tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73108722868504096652024-02-08T00:27:30.465-05:00Marc's ThoughtsA blog about some things on my mind that you might find interesting.Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-47549832341770793182020-06-27T17:47:00.001-04:002020-06-27T17:47:17.423-04:00These Crazy Days of 2020Just for the record, I have done a little indulging in conspiracy theories, on a few different topics. And I shall do so again. This time about politics. Some observations and some speculation.<div><br /></div><div>First, there's an interesting date for just 2020. Repeating numbers in the year only happens once a century. What was going to happen this century? </div><div><br /></div><div>Second, a virus that turned into a pandemic, then race riots and BLM and Antifa. The virus are separate incidences from the riots, BLM and Antifa. </div><div><br /></div><div>The virus outbreak could not be helped. Viruses do things like that, breakout at inconvenient times, sickening most, and killing some. </div><div><br /></div><div>The thing that puzzles me though, is the police brutality, especially against blacks. Now there is so much video coverage of these incidences, why do it again and again? It doesn't make sense, it's careless and stupid. Do they not care that much? Or are these situations set up to justify the riots and the ensuing destruction? Why? Is it a distraction from something else? Or to make Trump look bad so Biden can win in the fall?</div><div><br /></div><div>In the midst of all this I did see a few interesting headlines, briefly. One was about Hillary Clinton losing an appeal and having to testify. Another was about how Antifa are hard-core Marxists, wanting to tear the country down and rebuild it. Rebuild it into what, a Marxist utopia? How will it be any different than attempts in the past? We won't know until we get there and by then it will be too late.</div><div><br /></div><div>About Hillary; how much does she not want to testify. Since I only saw a headline, I don't what she'll be asked to testify about. Could it be her years in the state department? Could it lead to questions about things pertaining to what was known as Pizza-gate? Bill was associated with Jeffery Epstein on the Lolita Express. </div><div><br /></div><div>Will justice be found in the midst of a pandemic and race riots?</div>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-8644577294681986952020-06-19T07:53:00.001-04:002020-06-19T07:53:46.297-04:00Changing TidesI have been a republican all of my voting life. The philosophy of the party has made sense to me more than the democrat side. For a while, I was an evangelical and more conservative, listening to Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio. I believed in the "cause" more than ever. Liberals were an obvious threat to the American way of life and had to be stopped. It seemed a common-sense no brainer and for the time being, liberalism seemed to be held at bay. There was the Clinton administration, it had its issues. But George W. Bush was going to set us right again. Unfortunately, it took 9/11 to rally the troops, Washington seemed to pull together for a while and stand against a common threat.<br />
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Time passed. Our involvement in the middle east became "normal" after we invaded Iraq. In 2005-6 our family left our evangelical church. I found myself having to rethink my outlook on life, my 'moral compass' and what was really important to me apart from what evangelicalism said. What am I by myself? What matters to me? What do I care about?<br />
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It took me a while, I began to figure out that I could exist by myself and realize what mattered to me apart from a religious organization. For a while, it was terrifying, being alone, and having to figure this all out on your own. Some things I knew and some I didn't. But after a while, I found a balance. At least one that worked for me.<div><br /></div><div>Barak Obama's presidency reminded me I was still basically conservative. I would listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch fox news from time to time just to keep up. I was finding my appetite for political things was becoming limited. All the talk and fretting was wearisome, I had to get away more and more.</div><div><br /></div><div>When the 2016 election came I couldn't believe the choice we had, two of the worst people to run for president. I could not vote for either candidate, and I didn't. I, like a lot of other people, thought H was going to win and that'd be that. But D won, to my surprise and dismay. Since then, it has been four years of disbelief, day by day. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am tempted to vote democratic just to get D out of office. But when my annoyance about him gets to the level of hatred, I stop and think that all politicians are prone to corruption. Basically, when I hear about the bad things that D does as a republican, the democrats have their own version of it too. The devil you know vs the devil you don't doesn't apply. They're both devils and "buyers remorse" is built-in. Why bother voting any more. What's the point?</div><div><br /></div><div>So that's where I'm at right now. </div>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-91701227676369294372019-10-02T11:19:00.000-04:002019-10-02T11:19:25.453-04:00Hi Again! I'm still here. Time keeps flying by. So much to catch up on and keep you up on. Like a lot of other blogs, vlogs and things, my timeliness is lacking. My possible excise could be ADD and age. I get distracted by so many things and forget to come back. The forgetting seems like more of a problem, not dangerous yet. I think I've learned so much, I have more stuff to forget, haha. Oh well.<br />
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The big changes in my life of late are that my dad died in 1/17, I became a granddad, then turned 60! Dad was a fairly peaceful transition, he was 94 and had a good life. March 13th my grandson was born. I'm a grandfather? In June I retired from working as a chauffeur after 9.5 years. So many stories. Then in July I turned 60. That hit me the hardest. How did I get here? What do I do now?<br />
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It began to dawn on me and my wife that now, we were the patriarch and matriarch of the family. I am an only child, she has two siblings and four nieces and nephews. Both of her siblings are disabled, we are not. It has been a very strange transition for me. I have always looked up to my dad, now, in a way, I am my dad. I didn't think too much about being here. Now I have to take care of all the things that were his and my mom's. That is another strange thing. All the things, possessions that they had, now I have to decide what to do with. A lot of things were sold. Some things were shipped to me and we are now holding them. So many memories. I never imagined this day would come. Now it's here. Life can change so much, for me, especially towards the end.<br />
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And about the end. Now that I'm here and looking down that hallway, what the hell do I do? I feel like I'm making it up as I go along. But I've done that all my life. Plans didn't work like I thought they would, so you improvise. Plan B, C, D... Somehow you make it. Keep things going for the next generation. Raise your kids as happy healthy individuals and pray. Then...?<br />
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Other things have changed as well. When I was younger I was very concerned about religious/conservative things. Now I look at our country and shake my head. The energy I had for that, if even in my own head, has changed. More and more, I notice that with the way things are going politically, I care less and less. Things are going in a more and more polarized way. That bothers me, and I have no tolerance for it. When I listen to the radio or watch the news I care less and less, or have less and less patience for either sides rhetoric. Just leave me alone. Being Amish seems like a good idea.<br />
