Really Good Quotes

Late Night Mix-up

A police officer, though scheduled for all-night duty at the station, was relieved of duty early and arrived home four hours ahead of schedule, at 2 in the morning.

Not wanting to wake his wife, he undressed in the dark, crept into the bedroom and started to climb into bed. Just then, his wife “sleepily” sat up and said, “Honey, would you go down to the all-night drug store on the next block and get me some aspirin? I’ve got a splitting headache.”

“Certainly, honey,” he said. Feeling his way across the dark room, he got dressed and walked over to the drug store.

As he arrived, the pharmacist looked up in surprise, “Say,” said the pharmacist, “I know you - aren’t you a policeman? Officer Fenwick, right?”

“Yeah, sure. So?” said the officer.

“Well, what the heck are you doing all dressed up like the Fire Chief?”

Why Little Boys Need Mothers

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Email Kirsten

When I was a university student, my friend Stuart died of AIDS. He was an engineering student with a promising future. He turned in all of his assignments on time, aced all of his exams, and worked two part-time jobs to pay his way. He was a moderate drinker, he smoked only when he was drinking, and he never touched drugs. He had the same girlfriend throughout the time I knew him, and there was never any question that he would marry her, his highschool sweetheart. When we all completed our first year of university, Stuart and his girl went on a trip to Malawi for the summer. They both took a course of antimalarial drugs prior to their departure, but a particularly nasty hangover made Stuart forget to take one of the pills. While he was in Malawi, he came down with a life-threatening case of malaria and a bout of serious secondary infections. The blood transfusion they gave him may have saved his life in the short term, but it killed him in the long term.

AIDS was first recognised by the World Health Organization on December 1st, 1981. Since then, it has killed over 25 million people worldwide, a third of which were in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, about 0.6% of the world’s population is estimated to be HIV-positive. People become infected through unprotected sex, mom-to-baby transmission, unsafe drug use, and in Stuart’s case, blood transfusions.

AIDS is the manifestation of HIV infection. It attacks the immune system, and basically shuts down the body’s ability to fight infection and disease. Antiretroviral drugs have been very successful in slowing the progress of HIV, and may actually prevent infection if started directly after exposure.

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but this is not for lack of trying. What’s made it so difficult to find a cure is the fact that HIV has the ability to mutate extremely quickly, and very frequently as the disease progresses. It’s like trying to play soccer when the goalposts keep moving.

All is not lost, however. Just last week, researchers at the University of Alberta reported identifying a gene that can block HIV. The gene, known as TRIM22, stops assembly of the virus, and blocks it from getting out of the cell to infect other cells. Spread of the virus is literally stopped dead in its tracks. Further research will explore ways to mimic the effects of the TRIM22 gene. This would lead to the development of vaccines to prevent person-to-person transmission of HIV, and to stop the spread of the virus in a person already infected.

It will probably be several years before we see the fruits of this research, but it seems that the seed has been sown. There is hope that we will finally be able to stem the tide of this pandemic that has destroyed countless lives and wreaked havoc on the socio-economic structure of developing nations.

Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten

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Tim was unable to attend class today.  Please excuse him.  Here’s an archive piece instead.

I’m feeling pretty good right now. You see, I helped a lady today. She had walked up to the directional sign just outside our office and looked at it. I knew then she was lost. It isn’t a very helpful sign, and inevitably people who look at it will look around trying to figure out what it means. I had never seen this woman before, so I asked if I could help her. She showed me a snow-covered wallet she had just found in the parking lot and wondered if we had a lost and found or a security office where she could drop it off. I explained that the lost and found is normally in our Bookstore, but if she gave it to me, I could look up the person on my computer and let them know where their wallet would be. She thanked me, I thanked her then went to my desk to see if I could find its rightful owner.

Tony wasn’t hard to find when you have access to pretty much everybody’s computer records. He’s a student living not far from campus, but the phone number he gave was the same one he had for his permanent address, which was different than his local address. I called it, figuring it was his parent’s number. A woman answered, and I introduced myself as an employee of the College. I asked if Tony might be there, or if he was still at school. When she replied that he was still at school, I asked if he had a cell phone. She replied that he did. I then inquired if she would be so kind as to call it and let him know that his wallet was found and it would be waiting for him in the Bookstore. She sounded extremely grateful and thanked me profusely. I love when parents do that. It makes me feel good that I could help make the College look good.

So after I got off the phone, I walked down to the Bookstore to deliver the wallet for their safekeeping until Tony could pick it up. When I got there, I found there was a waiting line for turning in lost things. It seems a small bag about the size of the old pencil bags I used to use when I was in school was bing reported. A list of the contents was being made, but there was no identification, although it did contain cash. The only thing that could identify the owner of this pencil purse was the data on a USB drive it contained. It was given to me to discover another rightful owner.

