NewHampster's blog

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-me-teach-with-glass/x/2911205

Like many others, I was surprised to be chosen by the googlers as a Glass Explorer. I am grateful and thrilled to be taking part in the advancement of this new technology. I am one of 8000 chosen by Google to be the first to wear Glass, the wearable computing and video platform. Google wants them used in the real world by real people like me who will help them refine the product before retail launch.

I am not a celeb, wealthy investor or politician who will give Glass visibility. I am just a midlife geek who loves technology almost as much as I love the outdoors. Read on for my exploring plans.

Thank you Mr President. A tough battle we can win if #GunControl advocates all pitch in. huff.to/10zpMyc #StopTheInsanity

Via Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- In a bold and potentially historic attempt to stem the increase in mass gun violence, President Barack Obama unveiled on Wednesday the most sweeping effort at gun control policy reform in a generation.

"This is our first task as a society: keeping our children safe. This is how we will be judged," Obama said. “We can’t put this off any longer."

The proposal, which comes at the end of a month-long review process spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden, is broken down into four key subsections: law enforcement, the availability of dangerous firearms and ammunition, school safety and mental health.

In an effort to touch on all four of those elements, the president recommended requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales; reinstating the assault weapons ban; restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines; eliminating armor-piercing bullets; providing mental health services in schools; allocating funds to hire more police officers; and instituting a federal gun trafficking statute, among other policies. The cost of the package, senior officials estimated, would be roughly $500 million, some of which could come from already budgeted funds.

Because these recommendations require congressional approval, the administration is supplementing its proposal with 23 executive actions that will be taken immediately. Those actions include requiring federal agencies to hand over relevant data for a background check system; providing law enforcement officials, first responders and school officials with better training for active shooting situations; directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence; and many more.

"I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality," said the president, speaking about his full set of recommendations. "If there's even one life that can be saved, then we've got an obligation to try."

The approach is so sweeping that what would have otherwise been a headline-grabbing announcement received second billing. The president on Wednesday will nominate Byron Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to take over the post permanently.

In total, the proposal goes beyond what most gun control advocates were hoping for at the start of Biden's review process, during which he held 22 different meetings with 229 different organizations and 31 elected officials.

"This is a monumental moment. It's a long time coming and we're thrilled the president's putting the full weight of his office behind this," said Josh Horowitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. "We're ready to push this thing through." more

Via Huffington Post

nh

Sad that it takes an event like today's to bring me back to my site.  But the madness that is guns can no longer be ignored.  I can't sit idly by on the sidelines anymore.

27, 28 dead.  Maybe 18 children, maybe more.  Teachers too.  Does the number matter other than the fact that larger numbers get more news coverage?  Larger numbers also must give the shooter some sense of accomplishment.  There is after-all an ongoing challenge to be in the record books as the #1 mass murderer in US history.

But maybe it really is a secret NRA award that much like terrorists dying to make it to paradise and the 72 virgins, the NRA member with the most deaths notched on his gun at his death will spend eternity in the company of other second amendment freaks.  In their version of heaven, every man has a gun which he uses to shoot women and children who disobey.

So, I really can't think of much so say.  Guns don't kill!  NRA contributions Kill by prolonging the madness that is unregistered gun ownership in the USA.

NH

A few sources.

AP seems to be down or having a hard time keeping up.

Huffpost

USA Today

Mother Jones Awesome service

So did you hear the joke about a guy dressed up like a Batman nemesis?  He walks into a crowded movie theater with a rifle and wearing a mask.  Then he proceeds to randomly shoot kids who were out for the fun of being first to see the new flick.

Funny huh?  The NRA thinks so.

I've found it necessary to come out of my self imposed hybernation due to the recent rash of insanity relating to the use of guns.  I just can't keep quiet anymore.

