ELECTION TIME
May 23, 2014
Sorry I’m late Jeff was at the dentist this morning. Sunday is Election Day in Colombia there are five people running for President. This has to be one of the biggest jokes in election that I’ve ever seen. The two leading candidate’s president Santos and Oscar Zuluago who is backed by former president Uribe are accusing each other of criminal actions. Zuluago was first up accusing Santos of taking a bribe from the mafia to stop an extradition. Santos came back accusing Oscar of having a hacker spy on the peace talks as well as reading Santos’s emails. Oscar says it’s a setup and the video that Santos is showing is a montage of others. Santos also today accused Uribe of being friends with paramilitary groups. Now first if Uribe was I fact talking to paramilitary groups when he was President Santos as his defense minister would have been aware if in fact he didn’t help set up the talks. If a hacker did in fact hack president Santos or the peace talks while an employee of Oscars election committee it’s a pretty good bet Oscar knew about it. Earlier this year the military was accused of hacking emails and spying on the peace talks. Colombians have choices to make this Sunday 1, they can choose to satyr home and not vote 2, they pick one of the two leaders and vote for them 3, they can do what is called cast a white vote which means they don’t like any of the candidates 4’ or do what I would do if I could vote down here vote for one of the other three candidates and tell the other two to screw. Well that my opinion but what do I know I’m a cat thei is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
MISH MASH
May 22, 2014
I was so depressed by yesterdays post I decided today will be mish mash day which a collection of random thoughts. First I forgot a very important fact yesterday it was my birthday and I turned 14 or 72 in human years. Then a bunch of bees forced the closing of a highway in Delaware in the US. I don’t know how much you get to see about the election down here in Colombia but it’s so bad they should make a comedy show about it, too bad John Belushi isn’t still alive he could play either one or both of the candidates. Global warming is back in the news but I’m convinced nobody will do anything until the lower East Side in New York is underwater. You know what the world needs it’s to have Bob Marley and Peter Tosh back and a huge concert some place they’ve never had one like Africa or somewhere. You know I’ve come to a conclusion that humans should be spayed just like cats and dogs so you can’t screw up the planet anymore than you have already. Jeff says when he gets done with this book he’s going to do one about me, Flounder which would be a best seller of course. Well I feel better now so I’m going to take a poop and go sit in the window and survey my kingdom the rest of the day. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin (they should rename it Flounder) Colombia.
SAD
May 21, 2014
The news says an overcrowded bus catches fire! This does not even begin to explain the horror that thirty two families have had to go thru. Nor does describe the cause of the fire or why these kids had to die. At the moment the driver who had no license and was transporting gasoline illegally as well as unsafely has been arrested. Unfortunately there is no death penalty in Colombia. The leader or the Christian church who booked the bus has also been arrested. Having a legal driver who wasn’t trying to make a buck on the side would have saved these children from a horrible death. Here’s more when people dialed emergency services they were connected to Cartagena which was two hours away. When the local fire company arrived there truck was something out of a car wreck it had no windshield the driver’s door was missing and the driver side front end had been in a collision recently. The Captain of the fire company said they had been waiting three months for the repairs to happen. People who arrived and tried to help the screaming children were driven back when the gasoline exploded and ended all hope for those still trapped in the bus. No one can feel the horror or sadness that has enveloped this tiny very poor Christian community nothing can be done to remove the horror of hearing children scream as they’re burned alive. President Santos says he going to make new laws for drivers and I say why he would wait so long because nobody cared about this little town because it was so poor. Now everybody wants to help but I’m sorry this will help other children but for thirty two families it’s too late. This is a very sad Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
IT’S ABOUT TIME
May 20, 2014
Jeff is moving along with his new book over 24000 words so far one of his online writing buddies Joseph Lewis wants to race him but Jeff just wants to write one as good as his author friends. This one he’s taking his time trying to decide does his villain die in this story or go on to become a recurring character in Jeff’s books. Jeff’s main character Samuel S. Sampson is a veteran of Afghanistan a Army ranger used as a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. He also did some dirty work for intelligence agencies. He made a mistake and was asked to leave the military he came back tried law enforcement but they didn’t like his view on criminals (Kill Them All) he had a problem you see he was a serial killer but one with a conscience. Now he’s trying to rescue kidnapped children and find out who’s behind it which brings us to the villain. Should the villain be a super rich crazy person with a huge ego that does this simply because he can or should he be the classic evil genius who wants to show he’s smarter than Sam and the rest of Sam’s Cyber Security Company? The latter of course means he will continue to allude Sam at least for the next book or too. Well let’s let fats get back to it this is Flounder saying CIAO, and hoping Joe Beats Jeff, from Medellin Colombia.
