Category: Weblog

The Attack

I still feel quite numb over the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. I try to force myself to wrap my mind around the enormity of the tragedy, but it seems impossible.

My brother & wife live in DC. I have lots of friends in NYC. Hell, I was in New York last week. Thankfully they are all safe.

I don’t have anything much write that hasn’t been covered elsewhere. My brother has written a good account of his experiences.

Whiel I would like to strike back against the enemy THEM, all I can really do is fly the American flag in front of my house as a symbol that America endures even through this crisis.

So I go back to work and move forward. If I stop and become afraid, then the terrorists have won.

Fight Censorship

I’m a firm believer on putting my money where my mouth is.

I don’t much like censorship of books.  I especially don’t like censorship of books that teenagers like because some adults are uncomfortable with the ideas presented.  I recently read an article on plastic (actually the original charleston.net article) about a guy that wanted Catcher in the Rye removed from the high school library because it was a "a filthy, filthy book".

Mr. Scared of Teenagers is on the school board and tried to ban the book.  He was voted down 6-1 and the book remained on the shelves. That would not stop him.  It seems Mr. Closed Mind checked out the copies of Catcher in the Rye from the high school library and now plans to keep them, in a ridiculous plan to stop teenagers from reading this novel.

Now, I’m not saying you need to like the book.  Conservative blowhards like George Will don’t like it either.  But at least he isn’t calling for it to be banned.

I thought to myself, "Self, that is a load of crap.  Someone should do something."

So I did.  

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I have the ability to reach out an affect things from a great distance.  I sent four copies of Catcher in the Rye to the high school in the story to replace those taken by Mr. Filthy Filthy.  It’s simple, it’s easy, and YOU should do it right now.  Send a message, do something real rather simply thinking in your head that censorship is wrong.

Most everyone reading this site has some money.  You all certainly have $10.  In fact some of you have plenty of money to spend on something like this.  That’s all it takes to send a message. 

Go to Amazon.com and ship a copy of Catcher in the Rye to one of the high schools affected by Mr. Censor Jackass.  You can send a paperback or a hardcover, it’s up to you, but DO IT NOW.

Don’t be one of those people that sits at their computers and just thinks they should do something.  DO SOMETHING NOW.

Send the books as a gift to the following high schools:

Summerville High School Library
1101 Boone Hill Rd
Summerville, SC 29483

Fort Dorchester High School Library
8500 Lincoln Blvd
Charleston, SC 29420

Jerky Recipe

I found the recipe at the office.

1 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
meat

Mix the marinade to dissolve the sugar and other seasonings.

I have made the jerky from beef and turkey. You could use other meat, but I haven’t tried. Cut the meat in strips WITH the grain. The strips should be less than 1/4 inch thick.

Soak the meat in the marinade overnight. Put the meat in the oven or dehydrator and set the temperature to 180 or so. It might take 10 hours to get the right consistency. Your preference will determine how dry you want the jerky. Red meats contain a good amount of fat, so they remain soft, even when a significant amount of water is gone.

Books & Stuff

Back on my birthday, I got a slew of new books. I finished a few.

I read a good book called Crypto by Steven Levy. It the story of how encryption became available to the general public against the wishes of the NSA. It’s an amazing story to read. Without these individuals, we wouldn’t have the secure web connections routinely in use today. It doesn’t tell you how to use or make crypto. For that, you need Applied Cryptography by Bruce Schneier.

I also read Candle by John Barnes. The book takes place in world exposed in Kaleidoscope Century earlier. The concept of ‘memes’, a type of program that runs in your brain, is explored. The basic concept is that eveyone on earth has the same meme running after a long ‘War of the memes’ for control of people’s minds. Is it better to be happy and a productive member of society at all times, or is free will more important? Candle is not as dark and shocking as Kaleidoscope Century, and doesn’t make you guess as much about the lingo used. I remember reading Kaleidoscope Century and wondering what a ‘werp’ was for a while (it’s a computer/PDA, btw).

On a completely different note, I made jerky. I will post the recipe when I find it. I thought it was on my desk, but it’s not…

Until, you get the Link of the Day.