Another Milestone...

We'll lead off with a re-run, given as how today is the Green Hornet's ninth birthday. Without ado...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Then and Now

Digital cameras are wonderful things… and one of the major reasons is the metadata included with each and every photo you shoot. What this really means is you know the exact date and time you took a particular shot (among a lot of other techie-type info), so there’s no wondering “where/when was THIS taken?” as you browse through your archives. Which is quite unlike going through an old shoebox full of photos, believe me.

So… the foregoing is an intro to a minor celebration of sorts: The Green Hornet is eight years old today. I’ve owned one other car longer than the Green Hornet and that was my Baby Beemer…which I kept for ten years. I obviously liked that Beemer and I really like the Miata, too. Both cars have served me well, both cars were/are great good fun, and I see no reason why the Green Hornet won’t tie my personal record for auto longevity and maybe even break it. So… in celebration, here are a few “then and now” pics… both of the Green Hornet and her driver.

Top to bottom: (1) GH on the day I bought her, in the Oakland Hills above... you guessed it... Oakland, CA. (2) GH a couple of months ago after a wash and wax. (3) YrHmblScrb in his place of business at 44 Montgomery Street, SFO (October 12, 2000). (4) YrHmblScrb with Blog-Buddy Lou and husband Toby, taken last month (the latest pic I have).

I think the car has held up better than its owner over the past eight years, nu? 

 ―:☺:―

 And we'll be back a lil later... probably with tales about the wonderfulness of HD teevee.  There's a bit of a story there, but let's not try and tell it before we're fully caffeinated.  And I have to straighten up  this pig-pen before the Comcast guy gets here.  Not Larry, I hope...

Happy Birthday Navy!

234 years old today!

And... the above (click for larger) via a Tweet from Lex... "If Naval heroes had Tweeted..."

WTF?!!?

So... I tune into the Flames - Blackhawks game late, with a little over 4:00 left in the first period and the score is 5-0 Calgary! Dang. The last time these two teams met was in round one of last year's playoffs, when Chicago eliminated Calgary in Game Six, 4-1. Wow... revenge? I'm thinking maybe!  But Dang! ... 5-0 in the first? Wowzers.

Update:   The second period is ALL Blackhawks... they score with about three minutes left in the first and then score three more unanswered goals in the second.  It's 5-4 Calgary, with a lil over five minutes left in the second.  What a strange game!

Update 2:  Chicago ties it in the third and wins it 26 seconds into the OT... the best comeback in Hawks history.  Sux to be a Flames fan, methinks.  But: what a great game!

Yet Another Case of Petty Thievery

We get this from Lex, where certain members of his commentariat... both male and female... find Ms. Vieira's behavior "creepy." YrHmblScrb finds Meredith's behavior refreshing... and a good solid poke in the Ol' PC eye. Still and even, certain members of the commentariat raise a valid question: would we laugh and nod approvingly if this had been Regis Philbin making similar comments about a female lieutenant? Obviously not. But then again, we men have always been a lil bit more... ah... subtle when we comment on a woman's charms. Because we have to be.

Happy Birthday Sean!

Three generations of Pennington Men... Our Birthday Boy on the left.

Today is Grandson Sean's 13^th birthday. And to the young man's everlasting credit, what he really wanted for his birthday was a Beatles CD. Isn't that amazing, Gentle Reader? It all goes to prove we shouldn't give up hope for the younger generation — some of which DO have taste in spite of massive, ear-splitting boom-chicka-boom evidence to the contrary emanating out of every damned lowered Civic on 22s in these United States. 

So.  We gifted this fine young man with three of our favorite Beatles albums from the way-back:  Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, and the White Album.  I'm told I can borrow them any time I like… but I have a better ideer.  I also bought two Beatles CDs of my own yesterday.  Prepare for massive digression…

About which: we spent the entire frickin' afternoon and well into the evening listening to only those two CDs… Help and Revolver. These two were our initial purchases of what will eventually amount to a reacquisition of nearly the entire Beatles catalog. You may recall, Gentle Reader, that we recently posted about the re-mastering of the Beatles' catalog and we indicated we would probably buy a couple of these CDs. Well, we've changed our mind. We'll probably buy most of the albums. Why? Let me quote The Wiki:

