Monday, November 14, 2016

Where to get Accurate News

1. Stay away from cable news. It's all info-tainment - a small nugget of actual information, surrounded by opinionated talking heads to make it look 'fair and balanced.' Really they just want you to keep watching the ads. It's not worth your effort to spend time sorting the wheat from the chaff here.

2. Don't believe anything on Facebook or Reddit (or Twitter or any social communication channel) without independent verification. Something in your Facebook feed sounded outrageous? Probably because it's not true. Even the things you want to believe.

3. Newspapers are still the -best- source of well-reported, factual information. Sure, they get it wrong occasionally, but they also have set-in-stone correction policies and publish said corrections as soon as possible.

4. Your hometown paper is a good source of info on local political issues, elections, candidates and scandal/corruption/etc. Sure, it's likely anemic and doesn't do huge, hard-hitting investigative journalism, but you should pay for their web access subscription anyways. It's likely the only source of information about your schools, your city council, and the things that effect you most directly.

5. For national and international news, go the major metro papers. The New York Times is killing it with a full digital team in the newsroom - data driven reporting, great interactive presentations, and huge reputation and reach. These guys, along with the LA Times and Washington Post, etc. can get access and sources that no other organization can, just ask Edward Snowden. Pick one and subscribe online.

6. Go International. Checkout the U.K.-based Guardian, which has really stepped up it's U.S. coverage in the last few years. Check out the BBC. For a really different perspective, check Al Jazeera, the Doha, Quatar based agency that pumps out some solid reporting.

7. PBS. Fund drives, endowments and public funding sources mean the pressure to please advertisers and gain 'eyeballs' is less intense. This results in a sometimes dry reporting style, but tends to be packed with information. News magazine shows on PBS, like Frontline, Nova and Nature are also well-reported and not sensationalist as one expects Dateline or 20/20 to be. You'll never see a "To catch a predator" Frontline documentary, but you might find it tough to keep your blood pressure in check nonetheless.

8. NPR & PRI. Again, public funding means less pressure to please advertisers. Some argue that NPR has gotten soft on corporate reporting as public funding has fallen off. It's possible I suppose, but I still get more info from NPR than whatever jackasses are on KISS FM during my commute. Plus, we have a strong public radio network in my state, so I get a good mix of local, national and international news just by never changing my radio dial.

9. fivethirtyeight.com for data-related reporting, like polling and surveys. These guys are actual statisticians and data scientists that also happen to do reporting. Most of the time, data-reporting is done by journalist with journalism degrees. Nothing wrong with that, but... just saying.

10. If you're really hardcore, look for the insider publications. Wall Street Journal is kind of in this category, targeting traders and NYC bankers, but it's become a bit more mainstream now. Autonews.com is a good one for the automotive industry, for example, or poynter.org for news about journalism. Yup. There's news about news.

But... these are all biased Mainstream Media sources run by The Man...

How do you know if a story is biased? Well, good luck. The Hostile Media Effect pretty much guarantees that you'll feel as though some stories are biased. The best thing to do for this is seek out alternative news sources from around the country and world, and make up your own mind. How is the LA Times reporting this story? The BBC? The Guardian? These are reporting organizations that have their own reporters stationed all over the world.

Take a look at Fox News, or Brietbart even. What are their sources, how does their reporting jive with the other news agencies? If they differ, Why do you think they differ? Is there an agenda?

Undoubtedly many of these news sources are run by large corporate organizations. Reporting is an expensive, resource intensive, and potentially very dangerous endeavor. Journalists need organizations like the New York Times Company, Tribune Company, and, heck, even Gannett to back up their reporting with lawyers and dollars. It's hard to avoid big money, which is why public-funded sources, as well as international sources (which are likely to have different motives than domestic sources, -if- there is a motive present) are important.

Also, understand how news agencies like the Associated Press work. These are usually well-reported, well-vetted articles, but pay attention and realize that when you're reading an AP story in your local newspaper, it's likely that same story has been chopped up and printed in every newspaper in the country and often across the world. This isn't bad, but it can sometimes make it difficult to find different sources of the same event.

IF YOU ONLY DO ONE THING, avoid listening to the talking heads on TV. These are people whom the shows producers know are good at talking on live television, are fairly predictable and will be able to prattle on about what-ifs and maybes for hours if needed. Don't let them replace your own thoughts with theirs.

