Two Fat Ladies Were A Delight

"Two Fat Ladies," was a late 1990s BBC produced television show about food. Highly popular in Britain, the show also was shown on American television on the Food Network, which is where I saw the show originally. It also aired in Australia, on the the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (by the way, the mother of Clarissa, one of the ladies, was an Australian). The two ladies, who were literally two fat ladies, often went against political correctness; obviously, even with the name of the show, and the two made little remarks about their weight in some episodes. Clarissa Dickson Wright, the younger of the two, did not shy away from mentioning her days of heavy drinking in the past. They were both Catholic, and they talked in general ways, at times, about religion in their lives, although Jennifer, the other lady, mentioned having been disruptive in a religious school when she was in her teens. The two never backed away from using traditional ingredients, even though such ingredients, like heavy cream, butter, etc, are often frowned upon in modern society. Jennifer Paterson, the other lady, was a regular smoker, and she made no attempt to hide that fact, or her desire for a cocktail. Both ladies made occasional remarks about men, with sexual innuendo not far from the surface. Usually pretty broadminded, both ladies had traveled extensively BEFORE ever even meeting one another, with Jennifer having lived in Berlin,* Porto in Portugal (she spoke Portuguese, and used it in one episode especially), Benghazi in Libya and on the Italian island of Sicily, all much earlier in her life.

In the show, the two traveled around on a Triumph Thunderbird motorbike (American English: motorcycle) with Clarissa in the attached sidecar, and both complete with headgear (vrrroooooom!). They did shows from various locations, primarily in England, but also in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even in Jamaica,** with one episode done from the Brazilian embassy in London, where Jennifer spoke some Portuguese, which I mentioned above,*** from a brewery in North Yorkshire, in the north of England, from an abbey in Ireland and from the island of Jersey (a British island at the southern end of the English Channel).****

The show ended because of the death of Jennifer Paterson in the second half of 1999. Clarissa Dickson Wright died in 2014. There is a DVD set available, with all of the episodes (see photo below). Their eccentricities AND their food were a delight!

* In a special tribute episode to Jennifer, after her death, one of the participants mentioned that when Jennifer lived in Berlin, she spent much time around gay men. 

** Jamaica is a British Commonwealth nation, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, with a governor-general serving in Jamaica as the Queen's (monarchy's) representative.

*** Brazil was once a colony of Portugal; thus, Brazilians speak Portuguese. Amazing! (Hahaha!)

**** Here is a link to an article I did on "Hot Buttered Crab," which was inspired by this show, although not exactly like Jennifer prepared it:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/08/great-seafood-recipe.html 

Photo is of the Acorn Media DVD set. 

 WORD HISTORY:
Dough-This word goes back to Indo European "dheigh," which had the notion, "to shape, to form;" thus also, "to build, to knead." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "daigaz," meaning, "substance kneaded for baking." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "dag" (long "a" sound), then, "doh" (long "o" sound, the "h" was aspirated; that is, was forced out with breath^). The word then became "dogh," before the modern form. The other Germanic languages have: German "Teig" (all German nouns are capitalized), Low German Saxon "Deeg," Dutch "deeg," West Frisian "daai," Danish "dej," Icelandic and Norwegian "deig," Swedish "deg," all meaning "dough." By the way, the use of the word "dough" as a slang word for "money" goes back to the mid 1800s, from American English.

^ This aspirated sound gave English the "gh" spelling in words, which WAS pronounced in the past. Close cousin German uses "ch" as its spelling of the aspirated sound.

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Thirteen

My friend from Clarksburg, West Virginia does have hobbies, essentially involving music, as he is a major fan of rock bands "KISS" and "Cheap Trick." As he told me more than once, "Music is my addiction." He also said, or at least claimed, to make Christmas decorations, which he sold to make extra money. Probably good hobbies for a man with such a troubled mind.

Someone sent me this, but right now, I cannot remember who it was. Perhaps he sent it, but I just happened to see it when I retrieved the photo below it here. I think there is much truth in it. 

Some of his KISS memorabilia in a photo he sent to me.

WORD HISTORY:
Lest-This word, showing a meaning of, "avoid some potentially bad situation," is a contraction of an expression that came about in English some 800 years ago as "leste" (oh, I remember it well ...). It goes back to Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "þy læs þe," which literally was "thy less the/that," all words from Germanic, but in this case, "thy" was not "thy=your," but rather, "whereby," or even, "the." The "þ" is called a thorn, and was essentially representative of the "th" sound. It is still used in Icelandic. Anyway, the contracted form only included the last two parts, which had already changed to "les(s) t(h)e."  

Creamed Chipped Beef

Updated just slightly 6-17-22 and added another photo 6-21-22

When I was much younger, this was a common dish served on toast and even sold in some local restaurants or diners. Back then too, however, to some it had a bad reputation, as it had been served quite often that way in the military in the World War Two and Korean War eras (perhaps even after that too). The former soldiers had had enough of it. It was commonly called "S-O-S," meaning, in the more family friendly way, "Same Old Stuff," but in the far more common version, "Shit On (a) Shingle," with the toast representing the "shingle" and with the beef representing ... well anyway, it is quite easy to make, and, in spite of the bad name given it by former military people, it is really pretty good. I have it on toast, but I actually prefer it on mashed potatoes, which I show in the photo below. Dried chipped beef is very thinly sliced and it is typically sold in a small jar. 

 
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (the meat is cured, and thus it is salty, so you may want to taste the dish before adding any salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1  2 1/4 ounce jar dried chipped beef, torn or cut into small pieces

Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add the flour gradually, stirring constantly to make a roux. Cook and stir briefly to remove the raw flour taste, but the roux should remain light in color, not browned. Gradually stir in the milk, a little at a time, allowing the roux to thicken the milk. Add the beef and mix well. Season with black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper, and any salt, if needed (which I doubt). Cook further and allow the mixture to thicken to a sauce, but keep stirring to prevent sticking. If it is too thick, don't call Einstein (he's dead), just add some more milk until you achieve the desired thickness.  

Creamed chipped beef on toast, some mashed potatoes and sliced tomatoes ...

  There ARE mashed potatoes under there, trust me, and some tomato quarters.

 

 Dried beef is typically sold in small jars ...

WORD HISTORY: 

Don-English has two words of this spelling, but this is the word meaning "to put on clothing," and it is a truly English word. The other word, derived from Latin, is a borrowing, most frequently used for the head of a crime family; at least in American English, but it is used in Spanish and Italian to convey respect for a "gentleman," or, seemingly more so in the past, as a title for a noble or owner of a good deal of land, somewhat equivalent to "lord." The English word is simply a contracted compound form of "do" and "on." For the history of "do," this is the link:

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/11/portuguese-bread-soup-sopa-alentejana.html

For the history of "on," here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/05/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part.html    

Portuguese Bread Soup (Sopa Alentejana)

This soup comes from the region of Alentejo in Portugal. It is easy and quick to make. One thing, it is very garlicky, so if you're going to be doing any kissing, have the other person eat the soup too. That should cancel out the garlic breath... Well... that's my theory, anyway. I've read several recipes for this soup and most use one egg per serving, but I made mine with two. This is one of the BEST soups I've ever had. I make it often. 