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I have some other ideas I want to share with you, creative ideas. As far as I know, maybe two people keep track of this blog, haha. I don't know. One of my ideas has been regarding my photography. I'm trying to start a business. I'm also playing the Sims...Sims4. That is interesting. I'm trying to come up with a storyline, I've recently added vampires to see what happens.<br />
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As for my business, I want to sell my photos, somehow. Trouble is, I'm not a business person, even though I have a major in economics, go figure, haha.<br />
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Okay, time to go. I think I can use this blog to my advantage. If you look at it, read it, check it from time to time, let me know. I'll do my best to get back to you. Be patient.<br />
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Thanks and Take CareMarc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-70622811069625837382018-06-02T10:35:00.003-04:002018-06-02T10:44:43.896-04:00Digital Privacy<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lately, I have become more interested in privacy in regards to this digital life we live. Truth be told, we don't have privacy anymore, not if we carry a device, particularly a cell phone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For me, at work, I use a GPS almost all the time, and the work phones are trackable all the time, that works well in ground transportation. But otherwise, having an android phone that is always keeping track of you and asking if you have been here or there, it gets a little creepy. It's one thing to geotag a photo now and then when you post to social media, but to have your phone ask you where you've been?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some people are very sensitive to this and fall off the grid, deliberately, others want the convenience and their privacy. And others don't care at all saying they have nothing to hide. I'm in the latter camp. If I wanted to hide something or didn't want to be seen, I think there are ways to get things done without being tracked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I didn't realize that I hadn't been to this blog in over a year. Wow, how time flies. so much has happened too. I'll fill you in later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-70331569413906715592016-10-22T23:21:00.000-04:002016-10-22T23:21:11.465-04:00Political AnxietyI wanted to throw some more posts in here. I thought about it. We had a trip to see family which went well. The problem was my wife during a layover in Baltimore broke her arm while helping someone. We made it home the next day but my mind was far from blogging. She's much better now, about two weeks from freedom from all cast-like support. Her Occupational Therapist says she's doing much better than other people in her situation.<br />
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During this time and since I have been watching all the goings on with the news coverage of the election campaign, and it has been giving me a noticeable amount of anxiety.<br />
In the past, I was decidedly conservative and Republican. The choices were fairly easy and acceptable. This time is different and I don't like it. In my mind, our option as republicans is not easy or acceptable. I may have said this before, both candidates are awful at the very least. I am so frustrated that our system has allowed these people to become our choice. One legitimate and one not, Hillary was chosen to be the candidate before the election began by powers beyond the process.<br />
Trump became the nominee because we let the system work and people voted him there because they were angry at the status quo and wanted change. He said things that they were thinking and feeling, they liked it and voted for him. Hillary was chosen before the campaign started, it was her for the taking, it was her turn. She became the nominee because the democrats wanted her there and were going to put her there. Only Bernie got in the way but didn't have a chance. It was later revealed that he didn't have the chance he thought he did.<br />
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Watching the debates made me nuts. I only really watched the first one, and I didn't like his performance. I thought he was rude and inconsiderate, and self-centered talking about his businesses etc. He's all wrong on several levels. I sort of "caught up" with after debate broadcasts by both conservative and liberal media sources. I can't choose him, he's just wrong for the presidency of this country. Plus, I don't see him fitting in with Washington. It is set up to run a certain way and that's not his way. Hillary is a better "fit" for Washington, but she and her husband and some very powerful backers, have corrupted so much of Washington, the democracy is ruined, even the idea of it.<br />
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I have read some things people have posted that we are no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy. The industrial-corporate complex really controls things, with special interests controlling the politicians. America has lost its way.<br />
I am disappointed that the country I grew up in has changed so drastically. Then I think that what I thought the country was all about was not true, it was all a facade. Something else was going on behind the scenes that we the people knew little if nothing about. I knew little about it until these last 10 years when I really began looking, researching. Are the conspiracies just theories? Some are deep, complex and crazy, others less so.<br />
I will either come back and amend this entry to include some of the theories or try and cover some of them in another post.<br />
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I'm trying to monetize this blog, so you'll see some ads. I have to fine tune the placement of them, so bear with me. Take care, stay saineMarc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-21349146960928509352016-08-17T16:02:00.003-04:002016-08-17T16:03:10.927-04:00Is This Really Happening?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the things I have noticed recently is that the Clinton campaign is using all the technology available to it, and why not? I would think the Trump campaign is too. As I have been studying this political cycle I have noticed a difference between the two camps. The democrats will cheat, and the republicans will play by the rules, maybe thinking the democrats will too. If that is the case, it’s naive of the republicans. Not that they should cheat too, but expect it and be ready to counter it. The thing is, how?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you try and expose your opponent’s cheating? Nowadays so much can be done electronically. How do you prove it, especially when the media is a big supporter of the Clinton campaign and will help them any way they can. This year there has been a lot of attention to Hillary’s time as secretary of state and how she handled her emails. It was on her own server, and her cell phone was unsecured. So it was outside of the government's jurisdiction. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the DNC in Philadelphia, there were reports of hacks on the DNCs systems and leaks of embarrassing emails by democrat officials, resulting in the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the DNC chair post. And still there is talk of whether the Russians had anything to do with it. The thought being that they wanted Trump to win instead of Hillary. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now there is a story of Trump’s campaign manager working for an undisclosed foreign lobbying interest. Pick your story: </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=manafort+lobbying&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS599US599&oq=manafort++lobbying&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.12335j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.google.com/search?q=manafort+lobbying&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS599US599&oq=manafort++lobbying&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.12335j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As bad as Hillary is, can Trump have things look any worse? Can it be said he’s trying to throw the election for Hillary? I wonder. And we’ve still got about 80 days to go. This is the strangest election ever.</span></div>