On 9 September 2009, The Beatles' entire back catalogue was reissued following an extensive digital remastering process that lasted four years.^[233]  Stereo editions of all twelve original UK studio albums, along with Magical Mystery Tour and a combined two-CD set of Past Masters, were released on compact disc both individually and as a box set. A second collection included all mono tracks.^[234] In Mojo magazine's review, Danny Eccleston writes, "Ever since The Beatles first emerged on CD in 1987, there have been complaints about the sound", saying that the original vinyl has had significant advantages over the CDs in clarity and dynamism. "Compare Paperback Writer/Rain on crackly 45, with its weedy Past Masters CD version, and the case is closed." Prior to the release of the 2009 remasters, Abbey Road Studios had invited Mojo reviewers to hear a sample of the four-year work's achievement, telling the magazine, "You're in for a shock." In his release-day review of the full product, Eccleston reported that "brilliantly, that's still how it feels a month later."^[235]

Yeah… what they said.  I'm amazed at the quality of the re-masters… they're that good.  Do you remember when you bought your first really good stereo?  Or mebbe your first CD player?  And either playing your old records (I know: we date ourselves.  Severely.) on that spiffy new rig and/or a CD of an album you already owned and marveling about stuff you never heard before?  And the clarity?  Yeah… like that.  The music is the same… still great, still timeless… but the clarity!  Tambourines ching with authority, the bass lines aren't muddied at all, and to quote Mark Knopfler… "… the horns are blowin' that sound!"  And the vocals?  Let me quote the Mojo review:

While there are hundreds of mini-revelations in store for the Beatle-head - the clattering bell that drives The Beatles' Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey is made somehow even more exciting - the best thing about the new stereo versions is the singing. A certain amount of limiting on the original CD versions made them sound vaguely constrained. But the remastered vocals are purer, more natural-sounding and give the illusion of sitting slightly higher in the mix (technically, they don't - there's been no remixing, à la 1999's Yellow Submarine Songtrack or '06's Love, at all). My notes allude to the extra "presence" of the Lennon vocal on Magical Mystery Tour's I Am The Walrus, Paul's performance on Help!'s Yesterday is more perfectly limpid than ever, while the vocal harmonies sound astonishing throughout.

Once again:  what they said.  Or, in my words: money well-spent.  I'm lovin' this.  And from what Sean told me last night I know he is, too.  Happy Birthday, Grandson O' Mine.  And thanks for the present!

Well, Hell. Just ONE More and Then I'll Quit...

... really. Seriously. I mean it.

David Burge:

Membership Has Its Privileges

[ed. note: republished and amended from a 2007 post]
Dear   BARACK OBAMA  :
Congratulations! On behalf of the selection committee, I am pleased to announce that you have been named a 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of your tireless efforts to   STRENGTHEN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY AND COOPERATION    .
I am also pleased to tell you that as a winner, you have been pre-approved for membership in the Nobel Peace Player's Club, offering exclusive money-saving benefits available only to laureates like you. Please take a few minutes to look over the enclosed enrollment materials. At only $299.95 per year, I'm sure you'll agree that membership is a bargain at twice the price! Here are just some of the benefits you'll receive:

• A handsome 14-karat gold membership crest badge to display proudly on the grille of your limousine or official state aircraft
• A framed, hand-calligraphed certificate (add $19.95 for gold leaf)
• Special discount shopping bargains for for you and your family
• Great travel packages to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro
• Listing in "Who's Who of Global Salvation" ($49.95 per copy)
• Great coupons for Olive Garden, P.F. Chang's, Six Flags Theme Parks, and more!

Plus, you'll receive the exclusive Nobel Peace Player's Club GoldCard entitling you to discount air travel and 5-star hotel accommodations from Kyoto to Darfur. But don't take our word for it! Listen to these testimonials from some of our current members:

Chase the title link. The testimonials are just TOO funny... with further links!

And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'!!

OK... I think I'm done now. Or at least until Leno weighs in. And maybe the Onion. Dang, this is a veritable gold mine, innit?

Snippets From the AOR II

From a conversation with SN1 this morning:

I attended my first Ramp Ceremony. Sobering.

A young USMC Staff Sergeant was sent home today in the back of a C-17, honored by hundreds of US and Coalition troops in a short, but significant display. He was 27 years old. Sure makes you realize what you're doing over here and brings it front and center in your mind.