Ingredients (4 servings):

4 slices of stale French or Italian bread from a bake shop,* cut or torn into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
4 teaspoons parsley, chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
little sprinkle of salt to each serving (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper per serving
32 ounces chicken stock (low fat and low sodium is fine)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 to 8 eggs (depending upon 1 or 2 per serving)

Tear or cut the bread into bite sized pieces. Spread the bread pieces into your serving bowls. Drizzle one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil over the bread pieces in each bowl; and on the bread pieces of each bowl, sprinkle one tablespoon of cilantro, one teaspoon of parsley, one large clove of chopped garlic, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil, then reduce the heat until the broth is barely at a simmer. Poach the eggs to the desired state of doneness (see Word History, below), then remove the eggs from the broth and place into the individual bowls. Pour equal amounts of broth into each bowl. Ready to go.     

* I cannot speak about other countries, but in the U.S., the mass produced sliced white bread labeled, "Italian," just doesn't do it for me for a recipe like this. I'm not putting it down, because I actually use it for sandwiches in preference to what is often termed, "sandwich bread."

 

WORD HISTORY:
Do-This common word is related to "deed" and to "doom," both words from the Germanic roots of English, and "do" goes back to Indo European "dhe," which had the notion, "to make, to bring about (later in English, as in, "to do harm"), "to be engaged in an activity (later in English, as in, "they got ready to do battle"), to put." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "donan," which only survived in the West Germanic branch (English is West Germanic) of Germanic as, "don," but with the same meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "don," again with many of the same meanings, initially. It was not until the latter part of the Middle Ages that the word was commonly finally shortened to "do." The other West Germanic languages have: German "tun," Low German Saxon "doon," Dutch "doen," West Frisian "dwaan." ("Done" is the participle form of "do," with "doneness" being a derived noun, with the attached suffix.)

Pumpkin Soup

A great soup for chilly or cold days. Be sure to buy "pure pumpkin," and not, "pumpkin pie mix," which has spices in it and will leave you with pumpkin pie soup, which may not be a bad thing, but it is not the same as this soup. The pure pumpkin is pureed and ready to use. As for the chili pepper, if you don't like "heat," use a little sprinkle of  ground cayenne pepper or a few red pepper flakes instead. For salt, if you use regular chicken broth, it likely will have a good deal of salt, so you should keep that in mind. 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil (your choice, except "crude" or "3-in-1")
2 cups chicken stock, low fat and low sodium is fine
1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin (pumpkin puree)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 inch piece of chili pepper, chopped
1 cup cream or evaporated canned milk (I used canned milk, remember, NOT condensed milk)
2 tablespoons sage, either fresh sage, finely chopped, or freeze dried sage, soaked per brand instructions
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (to your own taste)

In a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat, heat the oil and then sauté the onion for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and chili pepper. Sauté until all of the vegetables are well softened. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, then gradually stir in the pumpkin puree. If you like soup with the bits of vegetables in it, you can skip this next step; otherwise, use a stick blender (or a blender/food processor) and blend until the soup is smooth. Return soup to medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper, mixing well. Add the sage and stir again, then gradually stir in the cream/milk, taking care to just let the soup heat through and not to boil.

WORD HISTORY:
Pumpkin-This word, very distantly related to "cook," goes back to Indo European "pekwo," which had the notion, "to ripen, to become edible." This gave Ancient Greek "pépto," which meant, "ripen." This then gave Greek "pépon," meaning, "melon." Latin borrowed the term from Greek as, "pepo," also with the meaning, "melon." "Pepo" was the nominative form, and other forms of the Latin all contained an "n" (for example, "peponi," in the dative and "pepone" in the ablative). The word was passed onto French, a Latin-based language, "eventually" as "pompon," ^ English borrowed the word in the 1500s as "pompion," with the meaning "melon," but also, "pumpkin." By the 1600s, English had tacked on the suffix "kin," a diminutive (makes something smaller, or to express affection or dearness, as in "Daddykins" ^^), giving us the modern form of the word, along with the exclusive meaning for the squash type vegetable.

^ Initially there seems to have been other spellings in French, but they eventually led to "pompon."

^^ German has "-chen" and Low German and Dutch have -ken as diminutive suffixes, while the French for, "quin," was borrowed from Germanic. 

German Lamb & Green Bean Stew

This dish is a "stew," of sorts, as in German it is called by various names, including: "Lammeintopf or Lammtopf mit grünen Bohnen" (Lamb Stew with Green Beans). An "Eintopf," sometimes used in the shorter form, "Topf," is a stew, or more literally, a "one pot" meal. This is more generally from the north of Germany, where sheep are "fairly" commonly raised in some parts. Other names for the dish may use, "Hammel" or "Hammelfleisch" in the name, which really means "mutton;" that is, the meat from a somewhat older sheep. If you use mutton, it likely will take a little longer to cook and the meat has a stronger taste. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds lamb, cut into bite sized pieces (if you find lamb stew meat, it should be about perfect)
2 large onions, chopped
2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut in half or into thirds, your preference
4 potatoes, diced (or about 10 or 12 baby red potatoes halved or quartered)
2 tablespoons savory leaves
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
water (see below)

In a pot, place the lamb and onions, pour in enough water to cover by just a little bit. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat (I used medium low), so that the ingredients simmer. Let cook for about 30 to 35 minutes, then add the potatoes, the thyme, the savory and the pepper. Cook about another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are softened, but not quite done. It's best to check the potatoes after about 10 minutes, and then judge how much longer they may need to cook. Add the green beans. Cook until the beans are tender, by which time the potatoes should be done. Season with some salt and add the parsley, stirring well.    

WORD HISTORY:
Green-This word, closely related to "grow" and to "grass," goes back to Indo European "gherh/ghreh," which meant "to grow." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "grohnja," with the notion of "grow out green," as our ancestors identified what would become the color, from the idea of most growing plants being that color. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "grene" and "groene," depending upon dialect. These eventually became "green." The other Germanic languages have: German "grün," Low German Saxon has "gröön," West Frisian "grien," Dutch "groen," Danish "grøn," Norwegian "grønn," Icelandic "grænn," Swedish "grön."

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Twelve

My friend spent much time emailing me some days, even when he was at work, and who knows how many others he may have been emailing from work also. As already noted about his mother, he said how nasty she was, but I began to wonder if HE was the nasty one, and that maybe he'd been pampered a bit much in his life, and once he told me he had just insulted a friend or two who had simply wanted to see how he was doing, during one of the bouts of illness I also mentioned in an earlier segment ("perhaps" the illnesses were brought on, made worse, by anxiety?). Maybe the friends need to tell him to shut the hell up and to take charge of his problems, instead of blaming others.