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Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-16569315361757184702016-08-10T23:14:00.002-04:002018-06-02T11:23:42.647-04:00Hacked! I hack, you hack, we all hack for data!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been following the Hillary Clinton email/server/hacking saga in some form or another since it first broke in early 2016. I had heard about it when the server became an issue and then it was speculation that the Clinton server was hacked because it was unprotected.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, it seems, everybody has a copy of everything that was on that server, the FBI, the NSA, the GOP Prosecutor, WikiLeaks, Guccifer, the Russians. The only ones who haven't said anything are the Chinese and the North Koreans, I think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I read an article tonight about how Hillary and company were worried that Guccifer got into the server because it was found out that Sydney Blumenthal's emails were compromised or something and there was a discussion about it in the Clinton camp while she was Secretary of State. <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/08/clinton-emails-guccifer-hack-mills-226878" target="_blank">http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/08/clinton-emails-guccifer-hack-mills-226878</a> I cannot imagine being in her position, knowing what she knows and doing what she did, wondering who was going to find out about it. Or did she even care?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my theories about her running all over the world with unsecured electronics is that she did it that way so she could give away pertinent information. Why? Maybe it's a plot to undermine the USA. I am pretty persuaded that Barak Obama has little or no love for this country. I don't think he cared that she probably compromised national security. The question now is, who will own us?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Update: 6/2/18 - Shock of shocks, Donald Trump is now the president. Been so for over a year. regarding my previous comments about Hillary Clinton, a lot of people were in a froth about "digital security". However, President Trump poses a new threat; tweeting from an unsecured cell phone? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have read a few articles about his tweeting habits and what he uses. (This scenario boggles my mind, more on that later). Well, we know he likes to tweet. He thinks it's the only way he can get his ideas to the American people because the media is so biased. There is something to that, but... it has been reported that he did use an unsecured Samsung Galaxy S3, at least before becoming president and maybe shortly after. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More recently I've seen that he's been persuaded to use an iPhone and some sort of secured cell phone. Here's to progress. But still, giving your cell phone number to other world leaders impromptu doesn't seem like a good idea in light of what's been discussed previously. I've also read that Mr. Trump has reluctantly given up his personal cell phones for more secured ones. A seemingly good thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Digital security has become such a concern lately, we've been attacked so many times, companies and financial databases etc. Lifelock and scanning the dark web are becoming a thing. I hope they manage to get Mr. Trump under control.</span><br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-57284166740651910442016-07-28T12:30:00.000-04:002016-07-28T12:30:26.197-04:00Hello again. As I write this, I am trying to hasten my recovery from a cold with a cup of chicken broth laced with garlic and lemon pepper. Cheers.<br />
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What this post is, is a recap of news items that have caught my attention as significant for the moment. My main source is Google News.<br />
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Google News has been a staple of mine for a while. If I may betray my bias, Google has been my preference as a 'system' for a while. Simply because they have everything I could need under one roof; email, blogging (of course), Drive and their office suite, the play store, and the connection with Android. Now you can do all that on Apple, but the hardware is more expensive. It's good but expensive. So, for now, my setup is Windows 10 with Chrome and an Android phone.<br />
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Ok, to the news of the moment.<br />
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A tale of two conventions, the RNC and the DNC. Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton. In my opinion, the two most dysfunctional candidates that I've seen since I've been voting. Maybe Nixon and Carter come close, but I won't go there with them now.<br />
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Trump wants to make America great again because he thinks it has been downgraded by our current president, Mr. Obama. Initially, I would tend to agree. As a country, we've done a lot of great things and have a lot of exceptional people. We have also done a lot of questionable and controversial things, bad as well. But it seems those were the cards we were dealt and those were the choices we made in the moment for better or worse.<br />
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Lately, our choices have been getting more questionable and controversial. Our dealings in the middle east have only stirred up problems. We don't understand that region and interfering have hurt and brought bloodshed to us. Have we become that inept and uncaring? I don't have the answers, but if we want peace, we're doing it wrong. If we want war and chaos, then we're on a good track. Are we in control or are we being manipulated? If manipulated, then by whom?<br />
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Germany: Prime Minister Andrea Merkle wants to bring more immigrants to Germany despite the recent attacks in Europe. I don't know if they are being checked or what their policy is, but as a headline, it doesn't make sense given the recent past events and threats made and uncovered in Europe.<br />
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Well, I had some notes, but when the page changed, I lost them because I didn't save them. Live and learn.<br />
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That's all for now. Maybe more tomorrow. There is so much stuff going on. Leave a comment if you like, Thanks for reading. Later<br />
<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-75239905657006123242016-07-19T10:53:00.001-04:002016-07-19T10:53:07.757-04:00When I read the news...My routine when I log on to Google is to look a the new headlines before anything else. Living in Cleveland this year has been a good time, the Cavaliers winning the championship feels good, after 52 years. But I've only been here for 40 of those 52 years. But it still feels good.<br />
