The ramblings of an inquisitive idiot

Many bloggers have accepted perks such as free laptops, trips to Europe, $500 gift cards or even thousands of dollars for a 200-word post. Bloggers vary in how they disclose such freebies, if they do so at all. But now the Federal Trade Commission is paying attention. New guidelines, expected to be approved late this summer with possible modifications, would clarify that the agency can go after bloggers — as well as the companies that compensate them — for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest. Bloggers complain that with FTC oversight, they’d be too worried about innocent posts getting them in trouble, because the common practice of posting a graphical ad or a link to an online retailer — and possibly getting commissions for any sales from it — would be enough to trigger oversight

Tags: Political // Add Comment »

I notice in todays newspaper that the tobacco companies have lost their appeal to retain the ability to brand cigarettes as “light” or “mild”. It seems the government thinks they are fooling people into thinking that those cigarettes are somehow safer than others. I think anyone with a brain in their head knows that no matter what you call it a cigarette is bad for you. You may know that it is a little over 16 months ago that I layed down my last smoke and have not touched one again. I didn’t set out to quit but I simply wanted to see how long I could hold out and I have made it a little over 16 months. I still have a pack of Pall Mall’s just in case I decide to smoke but I am not craving any smokes. I quit but feel strongly for smokers rights and feel that the tobacco companies ca call their cigs mild or light if they want to. I would not smoke a cigarette with a filter and would jokingly remark that it was the filter that caused you problems even though I know I was as full of shit as a Christmas turkey. I feel that smokers who smoke low tar cigs are deluding themselves in the same way. In the back of their mind they know they are doing something dangerous. Anyhow thats my look on it, while the appeals go on.

Tags: Smoking Cessation // Add Comment »

I have had to help several of my friends with their blogs with the new upgrade to 2.7.1 When trying to update the wordpress blog we were running into the error message, “You Do Not Have Sufficent Permissions To Access This Page” I was certain that it was something within the MySql database but where was a big unknown. Finally after lots of searching and a thorough web search by my friend Shirley of Sweet Resistance we located the “fix” for this problem. What I had to do was rather simple once we located the location of the problem. To fix it I went to phpMyAdmin,

• Select your database for your blog.
• Find wp_options (assuming your database uses wp as a prefix)
• Pick wp_users_roles with the edit icon (pencil)
• Replace the text with the following

