Author: diane101

When I was born  Roosevelt was president, when I was in 1’st or 2’nd grade we had the Dewey/Truman election, we voted in our classroom, I voted for Dewey, I hoped I was right in that vote cause our family was Republican and I knew I would be quizzed when I got home.  Sure enough I was and got lots of praise for voting the right way…everyone was positive Dewey would win and what an upset that was.

I was alive when Truman dropped the bomb on Japan, I wondered what was so great about all of that, (there was a big picture in the paper of the mushroom cloud and everyone oohed and ahhed over that,  everyone said it was good so I believed them..Later on I came to understand it was not good, no matter the US rationale for same.

I was in grade school when we got under our desks at school for the survive the bomb blast drill.  Try growing up with that threat hanging over your head every day.  We lived in fear and dread to hear that siren go off, when it was drill day.  We all lived in dread and tried to be happy, but it was hard and we mostly thought we didn’t have long to live.

I was just 20 or so when Kennedy was president, he brought with him the dreams and we loved him for that and we had hope for a little while till the Cuba thing. Then he was murdered, I just starting out in my life when his was ended, it was the darkest day I’ve ever seen in America, up to and including the present.  The nation was in dark morning for weeks and months.

Then came Bobby, MLK and many, many others, they came, they rose up and they were gone, in an instant and we were left with their words and their dreams, and we dreamed the dreams, we still try to, we still try to hold onto them, but they seem always to be fading.
I was taught how great this country was and then I grew up to find out more about slavery, about the Native American, the Hawaii takeover,Mexico, and more and more and more and more and more,  all the way up to Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and of course Bush.

Now I can hardly muster an ‘I love this country’.
But yet I do not want to see it fail although there is a part of me that thinks (like AG) it needs to all fall down before it can be built up again.

There is knowledge in living through history, that can not be found in merely reading it.  I haven’t lived too long in the grand scope of things, but the 65 years that I have, have been quite something and some would say the most exciting of all the years of this country.
I have to say that this election, far out excites any of the elections I have been alive to witness, it is simply stunning.

We have our hopes and dreams again, we think we might have a chance, some think with Hillary,some think with Obama, I think we need both of them.  I know it will be a hard thing to decide, it will take a long time and I think we need exactly that, we need to take a long time to  figure this one out and no one should begrudge the time it takes.

I can remember conventions when the nominee was fought out there and were they ever exciting, even for a 17 year old, even for a 21 year old or whatever exact age I was.

Lately they all have been cheerleading competitions, not very interesting at all.

So I guess I just want to say, I’ve seen a bit of history in my life and I say just wait, you are gonna see a grand thing play out here.

The blog bitterness does not spill over into the real life so much, most folks are not tainted by what we  see on the blogs, so it will be worked out, maybe not to the liking of this site, but it will for the most part be the will of the people, not withstanding some of the people will have more pull than other of the people.

Now if it’s true as AG say, we got no say, then why are we arguing anyway…I still think we do if the machines work, I still think we have a chance, one last chance before it all falls down.

And I especially think we have a chance, just like AG says, with Hillary and Obama on the same ticket, I so wish we could have co-presidents right now, but absent that I’m not sure which way I would run the ticket..
In my measure of the past in the nomination area, this one isn’t so bad at all.  Scorched Earth, please.
I just wish the bitterness would subside, let them fight it out, lets worry about McCain for a bit.

I think I am channeling AG as I started this as a comment on his diary and it got way too long.

Let me end this by say, dear God, please Bless America, we need it.
And best wishes to all of you.

I just picked up this mantra template from Shirlstars yesterday and I want to share it with all of you.

It goes like this, when you want a different outcome from something, when you want a certain outcome from something, say or think something like this:

“Won’t it be wonderful when, the election is over and Obama will be President,”
or
“wont’t it be grand when the Left blogoshpere no longer hates or vilifies HRC.”
or
“won’t it be glorious when GWB is no longer President and can no longer damage the country.”

or it can be more personal like:

Won’t it be terrific when my daughter is going back to college, and won’t it be great when her family is functioning in a happy and prosperous way.

