Care. Engage. Resist.

By , June 2, 2025

— Draft —

We protest and resist because we care.

We must engage our community.

Our country is in a constitutional crisis.

We are overwhelmed. They continue to “flood the zone” with absurd Executive Orders, DOGE decrees, and corrupt agency actions.

Congress has mostly abdicated its role and authority, and now pushes a Big Bloated Bill to further shift wealth and sustenance from regular folks to a clump of billionaires and crypto-fraudsters.

I’ve suggested, “pick one thing ” One issue at a time, manageable slices. Then, another.

But which thing? So many things.

Top of mind, always: survival of the planet; humans and other species, a livable climate. They’ve declared war on survivability, repealing regulations and accelerating the worst climate offenses.

And yet, they asault our freedom of thought: demonization of DEI and wokeness. Being human is itself unpatriotic. No empathy!

And yet, masked thugs crash courtrooms to abduct people to ship overseas without any process.

And yet. And yet, more, more, more

✓ We must stand up, rise up, and lawfully obstruct those masked thugs. As one with privilege (white, male, etc.), I can resist first.

✓ We, all of us, must talk openly to our neighbors, friends, and family. Say: We care. We defend democracy. We confront constitutional violations.

✓ We must rise up, stand up, and take to the streets, calling out the unlawful, the unconstitutional, the thugs, the tyranny, the hypocrisy.

✓ We must find effective ways to impact government. Call, email, write to, or meet with legislators and officials. But what is effective?

Mark Welch is recovering from Neurosarcoidosis

By , August 8, 2022

TIMELINE:

  • April 2021: TIA (small stroke).
  • June 2021: Diabetic low-sugar event, unconscious on floor for 14 hours. Yovany Acosta, my roommate, found me and called 911. Later, he called my wife (Kary Stowe) to ask for her help.
  • Sept 2021: Prostate issues forcing me to get catheter. Persistent vomiting, abdominal pain.
  • Oct 2021 – Feb 2022: Repeated hospitalizations (100+ days total) for health issues with various preliminary diagnoses. Moved from California to Springfield, Missouri. Gall bladder removed. Zillions of tests, including multiple colonoscopies and lumbar punctures. Wide range of symptoms, including bizarre hallucinations/delusions. Doctors referred me for hospice care.
  • Feb 2022: Kary identified issues that did not match any of the preliminary diagnoses, arranged for my discharge, then transported me to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
  • Feb – March 17, 2022: Neurology team at Barnes diagnosed and confirmed #neurosarcoidosis, and with treatment, within weeks I was mentally back near my normal.
  • Read more »

I’m not donating this year to charities that spent my money asking me for more money

By , December 12, 2016

Last year, I gave donations to a number of charities, and this year I’m donating again to all of the same nonprofit organizations except for two: the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

My decision NOT to donate to these organizations is based on the volume and apparent cost of their continuing mailings to me, asking for more donations. Quite simply, it appears that they’ve spent about as much money as I donated to them, on printing and postage (for US Postal Service mail) asking for more donations. Read more »

Another startup nightmare: by Penny Kim

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By , September 6, 2016

An excellent “experience story” about a nightmare startup:

“I Got Scammed By A Silicon Valley Startup” (Penny Kim):  Read more »

Moving a Convention from North Carolina, because of a discriminatory, hateful law

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By , August 19, 2016

September 8, 2016: I was pleased to receive this announcement from Informa today: “Informa and Channel Partners value and celebrate diversity in all its forms within our workforce and among sponsors and attendees.  With that in mind, Channel Partners finds North Carolina’s recently passed law, known as HB2,  incompatible with its values and cannot therefore move forward with plans to hold the Channel Partners Evolution event in Charlotte in September 2017.” Read more »

Commissions: Apples, Oranges, Potatoes & Spam

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By , July 12, 2016

Today, a master agency complained that our commission percentages don’t match the high rates offered by some other vendors. My response:

Yes, our commission percentages don’t look impressive when compared to other vendors who sell different services, and others whose channel programs are designed quite differently. Read more »

Fake USB Flash Drives (eBay)

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By , June 19, 2016

There are Bad People out there, who sell USB flash drives designed to show fake capacity values.

Over the past year, I’ve purchased a few dozen USB flash drives, with capacities ranging from 8GB to 256GB.  Some were genuine; most were fakes. Read more »

Interesting LinkedIn Profile Skills (funny)

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By , May 26, 2016

LinkedIn gives us the opportunity to list up to 50 “Skills” in our profiles, and until today I thought the most interesting and creative list of skills was in technology journalist Dan Tynan’s profile, which includes these:

Pole Dancing, Kitten Wrangling, snarkitude, Breathing, Sleep Deprivation, Prescience, Waffle Making, Navel Gazing, Confabulation, Sarcasm, Eating, and Sleep.

But today, I found Googler Todd Underwood’s profile, which includes:

Read more »

Seeking Custom-Imprinted Sliding Webcam Covers

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By , May 23, 2016

I’m trying to find a source for custom imprinted “sliding webcam covers,” quantity 1,000. Read more »

Unicorn Startups: The Rules Don’t Apply to Us

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By , May 9, 2016

Excellent article about a “unicorn” startup: “Zenefits Was the Perfect Startup. Then It Self-DisruptedWhat happened when an HR firm had some epic HR problems” (http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-zenefits/) in Bloomberg, by Claire Suddath and Eric Newcomer.

Like some other “unicorns” in recent years, Zenefits decided that the rules didn’t apply to its company: in this case, state-by-state licensing requirements when selling insurance, and the training and compliance requirements for such sales. Read more »

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