Cycle Three

No, what worries me is that I might in a sense adapt to this environment and come to be comfortable here and not resent it anymore. And I am afraid that as the years go by that I may forget, I may begin to lose my memories of the mountains and the woods and that's what really worries me, that I might lose those memories, and lose that sense of contact with wild nature in general. — Theodore Kaczynski (from his June 1999 interview)

Hike Two

3.1 mile stroll through the forest today with Cecil.

We crossed paths with seven groups of people—three were with their dogs.

The first dogs actually caught up with us from behind. They were running full-out, ahead of their owner, who was sprinting. Cecil had been walking 20 feet behind me on a wide part of Wildwood Trail; I turned and noticed he was looking back the way we came. Then I heard the jingling of dog collars and started to dash back to him. But Cecil began to run toward the dogs, who were fast approaching.

For about a second I thought he confused the dogs with my movement; but as he scrambled up a tree (in two bounds, he was six feet up) I realized he had instinctively realized the proximity and speed of the dogs and realized the nearest climbable tree required him to run ten feet toward them first.

I pulled him off the tree before he got higher than I could reach (and received a couple of belly and chest scratches thankyousirmayIhaveanother). The dogs payed us almost no heed and we returned to hiking after they were no longer audible and his tail was no longer the size of a toilet brush. The other two dog-groups were fellow-hikers and we had time to prepare for their arrival and pick Cecil up (no scratches).

Words like "self-confidence," "self-reliance," "initiative," "enterprise," "optimism," etc., play little role in the liberal and leftist vocabulary. The leftist is anti-individualistic, pro-collectivist. He wants society to solve everyone's problems for them, satisfy everyone's needs for them, take care of them. He is not the sort of person who has an inner sense of confidence in his ability to solve his own problems and satisfy his own needs. The leftist is antagonistic to the concept of competition because, deep inside, he feels like a loser. — Theodore Kaczynski, aka prisoner number 04475–046 (he'd undoubtedly have a "News" show on FOX, if they were permitted to broadcast from the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado)

New Cat (redux)

On the 2nd of July, my kitten, Powell, died of FIP. Although he was only with me for about three weeks, he and I bonded quickly.

A few weeks ago I returned to the humane shelter and allowed a new cat to find me.

His points have the classic gray stripes of a blue Lynx-point Siamese, but he doesn't have the blue eyes, angular head, loud/constant vocalization, or slender body of a Siamese. Instead, he has gray-white (very light blue) eyes, a round head with the higher hip-bone shape of a Tabby. His coat is medium. His paws are largeish for his body-size.

Although the Humane Society said he was about 13 months old, my Vet said his teeth looked like a 8-10 month old kitten. He is currently 8.5 lbs.

We've named him Cecil O. Zonkey. I call him Cease or Zonk.

Cecil came from Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, because he was sneezing at the shelter and is still doing so (either a 3-week virus, or allergies). His middle name is Oscar, because he told me that was his name via mental telepathy (or, I picked it up unconsciously - but that's not very interesting). Zonkey was chosen by my paramour, because he has all the positive traits of a Siamese and a Tabby but none of the negative ones.

He has demonstrated:

• The signs of affection he gives are head butts, nose licks, and gentle tooth-touch-on nose/chin/cheek "bites".


• Allows the clipping of nails, the administering of earmiticide, and taking of pills without display of anger or fear (need to work on drinking from a syringe and taking a bath).


• Enthusiastically plays with our other cat.


• Loves to ride in the back window of a car.


• Rides in the carrier with our other cat like a sibling; in the cat backpack with little complaint.
  


• Not boisterous. He has a very quiet vocal range.


• He has worse-than-terrible eyesight (he actually has a visible nystagmus, the constant movement of his eyes from side-to-side).


• Will drink out of a plastic water bottle cap held in my hand (valuable for when he's thirsty and a larger receptacle is not available).


• Doesn't extend his claws or bite when engaging in pseudo-aggressive play behavior.


• Hikes fantastically. He followed/led for 2.5 miles through the forest without a hitch on his first hike.

