Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us in, Stanley. Which is my way of bringing up the fact that Haloscan is among the missing this morning. Attempts to access their home page, pings and even trace route fail to find them. And that means that their servers must be off line. I hope that this is not a systemic problem... or that Haloscan has quietly expired and shuffled off this mortal coil. Right now, only time will tell. Until it does, however, if you want to say anything to me, you'll have to use Email.

And now a little rant about software:
 
I can't use "Blog This" in Opera. It won't let me. So, I have to use Netscape, but Netscape has suddenly decided not to let my Winamp work. So, I have to have both browsers running if I want both music and "Blog This" operating. I have tried everything I know to fix either/both problems to no avail.
 
This sucks!
 
On another note, three entries prior to this one (oops, I forgot how I have these displaying...the entry I'm looking for is the first entry displayed for 8/31--which makes it the next one as you scroll down...heh, heh), there is a story about how Netscape is losing ground to MSIE. The problem, of course, is that Microsoft so crippled Netscape during the Browser Wars that Netscape could no longer survive as an independent entity. So, it was sold off to AOL, which is no better (in many ways) than Microsoft.
 
AOL has limited options open to it if Netscape is to survive as more than a marginal player in cyberspace. The first thing AOL has to do is make Netscape the default browser for it's online users. The second thing AOL has to do is make Netscape non-commercial. By non-commercial, I mean that Netscape needs to stop being a sales tool. Netscape needs to be a neutral tool for surfing the net.
 
AOL needs to concentrate on making Netscape's underlying code error-free and to dump the Internet malls and product ties that clutter up the Netscape landscape.

CNN.com - 10,000 march against wealth divide - August 31, 2002
 
So, here we are. The totally self absorbed, Me Generation policies of our unelected president seem designed to drive an insurmountable wedge between the US and the poor of the world. This country, which was once a beacon of hope to that same constituency, is now perceived as the prime source of repression and exploitation in the world.
 
And, children, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. As far back as the Club of Rome's report "The Limits to Growth" written in 1972, we have been repeatedly warned that our profligate use of the world's resources would, in the end, come back to haunt us. In a real way, hundreds of millions are beginning to look at the events of 9/11/01 as the opening salvo against a rapacious and unsustainable society. (Aside: I think the men who planned and carried this attack out were/are evil people who were not supporting the above agenda. But that doesn't lessen their ability to claim they were...and thus become martyrs to the "Cause".) G.W. Bush's refusal to attend this conference, and the obstructionist stance of his delegates are both morally reprehensible and acting against the best interests of this country.
 
At times like this, I dispair for my country.

Blair Unsure on Right Iraq Tact
 
AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! Where do these people come from? It would be nice if they had a passing acquaintance with the English language! The above headline comes to us courtesy of Netscape's "Top News" feature. Obviously, what the poor being who wrote that headline meant was "tack" (to reverse, change or modify abruptly one's ideas, conduct, or attitude).
 
One would think that some editor would have caught this, but it was probably only run through the spell checker which would have passed "tact" as a perfectly good (albeit inappropriate) word.

Data shows Netscape browser usage down to just 3.4% This link is to a Computerworld article which details the ultimate decline and fall of the once preeminent Netscape browser. Once again, the Evil Empire from Redmond, WA is on the march. However, if we steadfastly refuse to use MSIE except when forced by embedded style sheets (and even then you can foil IE by just copying the URL and then pasting it into your own browser) and if we actively urge others to switch to another browser, then we might, slowly, erode Microsoft's market share...and, incidently, its power.

I still haven't finished the deep *cough-cough* piece I was writing. The more I struggle over it, the more I think that it won't ever be finished. No great loss, I think.
 
OK, because I don't want to be one of those old farts who constantly repeat themselves, telling the same story over and over again ad nauseum, I went back and checked to see what I've written so far about grandparenthood. Having found the one short entry, I know what I can talk about without worry of being repititious. One thing I did find was that I had already mentioned my sweetie's name in an earlier entry. Not that I think I get a lot of traffic, or that said traffic is going to go digging around in archives for out of date tidbits, I'm just a little uncomfortable mentioning the names of kids on the web...so I'm editing that post and my baby will be Dulce from hence forth.
 
