Open letter to Gregg Popovich (and the rest of the celebrity and sports elitists)

Gregg,

I have tremendous respect for you and the Spurs, and have been a Spurs fan (even though I'm not from San Antonio or even Texas) for over 30 years.  The reason for my respect is that the Spurs have never been a team of a super-star, though they have had many on the team.  The philosophy has consistently been that of team over individuals.  Given that longstanding history, I'm sad that I have to write this letter.

I was born in poverty in downtown Detroit Michigan.  My dad was a gas station attendant, and my mom was a Hop at a drive through restaurant until my sister and I were born.  We lived in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment with little to nothing.  My dad started an apprenticeship into plumbing, which when he felt like working and didn't blow money on drugs and alcohol allowed us to move into an 800 square foot home.  Our staple meal for more years than I wish to count was pinto or navy beans cooked with a ham hock.  A ham hock was the only meat we could regularly afford, but we were fed and full.  Mom was always there, but dad was either working or partying with friends.

When my parents divorced, I was bounced between them as most kids are when bribes and promises are used as a way to avoid child support payments.  Thankfully, that only lasted a few years before my dad died.

Mom did what she thought was right trying to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.  She married a guy with a job but also a drunk.  It was not uncommon for her, my sister, or myself to find ourselves with a knife at our throats or wrists with step-dad threatening to kill us.  Perhaps more unnerving was him threatening to shoot us all while we slept.  At a certain point, you just say "Go ahead and kill me then."

I started working at 15 years old so that I could have my raggedy car and insurance to drive it.  I also could purchase clothes that kind of matched what the other kids at school were wearing, and a bit of entertainment.  Mostly drum sticks since that was my release from the world, but I even saved enough for a portable tape player and purchased the occasional tape.

Just after turning 17 and not knowing how I could escape my environment I enlisted in the US Army.  Within two weeks of graduating high school I was off to boot camp.  The Army taught me a whole lot about myself and others, and I'd not be the person I am today without service.  It also gave me the opportunity to put money away for College.

After the Military I started College just as I had planned.  I didn't realize that the max pay from the Army college program was barely enough to cover tuition, but I sucked it up and worked full time to keep a roof over my head and scraped together enough mac-n-cheese money to live.  I happened to find my knack with computers during college.

When I started working with computers, I spent 12 - 48 hour stretches working and learning.  My dedication and devotion paid off, and I was soon one of few top notch high performance and high availability experts in my field, long before we had terms for them.

I became a parent and for numerous reasons became a single parent shortly after.  I have raised my kid since 10 months old on my own.

Due to a work injury I had to have my shoulder reconstructed.  I also had to have my knee operated on several times due to damage caused in the military which I had neglected to fixed out of fear of Army Doctors.  Even though my vacation time was eaten up for health reasons, I could at least get it done.  I had a decent job and insurance, so I considered myself lucky

I am proud to say not only I have moved from poverty to the middle class, but I am able to pay for my sons college tuition out of pocket.  I have no debt, and he will graduate college with no debt.  He will be able to pick up where I leave off, and have a better life and give a better life to his children and my grand children.  As it should be.

Here is an important fact for you to consider.  Everyone I know who has moved up from poverty has done so with the same recipe.  Motivation, dedication, determination, and persistence.  The same exact qualities you expect of your players.

Here is another more important fact for you to consider.  I know plenty of people from all races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, and beliefs who have moved up the same way.

Considering the combination of national origins, races, of Religions of Spurs players I would hope to be considered insane if I suggested that you brought any of these players on the team because of their race, national origin, Religion, or any other factor but their work ethic and abilities.  I would further be insulting everyone of those players and questioning their work ethics and abilities in raising such a question.

Yet you claiming "Whether it’s the LGBT movement, women’s suffrage, race, it doesn’t matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people because we’re comfortable. We still have no clue of what being born white means." does exactly that to me.

I had to work my butt off to get ahead, and expect everyone else to be able to do the same if they wish!

If you really have no clue what being born white means, let me give you a very simple definition.  Write it on your hand or make a small tattoo, because it's really simple.  It means the same exact thing as being born any race, ethnicity, or any other discriminating container you wish to put people in being born means.  It means "we were born".

