5.13.2013

Doomsday Preppers

I confess to being a prepper, of sorts.  It started when I was a Y2K consultant.  So when hearing of the Doomsday Prepper show, it sounded interesting.

A Hatfield, of the Hatfield/McCoy blood feud, stars in this show where all manner of survival skills are on display.  And it's great, as far as it goes.  But it is also funny how preparing for their perceived threats dovetails with how they already want to live their lives.

They believe that you need to live in the country, which is where they are anyway.  They believe you need your own chickens, which I can't really argue with, I love my Mom's chickens. They believe that people will kill to get at them and their supplies, which is what their family did to their neighbors for 80 years.  They practice killing people with sharpened steel scrap metal.  They develop weapons that don't require electricity.

Something tells me these Hatfields would be doing all this without the threat of terrorists overtaking the United States.  It seems they are still preparing for their neighbors from the old blood feud to come over the hill and try to kill them again.  They are just putting different labels on the threat. And, of course, immigrants.  They are also afraid of immigrants.  And they are afraid of martial law and that the government will take away their guns.  As if their homemade throwing stars would stop a drone attack.

As an aside, have any of them ever been outside of their woods?  This is one huge country.  How is a terrorist group going to take over?  How would they take over even one block in one small town?  They couldn't.  There's not a country in the world that could do that.

Can we just allow ourselves to be prepared without being insane?  It is OK to want to invent a contraption that spins in water and charges a battery just for the fun of it.  Why not?  The emotional baggage is unnecessary, along with the hate.

Below is an episode of the show.






5.09.2013

Annular Solar Eclipse -- live webcast

Space Weather News for May 9, 2013
> http://spaceweather.com
>
> ANNULAR ECLIPSE: On May 10th, the South Pacific sun will turn into a ring of fire as the Moon passes directly in front of the solar disk, producing an annular solar eclipse. At maximum, more than 95% of the sun's diameter will be covered over parts of Australia, eastern Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Please check http://spaceweather.com for more information, including a live webcast from Cape York, Australia, which begins on May 9th at approximately 5 PM EDT.
>
> SOLAR FLARE ALERTS: Would you like a call when solar flares are underway? X-flare alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).
>
> You are subscribed to the Space Weather mailing list, a free service of Spaceweather.com.
>
> New subscribers may sign up for free space weather alerts at http://spaceweather.com/services/ .
>
> To unsubscribe click here: http://www.spaceweather2.com/u?id=79T&n=T&l=spaceweather or send a blank email to leave-spaceweather-1661104M@www.spaceweather2.com
>

4.13.2013

Sherlyn Popelka - Does Nike Sponsor a Drunk Hit and Run Driver

The Arizona Star reports:

"Sherlyn Popelka was driving on a suspended license on May 8 when she collided with a motorcyclist at North Campbell Avenue and East Speedway, records show. After spending the night in jail, Popelka was released May 9.

The case was initially reported as a hit-and-run because Popelka, 19, continued driving after hitting the motorcyclist, who was injured. But it was later determined that she stopped about a block away."
It seems that Sherlyn Popelka never showed up in court and skipped the country. Further, the injured motorcyclist has not received any compensation for his injuries. What a loser and coward Sherlyn Popelka is. And what a stupid name. Sherlyn? Right out of the trailer park.

See the arrest report Sherlyn Popelka Arrest Report

4.11.2013

Incoming Solar Storm



INCOMING SOLAR STORM: A strong M6-class solar flare on April 11th has hurled a CME toward Earth.  Geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when the fast-moving cloud reaches our planet on April 13th.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates.

   

3.26.2013

Justice for Amanda Knox

Poor Amanda Knox.  This Italian legal system is really throwing her around.  First, she is found guilty.  Then she is going to be retried.  She already spent four years in Italian prison.  She may be extradicted, she may not. 

At least she is one American who is getting a trial.  Imagine the feelings of the family of that 16-year-old who was killed by a drone without any trial at all?  He was also an American.  Yes, his father was a terrorist who dragged him halfway around the world, but he was still an American and a teenager at that.  No, he was not a cute girl.

It's funny the outrage that the American media is showing about Amanda Knox but not the other Americans on President Obama's Kill List.  Amanda Knox's plight is the lead on Huffington Post right now.  I didn't even check CNN.com. 

Imagine we lived in a world where the mainstream press cared that the Constitution was being destroyed.  Where killing American citizens without a trial was considered outrageous.  At least Amanda Knox has had her day in court.  What about the other Americans on the Kill List or in indefinite detention?  Where's the outrage there?

Nowhere to be seen.

3.20.2013

Reviving the Republican Corpse - Notes on the Autopsy

Republicans have to stop talking to themselves, but can't seem to do so, as Jason Linkins notes in his commentary on a Republican report on 'what went wrong' in 2012.

So, being the fair-minded person I am, let me offer a few tips that would turn their party around on a dime.

There is a natural coalition between the Left and Right in the area of civil rights.