Source: four years of journalism school, six years working in newspapers, four years working in government. It's tough out there, but reliable sources still exist. Pick your bedfellows wisely.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Donald Trump is President and the Environment will Suffer

Trump's 100 day plan includes allowing for coal/oil/shale extraction from protected sites, a strong arm for pipelines through protected areas (specifically pointing to Keystone as his champion cause), promises to gut $50 billion of environmental spending to UN programs, promises to undo sanctions on pollution, and also has a bunch of clauses which, if implemented, would impact all fields, but including and especially climate science (such as his desire to require two regulations be removed arbitrarily if one regulation will be passed).

He is appointing a leading climate change denier to the EPA, which he has discussed dismantling all together. He has discussed removing the FDA all together, removing educational advisement from his cabinet, and rewarding companies with tax incentives to expand in destructive areas while simultaneously promising to remove the restrictions put in place to mitigate harm done to the environment in the process.

A lot of this he can get done via executive order. A lot of it beyond that he can get done with house and senate support, which he has.

This is not an instance of conspiracy theories or "what ifs" being thrown around. He has promised these things, and has the tools to deliver. It would literally take him saying "naw nevermind" to stop this from happening.

Any one of the items listed above would cause damage to the environment that will take decades, if not longer to reverse, if it even can be reversed at this point, during a time that we are already losing an uphill battle to protect our environment. And he's not talking about one item. He's talking about all of them, and has the ability, and intent, to do everything he says.

And that's just environment. People have a right to be afraid. I would be afraid with a Clinton presidency because I wasn't sure she'd do enough. I would be afraid with a blue house/senate to stand in Trumps way, because I'd be worried they wouldn't do enough. What we actually have, is a scenario where people who deny climate change are now in un-checked power, and are salivating at the chance to make a quick buck off immeasurable damage to our planet.

The planet will recover and move on, the question is if we will be around when it happens. This is not an issue that we can really afford to "wait 4 to 8 years and vote better next time." We have already reached the emergency point according to any scientist worth listening to.

Forgive me if I don't see much opportunity for "it won't be so bad" when it comes to specifically climate change. I could ignore everything else he's doing (which I won't, but we're speaking hypothetically here) and I think stress and alarm is still perfectly in the scope of reason regarding his promises. Even if we "think" he'll do a ton of damage, but he only does a lot of damage, the damage is too severe and has ramifications too drastic to ignore.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Welcome to IT

Lets say you work at a company that is a large small business (40-50 million revenue yearly, 100-200 people). Your IT department is a 1-3 man team, because "you're an expense" ...most business people think only sales people make them money. Don't worry that you can't make money if shit doesn't work, only sales makes you money.

Now lets pretend your last major upgrade to the servers was accomplished with a $75,000 budget. Getting that budget with the equipment you demanded was required was hard fought. Some corners were cut on "not absolutely necessary" things, things like a second slightly smaller and slightly slower server to run as a mirror of the first one, a server where you could do all your testing on. That "saved" the company $30,000, right? You just like to spend money, you never make the company any money.

Then, a year later you have something that absolutely has to be done to the server. You are pretty sure it will work, your outside support people are confident it will work, you have no server to test it on because all your other servers are much too small to handle it or are already tasked with other "critical" services. So you go with your best judgement and go live with a big change during the wee hours to cause the least interruption.

1 AM SHIT GOES BAD.

Now you're scrambling. By 5AM you're in a frantic attempt to get back online before major business starts, nothing you or your vendor have tried has worked, they've called in a half dozen of their T3's and developers all to no avail. People are rolling in, shit isn't working. Calls are happening. Pages are going out. 6AM, the owner rolls in. His shit isn't working. You're now thinking about reverting to last night's backup because the changes you were told would work without a hitch were nothing but a giant frozen boot in the nutsack hitch. People are getting really frantic about not being able to do business, nobody can order anything, nobody can sell anything, nobody can maintain inventory, nobody can do anything but sit around with their thumbs up their asses and surf the web. You're just an expense, you don't make the company money.

6:30AM, you make the decision to give up attempts at fixing and instead roll back to the last backup. You start the restore telling everyone "this should be resolved by 9:30AM everyone we have is on it and a full restore should take 2 or 3 hours tops."

