Geezer Logic

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It sucks to be Mark Zuckerberg these days.  Facebook’s data breech, the Russians, fake News, his company has failed America.   His punishment is appearing in front of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees.  He has to sit through hours of requests and questions and not appear to be condescending or superior to members of the Committee.   From individuals who know very little about Facebook and technology in general.  Hours of questioning and not laugh out loud. We have a few of their questions for your entertainment.

The average age of  members of the Senate  is “63”. Mark Zuckerberg is 33 (he could pass for 16)  like most men his age, he has been exposed to computing and technology his entire life.    While there are many honorable, intelligent men and women in the US Senate. Most of them have very limited knowledge of computing and get by with assistance of their staff .  Some cant turn their machines on or off without assistance .

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Facebook is fourteen years old

The median age of the current US Senators in office is 63.

(they were 49 years old when Facebook began)

Mark Zuckerberg’s Punishment

Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Orin Hatch of Utah, Richard Shelby of Alabama,  Jim Inholf of Oklahoma,  Pat Roberts of Kansas, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland,  John McCain of Arizona are all in their eighties.   

Senator Hatch asked with Facebook being free, the Senator wanted to know how it made money?

Its Unlikely, these Senators can turn their PC.’s off without unplugging them 

17 Senator are in their Seventies

Senator Bill Nelson of Florida asked, “What if I didn’t want ads for chocolate?” 

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This silly question, took Zuckerberg by surprise. When  Vermont’s Senator Patrick Leahy asked ” These unverified divisive pages are on Facebook today *gestures to print out* are you able to confirm whether they are Russian-created groups?  Yes or No?”

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Zuckerberg wasn’t able to answer this question because.  He obviously isn’t familiar with every single piece of content currently on Facebook. The act of printing out a handful of specific Facebook pages and asking Zuckerberg to identify whether they are co-ordinated by Russians is simply silly, though it did lead to some clarity from Zuckerberg, who explained people running ad campaigns will now need to verify their identity on the site. 

38 Senators are in their Sixties

South Carolina Senator, Lindsay Graham asked “Is Twitter the same as what you do?”

Congressman Billy Long of Missouri, asked “What was Facemash and was it still up and running?”  Facemash was an early Zuckerberg project in which users compared two photos of women and picked which was hotter. But Zuckerberg started Facemash from his dorm room 15 years ago and Harvard shut it down within days.

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri said, ” My son  Charlie (13) is dedicated to instagram so he’d want to be sure I mentioned him while I was hear with you. 

West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito asked, “Would you bring fiber because we don’t have connectivity” 

Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter asked, “Did you know that the Motion Picture Association of America is having problems with piracy and this is challenging their existence?”

23 Senators are in their fifties 

13 Senators are in their forties 

Hawaii Senator, Brian Schatz asked “If I’m emailing within WhatzApp…Does that inform your advertisers?”  The senator didn’t know WhatzApp is a chat, not an email platform.  

Schatz follows up:  “Let’s say I’m emailing within WhatzApp , do I get a Black Panther banner ad?”   and then says “Come on my man, come on”

Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington asked, “Some people refer to ( Peter Thiel ‘s startup Palantir) as Stanford Analytica . Do you agree? ”   There are some who believe Cambridge Analyica’s data gathering was the brainchild of a Palantir employee, as recent media reports have said. There’s no particular reason to think Zuckerberg would know the answer to either of her questions, and he said he didn’t.

Tom Cotton from Arkansas at 39 is the youngest Senator.

 

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As in all the hearings. There are some Senator’s who are genuinely concerned and have staff who help them construct intelligent questions.  Then there are others, who simply wanna tell that little punk off for their constituents in HD.  The Challenge for the majority of the members in the senate is understanding  technology.

Disclosure:  I’m a baby boomer in my sixties.  Many of my contemporaries struggle with technology.  For some  are forced against every thing we know as holy to use these contraptions.  Work, Travel, and god help us if we are unemployed and looking for work.  Are you Linkedin? Shoot me an e-mail.   Boomers are the ones who cant get online at the hotel or airport.   Once weve finally mastered the process, they change it.  The young celebrate changes in technology. Boomers go into shock, like what the fuck now.?    

