Sneaky Microsoft Snake



Is integrity even a word anymore?  Have they changed the definition?  Character, decency, goodness, honesty and honor---that's supposedly the definition. It seems that it's so very hard to find an example of those traits these days. 

 

"What difference does it make?" as the oh-so-honest Hillary declared.  It makes a lot of difference to me. While we argue and wrestle with social problems such as restroom access, who can get married, the destruction of flags and history, our leaders and those that should be respected are manipulating, lying and in general sneering as they give it to us right up the old behind. Some of the lack of integrity is big and some is just the decline of having any degree of responsibility and conscience in small everyday choices.

 

Tell me why a man as brilliant as Bill Gates would allow or accept one ounce less than pure integrity in the running of his company, Microsoft. Mr. Gates has made money that most of us can't even read or grasp the amount when the number is written. Has he shared, has he done good things in the world? Well, yes, to his great credit, he has. Still, I think  a quote I read holds true, that one bad action can destroy a good reputation.  No amount of good, as far as I'm concerned, excuses despicable and underhanded behaviors.

 

So, I'm ranting about the latest actions of Microsoft in regards to Windows 10.

After months of nagging and pushing and trying to convince us that Win-Ten is exactly what we must have, it seems the NO that many of us have given is simply not acceptable. The sneaky Microsoft snakes chose the holiday weekend to put up some of their threatening and deceiving warning boxes.  More or less, You are scheduled for your Windows 10 update on ------- date.  In tiny letters, the option to change the date, which would actually give you an option to decline.  What's so sneaky?  Well, the red X up in the right hand corner of the box, the one that we are all completely accustomed to using to close out a nagging alert---if you click on that, you're scheduled for your update automatically.  As is the norm, it's not that easy to reverse updates and changes to your system. 

 

Can you avoid?  Well, fortunately, I've not been forced into the update. I went in and changed the update setting from automatic to manual. At least I will be asked (I think).  I can't testify, but have read that there is a download, GWX Control Panel that will block or remove the upgrade.  You would need to investigate more for yourself. 

 

It is so frustrating that we have to keep looking over our shoulder constantly for the low life un-principled s--t-heels of our world. We just plain will never spend enough of our dollars to satisfy the insatiable money monsters. It seems that the upstanding person of integrity that we can respect and hold in high regard isn't trending these days.

 

 

Where Did You Get That Mouth?

I will readily admit that I have quite a store of cuss words in my vocabulary and I wouldn't even begin to claim that I never drag them out.  It doesn't mean that a movie or tv program, music or performance of any kind that has a steady stream of expletives isn't offensive to me. I do somewhat agree with the old adage that a person who has an over abundance of swear words in their conversation, doesn't have many worthwhile words to exchange.  I also believe that like a lot of unpleasant vices, cursing becomes a bad habit. It's a short cut to making your feelings understood without legitimate vocabulary words.

 

Still, I'm dating myself for certain here---bad words used to be the ones that we had been scolded for saying as a child. There was the typical damn and hell and more colorful and forbidden ones. They were just words however.  The filth that seems to fill the television and literally our culture these days is way beyond mere words.  Since I don't watch an excess of tv programming, especially on HBO and such uncensored venues, I'm perhaps not the person to give criticism, BUT I am. 

 

Isn't it bad enough that we have to hear about any variety of personal malady that could befall a person---diarrhea, hemorrhoids, yeast infections, penile dysfunction and so on---we have to be bombarded with the nastiest of the nasty.  What in decency sakes has happened to the mouths and minds of the American culture? 

 

This would not be by far, the only example, however it's a program that I have watched. VEEP on HBO should be and is an extremely funny program.  I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she is an amazing talented comedian. Her mouth and the dialogue of this whole show is the most disgusting and foul I've ever heard.  Why do I watch?  Well, you start out by saying, Hey, this is funny. I can get past this language.  After a while though, you just plain can't.  Again, it's not just words. There are strings of words and explicit descriptive comments that I honestly don't get the point of. As a matter of fact, I must be old because sometimes the repulsive comments are things that if I get it, it's something that has never before in my most frustrated or angry or even dirty thoughts has crossed my mind. 

 

I understand that swearing has always been for emphasis, for shock value.  This show isn't the first instance of dialogue that made me wince and gag.  I'm sorry folks, there is no way that I'm accepting that normal everyday people not only use such language but express such sick thoughts in daily conversation and matter of fact ways.  I'm not sheltered, been around a lot of years, I've never heard anyone that I've encountered use this type of language. "Potty mouth" has a whole new meaning for me. This isn't English, this isn't language, this is sewage with a few legitimate words floating around. There is something very scary about a culture that blithely shrugs it's shoulders and spews out  filth instead of ideas, wit and personal exchanges of words. 

 

 

Who's Your Sugar Daddy?

 

Who's your daddy?  Well, of course, it's the big fat United States government.  A lot of us hard working taxpayers like to whine and complain about the non working, non tax paying, entitled Americans. Guess what? I don't know that any of us can say that we're immune to this monstrous money machine. The people's piggy bank.

 

The latest hot topic and issue is the North Carolina law about restrooms.  I realize that it's a complicated issue and that people have strong feelings.  Most of those feelings, however, aren't really about the name on public bathroom facilities.  People have all varieties of fears, prejudices and heartfelt personal morals.  The truth is that just because there's toilets in a room, doesn't mean that any more or any less perverts or bad guys will be there.  You're rubbing shoulders with demons and monsters everyday in the world.  It's your personal responsibility to take care of yourself and your children.  The hubby and I, in our travels for many years, have seen plenty of restrooms with a male and female, perhaps family sign on them. You either go in or you hold it. It's your choice. And when my three daughters were little girls, their daddy spent more than one restroom break, standing guard at the door. 