I would agree if you had said "if you are born in poverty you are going to have a hard time moving up." because that is a true statement.  That is not what you said.  You also conveniently ignore the fact that because we are born in the USA we can actually move up if we have the qualities in the recipe.

Tell me Gregg, which part of my life to you believe to be comfortable.

The parts where as a little kid I got to watch my drunk dad vomit?  Getting beat with a belt afterward?  Going fishing after school when I was in Junior High so that we could have meat for dinner?  Wondering if I was going to be alive in the morning for many of my high school years?  Wondering if I should kill the guy to protect the rest of the family and risk going to jail myself?  Perhaps you believe it was comfortable searching for body parts in the Military?  How about wondering which class I can't take because I won't be able to afford rent, or how I'm going to eat when my bank account was at 0.00  and payday is 4 days away?

Do you know that there are millions of people like me, or who came from tougher backgrounds than I did?

Your lack of empathy and willingness to discriminate against people under a false flag of "equality" is quite frankly disgusting.

Gregg,

I don't believe I have done anything to deserve you, and people like you, stuffing both your middle fingers up at me.  You are within your rights to do it, and I respect your rights.

That said, I am not obligated to support you or the platform you stand on while you flip me off.  I won't be watching any more Spurs games and won't buy any Spurs material or merchandise.  I will tell everyone I know to turn your games off.  I am returning your one finger salute right back.

You just lost a long time fan!

If your statement happened to be a mistake, Lord knows I have made plenty, here is what to do to make things right.  Use the same platform you used to flip me and people like me off to apologize.  Make it sincere.  Like most people I am forgiving of mistakes.

Sincerely,

SP

Context Matters: Analogy for the moronic leftists (Jeff Sessions)

The simplest way to understand the current witch hunt is changing the conversation slightly.

Senator Al Frankin: We have reports that people like you were firing guns into a crowd, and that you were near the crowd.
Jeff Sessions: Senator Frankin, I was there but never fired a gun.

Leftists: We have reports that while hunting in the woods a few months ago, Attorney General Sessions did in fact fire a gun.  He is a liar!

Anyone looking at the claim by the left should be able to determine that the position of the leftists is not just disingenuous, but an outright lie.  The context of the question was not whether or not then Senator sessions had fired a gun, but if he had fired it into a crowd.

The leftists bleating "foul" are the most despicable kinds of liars.  People can see through it, and continue to abandon the Democratic party in droves.  The Democrats are no longer represented by any rational or sane arguments.  The identity politics and lying are so far gone that I see the party collapsing within the next year, with the remnants being the extremists.

Shame on Schumer, Pelosi, and all of the other extreme left progressive Democrats who despise any semblance of truth.

The Diabolical Main Stream Media

The main stream media in the US has become a non Constitutional diabolic agency.  While thumping their chests claiming that they have rights to publish what they want, they ignore the purpose of the Press defined in the US Constitution.  That purpose is to inform the Public, not to lie to the public.

What the Press is not supposed to do is manipulate the public by fabricating narratives and cherry pick content to support those fabricated narratives.  Yet this is what the majority of broadcast media has become.  This narrative fabrication is primarily the media supporting the Progressive Left, but it's not theirs alone to own.  Main Stream Media in the US today is almost all Progressive Left, so it's the easiest to find.

MSM lies and manipulates opinion in three very diabolical way.

Method One: Complete Omission of News
Media cherry picks stories in general.  If major news happens which does not fit their narrative, they simply don't report the story.  Instead, yesterdays talking points are repeated and reinforced.  Sadly people don't know what was omitted.  An allegation of trust brought up yesterday may very well be corrected today if the story were known, yet if the narrative is to generate distrust the story never makes print or broadcast.

Method Two: Injecting allegations for facts and providing insinuation that the allegations are facts.  Most people rely on a single source of News.  Allegations being substituted as facts, and treated as facts, provides and unrealistic view.  This method is diabolical primarily because of the amount of media collusion we see today.  MSNBC and CNN for example run the same stories with different people presenting them.  Even if a person is to watch or listen to more than a source of "news" they will hear the same story.  Confirmation bias is much easier than contemplating new thoughts, and the media knows this.

