With all this talk about "net neutrality" and the impending "internet fast lane" where corporations and the wealthy will get their needs taken care of while the rest of us, or those who can't afford whatever prohibitive rates the "owners" of the internet impose, will be relegated to the "slow lane"... hasn't this already happened?
When you go to any website, doesn't your browser pause, sometimes for an annoyingly long time? Isn't the reason for that pause that all the ads have to load up first and they've all gotten more aggressive in their struggle to be the one that gets your attention? All of these videos and flashing lights and sounds and arrows take up bandwidth. Presumably the advertisers have paid their money and want their vitally important messages to be splattered all over the screen first before the unimportant stuff like your personal email or bank account information.
So haven't those with the money already won? Money equals power, both on the internet and in politics, US domestic politics and that in foreign countries. We can continue to dream about the utopian ideals of democracy, whether on the internet or in the policies that control the internet, but it will never come.
Our capitalist system has firmly entrenched the "rights" of the rich and powerful. The rest of us can kvetch and blog and verbally lament these realities, but the system is rigged. It has always been rigged but there is no longer any pretense.
Resistance is futile.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
But seriously...
Can the people of Connecticut really consider Linda McMahon a viable candidate for the US Senate? Do we really want Linda & Vince representing us at state dinners? She arguably created "good" jobs in CT but at what cost? How much did the state provide in tax credits to the WWF while the McMahons laid off workers? What about the "tip-off memo" that Linda sent to Hulk Hogan before the WWF doctor, George Zahorian, was indicted and later convicted of drug distribution, notably for steroids?
Please do a little research before voting. Do not let this woman purchase a seat in the US Senate.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Yunique Year
The World Series was very strange this year. Besides the odd games, bizarre finish to Game 6 and final result, there was another subtle understory.
Everyone's favorite "Y" team didn't even make the final 4. But there were plenty of "Y" teams represented.
Three very "yuniquely" named players paid tribute the missing "Y" team.
Yadier's team beat Yuniesky's team to reach the World Series. There Yadier's team triumphed over Yorvit's team.
All 3 men have "yunique" names. Each will bring up their story by just starting their name in Google.
Everyone's favorite "Y" team didn't even make the final 4. But there were plenty of "Y" teams represented.
Three very "yuniquely" named players paid tribute the missing "Y" team.
Yadier's team beat Yuniesky's team to reach the World Series. There Yadier's team triumphed over Yorvit's team.
All 3 men have "yunique" names. Each will bring up their story by just starting their name in Google.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Close Encounter
Last night was a beautiful night for a beautiful hike. The heat of the day was gone and there was a constant cool breeze the whole time.
I hiked up behind the house, past the lookout on Yellow and up the Y/G crossover to Green, then left to Red Triangle, right to Blue, left up and over to the Tower Path, right and back around on the Tower Path, then down the Red Triangle to Violet, right on the Red Circle to Blue and then left to follow it out to Chestnut where Evan picked me up. I started around 7 PM and ended 2 hours later.
When I had gotten back to the Red Circle and started up Blue around 8 PM, I got to the lookouts where you can see over the central valley of trees with peeks of Long Island Sound over the low spots (one of my favorite places on the Giant). The trail turns back into the woods and that's where it happened.
As I rounded a corner, there was a deer right in the middle of the trail ahead. I stopped and looked at it and it turned its head almost backwards to stare at me over its back. I said "hello" and it turned back to continue nibbling on the bush just off the trail. I didn't want to disturb it but I wanted to continue so I walked toward it slowly and it moved off the trail. It kept looking at me but then turning to eat more of the bush.
When I got up alongside of it, I swear I could have touched it if I stretched my arm toward it. I think I said "hi" again or something and it jumped a little but it stayed right there. I continued on the trail and it kept watching me but continued eating.
You see more wildlife when you hike in the evening. So far they've all been friendly.
I hiked up behind the house, past the lookout on Yellow and up the Y/G crossover to Green, then left to Red Triangle, right to Blue, left up and over to the Tower Path, right and back around on the Tower Path, then down the Red Triangle to Violet, right on the Red Circle to Blue and then left to follow it out to Chestnut where Evan picked me up. I started around 7 PM and ended 2 hours later.
