Saturday, April 28, 2012

Save The Animals Poster by World Wildlife Fund has hidden animals

World Wildlife Fund (or just WWF in short) is an organization  which protects endangered wildlife and environments, tackles climate change and promotes sustainable use of resources. But what WWF also does, it creates one hell of a memorable billboard campaigns. To raise awareness around their cause, they need their message to stand out and differentiate itself from the rest. And what could be better to promote this worthy cause than using a poster with built in game, one that traps you into the world of rainforest wildlife? Not only have I learned one interesting fact today – that rainforests only cover 7% of our planet but harbor more than 50% of the world’s species – I’ve also learned there is pile of hidden animals present in this poster below. See how many hidden animals you can find. Let the games begin!

Man In Cow Suit Steals 26 Gallons Of Milk From Walmart

Call him the Hamburglar for the dairy crowd. An 18-year-old Virginia man was arrested earlier this week after somehow managing to slip past the Walmart greeters and loss-prevention staff with 26 gallons of milk... all while crawling around in a cow suit.

"This is probably one of the most unique efforts of shoplifting I've seen," a spokesman for the Stafford County Sheriff told InsideNova.com. "It might've been a prank that went wrong, but it isn't as funny when [the suspect] breaks the law."

While no one in the store did anything to stop the cow-suited culprit when he was strolling around the Walmart on all fours, he was spotted near the store handing out the stolen moo juice to passersby.

The belligerent bovine was later spotted "skipping down the sidewalk" in the cow suit by Walmart staffers.

He was later apprehended, out of his costume, at a nearby McDonald's (perhaps he is in cahoots with the Hamburglar?). Police found the cow garb in the suspect's car but just to make sure it wasn't the world's biggest coincidence, they took the teen back to Walmart where he was identified as the suspect.

The greatest crime here is that there is no surveillance footage of the theft. (source)

I don’t mess around when it comes to a good hamburger…but some people do

xxxxk ki

             Good Day Humboldt County!

Talk about traveling new roads and experiencing things…

Back in the late sixties, a friend and I traveled across Canada and America – for a lot of reasons – but one of our goals was to find the best hamburger in either country.

I know, I know. What a lofty goal. We sure had fun doing it, but I can’t remember what eating establishment had the best burger after all these years later.

I do recall once, while in British Columbia, we stopped at a local Mom & Pop hamburger joint and were shocked by what we thought had to be the smallest hamburger in the world! I took a photo of one nestled in my friend’s palm and it didn’t look much larger than a silver dollar.

So, it really brought back memories when I discovered the world's smallest (and cutest) combo meal – above.

It consists of a little cheeseburger with all the fixings, very small fries, and a miniscule soda. It's all real too. (Link)

Just look at what those clever Swiss people have come up with as product of the year. It's an import that is giving restaurants a run for their money according to the product’s PR department. I kind of doubt that, as I’ve yet to see this burgers in supermarkets near me. Cheeseburger In A Can (below)is touted as a tasty treat for any fan of the hearty sandwich made popular by American fast food chains or just grilled in your back yard.(Link) Hmmmmmmmm….

gggguk

How about a Caviar Burger?

I can only imagine what one (left) would cost (Link).

As far as the area I live in, the best hamburger in the county is right off of Highway 101 in Arcata, California. It’s called “Toni’s” and I’m talking about great home cooking!!!

Their Blue Cheese Burger is the bomb! BTY – I am in no way affiliated with the family-owner business (wish I was), and am not getting paid to shill for them. Toni’s has the best hamburger in Humboldt County. Does anyone think differently? Don’t be afraid to share.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Friday, April 27, 2012

CISPA gets House approval but controversial bill still has to pass in Senate

It took a debate that stretched to nearly seven hours, and votes on over a dozen amendments, but the U.S. House of Representatives finally approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act on April 26.

Passions flared on both sides before the final vote on CISPA, which cleared the House by a comfortable margin of 248 to 168. CISPA would "waive every single privacy law ever enacted in the name of cybersecurity," Rep. Jared Polis, a Colorado Democrat and onetime Web entrepreneur, said during the debate. "Allowing the military and NSA to spy on Americans on American soil goes against every principle this country was founded on."

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and author of CISPA, responded by telling his colleagues to ignore "all the things they're saying about the bill that are not true." He pleaded: "Stand for America! Support this bill!"