Method Three: Cherry Picking information and presenting it as fact, without context or full set of facts.  This is the most diabolical type of lie because there is a thread of truth in the stories.  If you happen to read transcripts and listen to full speeches of Donald Trump during the Primaries and General election, these are easy to see.  Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of bias placed on anyone looking or listening to full sets of facts by this same agency.  People are literally bullied into not looking into facts, and bullied for having a different opinion.

At this point in time, the monopolized main stream media deserves no protection under the Constitution when printing or broadcasting propaganda.  While many of the people on MSM are not actually journalists, they call themselves names and behave as if they were journalists.  I question whether or not these commentators do so out of guilt.

I remember a time when the Journalists in this country at least pretended to abide by the Journalist's Creed, but sadly many of the people claiming to journalists behave just like the commentators.

The creed as authored by Walter Williams, first dean of the Missouri School of Journalism.

I believe in the profession of journalism.

I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.

I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.

I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.

I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one’s own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another’s instructions or another’s dividends.

I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

I believe that the journalism which succeeds best — and best deserves success — fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.

The real issue with the leaks of General Flynn

There is a major difference between the hacks of the DNC and Hillary Clinton, and the hack resulting in the leaked transcript of General Flynn.  This difference should alarm all Americans.  As an IT security expert for nearly thirty years I will display the difference and try to simplify the two hacks.  The difference in this case is that General Flynn's hack is an inside job, initiated and acted on by at least one rogue agent in the US Government.  The leak is not the first inside job by someone inside the Government, and until the administration and FBI can find the culprit or culprits probably won't be the last.

Of course the Democratic Party, and Corrupt US Media have turned this all into a political garbage fest, and they will wallow in it for as long as possible.  They already stink, and seem to enjoy the smell.

Hillary Clinton's illegal server (sorry if you don't like the adjective but it was) was found to be running un-patched version of Microsoft's Exchange.  This was according to the FBI analysis of the server.  The particular version was vulnerable to exploits with simple tools available as a commodity for hackers.  Claims of "There is no evidence it was hacked" are as moronic as you can hear.  The goal of a hacker on a high value target, like the Clinton mail server, is not to get caught.  The hackers would have setup a persistent connection to move data off of the server at will, and most likely in real time.  Leaving love notes, or "ha ha we hacked you" would result in removing access and patching the server.  The majority of hacked servers run for months without knowledge, and in most cases high value targets run for years without the hacker being detected.

The hacking of her server was not just likely, but the FBI released reports stating that it probably was.  It was an amateur setup as well as illegal.  No special software was needed, and very little skills were needed.

The DNC email hack was even worse, but before we get there: I have yet to see any proof, or even evidence, that the Phishing mails were related to Russia.  What was related to "Russia" was a hackers name on software used to break into boxes and some emails.  Unfortunately for the people claiming "Russia did it", these tools were also released to the hacker community by the developer.  Not a Russian, but a Romanian, and quite possibly a group instead of an individual.  The Federal Government did NOT claim Russia did it, because the FBI was denied access to analyze the servers, even though they requested it.  There were two independent agencies paid by the DNC to perform the analysis, meaning they could have easily been incentivized to claim a foreign intelligence agency was responsible for political purposes.

I did some analysis myself of the hacks.  The answering server for the Phishing emails was located in France, and Name Services information was also hosted in France.  The purchase of the Domain was in France, the the admin was listed in the US.  That does not mean France or the US were involved, because with Internet technology it's very hard to say.  To be frank, you need to catch hacks in the act and be able to back trace their connections.  It simply means that there is no indication that "Russia did it."  Claims to that fact are quite simply dishonest and lack any fact.

The amount of work and knowledge it takes to generate official looking emails for Phishing is trivial, and I could teach anyone to do it in 5 minutes.  But I don't.

As with Hillary's server, this was an amateur job and simply poor security.  No special skills were needed, and no special software.

Now lets jump to the leaks coming out of the White House, why and how they are different.  Wiretapping US Citizens is against at a half dozen Federal Laws.  The "leaks" from the White House came from Wiretaps which were done without warrant.  The act of wiretapping an Official in office is considerably worse.

