Friday, November 21, 2014

Hiding in plain sight: Court rejects WikiLeak founder Assange’s appeal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks during a news conference at the Ecuadorian embassy in central LondonGood Day World! 

After two years wikiLeak founder, Julian Assange, still lives in the Ecuadorian embassy in central London.

The 43-year-old Australian has been stuck there since June 2012 to avoid a British extradition to Sweden, which wants to question him on allegations of sexual assault and rape.

(Photo -Julian Assange (R) speaks as Ecuador's Foreign Affairs Minister Ricardo Patino listens, during a news conference on August 18, 2014. REUTERS/John Stillwell/pool)

A Swedish court rejected on Thursday an appeal by Assange to revoke a detention order issued over allegations of sexual assault.

"There is no reason to set aside the detention solely because Julian Assange is in an embassy and the detention order cannot be enforced at present for that reason," the Svea Court of Appeal said in a statement.

Assange denies the allegations and says he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could be put on trial for one of the largest classified information leaks in U.S. history.

How this standoff will turn out is anyone’s guess.

The only question I have is, “After two years, does Assange speak Ecuadorian?”

Seems like a good language to learn if he’s going to live in that embassy the rest of his life to avoid being tried for rape.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Will the ‘Mirai’ usher in a hydrogen-based society in the US?

Mirai, fuel cell vehicle, Toyota, Toyota Mirai, Toyota fuel cell vehicle, hydrogen vehicle, hydrogen car, hydrogen fuel cell, toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, sustainable transportation, green transportation, green car, eco vehicle, 2015 Toyota Mirai

Good Day World!

Electric cars have become commonplace.

Now, there’s a new technology on the block that’s arrived like a fresh breath of air. 

Toyota’s new fuel cell vehicle – Mirai - was unveiled on Nov.17th. The new technology includes the vehicle’s fuel cell stack, its converter, and its hydrogen storage tanks.

The Toyota Mirai can travel 300 miles on a single tank of compressed hydrogen, it has 153 horsepower with 247 lb-ft of torque, and it can go from 0-60 mph in 9 seconds. The hydrogen car will be available in California in the fall of 2015 for under $45,000 after incentives. It’s coming to the East Cost shortly thereafter.

But the automaker is promising much more than a sleekly styled zero emission vehicle; Mirai translates to “the future” in Japanese, and Toyota’s goal is to pave the way to a hydrogen-based society.

Mirai, fuel cell vehicle, Toyota, Toyota Mirai, Toyota fuel cell vehicle, hydrogen vehicle, hydrogen car, hydrogen fuel cell, toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, sustainable transportation, green transportation, green car, eco vehicle, 2015 Toyota Mirai

Why Hydrogen?

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and there are many ways to produce it – including natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal, and bio-waste.

While there’s obvious reservations about the use of natural gas, the technology does provide an effective means of storing excess solar and wind energy through electrolysis, which uses an electric current to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas.

For transportation purposes, hydrogen tanks can store more energy in less space than batteries, and it only takes 5 minutes to fill a hydrogen tank at fueling station – compared to the hours it takes to charge many electric vehicles.

As long as the source of the hydrogen is clean, hydrogen vehicles are 100% zero emission – their only byproducts are water and heat.

Toyota decided to make its first commercially available hydrogen vehicle a sedan for two reasons. First, they saw the challenge of packing a fuel cell system into a relatively compact vehicle as an opportunity – this forced them to work within constraints and develop a system that works on a small scale (but that can be scaled up to power utility vehicles, buses, and even airplanes).

Second, they know that in order for the vehicle to start a revolution it had to be accessible and appealing to the mass market, and sedans are the largest segment of vehicles on the streets today. (Source)

The Mirai has been 20 years in the making.

Will it’s new technology become as common as electric cars some day? Time will tell. Meanwhile good luck finding a filling station.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Juggalo followers threatening Portland businesses

635519238261013990-juggalo-note

What the heck is a Juggalo, you ask?

In a July FBI report Juggalos were classified as a "loosely organized hybrid gang."

The report said those who identify as Juggalos have committed assaults and vandalism, and a "small number" of them have engaged in more serious crimes.

In the past two weeks, about a dozen businesses in North Portland have received the same threatening note — featuring the black-and-white mask of the Juggalo fans — telling them to leave the neighborhood.

Employees arriving to work at restaurants and shops on November 6 found the black-and-white postAP_Insane_Clown_Posse_Gangers taped to their front windows, reading, "You have been targeted by the Juggalo Family to get...out."

(Insane Clown Posse members Joseph Bruce, aka Violent J, left, and Joseph Utsler, aka Shaggy 2 Dope, are seen after a news conference in Detroit on Jan. 8, 2014.(Photo: Carlos Osorio, AP)

Juggalos are followers of hardcore hip-hop groups such as the Insane Clown Posse, a duo popular in the 1990s that raps about horror scenarios and other violence.

Juggalos insist worshiping the band is simply a lifestyle, but the federal government has labeled them a criminal gang.