While CISPA initially wasn't an especially partisan bill -- it cleared the House Intelligence Committee by a vote of 17 to 1 last December -- it gradually moved in that direction. The final tally was 206 Republicans voting for it, and 28 opposed. Of the Democrats, 42 voted for CISPA and 140 were opposed. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said afterward on Twitter that CISPA "didn't strike the right balance" and Republicans "didn't allow amendments to strengthen privacy protections."

                                                            What happens next?
CISPA heads to the the Senate, where related cybersecurity legislation has been stalled for years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, however, has said he'd like to move forward with cybersecurity legislation in May. Its outlook is uncertain.

                            What does CISPA do? Let the National Security Agency spy on Americans?
CISPA wouldn't formally grant the NSA or Homeland Security any additional surveillance authority. (A proposed amendment that would have done so was withdrawn on April 26.)

But it would usher in a new era of information sharing between companies and government agencies -- with limited oversight and privacy safeguards. The House Rules committee on April 25 rejected a series of modestly pro-privacy amendments, which led a coalition of civil-liberties groups to complain that "amendments that are imperative won't even be considered" in a letter the following day.

                                                         Is CISPA worse than SOPA?
For all its flaws, SOPA targeted primarily overseas Web sites, not domestic ones. It would have allowed the U.S. attorney general to seek a court order against the targeted offshore Web site that would, in turn, be served on Internet providers in an effort to make the target virtually disappear.

It was kind of an Internet death penalty targeting Web sites like ThePirateBay.org, not sites like YouTube.com, which are already subject to U.S. law.

CISPA, by contrast, would allow Americans' personal information to be vacuumed up by government agencies for cyber security and law enforcement purposes, as long as Internet and telecommunications companies agreed. In that respect, at least, its impact is broader. (News source – full story here)

Good Samaritan’s quick thinking saves 500 dogs from food processing plant!

Dogs are rescued from their cages by volunteer activists, Kunming, China (© ChinaFotoPress/ZUMAPRESS.com)

        Good Day Humboldt County!

What’s accepted in one country may not be in another. Societies set the rules and the customs right down to what people eat. Eastern and Western cuisine are often a study in contrasts.

For example, many Asians eat dogs. Those dogs come from somewhere, and to the horror of pet owners anywhere, they’re often stolen!

In Vietnam today, dog snatching is a real problem. In what has to be one of the cruelest things I’ve ever heard of when it comes to preparing food, is the way the Vietnamese do it…they beat the dog mercilessly – trying to instill fear into the meat to enhance the taste(!) before slaughtering them for a customer.

I can’t imagine eating dogs, but then I’m a Westerner and Fido is not part of my culinary history. (If it is, please don’t tell me about it!)

                                                             At least these dogs have a future:

“Volunteers in China are struggling to nurse some 500 dogs back to health after they were reportedly rescued from landing on the dining room table. A Good Samaritan spotted a truck stacked with cages containing hundreds of dogs, many of which were obviously stolen pets still wearing their collars, leashes and even clothing. The concerned driver posted a note on Weibo (China's answer to Twitter) and, amazingly, hundreds of animal lovers responded and gathered at a toll booth to block the road.

The truck was headed for - gulp! -- a food processing plant. An anonymous donor has raised about $10,000 to rescue the dogs, which are now housed in a temporary shelter.” (News source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, April 26, 2012

July 9 could be 'Internet Doomsday' for some (so check your PC or Mac)

DNS

July 9 might be "Internet doomsday" for PC and Mac users who haven't taken steps to make sure their systems are not infected with what's being called DNSChanger malware.

That's right: Your Internet connection may not work that day because the safety net now in place from the FBI against the malware will be removed then, and if your computer is infected, you won't be able to get to the Internet.

Let's back up a minute to give you some quick background. Last fall, the FBI arrested six Estonian nationals who were charged with using malware and rogue DNS servers to hijack millions of computers worldwide.

At that time, Trend Micro's Feike Hacquebord called it the "biggest cybercriminal takedown in history." The company was one of several that worked with the FBI on the takedown, and described the scheme: 

A variety of methods of monetizing the DNSChanger botnet [are] being used by criminals, including replacing advertisements on websites that are loaded by victims, hijacking of search results and pushing additional malware.

Because the malware is so nasty — it's strong enough to wipe out a computer's anti-virus software — the FBI set up a safety net using government computers to prevent any Internet disruptions for users whose computers may be infected.

That safety net was set to go away in February, but the date has been extended to July 9 because the agency is concerned that not enough users are aware of the problem.