9:35 rolls around, 9:40... 10:15 the backup fails at the last point. What the fuck? How the fuck? This is impossible! You make some calls, you explain that you have to attempt rolling back to the offsite backup, yes you understand that will lose the half the day's business and everything will have to be manually entered when the system is back up. You're given the "Well for Christ sake get it back up what do we pay you for!?!" (The go ahead. They have utmost confidence in your abilities.) You start the other restore. It works, but was much slower than the onsite one because fibre is only so fast. 3:00PM you're back online, things seem to be stable again.

3:30, nobody in IT has slept in 32 hours. You're called into a meeting with management. People want answers. You explain that you were assured everything would go smoothly by the vendor, you tell them that you were confident on your role in the upgrade as well. What should have been a 2 hour downtime during the night turned into a 17 hour ordeal. It was an unforeseeable incident. You mention that, "Had we had a working test environment to try this on first, we would have discovered the problem and avoided it."

Nobody wants to hear it. Everything is about reentering the previous day's sales, orders, receivables, inventory adjustments, etc. 4:30 the business day is basically a wipe. The downtime has cost the company a couple hundred thousand in lost business for the day. You're just another expense, you don't make the company any money.

Nobody learns from it other than yourself, a few other people in IT, and the vendor who "has never seen this problem before".

Your request for a new sandbox server is declined. Your request for a 2nd local backup server is seen as "another" frivolous idea.

You're just another expense, you don't make the company any money.

Welcome to IT.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Exercises to Reduce Back Pain

I just finished a round of physical therapy for back related pain. I switched from an active lifestyle to a "desk job" and that murdered my back. Sure I got some occasional pain from a long spin of gaming, but nothing bad enough to send me to the doctor until I was doing 10+ hours a day on my ass.
While I have been a daily stretcher for years to keep some pains at bay, I left PT with 6 new stretches that took me from literally having moaning in pain by the end of the day (I have felt organ failure, so that's no small amount of pain) and could neither sleep nor get frisky without being completely blinded by the back pain.
While most of them were ones I have been doing for years, I needed to make some adjustments and to learn to use more of my core muscles than rely on my limbs and joins for stabilization.
Here's what's added to my routine which might help others:
Obligatory: Everyone's body is different. Listen to your body if it hurts too much. Don't push yourself too hard. If you can I would highly recommend a few visits with a Physical Therapist to set yourself up with something you can do a few times a week. I only needed three visits in order to make additions and adjustments that made a world of difference. 15-30 minutes of your week to stretch is worth being able to work and play in front of your computer with pain-free focus.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Donald Trump v. Bill of Rights: a Megalist of his Unconstitutional Positions

All of the unconstitutional opinions Trump has spouted:

First Amendment: Freedoms, petitions and Assembly
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;Trump Promises for Nation ‘Under One God” if he’s President
""Trump calls for Blanket Ban on Muslims entering the US, Pence agrees
""Trump says there’s “absolutely no choice” but to close mosques
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;Trump suggests ‘Freedom of Expression” hurts fight against terrorism
""Trump vows to ‘open up’ libel laws to make suing the press easier
""Trump sends many threats to press with bad coverage of him
or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Trump on rally protester: “Maybe he should have been roughed up"
""Trump says renewed call for’ law and order’ can deal with situations such as Charlotte protests, says they ‘must end now’
""Trump’s plan to ban lobbyists would stop them from exercising right to petition the gov’t for a redress of grievances

Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringedTrump says inner-city stop-and-frisk programs would allow officers to take guns away from “people who they think may have a gun”



Third Amendment: Quartering of Soldiers
Donald Trump has not yet said anything that suggests he would break the third amendment.

Fourth Amendment: Search and Arrest Rights
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.Trump wants to reinstate unconstitutional stop-and-frisk programs, which constitute as unreasonable search and seizures


Fifth Amendment: Rights in Criminal Cases
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand JuryTrump says he will unilaterally impose a mandatory death sentence for anyone who kills a police officer
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;Trump takes exception to the limit and beyond, saying we need to “take out the families’ of terrorists
nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of lawIn 1989 Trump called for the death penalty on Central Park Five even with conclusive DNA evidence showing they’re innocent. In 2016, doubles down on Central Park Five and still says they’re guilty.
nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.Trump has a long history of eminent domain abuse for personal gain

Sixth Amendment: Right to a Fair Trial
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;Trump would send US citizens accused of terrorism to Guantanamo for Military Tribunal trial, take away right of jury
to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to [have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.Trump is upset that terrorism suspect will be “represented by an outstanding lawyer”, and will have a case that will “go through the various court system for years”, two basic 5th amendment rights


Seventh Amendment: Rights in Civil Cases
Trump has not yet said anything against the seventh amendment, which would be expected from someone who deals with civil lawsuits so frequently.

