Monday Musings - November 3, 2014

1. November. Really? What happened to October?

2. When the tree canopy disappears and becomes debris on my lawn, I know that winter is not far off.

3. I played golf yesterday--the best way to describe it was, cold. Somehow, even though I improved my score by 5 strokes, I was too cold to feel excited. The leaves were obscuring many of my balls on the course.

4. I was sitting in my chair last evening about 5:30 PM. It was dark outside. I'm not sure I enjoyed the light in the morning more than the light in the evening.

5. Election day is almost here (tomorrow) let's show the politicians and pundits what "We the People" want. No, let's show them what we demand in leadership! Vote!

6. I have to give a shout-out to the Homer, NY, High School Football Team who will play for the Class B New York State Championship next Sunday--it will definitely be better than any NFL game. I think the kicker will have a big game! Go Joel!

7. So what happens after dark now?

Comet

8. Daylight Savings Time returns Sunday March 8, 2015. Let the countdown begin!

9. For my space geek friends out there--did you know that comets stink? I mean really stink? They smell bad! Check this article about comet smells. Can you smell anything in space, anyway?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Wake-up Time in America

My concern over the future of our personal freedoms grows even more after reading an OpEd piece in the New York Times yesterday. 

The piece titled, Deceptions of the F.B.I. begins as follows:

If your Internet service goes down and you call a technician, can you be certain that the person who arrives at your door is actually there to restore service? What if he is a law enforcement agent in disguise who has disabled the service so he can enter your home to look around for evidence of a crime?

This is just one article in a series of revelations about how those sworn to defend us from the bad guys are themselves becoming bad guys. 

A New York Times article earlier in the week described about how the IRS confiscated $33,000 from a business owner without even the hint of due process. 

One business owner summed up the situation after trying to deal with the IRS as follows:

“I don’t think they’re really interested in anything,” Mr. Potashnik said of the prosecutors. “They just want the money.”

There are many articles citing police abuses confiscating cash and property from innocent Americans--again without any due process. In my article We Are Being Monitored--Everywhere, I wrote about the postal surveillance system and License Plate Recognition programs.

The problem? When innocent citizens are deprived of their financial assets or other personal assets the onus is on the them to defend themselves and that is expensive! If it costs $30,000 to recover $33,000--is it worth it? You bet it is! But often the legal costs can easily exceed the expected recovery. Even so, why should an innocent person have to pay anything to recover what is and was rightfully and legally theirs?

We are supposed to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure--that would be the 4th Amendment. Where does it stop? We are paying for all of this surveillance through our taxes!

Here we are on the brink of a  mid-term election and none of these issues have surfaced. We are mired in minor issues while our basic rights are being usurped by the very institutions chartered to defend them. 

Here's an idea--if agents of the government (e.g., IRS, FBI, police, Secret Service, DHS) confiscate money or property from innocent Americans--then that agency should pay all of the legal costs associated with the recovery. Something as simple as this will transfer the burden from the innocent to those who are making the accusations and rushing to judgment without cause. Currently, and I am fascinated by this, those confiscating the money and goods are protected from prosecution and paying restitution.

"We the People" need leaders who will correct these wrongs and defend our Constitutional rights! 

Soon, I hope.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Halloween Review

The main event has concluded, although I will be attending two more parties today. 

Halloween seemed very subdued in my area this year. All of the Trick or Treaters were off the streets by about 7PM. It was a bit sad. I am sure the numbers were down in the neighborhood where I spend my Halloween enjoying the costumes. 


The best costumes of the evening were really good. Makayla wore her Minnie Mouse costume through the neighborhood, but the best costume of the evening was an Orioles Bird costume.

Yea--Baseball isn't fully over! OK, it is, but it was good to see a replica of the Bird out gathering treats for next season.

Yes, it is November. Ugh. Daylight Savings Time evaporates overnight--I get an extra hour of sleep but lose evening activity time.

Well, at least Halloween was happy and there were more treats than tricks.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Happy Halloween

Dirt with Worms

The last day of October has arrived and with it the annual celebration of the harvest and goblins: Halloween.

We are having a gathering at work today and I'm bringing dirt--with worms.

Mmmm. Delectable!

I can already imagine crawling into it and wallowing around in it for a long time.

I'm not going to do the costume thing, but I do enjoy looking at the costumes that others wear. It is funny how people find costumes that reflect their personalities.

I wish I could take pictures of the costumes people wear at work--some are pretty funny, like the horse costume on guy wore last year.

We have two parties tomorrow--a kids party in the afternoon and an adult party at night. There will be another dirt with worms for the evening party.

It is time to party--responsibly!

Be safe. Watch for trick or treaters, and more importantly--stay sober! It's a jungle out there.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Baseball Season Ends

The  MLB season ended last night when the San Francisco Giants became the World Series Champions for the 3rd time in 5 years becoming the first team to win a game 7 on the road since 1979. Congrats to them. The road to the Championship that began in Spring Training during February has finally concluded. After 2,461 games, it all came down to last night and game number 2,462. I call it Game 7. Where one team is champion and the other 29 teams are unhappy.

