Animal Farm Friday - Day Off

I'm enjoying my day off today, but not nearly as much as these guys (yet).

Hacking Big Brother

The prospective UK national ID card was broken and cloned in 12 minutes, the Daily Mail revealed this morning.

The newspaper hired computer expert Adam Laurie to test the security that protects the information embedded in the chip on the card.

Using a Nokia mobile phone and a laptop computer, Laurie was able to copy the data on a card that is being issued to foreign nationals in minutes.

(More)

Rachel Maddow Does What Journalists Will Not Do

Bears repeating:

Lost Generation?

(Watch it straight through)

Holy Bile: Crazy Psycho Christian

Or Crazy Christian Psycho. (This link may have an expiration date.)

Don't Touch the Weave!

Good question, Josh. Where are the healthcare reform supporters?

And for the Blue Team?

We spent most of Monday reporting on these tea-bagging crowds going to Democratic health care town hall meetings to shout down the hosts and shut the events down. It's classic agitprop, very akin to the 'Brooks Brothers riot' down in Florida during the recount.

But where's the other team?

Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together. But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right? Not to pull the Black Shirt routine but to provide some public demonstration that there's real public support for making reform a reality.

If there is.

So that's the question. Where's the other team?

--Josh Marshall

And here's a good response.

Clinton Pulls a Carter

... and succeeds in getting North Korea to release the two journalists. Nice!

Cellphone Carriers' Hot Air

I've suspected this all along, but never had proof... until now. Cellphone carriers burn up your airtime with useless voicemail instructions.

I'm not sure which is worse though. This, or that they charge 1,000,000% or more markup on charges for SMS messages, that cost them virtually nothing.

Dobbs' Ratings Take A Hit Over "Birther" Controversy

Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Animal Farm Friday - U Can Haz Awesome

(h/t to Adam)

Mom's Memorial Slideshow

This is the slideshow we played at Mom's memorial service. It is a photo montage set to the song Babe by Styx. Babe was my stepfather's pet name for Mom. This was their song.

Mom's Final Story

One last time, Mom, Clara, has left us.

In all the years we knew her, Mom often talked about shedding all her possessions and hitting the road. Be it in a RV headed to Montana, or on a boat headed to the Keys, she was always in part a nomad. In her final years, she talked a lot about wanting to move to the Keys. She started collecting pirate paraphernalia, and other tropical sundries. The Keys seemed to hold a promise of the ultimate escape she had always longed for, free from responsibility, to anyone or anything. It was a place where her inner rebel could find sanctuary, along with all the other Conch Rebels, as those who seek asylum in the Southernmost part of the country call themselves. Indeed, she even had the moniker as her personal email address.

Sensing that we were racing the clock, we were all working towards making a trip to the Keys as a family. It was our hope that a window of opportunity between Mom's cancer treatments would open up, even briefly, for a road trip to the Conch Republic. Sadly, this would not happen.

At the end of her first round of chemotherapy, Mom's pain from her cancer intensified, so much so that she required hospitalization. While in the hospital, she developed other complications related to pain management, but her primary goal was to get her pain under control and to get out of the hospital. There was that trip to the Keys beckoning, after all. We managed to bring Mom home after a couple of weeks, but her pain got out of control again, and she ended up back in the hospital. We didn't know it at the time, but Mom was losing her battle with the disease, and we were losing her. Her cancer was highly aggressive; a final scan had shown that the cancer had spread dramatically, in spite of her treatment. As Mom's pain got worse, and her pain medication increased, her consciousness faded.

We brought Mom home under the auspices of hospice care on July 4th. She had her family at her side at all times, playing music she loved, reading to her, talking to her, or just holding her hand, loving her.

It was fortunate that she was home, as July 7th was her grandson Dewayne's birthday. We were able to have a small party, and for Mom to be there with us. It was a joyous event, despite the circumstances. But sadly, later that evening, Mom started showing signs that she may be nearing the end. Her hospice nurse, a wonderful woman named May, said she had a sense that Mom would pass before her shift ended the next morning.

Late in the evening, her husband Jerry, her children Brenda, Jake, Christina, and Amanda, and her grandchildren Dewayne and Chrystal all gathered around her. Joining hands together and with Mom, we took turns saying to Mom what we felt needed to be said before we could let her go. Afterwards, we all sat around her as we listened to and sang along to many of Mom's favorite songs into the wee hours of the morning.

Mom slipped away around 7 am on July 8, 2009.

Other than May, we had all fallen asleep not long before Mom left us. It's easy to believe that she was waiting for us to not be watching as she left. When we were children, Mom would sometimes have to leave because of her assignments the Air Force would send her on. We would tell her to wake us before she left so she could say goodbye, but she always slipped away while we were asleep. We would eventually try to beat her at this game and attempt to stay awake all night, but she always won, as she did this one last time.

It was an amazing privilege to be able - as a family - to spend that time with Mom in her final hours. It was an even greater gift to be able to have cared for her in her final days.

We held a memorial service for Mom at her childhood church, Lake Hill Baptist Church, the place where she was first married, and the same church where services for her mother were held. The turnout was wonderful, with approximately 150 people who came to pay respect in person, and countless others joining us in spirit, testament to the impact Clara had on people. The memorial was closed with each of those present symbolically releasing butterflies into the wind. This was followed by a joyous Celebration of Life at one of her favorite haunts, the Dubsdread Golf Course, just down the road from her home. Mom enjoyed dining on the patio, something we got to do with her just a couple months ago.