Thursday night my entire state was glued to our TVs as a wild west shootout took place in a nice New England town.  The people of Greenland lost a police chief and 3 other cops are in the hospital with gunshot wounds.  You can follow the story here on our local news http://livewire.wmur.com/Event/Armed_Officers_Respond_To_Greenland_Situation?Article=0

It always gets me when the news tells us we can get live updates on a story about someone being killed by a gun.  Am I supposed to be waiting for you to say he's alive?  CNN would most likely call this a "developing story".  What's to develop?  The guy is dead, the shooter is dead, 4 cop families and a community are in shock and the neighbors who complained about the drug house will finally be able to let their kids outside.

This is not a developing story CNN.  It is not a story.  It is just another tragic chapter in our capitulation to the lies of the killing industry.

That's what I've decided to call the gun industry from now on.  The Killing Industry.

Please check back this spring.  Comments and posts are disabled while we rest our weary bodies.  nh

As a loyal Clintonista and New Hampshire resident, I'm trying to get my hands around this idea.  At first it seems ludicrous to try and pull off a write-in.  This is the USA, not some backwater little country, but then I think, maybe the time is right?

As the writers point out, this is the year of the Arab Spring, OWS and even an awakening in Russia.  Perhaps America is ready for revolt.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70623.html

By PATRICK H. CADDELL and DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN | 12/18/11 10:15 PM EST

We argued in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that President Barack Obama should stand down and let Secretary of State Hillary Clinton run as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2012.

We are now calling on Democratic voters nationally — particularly in New Hampshire — to organize a write-in campaign for Clinton. This is something that New Hampshire voters have a long history of doing.

We advocate this Draft Hillary movement not because of the desire to make political mischief — but to put the country on the right course.

It’s clear that Obama has been unable to build consensus and, with the polarizing campaign he is now running, will be unable to govern effectively even if reelected. Only Clinton can commit the Democratic Party — and, indeed, the nation — to a unification and healing process. This could allow Washington, in a bipartisan manner, to finally address the economic and governmental crises that now grip America.

We are facing a crisis of national leadership, so citizens should step up and take charge of their country the way demonstrators in the Middle East did earlier this year. And, stunningly, as the people of Russia are now doing.

It’s time to take the decision about America’s leadership out of the hands of the established powers and return it to the citizens of our country. That opportunity to change U.S. politics will appear in the second week of 2012 in New Hampshire.

To seize this moment two things are required:

First, and most important, ordinary Democrats and independents in New Hampshire should mobilize behind a grass-roots effort to write in Clinton’s name during the Jan. 10 Democratic primary.

Second, a committed group of Democrats with resources and stature needs to help facilitate an authentic citizens’ movement — independent of party structure, Clinton and organized interests — to support a massive New Hampshire write-in campaign and put this before a deeply disaffected electorate.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70623.html#ixzz1gzPkx75K

Can I get my heart into it?  Do I want to?

I still think she is the strongest, smartest leader we could have.  But she has turned me off in many ways the last few years.  If I can wrap my arms around the fact that she is a party animal and some of what she has said and done was under orders, then I can perhaps throw my support behind a fun try at a Write-In vote.

It might mean divorce for me, but then again maybe not.  My little o'bot wife is perhaps a sign that this could work.  She, the staunchest supporter of his O'liness I knew in 2008, she never ever listens to his speeches anymore.  She avoids politcal news and has shut her ears to the disaster that is his Presidency.  Our Vermont o'bot friends who you may recall I had to suffer through the Christmas before the 2008 NH Primary, well I was speaking to one on the phone recently and she flat out told me that Obama is a failure for the Democratice party.

They won't admit their horrendous mistake of 2007/2008, but they know in their hearts they were so very wrong.

This could be interesting.  But like the movements around the world, we'd need a name and it should not include Hillary.  This is about bringing America back to the people.  This is about Occupy Wall Street and the one former candidate who spoke up about a looming financial crisis when nobody would listen.

Take Back The Party, Renew America Now

RUN - Renew USA Now

Honesty has lost a guardian.

One of my true heroes, a man who could not tell a lie, has died and gone back into the the interstellar dust from which all things are made.

Christopher Hitchens - 1949 - 2011

The Vanity Fair Obituary

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor.

“Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic,” Hitchens wrote nearly a year ago in Vanity Fair, but his own final labors were anything but: in the last 12 months, he produced for this magazine a piece on U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, a portrait of Joan Didion, an essay on the Private Eye retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prediction about the future of democracy in Egypt, a meditation on the legacy of progressivism in Wisconsin, and a series of frank, graceful, and exquisitely written essays in which he chronicled the physical and spiritual effects of his disease. At the end, Hitchens was more engaged, relentless, hilarious, observant, and intelligent than just about everyone else—just as he had been for the last four decades.

ShareThis

Last week I was in Las Vegas for the annual convention that is the extent of our company marketing.  A big week and I did not even look here.

The meetings end on Thursday and I planned to stay through Sunday.  I was going to Zion National Park in Utah for the sights and photo ops.

But, Friday at noon I get a call that my daughter is in labor.  She was due mid-January.  I kept playing black jack while waiting for news and then my son-in-law calls and says hi Grandpa.  Logan decided he wanted out so they did a C Section.  The little guy comes in at 4 lb 11 oz.  Tiny and in the incubator.

I left Vegas early and was in NYC Saturday.  The kid is in fabulous health but will need to stay in the hosp. for a few weeks which of course is breaking my daughter's heart.  They need to be sure his lungs are fully up to the job of climbing those NYC apartment stairs.

I left a winning table for this bundle of joy and would do it again, but he will pay someday.  Not sure if I'll wait until he's an adult or begin to torment him when he's a young'n.

Cute huh?

I hope everyone has an enjoyable day with family and friends.

My condolences to those who work in retail.  I'll be asleep at midnight Friday and 5 am.

Open thread

I gave a little bit to Wikipedia today because I realize I use this incredible service every single day. They are building the greatest library of knowledge in human history and it may indeed become the archive of our shared history.

Please consider a small donation by clicking the globe.

Thanks nh

Dad served in WW II

He passed away September 26 at 94 having lived the life most of us dream of.  He always had his health, love, family and did everything he every desired, without ever being rich in dollars.  He sailed and played tennis up until a few years ago and we all think that not being able to play tennis with the young guys (70 - 85) anymore is what really killed him.

His ashes were interred at the VA cemetary, Lake Worth, FL, on October 25th and my son brought me home the flag.  Mom, after 70 years of marraige, is trying to clean out the closets not fill them.

So here's to all the veteran's of the greatest generation.  They were a heck of a bunch of life loving folks.

nh

Makes blogging sort of difficult, except when in the office like today.

We lost our electric at 10PM Saturday.  I had my generator ready to roll since it was obvious this storm would destroy many trees.   But the generator only powers so much.

I don't have it wired into the house.  Instead I take heavy duty extensions all over the house to power the fridge, the sump pump, the freezer, a few lamps and Mrs. Hampster's TV and DVD player.  No cable or phone either.  I've also hacked my boiler so we do have heat and hot water.

Just ducky!  Living with a headlamp attached to me like a third eye.  Getting up at 6 to fill the generator and our neighbor's who had the recent shoulder surgery.  Then off to the gas station to fill the 2 or 3 5 gallon jugs of fuel.

Oh! I forgot little Lola.  We have the grand puppy for two weeks and of course I need to feed and walk her first, then come home at lunch to walk her again since the former O'bot is still recovering from hip surgery and disc outages.

But dang if the main thing I wonder is, and the thing I've tweeted about is...

Does being without power, going to work without a shower, eating only cold food, no TV and no good light for 1/2 the day.  Does it give the Greedy Wingers any empathy towards those who live this way 365?

p.s.  The photo is of 1/3 of our shade maple which I'll be attacking with the chain saw this weekend.

Yes she is a brilliant woman who understands that this is a new world and the old methods for using power are no longer effective.  She believes in, encourages social media.  She understands that power has moved from core capitals into the hands of those who embrace change, real change.  This woman should be in charge.

Time Magazine's cover story

By Massimo Calabresi

Hillary Clinton argues in our cover story this week that America is not so much in decline as adjusting to a world of increasingly diffuse power, where like-minded networked individuals, non-governmental organizations and other non-traditional global actors may steer events as much as great power capitals. Clinton lays out “smart power” strategies for protecting and advancing U.S. interests in that new non-polar world.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/10/27/hillary-clinton-and-the-limits-of-p...

<snip>

Lastly, we polled her against Romney and Perry, and found that she does better, by far, than Obama, leading Romney by 17 points and Perry by 26. Her closest aides strongly dismiss any 2012 ambitions and say 2016 is very unlikely: she’d be 69 the day of the vote that year. We don’t speculate on the source of her popularity.

click it for a large one.

The server was down all night so I thought some humor was in order.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/hillary-clinton-2012-president_...

WASHINGTON -- Some of Hillary Clinton's most ardent supporters just are not willing to let go -- and they've mounted a push to get her into next year's White House race by making donations of $20.12 to her old presidential campaign committee.

A review of Clinton's most recent Federal Election Commission filing finds dozens of $20.12 donors, all of whom have donated before, since contributions that small are not reported until a giver's total exceeds $200. There are likely others whose totals fall below that threshold.

"The purpose was to to encourage her to reconsider her candidacy for 2012," said Will Bower, a Clinton die-hard who ponied up his $20.12 on Aug. 13, around the time many of the other like-minded donors cut checks.

"Many of us still believe she was the victor in 2008, if not on paper, in spirit," said Bower, who ended up voting for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008.

Clinton had been the focus of a flurry of speculation about a possible Democratic challenger for President Obama shortly before the burst of contributions.

Seal Beach police said the death toll from the salon shooting has risen to eight people. A ninth victim is in critical condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

"This could be one of our greatest tragedies," Police Sgt. Steve Bowles said.

The gunman opened fire inside the crowded salon Wednesday, littering the shop with bodies. Police said he acted alone, although investigators said they were still scrambling to piece together what triggered such violence.

Full coverage: Deadly shooting at Seal Beach beauty salon

Eyewitnesses said that he was targeting his ex-wife and that the two were involved in a custody dispute.

LA Times

Yes, once more 8 families, a community and a county can be thankful that guns don't kill.

It's the madman who kills.  The sicko who was pissed at the wife who'd had enough.

It's not the gun's fault.  He could have done as much damage with a knife, a machete or maybe a sword.  Once a madman decides to kill, he'll do it somehow.  Those are the bullshit arguments we hear from the gun industry and all of you who have been suckered by their threats.

Guns Kill.  Guns have only one purpose, killing.  A hunter cannot release undersized prey like the fish I release.  Guns are for killing and the only reason to own one is if you plan on using it someday.

Sharyn sent me this Naomi Klein speech from Occupy Wall Street.  This short text, that the Guardian transcribed from the print Occupied Wall Street Journal, really puts the protests and the movement into perspective for me.  This will indeed be the fight of our lives and will most likely outlive many of us, but we can't stop.  We must change this society before it crumbles.

-----------------

Naomi Klein

If there is one thing I know, it's that the 1% loves a crisis. When people are panicked and desperate, that is the ideal time to push through their wishlist of pro-corporate policies: privatising education and social security, slashing public services, getting rid of the last constraints on corporate power. Amidst the economic crisis, this is happening the world over.

There is only one thing that can block this tactic, and fortunately, it's a very big thing: the 99%. And that 99% is taking to the streets from Madison to Madrid to say: "No. We will not pay for your crisis."

That slogan began in Italy in 2008. It ricocheted to Greece and France and Ireland and finally it has made its way to the square mile where the crisis began.

Many people have drawn parallels between Occupy Wall Street and the so-called anti-globalisation protests that came to world attention in Seattle in 1999. That was the last time a global, youth-led, decentralised movement took direct aim at corporate power. And I am proud to have been part of what we called "the movement of movements".