When I had gotten back to the Red Circle and started up Blue around 8 PM, I got to the lookouts where you can see over the central valley of trees with peeks of Long Island Sound over the low spots (one of my favorite places on the Giant). The trail turns back into the woods and that's where it happened.
As I rounded a corner, there was a deer right in the middle of the trail ahead. I stopped and looked at it and it turned its head almost backwards to stare at me over its back. I said "hello" and it turned back to continue nibbling on the bush just off the trail. I didn't want to disturb it but I wanted to continue so I walked toward it slowly and it moved off the trail. It kept looking at me but then turning to eat more of the bush.
When I got up alongside of it, I swear I could have touched it if I stretched my arm toward it. I think I said "hi" again or something and it jumped a little but it stayed right there. I continued on the trail and it kept watching me but continued eating.
You see more wildlife when you hike in the evening. So far they've all been friendly.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Taking Longer than I Thought
OK, I'm unrealistic. I forgot that you can't just go up and hike any time and for as long as you'd like in real life. While I haven't completed all the trails in a week (this time), I have done 36 segments in 8 days. Even though we had a very busy day today, I found time to hike up behind the house and pick up one more so I kept the string of consecutive days hiking on the Giant alive. The weather has been extremely cooperative!
I won't list all the hikes but one that proves my obsession was a late hike starting around 7 PM up the Nature Trail with Sadie. We finished the whole thing in 30 minutes so I called Evan a little before the bottom and had him come and pick up Sadie. I started back up the Orange and when I reached the intersection with the White, I made the wise decision to go down the steep section of the White to the Red Triangle, rather than have to come back up it. I went up the Red Triangle and turned left on the remaining piece of Orange, then right on the rest of the White. It was pretty dark when I reached the top of the White and began my descent. On the winding section down to the Tower Path, I surprised a raccoon heading up the trail toward me. I was glad Sadie wasn't with me as it ran off into the darkening woods. The section below the Tower Path was pretty dark but I did hear some voices up the trail behind me. I was glad Pat bought me a flashlight and used it a few times until I got down to the Picnic Area. I was glad to see one other car remaining in the parking lot and the gate open and no ranger waiting when I reached the car around 8:30.
Yesterday Pat dropped Sadie & me off on Hartford Turnpike so I could hike the Blue trail. I had big dreams of hiking all the way past the tower and picking up maybe 5 segments. But those sections out there are a lot longer than I thought. Both the section to Chestnut Lane and the one to the Red Square trail took 25 minutes so at 50 minutes out I had to decide if I could do the next Blue section or not. I decided against it and simply hopped over to the Green. That is one of the shortest and easiest segments - it only took 10 minutes to reach the Red Circle but I decided to head for home, which took 20 minutes from there.
Tonight I headed up the Red Circle and the shortcut to Yellow, since I'd hiked the short piece from Red Circle to the top of the shortcut at least once in the past week. It had only taken 7 minutes to reach the Yellow so I decided I could turn right and finish that piece. I didn't remember the large rock wall to the left until we heard some deer and saw them up above. Sadie & I got to the Red Square in 11 minutes. I called home and decided I had enough time to get back home via the same route. The whole jaunt took 35 minutes.
Plenty of month left but I wanted to do them all in a week!
I won't list all the hikes but one that proves my obsession was a late hike starting around 7 PM up the Nature Trail with Sadie. We finished the whole thing in 30 minutes so I called Evan a little before the bottom and had him come and pick up Sadie. I started back up the Orange and when I reached the intersection with the White, I made the wise decision to go down the steep section of the White to the Red Triangle, rather than have to come back up it. I went up the Red Triangle and turned left on the remaining piece of Orange, then right on the rest of the White. It was pretty dark when I reached the top of the White and began my descent. On the winding section down to the Tower Path, I surprised a raccoon heading up the trail toward me. I was glad Sadie wasn't with me as it ran off into the darkening woods. The section below the Tower Path was pretty dark but I did hear some voices up the trail behind me. I was glad Pat bought me a flashlight and used it a few times until I got down to the Picnic Area. I was glad to see one other car remaining in the parking lot and the gate open and no ranger waiting when I reached the car around 8:30.
