Month: December 2006

Folks, I’ve been extremely lenient in my comment/trackback policy. I can see from recent developments that I’m going to have to crack down just a wee tad, though.

Trackbacks will henceforth be accepted within two strictly enforced categories–the way it’s supposed to have been all along:

1. Trackbacks which reference a post within a post that is in some way related or comments on the content of the post tracked back to. Folks, this is what trackbacks were initially designed for, their reason for being. If you simply put a link in your post, saying, “Here are some interesting posts,” I’ll delete the trackback. SAY SOMETHING, quote from the post, refer to it in a post that has similar content or in which you use my post as a reference or whatever, or do not try the trackback.
2. Open trackbacks: ONLY posts designated as Open Trackback posts or linkfests will accept unrelated trackbacks on any subject, requiring only a link to the OPEN TRACKBACK/LINKFEST post to qualify.

It’s pretty simple: UNLESS the post you intend to track back to is an open post/linkfest don’t expect your trackback to show any more if you do not make some meaningful reference to the post. Heck, even roundup posts have a brief comment mentioning the content of the post linked to! And no, slapping a “BTW” mini-roundup with no contextual content at the end of a completely unrelated post doesn’t qualify.

Be real. Make your links and trackbacks genuine, OK? Trackback unrelated posts ONLY to linkfests/open posts. It’s what they are for. Linking to NON open trackback/linkfest posts that are unrelated to your post material is a bush league tactic that wins you no friends. Or readers. Play fair or play somewhere else.

(No, I’m still not going to be a real hardcase about this. A simple reference that even peripherally ties the link into your post–even in a nonsensical way, but does attempt the tie-in nonetheless–will pass muster in most cases. Just make some sort of good faith effort to be legit, OK?)

N.B. Yes, I do understand that when doing manual trackbacks to multiple sites for open trackback postings that it is pretty easy to get things screwed up and trackback to the wrong post accidentally. Even though I may delete those trackbacks when they’re caught in moderation or wherever, I’ll not block trackbacks–except for obvious SPAM–from open trackback/linkfest posts, even if after this notice any blogger seems to continue with a practice that violates this notice. At twc, open trackback/linkfest posts are just that: open.

[N.B. A bit of a time crunch today, so I’m re-posting, with minor edits, a post from last December (12-10-05) from another of my blogs. Semi-sincere apologies for the reprint, but time presses. 🙂 ]

---

OK, R’Cat’s got my crank turnin’ with her Daily Advent Meditations over at Cathouse Chat. Another good’un today riffing off the Mark Lowry song, “Mary Did You Know?” (A song that, by now, has been recorded by nearly everyone and his dog, but well worth a listen, IMO. I happen to like the Kenny Rogers/Wynonna Judd version.)

I recieved a rather lengthy email yesterday (12-09-05), one of those multi-forwarded things with an article supposedly (probably true, just haven’t bothered to check) reproduced from a newspaper article going slightly “mad dog” all over the hyper-secularization of Christmas. This comment set me back on my heels:

“We’ve allowed the Baby Jesus to be kicked out of His lowly manger, and those offended by Christmas are still not happy.”

Well, d’oh. What did The Man Himself have to say about such things?

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.'(_a_) John 15:18-27 NJKV

And some of the foundational teachings of the Christian church include multiple reminders of Christ’s humility and of Christians’ call to emulate it.

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake… Phil. 1:29 NKJV

And

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Phil. 2:5-8 NKJV

So, an ACLU mentality wants to “kick the baby Jesus out of his lowly manger”? If Philippians 2:5-8 is a true witness, then He’d just sleep on the floor.

Continue reading “Kicked Outa the Manger”

Today’s Blogburst is also available as a Podcast.

The Price of Lettuce

By Nancy Matthis at American Daughter

Federal subsidies do not reduce the COST of food to the taxpayer. They increase it. Likewise, illegal immigration does not reduce the cost of food, or of any other goods and services, to the taxpayer. Illegal immigration also increases those costs.

In fact, illegal immigration increases the citizen’s financial burden in exactly the same ways and using the same types of governmental mechanisms as the inefficient and ill-conceived government subsidy programs. Let’s just look at the numbers. The available data points come from different years, so our results will not be specific for any single year, but will be representative of the general problem.

Continue reading “Guard the Borders”

Time crunch this week. Gonna rely on regular x-posts, as many Christmas-related posts as I can fit in and… y’all providing plenty of link-ins and trackbacks to fill these pages.

If you have a linkfest/open trackback post to promote OR if you simply want to promote a post via the linkfests/open trackback posts others are offering, GO TO LINFEST HAVEN DELUXE! Just CLICK the link above or the graphic immediately below.

All-new, thanks to The Conservative Cat.

If you want to host your own linkfests, check out the Open Trackbacks Alliance.