The ceremony is pretty standard from what I was told...but it was poignant none-the-less.

Standing there at attention, listening to the Marine Corps Hymn being played on the bagpipes, I couldn't help but think about his parents who were mentioned as his only relatives. Another young man gave his all...

So that's what's been on my mind for a lot of the day...

God bless and keep that young Marine and his parents.  As I told SN1:  we who "sit and wait" have no idea what it's like to attend a Ramp Ceremony.  I can only imagine...    

Posted Without Comment

Credit: The usual source.

On Today's Big Story

From an e-mail I sent to a friend this morning:

Sorry for the delayed response. We did Happy Hour, then dinner, then too much teevee, followed by a tossy-turny night of sleeplessness. And what's the FIRST thing I see this morning? The One is now a Nobel Laureate. If ever there was even a scintilla of doubt in one's mind that this "prize" is worthless... beyond the money and the melt-down value of the medal itself... there shouldn't be now. Kee-rist.

I've spent the time it's taken to consume my first two cups of coffee reading links from memeorandum on this non-event. Of all the things I've read so far, Jules Crittenden and the WSJ come closest to what I feel.  They must have world-class drugs in Oslo.  And lotsa Kool-Aid.

From the In-Box

Various and sundry things I found in my in-box this morning… beginning with… Cool stuff: Ten pictures from National Geographic Magazine: "Photo Gallery: Autumn in the United States." Bonus… Nineteen Wallpaper Photos from our National Parks! And there's always great things at NatGeo's site; it's one of my very favorite time-wasters.

―:☺:―

I get this sort of stuff from time to time:

Dear Buck Pennington,

I would be honored if you’d take the time to review our product on your blog.
In exchange for an unbiased review, We will provide a copy of the product for free!
We will also place link to your review from our product's page with your logo.

Usually the offer is for stuff I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, but occasionally Good Things appear in my in-box. At that point in time I'm tempted to say OK… I'll do it. But I have this one little problem: how does one write an unbiased review if one is getting a free copy of said product? And, of course, one doesn't want to sacrifice one's rank amateur standing in the blog-world, either. Oh, noes… we most certainly DON'T! Heh.

And… with tongue planted firmly in cheek… Lord knows I wouldn't want to risk having the Federal Trade Commission take me to the woodshed… at $11K a pop. Talk about Stoopid Gub'mint Tricks! I understand the chances are quite small that a small-time blogger would be singled out and prosecuted for violating Oh-So-Important rules 'n' regulations in this space, but it's the damned principle of the thing. Unless your name happens to be Michelle Malkin or Andrew Breitbart… at which point in time I don't feel you would be the least bit paranoid to think The One might sic the FTC on ya. Just sayin'.

―:☺:―

Finally… The Air Force Association sends along a list of videos that might be of interest to aviation and airpower enthusiasts. Speaking of which… Hey! You could make $5,000.00 a year flying B-47s! What a deal!

Other vids from the Air Force Association:

AFA's YouTube Channel (this includes all of our videos) - http://www.youtube.com/user/AirForceAssocHQ
The Tuskegee Airmen - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfyJ1A7xMMc
Doolittle Raiders - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj1kg_cohWc
Dr. Schlesinger - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjYnixA4JMs
Air Force 61st Anniversary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyhJmaYDQH4
Berlin Airlift - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRKRjp2smsc
General Looney's Support of AFA - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIR6i6odvW8
Air Force Pilot Commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9tLz25X1Uk (This is embedded above)
Air Force Anniversary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAh6sQHAKMQ
2007 Jimmy Stewart 1st place - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlWID-YuFyI
2007 Jimmy Stewart 2nd place - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auvPKh1QX5c

2007 Jimmy Stewart 3rd place - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQ3LnYfVK0
AFA - The Force Behind the Force - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZ2ZwIJip0

The Sergeants' Mess

An aerial view of RAF Uxbridge.  The parade ground is at center, flanked by barracks buildings and the station headquarters at rear.  (image from Hillingdon.gov.uk)