Here's the honest truth, folks.  North Carolina should and actually does have the right to decide how they will offer their public restrooms for use.  Do you know why there is such a huge stink (pardon the pun)?   They have the right to that choice as all the states do. They have THAT right and many more States Rights.  So, why have the states slowly lost their rights?  Because we have ALL let Big Daddy take over.  The US government is controlling and regulating, meddling and blackmailing  us with their supportive money.  They are ruling our schools, health care, businesses....  WE, not just the entitled, have allowed it.  Why in heaven's name would we be not supporting the schools in our states. Some say, "Well, some states wouldn't be able to afford as good of schools as others?"  Really? we should let the government tell us how to run our schools and take their money?

Just like all the things that Big Daddy has control of,  he gathers all the dollars that he can and it's never enough, then HE re-distributes it as he sees fit.  As usual, things don't get better, they don't improve.  We just ALL get equal crappier education for our children.  Why don't we states take care of our own business, run our own schools?  If we want better schools in our state, it should be our responsibility to provide them. As far as I'm concerned, the federal tax money should only be for the projects that benefit all the people, the federal infrastructure and highways, the federal parks and lands, not for Senator Joe Shitforbrain's bridge to the lovely new garden in his state.

So, don't go thinking that YOU aren't entitled, that you haven't become spoiled to the government creating what you think is the right environment for you and your family. We've got a sugar daddy and until we move out of his house, he's going to tell us what to do.

I do have to note, my state is Texas. If you think you're going to corner me up in a public restroom, perhaps you'll get a change of gender free of charge.  Grow up folks. Put your pistol...that is if Big Daddy says you can have it...in your pocket and go pee.

History Killers

 

It is not the right or intelligent action to attempt to murder, to erase history.  History is just what it is, not a movie or book to be rewritten, made to be what any one individual wishes. Maya Angelou said, History despite it's wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage need not be lived again.

 

The bodies in the picture are dead confederates in front of Dunker Church, at  Antietam. Were each of these men some kind of monster to be not only killed, but their deaths erased from history?  No, they were mere men, they were Americans, they had families that loved them. Not every soldier that fought for the South was a slave owner and abuser and not everyone fought for the motive of keeping slaves.  There were many reasons, both political and personal for that despicable page of history to be acted out.  The horrible battle between brothers and kinsmen is burned in America's history.

 

History is supposed to be a lesson to be repeated over and over with the hope of something being learned from it.  Yet, we have a real strong movement in our country these days to either re-design history to please only particular groups or to completely obliterate certain historic facts.  As seems to be the usual---I'm not sure if it's the characteristics of democracy or is it the character of the folks living under democracy---our differences send us hurtling to far extremes, only rarely are we able to come to the middle and make a compromise.  Instead of walking slowly toward the center and finding a middle place to stand that is not harmful to each other, we must tug and pull from the fartherest point, refuse to even gaze on the middle ground. Often, ranting and battling until one side is completely annihilated.

 

Such is the latest battle to remove the confederate flag from existence.  Now, that flag doesn't mean the same thing to me that it does to many.  I'm a proud to be native Texan and I consider myself to be a southerner.  The flag represents a lot of things to me, ancestors, a certain time and way of life. BUT, I have to say that these days when I see a rebel flag, I have very negative and bad feelings.  I respect the painful and evil things that it signifies to a population of this country. It seems to me that to publicly display that flag is a deliberate effort to offend and hurt others. 

I whole heartedly agree, just as I agree on the true separation of church and state, that places where ALL the people are allowed, where ALL the people have paid their taxes to support---those places, including our schools should be free from any one religion or things that would be offensive to certain cultures.  And that law should be applied to ALL.  

What I do not believe is that the American flag in any way falls in the forbidden category. The stars and stripes represents the country that it flies over and the exact precise rights that the country guarantees.  Where we start getting way out in the weeds, is when we muddle the public rights with private rights. 

If I bury someone in a private cemetery, I HAVE the right to fly the confederate flag,  even on a pole in my front yard.  Even though I think it's despicable, I do have the right. Private clubs and organizations,  private property, as far as I'm concerned all private businesses,  have the right to exclude or not serve or not allow who ever they choose.  No one is forced to join or eat or play golf or whatever at a particular place.

What does this have to do with history?  The wiping away of the offensive flag is part of the overall campaign to ban and change the history books and any statue or sign or memorial that might exist to honor one side of the fallen in an American horror story of inner conflict.  History and freedom cannot be controlled by only one like minded group.

If you don't like Mexican food, don't go to the Mexican restaurant and raise hell because they won't serve you Spaghetti. You have the amazing freedom to go find you some meatballs. There's something called the constitution that says and freedom for ALL.  Do, be, live, worship anything that you please, embrace your culture and your race, cherish your ancestors and their memory.  Don't tell me not to be a white, American, Texas girl with a twang, eat my Mexican food, drink my bourbon, wear my boots or fly my flag. Don't tell me not to say "God bless you" or "God bless America."  I'll stay in my yard and you stay in yours. If I'm invited to your yard, then I'm there by your hospitality and that is part of the old southern courtesy that the shameful rebel flag reminds me of.

Don't mess with Texas, the US flag or written history.