In addition to the illegal wiretapping, the calls were transcribed.  What is interesting here for people to know is that the transcripts have not been leaked.  What was done is fragments were cherry picked and allegations made.  If there was actually wrong doing, the proper action would not be to leak to the Press "anonymously" but to turn the information over to the US DOJ for processing.  If there was actual wrong doing, the transcripts which were cherry picked for allegations would have been leaked to show beyond a doubt that there was wrong doing.

For the people worried that President Trump and his Administration talked to ambassadors in foreign Governments, including Russia, don't be.  There is nothing illegal about that act, and every prior candidate and their team has done the same.  In 2008 Candidate Barack Obama sent an ambassador to Iran to talk to the Mullahs and told them not to negotiate with then President Bush because his administration was coming into office and would give them better deals.  Candidate Barack Obama flew to dozens of foreign countries to gain support for himself and his campaign, including nations Hostile to the US.

Lies by omission are the absolute worst kind of lie, because people have no chance to know the truth without the full set of facts.  Lies by omission are what the Main Stream Media in the US has become exceptional at.  Yes, that is right.  They are professional liars, and there is plenty of evidence and reporting already out there to back that assertion.

If you happen to still believe anything you hear on main stream media, I have pity on you but will ask you to open your eyes and find facts.  What we are seeing is an open attempt to destroy the administration that the people elected.  It may take a few minutes longer to fact find, but you will find virtually none on TV or Radio.

In Loving Memory

My Son and I were heading out to the 4th of July Fireworks when he was just five years old.  As we were buckling up in the car we heard a cat crying.  We stopped to determine where the noise was coming from, and a scrawny cat jumped onto the hood of our car.  He looked right at us through the windshield and cried.  "He needs Help!", and looking at the cat I had to agree with my Son.

My Son and I chatted about our options.  Taking in a pet is a lot of work, and if he's sick he may not be with us for long.  Soon, we had a cat in the car and instead of watching fireworks we headed to the local store.  Looking at the filthy emaciated cat, my Son humorously named him "Fluffy".  After purchasing all of the necessities for cat care, we returned to the car and "Fluffy" was curled up on the seat waiting for us.

The cat was covered in oil and fleas, so the first task was to try and clean him up.  We spent a half hour bathing the cat who took the bathtub surprisingly well.  Dead and struggling fleas streamed down the drain, then became a trickle, and finally seemed to be gone.  We were pretty sure Fluffy was mostly black when we found him, but as we dried him we found a Silver Tabby had been hiding under all of the filth.  On went the flea collar.

A full can of cat food went down in little time, and I laid a beach towel on my bed so that he could sleep on something clean without ruining a comforter.  Little spots of blood oozed where the fleas had vacated in a hurry.  When I woke up I found him curled up back on the towel, but the food bowl was empty.

We took him to the Veterinarian as soon as they were open.  Once there, he received another immersive flea bath, immunizations, and an antibiotic to help him with infections from the fleas.  The Vet did not give him a high chance of survival due to the fleas and severe emaciation.  I'd have to run back a sample to test for parasites to know for sure.  Even though the Vet estimated his age at 7 months, he told us to get canned kitten food to fatten him up.  If he made it through the next month we could schedule him for follow up appointments.

Fluffy displayed his most pervasive traits, stubborn and tough.  He put on enough weight to be considered healthy, and even though he continued to eat two cans of canned food, dry food, and daily treats for his teeth, he never became a heavy cat.  His max weight was about twelve pounds, so he was always considered small.


My Son and I not only had a cat, but we had fish.  Fluffy used to watch the fish, and seemed to wish he could catch one.  One day while I was cleaning the tank he tried, jumping into a 35 gallon tank.  Even though he got another bath, he smelled like fish tank for a couple days.  He never tried that again, but we did put a goldfish in a bowl for him to see up close.  He tapped at the goldfish with his paw and was startled that it moved on it's own.  From then on, he was content to simply watch the fish in the tank and hang out for attention when I cleaned and fed the fish.

Fluffy was my buddy, and a member of my family.  For seventeen and a half years he would meet me at the door when I got home from work, climb on my lap for petting, sleep between my feet on the bed, and sit outside the shower waiting for me to get clean.  Sometimes yelling "Are you crazy, get out of that water!" while I was in the shower. 

