When I was a little girl, I would request Lotus Land from my dad. Sometimes he would say yes. I think this was one of the hardest pieces he played, and he played it well.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
85 ways to avoid running afoul of the FBI
I found this on Fox News:
"The lesson here is that if you visit an airport, stay in a hotel, drink coffee at an Internet café, play paintball or in some other way interact with one of the presumed legion of Halloween G-men in the American public, a full-fledged FBI investigation is only one phone call away. In light of this fresh peril necessitated by the threat of totalitarian ideologues, TakePart presents 85 behaviors to avoid if you want to stay off the FBI’s lists of terror suspects:
"The lesson here is that if you visit an airport, stay in a hotel, drink coffee at an Internet café, play paintball or in some other way interact with one of the presumed legion of Halloween G-men in the American public, a full-fledged FBI investigation is only one phone call away. In light of this fresh peril necessitated by the threat of totalitarian ideologues, TakePart presents 85 behaviors to avoid if you want to stay off the FBI’s lists of terror suspects:
1) Do Not: Use Google Maps to find your way around a strange city.
2) Do Not: Use Google Maps to view photos of sports stadiums.
3) Do Not: Install online privacy protection software on your personal computer.
4) Do Not: Attempt to shield your computer screen from the view of others.
5) Do Not: Shave your beard, dye your hair or alter your mode of dress.
6) Do Not: Sweat.
7) Do Not: Avoid eye contact.
8) Do Not: Use a cell-phone camera in an airport, train station or shopping mall.
9) Do Not: Seek to work alone or without supervision.
10) Do Not: Appear to be out of place.
11) Do Not: Have bright colored stains on your clothing.
12) Do Not: Be missing any fingers.
13) Do Not: Emit strange odors.
14) Do Not: Travel an “illogical distance” to do your shopping.
15) Do Not: Have someone pick you up from a beauty supply store.
33) Do Not: Act impatient.
16) Do Not: Be nervous.
17) Do Not: Be a new customer from out of town.
18) Do Not: Use a credit card in someone else’s name.
19) Do Not: Chant environmental slogans near construction sites.
20) Do Not: Enter a construction site after work hours.
21) Do Not: Rent watercraft for an extended period.
22) Do Not: Make comments involving radical theology.
23) Do Not: Make vague or cryptic warnings.
24) Do Not: Express anti-U.S. sentiments.
25) Do Not: Purchase a quantity of prepaid or disposable cell phones.
26) Do Not: Leave store without preprogramming disposable phones.
27) Do Not: Be overly interested in satellite phones and voice privacy.
28) Do Not: Ask questions about swapping SIM cards in cell phones.
29) Do Not: Ask questions about how phone location can be tracked.
30) Do Not: Rewire cell phone’s ringer or backlight.
31) Do Not: Express out-of-place and provocative religious or political sentiments.
32) Do Not: Purchase a police scanner, infrared device or 2-way radio.
33) Do Not: Act impatient.
34) Do Not: Drive a vehicle that appears to be overloaded.
35) Do Not: Depart quickly when seen or approached.
36) Do Not: Be a person “acting suspiciously.”
37) Do Not: Make illegible notes on a map.
38) Do Not: Take photos of the Statue of Liberty or other “symbolic targets.”
39) Do Not: Overdress for the weather.
40) Do Not: Ask questions in a hobby shop about remote controlled aircraft.
41) Do Not: Demonstrate interest that does not seem genuine.
42) Do Not: Request specific room assignments or locations at a hotel or motel.
43) Do Not: Arrive at a lodging with unusual amounts of luggage.
52) Do Not: Make notes that are illegible to passersby.
44) Do Not: Refuse cleaning service.
45) Do Not: Avoid the lobby of a hotel or motel.
46) Do Not: Remain in your hotel or motel room.
47) Do Not: Leave your hotel for several days, then return.
48) Do Not: Leave behind clothing and toiletry items.
49) Do Not: Park your vehicle in an isolated area.
50) Do Not: Be observed switching a cell phone SIM card.
51) Do Not: Be observed using multiple cell phones.
52) Do Not: Make notes that are illegible to passersby.
53) Do Not: Communicate through a PC game.
54) Do Not: Download “extreme/radical” content.
55) Do Not: Exhibit preoccupation with press coverage of terrorist attacks.
56) Do Not: Wear a backpack when the weather is warm.
57) Do Not: Speak to mall maintenance personnel or security guards.
58) Do Not: Make racist comments.
59) Do Not: Mumble to yourself.
60) Do Not: Pass along any anonymous threats you may receive.
61) Do Not: Discreetly take a photo in a mass transit site.
62) Do Not: Arrive with a group of people and split off from them.
63) Do Not: Demand “identity privacy.”
65) Do Not: Make bulk purchases of meals ready to eat.
66) Do Not: Arrive in America from a land where militant Islamic groups operate.
67) Do Not: Take a long absence for religious education or charity work.
68) Do Not: Travel to countries where militant Islam rules.
69) Do Not: Study technical subjects that would aid a terror operation.
70) Do Not: Work in a field that “serves as a cover for preparing for an operation.”
71) Do Not: Exhibit ire at global policies of the U.S.
72) Do Not: Balk at providing “complete personal information.”
73) Do Not: Provide multiple names on rental car paperwork.
74) Do Not: Receive an unusual number of package deliveries.
75) Do Not: Replace rental property locks without permission.
76) Do Not: Modify your property to conceal storage areas.
77) Do Not: Fail to pay rent for a storage unit in a timely manner.
78) Do Not: Inquire about security systems at your storage facility.
79) Do Not: Place unusual items in storage units or dumpsters.
80) Do Not: Avoid contact with rental facility personnel.
81) Do Not: Access storage facilities an unusual number of times.
82) Do Not: Request deliveries of items directly to a storage unit.
83) Do Not: Be part of a group requesting identical tattoos.
84) Do Not: Request tattoos that could conceal extremist symbols.
85) Do Not: Fly while appearing to be Muslim on September 11 of any year.
The FBI flyers include a disclaimer following the list of terrorist behaviors, right above the Anti-Terrorism Tip Line number.
NOTE: It is important to remember that just because someone’s speech, actions, beliefs, appearance, or way of life is different; it does not mean that he or she is suspicious.
For emphasis, the FBI sets off this note encouraging tolerance in italics, the typographical equivalent of a wink."
Saturday, May 5, 2012
NSA Spy Center slated for completion Sept 2013
Welcome to the Totalitarian States of America. "Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named Utah Data Center is being built for the National Security Agency. A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013. Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.” It is, in some measure, the realization of the “total information awareness” program created during the first term of the Bush administration—an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans’ privacy." Hat Tip brasschecktv via wired.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Kate Upton "cat daddy" dance banned from You Tube - video
Apparently You Tube banned this video, but reinstated it with a restriction for no viewing under age 18.
All of you underage readers, close your browsers RIGHT NOW. I MEAN IT!
The rest of you, feel free to click.
All of you underage readers, close your browsers RIGHT NOW. I MEAN IT!
The rest of you, feel free to click.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
American children hiding from killer jihadists - no joke
"If someone comes in our house and kicks in our door, and you hear a bunch of noise, I want you to hide. And if you hear me screaming - if you hear me screaming and crying, stay hiding because I'm much more worried about you than I am about myself." -instructions American mother gave to her children recently.
Speak Low - Tuesday Tunes
Here is another song I heard for the first time at my dad's house. Tony Bennett and Norah Jones sing it in Duets II. This version is nice as well.