I’m sure their were some who considered suicide, after Microsoft dropped its long running and popular Windows XP operating system.   I know of a few men who continue to spend big bucks to keep old Betsy running.  Hanging on to a twelve year old  HP laptop, because it’s familiar and serve their needs. 

 I have twenty something friends who keep me fresh.  They’ve threaten to re-arrange the pills in my daily case should I ask a lame question.  With their help, I’ve embraced technology , you tube is my friend. I’ve used their videos to repair my pc’s .  Many of my younger friends don’t own PC or tablets, their smartphones meet their needs.   

Facebook is for old people.  Its time to leave any site where your parents can friend you.   The kids have been trying to wean me from Facebook.   Now that my newly retired seventy something brother has embraced Facebook, I may be leaving.   As he comments on my every post.  #Mommy # Ihatemyfblife .  He insist we read everything he reads.  #blockinghimsoon  The lets make this go Viral posts” requests are  not coming from the kids, its coming from their parents and great, great,great grandparents.   #yikes #killmenow 

Cityfella

 

 

 

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Race and Harley Barber: She will be remembered for her Nigger rant

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“Say it; forget it. Post it regret it.”

Social Media and the need to be noticed has ruined millions of lives.  Before social media we called a friend and ranted.  Today, I’m embarrassed for friends and family members who go online to vent and later get caught up in a storm when people disagree with their words.

In a need for attention, most people do not vet their friends online. To some, having  hundreds or thousands of freinds is prestigious.  To get 100 hundred likes on the picture they posted.   This has made it easier for employers and some unscupulous people to gain access to someones personal thoughts and actions .

A few years ago I was asked to check the backgrounds on prospective employers.  One particular man interviewed well he was one of the two men considered for the position.   I friended him on Facebook using a female name and using a picture I found on google.  With in a couple of hours I was one a many Fackbook freinds.

On his  timeline there were many pictures of females in swimsuites.   The  fifty something man, had several pictures of himself  kissing women ,some cases squeezing their breasts .  Needless to say he didn’t get the mid six figure job.

I’m far from perfect, as a divorced male, I have taken scary shirtless pictures  and posted  silly pictures social media.   Before I hit the enter button ,I think of how this picture would effect my children, wonder if I could I explain the picture to friends, or to an HR department.   I know once I hit enter my picture no longer belongs to me, it belongs to the Universe and those people who want to cut and paste it.

Monday January 15, 2018 (Martin Luther King Day)

 University of Alabama freshman and  Alpha Phi member Harley Barber  posted a couple video’s on  Instagram.  The first video was posted in the restroom of a  popular college bar. The second video was shot in the car of friends.  This is a edited version of the second video.

Ms Barber, like many on social media thought by creating a fake account only a few people would see it.   She and others should read up on the downfall on Anthony Weiner, who on two occasions thought he was sending picture to people who would NEVER share his photos.

Racist? Harley Barber vs President Donald Trump

A lot of people call her a racist based on her video.  I’m not so quick to make that leap.  No one has come forward and said they have heard Donald Trump call anyone nigger.   Yet we know he is racist.  Based on his actions (discrimination) and words.  He said a federal Judge couldn’t be partial because he was Mexican.  He has disparaged other races and religons and no one(so far  has come forward and said they have heard him say Nigger or negative word about another race.

While its been a long time, I remember being 17,18,19. and wanting to fit in.  She said “She didn’t care if was Martin Luther King Day, nigger, nigger, nigger.” “I’m in the south now bitch, so everyone can fuck off.”   What I hear is a lot of posturing.

Hold on!  I’m not giving her a pass! 

From what I’ve read, she trouble!  She was kicked out of Catholic School.  Her mother told the press ,she forced her daughter to move out last year because she is disrespectful. “ I made her move out in mid December 2016 due to her lack of respect for everyone and everything.”

So there she is in a new setting, finding her way.   In Marlton, New Jersey she may have had a bad bitch following.  However in  Tuscaloosa, Alabama she was just some freshman from somewhere New Jersey.   On Monday, she showed  her new friends (via Instagram) in Alabama she was a badass!    She could say nigger like them!