Yesterday I had occasion to go searching for A Very Important Piece of Paper (which I found) and that meant diving into the highly organized file system here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington, which consists of a few cardboard boxes… one of which resides in the upstairs sleeping area. In so doing I came across a quart-sized Ziploc baggie filled with miscellanea from past lives I had deemed worth saving. Tucked inside that baggie was this:
 

That's my membership card from the Sergeants' Mess at RAF Uxbridge, a memento that evoked all sorts of fond memories as I looked at it yesterday. First and foremost, being assigned at Uxbridge was quite unlike duty at other American air bases in the UK, all of which went by names like "RAF Mildenhall," "RAF Upper Heyford," "RAF Chicksands" and the like. That would seem to imply the bases are owned and operated by the Royal Air Force but they aren't… they are RAF in name only (as required by the Status of Forces agreement) but are USAF bases in all other regards. Uxbridge, on the other hand, was a true RAF installation… home of the RAF band and the Queen's Color Squadron, among other things. So… that membership card you see above meant I was an affiliated member of the RAF Sergeant's Mess, which is (or was) as different from a USAF NCO club as night is to day.

The RAF does things differently than the USAF… in more ways than one. One of the more interesting things, in my book, is their rank structure in the "other ranks," aka enlisted personnel. Whereas USAF maintains nine enlisted grades, the RAF really only have three… aircraftsmen (of which there are three grades… Aircraftman, Senior Aircraftman, and Leading Aircraftman), Corporal, and Sergeant. The RAF rank of Sergeant is roughly equivalent to what the USAF calls its senior enlisted grades… Master Sergeant, Senior Master Sergeant and Chief Master Sergeant. And it's a big deal, too, becoming a Sergeant in the RAF is a lot like making CMSgt in the USAF.

So… the Sergeants' Mess at Uxbridge was an institution more like a gentleman's club than a mid-scale beer joint…which is a term that pretty much describes most NCO clubs I was a member of back in the day. When I say "gentleman's club," I'm describing an organization housed in a stately three story old brick building dating back to the 1930s with thickly carpeted hallways, a walnut paneled smoking/reading room adorned with oil paintings of Old Dead Warriors from the Empire Past, furnished with sumptuous leather chairs accompanied by highly polished walnut side tables and brass smoking stands, all clustered around a large stone fireplace. The formal dining room is crystal chandeliered, its dining tables covered in starched white linens and set with regimental china and silver. The mess attendants… RAF Aircraftsmen whose assigned duties are to serve in the mess… are attired in formal white mess coats and serve meals with simultaneous precision and witty banter. The daily menu is limited in scope, featuring no more than two entrees that are well prepared and tasty. Lunch in the formal dining room was an experience, believe me. I'm told that formal dinners and parties were also "not to be missed" events, as well… but to my everlasting regret I never had the occasion to attend any of those functions. I should have.

There was a bar, of course… no self-respecting mess in any service would be without one. But, as might be expected, the bar was more akin to a military themed pub and could hold about 40 people comfortably in addition to providing informal dining, aka "pub grub." The bar was the place The Second Mrs. Pennington, my friends and I usually took our meals when we went to the mess for lunch. I should mention TSMP was employed as my commander's secretary for two years… we worked together in the 2119th Communications Squadron HQ building during that time. There are some pretty good stories in this space, but they will go untold… mostly. One thing I will say is the denizens at the bar in the Sergeants' Mess took great pleasure in pulling TSMP's chain, early and often. The young TSMP was a bit naïve and trusting in her youth, tending to take people quite literally and was thus fair game for tall tales, ribbing, and other such bar stuff… sergeants the world over are quite good at this sort of thing and the RAF types are better than most. TSMP, for her part, took it all in stride and usually gave as good as she got… once she figured out what was going on.

But there were other moments as well, such as the time the Regimental Sergeant Major (a British Army type) from Buckingham Palace was on station to select and brief RAF members to be assigned to the Queen's Guard, ceremonial duty that rotated on a monthly basis between the RAF, the Army, and the Royal Navy. The Sergeant Major was in the bar at the Mess for lunch and a pint or two when we dropped in that particular day. This gentleman looked for all the world like he stepped right out of Central Casting… tall and ramrod straight in physical appearance, handlebar moustache, resplendent in his absolutely perfect medal-bedecked uniform, and as courtly as any stereotypical British gentleman anywhere. We were introduced to the Sergeant Major and TSMP was immediately smitten... and he took to her as well. I, in turn, was bitten by no small amount of jealousy as we spent the entire lunch hour being entertained by the Sergeant Major's tales, accompanied by TSMP's rapt attention and her oohs and ahhhs. It was literally weeks before I heard the last of that lil episode… and I will admit the Sergeant Major had the best "military bearing" of any soldier, sailor, airman or Marine I ever met.

