The one that didn’t get away: Fishermen reel in shark the size of a school bus

Fishermen tie ropes around the carcass of a whale shark in a harbor in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb. 7, 2012. The 40-foot whale shark was said to have been found dead in the Arabian Sea.

How can we tell what the face of evil looks like among us?

Good Day Humboldt County!

We meet people on the road though life who look normal (well, how about non-threatening?) who do things that shock us. Terrible, unfathomable things. Dark, senseless, stupid things that literally ruin other people’s lives.

Are these people evil? You read about them all the time because of the sensational impact of their crimes.

Do you know what the face of Evil looks like? Could you tell if a serial killer stood beside you in line at the super market? In my life experience, I’ve seen Evil’s un-remarkable face many times. After the fact. There was never a warning. Age and gender never mattered.  

One day a kindly male elementary school teacher beloved by parents, staff and students, the next a pedophile. Mothers killing their children because low life boyfriends don’t want them around. Then you have this ripped from current headlines:

 A father who murders his two young sons after murdering their mother.   

Anyone following Josh Powell, the Utah man suspected of killing his wife in 2009, had to be skeptical about his camping story with two young sons in the middle of a snowy night. The same night his wife Susan Powell, and the boy’s mother, disappeared. Yet, the police were never able to find her body, or come up with enough evidence to charge him with anything.

Then, when he looses custody of his two sons (photo right), he murders them, and kills himself in the family’s house rigged up like a giant Molotov cocktail. To compound this tragedy, the grandparents who had custody of the boys, were told shortly before allowing the fatal visitation with Josh that, “Mommy was in the car’s trunk,” during their camping trip! A bombshell. Did word leak to Josh Powell his kids were talking?

We’ll never know. All we can do is shake our head and look at the photo at the top of this page of Josh and Susan Powell, and their two sons. Who would of guessed that normal(?) looking family would have such a sad ending? Just look at those smiles. They all seemed to glow with happiness. Gone now.

Time to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

Democracy, hypocrisy, walk hand-in-hand in world politics

                    Good Day Humboldt County!

Put on your walking shoes and let’s stroll down a long and winding trail with political pitfalls, and other challenges to true democracy. Here and in Egypt.

Despite giving Egypt millions of dollars every year in poorly concealed bribes described as relief funds, the current Egypt government is arresting Americans for promoting democracy. Quick! Does anyone remember the so-called Arab Spring last year?

Now things have gotten ugly and American pro-democracy workers face trial in Egypt for spreading the word about democracy. If you’re a little confused by this reversal of attitude in Egypt, don’t be. Just remember that the military led the coup against Mubarak, and they’re still in charge, despite what the majority of people in Egypt want today.

To my utter disgust, the US resembles a fascist plutocracy with the military being able to detain suspects  without charge…  just like Egypt our good buddy. Americans live in a Democracy as long as they do it in a designated free speech zone. Otherwise, its pepper spray and jail here too.

So where does this political mess leave the U.S. taxpayer whose funding of these open bribes for cooperation from third world countries continues to flow? Nowhere. Oblivion. The bottom of the well. The silent majority with no hope of ever getting a voice.

Despite the hypocrisy of our interpretation of what democracy means, our warlords continue to spread the doctrine like a religion. The question is: “Should we export democracy?” The next question is: “Can we export democracy?” 

Democracy, in the minds of the minions in our military industrial complex, is a wedge into another country in order to seize their natural resources. A righteous club to bludgeon the unbelievers. The patriotic thing to do.

As It Stands, the true meaning of democracy has been submerged in the slime of politics, conquest, and greed since we decided to colonize the rest of the world in the name of “freedom.”

Time to walk on down the road…

PAC-Man Gone Bad: Icon Represents Unfair Elections Today

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted:   02/05/2012 02:40:03 AM PST

When Pac-Man, the arcade game, was released it caused a social phenomenon that spurred sales of cross-merchandising throughout the U.S. It became an icon for the 1980s.

Pac-Man is the highest-grossing video of all time. According to the Davie-Brown Index, it has the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers and is recognized by 94 percent of them.

Up until a year ago, when I heard comments about Super-PACs, the thought of that entertaining little yellow gobbling face made me smile. Now that iconic image has been perverted into a political Pac-Man with unlimited support from special interests.