So I stuck the drive in my USB port and found out the name of its owner by just hovering over a document and looking up the author (another student). I dialed that phone number, but as the phone was ringing, one of our Work Study students walked into my office. I knew her by face, but not by name. I motioned that I was on the phone and this will only take me a second. I waited for the flash drive owner’s answering machine to pick up and start spewing its message before I asked her if I could help her. She asked for her flash drive back.

I inquired if that meant I didn’t have to leave a message on her answering machine. I hung up the phone and gave her her drive back. I’m nice like that., but I digress.

I met Tony coming out of the Bookstore later that afternoon, his wallet intact. He looked like one happy student. I knew what he looked like because I saw his picture on his driver’s license, which helped me look him up so I could return his wallet. I was anonymous to him, and I like it that way. Pass it on, I say.

Well, I was anonymous until our Captain of Security followed Tony out of the Bookstore and pointed to me, saying, "That’s him!"

Yup, I’m Tim. Everybody knows me.

Tim a’Musing
Having a Ball with Yarns

Miscellaneous Tips

No “curly” bacon for breakfast when you dip it into cold water before frying.

Re: Ransomware

This past summer we had ransomware hit our computer. We knew better than to click on a link and buy their "fix."

However, it was even more nasty than what you describe. I "x-ed" out of the pop-up thinking that I’d ignored the warning and gotten rid of the nasty pop-up. Did I? Noooo! What happened when I "x-ed" out? It actually installed a program that held our computer ransom for days. At times we noticed pop-ups occurring faster than we could close them out. If we googled a subject we were taken to a different site than the one we clicked on. Sometimes it was porn, but of the time it wasn’t. For instance if we wanted to find information about cars, we’d click on the link and it’d take us to a page about baby products. We don’t have a baby and no need to search for baby products, so we didn’t have any cookies on our computer about baby products.

Bill worked for days on our computer trying to get the problem fixed. We were already using AVG, spybot search and destroy and AdAware. We downloaded malwarebytes, hijack this, and all sorts of other programs to fix the computer; finally he gave up and we took the computer in to a friend of ours who works in an IT department for a large company over in Springfield. Their department has around 6-10 guys working there full-time.

The day came when the computer was done and we were ready to pick it up. While there I made a comment of some sort and our friend told us to hold on he wanted to check something before we took it home. While he was checking it out, he found that the ransomware was still there. It had written itself into Spybot Search and Destroy. He deleted that program and all the host files. (He could see the offending line in the program.) He’d restart the computer and there it was again right back in the host file.

We had to leave the computer there another couple of days while he reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP.

We WERE lucky though in that we were able to save our data files - they had not been corrupted. And I had a back-up of most of the data files anyway plus all the programs that we had bought.

We now use Panda Cloud and malwarebytes and I never "x" out of a pop-up. We either use alt, control, delete or we just unplug the modem and turn off the computer with a "hard" turn off. - Noella



Re: Cliff’s Plants

I do have a favorite ground cover plant - Dragon’s Blood Sedum. I use it as an edging in two flower beds. I also have your succulent, and have wondered for years what it was! Yes, it survives freezing temperatures. In our yard it tends to grow mostly near our water source, and hides under other plants, sticking its shoots out here and there, sporting those yellow flowers that make you wonder whether to yank it out or not - until it seems to be taking over an area. Then I yank and compost it. It may be "invasive", but it doesn’t kill other plants, so I let iut be in some places - like near the Japanese Iris. Their purple flowers and the vine’s yellows seem to be a harmonious pairing.
Thanks for the input about this plant! I’ll treat it with a little more respect now.
Nancy L in Ohio



Re: Quotes

> "It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful."
> ~ Anton LaVey ~

That’s one of the smarter things ever said by the man who founded The Church of Satan, Inc., wrote its Scriptures (THE SATANIC BIBLE and THE SATANIC RITUALS), and acted the role of Satan in the film ROSEMARY’S BABY. No joke — look him up, or just visit http://www.churchofsatan.com … if you dare … - Kate in NY
[I’ll never be able to watch that movie the same way again.  I didn’t know he was playing himself!]



Re: Justice? of the Peace

Mike, You made the following statement in a posting in the RGQ for 10/21 where you replied to Michael Modi’in, Israel regarding the piece about the Justice of the Peace who refused to marry the mixed-race couple in Louisiana. By the way, I really liked your story about how you wanted to eat at “the other counter.” Sometimes I think the world would be a much better place if we all could see through eyes of an innocent child even if for just a day.

“What worries me these days is the increasingly self-centered attitude I see in society, recently highlighted by debate over healthcare, social security, welfare, etc. The attitude that “If you can’t afford (healthcare, food, housing, retirement) it’s not my problem. I’ve got mine and I ain’t sharing!”. I fear this is a sign that blatant racism has been replaced with blatant class-ism.”

These comments really disturbed me. I don’t write often, but I was not able to concentrate on much of anything else until I had taken the time to compose a suitable retort.

