Who is really responsible for the murders in Orlando?

As I listen to news reports and the talking heads that wish to assign blame to others for a myriad of irrational reasons; we have only ourselves to blame for these preventable, dastardly deeds. Yes us! The politicians that pander to the NRA, the NRA and their supporters demanding the right to own military assault weapons, and the rest of us who stand by and let them have their way. We are all culpable for pulling the triggers that cause countless deaths and intolerable suffering to those who lost loved ones, and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our infantile demands and selfish desires for promoting or allowing unfettered gun purchases.

Those who demand their rights and those that  tolerate this position for the sake of the obsolete second amendment to bear arms are equally culpable as the deranged radical Islamist that perpetrated the Orlando massacre. Do you really think the government is going to

sell you F-35’s to level the playing field? Your muskets and assault weapons may as well be made of chocolate. They will not serve to overthrow an unjust government, although I do believe in your right to revolution in these times of selfish, power hungry and discompassionate governor's that do deserve to be overthrown.

But can’t we understand that demanding unfettered gun rights has led to disastrous consequences to many of our fellow Americans; god-loving, decent, honest and hard-working people like ourselves whose losses would grieve the most hardened among us.

For the love of God and our neighbors, assault weapons must be banned. What real sacrifice would compare with saving the life of a single child or any innocent citizen? Dig deep and rebuke self-serving politicians in need of NRA backing and the NRA lobbyists that serve only  their selfish interests. They do not have our well-intentioned interests in mind. Do the right thing and stand up for humanity. And not those whose livelihood or childish predilections is dependent on military assault weapons.

Microsoft, Indian-Giver

I received an email from Microsoft informing me that they were reducing the amount of free OneDrive (cloud space) from 15GB to 5GB. It goes on to say “As a result of these changes, you will be over your OneDrive storage limit on July 13, 2016 (visit the Storage page to check your account). You can learn more at our FAQ. To ease this transition, claim a free one-year subscription to Office 365.”

This is a new low even for Microsoft. I mean no offense to Native Americans, but isn’t this an offensive case of corporate Indian-Giving? Being from the state of Washington, it is all too reminiscent of the land grab the U.S. imposed on Chief Seattle that gave rise to his famous oration - a must read.

Have you no shame Microsoft?  

Shorebird Nonense

If God does Willet...
One can Tern to Him anytime.
So now let Osprey.

Government Sanctioned Extortion

60 Minutes re-aired a story about the exorbitant cost of cancer drugs.  They exposed one new drug costing over $10,000 per month that boasted extending the life expectancy of the afflicted by, on average a whopping forty-two days; that is for those that could afford the price.

Even more egregious is that Congress protects and sanctions prescription drug companies with laws that forbid Medicare from negotiating drug prices while most countries around the world are empowered legally and morally to do so.

How is it that these Congress enacted laws are different from racketeering? What is the difference between a nefarious criminal threatening bodily harm or death if one doesn't comply with their bankrupting terms, and the laws Congress has enacted and continues to sanction? Would someone please split that hair with the American people and me?

What the world needs are intelligent water management systems

The news informs us of devastating floods in Texas and Oklahoma, inundating homes and drowning and destroying their inhabitant's lives. Contrariwise, the drought in California has forced farmers, responsible for crops depended on by people all over the world to resort to extreme measures to save their farms.  So many wells have been drilled that in some areas salt water is seeping into the ground water. The resulting increase costs for vital nourishment affects us all, This is not just an American problem, Aquifers are being depleted all over the world.

Although our government debates the merits of oil pipelines spanning the width of our country, with possible devastating ecological consequences, there are no plans to intelligently divert water from flood lands to where it is so desperately needed.

How can this most vital problem be too difficult to solve when innovative companies are exploring technologies to mine asteroids and produce self-driving cars?

I challenge Google, IBM, GE and others to work together to resolve this most significant problem, and to encourage governments all over the world to invest in the creation of intelligent water management systems that equalizes nature's haphazard distribution of water.

The Israeli Arab Conflict

The seemingly endless Israeli-Arab conflict is the proverbial example of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” - the infinite loop of avenging the revenged. It is an affront to all versions of the biblical commandments, and the epitome of the definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. More confusing than Hamas pursuing a strategy of self-annihilation is Israel’s policy of building settlements on Palestinian lands. As reported by 60 Minutes, the retaliation of five hundred Arab children deaths (in the last conflict) for every one Israeli child murdered is unconscionable; albeit one is too many.

