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Cowards and Trailblazers :

  • – Christmas was this last Thursday; hope all my listeners had a great day with loved ones.
  • – snow finally arrived here in Salt Lake; and a decent amount, too; along with low 30s.
  • The Interview

  • News – Story 1: Sony gets hacked, gets threats, cancels then releases limited “The Interview” movie
  • – Since the hacker group Guardians Of Peace broke into Sony’s network, stealing all manner of personal details, financial information and a load of emails that exposed various conversations with executives; all over the controversial movie that focuses on two journalists who plan to assasinate Kim Jong Un leader of North Korea; this hacker group then released as many details in an effort to stop the release of the film; threats to theater owners if they show the movie helped stop major chains; a lot of independent theaters stepped up and showed the movie, without incident; hackers be damned.
    – Link to article: Sony Cancels Release of ‘The Interview’
    Obama

  • News – Story 2: Obama gets Cuba to agree to diplomatic ties after more than 50 years
  • – back on December 17th, Obama spoke to the nation in an address where he proclaimed that it’s time to look at opening diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba; the thing that opened this up was Cuba’s released of American prisoners and the US release of 3 convicted Cuban spies; controversial on some levels, the overall decision to want to put aside the 50+ year blockage of relations between the two countries is a long time coming; those who are opposed on grounds of communism need to realize how much trade we do with China; the US trade embargo could mean a lot for economic-straved Cuba; although they have those great older cars that are in use after years of being refurbished; still it’s great to see something happening; just need to take some time to change policies and setup proper rules and laws and governing of trade.
    – Link to article: After a half century, a thaw in U.S.-Cuba ties

  • News – Story 3: Congress protects medical marijuana establishments in states where it’s legal
  • – the most recent federal spending measure, which keeps the government open for business had a small provision that changes drug policy, based on states where it’s legal; mostly focused on medical pot, this provision also prevents the feds from raids on legal pot in states like Colorado and Washington (and soon to be Alaska); the DEA still classifies pot as a narcotic, which I would assume will take more years to reclassify it; this is a great thing to happen, keeping the feds out of state laws and letting the states handle things on the smokable arena; more Republicans are backing this position, supporting those that sell and use medical marijuana; we need more changes to remove the anti-drug laws in this country; this is a great start along the path to legality.
    – Link to article: Congress quietly ends federal government’s ban on medical marijuana

  • RANT: Shopping at the mall days before Christmas is a mad house
  • – the parking lot and stores are packed; I have a mall that is across the street from my work and the days leading up to Christmas Eve is crazy; drivers lose all sense of how to drive; shoppers packed to the gills; mall kiosks constantly trying to shove their product in your face; double wide strollers nipping at your heels; this is why I enjoy shopping online and don’t have to deal with this; but as with the rest of everyone, there are those last minute gifts that can’t be delivered in time; i need to be better prepared next year.

  • SHAMELESS PLUG: I have learned how to shop at the mall days before Christmas
  • – so in fighting with the crowds at the mall, I’ve been very good at getting in and getting out without getting stuck; two visits this week and my total time in the mall for each shopping trip was under 20 mins; and that included parking the car and walking; the trick? knowing exactly where you need to go, what item you want and having a backup plan, just in case it’s out of stock; I got lucky on all fronts here and it made me happy that I was able to navigate my way around every person, child, stroller and kiosk employee; of course, shopping online avoids the hassle altogether.

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