Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Waiting Wednesday

No websites today because I don't think anyone in the US is doing deep reading on the Internet today. It's Turkey Time prep! I have to say that after my fiasco of buying 10 pounds of deli turkey breast, I was appalled to see such a big breast which had to come from a magnificent, albeit rather ugly, bird. I don't like to kill animals. I may be reviewing my protein intake sources again; they are getting narrower and narrower.

I thought I would just tick off some things I've been thinking about recently. You can just read them and go merrily on your way. (Or, not read them and skip merrily off):

1. I re-saw Alice In Wonderland in the middle of last night. I'm softening towards Depp's performance (except for a few bits it's right-on as the Mad Hatter) though I do think the Hatter was given too much prominence because Depp was the drawing star of this opus. I'm still enchanted with the Wonderland part and not enchanted with the feminist slant expressed in the "real" world. I think we all realize that Alice matures into an independent woman in Wonderland. I wish they had just concentrated on that and then faded to black.

2. I also saw part of Public Enemies with Depp, also in the middle of the night. He really is a very good actor but probably he sells better in his fantasy roles.

3. Today is "Don't Touch My Junk" day at airports. There have been a lot of comments on how the new airport screening was the tipping point in flyers' patience after enduring years of lousy service. I haven't read anywhere in the US press that since we have totally screwed up relations with the Muslim world (excluding their rich rulers) with our treatment of Palestinians, Iraqis, Iranians, etc. and now our drone bombings of a completely Muslim country, Pakistan, unless we sincerely begin fixing this mess, security in line with Heinlein's The Puppet Masters (you guessed it: everyone got naked) is not going to make us more safe. The non-US press touches this "elephant in the room" predicament, but there's nada in the established US press.

4. I upgraded my iPad yesterday and only because I have a sweet, sweet disposition like the White Queen in AIW I'm not ass-kicking mad right now.

First, some background: the iPad is not your cutting edge technological tool. You can't do much on it: no word processing; no desktop publishing; no spreadsheets..... It's fun. I LOVE mine but it's my companion with middle of the night insomnia, not my go-to computer tool. It's my "let's shop the App store" not my "let's get this proposal out" pal. And that's how Apple markets iPad, which is fine. Fast forward to upgrade day. I read article after article re: the upgrade. I went on the Apple site but only learned the "great" features of the upgrade. Nothing on how to make the upgrade happen. First, I thought they would automatically update like Microsoft and anti-virus programs do. Wasn't going to happen.

Finally, in the 27th paragraph of the 100th article (slight exaggeration) there appeared the sentence: You must connect your iPad to iTunes for the upgrade. WTF? That means you must have a "real" computer which you use to make the connect. (Sort of like uploading pictures from your camera to the computer.)

What if you didn't have a "real" computer? Since you can get an iPad version which connects automatically to the Internet (at a monthly fee), you may not own one. What would you do then?

Needless to say, I was royally pissed. Not for myself (I have computers so I upgraded) but for the cockamamie way Apple upgrades. Fix this now, Jobs!

Regarding the upgrades? All I know is that simple app upgrades (like they fixed a glitch in the Hangman app) have become problematic. Now, after I enter my password, I'm told it can't upgrade the app because I'm not connected to iTunes! Then it processes to load something onto the app. I have no idea what's happening.

But I do love my iPad. A month ago I would have said: What a fluff! I still say that but you're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands if you want it.

Happy Thanksgiving!