WORD HISTORY:
Cringe-This word, related to "crank," "cranky" and "crinkle," and meaning, "to bend one's body in fear of something," goes back to Indo European "grengh," which had the notion of "to bend, to wind ("long "i")." This gave Old Germanic "krinkhanan," "to twist and turn, to crumple and fall (usually in battle)." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cringan," meaning, "to fall in battle, to yield/retreat (that is, "turn back"). This then became "crinchen," before the modern form. There are many forms in other Germanic languages related to "cringe," but they are more closely related to other such form in English, but German has "Kring(e)," meaning, "a ring, a circle (something bent to the shape of)."    

America Once Fought Fascists, Now It Votes Them In

(This was originally published November 10, 2016, but I made a few updates on May 31, 2018. The updates are noted below, except in this paragraph: Trump, under federal investigation, along with several cronies, for dealings with Russia and possible obstruction of justice and other crimes uncovered during the investigation, has attacked the US justice system, including the FBI. He has used the constitutional power of the pardon to free political allies and to send a message that those under indictment or already charged can count on a pardon, if they keep their mouths shut about him, his son and his son-in-law. The rule of law is under heavy assault as is the truth. Today Trump said it was untrue that he fired former FBI director, James Comey, because of the Russia investigation. Trump claimed this is a media fabrication, but it was Trump himself who said the Russia investigation was the reason on television last year. He also told the then Russian ambassador that with Comey fired, the pressure of the Russia investigation would ease. Note: some presidential pardons by other presidents have drawn fire for being political, but never was the nation's system under attack by those presidents as it is today by Trump.)    

I don't think Americans fully understand what just happened to their country, but they are about to find out. Emboldened racists, bigots, religious fanatics, will be on the move. Don't be surprised to see laws banning the teaching of evolution (religious fundamentalists have been pushing this for awhile), or any other belief not consistent with fundamentalist creationism. EVERYTHING will be on the table folks. Donald Trump's statement, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters," shows how very dangerous the situation has become, and it is reminiscent of Nazis chasing down and executing disloyal Germans for not believing in "final victory," even as Allied troops were just blocks away in 1945. 

Democracy is far more fragile than many realize. It has survived in the U.S., and is taken for granted by most Americans, because, over time, largely responsible people, in spite of some philosophical differences, transferred power back and forth, based upon elections. They believed in the overall system. Obviously, THE major exception was the Civil War era. For some time now, we have had a growing element, led by self designated "conservatives," begin to trash this very system, a strategy that became ever more nasty, ever more divisive. Their disciples took to the airwaves to spread the faith, and in hateful and divisive speech that could bring a smile to the face of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, the faith did, indeed, spread. They have preached hatred of government at all levels, as well as of "liberals, " which seems to mean just about anyone remotely connected to modern times, instead of to some previous century with some sort of perceived "glory days."  Dispirited Americans, angry at wealthy business interests and at free trade that cost them good paying jobs, were often a ready made audience for these these venom spewing manipulators, who were paid for by .... wealthy business interests and free traders. I haven't heard this expression for quite some time, but many a drinker and outright alcoholic, suffering from a hangover, would oft say, "I need a drink, because what makes you sick, will make you well." Really? The propagandists convinced many an American that what benefited a few, would really be good for them too, although statistics have shown the opposite, but they voted for Republicans, because "what made you sick, will make you well."

The Nazis and communists both USED democratic systems to DESTROY the respective democratic systems in various countries. Hitler did not "seize power," the Nazis became a major political party and the number of votes they received convinced some German leaders that they needed to be in the government. Weimar was far from perfect, but it retained the constitutional right of the people to vote, and chancellors came and went, Reichstag (parliament) representatives came and went, so at least providing for some semblance of democracy, even though the chancellors constitutionally circumvented the Reichstag,* by issuing decrees, because the Reichstag was so dysfunctional (sound like Congress under Republicans the last few years?) People have long dissected every aspect of the Nazi takeover of Germany. Why? History helps to teach us what went before, and hopefully, how we can avoid the mistakes of the past. That's why the nonsense of memorizing dates is, well, NONSENSE! They are irrelevant. Those here now will not have to dissect or read about how this has happened in the United States; no, because we have watched it unfold before our very eyes, with far too many participating in it directly. We allowed Republicans to get away with not voting on a Supreme Court nominee offered by a sitting U.S. president. The Republican controlled Congress has sat dormant for years; let me tell you, they will sit dormant no longer, as they plan to consolidate power and strip you of rights and dignity. They enabled money to buy tremendous access into government, something that now will no longer be possible to overturn. It's all too late, folks. This is what we allowed to happen. Since Reagan, some have allowed themselves to be bought for tax cuts. The saddest thing is, many of those same people already had lots of money, but they gave up their consciences for tax cut money they didn't need. 

Americans have sat and watched fascism rise and, now, take over. Traditional conservatives were complicit. Romney played to the fascists in 2012, but then he later tried to change things in the last few months as Trump rose to lead the GOP. Romney is not a fascist, he's a pandering chameleon, who at least finally stood up, but was far too late in doing so. There is NO reset button. Buyer's remorse will get you nowhere. Once you let fascists in, try to get them back out. Many Americans have now not only endangered their freedom, they have given the nuclear codes to a wacko, thus endangering the world and all of humanity. They totally gerrymandered themselves into essentially permanent control of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures. They now will cement the Supreme Court to do their bidding and to make the present and future more akin to something like the 14th Century, than to modern times. Fundamentalist, fanatical religion will now be front and foremost, and BLATANTLY involved in governing.

The big media was complicit, with seemingly not even one innocent person under that Big Top circus tent. When they go to the toilet, they wipe their mouths afterward, because that's where the real dung comes out. Further, and this is not about my just previous comment, but my suggestion for progressives is, if you're going to watch MSNBC, don't take everything as gospel. They are good people, but they are so committed to one side, they lack perspective at times. I'm a devout progressive, but I rarely tune in to any of the chatter stations. Over time I've seen posts online suggesting that everything will be fine, because people on MSNBC said how the demographics are going to pretty much guarantee Democratic wins. Further, other posts told of the imminent demise of the GOP, something I highly questioned in a reply, only to be told how wrong I was. Hopefully, everyone now sees how badly the situation was misjudged; in fact, it is now DEMOCRATS who are in a perilous situation, and although we won't go away, expect very difficult times. If things turn out better than that, great, but be prepared for just about any shenanigans you can imagine, and even some that you can't imagine. As for intellectuals, they sat debating the definition of a fascist, as if that were the important issue at hand. Like Sheldon Cooper, they worry about proper definitions, while not understanding what is going on around them. When someone shouts to them, "Look, that guy is going to set fire to the forest," they reply, "Oh, I don't see a forest, all I see is a bunch of trees." (Updated 5-31-18) As they walk to the gallows, they will ask, "Hm, I wonder if this is fascism?" And someone will reply, "We'd better get this resolved, because they're going to hang us in about the next 60 seconds."