All of my children were born when I was in my twenties. I enjoyed them immensely as babies and children, but I hadn't a clue what I was doing. My three kids are like peas in a pod...very close together in age, so I didn't have a lot of time to reflect between the time one finished any particular stage and the time the next one arrived at said stage. Plus I was somewhat involved with myself...doing what it took to provide those kids with the necessary food, clothing, shelter and the fad of the moment.
 
With my Dulce, I have much more of both perspective and knowledge to work with. Consequently, being with her as she begins this journey through life is, in many ways, richer than it was the first time around. Possibly, because I have found myself, lately, thinking more of endings as I move into the fall of my years, being around Dulce makes me think of beginnings--and this is a good thing. It is cool to watch her become absolutely mesmerized by something I hardly give a thought to as she struggles to make sense out of this world. As she does this, I remember again and again that she is doing this totally cold, no road maps, no associative memory hooks, no anything other than what is physically in her head to help her in this task. It is boggling to watch her solve problems. Her current problem is one of movement: she needs to learn how to crawl, but, until we figure out the movement of legs and arms, rolling suffices (unless Granddad is kind enough to put her in a walker thingy...she has figured out that pushing makes her move, but she hasn't quite got direction in hand yet...)
 
But now it is time for lunch: more to come later...

I've been writing a blog entry for about three days now, and it still isn't finished. (It's political in nature...'nuff said.) Rather than wait until that one is finished, I thought I'd comment on my first day as Nanny Granddad.
 
OK, a step back here: For the last three years or so, I've been doing consultant work and day trading out of my home office. Well, the day trading part got hammered bad last year, and the consulting went in the toilet right after 9/11. By this summer, the wolf was starting to prowl around the yard. At my age, going out and finding a "real" job that is actually something I want to do (and that pays what I think I'm worth) is...difficult to say the least. But, something had to happen: the bill collectors aren't known for their sympathy and empathy.
 
My son and his lovely wife were dealing with their own little problem over the summer. Our granddaughter was born last January, and her mom's maternity leave was over in June. Something had to be done with the baby. Well, my wife is a Montessori teacher and, as a teacher, she had the summer off. So, she (we) volunteered to be the baby's primary care over the summer. During that time, the kids were supposed to be looking for either day care or a nanny. Well, the search, for various very legitimate reasons, was not fruitful.
 
The end of the summer was fast approaching, and panic was beginning to set in. So, about two weeks ago, I mentioned that I would be happy to continue taking the baby for the day, but it looked very much like I needed to go out and get like a Home Depot type job to bring in some badly needed cash. Whereupon, the kids put their heads together and came back with a counter offer: they'd pay me to take care of--I'm tired of calling her the baby...let's call her Dulce (sweet) from now on--Dulce. They say that, instead of me trundling out to work in someplace I probably would not like, they would be happy to make up at least some of that income. Well, it works for me. I get to do stuff while she takes her nap(s) and sometimes while she is playing with her "stuff". And I don't have to go work for Home Depot. It's a win/win scenario as far as I'm concerned. And, as soon as I can (because I'm still doing stuff that I hope will result in a rebuilding of the family fortune), we can dispense with their contributing to our welfare.
 
So, I'm going to write about being a grandfatherly Nanny. And my first entry will come tomorrow. Tonight, I have other fish to fry, metaphorically speaking. So, goodnight Blogland.
 
Quick aside: I'm listening to a streaming program over Live365 which is almost like I programmed it myself. The channel is Radio Free Idaho, and it is run by a lady who has the same musical tastes (in this genre) that I do. I highly recommend blogging while listening to a nice streaming audio program. ta-ta...

So, the good news is that it finally rained last night. The bad news is that it was too little, too late. The state has clamped the severe water use restrictions back on. According to the local news rag, we are shy some 18 inches of rain since last August. Over the past four years (48 months), rainfall has been below "normal" in 34 months. Again, according to the local rag, the last time we had a drought this bad was 1964-68. I remember that time. My parents moved to "the country" (OK, Bedminster which my New Jersey readers will point out is not really "country") right in the middle of the drought. This was the first place they had owned where they had to deal with a well, and my father freaked. He had us taking showers where we got wet, turned the water off to lather up, then back on to rinse. It wasn't until the fall of '68 that we got some rain and the family water restrictions were lifted.
 