Eighth Amendment Rights related to Bail, Fines and Punishment
Amendment PronouncementTrump’s Unconstitutional Opinion
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, [nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.Trump calls for even worse torture methods, says “we must do the Unthinkable” when it comes to prisoner interrogation
""Trump on waterboarding: it works, but even “if it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway”


Ninth Amendment: Unenumerated Rights
Amendment PronouncementTrump's Unconstitutional Opinion
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the peopleTrump has shown a history of making promises of executive overreach, including a specific tax on Ford if they didn’t move plants back to US, and forcing Apple to make products in the US, both out of executive power's reach.
""Trump Calls Obama’s use of executive orders “irresponsible,” but he sees that as “[leading] the way” and he won’t refuse to use them at will, just for “the right things”.
Sidenote:Furthermore- Trump lacks basic knowledge of the Constitution (saying he wants to protect a non-existent ‘Article XII’), how can he understand the concept of unenumerated rights?



Tenth Amendment: State’s Rights
Amendment PronouncementTrump's Unconstitutional Opinion
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the peopleTrump says he’s strongly for ‘state’s rights’, but flip-flops between opinion of states’ rights in some cases: with pot legalization, Trump has said both “ I think it’s bad and I feel strongly about it” due to “big problems” in Colorado, but he’s also said “if they vote for it, they vote for it” on states’ right to legalize
""Trump has also flip-flopped between states and federal rights on the handling of abortion rights, minimum wage, healthcare, and so on.

AmendmentPronouncementTrump's Unconstitutional Opinion
11thThe Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.This amendment lays the basis for sovereign immunity, a concept that allows the US to not be sued by other countries. Trump recently criticized Obama for vetoing the 9/11 Lawsuit Bill- a bill that may upset that longstanding principle I was incorrect, the 11th amendment is for sovereign immunity between states, not nations
14thAll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.Along with re-starting unconstitutional stop-and-frisk programs, Trump has also called for heavy profiling such as limiting travel and immigration of Muslims based on their religion, even calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S.". Additionally, Trump believes his mass immigrant deportations should deport birthright citizens who are guaranteed citizenship by this amendment.
15thThe right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.Trump’s talk of observing polling locations in “certain areas” (i.e. predominantly black neighborhoods) harkens back to 1870’s anti-black voter intimidation white militia groups such as the White League and Red Shirts
19thThe right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.Nothing from Trump directly, but his supporters coined the hashtag #Repealthe19th when a only-male-voters map showed Trump winning, which was retweeted by Trump’s son to show momentum

Monday, October 24, 2016

The Thought Process of a Baby Boomer

Be a Baby Boomer

Go to a land grant state university that gets massive research funding from the government for almost no tuition

Be able to afford it with a part-time job and graduate with zero debt.

Get a high-paying job in manufacturing as the industrial world still rebuilds but before the developing world develops.

Put your money in a savings acount that actually generates interest.

Get a mortgage from heavily-regulated lenders (regulations put in place by the Greatest Generation to prevent a new Depression).

Pay taxes that actually pay for services.

Get a house and kids. Decide you're sick of paying taxes.

Vote for Reagan.

Eliminate the finance regulations designed to prevent a depression (and the inequality of the Gilded Age).

Decide colleges are turning out too many smug liberals, vote for reps and governors who promise to cut their funding. Besides, this whole affirmative action thing is reverse racism.

Decide you're sick of smug academics and TV personalities telling you everyone is equal. Call your representative and ask them to repeal the Fairness Doctrine.

Decide you don't like that UN-loving Ted Turner and his CNN. Turn on this new thing called Fox News from Roger Ailes, the Nixon political hack who helped build the Republicans' racist Southern Strategy and helped Lee Atwater make the Willie Horton ad.

Make a fuck-ton off the Clinton economy while calling Clinton the worst president ever.

