Pet Shop Boys
We’re All Criminals Now

Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’ve changed
We’re all criminals now
Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’re blamed
We’re all criminals now

Just a routine procedure
(We’re watching you)
A sample of your DNA
(The things you do)
Queuing to be finger-printed
(You could be dangerous)
Going to the USA
Another routine procedure
(We’re on your case)
Driving in your car
(We’ve seen your face)
Stopped and searched and questioned
(Some place before)
Can you prove who you are?
Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’ve changed
We’re all criminals now
Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’ve been framed
We’re all criminals now

Hey, hey, hey
We’re all criminals now
Hey, hey, hey
We’re all criminals now

Got the bus to the station
Music playing in my head
Ran to get on the tube train
Police shot someone dead

Don’t ask me how We’re all criminals now

Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’re blamed
We’re all criminals now
Hey, hey
Don’t ask me how
We’ve been framed
We’re all criminals now

I have some non-PC comments, but I will let you have your own…

Why is anybody taking these people seriously. That is my question when it comes to radical political organization consisting of a minority of a group, but speaking in the name of the whole group.

Today I listened to my favorite podcast Democracy Now! and I heard this story:

So, curious I am, I started reading about the American Medical Association. Of course they are just an example of a systematic problem, where priorities are totally screwed up. Why would organization that is focusing on a salary of its members be at all concerned about the quality of the service the members provide. As long as they have a guaranteed business, everything is ok. And they do. People will keep on getting sick. The AMA and its members make sure that is the case by fixing symptoms instead of showing and helping people how to live a healthy life. Actually, the problem is that if you live a healthy life, that is one less client for the AMA members. So, no wonder they don’t want the system to change. Who cares about the 50 million uninsured in USA, where there are 250 or more million that happily pay their dues. Of course, the politicians have no problem participating in this scheme, since they get money from the drug and insurance companies. Also, how can AMA talk in the name of doctors, while it only represents about a sixth of the actual doctors.

As Ralph Nader points out, if USA would replace the current health care system with a single payer one, the same amount of money per person would pay about double of what other countries pay for about the same level of service. Just think about it. Is it really so much more expensive to be a doctor in USA than in France, Japan, or UK? If it is, well, US doctors should fix that. Other industries are trying to minimize the costs, why would healthcare be different.

Now, here are some typical complains people have against a single payer systems:

You have to wait to see the doctor

• Well, I clearly remember so far every single time I wanted / needed to see the doctor, I had to wait. For example, when I got a nasty wasp sting, I had to go to the urgent care center, where I waited about two hours fainting in the waiting room. The nurse came out to check on me every once in a while, but that was it. Also, to get a checkup to a dermatologist, I had to wait 6 months and to get a physical, I had to wait 4 months. 4 months for a physical? Why? Because schools have physical exams, so all the doctors are booked for like 4 months.

Government bureaucrat makes decisions on your health

• How is that different from the current system, except that the bureaucrat works for a health insurance, whose aim is to minimize the amount of money they pay. My insurance for example does not pay for STD tests unless you are symptomatic. Imagine that you contract AIDS and you are not symptomatic. Wouldn’t you want to know that ASAP? And this is just one example.

Single payer system would waste a lot of money

• As opposed to the $350 billion that is wasted now?

There would be no innovation

• Yes, if you slash NIH budget. But, are you saying there is no innovation in space exploration, aviation, weapons, etc?

Quality of health care would go down

• If the quality of health care is so great, then why is the life expectancy in USA lower than the life expectancy in most industrialized single payer countries. It is actually lower than in Israel and people in Israel are being attacked by terrorists.

And so on. Why are we even talking about this? The current system has been proven to be bad. Its cost increases three times the rate of inflation, the quality is at the lower end of the industrialized world, the emphasis is on fixing symptoms instead of curing disease, and finally there are 50 million people in this system that don’t have access to it. So, why does a minority of people with an obvious conflict of interest deciding this?

There are several politicians in the world that are just so boxed in their private universe that whatever they do is somehow justified. A typical examples are US politicians that support the coal industry. As a consumer of electricity in US, I am part of the problem. However, short of not using electricity and protest, there is not much I can do. These politicians, on the other hand, do have power to make the change. But they seem to refuse to do that. Cynic in me would consider this to be caused by the politicians being payed by the evil-doers, but I sure hope that the reason is that the politicians are just not informed. How could anybody sacrifice the parks, the rivers, the drinking water, the air, and so on and be complacent in destroying the world for their children and their children’s children.

To make my point even stronger, watch this video and consider these politicians.

Let’s start by saying I hate utilities. They all seem to get things done just a little bit annoying. Either they charge too much, or they take way too long to do something, or in my last case, they are completely incompetent and they should be taken to the mental institution.