Yesterday Pat dropped Sadie & me off on Hartford Turnpike so I could hike the Blue trail. I had big dreams of hiking all the way past the tower and picking up maybe 5 segments. But those sections out there are a lot longer than I thought. Both the section to Chestnut Lane and the one to the Red Square trail took 25 minutes so at 50 minutes out I had to decide if I could do the next Blue section or not. I decided against it and simply hopped over to the Green. That is one of the shortest and easiest segments - it only took 10 minutes to reach the Red Circle but I decided to head for home, which took 20 minutes from there.
Tonight I headed up the Red Circle and the shortcut to Yellow, since I'd hiked the short piece from Red Circle to the top of the shortcut at least once in the past week. It had only taken 7 minutes to reach the Yellow so I decided I could turn right and finish that piece. I didn't remember the large rock wall to the left until we heard some deer and saw them up above. Sadie & I got to the Red Square in 11 minutes. I called home and decided I had enough time to get back home via the same route. The whole jaunt took 35 minutes.
Plenty of month left but I wanted to do them all in a week!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
I'm back and touched them all in April!
Well, I haven't taken the time to blog about all my hikes in April. I think the highlights were the weekend hike where Chelsea met me at Chestnut and we hiked alone with Sadie along Violet and down the Red Circle to home. The rest is a blur but the one the other night in a light mist as it got dark was memorable. I was picking up odd segments that I didn't have for April so I went up the Red Circle to Yellow to the Y/G Crossover to Green to Red Triangle and left on Blue. I needed the Y/G Crossover and that Blue segment which is short but steep up and down. I took a right on the Tower Path and wrapped around the hill I just climbed over. I hit Blue and a deer ran off into the mist in the fading light. I decided to just head out on the Red Triangle when a young couple approached from the left on Orange. I asked if they were headed to the college and told them that this was the shortest way down. They confessed that they weren't students and had parked at the parking lot so when we got to the Yellow trail I told them to take a right and I started down the ravine towards the street with hopes that Evan would pick me up. But he didn't answer his phone or I knew he wasn't out yet so I headed back up Yellow to go home. When I came down to the house out of the dark (at least I had my new flashlight and had used it) Pat was home and berated me for hiking in the dark.
So that brings us to today. The last day of April and I have 5 segments left - the 2 Blue and the 2 Violet from Chestnut and the B/V Crossover. I have a new strategy for the crossovers - go down them and continue on the other and loop back and go down again. Especially the B/V Crossover I would rather go down to Violet than up to Blue. So I started out with a little less than an hour and a half before I needed to be home. I made good time from Chestnut on Blue to the B/V Crossover but I wasn't sure I would have time for the loop to the Red Circle so Sadie & I took a right on Violet and followed a couple guys all the way back to Chestnut. There we saw the first of the only 2 dogs we had encountered all day. Fortunately, I saw both in the distance before Sadie did. We went past a couple sitting on the railing by the map with a pit bull and I told Sadie she didn't want to mess with that one. I decided it was just as quick and easy (and more pleasant) to go on Yellow to Blue and back to where the car was parked. Going down the Blue I again saw a dog ahead and put Sadie back on the leash as did they. It appeared to be another pit bull as they passed while I held Sadie off the side of the trail.
After supper, I decided to try for the small loop remaining out in the middle of the Giant. Looking at the map, it seemed the quickest approach would be the Violet and cross over to Green just before the bridge (there's a short unmarked trail there) and then take the Green to the unmarked trail on the map that is big enough to drive a truck down. It turned out to be a perfect approach to the loop I wanted to do. We got there in exactly 15 minutes and the unmarked trail was very easy to follow even with the setting sun in our eyes and it was obviously well-travelled. I went down the B/V crossover and enjoyed the waterfall embedded in the cliff at the Violet. We headed up and over to the Red Circle. I almost fell for a huge unmarked trail to the left but then realized you have to go all the way down to the river for the Red Circle. We went back up the Blue and along the cliffs with some of the best views on the Giant. We got back down to where we had hit the loop in 25 minutes. Back on the unmarked shortcut and then took the Green back to the car. We didn't see anyone on the whole hike, just under one hour. And this completes all the trails in the month of April, almost all this April.
