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GRAFFITI -- February 14, 2005 thru February 20, 2005 >> Link to the Current Week << Last Week << Mon   Tues   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun >> Next Week Search this site : Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable.     About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.

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February 14, 2005

0656 - Good morning. So, when she says that she doesn' want you to waste any money on her for St. Valentine's Day, that means really don't waste money? Or (and I'm leaning towards this definition at the moment) does it mean that any amount of money spent on her for St. Valentine's Day wouldn't be wasted? It deeply doesn't help that she's announced at least three times that "I've been shopping and gotten my birthday present already, so don't bother." Oh, did I mention that tomorrow is Marcia's birthday? I'm going to die, aren't I?

I spent much of last night on configuring a real-hardware OpenBSD system for experiments and such. During the day, I got some paperwork done in the office, and some yardwork done: just some pruning of dead stuff to make it less ugly. Soon I"m going to have to get the lumber and soil in for my raised-bed gardens. But that's in the future ... today, well I'm not sure what's on the itinerary yet, but I'm bound to find some kind of trouble to get into. If I survive the next couple of days, I'll let you know what happened.

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February 15, 2005

0649 - Good morning. Not being a total fool, I got my marvelous Marcia some flowers and a card that really expressed how I feel about the love we share. She seemed to like them both. So Death is passed by once again. I feel a bit like Rincewind. Yes, you remember...

'Haven't you noticed that by running away you end up in more trouble?'

'Yes, but you see, you can run away from that, too,' said Rincewind. 'That's the beauty of the system. Dead is only for once, but running away is for ever.'

'Ah, but it is said that a coward dies a thousand deaths, while a hero dies only one.'

'Yes, but it's the important one.'

And so went fifteen perfectly serviceable minutes, lost to the art of language as practiced by Terry Prachett. It sure doesn't leave me with much time to spend here with you... Yesterday was primarily filled with rebuilding some 1RU 8 port KVM switchs with integrated Keyboard, Video screen and Mouse (trackball). They're lovely expensive bits of tosh, which is why we bolt them into hardcases and ship them halfway 'round the world and back again for product demonstrations. Of course, they're not designed to take such stresses, being made mostly of sheet aluminium and fiberglass. The aluminum bends, bits come loose, and the whole thing chatters around for quite a long while. Then it needs some mechanical attention. I refurbed one that was in sorry state by snarfing one piece off of the hanger queen. The downside to this was that I had to nearly completely disassemble both of them to get at that one piece. So that ate much of the day, along with replacing an aging and bearing-blown CPU fan that had allowed its host to get up to 85°C. Yeah, no wonder the temperature alarm was beeping its little heart out.

Okay, to work with me. Keep in mind, President's Day next Monday, three day weekend coming up. Wah-hoo! Have a great day!

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February 16, 2005

0638 - You had enough of a hint... did you wish Marcia Happy Birthday yesterday? I remembered, but then, the day following Valentine's Day is hard to miss. We didn't do much last night. She'd like to go out to a fancy dinner, but not for a couple of weeks. So, I asked her how she felt to be 28, and she just fluttered her eyelashes at me and smiled. Remember, I just look inane sometimes.

I reassembled and configured the eval system yesterday, and that pretty much filled my day, along with deep backups and more Windows updating on a couple of key systems. A bit more testing on the eval rig this morning, and that's put to rest. Then I have to build up a replacement bastion host 'cause some hardware's gone sporadically wonky in the OpenBSD box that is. I'll be doing some strenuous hardware testing on the memory and such before putting it in service.

Okay, I'm off. Have a great day.

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February 17, 2005

0645 - Good morning. Last night was fun. I went through the last three day's worth of non-billing snailmail, and found yet another Begware Letter from the DC Public Television station, WETA. They want more money. Again (and again, and again). I've had enough of their brow-beating ways. Best of all, working Tabasco sauce into the flayed body part with a wire brush, the WETA plea was in all caps. Good form folks...

I've gotta roll. Have a great day!