POLITICS IS LIKE SPY vs SPY
May 19, 2014
IT’S Monday and here I am again writing about political spying and corruption. You would think after what happened in the US with Nixon and then the revelations made by Snowdon that politicians all over the world would be smart enough not to be overt in their spying on each other. It would appear though that the Colombian Presidential candidates somehow missed the memo. As an outsider looking in it the level of corruption and the apparent lack of caring by the Colombian people amazes me. I have seen this in the rural south back in the US but there at least the little guy stood a chance. From what I’ve observed the little guy has no chance down here. The peace process will probably make things worse when they let the criminals into politics. It will give criminals something they have been trying to since Castro took over Cuba. Now I know what you’re saying the US won’t let that happen right? Wrong short of destroying the whole country with nuclear weapons there’s very little they can do. What you say? Look at Mexico and there war with drug dealer that’s going along fine right and look at Colombia’s decades old war with the Farc and they still can’t defeat them. No, it looks like political corruption is here to stay and the 1% with all the money will be telling us what to eat what to wear and where to live. I’m Flounder and I’ve been around a long time and I probably won’t be around to see all this come to pass but I do worry about the young people and what kind of future they will have. This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin, Colombia
THE MARCH MAY 24 2014
May 16, 2014
There’s a big protest march coming on May 24 against the Chemical company name Monsanto. The protesters want Monsanto to label the food products that contain or were grown from genetically modified orgasms (GMO). If you want the science behind GMO’s look it up on Google it’s far too complicated for a simple cat like me. I have no problem demanding that Monsanto label its food products but I don’t think that you can stop the companies development and use of the companies GMO’s. I actually believe that the whole label thing is designed to keep protesters from working to stop the manufacture of GMO’s. Sort of the way I thought Earth Day was a way for Nixon to divert attention of the hippies from Viet Nam. The unfortunate thing is that sooner or later something like GMO’s are going to be needed to help up food production in the world. Hardier seed that will help produce food in Drought areas. The reason is simple the world in its desire to provide health care to undeveloped nations has in some areas caused a population explosion that up that point had been controlled by nature. But leaving that aside nations like the US have starving people in them and the future says as we live longer the population will grow thus contribute to land being used for housing and then food shortages. Now this may seem like a post I support of Monsanto and it’s not they have used a trade agreement with Colombia to force farmers to use their genetically altered seeds which has contributed to protests by farmers down here. The idea of labeling food products and thus giving consumers the choice of buying products that contain GMO’s or not should not have reached the level it has. There is nothing wrong with choice and given the size of Monsanto I don’t believe their company officers will have to stop driving Rolls Royce’s and switch to KIA’s. I believe there’s more to this they don’t want their products to be held back from market while lawsuits and further testing delay their introduction to the world market. That would cause a huge loss in give other companies an equal chance to develop a better and possibly safer product. In conclusion I supporting the march for labeling of products containing GMO as a simple example of giving people freedom of choice the rest we’ll wait and see what sakes out. This Flounder saying CIAO from Colombia.
JUST A QUICK REVIEW
May 15, 2014
In Cold Blood – Beatrix Rose #1 by Mark Dawson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
OK lets be clear i picked up this book fro two reasons one I’m very familiar with the author and like his stuff two the title i admit i was expecting something in the line of Truman Capote s book but this was different and just as exciting.I love the character and Marks style of writing. I couldn’t put it down and lost sleep to finish it and it was worth it. Pick up your copy and get ready to become a fan.
