The fence was too high to see over, but the NSA saw a little gap in the planks, so they looked through to see what was going on.

One of us poked them in the eye with a stick, then we all started shouting, “14…14…14…”.

Had to go for work, and knew the town from previous visits. But I decided to invite the gf to spend Friday night and have a full Saturday in Cervantes’ home town. We ended up spending two nights, had a blast.

The “new” town sucks, but the old one is magical. One of Europe’s oldest university towns, full of 16th century buildings, and a combination of provincial/agricultural simpleness and the Renaissance. Also, the Roman town of Complutum and perhaps the best archaelogical musuem I’ve seen, good food, and a bar where a Rumanian DJ mixes everything from ACDC to ZZ Top in the town’s main street.

We booked a room in a hotel 20 meters from Cervantes’ house. Lovely spot at 50€ a night, not far from the main square. Tranquility – a much-needed rest for us.

Anyhow, if anyone ever comes to Madrid, I strongly suggest spenfing a night in Alcalá de Henares – you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

https://www.google.es/search?q=alcala+de+henares&client=firefox-a&hs=tFi&rls=org.mozilla:es-ES:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=SUa-UfWYIYaJ7AaYs4CYBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=855

Only One Big Telecom CEO Refused To Cave To The NSA … And He’s Been In Jail For 4 Years

Nacchio alleged that the government stopped offering the company lucrative contracts after Qwest refused to cooperate with a National Security Agency surveillance program in February 2001.

NO ONE should be OK with this.

Lobby Congress NOW! Repeal the so-called “Patriot Act” and the AUMF!

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20121216/DEFREG02/312160002/Cyber-8217-s-Next-Chapter-Penetrating-Sealed-Networks

Cyber’s Next Chapter: Penetrating Sealed Networks
Dec. 16, 2012 – 12:47PM |

By ZACHARY FRYER-BIGGS |

Not long ago, if your computer network was cut off from the Internet, devoid of wireless routers and hunkered behind locked doors, you were safe.

But not anymore.

Several U.S. industry and military labs are improving the deciphering of the 1s and 0s that traverse these carefully guarded networks, and finding ways to inject data and infect systems with destructive viruses — “jumping the gap” into an ironclad network.

- Meaning, if you are targetted by the NSA, they have the ability to PUT things into your computer and claim that it is yours, without using your WiFi.

Full article following.

Well my basic hypothesis was that trees improve people’s health. And if that’s true, then killing 100 million of them in 10 years should have an effect. So if we take away these 100 million trees, does the health of humans suffer? We found that it does.

Researchers have shown this in other ways in the past. There’s been some famous research showing that people recover faster from surgery and take fewer drugs if their hospital room has a view of trees. Other research — including some of my own — has shown that mothers with more trees around their homes are less likely to have underweight babies. It’s been shown that if you put people in a natural environment, it can reduce their blood pressure, heart rate and other measures of stress. Obviously we also know that trees can improve air quality. And that’s why I looked at these two causes of death. I didn’t look at pancreatic cancer or something like that. I looked at cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease because both can be affected by air quality and stress.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

Sorry for the drive-by post, but I’ll be mostly out of commission for at least another week, and thought it better to post this than keep it to myself.

Anyone want to come in August to see the 150th anniversary of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence?

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/jun/09/lawhorns-lawrence-hidden-survivors-quantrills-raid/
Lawhorn’s Lawrence: The hidden survivors of Quantrill’s Raid

Is there any way in hell that such a movie could be made today?

It’s based on a work actuallhy written for tevee. which is another reason to bemoan our current level of sensitiviety and intellect. Now we live in a world of brainless sitcoms, which probably has to do with the fact that we can kill Osama and dump his body in the sea when we could have taken him to court and electrocuted him out of spite.

—————

The other day I took my lady and “Stewie” (a doll from Family Guy which is a vehicle for a cultural meme that I’m fomenting) to Alcalá de Henares.

I’rs a nice town not too far from Madrid, the site of Spain’s first universty, where Cervantes used to live. Spain’s educational history, unfortunately, is marked by catholicism and it’s subseguent conservative reactionism, but the Spanish people’s reaction to centuries of clerical repression is evident even here – Alcala’s historical museum is one of the best I’ve ever seen, a didactic tour of local and universal history sans ideological content.

There’s a pride there based on the town’s university history which seems to make the locals open-minded. Despite 40-odd years of a fascist dictatorship, and under an autonomous government that largely follows Franco’s ideology, Alcalá has maintained a “universalist” POV.

I lived close to half my life in the US of A. I was fed on “American values”, but for the life of me I find it easier to find in Alcalá de Henares values to live by than in any one of the various states where I’ve lived. I’ve debated against hardcore fascists over here, but I find that puroported centist “libruhls” over there are more adamantine in their POV’s than members of Franco’s personal bodyguard (I have one as a client, so I know whereof I speak).

But what really SHOCKS me, beyond belief, is that so many people over there are so GULLIBLE. They swallow what’s given as political debate as being the real debate, when the core issues are kept so murky..

There’s a number of real problems but they’re hidden from us behind issues such as guns, abortion, ot whatnot.

And I’m getting mighty tired of this shit.
——

I have plans of getting married, at the age of 50, with a nice Spanish girl. We plan to get married in Piano de Sorrento, a lovely place near Naples.

A nice “hostel” with prefab huts built in a garden-orchard, near the sea, a very simple and unluxurious place where one can feel comfortable and with a local train that takes one to Naples. Salerno, Pompeii and a few other places, and with boat rides to what I consider Paradise – Capri.

Each and every day shows me that what happens “over there” is less and less imporant, and that the “argument” is more and more artificial.

I’m beginnig to not give a shit, which I find sad.

But luckily, the US is becoming less and less important in the world, so it’s less and less of a big deal.

If I was younger I’d cry about this.