(Many people from the north and on the coast’s assume the south has racism on lock- I find they are just real about it.  On the coast’s one never knows) 

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That little itty bitty video, that she thought would be seen by her group of friends was leaked.  Perhaps by someone who was offended by her words.  A person who has a black nephew, or cousin or close friend.

The world has changed in the last 50 years. The color lines are blurred.  That old white guy in the Black Lives Matter march has a black grandson who he concerned about.

Because of my dark skin, people assume that all my family members look like me.  My family is black, white, Latin, and Asian.  My children are bi-racial.  A racist of any hue may find me cold and unresponsive to their hatred and generalizations.

My former wife worked for an office where the majority of her colleagues used racist terms including nigger    She is less vocal than I. However in her own quiet way she was more effective.    She took various pictures of  me and the children and selected picture of her extended  black family and placed them on her desk.  The racial slurrs ended in the office.

Harley Barber’s Future 

The University of Alabama expelled her.  The Alpha Phi’s dropped her like a hot glass.  I dobut few of her sorority sisters are reaching out to her because she is tainted.  While she lives in an upper income community in New Jersey.  New Jersey isn’t Montana, over 30% of the state populations is people of color.  Ms Barber rant has tainted relationships. Family friendships with people of color.   People they know are questioning the parents racism. Are they?

At nineteen she doesn’t fully get it.  She doesn’t understand why there is such a BIG deal. In her mind, all African Americans call each other nigga.   Many of her white freinds call each other nigga. That’s the way people speak!   But in the next few months/years she will feel the full effect of her words.

Should she apply to another unversity and that institution googles her name.   When she applies for a job and where there  are African American she will wonder if they have seen the video.   If she applys for any significant job, and they do a background check. She will be the girl who said fuck niggers.

She has closed down her social media.and deleted the videos and yet video lives on.

“Say it; forget it. Post it regret it.”

The Aftermath

Not sure how this video/recording was attained.  Harley is having a converstation with someone (who could have recorded this) and sharing her story …its very interesting.

 

 There are more than 250 copies or her video’s with more than 20 million views.   This is superstar terrority.

Once more in small type

“Say it; forget it. Post it regret it.”

Tell a friend

Cityfella

Australia Goes Krazy for California’s In and Out Burgers

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The Question is will go global before it goes National ?  Will the be an outlet in Dubai before Detroit ?   In the the last few years In and Out with its cult following has opened up Pop up Shops in London and a few other international cities with very favoralble results.  In Australia, In and Out has opened shops in Sydney, Melborne and Perth.

In and Out Following? In you live in Sacramento or any other city in Cali In and Out is common ,like “Jack in the Box”  A few years ago I picked up a freind at SFO who was visiting from Europe.  The first thing he said was take me to an “In and Out”.   I didn’t know where the nearest one was from the airport and before we left , he found one on his cell.  15 minutes later we were in line at a resturant.  No drive through for him.  He wanted the sit down experience!

Whats a Pop up Shop?

A “pop–up shop” is a short-term, temporary retail event that is “here today, gone tomorrow”. Pop–up retail is the temporary use of physical space to create a long term, lasting impression with potential customers.

Sorry Baby Boomers, these shops aren’t aimed at you.   Unless your an over achiver.  There is no adverstising,no radio spots.  POOF! Its on your cell via social media, like this madness in London.  Watch!

In and Out Burger opened a pop of shop in Perth, on Australia’s West Coast Monday.  Within hours the shop was sold out. 

Click Link Below for video’s and reviews from Perth Now

https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/food/perth-goes-crazy-for-us-fast-food-chain-in-n-out-burger-pop-up-ng-b88716154z

CityFella

 

 

Has the Internet make us cold?

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Is technology making us cold? It’s a question I’ve been struggling with for the past few weeks. It started after one of my former students, Stephon, whom I taught when he was in 10th grade, was murdered. Stephon was cool and silly, and he loved to poke fun at any and every situation. So of course everyone posted his image all over social media with loving captions and funny stories that all ended in #RIP, #FlyHigh and #GoneButNeverForgotten. This lasted about two days and then, well, it was over.

I bumped into some of his friends on the basketball court a few days later. I was dropping off some books at this east Baltimore high school and one the guys spotted me. “Hey, Mr. Watkins! What’s up?”