Have the Zionists morphed into their worst enemy? One cannot but compare the Israeli imperialism and brutal retaliations to the Nazi justification of Lebensraum (Living Room) and the heinous policy of lining up fifty innocents against the wall and machine gunning them in retaliation for the murder of a single Nazi soldier or sympathizer?

Perhaps the most unsettling reality is that hatred is inherited from generation to generation ad infinitum. Even if all conflicts ended today, it would take many more generations for meaningful forgiveness to be realized.

Being from a neighborhood on the Flushing-Jamaica border, not some, as the pajoric euphemism implies, but all of my friends were Jewish. Some shopkeepers had numbers tattooed on their arms, which I found quite curious until the book “Adolf Eichman,” whose back cover depicted a photo of a mountain of bones, edified its meaning. As such, this goyem was welcomed at every Jewish household I entered, albeit after being questioned about my heritage.

I was invited to the festivities at the Hillcrest Jewish Center but remarked it didn't seem Kosher partaking since I wasn’t Jewish. My friends insisted it didn't matter, and to appease my guilt-ridden conscience, renamed me from Tornambe to Tanamski. I recounted this affection and enduring loyalty to American Jews as a prelude to an encounter I had in Germany with a Norwegian. I asked how he felt about the Germans. He said, “we don’t like them.” I asked “why?”, he replied,“because they occupied our country.” I retorted, “but that was forty years ago.” Torleif thought to himself for a moment and responded “It is going to take a long time.”
It is my most sincere hope both sides recognize the futility of their repetitious, lethal actions and for the sake of their great grandchildren adopt a mutually fair, beneficial and lasting resolution to this self-debasing conflict.
Where is the Middle East incarnation of Gandhi or Martin Luther King when you need one?

Has 60 Minutes Missed the Point About Hacker Intrusions?

As a veteran  IT specialist, who scrutinized reported allegations as to whom the perpetrators of the Sony cyber assault were, I must conclude all conjectures are at best cloudy.

What is crystal clear however is the gross negligence of some American companies and our government in protecting our privileged, most sensitive personal information.

The other day I received a letter from Anthem, the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross/Shield’s association informing me my personal information was now in the hands of hackers, who penetrated the security they now have unapologetically taken measures to prevent.
One must wonder why Anthem made no attempt to comply with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), laws enacted over twenty years ago to prevent such nefarious, devastating disclosures? Why wasn’t our data encrypted? It is a very simple and inexpensive process. And why hasn't the government agency (Health and Human Services), supposedly overseeing HIPAA who contends it performs audits with regularity, taken the time to uncover Anthem’s blatant violation of patient’s rights and imposed appropriate fines?

Ask not who the culprits that stole your most private and precious information are, but what so many arrogant, criminally negligent American companies along with our government's complicity and heedless disregard of our privacy rights should have taken measures to prevent it,

I was contacted by a representative from 60 Minutes informing me they were considering including portions of my letter for their "Mailbag" section. Sadly they were intent on only using my audacious claims stated in the first two sentences without publishing supporting logic submitted the following reply: "What I admired most when 60 Minutes first aired was the role your forebears assumed as spokesman for the voiceless people against the greed and injustice our government was unwilling or unable to uncover. You filled the most important role as guardian of the people; with astonishing results. My motivation for writing this letter was in the same spirit of exposing social injustice, with the aspiration that like positive change could be affected; the avaricious perpetrators and political complicity brought to bear in the court of public opinion. By excerpting only the first two sentences without supplying context dilutes my (and once your) altruistic message for the greater good.  Although I am willing to accept the diminution of my intent, I can only hope 60 Minutes will consider revisiting the Anthem debacle and exposing this troubling, unacceptable affront to countless members of our society - as only your correspondents can so deftly do.

Thank you for your kind consideration with this matter."

Their response was:

"Thank you for your note.  Given your feelings about the diluting the context of your note, we will not use it on our letters segment this week. Once again, thanks for writing.  We appreciate – and read – our mail."

Your comments are most welcome.