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Later on, by now, soon, we will have the RNC in town. Ever since I've been here, Cleveland has wanted to host a political convention. Now we have it. And now we are all holding our breath because it seems, this will be such an unconventional convention. First, there's Trump, then the protesters, Then will Trump be replaced and what reaction will that cause? Will there be guns on the street, some have promised to bring them, as a show of freedom, not as a reaction to a threat, I hope.<br />
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And again, Mr. Trump seems to be picking fights with prominent people. His latest target is Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He seems to thrive on that kind of controversy. I don't like it. I can't see how this will serve him if he becomes president. Maybe he thinks being president is the ultimate reality show? If he becomes president, how will he handle the day to day life of the president, dealing with world leaders, making policy intentions that aren't popular or are criticised by congress etc? A twitter fight?<br />
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There are things about Donald Trump that make it hard for me to see past the maybe superficial issues. Of course, they said Ronald Reagan was an actor.<br />
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Then there is the bigger issue of globalism vs. nationalism. Does it have to be one or the other? Can we find a balance? I don't know. Sometimes I am inclined to think, does it matter anymore? Is it forward vs, back, progressive vs, tradition.<br />
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With all the terrorism going on the argument become freedom vs. security. To keep from being blown up or shot, we have to be watched all the time, by all our devices and cameras on every street corner. We're there already and don't have a promise of security. Are we being manipulated and don't know it? If we are, can we participate in such a way that it can make a difference without public unrest and riots? Or are there elements in place, big elements, that we cannot change and it doesn't matter, it's too late, and there's nothing we can effectively do?<br />
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The last point; does popular media show us our circumstance and we just look at it like entertainment? for example; the book 1984 by George Orwell, the movie The Matrix and popular tv shows like House of Cards and Mr. Robot, just to name a few. Is our just trying to survive keeping us distracted from what is really going on?<br />
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Just something to think about.<br />
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Thanks for reading.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-6832253181118682492016-07-08T13:30:00.000-04:002016-07-08T13:30:02.889-04:00Well, hello again. I don't show up as much as I'd like, but events in the world have prompted me more than normal to put something down here, share my mind, if you will.<br />
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Part of it is to work at writing something and getting something out in difficult times, the other is just to write and try to organize my thoughts and feelings.<br />
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Disturbing things have happened, and are happening this week; three shooting incidences and one government/legal proceeding that may have consequences for years to come.<br />
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The shooting incidences were the two black people dying at the hands of cops, again. These are disturbing enough on their face. There has been way to much of it going on. The situations and scenarios are even more troubling. The "suspects", as I understand it so far, were subdued or complying with the officers orders. Then, for some reason, multiple shots were fired by the officers, killing the "suspects".<br />
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As I understand it, from what limited accounts I have gotten from the media, and I have not delved into the details of these accounts. But on the surface, it seems, there would be no justification for these killings. One was a compliant suspect in a traffic stop. The other, the suspect was, as I understand it, subdued and under control. No need for firearms discharge by an officer. It seems both situations could have been handled with out incident.<br />
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Now, as I have said, my information gathering has not been in-depth. But I am disturbed by what I have heard. It doesn't make sense on it's face.<br />
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The protest rally in Dallas is even more disturbing. Snipers killing cops. Right now I have no words.<br />
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Then, during the same week there was the Clinton email FBI investigation. In a nutshell; they are investigating Hillary, Bill Clinton meets with Loretta Lynch, on her plane in Phoenix the week of June 26th. He walks in on her spontaneously. Can you say bad timing, or was he sending a message?<br />
On July 5th James Comey says Hillary Clinton was 'extremely careless" and that no charges be brought against her. the GOP went nuts and called him to the Hill for a "session". Mystified as to his conclusion. That was July 7th. Now there are announcements of the State Dept reopening a probe of her dealings etc.<br />
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So, to review:<br />
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June 27th Hillary is under investigation, Bill Clinton walks on to Loretta Lynch's government plane and meets with her for 30 minutes, talking about "innocent" things, family etc.the press goes nits over the optics of this.<br />
July 5th: James Comey, head of the FBI investigating Hillary Clinton, announces no charges be brought against her though she was extremely careless in the handling of her official government communications.<br />
President Obama with Hillary lands in SC to begin campaigning with her.<br />
That same day, if not at that same time: Alton Sterling, a black man, is shot by a cop in Louisiana.<br />
July 6th: Philando Castile shot in Minneapolis.<br />
July 7th: GOP Oversight Committee hearing questions James Comey That afternoon/evening there is a protest march in Dallas Texas. During the march shots are fired from several locations and a sniper shots at Dallas cops. 5 - 6 Police Officers are killed. The sniper/shooter is a former military with no record but just went nuts that night.<br />
July 8th: The State Department reopens it inquiry into Hillary Clinton's dealings as Secretary of State.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-10466848110130750312015-10-22T17:20:00.001-04:002015-10-22T17:20:09.742-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lately, there has been a lot of interest in Hillary Clinton’s testimony about the events that happened in Libya, at the Benghazi embassy on Sept. 11, 2012. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-73684960-916a-ac0a-47f2-590ed22bcfeb" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I watched part of the testimony on my PC and was mildly interested in the back and forth. From my perspective, the event seemed avoidable. There were calls for extra security, more help and they were not responded to, before the event, and during. Big question, why? </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If before the event, they knew there was going to be some kind of trouble, why didn’t they pull the staff and people out? Evacuate the embassy? Maybe only the President and Hillary know that. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One thing I have noticed about this administration is that, from what I have heard on several media sources, they haven’t passed a budget, and they have used CRs (continuing resolutions) to fund the government and avoid shutdowns. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I read an article in Politico recently regarding the CR situation, titled “Welcome to CR Hell”. See </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/10/congress-federal-budget-continuing-resolution-000270" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/10/congress-federal-budget-continuing-resolution-000270</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a nutshell; when a CR is passed, it’s like you can’t do anything more, you can’t plan on doing anything, but at least we aren’t shutdown and doing nothing. So you’re in a kind of suspended animation. A wonderful way for a government to run. Could there be a better way to make a country ineffective that “surviving” on CRs? It seems beyond dysfunctional. It amazes me.</span></div>
Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-13518792029812508972014-11-26T17:47:00.003-05:002016-07-11T09:32:41.211-04:00Just Conspiracies...I haven't been here in a while. That annoys me. I would like to blog more often, but I get distracted. The hazards of ADD. I watch things and here about things on the TV and radio. Things the government is doing and Obama is fully aware of, if not initiating. I don't agree with them, and it's not because he's black, it's because they are bad policies.<br />
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But I've come to realize that everything may not be what it seems. It is, at least, very plausible that the things we see going on in the world, with other countries, could be pre-planned for a purpose that we as the American people had nothing to do with. But our leaders were in collusion with other forces, entities, to move forward an agenda that "we the people" were not told about.<br />
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One of the theories is that there is a shadow government running our country. So all the political falderal that we see in the news week to week is just a show. Now, that said, I have wondered where is the line of knowing and not knowing? Who knows their actions are deceiving and who is just being used in the deception? Where does the NWO end and "normal life" begin?<br />
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I found a little something for you to think about: http://www.threeworldwars.com/new-world-order.htm<br />
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This can make sense, if the reality of the situation is this big, if so, then it's worse than we thought.<br />
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I want to thank you for looking in and reading what catches your fancy. I will try and add some things to my UFO and Paranormal blog soon.<br />
<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-1471643294484883882014-11-04T19:53:00.000-05:002014-11-04T19:53:30.676-05:00Random stuff<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't been keeping up lately, more than lately. Anyways, things have been going on and stuff has been happening. Thoughts have been racing through my mind and I haven't been able to harness them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worse yet, I haven't been able, or willing, to try and harness them, but just let them rattle around in my head and thought, someday I'll get to them. Well, someday is here. I made it to the Blogger page and I will try and throw down some of the ideas and feelings that have been rattling around in my head the past few weeks. This is going to be a free-flowing exercise for me. So we'll see how this turns out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few week ago I saw a video from on of my G+ associations about a message from the Pleadians. I have always found those interesting in the past and so I listened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In some ways it was a very familiar message of love and hope for us as a species or race. But it went further. It talked about how there seemed to be a power struggle for our planet and how they knew that we were ready for our ascension and have been waiting for it, but it would take longer. They had been among us for years and had seen all that we were going through. The big issue was did we, as a species, really want them, the Pleadians, to reveal themselves to us? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ------------------.............-------------------</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another thing that has been running through my mind is the "Ebola crisis". Especially since one of the nurses that took care of Thomas Duncan, who died, traveled up to Cleveland, Ohio to do some shopping for a wedding she was going to be in. Now I work in Livery, I'm a Chauffeur. I'm at the same airport she came through, everyday I work. I was scared when they said she may have been contagious when she traveled. Great!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But then she got well. And everybody else that had the virus, got well. To the point that it almost became a non-issue. Then it became a little funny, in that, for all the hype the media was giving it, nothing really bad was happening, it was sort of fizzling out in America, meanwhile in Africa, tens of thousands were dying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am interested in conspiracy theories. One of them has the shadow government, the Illuminati, the Elite, etc., they want to depopulate the planet by 3 to 4 billion people. That would leave about 2 to 3 billion left. A manageable number, I'm told they think to rule over.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, with that plan in mind, it has seemed, to me, for the past 4 years or so the media has been hyping the flu season, throwing out ideas of epidemics and pandemics. To no avail, because the flu seasons would come and go with nothing remarkable to report. So now, let's import Ebola into the USA. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas Duncan comes over and dies, then our troops get sent in to the "hot zone". A few health workers exposed to the virus wander around the country. Is this stuff made up or are they following some kind of a script? If Ebola fizzles out, what is next?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's about it for now, I might come back and try to add some graphics to make it a tad more interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-81337622480103558022013-08-21T13:24:00.003-04:002013-10-12T08:11:42.358-04:00It's worse than we thoughtWell, here we are again. We see warnings that it's possible our tech companies can spy on us. Hackers for sure. Any built-in camera or microphone can be used to pry on your privacy by anyone with enough know-how and determination to be that invasive. There were a few news reports of people that had been violated that way, and it was a scary concept.<br />
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Then we hear that our tech companies are being pressed for access to our data by police forces and government agencies. Now at this same time there are reports of the NSA building the biggest facility out in Utah that can gather enough data on all of us to make our heads spin. Some said they had nothing to hide, the ones that did probably said nothing but thought they could still get around anonymously. </div>
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Then there were all the reassurances that it was just "metadata", numbers, locations and, maybe names, but nothing like contents of emails or phone conversations. Right? Okay, good. We sort of breathed a sigh of relief. Even President Obama said it was just the metadata. We can trust him, right? In all this hunting for terrorists a few rights have to be sacrificed once in a while, right? But we're still good. We'll put everything back when we're done, okay?</div>
