ShowMeBlog

Tornado Preparedness - 1950's

  Here is a film from the 1950's.  It is about Tornado Preparedness.  You will notice no computers.

 

  There is also mention made of a weather observer corp.  I was a member of the first one for Kansas City, MO.  I was in Civil Defense, in Kansas City, and I was in the USAF Ground Observer Corp.  The USAF did away with the GOC, in 1959,  and so we all became weather observers.
  Later in life I was a police officer, in a small town, in Missouri. I would watch for tornados.  The local volunteer fire department did an excellent job of watching for tornados.
  When I worked hospital security we would watch for tornados.  We also trained hospital employees on hospital policy during a "Code Gray."
  I have been, for years, a member of SkyWarn.

  I never have seen a tornado. 
  I was right in the middle of a "Microburst."  That was in Lee's Summit, MO (May of 1996).  I was working at Lee's Summit Hospital and it must have been about midnight.  I was the only security officer on duty.  I noticed the rain was blowing sideways.  I had never seen anything like that before and then I heard on radio the police put out a tornado warning for the East side of Lee's Summit.  I called the hospital on duty house supervisor and told her we needed to go into Code Gray right now.  She told the PBX operator to page the code and we went into Code Gray.
  The hospital received no damage.  There were a lot of houses that did get heavy damage in the Raintree Lake area.  We got a few people into the hospital with minor injuries.
  I had never heard of a "Microburst" until the weather department said later that it was not a tornado but a microburst.

  In the vintage video two of the weather department forecasters ae Joe Galway and Don House. The film must be dated about 1956.

Hulu TV - Free movies

  I told you about hulu TV.  You can watch some movies and a lot of TV shows and it is all free.  I, as you all know, am a big movie fan. 
  This weekend after you check Howard's Notebook and read the blog and make a donation (smile) jump over to hulu TV.  I recommend the following movies;  "The Big Lebowski", "Bulworth", "K-Pax" and "The Slums of Beverly Hills".  

  If your not a movie fan then this weekend you could read Howard's Notebook and then go to ViewMy.TV and click on the C-SPAN 2 link.  You can watch all weekend BookTV.
  If you click on C-SPAN 3 you will get the C-SPAN History channel. 
 
  Want to play some games on your computer? 
  Check out IWON.  It is free.  They have many fun games.  You can also win some money.
  I like the Diamond Slots game the most.  I been playing each day for about 15 to 30 minutes.  I have never won any real money.

  Now you do understand that you should read all of Howard's Notebook first before you do any of these other activities?  Smile

Your Personal File

  It is big news that people are looking at the presidential candidates private passport files.  The news people are acting like it is a surprise.  Condoleezza Rice has apologized to the candidates.  I am not surprised or shocked.
  It happens all the time to all of us.  Hospital workers look at medical files of people they have no reason to be checking.  Police officers check on people when they have no legal right or reason to do it.  People that have access to information are checking right now on people that live next door to them or checking on an ex-wife or ex-husband or a boy friend or a cute girl.  It happens all the time.
  It should not happen. Many places have very strong rules that say you cannot do it.  You may have to sign a paper saying you will not do things like that with the computer access.  But it is happening right now.
  Many places try and have some sort of way to see who accessed a file.  There are ways around it often.  I am sure if you work someplace and you can have access to personal files and information you know how to get around it.

  I do not see any way to stop it.  We need strong laws and we may already have them.  But there is not way to stop it.
  Let us say we have some overweight middle age woman that works in the police department or in a medical records depart of a hospital and she is found guilty of accessing an ex-husband's file or his new girl friend or wife...  I guess if the woman that did it knew that if it was found out that she had access those files all of her personal information would be published in the local newspaper and she would have to stand outside on the street nude for x amount of time and she would have to tell everyone that she met for one year her weight that might stop her from doing it.  NO,  it would not.  She would think they were not going to catch her.