 

I walked over to the gate and they started telling me about what they’d been up to since the last time I saw them. We laughed for 15 or 20 minutes, and then I asked them if they were OK.

Click the link below for the rest of the story

 

https://www.salon.com/2017/12/16/has-the-internet-made-us-cold/

Big Man Rides @ 2017 Sacramento International Auto Show

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You asked for it and were back “Big Man Rides” and we’ve  invaded the 2017 International Auto Show, a great venue to see what fits a Big Man or plus woman.

Just as a reminder I stand 6.4 and weight over three hundred pounds(a big man!)

The Sacramento International Auto Show is a third tiered auto show.  Its not New York ,Detroit or Los Angeles No new or innovative models No unavailing’s. and many of the manufactures present were not staffed. which is unfortunate.   Missing in Action in Sacramento was Land Rover, Jaguar, Genesis,Mini, Volvo,Mercedes, Cadillac, and Tesla.

Also missing was some new models from Ford and Lincoln.  Ford new Ecosport SUV and the new for 2018 Ford Expedition and Lincoln’s Navigator was shut tight.  The New Buick Regal was missing .

The Good The Bad,  The Ugly and Surprises from the 2017 Sacramento International Auto show

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Crowd Pleasers

People waiting to sit in these vehicles 

1.  Lexus LC5000

2. Acura NSX

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3. Lincoln Continental

4. Chrysler Pacifica

 

For the second year in a row. More people wanted to test drive Fiat/Chrysler Vehicles *

People waiting in lines to test drive the Charger, Challenger, Chrysler 300,Pacifica and Durango

*However, there was no waiting for any of the Fiat’s

The Good

You get for what you pay for and Chevy, Ford and Toyota brought their A game!

America’s Three best selling car makes had professional representatives to answers any and all questions.  With tablets in hand, the representatives could direct show attendees to a dealership near their home.

 

Ford had a giant display and a drive simulator.  At Toyota,well dressed professionals were available to answer questions.  But the nod goes to Chevrolet, the representatives unlike Ford and Toyota were well spaced all over there floor readily available to answer questions about every Chevy on the floor.  I wish they would have featured the well received Bolt.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

 

The Bad

White or Grey?

The worst exhibitor by an Elk Grove inch was the local dealer Niello .   The Audi/BMW dealership shared a room with Roseville Infinity.   None  of the vehicles  had power with made seat adjustments impossible.   Neither dealership staffed the exhibit (11am) no one was available to answer questions about these fifty to seventy thousand dollar vehicles.

 

The Ugly

 Alfa Romeo has returned to the american market after a 20 years absence.

These sexy beasts were left in the lots at Niello

 Someone at Niello,thought randomly placing a bland white Giulia with an Irish leaf on the Italian car near the Honda exhibit, was a good idea .

“Surprises” 

Honda introduced an all new Odyssey for 2018.  But if Sacramento is an indication, the year old Chrysler Pacifica was the clearly the crowd favorite.

 

 

Family Wars 

All new Honda Accord vs Toyota Camry

 

 

 

Both cars are handsome. Cost cutting is more evident in the Accord, it seems narrow. While the Camry has more front seat room, leg and width, the Accord has more rear leg room.  Camry’s Interior is absolutely un Camry, its sexy.  (did I say that?)

 

Lil Sleeper 2018 Honda Fit

 

I didn’t!    you might.  I was able to get in this tiny car and close the door.  That says a lot.   If your a big guy and not 6.4, this car may be worth a look.   Inside with the rear seats down is amazing.

 

Biggest Surprise

2018 Subaru Impreza 

Subaru?  The 2018 may not look much different than the 2017. However its all new on a new platform.  I was very surprised by the front leg room (Sorry Accord) and the room overall. The build quality is German like and for 2018 Subaru offers Apple car play and Android Auto.  When you factor in all wheel drive 38 on the highway and Subaru’s reputation for safety for less the 25K  and its good looking.   For singles and small families who occasionally travel to Tahoe or Reno.  This is da Stuff!

 

“No dark Interiors”

2018 Chevrolet Traverse

 

 

Clean lines, roomy, and no dark boring interiors

 

Volkswagen Up’s its the ante 

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2018 Tiguan

 

They may have a winner in the 3 row midsize SUV  The 2018 Atlas is extremely roomy.  My 6’1 friend sat in the third row and lived.