This week’s Carnival of the Recipes is up at The Common Room, and it’s a goodie–some wonderful chicken recipes and also some baked goods for your Christmas celebrations. My Grandmother’s Date Nut Bread is listed there, but that’s just one of many delicious recipes in this week’s carnival from soup to nuts and more.

More importantly, next week’s Christmas Carnival of the recipes will be hosted at one of my all-time favorite blogs, Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea. If you have a special Christmas family recipe, I’d suggest you submit it early to recipe-dot-carnival-at-gmail-dot-com.

Ridiculous. Exceeding even the “reality-based fantasies” of Mass Media Podpeople, Loony Left Moonbats and Academia Nut Fruitcakes.

Surpassingly, mind-bogglingly silly.

I got an email from Gribbit expressing similar thoughts (in a much more low-key manner–and for Gribbit, that’s something :-)), and so I popped over to The Truth Laid Bear ecosystem page and checked out what he was talking about.

Sure enough, Gribbit had been jumped way up in what was apparently a re-indexing of the TTLB Ecosystem. “Well,” thought I, “it’s no more than he deserves.”

But then I thought to check and see if twc had been affected by the apparent reindexing.

Now, folks, THIS is ridiculous.

It’s not that I mind, particularly, but 78?!?! *sheesh!*

Nah. Makes no sense at all, at all.

Oh, well, as I’ve said all along, it’s N.Z. Bear’s game and he makes the rules. Have fun out there, boys n girls. 🙂

Trackposted to Rightwing Guy, Wake Up America, and The HILL Chronicles, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Oh, and tracked back to Gribbit’s weekend OTA post, cos he gave me the heads up on this flabbergasting turn of events.

Here’s a real change of pace, a blast from the past. I was visiting with my mom the other day, and she mentioned having just made some date nut bread according to my grandmother’s recipe. Now, IIRC, Grandmother never made this except around Christmas, and it was always a real treat. When she gave the recipe to my mom, well, that was a MAJOR gift. (Because she gave it to her straight :-)).

Here’s the recipe, with the minor modification by my mom of “canola oil” (cos Grandmother just used regular ole “vegetable oil” which coulda been anything–I know cos she let me help one year. *heh*) Olive oil works, too, in my experience. A couple of editorial comments based on my own experience (and watching Grandmother).

Grandmother’s Date Nut Bread
Ingredients:
1 C Finely Chopped Dates
1 C Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 C Water
2 TSP Canola Oil
1/2 C Nuts (your choice–Walnuts are good best)
3/4 C Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Preheat the oven to 325 Degrees F
Cover and Cook Dates in water about 5 minutes [n.b.–bring juuust barely to a boil, then cover and simmer–ed].
Remove from heat and cool.
Put Flour, Salt, Sugar, Baking Soda in bowl – add Egg (beaten), Canola Oil and Vanilla
Blend – then Add the cooled Dates and Water.
Beat about 1 minute – Add Nuts.
Place in greased loaf pan.
Bake about 1 Hour at 325 Degrees F.

Cool, slice, eat. You’ll want to double the recipe and make two the next time.

---

Tracked back to the Christmas Alliance Headquarters, cos it’s one of my fav Christmastime memories… 🙂 And, Trackposted to Rightwing Guy, 123 Beta, The Cutting Edge, The HILL Chronicles, The Uncooperative Blogger ®, The World According to Carl, Stuck On Stupid, and Dumb Ox News, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

At twc: No post for you today… unless you create your own here with a lil trackback magic. Link to this post and trackback Friday through Sunday to create THE must-read weekend list of posts. 🙂

Otherwise, this will have to read: This Post Left Intentionally Blank

If you have a linkfest/open trackback post to promote OR if you simply want to promote a post via the linkfests/open trackback posts others are offering, GO TO LINFEST HAVEN DELUXE! Just CLICK the link above or the graphic immediately below.

All-new, thanks to The Conservative Cat.

If you want to host your own linkfests, check out the Open Trackbacks Alliance.

That’s all. Hit me with your best shot.

From Little Green Footballs an amazingly transparent recounting of the life of a man’s grandfather and what it means in these days when some would stand and demand the the Nazis did not try to eliminate the Jewish culture from the face of the planet….

It’s a tale of derived understanding, of knowing pictures of people who are no more, did in fact exist and that cannot be denied.

If you choose to read his post, be ready, it’s an emotional account in a factual matter, written like Peter Falk playing his character of Colombo, but in a far more reverential manner. You may need Kleenex – so don’t tell me I didn’t warn you first.

From How my grandad invented the Holocaust by Eugene:

My father’s father died when I was 16, 15 years ago. Or was I 18? I don’t remember exactly. It was a long time ago. My memory fails me, the daguerreotype has faded. I know that he was. And then he was not. I know this because I saw him when he was. And then I saw him again. And he wasn’t any more. He lived, and then he died. It is a fact.