a:5:{s:13:”administrator”;a:2:{s:4:”name”;s:13:”Administrator”;s:12:”capabilities”;a:53:{s:13:”switch_themes”;b:1;s:11:”edit_themes”;b:1;s:16:”activate_plugins”;b:1;s:12:”edit_plugins”;b:1;s:10:”edit_users”;b:1;s:10:”edit_files”;b:1;s:14:”manage_options”;b:1;s:17:”moderate_comments”;b:1;s:17:”manage_categories”;b:1;s:12:”manage_links”;b:1;s:12:”upload_files”;b:1;s:6:”import”;b:1;s:15:”unfiltered_html”;b:1;s:10:”edit_posts”;b:1;s:17:”edit_others_posts”;b:1;s:20:”edit_published_posts”;b:1;s:13:”publish_posts”;b:1;s:10:”edit_pages”;b:1;s:4:”read”;b:1;s:8:”level_10″;b:1;s:7:”level_9″;b:1;s:7:”level_8″;b:1;s:7:”level_7″;b:1;s:7:”level_6″;b:1;s:7:”level_5″;b:1;s:7:”level_4″;b:1;s:7:”level_3″;b:1;s:7:”level_2″;b:1;s:7:”level_1″;b:1;s:7:”level_0″;b:1;s:17:”edit_others_pages”;b:1;s:20:”edit_published_pages”;b:1;s:13:”publish_pages”;b:1;s:12:”delete_pages”;b:1;s:19:”delete_others_pages”;b:1;s:22:”delete_published_pages”;b:1;s:12:”delete_posts”;b:1;s:19:”delete_others_posts”;b:1;s:22:”delete_published_posts”;b:1;s:20:”delete_private_posts”;b:1;s:18:”edit_private_posts”;b:1;s:18:”read_private_posts”;b:1;s:20:”delete_private_pages”;b:1;s:18:”edit_private_pages”;b:1;s:18:”read_private_pages”;b:1;s:12:”delete_users”;b:1;s:12:”create_users”;b:1;s:17:”unfiltered_upload”;b:1;s:14:”edit_dashboard”;b:1;s:14:”update_plugins”;b:1;s:14:”delete_plugins”;b:1;s:15:”install_plugins”;b:1;s:13:”update_themes”;b:1;}}s:6:”editor”;a:2:{s:4:”name”;s:6:”Editor”;s:12:”capabilities”;a:34:{s:17:”moderate_comments”;b:1;s:17:”manage_categories”;b:1;s:12:”manage_links”;b:1;s:12:”upload_files”;b:1;s:15:”unfiltered_html”;b:1;s:10:”edit_posts”;b:1;s:17:”edit_others_posts”;b:1;s:20:”edit_published_posts”;b:1;s:13:”publish_posts”;b:1;s:10:”edit_pages”;b:1;s:4:”read”;b:1;s:7:”level_7″;b:1;s:7:”level_6″;b:1;s:7:”level_5″;b:1;s:7:”level_4″;b:1;s:7:”level_3″;b:1;s:7:”level_2″;b:1;s:7:”level_1″;b:1;s:7:”level_0″;b:1;s:17:”edit_others_pages”;b:1;s:20:”edit_published_pages”;b:1;s:13:”publish_pages”;b:1;s:12:”delete_pages”;b:1;s:19:”delete_others_pages”;b:1;s:22:”delete_published_pages”;b:1;s:12:”delete_posts”;b:1;s:19:”delete_others_posts”;b:1;s:22:”delete_published_posts”;b:1;s:20:”delete_private_posts”;b:1;s:18:”edit_private_posts”;b:1;s:18:”read_private_posts”;b:1;s:20:”delete_private_pages”;b:1;s:18:”edit_private_pages”;b:1;s:18:”read_private_pages”;b:1;}}s:6:”author”;a:2:{s:4:”name”;s:6:”Author”;s:12:”capabilities”;a:10:{s:12:”upload_files”;b:1;s:10:”edit_posts”;b:1;s:20:”edit_published_posts”;b:1;s:13:”publish_posts”;b:1;s:4:”read”;b:1;s:7:”level_2″;b:1;s:7:”level_1″;b:1;s:7:”level_0″;b:1;s:12:”delete_posts”;b:1;s:22:”delete_published_posts”;b:1;}}s:11:”contributor”;a:2:{s:4:”name”;s:11:”Contributor”;s:12:”capabilities”;a:5:{s:10:”edit_posts”;b:1;s:4:”read”;b:1;s:7:”level_1″;b:1;s:7:”level_0″;b:1;s:12:”delete_posts”;b:1;}}s:10:”subscriber”;a:2:{s:4:”name”;s:10:”Subscriber”;s:12:”capabilities”;a:2:{s:4:”read”;b:1;s:7:”level_0″;b:1;}}}

Save your work and you should now be able to simply use the auto update process which takes only a few moments
I hope this helps you out. If you need anything else let me know and I will try to help you out.

Tags: Blogging, Helping Others // Add Comment »

I have been real busy trying to build a Ebay business. Believe it or not I am succeding, on paper anyhow. In 3 months time I have managed to make power seller. With all those sales and the amount it shows we sold I should be reaping rewards but instead I think all I am doing so far is making more money for Ebay and Paypal. What I have done is sink almost everyting I made right back into more stock. I have a buyers account in my sister in laws name who is my partner in the Ebay store. She is able to keep track of all the stock and knows exactly where it is when we sell something. I could not do it without her help. I can easily do the listings and the html involved to make a good looking listing, but when it comes time to do all the shipping is when I run aground and need help. I have been spending a lot of time on it and have let my blog suffer as I enjoy limited success on Ebay. It seems everytime I started to type a post I ran out of things to say or just could not let them flow from me. Anyhow I will not let it be as long between posts like this anymore.

Tags: Blogging, Web // 1 Comment »

I have had some pretty rough days lately plus I had to repair this blog and some of them I host when World Pay did not give proper credit to my hosting provider causing them to think I was behind on my payments when I was not. This caused some real problems when all of our pages were yanked and then the websites, blogs and all my ebay images were gone from the web for several hours at the first of the month. I think I have it so that I will have no more problems but I will be monitoring it very closely when the payment comes due next month. Between that, my reopening my ebay store and then hitting a really rough spot with my fibro I have been slow to post. It’s hard to post when you do not have enough energy to barely get out of bed. This is a “tough row to hoe” somedays and I would not wish it on anyone.

Tags: Blogging // Add Comment »

The house version though adds this to the description of a journalist:

This will eliminate freelance journalists (no boss) anyone who does it as a hobby or public service this includes most blogggers who are not paid. The government then has the right to force you to tell who told you anything that you might report about much like they tried to do with journalist Judy Miller under the Bush Administration.

