy and the corporations - what are mostly owned and run by the wealthy - save by having their taxes cut *never* gets reinvested into the economy. It's used to buy back stock, invest in holding companies and spent on large luxury items for themselves. It *never* expands the economy. History has shown time and time again that giving tax breaks to the wealthy does *nothing* to help the economy grow.

It does help the deficit grow. A lot.

Oh, but you're going to give little people like me a tax cut too? I'll tell you what I told George W. Bush, "You can keep your chump change."

Do your research. History has shown again and again that cutting the taxes to the wealthy does not stimulate the economy. Look at Governor Brownback big tax cuts - now his state in mired in debt.

I hope you will study up on the subject - check your economics history - and learn from the past.

Thank you.