  This is something that needs to be fixed.  It is something we need to work on.
  I think the only way it can be fixed is with a national ID card and every time you use a computer your logged in and there is a match to you.  You touch a keyboard and it is easy for the right people to know everything you did.
  You do not want that sort of security and information right? 
  I want it.  I am sick and tired of people pretending to be someone.  I am sick and tired of not knowing who you're dealing with.  I am sick and tired of getting emails on how to make my dick bigger. 

Dream

  I had one of my work dreams again last night.  In this dream I was back working at Research Medical Center as a security officer. I was in a class.  I am not sure what sort of class.  We broke for lunch.  I then ran into a woman and for some reason the hospital needed to pay her 50 cents.  In the dream I left to get her 50 cents and then I had to help someone else.  Then I had the 50 cents and was trying to return to give her the money and things kept me from getting back to her.  Hours passed and I was still trying to get back to her.
  One time I passed the class room and sort of hid.
  Then I found a couple of woman and tried to give them the money but they were not the correct woman. I have forgot what the correct woman looked like. 
  I hate dreaming about work.  I do not work now.  The last time I worked for Research Medical Center was in November of 1999.

How Dreams Work

Dreaming about work is normal

  I hate the time change.  I wish they would leave the time alone and not mess with it.
  I will think it is about 5 PM and I look and it is 7 PM.  I wake up and I think it is 5 AM and it is 7 AM.  I know we only did an hour change but that is the way I feel.

Lonesome Dove

  I just watched six hours of "Lonesome Dove" and it was excellent.  I had not seen it.  I would not want to see it again.  It is just not the sort of movie I would want to see a second time.

  My son  and his wife, in CA, just moved into a studio apartment.  It is $950.00 a month but they do not have to pay for water or electricity. 
  Ken was checking some rental places here the other night and he said the prices have gone up.  I guess rents are not going to go down.  This may be a good time to buy but not to rent.  He was just looking we plan on staying in this place. 

  I feel a little better today.  I ate less today.  I canceled the doctor's appointment for the 26th of this month.  I will make a new appointment in about a month.
  My birthday is on the 26th but that is not the reason I canceled the appointment.  I just did not think I needed to go so soon after the last time. 
  I have a coupon for a $38.00 dollars massage.  If I have the money, on the 26th, I may get a massage.  The company offers the one time coupon deal at all of their locations.  The company is Massage Envy. 
 
 

Hard Times

  I was reading at the CNN site about the little people that are having problems.  I was reading about borrowers not finding any help.  That got me to remembering back when  President Bush and the Republicans made a major effort to get the bankruptcy laws changed.  They were just crazy on the subject.  They said we had to make it harder for a person to declare bankruptcy and had to make it hurt the person filing for bankruptcy.  I wondered why they were so hard and crazy on the subject.  I just said to myself well they are Republicans and all they care about is big business, corporations and banks.
  Now I wonder if some of them knew that one day things would get real bad for the little guy and they wanted to try and keep them from using the bankruptcy laws. 

  I keep hearing about the feds pumping $200 billion dollars into Wall Street and the banks and corporations to help them.  It does not seem to help.  That one day the market may go up.  The next day it is back down big time. 
  How many homes would $200 billion dollars save?  How many little people would that amount of money help?

bear stearned

Urban Word of the Day

www.urbandictionary.com

 

March 20, 2008: bear stearned

 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bear+stearned&defid=2931981

 

to crash, to collapse, to plummit, to fail

 

1. I can't believe it, I completely bear stearned that test.

 

2. For the third time this week, my computer bear stearned on me.

 

Stickam Video

Is Mark Sherman a "legal" reporter?