President Obama's great vulnerability is the Bill of Rights.  While George Bush disposed of habeas corpus, President Obama has stabbed the Fourth Amendment to death.  And there is an alliance to be made between the Second Amendment supporters and the liberal civil libertarians who also hate President Obama.

Now that we know President Obama is willing to detain American citizens indefinitely without a trial, questions need to be raised about how many Americans are being held without trial RIGHT NOW.  Talk about Fox screaming points.  Yet there is no better question to be asked of our government. And no truck should be given to this "on American soil" nonsense.  What is the answer, Mr. President? How many? Over and over again.

No warrant is required to gather personal information about U.S. citizens from telephone companies.  Has a real picture of what that means been painted for the American people?  No.  Another Fox screaming point.

Huge data centers are collecting information on Americans that can be used to convict them later on.  All without a warrant.

Until Senator Rand Paul filibustered, President Obama wasn't willing to say that drones were not allowed to kill Americans on U.S. soil.  Thanks, Senator Paul.  Dramatic pictures can be described where someone who angered the President could be killed without a judge, warrant or trial.  Draw examples from U.S. history where that power could have been easily abused.

Another item is that basic freedom of speech no longer exists.  If someone disagrees with a politician during a public appearance, they are arrested.  That practice is unconstitutional.  The U.S. Justice Department targets technology innovators for prosecution, with two of them having committed suicide so far.  How can we lead the world in a future economy if we kill off our thought leaders?  We can't.

The above are only a few of the items that could cut President Obama to the core and establish a new paradigm of Republican loyalty that transcends Nixon's southern strategy.

But they would have to listen first.  Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

3.13.2013

Earthquake: M 5.2 - Southern Alaska

Magnitude: 5.2
Location: Southern Alaska

Time: Sun, Mar 10, 2013 1:11:04 PM EDT
GMT: Sun, Mar 10, 2013 17:11:04 GMT

Latitude: 59° 18' 52" N (59.3147°)
Longitude: 154° 13' 5" W (-154.2182°)
Depth: 5.2 mi

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%205.2%20-%20Southern%20Alaska@59.314701,-154.218201&z=6

More Information (while available): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ak10670551.php

Data provided by US Geological Survey.


--
Brought to you by QuakeWatch, http://itunes.com/apps/QuakeWatch
--


Sent from my iPad

Earthquake: M 5.6 - Taiwan

Magnitude: 5.6
Location: Taiwan

Time: Wed, Mar 6, 2013 10:36:47 PM EST
GMT: Thu, Mar 7, 2013 03:36:47 GMT

Latitude: 24° 16' 4" N (24.2678°)
Longitude: 121° 25' 42" E (121.4284°)
Depth: 6.0 mi

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%205.6%20-%20Taiwan@24.267799,121.428398&z=6

More Information (while available): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usb000fgws.php

Data provided by US Geological Survey.


--
Brought to you by QuakeWatch, http://itunes.com/apps/QuakeWatch
--

Earthquake: M 5.5 - Off the coast of Guatemala

Magnitude: 5.5
Location: Off the coast of Guatemala

Time: Sun, Mar 10, 2013 6:18:17 AM EDT
GMT: Sun, Mar 10, 2013 10:18:17 GMT

Latitude: 12° 48' 34" N (12.8095°)
Longitude: 90° 41' 39" W (-90.6943°)
Depth: 12.3 mi

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%205.5%20-%20Off%20the%20coast%20of%20Guatemala@12.809500,-90.694298&z=6

More Information (while available): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usb000fi8j.php

Data provided by US Geological Survey.


--
Brought to you by QuakeWatch, http://itunes.com/apps/QuakeWatch
--

3.04.2013

Anonymous Drops One on Federal Judge Loretta Preska

Claiming a serious breach of judicial ethics, Anonymous posts enough information on the web to get the Honorable Loretta Preska into real ethics trouble.

You see, a judge isn't supposed to hear a case if she is married to someone who has an interest in that same case.  That's called a "conflict of interest" and every judge is supposed to let someone else hear the case, in what is called "recusal."

The appearance of fairness is very important, not just fairness itself.  That's why every judge has ethics rules about this kind of a thing.

What Hon. Judge Loretta Preska did was decide bail in a case where Stratfor was hacked.  The thing is, her husband is a client of Stratfor and was affected by the crime for which she was deciding bail.

See the AP report:

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge has refused to grant bail to a Chicago man charged in a conspiracy to hack into corporations and government agencies worldwide.

Federal Judge Loretta Preska says Jeremy Hammond poses "a very substantial danger to the community." She rejected arguments by his lawyers Tuesday that he be freed on bail secured by houses owned by relatives.

Prosecutors call Hammond a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Hammond has been held since his March arrest. The judge says he has demonstrated a lack of respect for court orders and a sophisticated ability to get into databases online and obtain information including credit card numbers.

Hammond has pleaded not guilty in website attacks the government says were carried out by the loosely organized worldwide hacking group Anonymous.


Judge Loretta Preska decided that there would be no bail for Jeremy Hammond.

I made a few calls strictly for the purposes of verification, and the phone numbers are valid.