My grandfather had a little sister. I know what she looked like. I have seen the photo. A 1941 photo. Or was it 1940? I don’t remember exactly. It was a long time ago that I saw it last. My grandfather knew. But he has been dead for a while, so he cannot tell me. If the photo was taken in 1941, that is the year my grandfather’s sister died.

In his 60s, towards the end of his days, my grandfather got very sentimental. He had had three heart attacks, the first one when he was in his 40s, so he wasn’t good for much towards the end of his days. He would sit on the couch, clutching his sister’s old photo, and cry. About 40 years had passed, but he would still cry. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect that, many years after my parents go, may they live a long life, I will cry exactly like he did. My people, the Jews, are like that. Cry babies.

So his sister lived, and then she died. It is a fact. I know that, because I have seen my grandfather cry over her photo.

Read and be enriched by this story and know the truth is nothing but the truth, so help us God.

X-posted from Chaotic Synaptic Activity.

An abbreviated comment on tech support hell.

I don’t mind at all providing the occassional freebie tech support to family and friends. Kinda like a doctor making sure his kids take essential meds or something. 🙂

But. What I hate is having to call HP or Dell tech support (especially HP, recently) for naive users who are unable to navigate the bullshit spouted by “tech support” personnel whose only goal seems to be to make the customer keep the piece of crap they’ve been saddled with, unrepaired, cos dealing with tech support is just too painful… Seriously.

Well, it’s either that or their Indian accents are so thick that their “solutions” are incomprehensible, as well as wrong. (That doesn’t bother me, I just tell them I’m nearly deaf and need them to speak very slowly and distinctly. After asking them several times to S-P-E-L-L simple words, they usually take the hint… *heh*)

“We are sorry you are still holding… ” Yeh, they really are. In more ways than one. Sorry I’m still holding, because that means they might have to actually make whole the person I’m navigating their system for. Sorrier I’m still holding, because they cannot, CanNOT bullshit me.

“I will have a case manager call you at your convenience. What time will be best for you?” And the check is in the mail. Right. Another lie.

But more and more it’s become typical of the outsourced tech support offered by such as HP. It’s little wonder HP is having to “reinvent” itself.

Do yourself a favor: do NOT buy HP products. Oh, their cameras are pretty nice lil consumer goods (as long as you understand the parameters they can operate within), and HP printers are nice enough MOR printers, again within certain limitations. But when you need tech support? Frankly, in recent days, even Dell is better. At least the Dell techs I’ve talked to have actually known what they were talking about when pressed hard enough (or when thimngs are escalated high enough *heh*). And the onsite Dell people I’ve supervised (for clients who had Dell products still under warranty but wanted to make sure they were actually treated properly–yes, there’s sometimes legitimate cause to have such folks supervised *sigh*) have seemed to be at least moderately competent.

But HP tech support? Painfully bad. Agonizingly unprofessional. Often wrong. And even more often unintelligible.

Not who ya want Aunt Tilly’s computer to have come from.

“Eh? Whatcha say, sonnie? I can’t understand a word you’re saying!”

Buying a computer this year? Do yourself a favor: build it yourself. It won’t cost less, but it will be built better; you’ll know the components, and tech support is as near as the mirror. If you are inexperienced in assembling simple electronic puzzles, see one of the many excellent tutorials on the web. Heck, the one at TigerDirect isn’t half bad, and it’s at the bottom of nearly every page where TD is selling motherboards, etc. Or this one.

Yeh, yeh, I know: I do this stuff all the time so I think it’s no big deal. But seriously, folks, it’s worth it if only to escape tech support hell. And I’d sleep better at night not having to talk to the “day shift” in some country 10 hours ahead of my time zone… because the call center is swamped with customers “having issues” during U.S. waking hours. *sigh*

And,

“I’m very sorry the case manager did not call within the designated time. I can reschedule the call for sometime in the next 24-48 hours… ”

Translation from an execrable Indian accented English: “We wish you to be inconvenienced enough to just give up and go away.”

It’s probably THE primary reason for offshoring the first level of tech support to Indian call centers, saving “a whole lotta lumps” money for HP (et al) in customers who just give up and make their computers into doorstops rather than pursue having the company actually go to the expense of repairing the thing. Probably “makes” them a lot more than the $5 a day or so they pay their unintelligble Indian English speakers (for the service of driving tech support callers away) “makes” for the company. (Both false economies, IMO: how much goodwill is HP willing to write off?)

That super cheap HP you saw on a TV ad? Skip it. They have to skimp on something somewhere to offer it so cheaply. Components and support. It’ll never be worth the tech support hell when it obsolesces itself one month out of warranty (whether you have the OOB or extended warranty)… right on schedule*.

Comment on your own “tech support hell” experiences here or in email, if you would.

Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Rightwing Guy, Blue Star Chronicles, Renaissance Blogger, Culturetastic, and Dumb Ox News, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Continue reading “Tech Support? I Dunno. I Think It Gives Me a Headache”