This is the year of the Super-PAC. Randy Cable of South Carolina's conservative talk radio station WORD put it in context during a recent interview. “They're (Super-PACs) a game changer,” he said.

I couldn't agree more. This is the first presidential race to feel the influence of Super-PACS, political action committees that can receive unlimited money from individuals, corporations and unions. Think about that.

Thanks to our Supreme Corporate Court, some of the emerging Super-PACS are nothing more than powerful outside organizations devoted to electing a president of their choice.

It's early in the race, but Super-PACs are clearly outspending candidate committees two to one. That means they control the air time and limit their opponents' opportunity to reply to the lies and false information they spew. It makes for an uneven fight from the start.

“These Super-PACs don't have reputations to protect, so I think there is a tendency for them to get nastier in the ads that they run, and they don't have the same restraints operating on them as candidate committees do,” said Ellen Weintraub, member of the Federal Election Commission in a recent interview.

Every presidential candidate has a Super-PAC supporting his campaign this year. The Super-PACs are supposed to operate independently of the candidates, meaning they can't communicate directly with the politicians and their campaign staff.

Actually, the Super-PACs are run by people who know what the candidates think. Many of them are former staffers and advisers to the presidential candidates.

For example, a Democratic Super-PAC founded by two former aides to President Obama, “Priorities USA,” is busy running an ad campaign trashing Mitt Romney, who is beginning to look like the GOP's pick for the presidency.

Another good example is Romney's campaign, supported by the Super-PAC called “Restore Our Future.” Carl Forti, a former political director for Romney, helped launch “Restore Our Future.” He said the PAC will have raised between $300 million and $350 million by the end of January.

Newt Gingrich is supported by the Super-PAC “Winning Our Future,” which is heavily funded (a reported $10 million) by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

“I don't think it's buying a presidency any more than it was when Joe Kennedy helped his son,” Sig Rogich, a veteran Republican operative who serves as Adelson's government affairs consultant, said in an interview about the massive donations that the casino mogul has made to Gingrich's Super-PAC.

The Citizens United Supreme Court decision in 2010 allowed these unique political action committees (Super-PACs) to form. In the case of Citizens United against the Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Corporate Court ultimately ruled that the government could not limit political spending by corporations. Big surprise there, huh? Don't expect your vote to count for much this election.

Let's get real. We face enough challenges with other forms of election fraud. Letting the Super-PACs gobble up our remaining chances for a fair election is the last straw. What chance do common Americans have when candidates openly try to purchase the presidency with the blessing of the highest court in our land?

It's really sad to think about the entertaining little yellow ball with the big mouth that use to make many people happy and is now being associated with corporate greed and voter fraud.

As It Stands, the other day I saw a cartoon of Pac-Man gulping down wads of cash and couldn't help thinking the artist should have added our Bill of Rights!

The World Wide Web: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly…

             Good day Humboldt County!

Let’s take a walk down the road that leads to the “Garden of Eden” of knowledge. Also known as the Internet. The web is a double-edged sword that offers the world’s biggest library, and also offers hackers access to other’s private correspondence:

“Saboteurs stole passwords and sensitive information on tipsters while hacking into the websites of several law enforcement agencies worldwide in attacks attributed to the collective known as Anonymous. Breaches were reported this week in Boston, Syracuse, N.Y., Salt Lake City and Greece.” (article source)

Hacker’s with multiple agenda’s, good and bad, attack government and private web sites because they can. Some view hackers as terrorists. Others as the voices of the people. I think you have to look at each incident in detail to determine who was taking the high road on each story.

For better, or worse, the internet has given most Americans a voice – a collective voice that can’t be ignored at times. For example take this story:

Despite about-face, Komen funding conflict far from over – people across America responded immediately when the Susan G. Komen Foundation cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.

Then there’s stories like this that are slightly unsettling: 

Related story: Hackers: We intercepted FBI, Scotland Yard call – hackers attack cops in retaliation for evicting Occupy Wall Streeter’s.

Sometimes I’m thrilled at what I see, like when Americans nationwide rallied against the proposed censorship of the internet. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a United States bill introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. It failed miserably because of the tremendous backlash from blogs, other websites, and social medias like FaceBook and Twitter.

I confess to duel feelings when it comes to the good and the bad aspects of the internet. Perhaps the biggest saving grace to me is the fact it provides ALL AMERICANS with a voice, unlike our news media corporations. I just have to remember that nothing is perfect. When the first bite of the internet apple was taken in the Garden of Eden/Technology all mankind was affected. There’s no turning back. With the knowledge comes power. Given that power, some people tend to abuse it.

It’s the way of the world.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

There’s a fungus among us that eats plastic…

Good news for the environment. A safe way to dispose of used plastic products has been announced, and we can thank Mother Earth:

“Scientists have not found a single way to break down polyurethane--luckily, nature has found a way on its own. Yale scientists recently found a fungus in the Amazonian rainforest that naturally eats polyurethane.

This is the first fungus species, identified by the Yale researchers as Pestalotiopsis microspore, which exclusively subsists on polyurethane. It can also grow in an anaerobic (air-less) environment, which will hopefully allow it to take root in the deepest regions of our trash heaps. Jonathan Russell, a Yale scientists of the group, has managed to isolated an enzyme the fungus uses decompose plastic. The scientists hope to use the extracted chemical to eliminate plastic trash and to help in bioremediation projects.” (article source)

 

Students discover fungus that loves to eat plastic

“Students from Yale discovered a new type of fungus, called Pestalotiopsis microspora, while on a Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory trip to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. While there, the students were tasked with collecting microorganism and plant cell samples, and the fungus became one such sample.

When the students returned, it was discovered this fungus loves eating plastic, more specifically polyurethane, which we use millions of tons of every year. Popular uses include foam for inside furniture, building insulation and flooring, as a sealant, varnish, or paint, for making surfboards and inflatable boats, and it even gets used to make watch straps and garden hoses.” (article source)

2-feet of Snow: Major snowstorm pummels Colorado, closing roads

Wow! Two feet of snow in Denver!

Seriously, snow has come to the high plains and it actually looks like winter now….

“A powerful storm walloped eastern Colorado and western Nebraska with the region's first heavy snow of the new year on Friday, closing schools, disrupting hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport and creating blizzard conditions on the High Plains.

A foot of snow piled up in the Denver metropolitan area, with up to 2 feet reported in the foothills west of the city, said Frank Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.”

Website helps raise financial support for ailing loved ones

You never know. This website may make a difference for you or a loved one some day.

       Good Day Humboldt County!

One of biggest financial challenges facing most Americans today is health care costs. They can ruin a family and put them on the streets in nothing flat.

The road to health care recovery in America is riddled with financial landmines and politics that threaten to make things even worse.

I was noodling around on the net and found this website – giveforward.com - and thought it was worth sharing with you. I’m not endorsing the website. I’m merely suggesting it might be worth looking into. According to the website:

“GiveForward pages empower friends and family to send love and financial support to patients as they navigate a medical crisis. Start a GiveForward page today and ease the burden of your loved one's out-of-pocket medical expenses.”

If, by chance, you do use the services provided, would you let me know how it turns out? Thanks

Time to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

 

Fact: In over half of the USA you can be fired for being gay

In 29 states including Virginia, it is still legal to fire someone for being gay, and in 34 states it is legal to fire someone solely for being transgender.

Related Reading:
VA Lawmakers Consider Gay Adoption Issue
V.A. Board Defies Cuccinelli, Votes for Nondiscrimination
Virginia Board of Social Services Rejects Gay-Inclusive Adoption Rules

Read more: employment non discrimination act, lgbt ENDA, lgbt USA, lgbt virginia, lgbt workplace discrimination

Back Talk: Teen Lives in a world of words in reverse

Try doing what Alyssa does in her head. I bet you can’t unless you write the word down. If you can, then you’d better get on You Tube. People like this stuff.

I just love unique people. Here’s one who stands out from the crowd with her word flip-flopping skills.

Alyssa Kramer can say any word backward.

The 14-year-old from Poteau, Okla., can flip words around and spit them back out almost instantly.

Over 1 million You Tube viewers liked this video. I enjoyed it, despite being baffled how she does it. If you’d like to read more about her go here.