'Swastika on the ballot': American Nazi Party gets its first lobbyist

It seems that our prolonged recession has brought out hate groups in droves. Racism is on the rise, and intolerance is the word for the day.

These hate groups are getting bolder every year, and their message of intolerance is spreading like wildfire. When we have hate mongers like the American Nazi Party lobbying on capitol hill, you have to wonder where it will all end?

“The American Nazi Party has its first lobbyist in Washington, according to reports.

The Hill newspaper, which covers Congress when it is in session, said John Bowles had registered with House and Senate offices as a representative of the “ANP,” according to disclosure records.

The records said that he planned to lobby on “political rights and ballot access laws,” and other issues such as civil rights, healthcare and immigration.

“You know, congressmen and congresswomen have always been telling the American public that they were open to other viewpoints,” Bowles told The Hill. “I’m going to see if they were sincere about that, or I’m going to call their bluff.”

Bowles was a presidential candidate in 2008 for the National Socialist Movement, according to US News and World Report. Nazi comes from the German words for National Socialist.

He told The Hill that people in America did not understand the term socialism, but knew what Nazism was.

“So [we] decided: Why don’t we just say what we are?” he added. “In the future, when we get people on the ballot, when people see the swastika on the ballot, they’ll know what they’re getting."

There’s Two America’s…the wealthy live in one, and the rest of us in the other

Good Day Humboldt County!

Today we’re looking at two roads traveled by Americans.

One is paved with privileges, while the other is riddled with pot holes.

When you’re rich in America you can steal millions and get less time in jail than a homeless man for stealing $100 for food.

The wealthy have the resources to live lives of luxury most Americans can only dream about. With those charmed lives comes a sense of entitlement.

It’s sad to say, but the wealthy rule by default. Everyone else is too busy trying to stay alive in a depressed economy.

With their wealth, these leaders of industry and government, are immune to other’s real life plights.

The rich spew ideology in order to further control the masses. They talk about the Constitution a lot, while violating most of it’s real tenets and reducing it to a partisan interpretation. The majority of Americans live somewhere between poverty and an uneasy middle class. Yet, we call our system a democracy and accuse other nations of having caste systems and limited forms of government ruled by strongmen, and dictators. Kinda makes you wonder doesn’t it?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Do you like simple illusions? Here’s one that’s fun…

 

Can You Pick Out the Tallest Soldier?

Be careful…

Did You Find Him? Hmmmm...

if you did there’s something you should know…

They are all the same height

Source

It’s Friday the 13th…are you ready to do a bit of exploring?

     Good Day Humboldt County!

I’ve got six paths for you to travel on today. Some are strange, some are violent, some are sad, some are silly. Each a road to somewhere you haven’t been to before. Time to explore:

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky – have you ever wondered why this day got such a bad rap?

Three Friday the 13ths, 13 weeks apart, a rarity - It's a bad year for people who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia — the fear of Friday the 13th.

• Gun Sales Booming: Doomsday, Obama or Zombies? – Buyers in record numbers are flooding into gun stores, retailers say. Ammo, too, is flying off the shelves.
• Gravy-wrestling model hit in the face with monkey wrench after finding friend having sex on her sofa – A model who became a champion gravy wrestler suffered serious eye damage after being hit in the face with a monkey wrench.
• Homelessness Becomes A Crime In Hungary – Hungary's new anti-vagrancy laws — the toughest in Europe — now mean that homeless people sleeping on the street can face police fines or even the possibility of jail time.
• Man builds World’s tallest tree house – THE world's tallest tree house towers into the sky on a heavenly mission that puts most childhood hideaways to shame.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Space Scotch? Distillery sends malt ingredients into space

I’m a Scotch drinker. Whenever I decide to have something stronger than wine or beer, I reach for (at least) a 20 year-old single malt Scotch whiskey. Pure bliss. As smooth as silk. A hint of peat. Nectar of the Gods.

So when I heard about a possible space matured Scotch whiskey, my thoughts went otherworldly. I imagined a drink even smoother (while still keeping it’s smoky taste) than a 40 year-old single malt Scotch. Oh heavens! Just think of the possibility, and if you’re a Scotch drinker like me, dream that someday you’ll sip a “wee drop.” 

“Ardbeg Distillery, headquartered on the Scottish island of Islay, announced this week that it sent up vials containing unmatured malt ingredients as well as particles of charred oak to the space station, on an unmanned cargo flight that blasted off from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last October. The experiment was facilitated by Houston-based NanoRacks, a company that arranges to send experiments (and the occasional iPhone) to the station for a fee.

Ardbeg's researchers want to find out whether the zero-G environment has an effect on terpenes, chemicals that play a role in giving whisky and other spirits their flavor and aroma. "This is believed to be the first time anyone has ever studied terpenes and other molecules in near zero-gravity," the distillery said in a statement.” (source)

Love is about dealing with your partner’s annoying habits and quirks

                Good Day Humboldt County!