Mom, Clara, was an exceptional woman. She deserved an exceptional send off. Because she had longed to return to the Keys, we made it our mission to make sure she did. It was a mission not without difficulties, indeed there were many, but in the end, it was a great success. With the use of a family member's boat, Mom was taken to a quiet and calm location in the Gulf of Mexico, off of Key West. In a casual but beautiful ceremony, with Mom's favorite songs playing in the background, we prepared the water with flower petals. We collectively read a poem aloud, with her first husband and friend, Curtis, joining in on speakerphone. A final but brief poem was read before her ashes - enclosed in a biodegradable container - were released to the sea.

We sat and watched the currents slowly carry away the flower petals, and symbolically, Mom. After a short while, her grandson, Joey, wanted to swim with his Grammy one last time. We all followed him into the water, floating and swimming, singing along with Mom's songs, being with her wholly one last time.

We eventually left and went to explore an area elsewhere that Mom had liked, before heading back to shore. Using saved GPS coordinates, we returned to the spot where we had released Mom, and now the water was even more calm. We stopped for just one last swim, and noticed that the place had a completely different feel. It felt more lively, yet peaceful. We noticed much more sea life than before, including a very large stingray passing by, and a wayward butterfly fluttering by the boat. The symbolism was remarkable.

Clara is gone in body, but she remains with us in our hearts and our memories.

All of the family is extremely grateful for all of the love and support - emotional and material - that we have been given by those who love us, and those who loved Clara. That we could all be so fortunate to be connected with such great people is testament to that which Clara gave to the world.

We humbly thank you, with all of our hearts.

Farewell, Clara

My mother Clara is gone, and we miss her terribly. We can find at
least a bit of comfort knowing she is no longer suffering, and that
while her fight with cancer was somewhat brief, we can all be happy
for her escape. Mom has found the ultimate freedom, and has become
"one" with the Universe again. Her journey has ended.

Mom was always a nomad at heart, often ready for an adventure at the
drop of a hat, be it driving her Cadillac El Dorado from coast to
coast, or enlisting in the Air Force and moving to Turkey, not once
but twice. I have to say that it is funny how someone so adventurous
could be so afraid of lizards. While her journey sometimes took her
far away, she somehow always remained at the center of our lives.

She had a glowing, infectious smile that could light up a dark night,
or cheer up a sad soul. Her heart was almost too big to contain, and
she worked hard in the service of others. Her family meant everything
to her, and there was nothing she would not do for them. She was that
person you could call for help in the middle of the night, and could
count on to be there.

As time went on, Mom may have gotten older, but her spirit continued
to grow more youthful. You could sense that if she had the
opportunity, she would beeline for the Keys and hop on the first
passing pirate ship. The things she had once feared began to beckon
her. I was particularly stunned when - after many years of being
admonished by her for riding motorcycles - Mom asked me to take her
for a ride.

But now she is gone.

While we may not look forward to the coming bouts of pain and anguish,
and sadness in missing her, we can look forward to remembering Clara
in ways and times we don't always expect; like to feel her warmth in a
radiant sunset; to think of her bright smile on a dark night
brightened by moonlight; or to see her hair blowing in the wind the
next time we're driving with the top down.

Mom's body is gone, and with that her sweet, soft voice that used to
sing me to sleep; her long fingernails that would gently scratch my
back to soothe and relax me. But she will always be with me - with all
of us. All we have to do is to think of her and she will be there,
looking as beautiful as she ever did.

</mom>

Clara Nell Konrad, 4/10/48 - 7/8/09

Mom lost her fight with pancreatic cancer this morning. She passed away with her loving family at her side.

I have more to say about Mom, but am unable to just now. But I can at least say now that she was as beautiful inside as she was outside, and she touched the lives of nearly everyone she met. She will be deeply missed.

I will be boycotting NPR

The one journalism outfit I thought could be implicitly trusted FAILS epically.

http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/greenwald/~3/ZRd6hHBnPZc/index.html

Now I tremble with shame in the face of their bravery

We all should.

The Choir Grows

More folks are catching on as time goes by.

Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House. (my emphasis)

One of the most disappointing aspects of the early months of the Obama administration has been its unwillingness to end many of the mind-numbing abuses linked to the so-called war on terror and to establish a legal and moral framework designed to prevent those abuses from ever occurring again.

The list expands beyond just the GWoT, but the gist of the Op-Ed is that what's wrong is wrong, regardless of who the president is. But from my perspective, Obama keeping Bush policies in place makes him worse than Bush, because he has effectively lied to America and stabbed many of his most ardent supporters in the back.

At least when Bush was giving us the finger, we expected it.

 

Forcing private insurers on Americans

Regarding health care, the claims by private insurers that nearly 2/3rds of Americans would drop their private plans in favor of a public option is a de facto admission that private insurance is a failure, and the only way to keep most Americans using private insurance is to force that to be our only option.

That's pretty damned disgusting, as it is a glaring example of the insidious nature of private health insurers.

Down with the Duplicitous Di Fi

Some reasons why I think Senator Feinstein needs to go away, for good!