JEFF IS PISSED
May 14, 2014
Here’s more technological stuff Jeff bought a device called magic jack he had it registered in Colombia. This device plugs into your computer and allows you to make free phone calls back to the US or Canada or vice versa to Colombia. Well the free six months ran out and he needed to pay 29.95 to renew it. So he goes on line does the credit card thing and magic jack says no good. He gets a customer service rep online and tells her what’s going on. She writes back are you sure you did it right and he says yes then she says do it again while I’m online with you. Well Jeff did it still not working she says it his bank he says well he’s used it online to pay bills down here and buy stuff and have it shipped from Amazon. She suggests another credit card which Jeff does still the same. She says it his bank. Well now we have a very pissed off Jeff that ends the conversation politely but you really didn’t want to talk to him right then. So he figures he’ll figure out what’s wrong in the morning when he’s not so pissed. He goes online to his master card account and sees three charges for a dollar each form magic jack that have been approved he also sees one on his checking account card also approved. So he says OK I guess I have to have someone in the US renew the magic jack. In the mean time his wife tries to pay the cable bill online and they find out all there card are blocked which means they have no access to their money which is in the bank in the US. At this point I decided to hide since smoke was rising from Jeff’s head. The reason was now, unless he wanted to pay a huge phone bill, he had no way of calling the bank and straightening out the problem with the bank. Now he has to try and contact someone in the US by email to see if they can renew the magic jack for him so he can call the bank and get this all settled. This is Flounder, and if you don’t hear from me tomorrow it will be because I’m still hiding, saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
ROBOTS
May 13, 2014
Continuing with our blogs about technology and our use of it lets look at robots and the potential danger. We are closer today to having functionally intelligent robots in our lives than ever before. But is this a good thing or bad thing? The United Nations is trying to limit what they call killer robots, ones that can make decisions about life or death without human input. A robot that looks at a situation from a purely logical point of view and then acts based on logic. In other words I point a gun at you; the robot interprets this to be a threat against your life and reacts logically attacking me either to disarm me or possibly killing me. Pure logic would indicate killing me so as to remove the perceived threat permanently. But what if I was acting trying to teach you self defense, or just playing? Would the robot be intelligent enough to be able to analyze this and then act accordingly? These are questions the UN is trying to address, the problem however is this. A robot who is an instrument of pure logic will at some point determine that peace or victory is only possible when both sides in a conflict are eliminated. That would mean having the terminator movies play out in real life. No me being a cat I don’t even like windup toys so I vote for no robots. But humans being inherently lazy creatures will go ahead and build them with the idea they’ll eventually make life easier, that’s the reason computers were invented and how did that work out for you? Millions of people lost jobs complete occupations disappeared never to return. Maybe humans do need robots so they can realize just how stupid the superior human life form really is.This is Flounder saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia.
WASTEFUL
May 12, 2014
To say we live in a disposable society is an understatement especially in the US and a couple of other so called advanced countries. Every few months there is a new rumor about a new operating system for your computer or a new iPhone coming out or TV. But do you really need it? I mean look at cell phones do you really need a new one or do you buy it so you go to your friend look. Jeff doesn’t have an iPhone or tablet he still has an old laptop which he lets me use to write this blog and he lugs around a digital camera. First he likes the pictures he gets with the camera and he needs a full size key board to write with and with his eyes a seventeen inch screen is also necessary. Ruby has a tablet and now spends more time on line than ever before doing nothing. Jeff watches all his friends and relatives with smart phones texting and talking while you’re trying to have one of those old fashioned things called a conversation with them. But that isn’t the point the point is what’s so special about the new phone that you can’t live without it. I mean really is a new game apt worth junking your old phone and getting a new one. Now they’re coming out with smart watches and smart glasses. More stuff that once a new version comes out you’ll throw in a drawer never to use again. I know if we didn’t do this stuff the economy would be in trouble but if Jeff was to do this his economy would be in trouble. One more thing isn’t it funny when you walk through some poor neighbor hoods the kids have $150 Nike Air Jordan’s on and are listening to music with Beat head phones and either an iPhone or iPod. Well this is Flounder going to take a nap on an old T-shirt and listen to some 50’s music saying CIAO from Medellin Colombia one of the most wired cities in the world.
floundersgreatadventure 