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February 18, 2005

1918 - Sorry. I slept until 0630 this morning, and then rumbled on out of here only to land on a Beltway burdened with three accidents that afflicted my commute. Should have been a light-traffic Friday and it wasn't. I haven't got my review copy yet of PC Hardware Buyer's Guide: Choosing the Perfect Components from Bob and Barbara Thompson. But go buy a copy now anyway. You know it's good and you know you want it. I'll report more here and elsewhere when I've had a chance to read the finished product. Now, on with Friday evening. Have a fun time, see you tomorrow!

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February 19, 2005

1809 - Mmmmm. Good evening. No, I didn't oversleep, but there were things to be done from the moment I started moving. It's been a reasonably dog-focused day - I bathed both of them before my own shower this morning. Earlier still, Lucy was cuddling with Marcia up on the bed and Molly bounded up, landing squarely on Lucy. That lead to a snarly-fest, and may have bruised Lucy the landing pad up a bit. So later on when I was vigourously toweling her dry, she got all snappish and snarly again, fastening her teeth onto (but not into) my hand. Okay, I understand, but that's still not OK behaviour, so she got a bit of a shouting at, and had to go sit in her bad-girl corner for a few minutes. Then I called her back to finish drying her and all was fine and kisses thereafter.

5 Browns is the current music, and those young siblings sure know how to play piano. Marcia and I saw them featured in a 60 Minutes segment a while back and when the on-sale CD showed up in front of us at Borders today, it was an easy sale. Oh, it's not just a CD, it's a Dual thingy, CD on one side, DVD on the other. We haven't checked out the latter yet, but their playing is wonderful. Recommended.

Time to feed the mutts supper. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully before we head over to a friend's house to help her move out and away from a particularly slimy dude. Anyway, have a lovely evening.

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February 20, 2005

1724 - Good evening. The shopping and the moving assistance are done.

This week's casualty report follows. I've been asked why I'm doing this... it is my way of keeping grounded about the price our young soldiers are paying for the goals and ideals of our administration. I've more to say, but let's be quiet for a moment as we read the names:

• Staff Sgt. Ray Rangel, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, died Feb. 13 while performing a canal rescue mission in Balad, Iraq.
• Lance Cpl. Richard A. Perez Jr., 19, of Las Vegas, Nev., died Feb. 10 as a result of non-hostile vehicle incident in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
• Sgt. Chad W. Lake, 26, of Ocala, Fla. when the vehicle he were riding in overturned.
• Sgt. Rene Knox, Jr., 22, of New Orleans, La. when the vehicle he were riding in overturned.
• Spc. Dakotah L. Gooding, 21, of Des Moines, Iowa when the vehicle he were riding in overturned.
• Sgt. 1st Class David J.Salie, 34, of Columbus, Ga., died February 14 in Ba'qubah, Iraq, when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.
• Pfc. David J.Brangman, 20, of Lake Worth, Fla., died February 13 in Uvanni, Iraq, when a mortar round struck his vehicle.
• Sgt. Adam J. Plumondore, 22, of Gresham, Ore., died February 16 in Mosul, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Spc. Justin B. Carter, 21, of Mansfield, Mo., died Feb. 16 in Forward Operating Base McKenzie, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries.
• Pfc. Michael A. Arciola, 20, of Elmsford, N.Y., died Feb. 15 in Al Ramadi, Iraq, from injuries sustained from enemy small arms fire.
• Staff Sgt. Jason R. Hendrix, 28, of Claremore, Okla., died Feb.16 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when an explosion occurred while he was conducting combat operations.
• Spc. Katrina L. Bell-Johnson, 32, of Orangeburg, S.C., died Feb. 16 in Ba'qubah, Iraq, when she was involved in a vehicle accident.
• Sgt. Frank B. Hernandez, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz., died Feb. 17 in Tal Afar, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
• Sgt. Christopher M. Pusateri, 21, of Corning, N.Y., died Feb.16 in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries sustained from enemy forces using small arms fire.
• Sgt. Timothy R. Osbey, 34, of Magnolia, Miss. died Feb.16 in Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah, Iraq, when a roadway collapsed, causing his vehicle to roll over.
• Spc. Joseph A.Rahaim, 22, of Magnolia, Miss. died Feb.16 in Forward Operating Base Iskandariyah, Iraq, when a roadway collapsed, causing his vehicle to roll over.