End note: I googled the Uxbridge Sergeants' Mess and came upon this redesign project (pdf) from a UK architectural firm… which is undated but is definitely after I left the station in 1983.

Coming to a Blog Near You...

And soon, too. Let me quote Mrs. Greyhawk:

We have less than 3 wks before the Valour-IT competition's launch time (ed: Launch is October 26th). I have included the countdown counter below for those who would like to place it in your sidebar. I'm hoping this will be compatible to everyone's blog interface.

Here’s who’s with us so far to support Team Air Force:

Ed Morrissey - Hot Air - http://www.hotair.com/

John Noonan - OPFOR - http://op-for.com/ 

Madhu - OnParkStreet - http://onparkstreet.wordpress.com/

vw bug - One Happy Dog Speaks - http://onehappydog.us/ 

Chris Short - http://chrisshort.net

Laurie - Soldiers Angels New York - http://soldiersangelsny.blogspot.com/

Buck Pennington - Exile in Portales - http://exileinportales.blogspot.com/

Elen Grey - Could Be A Blog - http://elengreywriter.wordpress.com/ 

Maja - Not Your Average Brooklynette - http://majastevanovich.wordpress.com/

As you can see that is a VERY SHORT list. In order to succeed in this mission we need more troops (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?) So we need to recruit some members, they do not need to be military to be a team member and they don't have to have a blog, if they use facebook or twitter.

The goal for all V-IT Teams is to have a  at least a 10 member minimum, and although we're just shy of that and I would prefer to have a much larger team, which means more exposure for this worthy cause. 

EIP supports Valour-IT every year around this time... and we're thinking what a great good thing it would be to enlist some of our blogging friends in this worthy cause. If you blog and if you wanna sign up... for ANY team, although signing on to Team Zoomie would be BEST... drop me a line at buckpennington01 (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send ya details.  Also note you don't really need a blog... Facebook and/or Twitter will do, and nicely, too.  The point is to get the word out and raise funds for this worthy cause.


Stay tuned... there will be more!

Red Eye, Rock 'n' Roll

Being a SERIOUS Red Eye junkie, I was kinda-sorta impressed with this lil blurb:

Fox News’ 3amET comedy/news hybrid Red Eye is in a league of its own when it comes to cable news shows. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a player in the ratings.

Despite its late (or early, depending on your sleep habits) start time, the ratings for the show continue to improve, and surprisingly, top some cable news competition you might not expect.

[…]

The show is looking up year-to-year as well. Compared to September 2008, the program grew 23% in total viewers and 43% in the A25-54 demographic. But let’s look at the individual shows. Last week we wrote about the 13 shows at the top of the ratings in September – all on Fox News. Red Eye, naturally, wasn’t one of them. Here’s where they fell – this is the full chart for September programs.

Red Eye averaged 432,000 total viewers and 202,000 in the demo. Let’s deal with the demo first – CNN’s 8pmET show, hosted by Campbell Brown, averaged 191,000 in the demo. Let’s just let that one sink in – Fox News had more people in the all important A25-54 demographic watching their channel at three in the morning (east coast time) than CNN had for the show that leads off their prime time. This says as much about Fox News as it does about CNN. Wow.

Wow, indeed. I'm thinking one of the reasons my sleep habits are so hosed is I refuse to miss Red Eye. There's a price to be paid for that, but I'm more than willing to pay it. And besides that… I don't have to be anywhere in the morning anyway, so why not? I mean… who'd want to miss stuff like this (on the Polanski thing travesty)?


 
I'm thinking there are a LOT of folks out there who Tivo or otherwise DVR Red Eye for later viewing. I might do that sort of thing too, were I not such a Luddite.