Wow, there will be no baseball for the next four months. I will have to survive on hockey. Go Pens!

It is good to be finally through with the baseball season, I guess.

I am already preparing for next season. The dates for the Spring Training Trip have been selected--and it will include a golf outing this year.

I will probably really need a golf outing in March and golfing while getting my baseball fix--what could be better.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

We are being monitored--Everywhere

The disclosures last year about government monitoring of Americans, while sensational and much over blown, are nothing compared to what is really happening as state, and local governments as well as businesses increase monitoring of "metadata" and develop huge databases where no one truly has privacy.

I am reminded of one of my favorite sayings: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't after you." Joseph Heller wrote that line in Catch-22.

There is no way, it seems, to go off the net.

An article in the New York Times yesterday describes the increase in postal mail monitoring in the United States. The opening paragraph is below.

WASHINGTON — In a rare public accounting of its mass surveillance program, the United States Postal Service reported that it approved nearly 50,000 requests last year from law enforcement agencies and its own internal inspection unit to secretly monitor the mail of Americans for use in criminal and national security investigations.

Every time we use a credit card, make a phone call, send an email, or even drive on the highway; we are being monitored.

I have recently learned about a program that is especially frightening--License Plate Recognition, or LPR. An advertisement for a LPR system describes my concerns: 

The  Viper  ALPR  Camera  Solution is a standalone “All-in-one” plug-n-play DSP Based camera system, that automatically detects vehicle license plates for fixed installations up to speed of 30 mph. Using  advanced ALPR algorithms and simple web-based configuration  GUI, the Viper solution performs three functions in Real-Time (R/T): Analyzes the video input, captures vehicle license plates, and sends results to the hosted server over the network (local or cloud-based solution).

As if that isn't disconcerting enough, Maryland has a web page devoted to the Maryland LPR program. Every time we drive anywhere--we are being watched.

While I agree there is some utility in monitoring license plates and there is no expectation of privacy on the highways, where does it end? How long is this data retained? Who can access these databases?  Under what circumstances? 

Where does the monitoring stop? 

I guess I have questions. Why do governments and businesses need all of this data? 

And there is a lot more data being collected--monitoring citizens not suspected of a crime.

Someone needs to take these issues up and start ensuring our privacy is protected now and into the future.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Pair O' Kees

Ben with Chris on the Sofa

It was another one of those weekends when the number of dogs in the house doubles. 

Ben, Jeremy's dog came for a couple of days while they were out of town. Ben enjoys being at the house and treats it like his own. Even to the point of occupying sofas and chairs as the spirit moves him.

When Makayla and Ben are in the house, I call them my "pair o' kees," because they are both Keeshonden (or, for Americans, Keeshonds). 

Ben is truly comfortable at the house and becomes a member of the pack. And the pack includes both cats. The cats, Riordin and Louis, do not mind having Ben around. They don't run or hide like they do when some other dogs arrive--but everyone blends together.

One big, happy (sort of) family!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - October 27, 2014

1. Sitting around a fire last evening watching the night fall was an awe inspiring experience at the end of a full day. We have not done that much in the past--but we should have.

Burning Fire at Night

2. Burning embers on a cool autumn evening. 

3. I played golf again yesterday--my best round ever. It's not that great though, my computed handicap is still at the maximum of 36.

4. Football is winding down into the playoffs for high school and youth. I've been following the Homer, NY football team--go Trojans. On to the playoffs.

5. Smoke makes a fire linger long after it is gone.

6. People came to look at buying Kitty today--they test drove it for 40 minutes, but no sale--yet.

7. Read an article about possible links to cancer from the electromagnetic waves from my FitBit. Really?

8. Next week at this time we will be on standard time instead of daylight saving time. Translated--it will be darker sooner.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

I Had a Revelation

Thinning Tree Canopy

While enjoying the better than forecast October weather yesterday, I had a revelation.

If the weather was beautiful every day, I wouldn't appreciate the good days anymore because they would all be good days.

If there was not an autumn, I wouldn't appreciate the green leaves of the trees and the green grass of my lawn during the summer. As the season winds down and the tree canopy in my backyard gets thinner, I appreciate how thick it is during the summer. 

Autumn Flowers

I believe I could live in a tropical climate and never get bored--but I realized that living without leaves on trees for five months of the year makes me appreciate the leaves even while I am raking them from my yard.

The autumn flowers are also providing their last splash of color before the frost settles and robs my yard of their color.

I think I finally understand autumn. That doesn't mean I like it, but I appreciate how it makes me enjoy summer even more.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sunset over Annapolis

Sitting at dinner last evening at a restaurant in Annapolis, the sunset became a topic of discussion.

It was stunning scene as the setting sun painted the clouds with fiery red hues during our dinner.

I captured the scene as best as I could through the dirty windows of the restaurant. 

It was a great way to close out the work week and begin the weekend. I thought of it as the exclamation point at the end of the week. It was an inspiring scene.

On to the weekend.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD