Saturday, September 10, 2016

Potpourri Saturday: Serial 'Egger' Gets Probation, Oyster Beds Made From Toilets & Viral Red Trucks


                                      Good Day World!

Eggs away...

No one really knows why an Ohio man decided to pelt his neighbor's house with eggs a hundred times in one year.

Naturally the neighbors weren't thrilled about the damage it caused, and how nerve-wracking it was to see a hail of eggs come from out of nowhere.

The cops investigated and charged 31-year-old Jason Kozan with a misdemeanor charge of inducing panic. Vandalism and menacing charges were dropped.

I assume Kosan had a good lawyer. 

To Jamaica Bay with love...

The folks at The Big Apple have destroyed 5,000 toilets to make porceline beds for oysters in Jamaica Bay.

This ambitious project is meant to be a buffer from storms while cleaning the water and creating wildlife habitat.

The 31-square-mile Jamaica Bay is part of a 142-square-mile watershed that includes Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County.

Oh wow! Look a red truck!

Not much happens in Jackson, Wyoming. 

So it was a surprise for local businesses when a live web cam installed in a busy intersection near the Jackson Town Square went viral. Sort of.

The web cam has been there since 2014 and usually averages about 20 visitors a day. For reasons unknown, more than 2,000 visitors stopped by one day last week.

One guess is because red trucks are popular with online commentors and someone saw a red truck that day instead of the usual fair of a pedestrians.

But we'll never know for sure.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Friday, September 9, 2016

Judge to Rule On Controversial Dakota Access Pipeline Today


                                     Good Day World!

A federal judge is going to decide if a pipeline is going to go through the Standing Rock Sioux's burial grounds and cultural sites in North Dakota today.

The company that's attempting to run the pipeline through the tribe's sacred grounds is a Dallas-based firm called Energy Transfer Partners (ETP).

On September 3, private guards attacked native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they protested against the $3.8 billion pipeline's construction.

If completed, the pipeline would carry about 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota's Bakken oilfield to Illinois.

Member's from 100 tribes have joined the Standing Rock Sioux in protesting the project for months now. Tribal leaders have challenged the permits in federal court and a judge is supposed to rule on it today.

The tribe is also worried that construction will taint their water supply. It's going to be an uphill battle against a lot of monied interests.

For example, Continental Resoures - the company founded and led by CEO Harold Hamm - energy advisor to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and potential U.S. Secretary of Energy under a Trump presidency - has announced to investors that oil it obtains via hydraulic fracturing ("Fracking") from North Dakota's Bakken Shale basin is destined for transport through the hotly-contested Dakota Access pipline.

Sounds like an accomplished fact to me.

I'm really curious to see how the judge rules on this pipeline project. For the people? Or, more likely, for Wall Street and corporate America.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Thursday, September 8, 2016

It's Great To See the Rams Back In LA, But I'm Not Expecting a Miracle

Good Day World!

I'm an original Ram fan (1946 to 1994) who was incensed when the team moved to St. Louis 21 years ago.

Now I'm ready to let bygones be bygones this season because they've returned to LA.

The prodigal team returns with baggage - 9 straight losing seasons with just four winning campaigns during their 21 years in St. Louis.

During their stay they posted a cumulative 64-127-1 record. Not exactly juggernaut numbers in the tough NFL West.

But that doesn't matter. They're back home now. I expect some exciting plays watching arguably the best running back in the league - Todd Gurly (pictured above).

Despite the fact that I live in Oregon now, I have no problem embracing the team of my childhood. Remember Roman Gabrial?

I sure do, along with a whole list of other Ram greats. Names like Deacon Jones, Dick Lane, Isaac Bruce, Merlin Olsen, Jack Youngblood, Henry Ellard, Norm Van Brocklin, and Elroy (Crazy Legs) Hirsch.

There's a lot of other oldtimers like me that are willing to sit back and watch during the honeymoon period and see what happens.

The iconic Coliseum has been good to the returning Rams thus far.

When they beat the Dallas Cowboys in an exhibition last month, the reported attendance was 89,140 - a preseason record for a game played in the United States.

The regular season starts off with the LA Rams traditional enemy, the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football (September 12th).

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Winning Awards - One Way or Another

Good Day World!

Winning an award these days is no big deal.

Kids in school nowadays get awards even when they don't win contests. 

The school of thought behind that is "no one should feel left out.Here's an interesting take on giving awards:

The Problem with Award Ceremonies

In the adult world awards are serious things. They can mean an increased earning potential - win an Oscar, and you'll have producers at your feet. 

Prestigeous awards, such as the Nobel Peace Prize, give you worldwide creds. But there's also bums and scoundrals who have won that coveted prize.

Take Henry Kissinger for example.

He has to be the most controversial Nobel Prize Winner in history. Kissinger was a joint winner with Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese leader.

Tho rejected the award because it was given for the pair's peace work in Vietnam, and he knew no peace had been achieved in the area.

The perfect hypocrite, Kissinger accepted the award "with humility" despite the fact that many felt he shouldn't have gotten it in the first place.

Two years later North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, voiding his supposed good work.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a funny story about awards that is very timely:

At least, 19 Donald Trump properties have big plaques that read; Six Diamond Award and/or Five Diamond Award.

They're awards Trump gave himself!

True story. The Academy of American Hospitality Sciences (or something like that) passed out those awards. The majority on the board of this fine academy consists of Trump and his family.

Hard to lose under those circumstances. The inspiration for this fine sounding academy came from a mob guy, a convicted thief named "Joey No Socks," who lives on Central Park South.

To see more about The Donald's award-winning ways, I highly recommend reading The Making of Donald Trump, by Putlitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnson.

Pssstttt...Johnson deserved his award.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Frack You! Oklahoma's Rocking Because of Greed

Good Day World!

For years, I've been writing about the problems associated with fracking. 

Industry weasels have long contended there are no problems with fracking. An outright lie. 

They've known there were problems as far back as 1969.

It was always really about covering up facts in the pursuit of cheap oil.

Drill, baby drill.

Now, after one of the strongest earthquakes ever to hit Oklahoma last Saturday, state regulators have ordered oil and gas companies to shut down all their wastewater disposal wells in a 725-square-mile area around the site of the quake's epicenter near Pawnee. 

I'm anxious to see what state officials do now. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, read the dirty truth about one town that was transformed by fracking: Colossal Fracking Mess

Here's the 9 Biggest Reasons To Ban Fracking.

Texas is having it's problems with fracking where experts say the leading cause of earthquakes comes from the wastewater disposal from fracking.

Learn more about the Fracking Boom with this state-by-state map that shows where it's happening, and may happen at soon.

This is a classic case of greed versus the environment. As always, it could go either way. Let's hope enough people in the right places wake up and stop destroying the land in which we live.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Monday, September 5, 2016

In Praise of Pit Bulls And All Dogs


                                          Good Day World!

There is no bad dog breed. 

I don't care what some people say, ALL dogs are the best animal companions we humans could ever hope for.

I really think it's sad that pit bulls have gotten such a bad reputation over recent years. How did that happen? Once upon a time the American PitBull Terrier was considered a family dog.

Remember Petey? He's that good looking dog on the top of the page and was a star in The Little Rascals, a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures.

There's a number of reasons why pit bulls were given a bad reputation. Because of their ancestry, pit bull's (once used in war by the ancient Britons, and later Romans) were used as sporting (in other words fighting) dogs in the 19th century.

That cruel practice has continued into the 21st century. It's illegal, but cases are still coming up across the country.

Just think, during World War I the country itself was personified as a pit bull on Army recruitment posters. There were even several pit bulls who became famous in the American military.

For example:

Believe it or not, Sgt. Stubby, the most Decorated US Military Dog, would be banned from bases today!

Why? Because Stubby was what would today be a considered a pit bull mix. 

Pit bulls (including American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers), along with Rottweilers, Doberman Pinchers and Chow Chows, are not allowed to live in housing on military bases because they're considered "dangerous dogs."

Despite being illegal in all fifty states, dog fighting made a comeback in the 80s, and the pitt bull was the dog of choice. Drug dealers and gangs preferred them for guard dogs.

The final straw in getting the bad rep pit bulls face today can be traced to a highly publicized attack in 1987 in which a pit bull, guarding a marijuana crop in California, mauled and killed a two-and-a-half year-old boy.

That was it. Pit bulls became the victims of a lot of bad press in the following decades. 

What the hell happened to common sense? If you raise your dog, any dog, with love they will be your best friend. 

Granted, some breeds need extra TLC and training, but any dog properly taken care of becomes a family member if you let them.

One of the big problems with people who buy pit bulls, and other supposedly dangerous dogs, is they don't take the time to properly raise and train them.

Not all dogs do well in all environments. Kinda like humans. So let's stop demonizing a dog that propaganda has persecuted for far too long. 

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Sunday, September 4, 2016

I Never Trusted Using Computers To Vote - Now Look What's Happening

Good Day World!

Our nation's voting systems were hacked by foreigners recently according to the FBI.

I'm really concerned that the two reported hacks that took place in Arizona and Illinois are only the tip of the iceberg.

A "flash" alert from the FBI's Cyber Division reveals heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers aimed at disrupting the November elections.  

I never trusted computers in our polling places. The potential for hacking began in 1996 when The Reform Party used I-Voting (Internet Voting) for the first governmental election in the U.S.

By 2002, the Help America Vote Act mandated that one handicapped accessible voting system be provided per polling place, which most jurisdictions have chosen to satisfy with the use of the DRE voting machines.

By 2004 over a quarter of American voters were using computer voting machines. The rest is history.

Today the majority of voting machines don't have hard copy data backup, or any other safeguard against hacking. There are some voting machines that have a Voter-verified paper audit trail, but they only count for a small part of the total.

What's really scary is that there's not enough time to implement additional safeguards to our voting system for this election.

The Department of Homeland Security needs to designate state election systems as part of the nation's "critical infrastructure" to forestall future meddling in our elections.

Meanwhile all we can do is hope that we have enough computer experts to fight of more intrusions in November. Like I said...it's scary.

Related:

Russian Hackersare Targeting U.S. Election Databases, Experts Warn

Time for me to walk on down the road...

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...