Obama is a VERY good man, I love him, BUT he came to office promising change, "Change We Can Believe In," and he immediately sent the wrong signal by giving Wall Street bankers prominent positions within his administration, after Wall Street bankers brought about the mortgage crisis, which brought the economy to its knees, along with phony high oil prices. The more things change, the more they stay the same. He didn't need Larry Summers or Tim Geithner to tell him that the country needed a stimulus. Symbols DO MATTER. He then chose the absolutely worst issue to take on at that point in his presidency, and in that overall time frame ... HEALTH CARE. The atmosphere was more full of noxious fumes than being locked in a 4 x 4 room with a lactose intolerant person who just ate a slice of cheese, a bowl of vanilla ice cream and washed it all down with a pint of 1% milk (trying to watch their weight). The whole thing was not thought through, and regardless of the president's great intentions, it was THE thing that derailed his presidency, as it gave Republicans, flat on their backs from the Iraq War and the economic meltdown, the opportunity to get up and start swinging, a role they love, and just in time to get all energized and to rout Democrats in a crucial "census election," giving them control of many state legislatures and governorships, so they could adjust (gerrymander) congressional and state legislative districts to keep themselves in control for the foreseeable future. With the House of Representatives then in Republican hands, Obama could not get legislation passed. The next midterm, in 2014, saw Republicans take control of the Senate; and, thus later, prevent a vote on the President's Supreme Court nominee, leaving the seat empty. Now that they have Trump, the Republicans will approve his nominee, and control the court for decades (Update 5-31-18: Trump nominated and the Senate confirmed, highly conservative Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, who took office in April 2017). ALL OF THIS TRAGEDY traces back to a well meaning man trying to help millions of Americans get health care, but it was terribly misguided, and now the ultimate insult will come, as Trump and Republicans repeal the law, removing the largest legislative achievement of Barack Obama (Update 5-31-18: Trump and Republicans failed to repeal the law, but just barely; however, Trump and Republicans have weakened the law, leaving it vulnerable, but its ultimate fate remains to be seen). All of the rancor and the decimation of Democratic officeholders in the 2010 election, and even the loss of the Senate in 2014 can be somewhat attributed to health care, as the huge losses in 2010, set up the Republican win in 2014, it will all have been in vain.  

I've seen posts by some on the left who talk about revolution, but it's not practical, as the weaponry is on the OTHER side! Militia groups and many, but certainly not all, gun owners from all walks of life, didn't buy all of these weapons, especially automatic weapons, to hunt ducks. This has always been about staging a coup d'état, or protecting a regime favorable to them, which they will now have. Further, many, perhaps most, in law enforcement, and many in the military, will gladly carry out suppression of any revolt at Trump's direction; both favor Republicans in elections by substantial amounts. The militias and others, just like Hitler's Storm Troopers and Mussolini's Blackshirt militia,  will operate to control the country. Some of you, and I love you and I love your spirit, needed to learn "compromise," and the art of having to hold your nose to support something you may not completely agree with, but you have to do it to avoid the greater harm, although I'm not sure it would have made a difference anyway, and we've always had some smaller political parties in the US which get anything from a percent or two of the vote, up to far larger percentages. Now is not time to be fighting over what is past, but if you're driving down the road in a Smart car, and an eighteen-wheeler is headed right for you, you crash into the guard rail to avoid being run over, literally, by the truck. It wasn't a great choice, but you had to take it. We saw this same thing, a lack of perspective, with Edward Snowden, who exposed U.S. government spying on its citizens, but then ran to Russia and Vladimir Putin, one of the enemies of humanity. You know, can you imagine an Italian in 1936 saying, "Boy, that Mussolini is a son-of-a-bitch, I'm going to go live in .... Germany!" Julian Assange is in much the same vein. Okay with both of them, show our faults, but also show the faults of others, but there was NO perspective. 

* (Updated 5-31-18) I say, "constitutionally circumvented the Reichstag," because Article 48 of the German constitution of the Weimar Republic gave the president the power to rule by decree in an "emergency," a term that was not defined within the constitution. The chancellor submitted the decrees to the president. 

WORD HISTORY:
Abet-This word, related to "bite," goes back to Indo European "bheid," which had the notion "to split." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bitanan," meaning "to bite," and the derived "baitjanan," which meant, "to make or cause to bite;" thus, "incite, egg on," especially for use with dogs in hunting. Old French borrowed the word, likely from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect, as "beter," and tacked on the prefix, which came from Latin "ad," itself from Indo European "ad," with the notion of, "to, toward, near, at," with the French form meaning, "to incite dogs to chase after." English borrowed the word in the latter half of the 1300s as "abetten," but it could have also blended with an existing English word from the same Old Germanic word, the English word being, "bætan," which also meant, "to hunt with dogs," but originally, "to make bite."       

Potato Dumplings (Kartoffelklöße)

German Kartoffelklöße, also known as Kartoffelknödel in Bavaria and Austria, as well as by a variety of other regional names, often with specific added ingredients, are pretty simple to make. There are many regional variations, as some people use egg, some use already cooked potatoes, some use a 50/50 proportion of raw and already cooked potatoes, and a few use all raw potatoes. Some use regular flour, some use semolina, some use breadcrumbs, some add finely chopped ham or bacon, and of course, sauteed onion is a common addition. Some are made round, some oblong, some are flattened. Some are large, while others are much smaller. So experiment, if you'd like, as this is only the basic recipe I have here, which is quite common. I may do some variation recipes here also.

Basic Ingredients:

potatoes, boiled, then mashed, use mealy/starchy potatoes (Russets are good for this)
flour
egg (optional)
salt
parsley, dried or fresh

Heat water in a pan large enough to hold a few dumplings at a time. Add a little salt to the water.
Take the mashed potatoes and mix in flour equivalent to a quarter of the potatoes (also if using egg, beat lightly and mix in). Add the parsley to mix it in. If the dough is still too sticky or loose, mix in small amounts of flour until you get the right consistency; that is, dough that will not fall apart easily in gently boiling water. If the dough is a little sticky, that's okay, as you don't want them to be too floury. It's a good idea to lightly coat the dumplings with flour before putting them into the water. Again, mealy potatoes are best, but if you use another type, civilization won't end. Form the dumplings into the size you prefer, and put them into gently boiling water. Don't crowd the dumplings in, and it's far better to work in batches so that they cook properly, while keeping the already cooked dumplings warm. They will float within a few minutes, but I give them another couple of minutes to make sure the flour content is completely cooked. Use a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings.

Potato dumplings with mushroom gravy and beets

WORD HISTORY:
Raw-This word, with a basic meaning, but with a variety of specific meanings, goes back to Indo European "kreuh," which meant, "uncooked, bloody flesh." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "khrawaz," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon), "hreaw," meaning, "uncooked, raw, unprocessed." This then became "rau," then "raw." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German "roh" (as with English, it once had several spellings with "h," including, "hrowes"), Low German Saxon "rauh" (also like English, it once had spellings with "h," including, "hrao"), Dutch "rauw," Swedish, Danish, Norwegian "rå," Icelandic "hrár." As I've noted before, getting modern Frisian words is not easy, and the best I could find were previous spellings, "rä," and "rê."   