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Last night I saw a blogger, who had a legal blog, and maybe a law firm, not sure, say after the latest "revelation", that was too much and she could no longer stay online. She was shutting down her website and going offline as much as possible. Groklaw was the name of the blog. Here's the link: <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/20/nsa-spying-leads-legal-blog-groklaw-to-shut-down-in-a-post-that-will-break-your-heart/" target="_blank">http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/20/nsa-spying-leads-legal-blog-groklaw-to-shut-down-in-a-post-that-will-break-your-heart/</a> Previously two other email services had shut down siting too much surveillance, can't recall their names right now. One of them had to do with Mr. Snowden.</div>
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Well, now reports come out about broader surveillance reach by the NSA than was thought before.<br />
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324108204579022874091732470.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324108204579022874091732470.html</a><br />
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Now this is still under the auspices of hunting the bad guys, and that may still be valid, since we're not on real good terms with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Queda. So a few innocent Americans get caught up in our nets...oops, sorry.<br />
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Well, it seems it's not as bad as I first feared when I saw the headline. But unfortunately, the potential for abuse is still there, and we could all be being watched and listened to regardless of what they say. That thought will always be in the back of my mind.<br />
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Waiting for the other shoe to drop,<br />
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Take care.</div>
Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-59246614099666500022013-06-08T10:59:00.001-04:002013-06-08T10:59:34.163-04:00Big Brother 2Okay, yesterday I went on a bit of a reactionary rant about the news reports that the government was watching us and listening to us all the time. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Maybe it was an exaggerated story just to get us riled up. I'll get back to this idea later.<br />
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Now I'm not dismissing the allegations and stories from yesterday, but rather, looking at it with more facts in hand, and other perspectives, in the cold hard light of reality.<br />
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The other aspect of this that didn't occur to me was the terror-prevention part. There are people and groups of people that do want to hurt us, kill us, and would love to see this country in flames coast to coast, burnt to the ground with nothing left. A lot of that animosity has been thwarted, some has not. So, I guess in brief, what the government is doing now is the best way to keep us safe. That carries some weight. Maybe it's not the best solution, but it's probably better than nothing. I remember a few years ago seeing reports of buses being blown up in Israel almost weekly. So far, that hasn't happened here.<br />
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My tempered response here comes from a conservative radio broadcast I heard yesterday. Now, I've spent over 20 years in evangelical Christianity, voting republican and counting myself a conservative. I grew up with the idea of America, freedom and liberty from a conservative perspective. Now I'm not involved with the church and I'm in a place where I've been questioning a lot of things and researching a lot of things. I don't think the republicans and conservatives have it all right, but neither do the democrats and liberals. But power and money have corrupted our system. I have more thoughts about that, but later.<br />
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Anyways, I keep an ear open to some of the conservative talk-radio folks. I don't agree with them as much as I used to, but sometimes they have some insights and perspectives that make sense. So all the surveillance, for now it is keeping us alive and keeping our country intact. Actually, that is more appealing than having our country be destroyed by those who call us infidel.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-14432059341970305182013-06-07T13:34:00.000-04:002013-06-07T13:34:48.711-04:00Big Brother<br />
This is raw. I am scared by the news that our government is spying on us. I knew this day would come, but it doesn't make the realization any easier.<br />
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I read 1984 back in the '70s. It was scary back then. Up until the age of the internet and wifi, it was a bit of a joke. Then, as the internet became more prevalent, and technology began surrounding us more and more, the idea of going off the grid became more of a serious option. When I realized that thought, I began to realize how attached I was to the grid, smartphones, laptops, music players make life so handy. As a Google user I would joke with my family how "Google knows all". Some articles indicated that if it didn't already, it was on a path to. Unsettling.<br />
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With the advent of smartphones and laptops, there came the ever-present little camera lens, watching you, and the microphone, listening to you. There were, and still are stories of people who have been spied on through their laptops doing various things. That's why I don't leave my laptop open when I'm not using it. And now, when I am, I sometimes wonder, who can see me? With my Android smartphone near me almost always, I sometimes wonder, who can hear me and see where I am and have been. Some articles give chilling details of what technology can do with those devices.<br />
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Wanting to be naive about those things I would tell myself that it could be a random occurrence, like getting a virus. But now, it's different.<br />
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People have said it's Bush's fault with those warrentless wiretaps. This is worse than wiretaps, and Bush ain't in charge anymore. Some can even wonder if Obama is in charge. If Bush opened the door with warrentless wiretaps, Obama kicked it down and the whole rest of the federal government charged in. Probably ran Obama over in the process. Seriously, our government has taken a turn for the worse, and at best it is unsettling.<br />
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In our TV shows authorities are able to find various surveillance cams to track stolen cars, abductees, and bad guys, their assistants appear with phone records at the drop of a hat, (TV magic of course). I reference shows like NCIS and Castle. In the action-adventure movies, the good guys and the bad guys do even more incredible things; mess with the infrastructure, traffic lights, utilities, etc. I reference the movie Live Free or Die Hard. One of my favorites has always been Minority Report. I never saw the movie but not I want to. The scene where Tom Cruise's character is running past the billboards and they start talking directly to him, by name. How far are we from that?<br />
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Life seems to imitate art. How do we deal with it? Ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, or be okay with it since "I don't have anything to hide." Think about it, and the ramifications of it, become uncomfortable and then try to ignore it. Some may want to become politically involved, contacting the government, or protesting the government. Increasingly risky propositions. Or, become healthily paranoid. Maybe not tin-foil hat paranoid, but always aware that your devices can and now are being used without your consent by Big Brother.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-45510337860022230412013-04-30T13:58:00.001-04:002013-04-30T13:58:46.053-04:00Greetings, it's been a while. A lots been going on and going through my head, I can barely keep up. I've been thinking about updating this blog for a while, but not sure how to go about it. What's important and meaningful? Conspiracy theories? Internet privacy and knowing how to hide when you need to?<br />
