1957 E-Stalker

I'm getting really tired of computers intruding in my computer usage. Like companies who have once shared my computer bugging me with their little bugs.
I once had Java. Their was a security issue so I removed it. But if you don't use a special program to totally eradicate every last trace of it in the bowels of your computer, some little lifeline program comes back and keeps reminding you to please please please take them back. Like a jilted lover who turns into a stalker.
So without fail, every morning when I fire up the computer, my Java stalker activates a plea to take it back, in a little window asking to take over my computer. Sure ex-lover. Since you asked. Love to have you come in and housesit on your own for awhile and rifle all my private belongings.
Another cyber-stalker is McAfee. I don't know how long ago I replaced them with another security system. Certainly before their paranoid owner was caught doing not very secure things in Central America. I've caught his paranoia. Even though I don't believe officials from Belize are out to kill me, nor am I writing a graphic novel to tell my story, I still think his security program is hounding me.
It's making me feel insecure.
Lastly, creepy voyeur programs, quit following me around the web when I buy something. I totally hate when I've just bought something online elsewhere and up pops an ad on another webpage offering a coupon or discount on it.
I just damn bought it for cripes sake!
And I bought a year's supply. So 15% off my next purchase is not a timely offer. And it just made me hate your product and never want to buy it again.
As the giant said to Jack: "Stop stalking me!"
America, ya gotta love it.

1956 US UTI

There's always lots of talk about the cost of government. I don't entirely know where I stand on it. I'm one of those people that looks wryly at both sides of the debate. There certainly are interesting facts floating around that make you wonder about both government and private enterprise. And get you a little P-O-ed.
Like the recent federal survey. It sought to determine the cost for various common medical conditions and found out they vary enormously, depending on the hospital and the insurance coverage. As an example, they found that the treatment for urinary tract infections ranges in price from $50 to more than $73,000.
Wow. UTIs are the most common undiagnosed debilitator. Low-grade infections that rob you of energy. Especially in the elderly. But a $73,000 range in treatment options? At the expensive end, do they pluck the bacteria out one by one with gold tweezers?
Or maybe they use Pentagon forceps. Remember the scandal a while back with the $400 defense contractor hammers?
A lot of folks don't consider defense spending federal spending that's contributing to the dread deficit. For some reason if you're a clerk typist in a government office you're a taxpayer bloodsucker but if you're the CEO of Lockheed it's okay to slurp from the government trough.
My very right-wing Uncle spent his whole life working for the federally subsidized aircraft industry for higher than union wages and retired with a huge pension package, also subsidized by federal dollars. He's always screaming about all the money the feds overspend.
As an example, Lockheed gets 47 billion in government dollars. The US was responsible for 82% of their sales last year. You know. Private industry.
I wonder how expensive UTIs are that come from being P-O-ed all the time?
America, ya gotta love it.

1955 TSA Slapstick

It's amazing how the things we watch on TV when we're younger affect our lives when we're older. I thought of that recently when I heard about the good news for airline passengers. Just in time for the sequester, the TSA says we can start bringing weird crap with us on planes again.
Is it just me or does sequester sound like the submarine in that TV show from the 60s? Starring David Hedisen and Richard Basehart as Admiral Nelsen, it's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea -- in the Seaquester.
Or maybe it was a show about a cruise ship looking for port. Kind of a Love Boat slash Gilligan's Island spinoff. Starring Gavin McCloud as the knuckleheaded captain and Bob Denver as the goofy navigator. "Tune in to Sea Quester. It's high jinx at high tide, and all they find is slapstick, sidesplitting fun."
Anyhow -- the newly approved TSA items? You can now carry on small knives. Which is a relief since I've been doing that for years. I have a money clip that unfolds into a knife. I always put it in the tray but they never unfold it.
The TSA has also re-allowed us to bring on sporting goods. Cause, you know, pool cues are too precious to pack. The approved list also includes plastic bats, which had been banned before, ski poles, billiard sticks, golf clubs, and hockey sticks.
Hmm... I get the feeling they were never that much of a threat to begin with. But that one TSA adviser had overestimated their lethality. Perhaps because he spent too much time watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series. And had a particularly deep impression of the violent ex-hockey player character Casey Jones.
There's a guy who understood the power of slapstick.
Cowabunga TSA!
America, ya gotta love it.