Every now and then, someone asks how my wife and I have managed to live together for 37 years without driving each other nuts. Nuts is such a subjective term. There are ways to make your life journey with your partner go smoother.

I wish I could just write out a laundry list of survival tactics ways to get along, but it isn’t that easily explained. It’s been a gradual process, as you may have surmised. The fact that we’re still friends is key. There are experts who offer tips for making life easier for cohabitants. For instance:

“We all have annoying habits, which, curiously, we don’t find annoying in ourselves. But when they come from someone living with you, such habits can definitely get on your nerves. The trouble begins when you enter a vicious cycle of resentment -- when you're fed up with your partner's irritating habits, or you're tired of getting picked on for your own.

Nagging, disdain and contempt can all end relationships. That annoying habit may appear to be the source, but it’s not the habit that is the problem; it’s how you deal with it.” (source)

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Do you want to know some ways to exist peacefully with your partner? For example, does your partner have some body quirks?

“Body quirks includes non-clandestine nose picking, passing gas, burping, picking teeth and anytime when one releases things from orifices that no one else wants to smell, witness or be around. Of course everyone must do so at times, but how about in the bathroom or other private place? Explain to your partner you are inclined to feel more sexually attracted to them when not subjected to foul odors and the like. If you did this in front of him (it usually is the guy, sorry) he would not really like it or find it sexually alluring. Request he do it in private.” (source)

I can’t vouch for any of this, but some of it touches a cord now and then. Here’s another good example:

“Selective listening: You are trying to talk and he or she is tuned out, staring at the TV, computer or phone. Agree upon a benign code word (like "banana") for when you really would like full attention. It lets your partner know that paying attention now is important to you, which avoids the mystery of when to be fully attentive.” (source)

Here’s a real fight-starter – bad manners. It seems like us guys have a chronic problem that women have to learn to live with – we’re slobs at heart!

“Bad manners: Scratching his back with a fork, leaving the toilet seat up, rearranging private parts in public -- things that never happened early on in the relationship are now a daily affair that makes you feel like you married a Neanderthal. But for him (or her!), being able to relax and not feel like he married Emily Post is important. The solution lies somewhere in the middle, a relaxed state of getting to be yourself, with a dose of courtesy for your partner. Have a conversation about what constitutes reasonable manners to both of you. You may have different standards because you grew up in different homes. The things that are most egregious to the other are things you should step away and do in private. The “note reminder” technique helps for some. So a Post-It on the toilet for two weeks that says "Please put down the seat” can help to change a long-time habit.”

Well, I could go on, but I think you have the idea. People have to learn to compromise. It’s not always easily done, and we often have to break bad habits, but the end result is a serene lifestyle. Who could ask for anything more than that?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

The Rings of Saturn Will Be On Display This Weekend

Time to pull out your telescopes and binoculars folks.

On April 15, Saturn reaches opposition — the point when it is directly opposite the sun in the sky. When it reaches opposition, Saturn will appear in the midnight sky to observers on Earth. The sky maps and illustration of Saturn accompanying this guide shows where to see the planet in the southern sky on April 15 and how it may appear seen through a good telescope.

The most important thing about this for skywatchers is that Saturn moves from being a "morning object" to being visible all night. For all of April, Saturn rises at sunset, and sets at sunrise.

All the outer planets have rings, but with the exception of Saturn, they are only visible in long exposure photographs made from space. Saturn's rings are totally in your face, as bright as the planet itself. They are made up of many thousands of small pieces of rock and ice, with enough space in between for starlight to shine through. [ Photos: Spectacular Views of Saturn's Rings ]

From a distance they look substantial and solid, yet in reality they are gossamer thin: thousands of kilometers wide, yet only a few kilometers thick. Through a good telescope, the rings are seen to have a complex structure.

Here’s a list of the brightest moons and their brightness on April 15, the night of Saturn's opposition:

• Titan: 8.4
• Rhea: 9.7
• Tethys: 10.2
• Dione: 10.4
• Iapetus: 11.1
• Enceladus: 11.7

Astronomers use an upside down magnitude scale: the larger the number, the fainter the object. At magnitude 8.4, Titan is easily visible in binoculars. One of the two largest moons in the solar system, it is the only moon with a substantial atmosphere, mostly methane gas. It was visited by the Huygens lander on Jan. 14, 2005. [ Amazing Photos: Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon ]

With so many moons visible in a telescope, how do you tell which is which? The easiest way is to run a planetarium program on your computer: it will plot accurately the positions of all of Saturn’s moons as they circle the planet, neatly labeled for you.