SI&I Wireless

First I will rant about is the SI&I. This is a small little family owned phone company in USA that is unfortunately the only company that carries the famous Rutabaga rPhone. Since I really wanted that phone, I went to the SI&I store in Mountain View and place an order. How hard can it be? Well, not too bad. Since the wait for the phone was three miles down the road, I just placed an order and waited for the phone to come. Four or five weeks later, the phone was there and they gave me a call to come and pick it up. So I came there to get it. I scoped about 15 minutes because I already gave them most of information when I placed the order for the phone. However, the whole process took at least 30 minutes. And it looked like this was the first time they sold the famous rPhone that they were selling for the last year or so. But at least after all this, the phone works. Mostly… Except the famous 3G network is actually sometimes slower than the 2.5G. Also, sometimes in San Francisco I cannot send text message or make a phone call.

But this is nothing compared to:

SI&I DSL

I wanted to get broadband internet and being in San Jose, you have two options: cable or DSL. Cable is faster, but DSL is cheaper. Since I don’t really watch TV and did not want to get cable TV so I can have internet, I opted for DSL. DSL is a funny thing, since most companies still require you to have a phone line. Of course since I am already paying an arm and a leg for the rPhone and the stupid SI&I data plan, I did not want to get another phone. But tell that to the DSL companies. Finally I found out that Trulimit does not charge extra for DSL without the phone line. However, quick phone call to their sales center showed that deregulation of phones in USA is a complete farce. In any case, my second pick was SI&I with their proven track record. So I contacted them and they wanted my SSN. Why? No idea. When I setup a gas and electric service for my condo nobody asked about SSN. And the bill ranges from $50 to $150. So why does a DSL company with a $40/month service requires SSN. To do a credit check. Why? I think somebody should prohibit random companies like utilities, health insurances, etc to use SSN as anything. But seriously, why does DSL company need a credit check. If I don’t pay, they just disconnect my service. It is not like I will still the service or something.

So, after a lot of back and forward, I get the date when my service will be connected and they send me the DSL modem. The modem comes, couple of days later the service is supposed to be connected, so I plug the modem in and…. nothing. Ok, fair enough, they did not say when, so I wait until the next day. Next day, I plug the modem in and… the lights come on. Woohoo, I have internet… I thought. So I plug my laptop in and it gets the IP. Ok, I type http://icanhascheezburger.com/ in the web browser and I get bad connection or something like that. Found the neighbor’s wireless, open a chat with the SI&I tech support and they explain me I need a username and password. Of course. Excellent, now I am in business, so what is my username and password? Well, the tech support person explains me that I created a username and password when I signed up for the darn thing. But I don’t remember any username and password. But there is a solution. I can answer my secret question. Aha, I bet I know what that is. So, I start trying to remember all my brands of rollerblades, my favorite underwear, and of course those hard to pronounce ingredients in my favorite pasta sauce. Unfortunately the question was “Who is your favorite actor”. What? Why in the world would I pick that to be my question? I start naming some people and thinking how silly the whole thing is and of course getting it wrong every single time. So, more back and forward. Finally, after several chats and phone calls and some empty threats, they say I could fax them my driver’s license. What is up with SI&I and private information.

After faxing SI&I my drivers license they were more than happy to reset my password. First of all, the most important question for the SI&I tech. What is my favorite actor? Joe Rogan of course. Who the hell is Joe Rogan? Why in the world would anybody pick him as a favorite anything. So, I inform the tech that there has to be some misunderstanding, but he is more than happy to explain that it is all ok and the address is ok and everything. So, we continue and he tells me that my username is xxmurphy. This is even more odd, since I am not a Murphy anything. But the tech is still convinced that everything is ok. So he tells me the new password and helps me change the secret question to something more useful, like “When did you first time have a burrito?”, and “What color was your road rash after your first bike fall?” Finally, he asks me if he should send me the confirmation to my private e-mail, which is xx.murphy@washington-university.blah.blah.edu. I quickly inform the tech that this is not my e-mail and he tells me that: “Calm down Mr. Murphy, everything is ok.” Since I am still not Mr. Murphy, I get a little bit angry telling the guy that there is some problem. He asks me again if he should send me the confirmation by postal service instead to my address in San Francisco. This is when he realizes that there is something seriously wrong.

