Linksys Wireless Routers and the Westell 6100 Modem

I spent about 4 hours last night and 6 hours this morning trying to get my Linksys WRT54G wireless router to work with a Westell 6100 DSL modem. I finally got it to work no thanks to Verizon or Linksys. Big thanks to the internets (well, maybe Verizon a little). Here is what you need to know. The Westell 6100 modem is too smart for its own good. You need to take it out of PPPoE mode (in my case) and put it into bridge mode. Then you need to disable the DHCP LAN This allows the modem to do what modems are suppose to do.....modulate and demodulate. It allows the internet to pass through the modem and into the wireless router. Ok, that isn't too hard to do. Then you need to access the Linksys router and put it into PPPoE mode. After turning things off and on a bit, everything should work. You can go here for complete instructions.

America! The Greatest Country in the World!

What really makes America (actually the USA) the greatest country in the world? This is an argument you can count on eventually hearing from a conservative, especially if you point out some little (or major) short coming about our country. Joe Nationalist thinks because he lives here...that he had the luck to be born in the USA...this makes the country great.

Let's see what former Dep. Ass't. Sec. of the Navy and combat veteran Joe Sanders had to say on the topic in a post on military.com.

It is our hubris, a "holier than thou" attitude that permeates our national psyche, and infuriates the rest of the world. It isn't that we are worse than everyone else; it is that we continually crow that we are better than everyone else and this hypocrisy grates on the international community. They know our history better than we do. Those who turn off their a.m. radios, get off their couches, and actually read our history, appreciate our relationship to the rest of the world, and know that we are a third rate, and even worse, nation in such vital areas as education, childcare, healthcare, and criminal justice. The irony is that we have the talent and the ability to make this country as great as we think it is, rather than expending our energy crowing about it. We have many things to be proud of, but we need to temper that pride with reality.

The reality is that the USA is not the greatest country in the world when objectively measured. Although we will continue to be the greatest military power on earth for some time, in a few years we will not be the top economic power. The European Union nearly matches us already and it is very possible that China will eventually become number 1 economically. There are any number of facts that prove the USA is not the greatest, without equal, in everything, except maybe military power.

If the USA is the greatest country in the world, is there any room for improvement? Most nationalists would say No! If America does it, it must be right and good and moral and Christian - including torture. The last eight years we have even been assured that God approves of the USA and its global politics.

A real patriot would say of course there is always room for improvement. In fact, improvement is the American way of life.

So rather than incessantly bragging about how great we are, it might be better to put some effort into actually trying to become the greatest country on earth. And, that includes actually bringing liberty and justice to all.

Wide Stance Costs Money

Larry "Wide Stance" Craig estimates it is going to cost him $407,000 to defend and wide stance. Hey, at least he wears a flag pin, that has to count for something.

Liberty Seven (six) - I Feel Safe Now!

The "war" on terrorism proceeds. Must be all the really bad terrorists have been caught or killed because we are left prosecuting "these bozos". The Feds couldn't convict the paintball playing terrorist after two tries so now they are going for a third try. It seems jurors just can't take these guys as seriously as do the Feds.

Sen. Betty Little - She Knows More Than You!

NY State Senator Betty Little knows more than most of us. We are lucky to have her. She thinks North Country Community College and Clinton Community College should be combined to save tax dollars. In fact, she has an "arm" of SUNY studying why that should be done. Forget that the Community Colleges are under community control. Little wants to save money....unless it has to do with closing local prisons. She is all in favor of keeping prisons opened....maybe because correction officer jobs pay more the community college professor positions. If there is an advantage to combining North Country and Clinton community colleges, why not combine every community college in the State and save some real money?

I'm not a big fan of Senator Little. I've only heard her speak once while at NCCC (and once prior to that a long time ago when she was explaining why only certified teachers should teach). She spent most of the opportunity explaining how Democrats are responsible for all our financial woes.....forgetting the the Governor and Senate have been under Republican control for many years now.