This article (edited for length) was originally provided to Space.com by Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions.

‘Okay buddy…just put down the ray gun and step back!’

Good Day Humboldt County!

Our lives would be truly boring without science fiction stories. I can’t tell you how many roads I traveled in my imagination after watching an episode of Flash Gordon, or a Jules Verne film like 20000 Leagues Under the Sea.

And ray guns were cool. My brother and I played with cheap plastic ray guns and wore capes (towels) tied around our necks. Hey! It worked for us. We would make up things that our ray guns could do. Even with our fervid imaginations we could never have imagined ray guns would some day become part of our America’s arsenal! It’s not just us however. Our old Cold War foe Russia has the same aspirations as we do when it comes to developing some mind-numbing ray guns. Don’t just take my word for it, check out the following story: 

“The Americans as well as the Russians have been looking into psychotronic weapons for more than 15 years. You can find ample references to the subject on the Internet, including a feature published by U.S. News and World Report in 1997 and a report written for a U.S. Army publication in 1998.

Such weapons purport to take advantage of the effect that pulsed microwaves can have on brain activity. Some researchers have reported an effect known as microwave hearing, in which a directed beam of radiation produces a sensation of buzzing, clicking or hissing in the head. "This technology in its crudest form could be used to distract individuals," according to a declassified Army review of non-lethal weapons.

Theoretically, electromagnetic beams could cause an epileptic-type seizure, or involuntary eye motion leading to dizziness and nausea. Military researchers have also looked into using infrasound or laser beams to confuse or incapacitate a foe — but when you start going down this road, before you know it, you're talking about remote viewing, ESP and all the way-out concepts chronicled in "The Men Who Stare at Goats."

Full story here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

This really happened: an oblivious texter walked into a marauding bear today

Just when I was sure I’d heard every variation of stupid people walking and texting until something bad happens…this pops up!

Imagine leaving your house in the morning, checking something on your phone and then running smack into a black bear strolling down your driveway. This unlikely scenario was captured by Los Angeles CW affiliate KTLA: An unwitting, texting man, looking at his phone, suddenly spots the 500- to 600-pound bear, which, according to state wildlife officials, had been wandering around the La Crescenta neighborhood for the previous month. The bear in question also stands accused of stealing frozen meatballs out of a refrigerator and breaking into a garage. As the video makes clear, the texter escapes without injury (save panic). The bear, meanwhile, was "contained" in a nearby backyard after this incident. (Source)

Doomsday Plans for the Wealthy and Hardcore Survivalists

     Good Day Humboldt County!

A lot of people believe we (the human race) are in the path of an upcoming cataclysmic event – possible this year. The Mayan Calendar story seems to have captured the interest of millions because there are numerous documentaries on the subject.

The general mood of impending doom reminds me of the sixties when a lot of middle class Americans were preparing for war with Russia and family bunkers were being sold in kits. I remember people flocking to supermarkets to buy up canned foods during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It always seemed like there would be hope for the majority of Americans if something bad happened. Like we were all in it together.

In some ways things have changed in the 21st Century. We’re still worried about an impending nuclear war, and are looking at going underground to survive. The big difference: the options for survival are for the elite who can afford to spend millions to survive a nuclear holocaust, a complete breakdown of society, or to be sheltered from deadly solar flares.

The middle class has been cast to the curb when it comes to who survives and who doesn’t. The politicians and the wealthy are busy building more secure areas for themselves underground every day. In our new national reality, there is no “we” when it comes to the common people sharing the same fate as the elite or hard core survivalists that have dedicated their lives to an apocalyptic vision. 

                          Here’s an interesting story that illustrates what’s happening today:  

“If you happen to be both a survivalist and a millionaire, have we got a find for you: luxury condos that are being built in Kansas … inside abandoned missile silos. The $1 million to $2 million condos feature top-end appliances, walk-in closets, high ceilings, and your other basic necessities like a barbed-wire-topped fence that can stun would-be intruders, an elevator that will only open to the correct fingerprints, nine-foot-thick concrete walls, and electronic windows featuring "views" of Paris or the beach.

Developer Larry Hall—who owns one of the condos himself—already has four buyers, who "worry about events ranging from solar flares, to economic collapse, to pandemics to terrorism to food shortages," he explains to the AFP. But the condos aren't just good in a doomsday scenario: Hall plans to use his as a vacation home until disaster strikes, and the silo will ultimately include a pool, a movie theater, a library, and a farm. Click for more on the very elaborate plans.”        (Newser)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

There’s more than meets the eye in the Machu Picchu Illusion

Can you see the face in this picture?

If you like this kind of art where things are hidden in photos I suggest you take a tour of Mighty Optical Illusions.

I’m always searching for more examples and if you know of some, please share!

If nothing else it’s a good reason to stare!