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The government has, and is passing legislation that erodes our online privacy. Makes it easier for other government entities to spy on us. Granted Google knows everything about us from what we tell them, and that our Andriod phones are always on, I know mine is, so they can find me.<br />
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Now you can get some privacy when your online, or after you've been online. The simplest is to delete your browser history. IE and Firefox you can set them to delete everything when you close the browser. With Chrome you have to do it manually afterward. And all browsers have a "private" mode, that when you close that window, all records are erased. Nice to know there's a little bit of control in those areas. Thank you IE, Firefox and Google.<br />
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Now for more serious security seekers there is a browser called Tor: <a href="http://www.torproject.org/">www.torproject.org</a>. I've looked at it but haven't tried it. Apparently it bounces your traffic around different places so your IP address is obscured. Another item that is good along with that is Tails: <a href="http://tails.boum.org/">tails.boum.org</a>. Worth looking into if privacy is really impotent to you.<br />
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Conspiracy theories, where to begin? Big government is Big Brother? The Illuminati? The Papal Prophecy? *Sigh* More on this later, I'll try not to make it such a long time.<br />
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Until then, take care.Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-6633285110460135222012-12-15T13:47:00.001-05:002012-12-15T13:47:09.553-05:00Again?This sort of stuff is happening way too often. This is an unspeakable tragedy and my thoughts and prayers are with the families of all involved. I really think something is wrong, like something's wrong in the world. I don't know how to put it, why are so many people going crazy with guns in such a short space of time? What is setting them off? There are conspiracy theories about things like this. I'll try and explore them in another post. Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-40890497368940224182012-11-22T20:54:00.000-05:002012-11-22T20:54:17.399-05:00Turkey for a DayIt's Thanksgiving Day. We're getting ready to host the day for the relatives, which we've been doing for most of the time since my in-laws couldn't, about eight years. How things change.<br />
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This started off as a random post, which became an orphan, so I decided to re-purpose it as a full blown post. I've also downloaded Blogger to my Android phone, and HTC model so I can blog on the road, as it were. I drive for a living, work for a livery company in Cleveland, Oh. So, now I've committed myself to this blog. I've wanted to do more on it but momentum keeps going away. I know it's frustrating for those of you who come back hoping to find something new and there's nothing there. I've done that with other blogs too.<br />
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Since my last post about conspiracy theories, there's been an election. Barak Obama has been re-elected to the surprise and dismay of many conservatives. I listen to two radio stations that are AM News-Talk. Between them they host at least seven conservative talk-show hosts. Nome of them can understand what happened to get Barak Obama elected, they talk about loosing the country. Hmm, I'm trying to recall what else I was going to blog about regarding conspiracies and can't right now. Okay, maybe later.<br />
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A few posts ago I talked about my tooth being loose. Since then it has fallen out and sometimes I sound like I have a lisp of some sort. Am I going to get it fixed? At some point I probably will. The question is how; bridge or implants? We'll see.<br />
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As I sit here I want to close my eyes and go to sleep. That will be hard to do with guests still in the house.<br />
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I will have to organize my list of topics and things I want to write about for future productivity. My brain is mush now. Until later, Happy Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-30066142309409472322012-08-21T16:31:00.001-04:002012-08-21T16:31:24.278-04:00More stuff to think about. Another topic I have become interested in from a ways back, the Illuminati and some secret societies and the idea of shadow governments, with regards to our government.<br />
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One of the things I have noticed is that talk of the Illuminati at some point involves the idea of Satanic things, thus spiritual things. I think, ok, Satanic means there must be an opposition to something, like God.<br />
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For me, those two concepts are well rooted in Christianity, particularly evangelical Christianity. Now Satan and God are Spiritual entities, Christianity is a religion that frames, if you will, the concept of God and Satan. As I consider the idea that there is a Spiritual battle going on for our souls, and what we do or believe here, may affect what happens in the after-life, confusion becomes an issue. Does modern Christianity give us enough information about the truth of our reality? Or has some things been left out, as some would have us believe?<br />
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There are also some who think that the extra-biblical books are pertinent; the Book of Enoch, the Book of Adam and Eve, etc. Biblical Christianity doesn't agree with this idea. That is why those books are not part of the Bible as we know it. But I have read that there is some interesting and possibly revealing information about our world and how it got started.<br />
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I have read several websites that seem to have pertinent information about the spiritual reality and the "end times". Any of the websites that talk about the Illuminati reference Satanic Rituals. It seems rather particular about that. As I mentioned before, it seems to frame things in a Biblical fashion, so maybe there's something to at least Bible prophecy and Conspiracy Theories.<br />
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I guess the thing that confuses me is two sites holds fast to Biblical Christianity, another site brings out Spiritualism. <a href="http://alienresistance.org/">alienresistance.org</a> <a href="http://educate-yourself.org/">educate-yourself.org</a>. Alien Resistance takes a very evangelical view of things. As does Educate-Yourself, but Educate-Yourself at first blush, but then it references Spiritualism, I guess I was confused by the authority the author used and assumed a similar frame of reference. Still, both have useful information, I think.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-63957605277580499992012-07-31T11:22:00.002-04:002012-07-31T11:22:39.616-04:00Been thinking of late about spiritual things. I've been doing a lot of research on UFOs and some on ghosts. Recently I heard, or read that Men in Black may be a spiritual manifestation of dark entities. Therefore, possibly, a good part of, if not all of the UFO phenomenon may be a spiritual deception. In that it is not a real UFO - ET thing, but spiritual beings deceiving us. Why? To divert our attention on something other than the truth. And the truth is? Well, if spiritual beings are trying to distract us with something "physical", could the truth involve something spiritual that we need to know. Christianity? Buddhism? Islam? I don't know. There is so much about this world that we don't know. There are strange beings that seem to come and go, that we can't explain.<br />