Act Blue

Act Blue is the online clearinghouse for donations to Democratic candidates for State and Federal Office. Two candidates in particular need our help: Kristin Gillibrand and Mike Oot. Both of these candidates represent people living in large geographical areas, many of whom are not financially well off. Thus, these candidates are forced to find money outside the district to run their campaigns (just like Republican candidates would/will have to do...unless you are a multimillionaire like Sandy Treadwell). Gillibrand is going to be running one of the most expensive Congressional re-election campaigns ever. So, I am adding a link to "Act Blue" to my website in hopes of keeping Ms. Gillibrand my congressional representative. I hope Mr. Oot will be the new Representative of the 23rd district.

Spring in My Yard

It takes awhile for 6-7 ft. high snowbanks to melt


At least the log still tastes salty

Spring in the Adirondack Mountains

Indian Pass from Adirondack Loj Rd.


Lower Cascade Lake


Ski jumps from Adirondack Loj Rd.

Mike Oot for Congress

I'm not in Mike's district so I can't vote for him. However, I wish I could. I spent an hour and a half in a discussion with Mr. Oot, at the Essex County Democrats, and he is just the kind of person we need to send to Congress. He is a sincere man and truly wants what is best for our country. He comes across as someone who loves the USA but is saddened by what the last 8 years of the Bush administration has done to our country.

Selling the Iraq War - Another Surprise?

No, not a surprise. The Bush administation's strategy for selling the Iraq War has been further exposed in todays NYT. "Military analysts" were used to promote the war by sending them on scripted visits to Iraq to show how well things were proceeding. Some of these guys were network "military analysts....write the wrong thing about Iraq and you lose "access". Our media looking out for us.

In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated. Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

Others worked for military contractors. Write the wrong thing and see that 10 billion dollar contract go down the tubes.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

It's no wonder that a majority of Americans thought the Iraq War was a great idea. The so-called experts were telling us how great things were going in September 2003.

“We’re up against a growing and sophisticated threat,” Mr. Bremer recalled telling the president during a private White House dinner.

That dinner took place on Sept. 24, while the analysts were touring Iraq.

Yet these harsh realities were elided, or flatly contradicted, during the official presentations for the analysts, records show. The itinerary, scripted to the minute, featured brief visits to a model school, a few refurbished government buildings, a center for women’s rights, a mass grave and even the gardens of Babylon.

Mostly the analysts attended briefings. These sessions, records show, spooled out an alternative narrative, depicting an Iraq bursting with political and economic energy, its security forces blossoming. On the crucial question of troop levels, the briefings echoed the White House line: No reinforcements were needed. The “growing and sophisticated threat” described by Mr. Bremer was instead depicted as degraded, isolated and on the run.

“We’re winning,” a briefing document proclaimed.

How about words from this distinguished American patriot:

“I saw immediately in 2003 that things were going south,” General Vallely, one of the Fox analysts on the trip, recalled in an interview with The Times.

The Pentagon, though, need not have worried.

“You can’t believe the progress,” General Vallely told Alan Colmes of Fox News upon his return. He predicted the insurgency would be “down to a few numbers” within months.

Read the entire article, it is an eye-opener.

Jimmy Carter - Terrorist Sympathizer?

Know the definition of a traitor? Someone who talks with the enemy. Like Jimmy Carter. He has the gall to actually talk with a terrorist group, Hamas, to find out exactly how we can bring about peace between Palestinians and Israel. That is just plain un-American! The American way, or at least the way it seems to be over the last few years, is to bomb them back to the stone age and let god figure out who was right. We don't talk with our enemies, we kill them. If we can't kill them, we capture them and lock them away forever, maybe with a little torture on the side for good measure.

So what has Jimmy Carter gotten out of Hamas by talking with them. Well, a bit of a change in attitude it seems.

Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas - the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel - is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to "live as a neighbor next door in peace."

So do I think that Israel will go back to the pre-1967 borders? Not a chance...but at least they (we) now have a starting point for further discussions with Hamas.

It continues to confuse me that our government refuses to talk with our "enemies". We claim we want peace, yet we refuse to meet with those with whom we disagree. Furthermore, a group like Hamas, is viewed very differently by Palestinians. Hamas has a charitable arm that wins the hearts and minds of Palestinians in the occupied territories. It doesn't matter what we think of Hamas, what matters is what Palestinians think of Hamas versus what they think of us. How do we change the opinions of Palestinians if we don't engage them in some way?