Friday, November 25th, 2005

Time	Event
12:10p	One prediction comes true, one on the horizon. Welcome to the future. See below, where I said: ...troop deployments in Iraq will begin their reduction in mid-year 2006... [Quoting From Reuters, 23 November 2005] ... "I suspect that American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they're there for all that much longer, because Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function, not just in numbers, but in their capabilities to do certain functions," [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice told CNN on Tuesday. ... Quoting several senior military officers, the Post said Pentagon authorities also have set a series of "decision points" during 2006 to consider further force cuts that, under a "moderately optimistic" scenario, would drop the total number of troops to fewer than 100,000 from more than 150,000 now, including 10 combat brigades, by the end of the year. [endquote] What's that you say? "Duh?" "Who couldn't see that coming?" Fine, that was an easy one, but nobody could have seen that today's egocentric culture would create such a groundswell of support for an Iraq pullout? This isn't astroturfing, people, this is real. Oh, and hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat! On Fox News, 25 November 2005, Fox News Military Analyst Lt. Col. Bill Cowan (Ret.) said, "...there are good indications that U.S. forces had crossed into Syria to pursue some insurgents, possibly Al Quaeda people..." Okay, so my prediction below, ... trade routes running Libyan guns to Syrian Jihadists paid with Saudi money will be exposed and shut down by the first of the year, 2006 ... was a little off in the timing, but cross-border incursions into a sovereign nation aren't often made lightly. Well, except by a Republican administration. Viva la Guerra! (Comment on this)
11:18p	Two in one day?! Just wanted to paste this little note I sent to MSNBC. Of course, I used my real name. Re: Web Story Url: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083442/ How irresponsible are you? I'm watching your MSNBC Special Report on online child predators on Tivo here tonight, and I had to put it on pause to write you this email. Just who in the hell does Rita think she is? I came of age technologically before Sundevil. My mom knew nothing about computers. You know those little locks they used to have? I wired a jumper to the back of the case the first time she tried to lock me out. Cybersitter? Netnanny? Those are toys for children. Back in my day a kid had to have smarts to make their 286 call Cleveland. These days your average 13 year old can sam hack an admin password on a Windows box. Long story short, telling parents that there is any sort of technological solution to knowing what your kid is up to online is meaningless. To the egocentric Abercrombe kids who are too dumb to get dressed in the morning without the help of The Gap, Netnanny might be the solution. To people like me, who, when I was fourteen, considered every attempt to curtail my interface with technology as a higher hurdle to jump, or any security measure a problem to solve, Cybersitter is child's play. I'm talking about 14 years ago when I got started with technology. Kids today start earlier. They know more. They're more curious. And they have a lot of time on their hands. It takes guidance, patience, trust, and understanding to keep them safe, not virtual locks that can be defeated with the simplest of tools. Unless your parent wants to be a part time sysadmin, they better wise up and start understanding, knowing, and trusting. Their kids will turn into very, very smart, tech-savvy movers and shakers, or very, very smart, tech-savvy criminals. It all depends on whether, at that critical age, parents teach them which doors to open, or force them how to learn to pick locks. Either way, they learn. -- TheTransplant P.S. The attached is an unadulterated screen capture from your website. Maybe one of the dangers kids face online this Holiday Season is a $100 Visa Gift Card from Grandma and a visit to msnbc.com? [I can't do it without a paid account, but the image I attached (I hope they accept attachments) was a hilarious lil gem of an advertisement for buying wine online immediately to the right of DANGERS KIDS FACE... Damn near laughed my ass off.] (Comment on this)

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