Says the FBI:

To assist victims affected by the DNSChanger malicious software, the FBI obtained a court order authorizing the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) to deploy and maintain temporary clean DNS servers. This solution is temporary, providing additional time for victims to clean affected computers and restore their normal DNS settings. The clean DNS servers will be turned off on July 9, 2012, and computers still impacted by DNSChanger may lose Internet connectivity at that time.

So, what do you need to do? Make sure your computer is clean. You can do that first, by visiting this FBI-backed website, DNS-OK, which will tell you whether your computer is infected with DNSChanger malware.

The FBI says that if you see green, that's good. Red means you're infected. Still, the bureau notes, some systems that appear to be clean may appear that way because of their service provider: "If your ISP is redirecting DNS traffic for its customers, you would have reached this site even though you are infected."

So the next step, definitely if you're "red," but even a good idea if you're "green," is to go to this site, run by the DNS Changer Working Group. The DNS Changer Working Group will detect whether your computer has been "violated," and if so,  will point you to the right fix for your computer.

The sooner you do this, the better. You don't want to wait until July 9 to chance an "Internet doomsday" happening.                                              (news source)

What’s with taking 6-year-olds to jail when they get rowdy lately? Two cases come to mind…

  Good Day Humboldt County!

This is what’s come of our education system; two recent cases of 6-year olds (one a boy, the other a girl) who were handcuffed by police and arrested for misconduct at school.

That tells me things are pretty much out of control in the schools when it comes to correct responses to children who act up.

Handcuffing and arresting them? Really? What’s next? Chain gangs for junior high students who misbehave? Where has common sense gone? I shudder to think how many times I would have gone to the pokey for acting up while in grade school! Of course, teachers and principals were in charge back then.

Now they’re so afraid of parents suing their asses off for the slightest infringement of that kid’s rights, they have to call in armed officers to restore order. The bottom line is, some educators are overreacting, instead of dealing with these rowdy children.

See what you think:

“Police in a small Indiana town hauled a six-year-old from his elementary school and charged him with battery and intimidation after he kicked and threatened a principal, police said on Wednesday.

The incident followed one earlier in April where police handcuffed a 6-year-old girl who was screaming and crying and had injured a principal and damaged property at an elementary school in Milledgeville, Georgia. She was not charged.

The Indiana student, who had been suspended from school recently for biting and hitting a staff member, was arrested April 18 at Hendricks Elementary School in Shelbyville, which is about 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

"This was not an isolated incident," Shelbyville Police Lieutenant Michael Turner said.

School officials called police, reporting that the student, who was not identified, had kicked Principal Patrick Lumbley and told him and Assistant Principal Jessica Poe that he was going to kill them, a Shelbyville police report said.

The student was yelling and screaming and lying on the floor of Poe's office when police arrived, the report said.” (source)

You know, acting like a 6-year old throwing a tantrum.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

An Outdoor Illusion: That Caterpillar Keeps Chirping…

Just look at that cute, fuzzy little caterpillar.

It has such vibrant colors and those spines seem so unintimidating that they’re mere existence is actually kind of adorable.

But, wait a minute…  An ordinary picture of a caterpillar (no matter how cute it is), would just be weird here. Fortunately, this’s not a little baby butterfly, it’s actually a group of European Bee-eaters cuddling together on a small tree branch. The birds do look so much like a caterpillar though, that photographer José Luis Rodríguez named the image Oruga de Plumas, or “caterpillar of feathers.” Source

Backlash Against Bullies: Public Awareness Grows With Each Case

This video shocked me as I never considered the possibility of this happening in today’s school systems.

Bullies come in all shapes and sizes. The thing they all have in common is a desire to dominate others for their pleasure. Bullies are cowards, no matter how big they are. This video is the most recent example of bullies at work in the school system. But with a twist. The bullies are the teachers!

I received a very touching e-mail this morning from a reader:

“Thank you for your wonderful article on bullying. I have a response that I would love to get into the paper. Is there a possibility that this could be published in the Times Standard and how can I go about doing this?

Thank you,  The article is attached.”

Debra Patton-Hagan

           I told Debra how to get the following article printed in the T-S. Here it is:

After reading Dave Stancliff’s editorial in the Times Standard April 15th I felt compelled to write on the effects of bullying on entire families. Growing up I was taught that to say “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me” is basically all that was needed to protect myself from the school yard bullies. That saying is furthest from the truth. Words stick like a stake to the heart. In families physical abuse may not be present but words can have a more lasting effect. These words, verbal transactions between parents or parent to child, then are passed down to the child’s peers.