So, he apologizes and informs me that he will fix everything and call me back. He did just that and 20 minutes later I had my very own SI&I e-mail address and I was all set. When I came home, the DSL worked. It was not super fast, but at this point I was happy it worked at all. Of course it only worked for about a week and then it stopped. Calling an SI&I tech resulted in questions such as “Is your computer on?” and “Have you installed Vista on your PC?”. Telling the guy that none of that matters didn’t work, so I faked enough answers that they send the tech over. The tech quickly figured out that a different SI&I tech when fixing neighbor’s DSL disconnected my DSL since there was no dailtone. Note that I don’t have phone, so no dialtone. Also, turns out that they actually hooked my and my neighbor to the same phone line, which is why his DSL stopped working when my started. Well, the tech gives me his card explaining that SI&I are complete idiots and that if I have any problem I should just call him.

Since then, my DSL seems to mostly work, except I have to restart the DSL modem every once in a while. Also, the bills sometimes include credit from XX Murphy. Whoever you are, thank you.

Finally, the most recent one:

Blingcast

I decided to update my internet to something I could potentially watch HD movie over. The only company in my area (no monopolies here) is Blingcast with their 16 Mbps cable internet service. So I cave in and get that. Costs an arm and a leg, but it is fast. So, I go to their website and go through the ordering process. Right away, there is a problem. They say that I have to pay installation fee for cable, which is $30 and for internet I can do a self install for $10 or get a tech over for $100. I chose self install, but for that I need to be an existing customer. Call to Blingcast shows that the whole thing is messed up and that I either pay extra $90 or I first signup for the cable and then for the internet. Ok, what difference does a day make. So I request just the cable. Website, select all the options, try to chose “Purchase now”, or “Enter credit card”, but the only option is a live chat. So I pick that and now I am chatting with some random person that wants to sell me more services I do not need. After being on the chat for 10 minutes at least I have order in for the cable. Please note I had to tell the person over the chat pretty much everything I already entered on the website.

Couple of weeks later, I have cable. Woohoo, except all the channels are on weird places and TiVo does not get the guide data for them. Turns out I need CableCards. CableCards are some weird messed up way for cable companies to prevent people from using TiVo, since installing CableCards either costs money to get a tech over or it makes you want to shoot your brains out. Since now I am a customer, I order the internet for $10 self install and after another 10 minute chat with the person trying to sell me the same useless services again, I get the internet. Fortunately I don’t have to wait but I can just swing by the Blingcast store and pick up the cable modem. At the same time I pick up two CableCards not knowing that they are single stream cards (do they still sell those) instead of multi stream cards. Anyway, internet is up, but my TiVo only sees one tuner. Of course, it is a single stream card. So I took those back and got M-Cards.

Now I see both tuners, but no HD channels. So, I started a chat with the tech support and explain that I want to see SciFI HD and I only see SciFI in standard and broadcast channels in HD. The tech informed me I need the cable box. So I explained I have TiVo with cable cards and he informed me I need an HD-Card. I explain him that there is not such thing as an HD-Card and he said I need a more expensive plan and send me the web page where clearly my plan includes SciFI HD. So, he informs me that since my last name is not Murphy I cannot get SciFI HD. Ok, I made that last one up, but at this point I was so mad that I hung up on the poor guy.

So, this is it. I have internet that works, internet that works a bit less, but I have not cancel it yet, and cable that works but not all the services. Isn’t the word a great place?

Today is an International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is sad that in 2008 we still have to worry about this. But unfortunately today women are still prosecuted for anything from trying to apply for “men” jobs to trying to decide what to do with their bodies and their health. And they are still traded as objects.

Women are in several regards still treated as a secondary citizens. And this is not only promoted by men. There are several women who continue to propagate this stereotype. For example, the Kansas State Senator Kay O’Connor said publicly that “Men should take care of women, and if men were taking care of women (today) we wouldn’t have to vote.” But this is not an isolated case. Women in public commonly downplay the role of women. They are traditionally viewed as the mothers and house wives. And a woman with a career is seen as an outsider and tough.

The most recent example of perpetuating of the weak women myth that I can think of happened during the Obama’s first press conference. In the middle of financial crisis there were several men and women journalists asking tough questions about economy. Out of three women (compared to four men), one Lynn Sweet switched from the problematic economic crisis to talk about where Obama will send his kids to school and what type of dog he will buy. So, in the midst of the issues facing the new president, what this journalist finds important is the type of dog. I guess in her mind this is what women want to know. But this is just one example. If you want more example of perpetuating the weak women myth, just watch some women TV shows.

Finally, most weddings I went to, especially the religious ones, clearly stated that the woman will become man’s property with the wedding. If something is your property then there is no reason to treat it with respect. Te woman becomes an object and therefore it is ok to, well, do to it whatever you want.

So, society has to grow up and stop treating women as a secondary citizens. The society should condemn violence of any kind, especially when it includes physical or psychological torture. Also, any kind of notion that women are weaker, property, or objects, should be eradicated. This includes for both men and women participants of society.

