I haven't been following the ports issue that's been in the news lately, but my wife started bitching about it so I had to look into to keep up with what she was saying. Of course it was all over after finding out what the deal is, I'm all in a wad over the thing, which is what I was trying to avoid.

A British company has been running certain aspects of port operations at selected cities in the US. That company has been acquired by a UAE company, and of course they will take over operations soon. The administration has ok'd everything, and some are in an uproar. Congress is working on a law that would make it illegal for the company to operate in the US, Bush intends to veto the bill, and my wife sees the beginning of muslim rule here.

I allayed her fears somewhat when I told her Congress could override Bush's veto, and it seems there are enough Republicans in a wad about the mess to do just that, so no need to worry. I couldn't believe she didn't know that Congress could do that if needed. That is why our system is set up the way it is, so if we were blind enough to put an ignoramus in the white house, Congress can limit their authority by passing laws to keep him from doing stupid shit.

Still, it could happen, if there are enough in Congress that feel obligated to be loyal to the president and allow this stuff to happen. Loyalty has no place in the government, cause when people start thinking like that their priorities have shifted from government efficiency to politics and power plays.

If this company is allowed to run our ports, the fears are justified because there will be muslim minded people controlling critical aspects of port entry into the US. I don't think it is a critical issue where terrorism is concerned, we have enough undefended border to let anyone through that really wanted to get through. Hell, we can't even keep people from crossing the Mexican border, how do we know for sure terrorists aren't coming in the same way?

I think the problem is that this company that is taking over is the problem, because it is a government controlled company, whose government is based on fundamental religious beliefs. That is the problem; isn't that the reason we decided our independence was the way to go in the first place? The danger is only compounded by the fact the religion is muslim based, a belief that mandates subjugation of persons not embracing their faith.

Enough said. I also have lots to say about the comments of the New Orleans mayor, that unemployed people need to stay away. He is getting flak for it, and I don't understand. The people that are giving him flak aren't using their heads. Why would anybody in their right mind want to put up with unemployed people? Well, it isn't unemployed people he was referring to, because anybody that comes to the city will be unemployed until they can find a job. What he really means to say, and the fact that he can't express himself is what he should be criticized for, is that he wants people to stay away if they don't intend to support themselves. That is a big difference. It isn't the employed or the poor he's referring to, it's those that intend to weasel taxpayer money for survival he is speaking to. When put that way, it only makes sense.

On another note, I'm out of control here in the house. I have acquired another computer, and since the boy is out of the back room, I have an extra port on the router. What have I done with this? I have a computer running off that extra port for sharing using DC++ hub software. I will be maintaining all my extra shit on that computer, which has four internal hard drives, and a 300GB external, with another on the way. All in all, over 600GB of hard disc space on this one computer, basically just storing shit like audiobooks, music and programs that I don't want to burn onto CDs or DVDs. If I were smart or organized I would have a backup system in place on a RAID system, but I don't because I don't want to hassle with all that. I'm going to be setting up another computer in the living room hooked up to the stereo for music, and I will be controlling them all from a central computer - the laptop or the main desktop - using VNC. My wife hates the thought of doing shit like that, it gets her thinking I am doing sneaky shit with them. Just this morning she asked me if I were doing something with the website she was on because it wasn't acting right. I don't have time for sneaky shit though. I have passwords set up on the laptop, and access restricted on the network because the kids don't have a clue, and would get into them just enough to fuck things up. I've tried to school them so they would know what they are doing, but it was futile. They saw every attempt as an effort to force knowledge on them, which a child abhors with a passion, at least our children do because we don't know how to convince them that embracing any kind of knowledge is a good thing.

I'm done rambling.....