We all owe so much to this great man. Whether you are an Apple lover or not, he affects our lives every day.

RIP in Peace Steve and thank you for the future you brought us.

Love this new anthem for the protests in NY and elsewhere.

Steve Chapman - Chicago Tribune

Obama's home town paper sees the light.  Will Obama get the point?

Even if, and there is a good probability, he is reelected, his second term will be even more devisive and contain fewer successes for his policies or his party.  His is a failed Presidency and if he cares at all about his party or his country then he must not run again.

To me, a second term would mean four more years of no action on climate change.  It would mean increased drilling for oil rather than investing in the alternatives we know we need.  It would also mean a good chance of never having true single payor healh care in this country.

Please Mr. Obama, listen to those of us who care.

Why Obama should withdraw

When Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, his slogan was "Morning in America." For Barack Obama, it's more like midnight in a coal mine.

The sputtering economy is about to stall out, unemployment is high, his jobs program may not pass, foreclosures are rampant and the poor guy can't even sneak a cigarette.

His approval rating is at its lowest level ever. His party just lost two House elections — one in a district it had held for 88 consecutive years. He's staked his future on the jobs bill, which most Americans don't think would work.

The vultures are starting to circle. Former White House spokesman Bill Burton said that unless Obama can rally the Democratic base, which is disillusioned with him, "it's going to be impossible for the president to win." Democratic consultant James Carville had one word of advice for Obama: "Panic."

 

--snip--

In the event he wins, Obama could find himself with Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. Then he will long for the good old days of 2011. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner will bound out of bed each day eager to make his life miserable.

Besides avoiding this indignity, Obama might do his party a big favor. In hard times, voters have a powerful urge to punish incumbents. He could slake this thirst by stepping aside and taking the blame. Then someone less reviled could replace him at the top of the ticket.

The ideal candidate would be a figure of stature and ability who can't be blamed for the economy. That person should not be a member of Congress, since it has an even lower approval rating than the president's.

It would also help to be conspicuously associated with prosperity. Given Obama's reputation for being too quick to compromise, a reputation for toughness would be an asset.

As it happens, there is someone at hand who fits this description: Hillary Clinton. Her husband presided over a boom, she's been busy deposing dictators instead of destroying jobs, and she's never been accused of being a pushover.

Not only that, Clinton is a savvy political veteran who already knows how to run for president. Oh, and a new Bloomberg poll finds her to be merely "the most popular national political figure in America today."

If he runs for re-election, Obama may find that the only fate worse than losing is winning. But he might arrange things so it will be Clinton who has the unenviable job of reviving the economy, balancing the budget, getting out of Afghanistan and grappling with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Obama, meanwhile, will be on a Hawaiian beach, wrestling the cap off a Corona.

 

 

Steve Chapman - Chicago Tribune

 

and of course he's being hammered for his honesty.  See Huffpo for the details or read the full post below.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-of-shame/

The Years of Shame

Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?

Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. The atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

In Memory
September 11, 2001

Like millions of others I was deeply effected by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. My daughter was a new freshman at NYU, incredibly excited about moving to the city of her dreams. Her dorm was on 4th street, about 20 blocks from Ground Zero. there's more not showing please read on...

She called my cell phone to tell me she had just watched a plane fly into the World Trade Center. My phone rang as I was pulling into the parking lot at work. Her first words were, "what the fuck is going on. A plane just flew into the World Trade Center".

Walking back from crew practice across Washington Square that morning she joined the street people in amazement as a plane flew over their heads towards the WTC. She and her parents are forever changed but very much alive and thankful for the wonderful and resilient people of New York City.

I took this photo during our first visit a couple of weeks after the students returned. The three guards resting under the Odd Job sign seems well, odd. It really captures the mixed feelings we had while gawking yet participating in a pilgrimage we had to make.

If you wish, please use this thread to share your memories.  nh

note:  this is a repost that I like to share yearly.