Tomorrow I'll talk about my new strategy for attacking the Giant Master hikes. I think they could all be done in 8 reasonable length hikes with some customization possible. But that's for May - I only have one segment in all the Mays I've hiked on the Giant!
So that brings us to today. The last day of April and I have 5 segments left - the 2 Blue and the 2 Violet from Chestnut and the B/V Crossover. I have a new strategy for the crossovers - go down them and continue on the other and loop back and go down again. Especially the B/V Crossover I would rather go down to Violet than up to Blue. So I started out with a little less than an hour and a half before I needed to be home. I made good time from Chestnut on Blue to the B/V Crossover but I wasn't sure I would have time for the loop to the Red Circle so Sadie & I took a right on Violet and followed a couple guys all the way back to Chestnut. There we saw the first of the only 2 dogs we had encountered all day. Fortunately, I saw both in the distance before Sadie did. We went past a couple sitting on the railing by the map with a pit bull and I told Sadie she didn't want to mess with that one. I decided it was just as quick and easy (and more pleasant) to go on Yellow to Blue and back to where the car was parked. Going down the Blue I again saw a dog ahead and put Sadie back on the leash as did they. It appeared to be another pit bull as they passed while I held Sadie off the side of the trail.
After supper, I decided to try for the small loop remaining out in the middle of the Giant. Looking at the map, it seemed the quickest approach would be the Violet and cross over to Green just before the bridge (there's a short unmarked trail there) and then take the Green to the unmarked trail on the map that is big enough to drive a truck down. It turned out to be a perfect approach to the loop I wanted to do. We got there in exactly 15 minutes and the unmarked trail was very easy to follow even with the setting sun in our eyes and it was obviously well-travelled. I went down the B/V crossover and enjoyed the waterfall embedded in the cliff at the Violet. We headed up and over to the Red Circle. I almost fell for a huge unmarked trail to the left but then realized you have to go all the way down to the river for the Red Circle. We went back up the Blue and along the cliffs with some of the best views on the Giant. We got back down to where we had hit the loop in 25 minutes. Back on the unmarked shortcut and then took the Green back to the car. We didn't see anyone on the whole hike, just under one hour. And this completes all the trails in the month of April, almost all this April.
Tomorrow I'll talk about my new strategy for attacking the Giant Master hikes. I think they could all be done in 8 reasonable length hikes with some customization possible. But that's for May - I only have one segment in all the Mays I've hiked on the Giant!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
My Second Life
Kind of odd looking back to a time "before the event". On Saturday, January 16th, I experienced "sudden cardiac arrest". I'm still sorting out the terms - "heart attack", SCA (or SCD - Death!), "myocardial infarction", V-Fib, etc. There are some subtle differences but suffice it to say that I basically dropped dead on a sunny Saturday afternoon just before 2 PM. If the man standing next to me did not know CPR and begin IMMEDIATELY, I would not be here. Blunt but true.
The whole experience has been surreal. One day you're standing in the woods and you close your eyes. When you open them, you're in a hospital bed and it's a week later. The good news is, I don't remember any of it. So perhaps those who we all know have died in that manner don't suffer at all? Yes, some of it may be due to the serious meds they pumped into me so that I wouldn't remember ventilators and feeding tubes, etc. I have a great weight-loss program - go in the hospital and don't eat anything for a week. A quick 15 to 20 pound drop.
OK, more on this later - I'm sure. It's all I think about these days...
The whole experience has been surreal. One day you're standing in the woods and you close your eyes. When you open them, you're in a hospital bed and it's a week later. The good news is, I don't remember any of it. So perhaps those who we all know have died in that manner don't suffer at all? Yes, some of it may be due to the serious meds they pumped into me so that I wouldn't remember ventilators and feeding tubes, etc. I have a great weight-loss program - go in the hospital and don't eat anything for a week. A quick 15 to 20 pound drop.
OK, more on this later - I'm sure. It's all I think about these days...
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