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Five/FINAL

People are sick and tired, and downright furious, about the scamming emails, the ringing of their telephone from telemarketers and scammers, the hacking of information and the fear that they will become a victim too, if they haven't already. This all makes people VERY angry and prepared for drastic measures, as frustration has now overwhelmed many folks, as much as the avalanche of emails and phone calls. About 8 years ago, I received a call from my bank; more specifically, from the fraud department. The lady asked if I had bought an airline ticket, which I hadn't. She said someone had my credit card number and had charged the ticket and something else to my card; I just forget what the other item was. When I asked how they got my card number, she said the bank thought it had been gotten in the hack of a store account, or that possibly an employee had gotten my number and others from store records. They issued me a new card, but we all pay towards such fraud and theft. Well about a year ago, the bank called again, they wanted to know if had bought a television from a popular electronics and appliance store website. Well, I hadn't. The person told me the bank had approved the charge, and while they were attempting to put a hold on it, it may have gone through and the funds would be taken from my account, but the bank would reimburse me. Then they said the person had tried to buy something from a popular department store website, but the charge had been denied. The bank must have been able to stop the charge on the television, because it never went through to my account. They told me the same thing as years before; that is,  store employees had access to my info, or a place with my credit card number on file got hacked, giving the criminals my card number and info. And we've all heard the horror stories about seniors or veterans being scammed out of money by crooks impersonating FBI agents, IRS agents or police officials in telephone calls. They claim the person owes taxes or they owe a fine or their grandson is in trouble and needs money wired to him immediately. Then too, the crooks can place a small device on a credit card scanner, like even at an ATM, or at your local gas station, and when you insert the card and enter your pin, it reads all of your info and, well, they have all they need.

Remember, the people involved in the launch of the Web didn't do it so that you could send birthday wishes to your mother. They did it to make money. Now, don't scoff, that's all part of life, but the idea that everything has to be turned over to business people, without regulation, so they can make money is a bunch of nonsense. There have to be rules and regulations to protect the public. Both governments and private businesses have allowed these bastards to do so much damage, and neither has been able to curtail it for long, because the very system is broken, exposing people from all walks of life to scams that can take their life savings. This is about MONEY, and it will take SEVERE punishment to make them give up on it, because they want MONEY and they are willing to do anything for it. Forget about any naive notions that these greedy bastards will feel sorry for Mrs. Jones, who just lost her husband, even as she battles cancer. They are absolutely RUTHLESS! Quit worrying about what will happen to the criminals, and the stories about the criminal who had his sand castle kicked over when he was four, and he never got over it; after all, that's why he's a criminal, or so the story might go. I'm telling you, THE MALARKEY! Protect the public!

Technology changed lives tremendously, but the bad guys were also watching as to how to exploit that technology. Attempts at thwarting criminals work only for so long, and maybe that's just how it will be, I don't know. Just like with locks: "Buy this new lock and the criminals can't get through it." And for awhile, it's true, but then the criminals figure out how to get through the lock, or somehow circumvent it; after all, they have great "research and development departments" (R & D), too. Now there may have to be a serious scaling back of technology in our lives, if they can't protect us from the bad guys, which is what all of this looks to be, but those heavily involved (financially) in the Web don't want to admit it, and it could bring major economic disruption, if we have to go back to some of our old ways. Banks had to show they were generally safe places for the public's money, with only occasional dangers, to get people to stop hiding money in their wall safes or under their mattresses. Deposit insurance to secure your money against loss made banks attractive places to keep our money. This was implemented during the New Deal era, as government sought to save business from itself. Whatever is done about securing the telephone system and the Web, it will take involvement by government, likely at many levels, and from governments of the world.

But government can't do it alone either, it will take cooperation with business and the public. The telephone call assault has been so bad, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had a contest to see if the PUBLIC could come up with a solution. The thing is, all of the attempts to stop the calls, as well as emails and scams, is based on keeping the same system, a system they can't control. My landline provider gives a user space to block 30 numbers. This is how out of touch these folks are, as many people can block 30 numbers in like 4 to 6 weeks, and some in far less than that. Meanwhile they keep issuing more telephone numbers to the bad guys, as well as more domain names and email addresses. It's like infinite folks! Years ago I saw a cute little joke, where someone had written on a dollar bill, "How do you keep a dumb ass busy? Turn to other side." When you turned the dollar over, the same message was written there. Damned! I thought they were going to tell me the answer, but after an hour and a half, I got tired of turning that goddamned dollar from one side to the other, so I gave up. Well actually, it was 30 minutes, but I still was tired. So this is what all involved are doing with the Internet and the telephone system, turning that dollar over and over with no solution, because it's the very system that is flawed.

 The fact of the matter is, neither the government nor private business can protect you from being hacked, protect you from scam emails, protect you from scam telephone calls. The thing is though, they are not likely to tell you this, because of the millions... hell... billions or trillions of dollars invested in online business and even telephone service, so much of which is now cellphone service. Ebay, Amazon, etc must be absolutely TERRIFIED because of what's been happening to online security. Your account, including financial information, is NOT safe, and they know it. Russia and China, two "Cold War" foes of the United States and "the West," are winning this war, and the consequences are likely to be devastating; something they also know. The world economy is at their mercy, or will be, barring a major change in how the Web is run and operates; and, don't forget, the Web is now closely linked with telephone service! Remember too, just recently, one Internet infrastructure company was "attacked" (flooded with access requests), bringing the Web in some places to a virtual standstill. With all kinds of free marketer talk about the internet years ago, and little or no government control, it has left the system vulnerable to the "bad guys." The free marketers saw dollar signs, but so did the scammers, and the scammers are winning the overall war. Social media sites always asking for you to give them MORE personal info, "Give us your phone number to secure your account." Secure? And further, "You only have one phone number listed with us, give us a second number so you'll always be secure." How in the hell does my giving these bastards my phone number and other personal info make me more secure from anything? NOT GIVING these bastards that info makes me more secure.

I hope I have given you some things to think about in these articles, because with such reliance upon the Web and phone service, it is a VERY IMPORTANT issue. Also, once again, WATCH OUT FOR THE YAHOO GESTAPOO!

WORD HISTORY:
Gush-This word, closely related to both "geyser" and "gust," goes back to Indo European "gheud," which meant, "to pour, to let flow." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "geutanan," with that same general meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "geotan," which meant, "to pour, to let flow mightily;" and by extension, "to cast molten metal." Now comes the tricky part. Did the English word, or a form thereof, then get influenced by the related Old Norse word "geysa," ^ meaning "to rush out, gush," and itself from the same Old Germanic word, which then kept the meaning to only "flow mightily," and altered the spelling to "gush," where it has remained for about a thousand years. (Also see note ^ below) Other forms in the Germanic languages: German has "gießen" ("to pour," but also, "to water plants," and further, "to cast liquid metal." Also the noun, "Guss," meaning, "the casting of metal," and the culinary, "icing or glaze"), Low German Saxon "geten" ("have or let liquid flow"), West Frisian "jitte" ("to pour'), Dutch "gieten" (to pour"), Swedish "gjuta" (to pour, to cast metal"), Icelandic "geysa" ("to gush"). I did not find modern form in Danish or Norwegian, but I also did not spend a lot of time looking. Sometimes variations in meanings over centuries can make finding modern forms of words difficult.

