American Citizens Need to Give a Swift Kick to Louisiana State Government

Brad Pitt is working hard to get families back home, this is the site, click here.

This week there is a show on the television that shows how much the Louisiana State Government has neglected something long standing, and frankly an embarrassment to the entire country. Mike Holmes, a Canadian contractor and television personality, was asked by Brad Pitt to go and do something about this. While I know that Mike is one very excellent contractor, it begs the question, why?

There is FEMA monies sitting, waiting, in Louisiana to build or repair the homes in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, yet the State of Louisiana has done NOTHING to get those monies to those who really need it. The point here? If the United States wants to have an image of a “do something” country that can solve some of the problems around the world, what better place to showcase this than New Orleans?

7000 families are STILL in trailers, waiting after so many years, for their homes again. Why the hell is the State sitting on these monies? Time is running out here. If the monies are not used within this year, FEMA will take it back.

It is long overdue that some of the people living in the US call, annoy, insist, be persistent, and generally give the State of Louisiana a swift kick in the butt to get moving! These people are your national neighbours, with kids who need to get to schools, reaquaint themselves with friends, and begin to have some semblance of normalcy. Maybe, just maybe, if enough people email, call, visit, and make this point to the people in the state powers, some small things just might get done.

Mike Holmes went from Canada to build a home, a renewal for one family, and he was appalled at the situation people STILL have to deal with. I agree! This is appalling.

What the people of New Orleans do NOT need is some scammers coming in. Those people have suffered more than I probably ever will.There is a woman in Bernard Parish who has managed to repair 200 houses, with volunteers, and if she can get this many people moved back into their homes, then what the hell is the problem with the State here?

I am proud of Brad Pitt for taking this on. He did not have to, had nothing, really to gain, and yet he did call in INTERNATIONAL help to get some housing built. Why the hell do other countries have to go there to get this done when there are people within the US that can do this well, do it with integrity, and those same people are sitting around waiting, just like the families of New Orleans?

A question here for those in the government of Louisiana. Do you need people to come from Australia, Germany, England, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan or any other place to come to New Orleans and get this done? If so, then put out the damn call and we will be there.

The City of New Orleans and the utility companies are sitting around instead of getting the utilities restored. What in hell is it going to take to get this done? Again, do you need some people from foreign countries to come and get this done?

I strongly suggest everyone get in touch with your federal representatives, Congressmen and Congresswomen, Senators, and raise hell until this state gets moving. This is a national sore that is still festering. Put some pressure on the State of Louisiana, the Federal Government, and the City of New Orleans to get moving! Time to heal New Orleans. If you need to have countries bring in people to do the job, then damn well call out for them.

Again, it is long overdue time to heal, repair and make New Orleans livable again for those families who went through hell.

Living Free of Conficker C. Computer Worm. Love it!

Microsoft is used by a lot of people to run computer systems, and the makers of trojans, worms and other malware know it. The latest worm, Conficker C, is supposed to hit and use the Microsoft holes in their systems to get to many other computers. Mine won’t be one of them, ever!

No, I don’t have malware protection here. No, I don’t use virus protection either. But, the worms can’t get me! Theoretically I could add in all the anti-viral, bot checkers, and whatnot, but because MOST of the malware is designed for Microsoft operating systems, I don’t have to.

Here is the information on Conficker C:

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has issued a warning about the latest version of the Conficker worm, which could potentially have infected any computers running a Microsoft operating system.

CIRA, which manages Canada’s dot-ca (.ca) domain name registry, says that the worm will force infected computers to connect randomly to about 50,000 web URLs a day beginning April 1.

But what could happen when those computers reach those websites is anyone’s guess. Files on the websites could instruct the worm to do anything from steal passwords or banking information, to delete a person’s hard drive to simply sending spam messages.

Experts say that anywhere from three to 12 million computers may be infected.

CTV’s technology expert Kris Abel said that most users with up-to-date anti-virus software should be fine and the biggest threat is towards computers that have been inactive for the last six months or so.

Davis recommended that Canadian computer users make sure their Microsoft Windows update is working and that their anti-virus software is up to date.

He said that on April 1, when the worm goes live, the average user wouldn’t notice it operating on their computer as it will run hidden.

CIRA says it is registering and isolating unregistered dot-ca domain names that are expected to be generated by the Conficker worm.

Abel says that there are tools online that will search and destroy the worm if you think your computer is infected.

What is Conficker and how does it work?
Conficker is a worm, also known as Kido or Downadup, that cropped up in November. It exploits a vulnerability in Windows that Microsoft patched in October.

Conficker.B, detected in February, added the ability to spread through network shares and via removable storage devices, like USB drives, through the AutoRun function in Windows.

Conficker.C, which surfaced earlier this month, shuts down security services, blocks computers from connecting to security Web sites, and downloads a Trojan. It also reaches out to other infected computers via peer-to-peer networking and includes a list of 50,000 different domains, of which 500 will be contacted by the infected computer on April 1 to receive updated copies or other malware or instructions. Previous Conficker variants were written to connect to 250 domains a day.

CIRA said Tuesday that it is taking a number of steps to stop the Conficker worm, also known as the Downandup worm, from using the .ca domain to perform malicious actions on behalf of those who control it.