―:☺:―

Speaking of Red Eye… one learns all sorts of useful things by watching that show. Fer instance… last night they did a segment on the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees. Herewith (courtesy of The Wiki) is the list:

The 2010 nominees for the performers category were announced on September 23, 2009. Five inductees will be announced in January 2010, and inducted at a ceremony in New York on March 15.^[90]

·         ABBA

·         The Chantels

·         Jimmy Cliff

·         Genesis

·         The Hollies

·         Kiss

·         LL Cool J

·         Darlene Love

·         Laura Nyro

·         Red Hot Chili Peppers

·         Donna Summer

·         The Stooges

ABBA? LL Cool J? What in the Sam Hill does either of these acts have to do with Rock 'n' Roll? Years and years ago I was in complete, fanatical agreement with Neil Young when he sang…

The point Neil makes… if'n ya didn't watch the vid… is "rock 'n' roll can never die." I agreed back then… I'm not so sure now. Maybe the art form will live on but the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame is doing its bit to discredit something I hold dear, if not kill it outright. LL Cool J? Sheesh. It is to frickin' weep.

Broadening Our Horizons VII

Today's Happy Hour libation:

That's a Gurkha Liga C-10 microbatch sitting in the ashtray... already one-third gone. This cigar is good stuff, by the way.

(secret message to Our Favo(u)rite UK Reader:  note the yellow tin in the background.) 


Update, 1615 hrs:  I'd characterize the brew as "beer for folks who don't really like beer."  From a review at Beer Advocate, selected at random:

Poured from 12oz. bottle into pilsner glass.

Beer is a cloudy yellow-orange, with visible effervescence. Head is cream colored and is about a centimeter thick when poured, and it maintains this thickness for a considerable amount of time. Lacing is thick and stays right where the beer leaves it.

This is definitely a cherry brew. Maraschino cherries dominate the scent, with an undertone of lemony acid underneath. Some wheat character is barely noticable.

First taste has no surprises. Cherry, cherry, cherry, with a touch of lemon and - you guessed it - the faintest touch of wheat character. Finish is kinda fizzy, with a slight bitterness that fades quickly, noticable wheat on the palate lingers. As the palate adjusts and the beer warms slightly, the beer gets a touch more sour, which helps to, but doesn't quite succeed, in shifting the cherry flavor from a childish maraschino to a more adult bing.

This beer is extremely light and fizzy. Between the carbonation and the extremely understated beeriness in favor of fruit, it is not unlike drinking a cherry cream soda.

It would seem at first that, as similar to soda as this beer is, that it would be easy to slam these all night. However, from experience I can tell you this beer loses its novelty fairly quickly. While one of these on occassion (sic) is a light and unchallenging (sic) treat, drinking more than one in a session proves a challenge.

Serving type: bottle

Yup... what they said... or: more beer I'll be looking to give away.  I followed this brew up with a 1554, which is MUCH more to my liking. 

Oh, Goodie

Heads up, you vets... and maybe even active duty folks, too.  From DarkReading, via a tweet from cyberwar:

A defective hard drive containing the personal information of some 70 million U.S. military personnel was returned to a contractor for repair and recycling -- without being erased first, according to a news report.

According to a report in Wired.com, the inspector general of the National Archives and Records Administration is investigating a potential data breach of a hard drive that helped power eVetRecs, the system veterans use to request copies of their health records and discharge papers.

When the drive failed last November, the agency returned the drive to the contractor, GMRI, which sold it to them, for repair. GMRI determined it couldn't be fixed, and ultimately passed it to another firm to be recycled. But Hank Bellomy, a NARA IT manager who reported the incident to the inspector general, told Wired.com that the drive was not properly erased.
 

"This is the single largest release of personally identifiable information by the government ever," Bellomy told Wired.com. "When the USDA did the same thing, they provided credit monitoring for all their employees. We leaked 70 million records, and no one has heard a word of it."

NARA says the lost drive is not a problem because its contractors signed privacy promises in their contracts. A spokesperson told Wired.com that the agency "does not believe that a breach of PII occurred," according to the report.

The drive was part of a RAID array of six drives containing an Oracle database that held detailed records on 76 million veterans, including millions of Social Security numbers dating to 1972, the report says.

Bellomy told Wired.com that when the unencrypted drive failed, he tried to subvert the longstanding recycling policy by hiding the drive in his safe. But it was taken out of his control when he was put on long-term leave, he said. He also said that more drives failed after the November incident, and that he performed a forensic scan on them to prove they were full of sensitive data.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about...

