Marijuana is Unlawful in Every State of the U.S.

I am so sick of pot smokers implying a lot of tripe that I never said. A few pot smokers that I know go ape crap when I point out that despite local laws Marijuana use is still unlawful everywhere in the USA. They need to just back off a little. Pointing out the glaringly obvious federal legal issue looming overhead during an election season is not the same as making statements on whether marijuana use should be unlawful or on it's actual validity as a medication. It isn't a claim that hemp shouldn't be used in manufacturing. It is not a claim that smoking it to get high is it's only use or delivery method.   

I don't with the law. I don't choose not to use it because of the law. Simply put, I choose not to use it because I don't need it and because recreational drug use often leads to addiction and health problems. This is true of Marijuana use as any other drug despite the claims of some users. It's safety compared to alcohol or other drugs isn't the issue. Less harmful for recreational use is still not much of a distinction because recreational use of any drug is harmful enough to be avoided. If I had a condition that was best suited to treatment with marijuana that would be different, but I don't. 

I don't care if you choose to use it or not. Some people have gone off half cocked when I point out the quasi-legal status about denying children with seizures nessacary medication being something I would do. That is rubbish. Pointing out a law isn't the same as supporting it. I wouldn't ever suggest denying a child medication for serious illness. 

If you aren't inflicting it on me or others I don't give a flying frack what you do. I don't support nanny state legislation restricting people's rights for fear of making stupid personal choices that don't affect others. I think it is stupid and unhealthy to use it for recreation but if you aren't getting behind the wheel and killing somebody in a car wreck while high or causing other problems to the public as a result of your drug use I don't give a crap. Go ahead and kill yourself slowly. It's none of my business and I don't want to waste tax money on trying to stop you.

I don't support the current DEA classification and I do believe marijuana has valid medical uses. I'm not starting a fight with pot smokers, but some pot smokers are starting a fight with me with their condescending over reactions and assumptions about my stance on the legality of marijuana use as it stands right now in the USA. I just am just pointing out that what they view as legal could very easily be trampled on at anytime. I am pointing it out because people need to get off their ass and push for change at a federal level as well if they truly want it to be legal.

The federal law is valid from a legal perspective and does supersede the states, even if it is crappy and needs to be changed. The ones going off half cocked at people that point out that it still isn't fixed make themselves part of the problem. All that frustration is being directed to the wrong place. Their dislike of the federal law or lack of compliance where they live isn't the same as it being legal.The claims of a lack of federal police because it is legal are rubbish. I guess they have never heard of the DEA or the FBI that both have offices and officers in their states. Federal agents aren't forcing compliance with federal law at this time regarding marijuana use in some states, but any federal election could put people in office that change that.  I believe recreational use of marijuana is harmful and that the legality is questionable. That doesn't mean I support it being unlawful. Get over it. 

I get told that I'm not educated on the matter and that i need to get my facts straight. Well sorry, but I am educated and I do have my facts straight. I have been told that I don't have any experience or knowledge on the matter and that I just need to shut up. Guess what? I do have a lot of experience and knowledge on this subject. You can't know me, know what I believe, and know what I have done simply because I point out the federal law supersedes local law in this matter. Anybody that graduated or even dropped out of high school in the USA should know this.

I have written to senators, representatives, and other elected officials about getting the DEA classification changed. I have provided donations to organizations pushing for medical and industrial use of the plant. Suggestion that I am compliant because I don't smoke it are rubbish. 

If you don't support the federal law, what have you done for the cause? Using it isn't the same as doing something about the laws. It isn't protest, and it doesn't give you any moral high ground in the matter. Get off your couch, put down the bong and the potato chips. Do something about instead of blasting me for saying it isn't legal.

Upgrade or Switch to a different OS, but don't hold on to an older Windows.

Do you just hate the changes made with Windows 10? Do you dislike the default software, advertising, or UI changes? Well you should probably get over it. Technology changes and computer operating systems are no exception. Holding onto Windows 7 for these reasons are silly.

Holding out for the reasons above won't work very well. It may not be much of an issue yet, but over time you will come to regret it. Especially since the clock is ticking on the free upgrade. I know somebody that held out with Windows 3.11 for Workgroups well into the first decade of this century. Nothing ever worked the way she wanted it to, She was constantly wasting time looking for a work around or compatible 16 bit software to get anything done. She had stuff installed to to give her a Windows 95 type look along and she tried and often failed to run more modern stuff with Win32s. She could have spent that wasted time doing stuff she wanted to do if she had just upgraded. I ended up force upgrading her to Windows XP at some point. I installed third party apps to make it look and feel more like what she liked. She was pissed at first, but when she started using it she was happy with it because everything just worked. I of course made a full backup in case she dug her heels in and wanted it put back the way it was. Fortunately that didn't happen.

I understand this is an extreme example. I realize that Windows 7 is still useful and able to function fine for most people and will for some time still. But with ending support, yes I know you can still get security patches but that is not the same as being a supported product, and the fact that Windows 7 will eventually lose it's usefulness as well as be much less secure, nostalgia isn't a good reason to hold out. It isn't hard to get Windows 10 to look more like what you are used to. Default software and games can be removed or replaced. Advertising can and should be turned off. It's easy. A monkey could do it.