^ Old Norse was a Germanic language from the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, and its major modern descendants are Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Swedish. Old Norse also had an influence on, and was influenced by, some of the West Germanic languages, including English, as Old Norse speakers invaded northeastern and eastern England, with many Old Norse speakers, collectively called "Danes" by the English, then settling in England. Over time, English borrowed some Norse words or had the related English words heavily influenced by Norse words, like English "sceo," which meant "cloud," and Old Norse "sky," which also meant "cloud," and the two are really the same word and from the same source, but from what had come to be different Germanic dialects back then. Of course, "sky" broadened in meaning from "cloud," to what we have today, "the area and atmosphere above the Earth's surface, often containing clouds."   

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Four

First published in November 2016


Forget about the "Do Not Call List" protecting you much, it's "almost" useless these days. The responsible places won't call you, unless by mistake, but they aren't the problem, the real criminals could care less about any such law; that's why they're criminals! And please don't think that relying only on this list will stop the avalanche of telephone calls. That's not going to happen. Also, going to online sites to report receiving illegal calls, and then begging the callers to stop, will not give them a scare, but it is likely to give them a thrill. (see below for more on this) In the 1920s and the early 1930s there was a law in the U.S. prohibiting the making and distribution of alcoholic beverages. What happened was an outbreak of violence led by gangsters, as millions of people violated the law on pretty much an every day basis. Laws have to be able to be enforced in a practical and effective way; "Prohibition," as it was called, was not able to be enforced in such a way. It ended with the repeal of the law. The Do Not Call List is just not really enforceable either, as calls are often times routed from outside the country. Still, while not effective against illegal calls, the Do Not Call List WILL help stop calls from legit businesses, so DO register; otherwise, they will have the legal right to call you. Not to scare you, but then again, who is to say hackers won't break into the Do Not Call List data bank? What is needed is to rework the Internet and the telephone systems, but I'm not exactly hanging by my thumbs, as there is so much money invested in the current system, those heavily involved will resist, BIG TIME! And to be fair, we in the public likely will resist some of the necessary changes to make things safer, because they may make things less convenient for us.

For those unaware, and even for some who are aware, there are websites you can go to to see if others have reported a particular number there. By "report," I mean only that the number was entered there by one or more people and they may have left a comment about it. Understand, some numbers are so frequently reported, there may be hundreds of comments. Further, just because a number is listed there doesn't necessarily mean it is the number of criminals, it could be a legit business or charity. These sites are purely public comments on these numbers, they don't block anything. The thing is, some people seem to think that if they go there and comment on a particular number, that they will no longer get calls from that number. The other thing to remember is, because it is public, the scammers are going to be posting there too! Some examples are better than trying to explain the sites: I get a call from area code (0-0-0) and number, 1-2-3-4-5-6- ah, don't tell me.... ah... 7. See I CAN count! Just don't ask me what the next number is. So I enter that number in the search box there. If others have entered information about that number, it will display those posts, indicating the area from which the number comes (as mentioned above, where the number is from and where the call came from can be two DIFFERENT things, and the area code and number exchange may indicate that the number is from "Ponatoomie Kitchagoomie," but the call may have come from the North Pole, because the scammers often re-rout calls nowadays, so they can't be traced easily) and then a poster might have said, for example: "This number has called me 5 times in the last few days, but there is no name showing for it." (DING! DING! DING! First clue, legit companies are supposed to show their name on your caller ID, although some probably don't, BUT even a name on there does NOT mean the call is for some legit purpose, as technology now allows scammers to put anything on there, although many do not have a name showing. So, even if it shows, "Children's Hospital of Ponatoomie Kitchagoomie," that does not necessarily mean the call is valid. I told you, the whole system has been corrupted and you cannot trust ANY call just by looking at your caller ID, which may show YOUR own name and phone number as calling you, or online, that you are receiving an email from yourself!) Now another post by someone on that example number, "When I  answered, it was a credit card offer." (DING! DING! DING! Another clue: legitimate banks or credit card companies will NOT call you, if you are on the Do Not Call List, unless perhaps by mistake, which I'm sure happens on occasion, or unless you already have some kind of account with them, but chances are, this call is a scammer.) Another example post: "I answered after a ring or two, but there was silence." (DING! DING! DING! Another clue: likely a computer dialed number, which may have made 2000 other calls just then. The people who talk to those who answer were all busy, so there was no one to talk to you, and likely it will hang up, if you haven't already. ON THE OTHER HAND, it may be a "scouting" sort of call. No one was intended to talk with you, only to find out if the number dialed is active. Once you answer, or even your voice mail or answering machine, BINGO, they have an active number. Expect many more calls, because you've got a hot number! It likely will be sold to others ....LOOK OUT! And another example: "I got a call from this number and the person asked my name, so I hung up." (DING! DING! DING! Clue: by getting your name, they will have that to go along with your phone number. By using other public resources, they will be able to compile a profile of you for the creation of a phony identity.) A post commenting on the previous: "Oh no, I got a call from that number and the guy just wanted to verify my name. The call was legit and they were just soliciting to help the survivors of firefighters killed in the line of duty." (DING! DING! DING! Clue: maybe true, probably not, and assume it is NOT true. The comment could be a plant used to make calls seem legit, thus reassuring some naive folks into answering, and we all love firefighters and want to help, so they'll use your emotions.) Checking these sites is not foolproof, as you can't be sure of the truthfulness of the comments, but they can help give you some info, especially if  some posters claim to have actually talked to someone from the number. They might then post: "Credit card offer," or, "Person said I won a trip" (watch out for that one!!!), so you have to make judgments about what you read there.

Recently raids were conducted on so called "call centers" in India which were implicated in call scams and several people were arrested. Afterwards came arrests in the U.S. too, but if you think this will stop the calls, or even lessen the calls much, I seriously doubt it, as this is likely a tub of water in the ocean. Just yesterday, starting in the morning, I received three calls from the same entity, which showed on my caller ID. I blocked the first, so about an hour later a second call came from the same name, initials actually, this time from a different number. I blocked it, and ... you guessed it, the third call came from the same place, but with another number. NEVER ENDING!

As the whole situation developed over the years, there have been articles and television reports advising us how to stay safe online and how to avoid telemarketers. While well meaning, and even true, in many respects, especially AT THE TIME, essentially what it has come down to is, DON'T ANSWER YOUR TELEPHONE and DON'T OPEN SUSPICIOUS EMAILS! Why? Because as I've said in these articles, the "bad guys" now know how to disguise their calls, fooling your caller ID into believing the call is from some totally harmless company or charity, even inserting REAL business or charity names and numbers, while keeping their true number hidden. As also noted, they can even use YOUR number to hide their own. Well, that sure shoots answering the phone in the ass. And another thing, in the past, the scammers or telemarketers generally had to have a number to call, as it was done manually. Now, computers dial numbers in sequence, so even if you've only given your number to your dog, and it is unlisted, eventually "your number will be up," to coin a phrase, although it may take awhile for you to start receiving regular calls from your friendly scammer. Then too, maybe your dog is a blabbermouth.