Earlier This Evening...

A trailer park sunset...

 

... and the Harvest Moon moonrise over a local landmark (heh).  I'm thinking I need a longer lens for these moonshots.  But... priorities.

All shots taken earlier this evening, 10-04-2009.  As ever... click for larger (if you've a mind to do so).

Apropos of Something...

... and just for fun. The 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Grand Prize winner:

Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the “Ellie May," a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests.

David McKenzie
Federal Way, WA

The winner of 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is David McKenzie, a 55-year-old Quality Systems consultant and writer from Federal Way, Washington. A contest recidivist, he has formerly won the Western and Children's Literature categories.

David McKenzie is the 27th grand prize winner of the contest that began at San Jose State University in 1982.

An international literary parody contest, the competition honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) (ed: that's Ol' Edward George at left). The goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Although best known for "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1834), which has been made into a movie three times, originating the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword," and phrases like "the great unwashed" and "the almighty dollar," Bulwer-Lytton opened his novel Paul Clifford (1830) with the immortal words that the "Peanuts" beagle Snoopy plagiarized for years, "It was a dark and stormy night."

Most entries are submitted electronically through the Contest's Web site: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/. 

And what exactly, you may ask, is this post apropos OF? Well, that would be Blog-Bud Morgan's self-admitted abuse of his Main Squeeze... that further being he forced her to read "Atlas Shrugged." Oh, The Horror!  Which, of course, made me think immediately about the B-L award, in that Ms. Rand could have been a perennial winner of said award had it existed in her day.  There is no more turgid prose in existence in 20th century literature anywhere, except perhaps for that written by ol' George Edward hisownself (were he a 20th century... as opposed to 19th, of course... author).

The Usual Saturday Re-Run and A Few Other Thoughts

Well, seeing as how it IS Saturday and it IS Fall and there WILL be football later on, we'll do our usual, customary, and reasonable Saturday re-run... this time taking a page out of the "one year ago today on this date" book. 

But before I do... The lead item in the post below supports Blog-Bud Jim's annual "Thanksgiving Comes First" campaign. Jim usually waits until around this time of year to kick off the campaign but he got started a lil early this year. Why? Because he saw Christmas displays in a local store in frickin' SEPTEMBER. That just has to be a new low for money-grubbing retailers in these United States and I'm pleased to report there is no such activity (to the best of my knowledge) here on The High Plains of New Mexico. All that said... I'm behind what Jim is on about here in EVERY way. Thanksgiving DOES come first, quite literally, so keep Christmas where it belongs. And go read Jim.

There are also a few random musings below the re-run.

Friday, October 03, 2008

A Campaign, Some Pain, and Palin

Blog-Bud Jim, aka Suldog, has launched his second annual “Thanksgiving Comes First!” campaign… and has asked those of us who agree with him… and who are the proprietors of blogs… to join the campaign. Well, I can’t think of anyone who actually approves of seeing Christmas sales, Christmas advertising, Christmas-this, or Christmas-that, before Thanksgiving has come and gone. NO ONE… period, end of report, full-stop. I’m quite sure even the employees and management of those businesses who launch Christmas before Thanksgiving is even here have a distaste for the project at hand. I mean… how could you NOT?

So. I’m on board with this. I hope you are, too. Jim has great narrative reasons and not a few rants on the subject at the link above and here, as well. Do go read.

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Light blogging today. I spent one and a half hours in the dental chair yesterday getting a root canal, and I’m still a bit sore today and jes a lil bit short on what I’ll euphemistically call “good attitude.” The procedure itself is relatively painless thanks to really good anesthetics, liberally dispensed. But the length of time the procedure takes tends to take a bit out of ya… if’n ya know what I mean. An hour and a half is a long time to be flat on your back with various and sundry implements coming and going in your mouth, not to mention the interesting and unusual sounds associated with this event. It’s a little trying.

I’ve often said I’m blessed with relatively good health… in that I don’t have a weight problem, my “numbers” are all excellent, there’s no arthritis, no rheumatism, and I have none other of the minor ailments (or major ones, either) that seem to afflict us all as we grow older. Except for this “bad teeth” gene. I really should count my blessings in this space, but it’s real hard to keep one’s perspective intact… occasionally.