Legitimate reasons to hold out may include hardware compatibility, specialized setups based on Windows 7 that would break with an upgrade (industrial machines controlled by a Windows 7 box, etc...), Privacy issues (even though most but not all are easy to mitigate if you just look at your settings), and specialized software development needs. Even I have had use for old or unsupported operating systems in a few rare instances. I have really a couple old computers that I still have a use for which can not run newer stuff at all or without extreme modification.

I am a strong advocate for Linux, and am in know way a supporter of Windows 10 mind you. I just think that a decision of whether to upgrade should be based on sound facts, not on FUD, not on nostalgia, and certainly not because somebody is to lazy to make a few easy changes to protect privacy and make the UI more suitable.

I think however, that when it comes to Windows 7 you should either upgrade or jump ship to a different OS entirely. Old Microsoft operating systems are not secure and not any better with your privacy than Windows 10. Microsoft has been an expert at mining your data for a couple decades, they just got more aggressive about it recently. If you think you are safer using an older version of Windows, guess again. Also, if you do choose to go to a Linux distribution you will still have to make UI changes and worry about privacy settings in most cases. Ubuntu is a prime example of a Linux distribution that is easy to use but has some privacy issues and some UI issues.

Your kids are not being taught New Math. It's called Common Core.

A portion (about two paragraphs) of this is taken from a Facebook status update I did today, but I thought it would be good material so I'm using it here as well.

Please stop circulating memes complaining about New Math. Unless your children  are in their mid fifties or early sixties they haven't been exposed to New Math in school. Kids in public school in much of the USA are being taught Common Core Math, not New Math which is actually quite old.

A lot of people are confusing Common Core Math with New Math. I see parents decrying New Math online when what they are actually talking about is Common Core. New Math was tried and failed in the 1960's. Anybody that attended school in the 1970's or later probably wasn't being subjected to New Math and our kids aren't being taught it now. You can't effect change in a program if you don't even know what it is called folks!

That said, Common Core Math is garbage and needs to be tossed. Most parents, even the ones that remember the needed math don't do well helping a child with Common Core, and it confuses the kids as well. Kids often get marked down even with the right answer because they didn't arrive at it using the obtuse methods being taught. Please do more than complain on Facebook about it! Read up a little on it, get your facts in order, and contact your teachers, principals, and school boards. Let them know how you feel and back your argument up with solid facts.

There are 42 states plus the District of Columbia using Common Core Math, The states of Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana, and South Carolina have the good sense not to adopt this ridiculous method of teaching.

Speed up a computer running Microsoft Windows

People often complain that their Windows PC has gotten slower over time. These are some tips and tricks to help without arbitrarily formatting and reinstalling windows.

1) Use msconfig (taskmanager more recently) or ccleaner to turn off programs you don't need or use that start up with windows. After installing a lot of software over time a number of programs can be added to your system start up that you don't need. To much of this can have a significant impact on the start up time of your PC.

2) Remove malware. Malware can slow your PC incredibly. Malware can include Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, and less commonly viruses. Don't assume that intelligent computing or your antivirus software will prevent malware from being a problem on their own because they wont.

3) Clean up/delete unneeded files. Temp files, items in your recycle bin, cookies etc... can all build up over time. You can do this manually, use the Windows disk cleanup tool, or even use ccleaner. Mind you, freeing up disk space isn't really going to help your speed much unless your disk is very full to begin with.

4) Simply turn off windows features that you do not use. There is an entire list of these that I may cover in another article, but  I will mention  the Windows Indexing Service. It can consume a lot of resources attempting to keep files indexed. This speeds up searches but can slow the PC down. Just remember if you do a lot of searching it may be best to leave it on.

5) Completely uninstall any software you don't need or use on a regular basis.

6) If you can afford to and if your system supports it upgrade the amount of RAM in your computer and or install a faster CPU.

Contrary to popular opinion, some things are still dangerous, stupid, and unlawful.

A few days ago my wife noticed a car that reeked of pot when she walked by a man getting out of the car. There was also a woman and a small child in the vehicle. I'm guessing the man and the woman were the parents, but I do not know this for sure. All the windows in the car were rolled up, and the odor of the marijuana was noticeable because the man had opened the door to get out.

I didn't get up and say anything even though I should have and I don't feel very good about that decision to be honest. I have called 911 about the exact same thing before for a different occurrence and been made to feel like I was wasting their time. In the past confronting people that engage in this kind of behavior only results in profanity and exclamations of the supposed legality of marijuana use in my state. This isn't even the issue, but it is irritating nonetheless because it isn't true.

It isn't legal anywhere in the USA period. Federal law supersedes state and local law. A failure to enforce the law or choosing to ignore localities attempting to contradict it is not the same as it being legal. Various states have decided to exercise authority in the matter that they do not actually have. Changes in elected leaders or appointed personnel at the federal level could easily change federal response to the matter. Until marijuana is reclassified as something other than a schedule one substance it will continue to be unlawful to use or sell anywhere in the USA for any reason.