Or it can can have even greater range and scope as in:

Won’t it be wonderful and superb when the peoples of this earth no longer fight each other and every human being has the basic elements of a decent life.”

The thing is, it’s based on attracting what you wish to exist in the future, in your reality, the best, the most positive,  not what you dread, not the negative aspect..

Today I was in the grocery store and passed more than once a lady with 2 young children, each time I observed her being sharp and snapping and slapping the child’s hands.  I immediately said to myself, “won’t it be wonderful when that lady realizes how precious her children are and no longer disrespects them.”  The next time I passed by, she seemed different, more relaxed and more loving. Previously I would have focused on the negative that she was presenting, not the positive I wished to see.

Later in the car with my daughter 32, we began to list the many things that it would be so wonderful to think into being.  At one point she was stressed in traffic and I said “won’t it be great when you no longer get stressed.”  She immediately calmed…

This mantra is such that you can use whatever words you wish and fill in the subject with whatever is important to you. I can’t say it works for sure, but can it do anything but help, as many of us know that positive thoughts are better than negative.

So I invite you all to add your “Won’t it be wonderful’s, here and into your life.  What would you wish into being.    I am finding myself going about saying one after the another about everything today.  Won’t it be great when my plants are in full flower.

Big, giant thanks to Shirl for giving me this to add to my life, I hope it makes your life happier and more fullfilling as well.

Let us wish and think into being, that which is for the best and most highest purpose of all life on this earth.

Love to you all.

<center></center&gt
Hi Everyone, It’s been a long time since I hosted one of these wagons, so bear with me, I have forgotten how to do most things related to this, but luckily it’s coming back.

Any way, here’s the deal, you are all hereby invited to “tell us about you”, update us as to where you are in your life today, or anything interesting you have to pass on.

In case you do not know me, here is a little of my story.  I am semi-retired and living in socal near my family in which we have welcomed 2 babies in the last 2 years, another one due any day, another due in Feb. Yeah it’s a baby bonanza here for sure.
Up until December of this year I spent great gobs of my time playing the online game of World of Warcraft….any if there are any afficandos of the game on board here, my main character is a 70 mage, highest you can go at this particular time.  I have found that in some ways gaming is like blogging, you make friends from all over although the interaction is not as intense as blogging.  So if anyone is in need of a skillful mage with tons of powers, (I can render my opponents helpless with a blast of arcane powers), please call….lol.

Then in December I discovered knitting, and spent the next month doing just that to complete 8 neck scarfs,  following is a pic including jewelry I made.

Well I tried 6 times to upload a smaller pic (and now I am as frustrated as hell) and it never worked so I am hoping that the pic is not too big.(I found another site to upload pics, so here is thumnail)

So now the ball is tossed to you, and that means you and you and you and yes you over there hiding behind that moniter, come on now and
tell us about you.”

I was going to write this in the morning but the thoughts are whirling around my head and I can’t sleep so I will write it now.

I am shortly going to take a break from this site, but before I do that I feel the need, as one who has stood beside you, behind you and for you  these many months since the site began, to give you my frank assessment of the site and it’s problems.

My assessment is that the continuing problems have been as result of several things, your inability to handle situations before they get out of hand, your contributions to situations that help them get out of hand and your lack of having and enforcing firm rules.

 
I still wanted to give it the good old college try this weekend and see if I could help you come up with a better method of handling things here, so I did the diary and spent hours and hours on it yesterday. I hope you will find some things of value in the comments and the contributions from members.

By the way, the current rule ‘Don’t be a Prick’ (and especially if you keep it as such)  is in my mind pretty sad that a group of educated people cannot use a non gender biased genitalia pejorative to determine errant behavior, so I sure do hope you change that if nothing else.