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For a few years now I have been interested in finding out what's the nature of this reality, this plane we live on, or in. Maybe there are other planes of existence, other realities that intersect it from time to time. Some are convinced of it, having seen those intersections, if you will. Ghost stories and the like can give us an insight.<br />
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Currently I am at the place where I am asking, how can I nourish the Spirit. There's lots of information on nourishing the body, but we are also Spirit, and that needs to be attended to as well. How to best do that?<br />
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Hopefully I will be able to post the things I embark on and the things I find out. I have a lot of thoughts that swirl through my head, if I can put them down in a coherent pattern, I will try.Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-262766145180166652012-03-10T00:29:00.000-05:002012-03-10T00:30:16.159-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an odd one for me. Last Monday I went to the dentist for the first time in 25 years or so. There was good news and bad news; good news, my teeth are in pretty good shape, bad news, my gums are not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About a year ago, one of my bottom teeth began coming loose. I've learned how to eat with out biting. I eat everything with utensils, even pizza, a little odd, but it works. I haven't missed much. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Basically, the dentist told me three other teeth are coming loose also, so they will have to come out. (sigh), I kinda thought maybe that was a possibility. So I'll have a four-tooth bridge in the bottom of my mouth when everything is said and done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes I thought, if I let things go far enough, I'll just have 'em all pulled and get dentures, what the hell? Part of this could have probably been avoided if I had seen the dentist regularly, but money and insurance was a bit of a problem for a while. Be that as it may, people younger than me have worse problems with their teeth. Anyways, I'll keep you posted on how things go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a better note: I've finally figured out how to put graphics into this blog. Took me long enough. Thank you Google images. Now I can go back and put pics into some, most, all of my blog posts and make them more interesting? Here's a hook...keep checking back. Monday starts the blog for a week challenge, we'l see how it goes.</span></div>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-59562690935102698852012-03-06T23:10:00.001-05:002012-04-05T12:41:03.514-04:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately I've been wanting to blog about something. I've had lots of ideas, some of them good. But I forget about them when I get in front of the computer, (frustrating). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is Super Tuesday, 10 states have primaries. As I am writing this, Alaska hasn't even begun reporting yet. Each candidate has their strengths and weaknesses. The problem I see is that Washington has its own agenda and any candidate, when they get elected, will have to conform to the ways of Washington. Promises mean very little once you get in that culture and office.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Almost since it came out, and was available, I have been a part of Google+. I like it, it's like Facebook but different, a Google different. Anyways, I've picked up on a photography circle that has a lot of talent in it and I am always reminded of my own love of photography, and how I have missed it. Right now the only camera I have is my cellphone. It's ok, but quirky, as most cellphones are I guess. Maybe I should check out better camera apps for my phone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since it's 2012 there's a lot of talk of the 2012 Mayan Prophecy, what will happen on 12-20-2012? As for me, I'll keep it in mind, see what happens, I think that's all I can do. How many raptures have been predicted and come and gone? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well I will have to work on topics for the future and put them together in a coherent fashion for the future. Thanks for reading and being patient. </span>Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-38278511920805987542011-11-21T12:24:00.001-05:002011-11-23T10:47:23.439-05:00Politics, Finances, and Conspiracy TheoriesI have been trying to keep up on the news, particularly about the financial health of the nation. And lately, things don't look good. Things don't look good in a lot of places, most, if not all of Europe as well.<br />
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It seems odd to the untrained eye that both the US and Europe are in the same trouble. But thinking back to the '08 financiial/banking problems, they started with the selling of the mortgage-backed securities and derivatives, etc. in the US and went to Europe, so now they have come to more fruition and affected both our economies.<br />
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The other thing that is making me wonder, and bothering me, is that those who believe in conspiracy theories think that the corporations have gotten so big an powerful that they own a lot of influence and can buy anything they want. What they want is control. Control of us, and control of the planet. This can be accomplished by controlling the politicians. So the elections mean very little if anything. The theorists think, and have some proof that the corporations that control so much of what goes on in the world are run in part by some very powerful families, some tied to shadowy organizations.<br />
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<br />Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7310872286850409665.post-22796387208635835482011-10-08T05:45:00.004-04:002011-10-08T05:45:59.690-04:00Okay, first post with the new interface on Blogger. Not bad, it'll work for now.<br />
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Lately, I've been hit up side the head with some reality that I thought I could keep in the background. That reality comes under the heading of conspiracy theories. In a nutshell the world as we know it is not the world in reality. The reality is quite different and frightening. Think of "The Matrix' and 'Enemy of the State' movies, and you get the idea. <br />
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There is a YouTube clip of George Carlin titles "Nobody Cares About You". It's a little bit funny but it's more true than funny. In recent years I had been keeping track of websites that kept track of those sorts of things, Alex Jones and Vigilant Citizen are two of them.<br />
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On the radio I listen to talk radio, conservative in nature, of course. I don't have faith in the political system anymore, the things they say and do don't make sense. There's something else going on. If the conspiracy theories are close to true, then that seems to give the lawmakers some rational for their irrational behavior. They have an agenda. They are part of a bigger plan, they are working to enact a agenda of global proportions. They are not working for we the people, or for themselves, but for another cause. Maybe there is something to the Illuminati and the Freemasons and all that other stuff.Marc Futoranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13094490406964002617noreply@blogger.com0