Good morning.
I’ve been busy fixing an issue with photo galleries. What a pain. WordPress – the CMS I use – updated to the latest version, the developer of the module that pulls the albums from my Flickr account decided to stop supporting the module code. So, every page where I’d used the module had to be updated. There were dozens of them. I’ve spent about 9 hours yesterday and today fixing broken pages. What a royal pain in the ass.
I think everything is working again – although I’m not happy with the workaround. I’m not sure how I’ll handle it going forward.
Liza and I are both doing better. Liza is back to eating and drinking normally – and demanding treats on her schedule. What can I say? She’s a diva. I still have good days and bad days. I think I’m crossing into the more good than bad. I’m happy about that.
I’ve been keeping pretty busy with work stuff. When can I retire? Some days that magic date can’t come fast enough.
There’s also been a lot going on in the world this week and that’s taking a lot of my brain power. To get it off my chest, here’s my thoughts on some of the major events unfolding:
Afghanistan
After twenty years in a war with the Taliban, costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars, Biden decided to pull all of our troops out of Afghanistan.
The Taliban is quickly re-claiming real estate, with little resistance from the Afghan military. Go figure. Many of the assets we gave Afghanistan are now in the hands of the Taliban. Smooth move.
The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has fled the country with his tail between his legs, abandoning his people while the Taliban took control of the capitol city of Kabul.
Afghanistan will likely, once again, become a safe haven for terrorist groups. Lord help us.
Biden is sending 5,000 troops to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghanis who helped the U.S. over the years.
I remember another war when this happened. It was April of 1975. I was a senior in high school. I watched the fall of Saigon. We abandoned our friends and left the Vietnamese people to suffer under a ruthless dictator Pol Pot.
This is Biden’s Saigon.
I pray for the people of Afghanistan.
Where’s Biden? Ummm…napping on vacation.
New Terrorism Threat Warning
The Department of Homeland Security issued a Terrorism Threat Bulletin on Friday. Although the main reason for it is the upcoming 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. They’re also mentioning home-grown terrorism due to the COVID activities.
I’ve posted the bulletin here: Terrorism Threat Bulletin Issued by DHS.
It may be time to check your food stores and other supplies. Oh, and keep an eye on your neighbor. The feds say you have to do that.
COVID 19
No, COVID is not going away. The delta variant of the disease is causing increases in infections and hospitalizations. Younger people are being infected, including children.
There’s also data indicating the vaccine is not stopping it. For example, the Moderna vaccine, the one I took, is now only 76% effective against the variant. Fuck me.
The surge is a concern. Hospital ICUs in Oklahoma are full.
Biden is threatening federal mask and vaccination mandates. Totalitarian government at its best.
Newsflash, Joe. Mandates DON’T WORK!
People need to be adults and do what’s right. For me, anyway, I’ve been vaccinated, but I’m still wearing a mask when I’m in public. If I get this shit again, it will probably be fatal. I’m not risking it.
My advice is to get vaccinated if you can and wear a mask when you are around people you don’t know. Let common sense dictate your action.
Trillions of Dollars in Government Handouts
Approximately 4.7 trillion dollars in government handouts and pork are currently bouncing around in Washington. Yes, trillion. Under the guise of “infrastructure”, little of the funding in these bills will actually go towards infrastructure. And the black witch, Pelosi, is going to try and push both bills (one for $3.5T and one for $1.2T) through congress. Passage of these bills will basically give the democrats an open checkbook to fund their pet social programs and special interests.
What about that bridge? The highway repairs? Fortified electrical grid? Don’t hold your breath.
Apple to Join the Big Tech Spies
I guess you’ve heard that Apple is now making plans to scan images uploaded to their cloud service looking for child abuse photographs. If found, they’ll lock your account and notify the authorities. I know: Microsoft, Google, DropBox and various other photo storage platforms have been doing this for ages. So what’s the big deal. The difference with Apple is they’re going to scan your iPhone, iPad and Apple computer – your hardware – before images are uploaded. Not after. This is causing privacy advocates to come unglued.
I applaud Apple for taking action to discourage using their storage platform for illegal activity. But, they’re going about it the wrong way. The method they’re planning to use violates users privacy and they are only one click away from including more than just child porn in their searches. A slippery slope.
I’m all for going after the illegal porn scumbags, but throwing away everyone’s privacy rights in the name of protecting our youth isn’t the way it should be done. We gave enough of our rights away with the Patriot Act and the election of Joe Biden. For now, just remember this: electronic communications are NOT secure. Note even at Apple.
I think that’s enough for today. Enjoy the sunshine, stay safe, and take care of each other.