I have an observation about swearing on sites that I want to share, that if people are using swearing to express themselves in their comments, then it’s pretty easy to take that same swearing and toss it around a little bit and have it come out loaded with venom aimed at other members.  

Also I must tell you I have a great problem with the recent fracas and your handling of the situation, your treatment of 2 members of the site that I thought was far beyond the pale and a horrible example of the site over something which you should have taken off site in the first place.  I think you need to reflect on all of that and hopefully  you will some day apologize to both the site and to those with whom you were so offensive.  This more than anything is leading me to take this leave.

Over these last few days I have had to weigh whether I could be on such a site or not and I find it difficult at this time to be involved based on the above mentioned fracas, so I am taking a break.  

Not being one to easily give up, I gave it a last ditch effort to help you bring some order to the site in the diary I did Sat. but now I am done.  I hope you find some value in the contributions members made.
I am just too tired of going through this and spending nights when I cannot sleep because I’m writing this kind of diary in my head.

I gotta tell you tho Boo, you are losing the heart of the site, bit by bit and I really hate to see that happen.
 

So, after four or five days of intense concentration and way to much typing on this site I think that will about do it and I can go and rest now.

Well I wish you and all members of this site well and hope you can solve these problems.

Well we sure had a big discussion yesterday about this subject but I am happy to say, no fights and no margin busting, so that is good.
The following is the last draft made by Vieravisionary based on what he got from the input of members yesterday.  I am posting here pretty much as he sent it to me last night, I did remove some lengthy descriptions and changed the word Prickish to Jerkish.

This is still a work in progress,what I would like to do with this diary is whittle it down a little, take suggestions for language changes and so on and come up with a concise message to post on the site that will exemplify the etiquette rules, this is what I have come up with so far for posting:

Cordial and civil behaviour is required and strictly enforced

The second part of this the QRT, or community board part needs further refinement and simplification.

Modification of Site Etiquette Resolution

It is hereby resolved that the site rules of conduct shall be that vicious ad hominem attacks are forbidden.
Vicious is defined as ANY use of profanity in an attack against another member, ANY suggestion that a person needs to seek psychological counseling unless they are asking for personal opinions and interventions from the community, and ANY SUSPECTED outing attempts. This does not mean that all personal criticism or joking is forbidden. It means that if you attack someone in a way that is vicious, as determined by community consensus, you will pay. You also may not engage in any other kind of jerkish behavior.  Jerkish behavior is defined as  . . . . [Still need to define this term], as determined by community consensus. Community consensus means the views of the site owner [Executive] and those with administrative privileges, in consultation with the Community Board.

The first offense shall result in a warning

Second offense shall result in a temporary blocking of the member for a period of twenty-four hours cooling down period.

Third offense shall result in a temporary blocking of the member for a period of two weeks  cooling down period.

Fourth offense will result in a permanent blocking of member’s IP address and membership.

A Community Board shall be nominated and elected (in a poll and subject to ? renewal) by the membership to serve as an arbitration body or to act and represent for the benefit of members as opposed to management, similar to the minority party in congress, and to act on the behalf of the Site Owner [Executive] when he is not present.

The Community Board will consist of ? elected site members. Age or length of membership shall not be limiting factors to election on the Community Board.  Maximum length on the Community Board will be ? months. The Site Owner [Executive] is not eligible to be elected as a Community Board member.
Six or more Community Board members can reach decisions by single majority vote and be allowed to take immediate binding action up to and including a two week time-out for a repeat offender. Six out of nine Community Board members’ votes (two-thirds majority) are required to recommend permanent banning of a site member and shall be to the Site Owner [Executive] for review or veto. There will be a minimum of ten days cooling off period for the entire Community Board and Site Owner [Executive], which may run concurrently with a two week suspension for the repeat offender.

A Quick Response Team (QRT) comprised of three Community Board members shall be able to recommend temporarily suspend a member from posting for twenty four hours.  
Enforcement of the rules for suspensions shall be strictly enforced.  