Stancliff discussed a recent suicide of a Corpus Christi, Texas high School freshman, Teddy Molina, part Korean and part Hispanic who was bullied to death. Where do these children learn this from?  Parents, teachers, media are all part of it.

Schools need to take more action in ways of in-service education for their teachers, counselors, and parents on the warning signs of bullying and depression.  Some signs of bullying may not be as obvious as transactions in hallways or play grounds. Some signs may be in emails or social networking. Others may be in the writings or art work that a student turns in as part as an English journal or art assignment.

I found my son’s English journal after the funeral. Aaron received an “A+ Excellent and Very Creative!” as a grade. Nothing was ever pointed out or discussed about the topic. Reading the poems tears streamed down my face. How could they not see the pain he was enduring and why was no one called? Parents and teachers need to work together to combat bullying and help prevent suicide of these sensitive children. Now 12 years later our family still mourns on April 26th and everyday for all the Aaron’s.

I AM

I am all alone and crave the answers,

I wonder why everyone leaves me,

I hear the lone crickets at night,

I want to be loved by a young maiden,

I am alone and crave the answers.

I pretend it doesn’t bother me at all,

I feel like breaking down inside,

I touch the hearts of so many individuals,

I worry about the lives of others,

I cry when they laugh at me,

I am alone and crave the answers.

I understand outer beauty counts,

I say the inner is more important,

I dream everyone will set aside their bias attitude,

I try to explain my feelings to people,

I hope the world will change but until then,

I am alone and crave the answers.

-Aaron Hagan-

June 17, 1982 – April 26, 2000

Giant Sailboats on the Horizon? ‘Wind Challenger’ Could Reduce Fuel Consumption…or Not

Sails

   Good Day Humboldt County!

 Proof there’s nothing new under the sun comes from some Japanese ship builders who’ve turned the clock back on sailing.

One twist; metal sails. It’s all about saving money on shipping costs in a future where fuel will surely be more expensive.

I like the idea of looking down the road at ways to save fuel and using alternative energies (wind power).

That said, I wouldn’t want to be The Wind Challenger’s maiden voyage (after testing the prototype) because those metal sails don’t seem right to me! I can just see it, the modern day Titanic but it doesn’t sink…it flies into a deadly headwind!!! I’ll try to be serious for a moment while I share this story:

“Modern cargo vessels burn millions of gallons of low-grade fuel to get where they're going, but it wasn't so very long ago that their predecessors plied the waves with nothing but the wind in their sails. The Wind Challenger project hopes to combine the two by equipping ships with enormous metal sails. They claim that fuel consumption could be reduced by as much as 30 percent.

Shipping by sea is slow work, but the immense capacity of the ships makes them cost-efficient. But it also means that a large amount of force is necessary to propel them -- much more than was needed for the galleons and clippers of the 19th century. And even the toughest sailcloth would stretch and tear at the size necessary to move something of their bulk.

But engineers at the University of Tokyo believe that they have created a sail system that can handle the forces involved and make shipping more efficient. The enormous aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastic "sails" would be 164 feet tall, 50 feet wide, and able to retract downwards when not needed. A ship would have several along its length, each independently configurable to maximize thrust from the wind.

Don't expect to see these giant sailboats any time soon, though. They're still highly theoretical, and even if all goes well, it would be 2016 before they can begin trials at sea in a reduced-size prototype. And while the estimated cost (around $2.5 million per sail) would eventually be paid for by the fuel savings, the whole thing may strike the shipping industry as a bit too whimsical.” -  Devin Coldewey

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

New Book: ‘The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz – The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen’ by Paul Schilperoord

“The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz” tells the astonishing story of Josef Ganz, a Jewish engineer from Frankfurt, who in May 1931 created a revolutionary small car: the Maikäfer (German for May Bug). Seven years later Hitler introduced the Volkswagen. The Nazis not only “took” the concept of Ganz’s family car—their production model even ended up bearing the same nickname. In this biography, which reads like a thriller, Schilperoord tells how Ganz was arrested by the Gestapo, then fled Germany, and was hunted by the Nazis beyond Germany’s borders, narrowly escaping assassination.

(Right)  The 1931 Model Volkswagon

Go here to read more and see more photos.

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...