  I saw a headline on the Internet and it said  "Justices agree on right to own guns" and I said to myself "What the Fuck."  How can they agree on anything?  They did not decide anything today.  They just listened to both sides today and they ask a few questions.
  The story is by an AP writer by the name of Mark Sherman.  Does the AP have a reporter cover the Supreme Court that does not know how the court functions?
  He says "a majority of justices appeared ready to say that Americans have a right" to keep and bear arms.
  Now that maybe true but we do not know.  The justices during this first step will toss out questions and say things for many reasons.  They are trying to get information and test out different positions.
  This guy should not be reporting on the Supreme Court.  The justices are just starting.  This was the very first step.  We will know in June what they decide.
  I just did a Google search on Mark Sherman and he does seem to report on legal and court matters for AP.
  But I say again this guy wrote a very poor article on what took place today.
  He should know better.  I wonder if he has some issues.  Maybe he is an NRA member and a gun nut himself and he just cannot cover the issue in a fair manner.
 
  Believe me you cannot decide how the justices are going to decide or even how they are feeling by the questions they ask on the first day. 

  I will be very much interested to see how Justice Antonin Scalia comes down on this issue.  I do not like him.  He comes across as a real prick.  The reason I want to know how he deals with this case is because he is a big critic of the idea of a living constitution.  He believes you read the constitution just as it was written and that it means just what the writers wrote when they wrote it.

  I hope the court will decide this matter.  I am so tired of each side saying the Second Amendment supports their point of view.

A well regulated MILITIA

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "The Supreme Court on Tuesday took up gun control, hearing arguments concerning a District of Columbia ban on handguns more than two centuries after the Second Amendment gave Americans the right to "keep and bear arms."

Lawyers for both sides tried to strike a moderate tone before the court, arguing that there was an individual right to own a weapon, but that governments could impose reasonable gun-control legislation..."

  I know this is just arguments taking place but it sounds to me like it is all in the wrong direction.  The Second Amendment does NOT give Americans the right to "keep and bear arms."  It gives each of the states the right to have a national guard. 
  I want the Supreme Court to rule on that issue.

"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 infringed."

  Right now we have the NRA and gun nuts saying that the government cannot put limits on the owning of guns.  They say you can own any type of gun you want.  They say the government can not have any control over gun ownership. 
  I hope the Supreme Court will say the Second Amendment applies to each state having an armed militia. 

If that happens that does not say that a person cannot  own a gun.  It will just say that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with it.
Then it would be up to each state to decide what the rules are in each state. 
 

Male Kissing

  I was surfing the Internet and I found a site and they were talking about video games that had male on male kissing.  I was thinking man people are going to go crazy over this subject.  I do not play video games.  I was thinking they will be yelling and screaming about this subject on line soon.
  Then I noticed that I was reading messages and comments from back in 2006. 
  Then I read that there is more than just male kissing going on in "The Sims" game.
  The other game they are were talking about was called "Bully." 
 
  "...Sexuality

Sexuality is a major and present theme throughout Bully. Five different missions involve Jimmy running missions on behalf of different girls, the successful completion of which earns him a kiss. Additionally, the art class minigame is used to improve Jimmy's ability to talk to girls, as well as his ability to make out with them and receive a health bonus which can be expanded by passing classes in art. Although it does not play a role in the storyline and is strictly optional, Jimmy can kiss certain boys.  The ESRB claimed it was fully aware of the content when they gave it a T rating.  Other sexual themes involve a gym teacher who is stated to have hit on the girls in school, and a student reading a men's magazine..."

 

  Did I miss a big fight and debate over this issue?