So, I'm hoping that this rain, and the rain we're supposed to get towards the end of the week, coupled with my liberal use of the soaker hose (very, very water miserly...only uses a teeny bit of water and that goes directly to the roots of the plants,) will save my bushes. The lawn is being left to its own resources: either it comes back or it doesn't. If not, I spend next spring dealing with it. I'm afraid that all that is going to survive is the crabgrass. I don't know how that stuff manages to survive...even thrive... under conditions that are killing virtually everything else that is green.
 
I do think Judy has saved the tomatoes. The first couple had what looked like mold damage, but what we were later told was caused by lack of water, so we have been watering the vegetable garden every night for the past couple weeks. We also got a Miracle Gro feeder and have been feeding the veggies every other week. I think that we will be in produce for the rest of the summer if we can keep this up. As I understand it, the water restrictions do allow for the watering of vegetable gardens.
 
I do feel for the people of Central Europe. This country hasn't seen floods that deadly in...in...well, I don't think in my lifetime; perhaps the Jonestown flood of 1889 or the Galveston Flood of 1900 (Yeah, yeah...hurricane...but most of the loss of life was caused by flooding...so, it counts!). And the damage estimates are in up in the multi-billions of US dollars range.
 
I note that Global Warming doesn't necessarily mean that it gets hotter (although that is a probable outcome). No, all this means is that there is more energy in our system so there are likely to be more severe "weather events". Our drought here on the East Coast of North America and the heavy rains in Europe fit the model very well. As far as I'm concerned, we have been warned. Now the question becomes one of whether we can do anything to mitigate the effect we are having on the environmental control systems of the planet.

Volunteers End Hunt for Va. Girl
 
What is going on? This year has seen a rash of horrible crimes against young females, both here and abroad (I am thinking of those two poor children in England as I write this.) Is it just because the news organizations are getting better at disseminating lurid, sensational news or is it maybe that there are so many more of us these days that things like this are just bound to happen more often?
 
My own take is that there is such a thing as evil in this world, and it does not only take the form of zealots killing innocents for political/religious reasons. We have been lulled, over these past 50 or so years, into thinking that "evil" is a relative term and that there is no such thing as a conscious evil entity trying to subvert our souls. C.S. Lewis had it right when he wrote the Screwtape Letters. There are evil spirits at large who are trying to gain possession of us. And, since we have let down our guards--so to speak--they are finding it easier to subvert people to the point where they are capable of doing these horrible things.
 
Not that this makes much difference in how we, as beings living in this material realm, should react to individuals who perpetrate crimes against children. Anyone who would harm a child has become, in my opinion, anathema and has forfeited any claim to mercy. These people strike at our very future and should, again in my opinion, be permanently removed from this sphere of reality.

Bush Warns Democrats on Spending
 
I love this shit. Instead of listening to his father reminisce about supply-side economics (that's where all the tax cut as a panacea for all troubles bullshit comes from), he should be reading the Peter Principle and start thinking about what it means to be promoted to one's level of incompetency.
 
According to this news report, GWB is blaming the Democrats for the current budget deficit. Seems that the Federal Government is looking at a 165 billion dollar deficit this year, and it is all the Democratic controlled Senate's fault. Seems the Senators have asked for a couple hundred million more than the Administration in areas such as public housing, agricultural research and NOAA. In addition, Bush rejected $5.1 billion in "extra spending I did not ask for." This money was, in part, for airport security and aid for both Israel and the Palestinians.
 
Of course, it is hard to see how this all adds up to the 165 billion the Feds are going to fall short this year. Perhaps it is all those tax cuts George is pushing through for his wealthy friends. Just maybe it was that 1.35 trillion dollar tax cut that he demanded (and got) from a Republican controlled house and a Senate which was too afraid to challenge him.
 
If the Democrats don't take full advantage of this opportunity to wrest control of Congress from the Republicans, and begin the task of making GWB another one-term Bush president, the shame will be on their shoulders.