The worm has been spreading through the internet since the fall, and a group of internet groups and businesses led by Microsoft has offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

The latest variant of the worm, Conficker C, which was noticed in early March, is expected to launch its attack once the system date on an infected machine is on or after April 1, 2009.

At that time, copies of the malicious code on infected computers will try to generate and connect to 50,000 web URLs a day from 110 domains around the world, including .ca while trying to reach a “command and control” domain for further instructions.

“They’ll try to create a smoke screen of many, many thousands of domains that are being communicated to, among which that single or very small limited number of command and control domains will be hidden,” Holland told CBCNews.ca Tuesday.

If you are running Windows, make sure you have all your updates done! Leaving a computer without all the hundreds (if not thousands by now) of patches over patches will leave your computer open.

If you want to ensure you are keeping your computer out of this malicious loop, I suggest you install AVG

AVG Anti-Virus

It is free and did use it when I had the Windows system.

To get a firewall for your computer (yes, even when you are working on an intranet set-up) you can also get a free one from Zone Alarm

free firewall to protect your computer

I don’t need either of these, nor the patches, nor Norton products, nor any other malware products.

What I also don’t need to do is restart my computer every time I install a new program, add an update, or even change my settings. I love this! The “to complete the installation of this program (or whatever) you need to restart” annoyed the hell out of me! Add in the fact that half the time the program or whatever was not recognized the first time I did a restart and had to do it all over again, and I got severely annoyed, almost to the point of wanting to take the computer and throw it vigorously at the Microsoft buildings in Redmond, Washington.

Now I have none of this! I don’t have to pay for a “license” to run an operating system, I don’t have to constantly watch for malware hitting my computer, and I DON’T need to restart, basically, ever again!

Yeah, ok, your patience is running low here. Why am I free of all this? Simple, free, and believe it or not, I am using the same thing that Windows programmers are using for beta development! Linux, or in my case, Ubuntu, is the FREE operating system that never, ever, needs to restart when I install something.

I can do any word processing, use Firefox for browsing, install Google Earth, use and install Flash, as well as a ton of eye candy and other goodies!

Best of all, there are NO worms, NO trojans, NO malware that can hit me, and they PAY to ship the disks too! Or, if I somehow mess up, I can just download it free too.Or, as I did before I changed computers, run the system right off the disk and not even feel any strain on your own computer.

Ubuntu, the totally free and up-to-date operating system you can use on virtually all computers

When did I become aware of the Ubuntu? After I got a TROJAN from a chat room, of all places. I ended up damn near losing the computer and my mind trying to get rid of that. I also got damn tired of having my Windows stutter, refuse to acknowledge it’s own updates, and generally make my life miserable.

The computer I am using now can use the free operating system, and, if I choose to, virtualize Windows.

Freedom!

Obama and Justice Department Release Secret Bush Memos

Looks like Mr.’s Cheney and Bush have an exercise in temper control now that the Obama administration has chosen to release some very damaging documents!

Memos written for or by the previous administration and president.

What is here is totally revealing for the way the abuse of American civil rights are seen as totally acceptable, as well as the deliberate flouting of virtually all international laws regarding war, those captured, and any possible “terrorist” activities. This is totally sickening when you realize just how much abuse the government and some of the agencies used, could use, and that every single person living in the U.S. was under threat from being arrested WITHOUT any warrant!

The so-called “legal” opinions are outrageous! More to come later.

One Place With No Bank Failures, Few Foreclosures, and Still Working

I am totally amazed at knowing this, but there is only ONE country in all of the developed group of nations that is not facing any bank crises, closures, or banking bailouts, as well as few mortgage foreclosures or personal bankruptcies. ONE

This country has strong legislation on banks that demands a much higher ratio to loans vs. deposits, so the money within the system is higher. In fact, these banks are posting profits, albeit lower than previous years.

This country has strong federal legislation over the ratio of down payments to the total mortgage amount, so that unless you have saved at least 20% of the purchase price of a house or condo, you cannot get it.  The lenders are NOT allowed to issue sub-prime mortgages, are NOT allowed to turn the mortgage papers over to others to be used in credit default swaps, and each bank must keep track of the mortgage within their books. Housing prices have dipped, not dropped, losing maybe 18% overall, with some markets remaining stable.

So, there is a solution for other countries to follow.

Add in the fact that this same country has a national health care system, and it is also one of the major trading nations in the G8 and the G20 and there is a huge number of people all over the world wondering how this one country managed to avoid the meltdown and crises affecting them.

Basically one country is a total anomaly to the whole financial mess. Weird but true. Yes, one or two of the banks within this country did get bitten by their transactions in the U.S., but only in a minor way and the deposits and other investments were more than enough to cover the losses.

Where is this place? Straight north of the U.S., Canada.

There are those who use the word “socialism” without knowing the truest meaning of that word, but for years Canada has been labelled as a socialistic society.  The government was seen as overbearing, intrusive, even too conservative to allow free markets to thrive. Taxes are only slightly higher in Canada than elsewhere.

If that is the picture of stability, then perhaps it is time some of the world governments and banks, investment houses and other agencies learned to be far more conservative, even boring.