He was tough and playful, but also cuddled when he thought we needed it.  Fluffy watched over my son, another rescued cat, and me for longer than most cats live.

Around the time Fluffy turned seventeen, he started to have problems holding down his food.  The Vet said it was probably cancer in his spleen since there was a good amount of swelling.  There were some other symptoms as well, such as severe irritation on his stomach and a sinus infection.  The Vet told us that at his age, he may not make it through the biopsy process.  We put him on  medication to help him keep his food down and changed his diet for something easier on his body.  We treated what became a chronic sinus infection the best we could, and all of the minor symptoms as they came.  The medicines and treatments worked for longer than expected.

Just before Fluffy's eighteenth birthday, around Christmas time, he became very ill.  We were able to get him stable, but he ended up losing sight in his right eye, and had difficulty seeing with his left.  I knew something was really wrong with Fluffy.  Over the next month he would burrow into my arms and just wanted to be held and comforted.  He would eat with help, but drinking was becoming difficult.  He finally lost all sight in both eyes.

On January 12, 2017, Fluffy went to sleep for the last time.  I am thankful for all of the time we had as a family, and happy he is at peace.  I miss him very much.

How to correct the anti-American protesters

In psychology books about parenting we can learn about an interesting phenomenon.  All children will go through phases where they scream, cry, tantrum, and sometimes even hurt themselves in attempts to get what they want.  This is pretty normal in toddlers and any parent has seen the behavior.  The advice in every psychology books is to ignore them.  Turn your back, and walk away.

Further, it tells you that if you have a person who gives attention to that behavior you need to remove that person from your child's life until they grow out of the phase.

Most of us know this as tough love.

Since we have created a culture who believes safe spaces are needed to protect themselves from opinions they dislike, and that they can tantrum to keep people voicing those opinions away, we have a segment of the population with the mentality of.. well a toddler.  Since there are quite a few of these monsters running around today they have received a name.  We call them SJWs for "Social Justice Warriors".  Notice that the term really has nothing to do with Justice, and the Social involved happens to be what ever grievance they can find in common with others who wish to disrupt society.

Main Stream Media started spreading lies about one person and covering for another.  This has left the uneducated or uncaring with a biased view of reality and MSM has no intention of admitting their lies and corruption.  Wikileaks has proven as much with leaks, but SJWs have little interest in facts.

Further, we have MSM promoting this culture and enabling the behavior by giving the SJWs attention when they should be receiving tough love.


We can't physically remove the media from the SJWs, but you can indirectly keep the media away from the SJWs by removing your view and stopping their ad revenue.

Pop music people who threatened to leave the country if Trump won instead have started protesting.  Those people should be boycotted too, and please live up to your words and LEAVE!

So the answer is to boycott MSM, Pop culture figures, and just ignore the SJWs.  If they decide to behave like adults and have adult dialogue we can let them back to the table.  Until then, pay them no attention but arrest them if they break the law.

Justice and the Empty Scale

When we look at the symbol of Justice we find an empty scale.  Justice in it's purest form is represented best this way and worth contemplation.  When we hear a person ask for, or demand, Justice are they really asking for that?

If a person receives favorable treatment the first reaction by many is to throw weights on the other side of the scale.  There is no way to perfectly balance the arms of Justice so we end up throwing weights on each side of the scale. At a point the arms of the balance become strained and eventually will break.

We see the attempts to weigh the scales in someone's favor so often that we seem to have lost the meaning of Justice.

Justice is not "fair" treatment, though many attempt to frame it that way.  The word "fair" is subjective, and can never be equal.  Justice is the place where we all have the same rights as individuals.  If we all have the same rights in the eyes of Justice, we all have the same access to Justice and the same view from the eyes of those who uphold justice.  The symbol of the blind folded woman administering Justice is redundant with the empty scale.


In purest form Justice is not vindictive or spiteful, though many will attempt to make that claim.  Justice is not malicious, and does not discriminate.  Certain actions make it extremely difficult to remove the weights from the scale, and sometimes impossible, but the goal of administering Justice should never change.

So the next time you hear someone demand or ask for Justice ask them.  "Do you want to empty the scales?"  If not, then explain to them that they are really not asking for justice.