Anyway, back to the point. The problem was the fact that they were smoking a drug in a vehicle that they had been driving with a child in the car and all the windows rolled up. Ignore for a moment the quasi-legal status of marijuana use in Washington State, there are so many other things wrong with what they were doing without even getting to that piece of things that it is just crazy.

Smoking, of any type, in a car with children ought to be a crime. It is child abuse for the sake of convenience and is just wrong. Smoking a narcotic just makes the matter worse.

How about being under the influence while driving? That is illegal here. It's called DUI and the man driving deserved to be charged for it. It is bad enough that they were risking their lives and those of others on the road, but they were doing it with a child in their care.

In the past I have called authorities, I have confronted individuals, I have alerted business owners of it happening on their property. It usually didn't seem to result in anything good. I should have taken down the plate number and called 911 anyway and when something like this happens again I will. 

People have such a dismissive attitude towards marijuana in Washington state that they ignore all the problems relating to it out of hand. If that had been beer or crack cocaine I'm willing to bet that a call too the police would have carried more weight than one for marijuana. 

Stallman vs. Reality

The trouble with Richard Stallman's arguments they are based on ideals without accounting for the reality of how people need or even want to use software and information. Stallman has been at the same tired old argument of what he views to be freedom in regards to software for decades and still doesn't seem to understand that his ideals for free software do a lot to restrict the freedoms of users and developers.

The reason why Windows, OS X, and proprietary software titles are so popular because they enable most people to do the things they want to do. That's the end of the debate really, and that is why Stallman frequently finds himself tilting at windmills. Most people don't and wouldn't benefit from the kind of freedom he is defending.

Most people would be at a severe disadvantage if they migrated to a completely free operating system and completely free software for that system. They wouldn't be able to do much of what they want to do without learning to develop software themselves. At the very least they would be facing a substantial learning curve in using their computer in a different way then they are accustomed to.

This kind of freedom is Stallman preaches is meaningless when it's freedom people either don't need or are unlikely to take advantage of. Sure, to a hacker or developer that wants the right to alter and redistribute any part of a system they see fit it is great, but how many people really fall into that category?

The truth is that many developers don't even take advantage of that kind of freedom. Most people wont ever need or want access to alter almost all of an operating system or program. Most people just want it to work. How many computer users actually want or need the abiltiy to hack the entire system?

Stallman's complete freedom argument is  almost completely pointless when faced with the reality of people users that don't need or benefit from it.  People have had years and years to migrate to completely free GNU/Linux systems and overwhelmingly, they choose Winows, OS X, Android, Ubuntu, etc...

Stallman is an extremist defending principles which for most users are completely useless. They don't need to hack their systems and they don't want to and they shouldn't have to.  There is nothing wrong if people want to buy software and let professionals handle the details when need be. There is nothing wrong with free software and people that want to do it themselves either, but expecting all software to fall in the latter category is silly. Especially since all users don't.

Ubuntu isn't a solution to Windows 10 privacy concerns.

I realize that there are real privacy concerns and that some people have their own perfectly valid reasons for disabling search and advertising functions in software. This article isn't directed at them. I am speaking to the nut-jobs out there that believe in every software conspiracy they read online and mistakenly think living under a rock is possible let alone a good move. I have seen a lot of these types declare their intentions to jump ship over Windows 10 start using Linux.

If you have decided to wear a tin foil hat and succumb to all the FUD over Windows 10 you may be considering a jump to Ubuntu.

If you’re new to Linux or to Ubuntu,you may not realize that Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly on privacy concerns and that Linux isn't a magic cure all for your paranoia. You might be shocked to learn that just like Microsoft Windows, you have to actually lift a finger and make some changes if you are concerned.

If you are over the top paranoid about privacy and don't use any cloud services you may want to disable online search from the dash. Anything you type in the dash could be recorded and sent to Canonical for use by Canonical and its partners. Now obviously it is anonymous data used for improving services and or advertising, but those in the tin foil hat brigade will argue otherwise. There is nothing nefarious or evil about it and the practice is clearly spelled out in the licensing agreement, but per usual there are nutty bloggers out there that confuse a practice allowed by a licensing agreement with actual coded software behavior or actual practices of the company. There is a difference between a license provision that allows for data collection and a huge nefarious plot to watch your every move and tattle to authorities, but people write up whatever gets them advertising revenue, not what actually happens.

Canonical, in a purely evil attempt to actually bring in funding and OMG, support further development, added shopping suggestions for Amazon to the dash. If you are convinced that you are being forced to shop at Amazon.com every time you use the dash you may want to disable the feature. From a terminal, type: sudo apt-get remove unity-webapps-common.

What I have mentioned here are just the top two privacy concerns using Ubuntu. There is a list as long as what you can compile for Windows 10 and just like with Windows 10 it is all easily mitigated with a little bit of education and some simple configuration. There are many good reasons to use Linux, Windows 10 privacy concerns isn't one of them.