I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives.
I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole
I hope that before your time on earth ends, as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg for forgiveness.
I have been privileged to receive a pre-publication draft of The Robots are Coming from the author. This has nothing to do with any aptitude for literary review or interest or fear of robots on my part. Rather the author is my oldest friend. This is therefore not an unbiased review. The author will show up at my doorstep with beverages and conversation more often if this book sells well.
And since our friendship has always been built on friendly argumentative exchange, I won’t try to suggest that this book is without fault or that I fully embrace its conclusions. There were a few spots where the argument sounded too much like Glenn Beck for my taste though I didn’t mind the occasional political jab.
The robots are coming Actually, we all know that they are already here. We know about the ones that man the auto assembly lines and we know about the ones the police use to probe and destroy shopping bags left behind by careless tourists. We also know about armed and unmanned drones flying over Pakistan providing not so silent security for wedding parties and such.
And we know about endless loop, mind numbing, talking software that substitutes for customer ‘Service’. The robots are here alright. We built them to do useful or profitable things for us and we tolerate them because we like the convenience it brings (or we really are desperate to get through to customer service).
We all also know about the internet and the growing power that is Google. We know about 2001 a Space Odyssey , The Matrix and The Terminator films and we know that we are not ‘there’ yet. At least we think so. This book shows that we’re a lot closer than you think. The author provides a well-documented look at exactly where robot technology is at today, how quickly it has gotten there and how few the steps are and how quickly they might occur that will send us hurtling willingly into the matrix.
The author warns in bold type from the first page of the introduction that when the robots come for you “your neighbors will help it happen” I’m one of the unwitting neighbors; happy to turn over to iTunes and the cloud information about my complete music collection (and likely whether it was obtained legally). Happy to allow their software to pick the music I listen to in exchange for the pleasure of hearing my music in novel and interesting sequence and the convenience of not having to sort through 100’s of CDs to do it. I don’t mind giving Pandora Radio my thumbs up or down clicks as they learn my taste in music. I like the end result. Radio that reads my mind (and yes I do occasionally succumb to targeted advertising and buy new music). Without the cloud I would have never heard Lucinda Williams sing Dylan’s Positively Fourth Street.
And I can’t neglect mention of the irony of how utterly indispensible Google and the cloud were in producing a book warning of its imminent threat. Or the role that a company named after a river in South America might play if it is to be successful.
This 20 minute TED Talk video demonstrates why you should read this book.
“In this powerful talk, the world‘s foremost robot expert shows how the widespread use of robots in war is changing the realities of combat. He shows us scenarios straight out of science fiction -- that are no longer at all fictitious.”
Hagerstown Bi-Centennial – Antietam South Mountain Centennial
Clara Barton, Angel of the Battle Field Founder of the American Red Cross
Historic Dunker Church, Battle of Antietam Sept 17, 1862
Gathland Civil War Correspondents Memorial Frederick County Md.
Good for 50 cents in trade at any cooperating business or redeemable at any Washington or Frederick County Maryland Bank on or before 2:00 P.M. April 5, 1962
These are soon to be lost to the eBay auctioneer. Thought they deserved a spot in the virtual scrapbook first. Click on the image tovisit the Flickr PhotoPage where you can see a higher resolution image.
These pictures were taken at Dam #5. I have posted photos taken yesterday afternoon along the Potomac River and C & O Canal in a Flickr PhotoSet. Pictures are from Taylor's Landing, Conononheague Aqueduct and Dam No. 5.
Money may not have gone farther back then but it did cover more area.
The top bill, a series 1899 Black Eagle Dollar is signed by John Burke Treasurer of the US and Houston B. Teehee , Register of the Treasury. This dates the bill between March 1915 and Nov 1919. It’s the dollar in use on the day of my mother’s birth and through World War I. To collectors this bill is known as a Friedberg Catalog # 233.
The lower bill is a 1923 series Silver Certificate signed by Frank White and Harley V. Speelman They signed bills through Nov 1927. This bill is Friedberg #237.
These and a few similar bills are from my mother’s estate. Most will soon be lost to the auctioneer at eBay.
You can see all the bills in more detail in a PhotoSet on my Flickr Photo Sharing site. Just click on the pictures above or to the left to check them out. Or follow this link
Note the links to name/date range above are to ronscurrency.com. That site is my source for dating the bills.
Thanks and kudus to Philip Driver at Philipdrivercurrency.com His site and friendly correspondence has been very helpful in learning the history and value of these bills. Check out his site if you would like to see or purchase rare and high quality similar old silver certificates.
While searching for info about my mother's bills I found two very good sites with well written currency grading definitions and guidelines.