I've been sent a link to a New Yorker article, Outsourcing Torture. The linked PDF copies of memoranda purported to be between State and Justice in early 2002 are found at the bottom of this linked page. While I am no huge fan of torturing islamic combatants -- a quick trial, followed by a firing squad if guilt is determined is fine by me -- It's clear to me that the blame for the next terrorist incident on American soil is going to fall on the Administration, and that the poor needy oppressed normally-peace-loving islamics \cough\ are not to be held responsible because it's America's fault they're upset ... Ah, that type of argument usually ends in my desire to vomit copiously, in the best Fellini style.

My first job is to protect my family, right? What limits should I respect in that protection? Let's say that your partner-in-crime has Marcia in unpleasant straits and is threatening to behead her unless I give in to every demand of your unruly henchman. If I manage to gain control of your henchman, what limits should I respect in getting the information I need to save Marcia's life? Okay, put your partner, your child in Marcia's place? What limits then?

Personally, I wouldn't have many limits in that situation. What seemed to make those Abu Ghraib pictures worse than they might otherwise have been are two things: One is that the snaps were "souvenir" or "trophy" shots, and secondly, the pictured soldiers appeared to be enjoying themselves in the process of dehumanizing thei prisoners. Mmmm, yeah, if I had to cut someone up a piece at a time to find out how to save Marcia's life, I would *not* be enjoying myself. But that wouldn't mean that I couldn't do it.

Family, friends, neighbors, tribe, region, nation ... The Federal Government has an obligation to "protect" America. Of course, a government is not an individual. It is much easier for an individual (generally) to make a decision and act on that decision. The Feds have many points of view to reconcile (the Domestic and Political being large among those) internally, while there is the community of Nations in which we participate whose official and private advice and reactions are often at odds with one another. The views range from one extreme: Leave the islamics alone, get out of their countries, and they'll leave us alone... To the other extreme: the islamics are bound by their religion to either convert or kill everyone - let's do unto them first, right? Personally, I'd be willing to give the first a shot, if I believed for one cold second that the premise was worthwhile. As it is, we'll travel some awkward middle road while they keep after us, and probably execute one or more attacks against Americans on American soil. The lily-livered among us will immediately raise a hue and cry that'll prevent "profiling", that extraordinarily effective method of determining how to best separate the wheat from the chaff. Instead, we'll continue to do unto ourselves until internal passports are required to travel between cities, while no more than one or two islamic foreign nationals can be heavily screened on flight boarding, because we might be seen as being racially insensitive.

I guess that that magical "truth serum" doesn't really work, or we'd just use that, without some members of our government believing that we have to send detainees someplace else where they're more likely to get tortured in order to extract information. So, we can't kill them, we can't try them, we can't ask them questions forcefully enough to elicit answers that might prevent the next attack on our shores. Oh and we can't release them either, since they probably would take up arms against us again. Yeah, this is likely the middle of the slope towards the end of America as our grandfathers knew it. We know better, that we shouldn't be as bad as the people who hate us. That means either we lose, or we forfeit all of our freedoms to attempt to prevent them from attacking (not that that works, but what the hell).

This is a depressing prospect. I imagine that a number of decision makers, faced with the same view, think that if it comes down to being bad and winning, or being good and dying, bad doesn't seem so bad, especially in the name of protecting actual Americans, as opposed to protecting American values. What would you do to prevent another 9/11. Where do you draw that line? I don't want a job where I have to make those decisions. This even reinforces my distrust of those people who *do* want those jobs. Eeeesh.

Enough. Good night, see you tomorrow.

1817 - A brief return to fix some borked code on this page. Thanks!

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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.

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