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One final thought… or thoughts… before I go back to couch. I watched the debate last evening and I thought Sarah Palin won. Biden was a little better here and there, but Sarah scored the most points and was the more convincing of the two. Gwen Ifill did a passable… but only just… job of moderating. I would have preferred Jim Lehrer over Ifill, but who am I to say? I DO have an issue with the McCain campaign and the way they’ve “run the show” during the time since the GOP convention's been over. And rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll just give ya what I left over at Phlegmmy’s place on the subject:

I had mixed emotions about Sarah's performance last evening. She did as well, or better, than could be expected... given her constraints. And by that I mean she was obviously instructed by the campaign to "stay on message." Her BEST moments were when she cut free from "the message" and talked about her direct experiences as governor and mayor. The woman connects with people... easily and sincerely... and the frickin' "campaign" isn't using her strengths to their advantage.


I'm beginning to think the McCain campaign is one of the most inept I've EVER seen. Missed opportunities abound... like a failure to hammer home the point HE (McCain) went after Fanny/Freddie with a vengeance while the usual suspects were at the trough... and so on.


McCain's finger-in-the-wind, focus group driven, faux populism just irritates the livin' HELL out of me, too. If I hear this "greed and corruption on Wall Street" generality without specific examples... including what he's gonna DO about it, assuming it exists... one more time I'm gonna... oh, well. I'm sure you get my drift. Very disappointing. I expected better from McCain than this. And we deserve better, too.

I have more to say on this subject, but I’ll save it for another time when I’m better able to convert thought into text. I’m at something of a nadir in this regard at the moment. Methinks more… and better… drugs are called for.

Committed to The Inter-tubes by Buck on 10/03/2008 02:19:00 PM 21 Astute Observations

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So.  That was the way the world was one year ago on this date.  It's kinda funny how things change yet they remain the same.  I've been under the weather of late, what with trying to kick the world's most persistent cold and fighting off yet another in my seemingly on-going series of oral/dental infections.  It's not to whine, Gentle Reader, but as I noted above: it's real hard to keep one's perspective... occasionally.  That goes for my normally bright and cheery good mood (heh), too.

So here we are, pecking away at the keyboard at oh-dark-thirty, having just poured our second cup of coffee.  I hit the rack early last evening... around 2200 hrs... and managed to get five hours of uninterrupted sleep before my eyes popped open.  And they would NOT close again, no matter what I did.  So I gave up the futile attempts at sleep and fired off the coffee pot around 0400 hrs.  And here we are.

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Speaking of bright and cheery... Our mini-orgy of hockey is done for the time being.  We watched both available games Thursday evening and yesterday's Wings game.  Thursday's games were better, Gentle Reader, and it might surprise you to see me say something like that.  Well, on the other hand, maybe not.  It's never fun to watch your team blow a 3-1 lead and lose 4-3, even if it IS the first game of the season and there are 81 more to be played before we get into the post-season.  Yet, still... yesterday was an inauspicious beginning, to say the very least.  Thursday, OTOH, was just excellent hockey.  It's always a pleasure to watch that Ovechkin kid (he got two goals Thursday against the B's), and it was MOST certainly good to watch Super Joe's retirement ceremony later on that same evening in Denver.  And what was even better was watching the Avs rise to the occasion and do their former captain proud by soundly thrashing the Sharks.  THAT was unexpected, to say the least, yet very gratifying.

One more hockey thing and then we'll go.  SN2 and I had an extended phone conversation last night and towards the end of the call he asked if I was watching the game... "the game" being Pittsburgh - NY Rangers.  "Nope," sez I... "must be a local thing."  (SN2, you may or may not recall, lives in Pittsburgh now... he being the XO of Navy Recruiting District Pittsburgh)  And local it was, being broadcast on FSN-Pittsburgh.  "Well, that's too bad," sez he.  "No," sez I... "it's a great good thing it's not on here and I wouldn't frickin' watch it even if it were."  About which I got a "Hunh?"  That triggered a two-minute rant about just how VERY sick I am of seeing/hearing/reading about God's Gift To Hockey in the form of one Sidney Crosby.  ENOUGH, already.  MORE than enough.

Nope, I'm still not over it.  And the prognosis isn't good, either.