First, let me say that I am appalled by racism or discrimination in any form. Everyone should be granted equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, race, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Unfortunately I don’t think that world will ever exist outside of our own imaginations and attempts to achieve such a world usually ends with opposite extremes where preferential treatment is granted to those who were previously discriminated against as if that would wash away history and solve the problem.

I do not feel that hard-working, taxpaying citizens should be considered “self-centered” because we want to enjoy the fruits of our labors and don’t want to “share” with everyone else who does not feel this same obligation to be a contributing member of society. I DO believe that there should be a system in place to support people who are temporarily down and out with the key concept being “TEMPORARY.” This is why we have unemployment insurance and welfare programs in place today. What I consider an abomination is the generations of welfare families who know of nothing else but the hand-out, especially when they continually pump kids out left and right because they believe (and rightly so in most instances) that they’re going to get more money.

My wife and I have been very fortunate in that we have both been continuously employed for our entire adult lives. We have 3 boys who have not had to experience a day without food or a roof over their heads and they have few wants in life that have not been satisfied. We give what I consider a decent amount to all kinds of charitable organizations and we volunteer our time willingly, but we certainly couldn’t be considered philanthropists by any stretch of the imagination.

We have known quite a few people who have not been so lucky. Two of our friends were forced to sell their houses or risk losing them after losing their jobs. One has been out of work for almost 2 years, but during that time he had access to unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care (Yes MEDICAL CARE!) for his son, and other social programs which allowed him to put food on his table, gas in his car to go on job interviews (That’s right, gas in his car!)

How did he find out about these programs? He went out and looked for them either through phone calls or some basic networking with other people in similar situations. Sure, some of these programs are government run while others are merely charities relying on donations, but the fact is he found them. He didn’t sit around and wait for someone from the government to show up and say, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help.” He actually, dare I say it, WORKED at it!

People should share because they want to share, not because the government forces them to or raises income taxes to the point where it’s not worth the effort to work. My wife and I work so we can provide a better life for our family. That’s right, OUR FAMILY. Not for anyone else who is either too lazy, or feels they are owed something, or who come into this country illegally seeking free schooling, medical care, and whatever else they feel they’re entitled to for no reason other than because they feel it’s their right. Those aren’t rights, they’re privileges and there IS a difference. If you don’t believe me, here’s a link to the Bill of Rights.

If you feel this attitude is defined as “class-ism” and/or self-centered, then you can just color me proud. - Robert from Southern California
[Robert, First of all thanks for the comment. We always enjoy hearing from people who haven’t commented for a while.

You mention the charitable giving you and your wife do. You are certainly to be commended for that. Many people won’t support charities of any kind because they take the extreme view that giving anything to the poor, either through taxes for social programs or charities, only encourages people to be dependant.

I suppose people like this would rather step over the bodies of starved people than encourage them!

I too have been lucky to be able to keep a steady income over the years. I have only drawn unemployment two times in my life. Once for about 3 months and the second time for about a month. In that respect I’ve been blessed. I’ve been able to support my family, pay my bills, and keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

No, in my comment I wasn’t referring to people like you and me. I was referring to the extremist who would cut all social programs so they didn’t have to pay any taxes. These are the people who want to cut out social security, food stamps, welfare, medicare and medicaid. Why? Because they don’t consider it their role in life to support anyone else.

I do believe there is a racial aspect to this. When the subject of welfare cheats, or as you put it “…generations of welfare families”, come up I think most people think “black”. So I believe there is a movement afoot in this country to do away with social programs and they’re using racism to further their agenda.

You said, “One (friend) has been out of work for almost 2 years, but during that time he had access to unemployment benefits, food stamps, medical care (Yes MEDICAL CARE!) for his son, and other social programs which allowed him to put food on his table, gas in his car to go on job interviews.”

You also said “…the key concept being ‘TEMPORARY.’”

Using the extremist viewpoint for a moment, I would say your friend is a bum. Two years is too long to be on the public dole. You mean to tell me that after two years he hasn’t been able to find a job at McDonalds?? Cut him off… I’m sick and tired of my taxes going to support people like this!

Now your friend is obviously a man concerned about the welfare of his family. He appears to be doing everything in his power to provide for them. But what is your definition of temporary? At what point should your friend be cut off? At what point do we consider them a “welfare family”? After they have another child because they couldn’t afford the birth control pill prescription anymore? After their children go on welfare because mom and dad couldn’t afford college and now they can’t find a job either?

Of course there’s abuse and mismanagement in the system. I certainly support fixing it.

There should be ways to ensure that people are actively seeking work if they are able to work. But this requires there to be jobs for everyone. There should be penalties for companies that ship our jobs overseas in order to make a bigger profit for themselves.

There should be attempts to break the cycle of welfare families. The educational programs are there, people need to be encouraged to take advantage of them.

But in a country as rich as ours, I don’t think there should be people starving while others make multi-million dollar bonuses for letting their companies go broke. And I don’t think people should begrudge the relatively small part of their taxes that go to support social programs.]