Tags: Activism, Blogging, Freedom, Political, Privacy // Add Comment »

I know by now you have to have heard about or saw the images of Micheal Phelps taking a hit off a bong at a party here in my home state of South Carolina. Now eight people have been arrested and maybe more to follow in an effort to make charges against Phelps. What an incredible waste of time and resources. By some estimates somewhere between one third to one half of the adult population in our country has tried marijuana at some time. Where would they put us all if they were to bring charges against everyone who ever took a toke. Our outdated drug laws and misguided public messages should be laid to rest. I will admit that drugs are dangerous and should not be in the hands of people to hurt themselves, and it is usually only themselves that get hurt. Though some of them graduate to harder drugs that are so addictive they prostitute their bodies and steal for their next fix, but marijuana is not one of them. In fact I feel like if they did not have to buy from the black market that many would never be exposed to hard drugs. I know I never had seen or seen anybody doing drugs until I saw them being done while I was looking for some pot. I better not mention where I was then or they might be attempting to prosecute me. Actually if it had been someone that no one had ever heard of they probably wound even care. Much less be wasting all this manpower on an arrest where there is no victim. Wouldn’t it be a better use of resources if they were to concentrate there investigations on a crime where there was a victim?

Tags: Ramblings // 1 Comment »

A little good news on the environmental side. Obama’s team is putting some of Bush’s decisions on air quality out to pasture. First is the decision to drop an appeal of a New Jersey courts decision that required coal and oil fired power plants to install more stringent mercury controls on their emissions. Last year the appeals court rejected a Bush administration plan for regulating mercury emissions and was slated to go before the Supreme Court before the Obama administration submitted papers Friday to the court asking for the case to be dismissed. The power companies still have a separate petition challenging the court ruling and it is unaffected by this decision. At a green jobs conference in Washington Lisa Jackson, the new EPA Administrator, said the EPA would draft its own rules and set limits on mercury emissions. “We’re better off spending all our resources making rules that will stick instead of fighting the courts on this one,” Jackson said. Seventeen states and health groups both joined a lawsuit to block the Bush plan that would have allowed “hot spots” around power plants. Mercury is believed to cause neurological problems in infants.
In another EPA air quality case they have decided to let California and other states set more stringent air quality standards for auto emissions. This too will be challenged by industry I am sure, but it is a step in the right direction.

Tags: Earth Friendly, Environmental, Science // Add Comment »

I wrote about Obama giving an interview to the Muslim nation via Al-Arabiya and neglected to give any credit to former President Bush for reaching out to Muslims. It is not that he did not reach out, far from it. He definitely tried to but he was ineffective for the most part. Average Muslims felt he was talking down to them or was insincere in his approach to them. Maybe I should have gave more details but I was pointing out that the average Muslim is at least paying attention to what our President has to say and giving it some credence. That was the gist of my post. Muslims were very distrustful of President Bush. The few interviews I read from average Muslims though not entirely swung over to our point of view, they are at least listening and keeping an open mind. Right now that is probably the best we can hope for, but not enough they can keep Obama out of their political cartons.

Tags: Political // Add Comment »

In just a matter of a few days in office President Obama is approaching the matter of Muslim extremists in a way that the Bush administration never tried. He is reaching out to the people. In his very first television interview since being sworn in as President he reaches out to the average Muslim on the Arabic satellite TV network Al-Arabiya which is based in Dubai. Instead of simply talking to government officials he is speaking to the common man, something that hasn’t been done before. I think it is a step ahead to engage the people of the Middle East and the Muslim world. This could go further in the war on terror than guns alone. I think we should let them know that there can be no better friend or worse enemy than the United States. He touched on it a little in his inauguration speech but this goes further and is in their language. He even goes on to talk of him spending time as a child in Indonesia, the Muslim worlds most populous nation, while his mother studied there. That speaks to the commoner that he at least understands some of their world. He points out that he has relatives that are Muslim. Things they can understand. The Arab world is actually two worlds. One in which the people live in, that is a world overwhelmingly poor, under-educated, under-served lacking the freedom of choice and the basic civil liberties denying them, as a result, their dignity as human beings. The other is the happy go lucky world of the elite who may as well live on a foreign planet the conditions are so apart. They are the ones like the Shah of Iran, who we kept up because he was friendly toward us and our eavesdropping on the Soviets from Iran, that oppressed the people with our blessings. Now he is speaking out directly to the Muslim world telling them that we intend them no ill will. Maybe an outstretched hand will be met with a more favorable view than a boot heal of oppression. I see from reading on the english page of Al Arabiya News Channel that they hold optimism also.

Tags: Freedom, Human Rights, Political, Ramblings // 2 Comments »