Such rules shall be prominently posted on site so that all are aware.

To all those that say what, more rules, I say we are modifying and clarifying site rules, which we have always had and members collectively wrote those rules before.  The biggest change is the consequence area for violations and the QuickResponseTeam set up.

FWIW after the pie wars and the influx, the founding members of the FBC, Froggy Bottom Cafe were very much involved in a QRT effort, and we used our Yahoo Group Site as the meetup and exchange place….what we did was put out a call when tempers were flaring and whoever was available and good at diplomacy would then try to soothe the problem.  It worked very well until I  took a break from the site.  Anyway,  I think we might use this model which worked out easily and simply.

So please lets continue the work in progress.
To Teach313, I am not sure how or if to incorporate what you want included in this so I look forward to hearing more from you in that regard.

Let me also add that we were able to organize and do quite a lot on this site previously and see no reason why that can’t be done again.  

Based on ths following interchange between Booman and I, I am posting this diary to ask for your views and suggestions on site rules.

I understand your point fully well Boo, however the problems to be seen are pretty visual to all of us.

Booman I have asked you this before many time and I will ask yet again, are you willing to make firm rules on this site (and not don’t be a prick cause that might include you at times) and institute a firm policy of temporarily blocking a member for infractions and then after that if a new offense comes up remove the privileges altogether.
It is my opinion that the repeat erruptions are always caused by those that caused the first, and while they remain on the site the possibility exists.  There are so many things we can no longer bring up on this site, for fear it will be misunderstood, witness, Janet Damnit and her diaries.
I am really feeling and I wish you would open this up to discussion in a separate diary that members would like to see this and it could make a great difference to the future well being of this site.
This is a critical time for action, rather like the whole Iraq mess, are you going to take a firm hand on this and get us out of this mess or are you going to allow this to continue to deteriorate?

Doorway to the ~~Village Blue~~ Come on over for a visit!
by diane101 (dianed101 @ yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 3rd, 2007 at 08:10:00 AM PST
[ Parent | Reply to This ]
* [new] Re: Open Thread (none / 0)
I am about to head off to take care of a few things and I will be offline for a while.  I don’t want people to interpret my silence as indifference.  I’m open to rules on suspension or other ideas.  

This particular problem should be solved.  There will be no more verbal abuse from this member and that is where it stands.

I’m fully aware that some people think I should just ban and be done with it.  But she has the chance, if she wants it, to either stay away voluntarily or to engage in a civil manner.  

If someone wants to set up a diary about rules I will look at it.  I find that strict rules cause more problems than they solve.  But combined with a flexible enforcement mechanism we might be able to tighten them up.

So I am presenting to this to you for consideration.  I propose that we act on this such as you would in Congress and prepare a resolution of

Site Rules of Conduct
It is hereby resolved that the site rules of conduct shall be that offensive verbal behaviour resulting in the injury either emotional or otherwise of any and all  members shalll be dealt with in the following ways.

The first offense shall result in a warning, followed by a temporary blocking of the member for a period of two weeks in order to have a cooling down period.

Second offense will result in a permanent blocking of ip address and membership.

Such rules shall be prominently posted on site so that all are aware.

A quorum of elders shall be nominated and elected (in a poll and subject to yearly renewal) by the membership to serve as arbritration body or to act and represent for the benefit of members as opposed to management, similar to the minority party in congress,and to act on the behalf of the site owner when he is not present.

So I am open to amendments and suggestions!
I call the meeting to order.

I just clicked on the New York Times and found this excellent and very lengthly article titled Legal System in Iraq Staggers Beneath the Weight of War.
There is not much to for me to add, except my feeling of disgust that here is one more example of what we have wrought.  Just today we were talking on Super’s diary about prison/legal system here in the US, well evidentally we can make even that a worse mess in Iraq.