But to wrap this up, let’s just make sure that we are nice to each other. Furthermore, let’s do something special today. For example, smile to a stranger, or hug somebody. And don’t forget to say some nice words to anybody you see.

Since I moved to California, I have been biking to work and around town. I still have a car, but since I hardly use it, it is on a good way out. Currently it is used as a garage for my road bike. Not the most effective use of a car, but hey, at least I don’t drive it.

I have a funny story that happened a while ago, but I finally happened to remember it again. One day I am parking my bike into my car and there is a note on my car. The note said that since my car was abandoned, it will be towed away. I had to explain them that my car is fairly new, fully registered, on a dedicated parking spot, has the tag of the apartment building, etc and I just don’t use it that often, since I bike to work. They responded by saying that if I go to vacation I should let them know. Explaining that I did not go to vacation did not help a whole lot. Eventually the person told me that since the car has so much dust on it, they could not see the apartment building tag. This was of course complete lie, since you could see the tag without any problem. So, finally they pretty much told me that I have to use my car at least once a week.

So much for the green environment.

After this incident I checked my lease agreement for the apartment and they actually spell out that you have to move car at least once every five days. What is wrong with this picture? I pay for that parking spot. My car is completely legal, I have all the papers, registration, insurance etc. Why do I have to move it? Anybody?

Looks like they are on to me:

A Notice From The Bureau of Public Anomaly Screenings

Date: August 7, 2032
From: The Bureau of Public Anomaly Screenings
Subject: A notice

Dear citizen,

As you may know, under the Public Screening Act of 2030, all citizens are undergoing routine checks for anomalies. We do so through the use of public sources only, aggregating and mining your digital traces.

According to our findings, which are accurate in 99.5% of all cases — thus legally qualifying as proof beyond reasonable doubt — we have come to the following conclusions:

- Your 56 Amazon book reviews and ratings: The choice of books reviewed, as well as the reviews given, lead our system to believe you have an above average interest in anti-governmental subjects. The associated review timestamps show high nighttime activity, which is often an indicator of minority behavior.

- Your 4,550 FriendFeed comments: Analyzing comment writing style and frequency, our automated system concludes there is a strong chance of an anomaly.

- Your 28 public Picasa photo albums containing 2,050 photos: Object recognition technology leads our system to believe you are likely to carry out criminal behavior. Additionally, facial recognition of other people in your photos allowed us to identify people you know, and we were able to take into account their online record as well.

- Your 38 blog entries, and 8,014 comments posted to other blogs: Clustering the subject matters of interest to you shows a strong correlation with subject matter clusters of past convicted criminals. Our system therefore concludes above average criminal intent.

- Your 6,600 upvotes and downvotes on social news sites Digg and Reddit: Your involvement in a large number of political threads, including upvoting of potentially anti-governmental or otherwise criminal material, raised a warning flag in our system.

- Your 3 YouTube videos recorded with a webcam: A thorough algorithmic speech pattern analysis shows signs of distress, which may point to underlying issues.

- Your 1 public social network profile: We screened your hobbies and interests and found 5 indicators of strong anomal and potentially dangerous behavior.

Additionally, we screened 45 other public sources and services, including public quotes by others made in regards to you in blogs, comments, social networks, and more.

With these findings in hand, we are legally permitted to, and did, request further personality data from your non-public digital records, including but not limited to your past emails stored with your webmail provider, your email drafts, your search history as far back as it was stored, your chat logs where available, your internet service provider’s record of your online surfing behavior, your private digital health record, and your shopping history with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as any other online stores you accessed via PayPal or Google Checkout. According to these 34,266 new digital data points accumulated, we have come to the conclusion that you have likely or are about to commit criminal activity, and we were forced to alert the authorities, who will proceed with further dealings.

This is an automated message. You have the right to remain silent. Please note anything you said on the internet in the past 35 years can and will be used against you.

with regards
The Bureau of Public Anomaly Screenings
Protecting Citizens Worldwide

Another vegetable on the long and growing list of evil vegetables. This time it is:

Thank nature the peppers, habaneros, and cilantro are still ok, so we can at least make the green salsa.

So, how about this, let’s stop the salmonella by not using animal products.

So, go Vegan!!

Why is the vegetable being vilified?

• Spinach
• Scallions
• Peanuts
• Tomatoes

To quote Dan Brook: “As with e. coli, the media seem to blame vegetables (spinach, scallions, now tomatoes), but the culprit is the farming of animals for meat, especially factory farming.”

Also, from Latina Viva Health: “…, animal waste can get into fields in the form of run-off from contaminated water supply systems and infected animals that sneak in and relieve themselves.”

So, go Vegan!!