Supreme Court Decision on Gun-Control Soon

  I want to post here about the decision soon on the Second Amendment. 
I started to post something a couple of times but I get so crazy on the subject that I have to give up on it. 
  I had a family member shot dead by someone with a handgun.
  I had a close personal friend and co-worker shot dead by a guy with a handgun.
  I have had other people that I worked with shot.
  I have strong feelings on the issue of gun control and on the Second Amendment.
  I have wanted for years the Supreme Court to make a decision on the 27 words in the Second Amendment. 
  I know why the founding fathers wanted the Second Amendment and what it says.  It says that the states can have state militias.  I am not sure what this Supreme Court will decide so I do worry.  I am ready however for them to make a decision and then it will be the law of the land.
  The NRA and other right wing organizations will not give up  and say OK it is the law of the land and accept it.  They will want to change the constitution.
  If they lose what I see happening is that many states will pass a law saying that John Doe can sign up with the state as a member of the state "militia" and they will then be allowed to own and carry firearms.
  So the right wing and the NRA will not accept a decision of the high court.  I am willing to accept it and say it is the law of the land.
  This is something that I have waited years to see. 
  I do fear how this court will decide the issue.
  It is going to be interesting.

Someone, Somewhere created the very first blog.

Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache are writers for CNET News.Com and they have written a story called "Blogs turn 10--who's the father?"   The subject of the story is "Someone, somewhere created the very first Web log. It's just not quite clear who."

They list a lot of names and some dates. You will not find the name "Jim Howard" listed and you will not find June of 1982.

"...Was the first blogger the irascible Dave Winer? The iconoclastic Jorn Barger? Or was the first blogger really Justin Hall, a Web diarist and online gaming expert whom The New York Times Magazine once called the "founding father of personal blogging"?..."

If you check out the story they have a box with "Blogs: The evolution" and they have January 1994 Justin Hall begins compiling lists of links at his site. I started doing that in June of 1982! I only listed local sites so the list only had about 4 sites, for Kansas City, listed. I did that for years and years until a local "SysOp" organization took over the project. I even did linking and this is before there was a world wide web. (The www started in 1995 if I remember correct.) So around 1983 or 1984 people could dial into my bulletin board system at 300 baud or 1200 baud and connect with Howard's Notebook and find a list of other sites and click on it and dial out via my other modem and phone line and connect with the other site.

In March of 1984 Ric Manning wrote in "Link-Up" magazine about my site. Part of what Ric says is; "...One of the menu choices is a chatty letter from Howard that discusses his latest tinkering with the system or his opinions on the general state of BBS communication. Another menu choice reviews excerpts from Howard's fan mail, and a third contains information on computer groups, local BBS numbers and computer ham networks..."

Folks I say that was a blog and that was the birth of Howard's Notebook.

The CNET story list the next date on the evolution list as January 1995 with Carolyn Burke publishes her first entry for Carolyn's Diary.
Well friends I am happy she started to blog but what took her 11 years? I had been doing a blog for 11 years at the point in time.

I could go on looking at the "evolution" list but what is the point?
If your looking for the someone who created the very first Web log well you found him here. If your wondering where it was created and started it all started in Belton, Missouri in June of 1982.

I am not looking to take credit away from any of the other people. They may have been out their doing their thing and that is great. I just feel that the history should be clear.

Florida, Michigan don't deserve revote

  I agree with a commentary by Roland S. Martin a CNN Contributor.

(CNN) -- "For two weeks we have watched nearly every political hack from Michigan and Florida hit the airwaves to tell us that voters in those states deserve to have their votes counted, and new elections should be called for and paid by­ the Democratic National Committee.

One word they all keep tossing around is disenfranchisement. Because of this nation's sordid history on the issue of denying African-Americans the right to vote, those calling for a revote know the true power of the word, and just uttering it sort of backs the opposition up.

But folks, I'm sorry. Knowing full well how the two political hacks --­ also called governors of Michigan and Florida -- deliberately chose to ignore the Democratic Party rules and try to leapfrog the other states, I just don't have any compassion for them.

Just listening to Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Charlie Crist of Florida whine and complain on national TV is just too much.

They keep blaming Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, for this debacle. But he's not to blame. They could have vetoed the bill, or told their state legislatures to stop the grandstanding and get on with the people's business. But they chose otherwise..."

Read the entire commentary at CNN. 

  The Florida Democratic Party decided today that there will not be a new primary.  It will now be up to the Democratic National Committee or the convention to decide what to do about Florida.