well, we did get some change

A few weeks back, a lot of folks had an opinion, (usually a rather adamant one), about the new state law in the Grand Canyon state that allows state and local authorities to demand that detainees produce documentation attesting to their right to be in the USofA. The law applies to everyone of course, but you usually don't see too many North Koreans skittering through the alley's and trails of Yuma, so let's be practical here.

The law has yet to take effect, but it has already produced one of the desired results. The federal government is taking a larger role, (the term "larger role" as used here indicates that they are actually doing something...), in policing the border, using federalized National Guardsmen for border security (as opposed to simple migrant interdiction). Had this level of participation in what is, ostensibly, a federal issue been present all along, the issue may not have come up. (On the other hand, it might have anyway, but the context would be different).

There may be a lesson to be learned here.

welcome to the mosh pit

There's this guy in Kentucky who appears to be surprised that he is being treated as an equal. Granted, he is being treated equally badly, but equally. The fellow is running for the US Senate, and he just defeated an incumbent in a primary election.

Yippee.

He did something that we are all wont to do now and then, and may have been taken out of context, (I don't think so, but I will throw the guy a lifeline here...).

excuse me a sec...

OK, I'm back. Had to look up the guy's name. Rand Paul. I get confused because I immediately think of Ron Paul. (I wonder if that is intentional). Rand is Ron's son, and does not make the same first impression that his dad does.

Rand was heard saying, on MSNBC, (this ain't no Corn Pone, KY, 25 watt AM dawn-to-dusk issue), that some parts of the 45 year old Civil Rights Act were over-reaching, (you know, another example of the federal government taking our freedoms). Ahem....

Excuse me, but Mr Paul's arguments stand for themselves here, and require no defense or attack from me.

What gets me is that he is surprised that somebody called him on it. The guy wins a primary election, making him the biggest fish, (carp?), in a somewhat small pond and he expects some kind of coronation? And he is shocked and surprised when nobody turns out for it? There will be blame assessed here.

And, in the opposite corner is the favorite bad guy, the Darth Vader of politics, the MEDIA!!!!!!!

Mr. Paul went so far as to accuse one network of taking their marching orders, (i.e. 'questions for the candidate), from the Democratic National Committee, and he boldly responded by inviting the President to his state to stump for his opponent.

Nice focus on the issues Rand. That's the best spin I've heard since that anti-gay preacher got caught with a rentboy.com hooker last week.

This guy has a bigger sense of entitlement than the ones that he has described in a couple of his speeches and writings.

Now, in the interest of fairness, Mr Paul has a better grasp of the Constitution in the literal sense than many people, and his opinions should be given credence. He appears to be an absolutist who does not recognize the flexibility that is built into the foundation of the republic. (I, like many others, grant that the flexibility has been stretched way too much and broken in some places). Mr. Paul seems to want to throw the ideological baby out with the bathwater because it was not done in a 'pure' way.

We are at a point in time when we need to hear what these people are saying, their opinions are valuable, (if not the Torquemada style method of dealing with the need for change), and should not be put aside by his less then impressive communications skills.

Confessions of an ex-Facebook user

Yeah, I'm one of em.

Like the Microsoft commercial, I can say that quitting Facebook was my idea. Before all the hubub that has come up over the past month or so.

I mean, even Congress is investigating Facebook. I am pretty happy about that too, I mean, they can only do so much, and I'm glad that they are picking their battles, what with the "exploding" budget deficit, the immigration crisis, and Bill O'Reilly not being able to get a taxi in New York, I mean, I'm glad that they are prioritizing.

I got into this thing because a lot of the family was in there, and if one wanted to keep up with things, well, we no longer talked on the phone, the more social among us text-messaged now and again, but if you wanted to know anything, it was online. (At one recent informal gathering, one of my relatives conducted all out cyber-warfare with another, via Facebook, and I felt a little bit sad, not being near a laptop or smartphone, so I would be acutely aware of which one was the biggest bitch...). Even now, I am tempted to log in with somebody else's ID just to see if there has been a killing or perhaps the unearthing of some embarrassing photo's.

But I digress.

When I started the account, I took close to an hour one day and went through every available setting and made almost every facet of my page private, viewable by my designated 'friends' only. Within days, the operator changed the rules and all that went out the window. I took a little time, read upon the changes, judged them to be acceptable, changed my settings yet again, and called it good.

Yeah, right.

They did it again.

Now, I am not a person who puts a lot of real personal stuff online, so I did not feel that i was in a lot of danger, but they made everything that I had public, allowed every friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-another-friend-who-once-chatted-with-somebody eligible to look at my page. Many did. It seemed that overnight, I got a lot of 'targeted' emails.

Frankly, I felt like I had been screwed.

Those of you who know me and my little peculiarities know (or suspect) that I might have taken a few covert steps to minimize the crap. I did, and I did.

What chaps me is that the provider has absolutely no regard for its clientele, and seems to be willing to tell any lie, change any rule at any time, to get its way. I don't mind them making money, I don't like, but don't mind the ads, (the system is, after all, free of monetary cost to me), but I do dislike being lied to.

I went through the system one more time, and deleted everything that I could, turned off every option and subsystem, then meticulously followed the instructions to delete my account. Even then, they presented the caveat that the account will still be there, any attempt to access it will automatically renew it. Right now, I wonder if it has to be me that try's to access it? What if somebody searches for me?

I don't know, but this seemingly innocuous site is one more step towards something we don't want to think about.