Legal System in Iraq Staggers Beneath the Weight of War

By MICHAEL MOSS

BAGHDAD — In a cavernous room that once displayed gifts given to Saddam Hussein, eight men in yellow prison garb sat on the floor facing the wall, guarded by two American soldiers.

Among them was Abdulla Sultan Khalaf, a Ministry of Industry employee seized by American troops who said they found 10 blasting caps and 100 sticks of TNT. When his name was called, he stood, walked into a cagelike defendant’s box and peered over the wooden slats at a panel of three Iraqi judges of the central court.

In 2004, American troops detained Laith al-Ani, shown in a family photo. He sent his family a letter, above, from his detention camp, but they say they do not know why he is still held

The judges reviewed evidence prepared by an American military lawyer — testimony from two soldiers, photographs and a sketch of the scene.

The evidence went largely unchallenged, because Mr. Khalaf had no lawyer. The judges appointed one, but Mr. Khalaf had no chance to speak with him. Mr. Khalaf told the judges that the soldiers were probably chasing a rogue nephew and denied that the explosives were his or ever in his house. “Let me examine the pictures,” he insisted. The judges ignored him. His lawyer said nothing, beyond declaring Mr. Khalaf’s innocence. The trial lasted 15 minutes.

The judges conducted six trials of similar length and depth before lunch, then deliberated for four minutes. Five defendants were found guilty; one was acquitted. “The evidence is enough,” Judge Saeb Khorsheed Ahmed said in convicting Mr. Khalaf. “Thirty years.”

The United States established the Central Criminal Court of Iraq three years ago, envisioning it as a pillar of a new democracy. But like the faltering effort to create effective Iraqi security forces, the system for detaining, charging and trying suspects has instead become another weak link in the rule of law in Iraq, according to an examination of the justice system by The New York Times.

The stakes are rising. The court has begun sentencing American-held detainees to death by hanging, 14 this year.

Almost every aspect of the judicial system is lacking, poorly serving not just detainees but also Iraqi citizens and troops trying to maintain order.

Soldiers who have little if any training in gathering evidence or sorting the guilty from the innocent are left to decide whom to detain. The military conducts reviews to decide whom to release, yet neither Iraqi detainees nor defense lawyers are allowed to attend, according to military documents and interviews.

Tens of thousands of detainees have been released by the Americans, often under political pressure from the Iraqis, but American soldiers complain they are apprehending many dangerous insurgents again and again. At the same time, detainees are held for long periods by the Americans without being charged, in some instances for as long as two years.

Even detainees who are formally charged and brought to the Iraqi court have little ability to develop a defense against evidence collected by American lawyers and soldiers. Most defense lawyers are appointed by the court and paid $15 per case. Even if they are so inclined, they are largely unable to gather evidence because of the threat of violence. One American lawyer said that in 100 cases he handled, not one defense lawyer had introduced evidence or witnesses.

As an aside to this I was watching a show on cable last week, called “Off to War”, I believe and it was about a young soldier who was home on leave and sitting with his buddies having a beer and talking about Iraq.  What’s it like there, did you kill any Iraqi’s and so on and eventually the soldier said you know I think the only answer is to kill all the Iraqi’s.  “All of them his friend replied, how do you know who’s guilty of anything”. “We don’t”, came the soldier’s reply, “that’s why I say we should just kill them all.”  To their credit a couple of his friends said that was nuts and the war was a big mistake and so on, but just think how many others might just feel that way.

Shirl told me of this case last night and I thought I would post this for discussion.  I previously posted it as a news bucket entry, but the ramifications of this are such that I thought I should bring it out for discussion.  What do you think about this case and the possibilities for the future, for us, for the country and so on?  You just have to expect that this method is being used for more than just this one case.

FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

The technique is called a “roving bug,” and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.
What’s new:

The FBI is apparently using a novel surveillance technique on alleged Mafioso: activating his cell phone’s microphone and then just listening.
Bottom line:

While it appears this is the first use of the “roving bug” technique, it has been discussed in security circles for years.