Celebrate the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the final vestiges of the protections your parents and grandparents' generations set up to prevent another Depression.

Respond to news stories about skyrocketing college costs with smug diatribe about how you worked your way through your $500/year college.

Blame NAFTA for the fact that Europe & Japan rebuilt after WWII, sapping US manufacturing jobs, while the former USSR joins the world economy, as does China and to some extent India. Ignore the fact that the world manufacturing base is now gigantic and America has competition it never had. Also ignore robots, which means rich countries need a fraction of the # of humans to run the same size factory as before. Blame it on immigrants, too, for reasons.

Make money off the tech bubble while Gen X loses its first savings account. laugh.

Vote for George W. Bush because he promises to give the federal surplus (yes, there was a surplus) to you instead of paying down the national debt.

Inequality reaches 1890s levels but who cares? greed is good.

Support Iraq after protesting Vietnam because fuck it, you're not going this time.

Somehow decide the 2007-08 financial crash was because things are too regulated.

Incoherently argue that the center-left Democrat Barack Obama (but you always say his middle name), who wants to accomplish an agenda item the democrats have pushed for 70 years, is a radical. For some reason.

Cheer on smug turtle Mitch McConnell as he prevents the government from doing anything.

Call Obama a dictator for trying to work around Mitch McConnell.

Read about how whites will be a minority in 2040

Talk about how Trump is "our last chance" to "take back America." Ask what's wrong with saying black people are more criminal. Ask what's wrong with saying latino immigrants will ruin our culture.

Insist to your kids, who are crippled by student debt, but whom you chastise for not having a home or kids yet, that they just don't understand how money works.

Be completely ignorant that every generation before you and every generation after you has always considered the Baby Boomers to be the most titanically selfish group of humans to ever live and die on this earth.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Republican Hypocrisy

Trump isn't the problem, voters are. Some examples of Republican hypocrisy:
  • If we win the presidency, our Supreme Court nominees should be confirmed. When you win the presidency, we will block you at every turn.
  • If Trump wins, the election is legitimate and the people have SPOKEN. If Hillary wins, it must be RIGGED.
  • Donald Trump is accused of forcing himself on over ten women. STICK TO THE ISSUES. Bill Clinton accused of misconduct by four women. His wife should be disqualified from office and imprisoned.
  • Hillary Clinton has not directly mentioned any of Trump's accusers. She needs to stop distracting from real issues. Trump has a press conference with four of Bill Clinton's accusers, gives them front row seats to the debate, and mentions them during debate. Great job taking the gloves off, president Trump.
  • Bill Clinton cheats on his wife. Impeach him. Trump proudly brags about sexual assault (has 5 kids with 3 wives and has cheated on his wives). Elect him.
  • Hillary oversaw the Department of State while four people died in an embassy attack. JAIL HER. Two Republicans were in office while over 200 people died in embassy attacks. No problem.
  • Immigrants don't pay taxes. Round them up and kick them out. Trump doesn't pay taxes. He's a business genius.
  • Independent fact checkers found Trump is likely the least truthful candidate in the history of modern politics. He tells it like it is. Hillary is statistically more truthful than most politicians according to fact checkers. She is the most untrustworthy, lying liar who has ever run for political office.
  • The Clinton Foundation only spent 87% of their donations helping people (average amount is 75%). CROOKED. Trump's foundation paid off his debts, bought paintings of him, and made political donations to avoid investigations for a fake university while giving less than 5% of funds to charity (and he got shut down by NY State). So savvy...put him in the White House.
  • Trump made 4 billion dollars in 40 years, when an index fund started at the same time with the same "small loans" he received would be worth $12 billion today... without a trail of bankruptcies, thousands of lawsuits and burned small business owners. He's a real business whiz. Hillary took a loss of $700k. She's a criminal.
  • Trump is the first candidate in the modern era to not release his tax returns, and he took a almost billion-dollar loss in one year. Genius. Hillary releases 40 years of taxes. Corrupt. Trump denies saying things (on the record) he actually said (on the record). He's just telling it like it is.
Their arguments are nonsensical and their willful ignorance of facts is disturbing. The double standards and eagerness to blindly support and recycle misleading rhetoric is frightening. Opinion and memes are not fact. Hypocrisy does not make for responsible governance. Eisenhower is rolling over in his grave over what they have done to the once-great Republican party.