This 1957 George Washington silver quarter is cracked. Check it out. Click on any of the pictures to see an enlarged detail view of the crack.
I found this quarter among change gathered on my paper route at age 13 or 14. It was already well circulated and worn but the crack seemed unusual. I set the quarter aside with a small coin collection. It’s one of the few things that survive from that collection.
I have always been intrigued by that crack. A digital camera with a macro setting and a little bit of software and now you can see why.
How can you crack a quarter after it is struck without bending it all out of shape and leaving tool marks? I don’t think you can. I think this quarter was cracked before it was struck. The silver blank that became this quarter was cracked before the die was struck. It should have never left the mint in Philadelphia.
You can see more pictures of this quarter on my Flickr photo sharing site. Click on the pic to check them out.
It was in the mid 80s (the picture is more recent). I was involved in installation and acceptance of a secure video teleconferencing link between the White House and the Pentagon. My colleagues and I did not hold adequate security clearances for free access to the work location in the basement of the White House. We needed to be escorted everywhere. Even to the toilet.
Getting to the worksite involved showing up at the gate, identifying ourselves to the Uniformed Secret Service who verified that we were on an access list and called for our escorts from the White House Communications Agency. Meanwhile we stepped through a magnetometer while our tools and briefcases etc. were x-rayed and scanned. The Uniformed Secret Service then provided us with a visitor badge on a chain to wear around our necks for the day. We waited at the secret service shack at the gate until our escorts arrived to take us down to the communication equipment rooms under the east wing..
At lunch time our escorts would return us to the gate. We held onto our badges while we walked the city in search of a restaurant. On return from lunch we displayed our badges at the gate and the secret service allowed us to step through the magnetometer. We then called for our escorts who would meet us again for return to work.
One day when a colleague and I returned from lunch and called for our escorts they told us that they were short handed and busy “handling traffic” at the moment and did we mind waiting a little while. It was a warm spring day and we didn’t mind waiting on the White House lawn by the gate.
Meanwhile a chatty uniformed secret service agent at the gate asked why our escort was delayed on such a fine day. When I told him he said well you guys know where your going don’t you? I’ll take you there. So we followed him from the gate into the east wing of the white house. We turn down the right corridor and get to the top of the stairwell leading down into the basement where the communications equipment rooms are located. There was a sign at the top of the stairwell indicating that the area was restricted to certain personnel which apparently did not include the uniformed secret service agent escorting us. The agent said “you guys know where you are going from here right?” and dumped us on our own into the bowls of the White House.
It was an eerie feeling pounding on the iron vault door of the Comms room trying to get the attention of the folks behind the door among the chattering equipment. I had visions of spending the rest of the day being grilled by the secret service.. That didn’t happen but a uniformed secret service agent got a good chewing out.
These photos were taken on Aug 1, 2009 during construction of the new sanctuary at Emmanuel Baptist Temple on the Old National Pike just west of Hagerstown. Clicking on the photo will take you to a Flickr PhotoSet of similar photos taken that same day. The photos there are geotagged with links for locating the spot on a map.
This guy was seen in Baker Park He was there for a little fishing and some live blues. The Tom Principato Band was scheduled to perform that evening. Unfortunately the show was rained out. I just rediscovered this photo while doing some hard drive reorganization. Click on the Picture to see it in original color and size or here to see it on Flickr PhotoSharing site. The photo there is geotagged.
“But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.”
We don't want to hear crap like that here in Washington County. We like excuses here. Illegal aliens, liberals, commies, socialists, gays, blacks…. Give us more excuses. We don’t want any threats to our way of life.
And we certainly don’t want to risk telling our children stuff like this:
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions”
They just might take it seriously and then where would we be? The very foundations of this community could be shattered.
Each and every member of the BOE should be remembered for this “courageous” act of censorship which serves only to preserve and protect the standing and status of our community. What a remarkable legacy these so-called "educators" leave for posterity. They should really be proud of themselves.
Their next effort should be to purge our school dictionaries of definitions number two and three of this word. Definition number one seems perfectly adequate here.
Just a couple of pictures from the Maryland Symphony Orchestra Salute to Independence at Antietam National Battlefield. The performance is always superb this year was no exception. The premier performance of Ghosts of Antietam by the MSO’s principle timpanist Joe McIntyre was really nice. The sound of the tympanis in the darkening view of Bloody Lane and the fields beyond was haunting and beautiful.
My Dad would have been 97 yesterday He was very proud to have been born on the fourth of July. . His Grandfather was at Antietam. He would have really enjoyed the John Phillips Sousa numbrs.
This photo was taken in March of 2002. The fountain is located just 7.6 km from the epicenter of this morning's earthquake in central Italy. My heart goes out to the people in the beautiful city of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy. Cordoglio.