As to opening "suspicious emails," all emails are now potentially suspicious! The same general process can be used as with phone calls, as they can use other names to hide their identity. Your email may have never been hacked, but one or more of your contacts, and it doesn't have to be a regular contact, got hacked, and the bad guys and girls got your email address and name from that. You may get an email showing your daughter's name, so you naturally open it, BUT it's NOT from your daughter. Her name was used, but unless you actually catch the signs that it is not legit, you may open your computer or mobile device to all sorts of bad things, which will collect info on you and YOUR contacts, who will now likely get emails showing YOU as the sender, only to have them open the emails, and well, you know, the process goes on. So now, that shoots using email in the ass. Folks, this is supposed to be about communication, but if you can't answer the phone or open emails, it tells you the system is broken ... TOTALLY!     

WORD HISTORY:
Reason-This is for the verb form, which goes back to Indo European "reh," which had the notion of "to reason, to figure, to reckon." This gave Latin "reri," which meant, "calculate, reckon," thus also, "judge," and its participle form was "ratus," which produced "ratio," meaning, "calculation, a reason for." This gave Latin "rationare," meaning, "to discuss, to converse," and this gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "raisoner," with similar meaning. This was borrowed by English circa 1300, "seemingly" at first with the meaning "to pose questions to someone, to ask for answers," but then, influenced by the previously borrowed noun form of the word, the verb came to mean, "to think through in a rational way, to use a sense of logic to determine something," then also, "to use a sense of logic to persuade someone;" as in, "to reason with someone."  

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Three

I apologize for the sort of jumbled nature of this series, but it's a very important topic, with many different aspects, and I made a hodgepodge of notes over the last 6 to 8 weeks, and while I have gone over them and edited them, it is tough to get them into great order, but the ideas are the important things.   

So I'm sure you've heard about Yahoo reading the emails of their users, something that had been going on since about 2013. Of course, like all of the Internet scumbag privacy violators, the claims are always about, "We want you to have a good experience and we'll be able to offer you products aimed right at the things you're looking for." So, in other words, let us spy on you and you'll benefit, because we'll be able to send targeted ads to you. Hmm, that's funny, it sure seems more like the beneficiary is Yahoo and their ad revenue. Secondly, it has been reported that Yahoo also scanned emails for U.S. intelligence; that is, they were spying on users. So now maybe we can call the company, "Yahoo the Gestapoo." "Maybe" that will have to become the norm, in some form, monitoring emails, as the world is vastly changed, and the need to get the "bad guys" may outweigh personal privacy, but that is a discussion we need to have, and it should NOT be done without public discussion. Even if that is the course chosen, it won't be perfect either, no system will likely be perfect, but the current system is way out of hand, they lost control of it by the very way the system was devised, now they are at a loss as to what to do.

As for some of the browsers developed by the scumbag privacy violators, they always seemingly devise them with the LEAST amount of concern for the privacy of users, like putting the sites a person visits into thumbnails for anyone to see who uses your computer ... these bastards! They are just blatantly disregarding your privacy! And they don't care! We need to try to patronize RESPONSIBLE companies, not Google or Microsoft or Yahoo, the best known of the private info mining companies, along with that bastion of intrusiveness, Facebook.

The "hate the government" campaign of the last 35 to 40 years has made us less safe, including our privacy, as it has done everything it can to scare the hell out of people regarding their own government, thus making some people believe the only alternative is to turn to private businesses, which do things FOR PROFIT! That should make you feel safe, right? We've heard how Russia and China lost the Cold War, but they may win the tech wars, and bring about the demise of their long time adversaries by other means. The whole system is under attack by crooks and by governments? Terrorists regularly use the Internet to communicate with each other and to recruit new members. Scammers and terrorists get domain names, email addresses by the gazillion, and what does anyone do about it? I have a sneaking suspicion it's all about MONEY! Only in a system that perpetuates terrorism and scams, would those in supposedly responsible positions then complain about terrorism and scams. They gave them access and let them remain, even if they first may not have known who or what they were. Something has to give folks. Webcams can be taken over and used to watch you. The technology monster needs to be reined in. Philosophical discussions are not the same as action, and the world needs action. The time for talk, talk, talk is long since over. The time for action is here!

It's the same with telephone numbers, how are there so many numbers being issued to scammers to make illegal calls? You don't think it's about MONEY, do you? Some people and groups have valiantly tried to stop the crap, but they are overwhelmed. They may win some battles, but at this time, they are losing the war. You block the number of "XYZ," they call you on another number, then another, then another ..... and on it goes. 

More in Part Four... watch out for "Yahoo the Gestapoo!"

WORD HISTORY:
Reason-This is for the noun form. This word, closely related to "rate," goes back to Indo European "reh," which had the notion of "to reason, to figure, to reckon." This gave Latin "reri," which meant, "calculate, reckon," thus also, "judge," and its participle form was "ratus," which produced "ratio," meaning, "calculation, a reason for," and its accusative case was "rationem." This gave Old French "reison," meaning "logic," which "seems" to have been carried to England as "raison," in Norman dialect, and where it then became "raisun," before being borrowed by English in the late 1100s, and meaning, "a person's sense and ability to calculate;" thus also, "a calculated explanation for something," as in, "the reason there is night and day, is that Earth rotates toward and away from the sunlight."

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part Two

First published November 2016


Just November 1 news broke that Microsoft Windows has "vulnerabilities" that are being "exploited," Microsoft claims, by the Russians. Folks, the Russians, the Chinese, Santa's reindeer, the Man in the Moon, IT DOESN'T MATTER! It shows they cannot protect these systems! They can't do it! They don't know what to do. There have always been hackers and scammers on the Internet, but in the last few years there has been an explosion of events, as the "bad guys" have done what bank robbers do, they go where the money is. It all started out as the technology that would lead to all sorts of new things, and they convinced many people, but not all, that the Internet was safe; you could do banking, you could do shopping, you could have medical records available and shared with healthcare providers, you could share personal info and photos, and on and on, AND it would be safe. All of those transactions and info sharing have happened, and businesses have invested enormous amounts of money in websites and advertising to take advantage of this new gold mine. I'm sure some people saw the potential downside, there's ALWAYS a downside, but obviously the big money people did not see that the "bad guys" were sitting out there saying, "Hmm, we want in on all of this money. Let's do it!" So identity theft is up, medical prescription fraud is up, draining of individual's gift cards is up, people being threatened to cough up money is up, people being duped into giving bank account numbers or credit card numbers is up, on and on. Computers are being used to launch mass email sendings and to make mass phone call dialings. So, while technology made our lives easier on some things, it also made it easier for criminals.