In order to prevent the feline-failure-to-post-a-feckin-foto enforcement officials from further focusing on me, this is proffered:

Cecil O. Zonkey, 10 months

...we've made imprecise statements and statements that ought to have had all sorts of qualifications and reservations attached to them; and some of our statements may be flatly false. Lack of sufficient information and the need for brevity made it impossible for us to formulate our assertions more precisely or add all the necessary qualifications. And of course in a discussion of this kind one must rely heavily on intuitive judgment, and that can sometimes be wrong. So we don't claim that this article expresses more than a crude approximation to the truth. — Theodore Kaczynski (near the end of his manifesto; a paragraph that negates the previous 230 paragraphs . . . I love the use of his "royal we")

District 9 - Movie Review

District 9 is a humorous, character-based, speculative fiction story, which showcases mankind's racism and socio-economic bigotry by twisting it, so we see ourselves (humans) as the "bad-guys" relative to ugly-bug-aliens (the good guys).

Yes, there is plenty of action and suspense and thrills. Yes, the acting is good, with a clean script, fine editing and great direction. But—more importantly—it is not a re-tread. This is new. This makes you think. This is discussion fodder. Wonderful. Worth the cost of admission, even for humans who are not fans of sf.

Alienation, low self-esteem, depression, hostility, rebellion ... population growth, ideological conflict, political extremism, terrorism, sabotage, anti-government groups ... threaten the very survival of the system. The system will be FORCED to use every practical means of controlling human behavior. — Theodore Kaczynski

Is Complacency in Your Resume?

This was in my e-mail. After reading a few sentences, I knew it met the: 'if it seems too good to be true' criteria. But, the person who forwarded it did not provide a wink and nod. So I wondered, to myself (and now here) how many of the foolish-American-masses actually think/thought it was legitimate?

It's obviously a ploy to get you to send identifying and banking information; but even if one failed to note the Nigerian fingerprints (or whomever it is this month) doesn't the "position" they are "seeking to fill" scream—like the unabomber at his brother—shady criminal enterprise?

I was especially tickled by their stated need for complaisant (sic) people; maybe their spell-check got tangled in their thesaurus—the first doesn't work and the second works too well. The list of character traits at the end made me giggle: even letter-bomb/drug/weapon re-packagers need them some mad people skillz.

This is the complete unaltered ad, except I redacted the g-mail address at the end.

Job Title: Package Handlers
Company: FiftyOne
Job Location: United States
Employee Type: Part-Time/Home-Based
Req'd Education: Not Specified
Req'd Experience: Not Specified
Base Pay: probation period: $1,000/month
Bonus: $20 for each package

Hi. We are "FiftyOne", a transport company that looking for employees. Yes, we need you.

In the first place let us introduce. Our company is providing global e-commerce solutions for existing e-commerce sites. Our company is the unique third-party-managed service that effective connects U.S. brands with international buyers.

International shoppers finally feel welcomed, and buy with the same confidence and certainty they would if the merchant were across town.

While ecommerce growth in the U.S. is leveling off and merchants now compete fiercely for share of wallet, the overseas market is growing dramatically, offering an untapped opportunity for expansion and new revenue. "FiftyOne" makes a window... or even a gateway (like a "Stargate") to that huge market.

Because our business is growing, freights turnover increases along with profits, we need new employees right now! Now that is your chance to set career at rapidly evolving company.

Available vacancies are Package Handlers. Main point of that work is receiving package, repacking it and send it further according to our instructions. That's not a hard work, but we need reliable, complaisant people dependable and stable as a rock.

You will receive 5-7 packages per week.
And you’re need only 2 or 3 vacant hours per day for this work.
You’ll be able to form your own work schedule and receive additional income for your family!

This position requires someone with:
- well developed analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills
- strong operational background and knowledge
- exceptional people skills
- problem solving skills
- top notch communication and writing skills
- drive to be the best

If you are interested, please reply to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

...human nature has in the past put certain limits on the development of societies. People could be pushed only so far and no further. But today this may be changing, because modern technology is developing ways of modifying human beings. — Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski (aka The Unabomber)