Nextel cell phones owned by two alleged mobsters, John Ardito and his attorney Peter Peluso, were used by the FBI to listen in on nearby conversations. The FBI views Ardito as one of the most powerful men in the Genovese family, a major part of the national Mafia.

The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the “roving bug” was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect’s cell phone.

Kaplan’s opinion said that the eavesdropping technique “functioned whether the phone was powered on or off.” Some handsets can’t be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.,

This long article linked goes on to say the following:

Because modern handsets are miniature computers, downloaded software could modify the usual interface that always displays when a call is in progress. The spyware could then place a call to the FBI and activate the microphone–all without the owner knowing it happened. (The FBI declined to comment on Friday.)

“If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone,” Atkinson said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.

<center>
This time of year brings many memories flooding in, for most of us, of years past, especially for me it seems my childhood holiday experiences.  Family Man wrote a diary on Village Blue the other day that inspired me to share this story of one of my ‘Christmas past’s’ that I wrote last year and ask you to share your stories as well.
 

The house I lived in as a young child in Salisbury, Pa. was a dream and has been in my dreams for my whole life, I still walk the halls, climb the  the polished mahogany front stairs and clamber down the back one, wander from room to room and still see the beautiful tall Christmas tree in the “sun parlor.” In our house the tree never appeared for sister and I until Christmas morning, all lit and decorated with all the old German decorations saved and passed on for generations. Spread beneath was a picnic of presents all gaily wrapped.

The entire house would be decorated with pine brought in from the woods nearby, decorated with balls and bows, laurel from another spot in the mountains where it grew wild and sometimes sprayed with a touch of gold, all tied together with a beautiful big bow.
Christmas was a big deal in my family, perhaps from the German heritage, where Christmas was celebrated long ago and before it was widely adopted from, I believe the German Americans culture.

In the fall the candy making would be started, my family made pounds and pounds, grandmother even sold some/lots at Christmas (In fact there would be a steady stream of customers to pick up their orders as Christmas neared)…it went the full range, from caramels, fudge, toffee, mints, divinity, maple sugar candy, all the way to the families all time favorite. Fondant wrapped around peanut butter and then dipped in bitter sweet chocolate. No one could ever have enough of that candy, it was such a hit and no one but our family seemed to make it..

It was a very tedious project to make this candy, started out with boiling sugar, water and cornsyrup till it was soft ball stage, then pouring this molten hot liquid into cooled turkey platters. Once the mixture was cool to the touch, a spoonful of vanilla would be splashed on and then the turning began.
Butter knives were used to scraped and stir the thick sticky and clear mixture until it started to turn to white, just then you had to gather togther and form into balls before it went totally hard. Then wrapped in waxed paper it was laid on trays on the nice cold porch to temper..24 hours later and it was brought back inside to warm,soften and to be “worked”. That meant to squeeze and kneed until the consistancy was soft and pliable.

Now it was ready for the peanut butter dabbed in the middle of a little flat circle, rolled in your hands to make an egg shape and then placed on the cookie sheet to go back outside again for another cooling down period. When sufficiently cool it was dipped in the chocolate and then placed on cookie sheets again for the next trip outside…

After it was cooled again, it was carefully packed in canisters to be stored on that same porch until it was needed, most especially for Christmas.

In some ways you might say the preparations for Christmas went on for months as candy, cookies, fruit cakes, rum cakes and some pies were prepared in advance and we did have unlimited freezer space on that back porch.

On Christmas morning we would rush downstairs to find the beautifully decorated tree and as was the custom in our family, opening presents was carried on throughout the day…my favorite memory of presents was a box full of handmade clothes for a new Toni Doll, some of them hand knitted by my mom…I was enchanted and in some ways inspired to design clothes later on in my life.

Anyway, Christmas was wonderful for me as a kid, and the memories are always lurking in the back of my mind.

</center&gt
So that’s one of my memory stories, now tell us yours.

Just a tiny cafe, you know what to do….