 

Takeways 

Room to Spare

Cars made by General Motors ( Buick Cadillac Chevrolet GMC)   Hyundai (Kia)  Volkswagen ( Audi Porsche Volkswagen) on average seem to have a bit more leg/ hip room then the other automakers

 

Interiors (Something other than Black) 

BMW  Hyundai (Kia)  Lexus  Volkswagen  General Motors

 

“Big Man Rides”

Were back, we will be testing cars beginning with The Chevy Bolt.

 

 

 

Australian Court found a text message is valid will

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THE text message was just a draft. It had been left unsent.

It’s intention was controversial.

A 55-year-old man who took his own life a year ago had addressed the phone text message to his brother.

It declared his brother and nephew should “keep all that I have”.

“You and (nephew) keep all that I have house and superannuation, put my ashes in the back garden … (wife) will take her stuff only she’s OK gone back to her ex AGAIN I’m beaten. A bit of cash behind TV and a bit in the bank Cash card pin … My will”

The message, which included detailed banking information and a request to bury his ashes at a specific site, was found by a friend who was searching through the dead man’s phone for clues.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane has now declared the text message to be a valid will.

“The reference to his house and superannuation and his specification that the applicant was to take her own things indicates he was aware of the nature and extent of his estate, which was relatively small,” Justice Susan Brown reportedly said.

The judge made the ruling after the dead man’s wife applied to manage her late husband’s estate, arguing the text message was not valid as it was never actually sent.

But Justice Brown found the use of the words “my will” and the detailed references to his superannuation and property indicated he was fully aware of what he was doing.

Justice Brown said she was also aware of evidence indicating he and his wife had an unstable relationship, that he had no relationship with his son, and that they had broken up “just days” before he took his own life.

 News Corp Australia Network

Book: Is Trump mentally ill? Or is America? Psychiatrists weigh in.

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Review of “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” by Bandy X. Lee (ed.), “Twilight of American Sanity” by Allen Frances, and “Fantasyland” by Kurt Andersen.

Sara Gironi Carnevale for The Washington Post)

Gone are the days when euphemisms about President Trump’s mental health insulated the man like so many padded walls. Erratic. Unpredictable. Unstable. Unmoored. Temperamentally unfit. This was what politicians and commentators said when they wished to question Trump’s state of mind but feared the consequences of a more colloquial assessment. Yet the deeper we plunge into this presidency, the more willing people become to call it like they see and hear it.

“I think he’s crazy,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) confided to his colleague Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in a July exchange inadvertently caught on a microphone. (“I’m worried,” she replied.) CNN’s Don Lemon, flabbergasted after a Trump speech last month, concluded that “he’s unhinged. . . . There was no sanity there.” Even some Republicans have grown more blunt, with Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) recently suggesting that Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” to succeed as president.

Now, some psychiatrists and other mental-health professionals are shedding long-held norms to argue that Trump’s condition presents risks to the nation and the world. “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” features more than two dozen essays breaking down the president’s perceived traits, which the contributors find consistent with symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy and other maladies. “Collectively with our coauthors, we warn that anyone as mentally unstable as Mr. Trump simply should not be entrusted with the life-and-death powers of the presidency,” Judith Lewis Herman of Harvard Medical School and Bandy X. Lee of the Yale School of Medicine write in the book’s prologue.

If so, what should we make of the nation that entrusted him with precisely such powers? In his new book, “Twilight of American Sanity,” psychiatrist Allen Frances asserts that Trump is not mentally ill — we are. “Calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our society,” he writes. “We can’t expect to change Trump, but we must work to undo the societal delusions that created him.” And those delusions, Kurt Andersen contends in “Fantasyland,” have been around for a long time. “People tend to regard the Trump moment — this post-truth, alternative facts moment — as some inexplicable and crazy new American phenomenon,” he writes. “In fact, what’s happening is just the ultimate extrapolation and expression of attitudes and instincts that have made America exceptional for its entire history.”

Click Link for the rest of the story

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2017/09/22/is-trump-mentally-ill-or-is-america-psychiatrists-weigh-in/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.11a2828db96d