So in the last few years, after big business sold us a gazillion smartphones, a half a gazillion tablets, and a gazillion laptops and desktop computers, we've heard, "BREAKING NEWS! Target was hacked and information for over a hundred million customers was breached." This was not all, as we've also heard about Chick-fil-A, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang's, United Parcel Service, aka, UPS, Yahoo (a company that works hard to earn that name, which it has) and many more. Not only these, but also none other than the Pentagon, THE headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, was hacked. The list goes on and on, and these are the ones where there has been acknowledgement of being hacked. Folks, you have to believe, if the Pentagon can be hacked, no one person, no entity anywhere in the world is safe. But just to add to the list showing how serious all of this is, recently Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States, had her passport photo show up online, after being released by hackers. Not only that, they had information about Vice President Biden and Secret Service deployment.

So we hear about these things happening all the time, but what they won't tell you is, there is NO fix to any of this; at least no long term fix, OR, if there is a fix, why isn't it being implemented? Got to be powerful entities and individuals stopping it. We're all as vulnerable as a Microsoft Windows system. Ah, by the way, most of you probably recognize the name "Adobe," but what you may not know, not that it has been hidden, is that their "Flash Player" has had very serious vulnerabilities; so serious, in fact, that some companies dropped the use of the Adobe product. Let me tell you what I know about tech stuff, well ..... you could fit it all on the head of a pin. But folks, you don't have to know ANYTHING about technology to see what's happening. News stories appear ever more frequently about hackers and about how hackers can take over your camera and microphone on your device, and then spy on you! It wasn't too long ago that I saw where none other than Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera lens and microphone because of this possibly. Zuckerberg is a billionaire from the Internet, if he's scared, you should be TERRIFIED!     

Now too that business interests have us so tied to the Internet, we find that our very democracy can be tampered with. The Democratic National Committee was hacked, and there has been fear that voter registration might be affected, as many states now have online registration. Even voting machines or at least voting data that might be stored online will also be vulnerable. And what name so often appears in association with the 2016 election and tampering? RUSSIA!

More in Part Three...

WORD HISTORY:
For-This highly common word goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion, "forward, in the front;" thus, "before, to the front, ahead, head toward." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "furi," meaning, "forward, before," as the Indo European "p" became Old Germanic "f." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "for," meaning, "for this reason, before, ahead of." It has remained such for all of these many centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German "für," Low German Saxon and Swedish "för," Dutch "voor," West Frisian "foar," Danish and Norwegian "for," Icelandic "fyrir." 

Just How Safe Are We? The Demise of the Web? Part One

UPDATE: This article was written before all of the recent information came out about Facebook, and before Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made appearances before committees of the United States Congress in April 2018. The disclosures about Facebook, Google and others only confirms what many people already believed, or knew, to be true; that is, that many Internet tech/media companies have compiled extensive "dossiers" on many people on the planet, even with full knowledge of content from messages between users, and even calls from such service between users. Congress basically served up a lot of softball questions to Zuckerberg, who then hit them out of the park, much to the delight of the big money on Wall Street, where technology stocks soared with every pitch lobbed up to Zuckerberg. Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah was so typical of GOP "you're on your own" nonsense, when he asked Zuckerberg how Facebook exists. Zuckerberg softly answered, "Senator, we run ads." The idea that the public doesn't know that is more nonsense. The question isn't about any Internet company running ads, but rather the information they take from users and then sell or provide to advertisers, who then target those users with ads. Zuckerberg's comment to the effect that, "users want relevant ads," is more nonsense. Americans of all existing generations have grown up with ads. They are on television (not "targeted"), on radio (not targeted"), in newspapers and magazines (not "targeted"), on the sides of building (not "targeted"), on billboards along streets and highways (not "targeted"), and the fact that they are not "targeted" has not made companies stop using these forums to pitch their products or services. Senator Durbin of Illinois came closest to laying a glove on Zuckerberg and his, and other tech companies', nefarious, and thus far, successful, scheme to literally steal user information, with political complicity to make it legal, and then to monetize that info for their own benefit to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars. The political complicity has been bipartisan.

Of course, much of the concern about the Internet also has had to do with nations, especially Russia, using the Web to spread disinformation worldwide and to confuse people as to what is "true." Information is the very heart of democracy. Without reliable information, democracy will wither and die. Putin knows this very well. Putin is not an unrepentant communist, he's an unapologetic fascist,  who wants to control the Internet, and thus, the world. Defining "reliable information" is not always easily done, as many, if not most, issues, have varying points of view, but now, issues that once had great clarity with the overwhelming number of people are being made to sound as if there are hard choices involved; "good people on both sides," in the case of people protesting AGAINST Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, two evil groups, plain and simple.            

If government and private business can't stop spammers and scammers from sending gazillions of emails to us, or can't stop illegal phone calls by the gazillion, how safe are we from everything else, like terrorists, homegrown or from elsewhere? So what, there's no technology available to combat these things? Nope, or at least apparently not. If there is such technology, it's not being implemented, which tells you right off that big moneyed interests are stopping it. Some well meaning groups, like "Nomorobo," and others, have tried, but let me tell you, they're OVERWHELMED! They block a hundred million call numbers, there are far more than that already out there, and the thing is, no one seems to really know how many, as likely many more are added each day. The problem has become unstoppable, as caller numbers can be disguised to appear to come from another number, perhaps even YOUR OWN telephone number, and this displayed number hides the real number of the call. It's the same with emails, as another email address, perhaps even your own, hides the originating email address.

Some people, real or made up, "befriend" folks on social media hoping to get email addresses, or telephone numbers, to then send spam/scam emails, or to put your number onto computer lists to make that number a target for just this side of a gazillion calls. If they don't soon stop this crap, people will have no choice, but to move away from using the Internet and limit their phone use. I already keep my landline telephone ringer shut off, so effectively they have knocked me out of using a service I pay for. People with pay-as-you-go cellphone service or with limited calls, are being deprived of that service by the scammers, that's criminal. If they were ever turned over to the public, they would be literally torn to pieces, and I want to be there for it. If you are part of a legitimate charity, you'd better hope they get this phone crap (and email crap) under control, or your proceeds will shrink tremendously, although I'm sure they already have. See, you can't beat them, they can spoof your number or your email address, then people will never take your calls or open your emails, because they won't know if it's really legit.

 Here's the issue folks, the very systems used for telephone and internet service are the problem. The "bad guys" have figured out how to use these very systems to target the public, business and governments. Of course, it all likely comes down to that root of all evil ...MONEY! Hey, they aren't doing this for the fun of it. Everyone from terrorists to pornographers to thieves, etc, etc, are given access to use these systems. Let me tell you something, some folks are making a handsome buck off of all of this too; that is, granting access, then the crooks and scammers are making their own buck by having been given, and keeping, access. Of course, some may be doing both and really reaping a harvest of bucks.

Much more to come, in Part Two ....

WORD HISTORY:
Metal-The ultimate origins of "metal" is unknown, but it goes back to Greek "metalleuein," which meant, "to mine for something, to search in the earth for something." This then gave Greek "metallon," which meant "metal ore." This was borrowed by Latin as "metallum," meaning, "metal ore, metal." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "metal," which was then borrowed by English in the 1200s.