Last year, two Corvallis men affiliated with the group made national headlines when they were arrested for beating up strangers.

‘Mr. Perry’ Won’t be Going to Washington

Good Day World!

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s plans for a 2016 presidential bid aren’t looking good.

He’s going to court on charges of abuse of official power and coercion of a public servant. A Texas judge refused to quash two criminal felony indictments for abuse of power, ruling that the potentially embarrassing case should proceed.

An Austin grand jury indicted Perry in August on charges of abuse of official power and coercion of a public servant. He's accused of publicly threatening, then carrying out, a veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors after the unit's Democratic district attorney refused to resign following a drunken driving conviction.

Call me silly, but I can’t see how this is going to help “Mr. Perry” as special prosecutor, Michael McCrum, calls him.

I don’t see Republicans rallying around Perry. That’s surely not a good sign. What scant support he did have slipped out of the room when it was apparent a trial was going forward.

Perry might as well have a Scarlett A sewn on to his cowboy hat and jacket – for ABUSE of POWER, because his fellow Republicans surely don’t want to be tainted with that accusation.

Regardless of the outcome of this trial, I don’t see Mr. Perry going to Washington!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

A Clear Look at the Controversial Keystone XL Pipeline Project

Good Day World!

It helps to have a good overview of things.

In an age of sound bytes it’s not always easy to understand the entirety of an issue. Regardless of the subject – from immigration to constitutional rights – we often only hear one side of a story.

Sometimes we hear both sides of a story, but the bias on each side still obscures the truth.

Let’s take the Keystone XL Pipeline project as an example:

First and foremost; this controversial project is providing Canada with the ability to pump their oil, send it through our land, down to the Gulf, where it will be sold everywhere else.

Now a look – from every angle – at the proposed project that was approved in the GOP controlled House. The lame duck Senate rejected the pipeline bid today, however.

I suspect it’ll be back though.

There’s misinformation about the project coming from at least three different interest groups.

The first interest group is a profit-driven energy industry that sometimes seems incapable of telling the truth and regularly subverts representative democracy via legalized political bribery.

The ridiculous job creation and national security claims emanating from energy trade groups, like the American Petroleum Institute and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, are meant to mTar sandsislead the public about Keystone. Not to educate.

The struggles this worthwhile project is experiencing are a perfect illustration of the downside of the energy industry's heavy-handed political ways, its penchant for half-truths and sins of omission, its alliance with the Republican Party, and its cavalier attitude toward the suffering its quest for profit growth creates among the 99%.

The second interest group is comprised of environmental organizations advancing the fiction that energy without risk is possible in the near term. They routinely hold energy projects hostage to sometimes impossible environmental standards and their opposition to Keystone is really about their opposition to global warming and the Canadian tar sands.

Environmental groups have a vested interest in waging this battle because of past environmental damage, because the American public doesn't trust its own energy industry, and because the attendant media attention boosts donations from a population that doesn't fully appreciate what fuels its laptops, cars, lights and hot water heaters.

The third interest group is an ethanol farm lobby that is getting rich by diverting corn from food production to fuel production. Less Canadian oil increases ethanol demand. The problem with ethanol farmers is that they're also cavalier about the suffering created among the 99% by the higher fuel and corn prices they favor.

Meanwhile, political hookers and pimps are profiting from both sides as they work our pay-to-play government for legalized bribes. They've squeezed more than $1.65 billion from the energy sector and more than $80 million from environmental groups since 2008, according to the Open Secrets website.

The vast majority of those political donations has been slipped into Republican G-strings. The lobbyists and their politicians are also cavalier about the disproportionate burdens they place on the 99%”

(Condensed version of “The Keystone Pipeline is a Good Idea… Misleading the public to secure its approval is not” By Victor Epstein-2012)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, November 17, 2014

Weekend Recap: Top 3 National/World News Stories

Good Day World!

It’s been an interesting weekend.

Putin gets chilly reception from world leaders.

Russian for the Exit: Putin Denies He Fled Summit Pressure

New research shows that thousands of kids have faced serious — and potentially deadly — side effects after consuming energy drinks.

Energy Drinks Can Be Deadly for Young Children: Study

More than 170 passengers and crew on a nearly month-long cruise that docked in California on Sunday fell ill with norovirus while on the ship, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Cruise Ship Hit With Norovirus Outbreak Docks in Los Angeles

Time for me to walk on down the road..

Sunday, November 16, 2014

How I survived flying with 2 cats, a missed connection, and the worlds worst upset stomach!

Good Day World!

Vacations. Don’t you love the memories they leave behind like snapshots in a photo album?

I’ve created some new vacation memories recently, but I’m going to leave a few photos out of my new album. Like ones of me puking on the plane trip home. But, I’m getting ahead of myself on this story.

Let’s start at the beginning.

My wife of 40 years (the length of our marriage is important in understanding how I survived my ordeal/trip home) and I adopted two of my father’s cats. His collection of six cats had to be thinned out because at 87 years-old that many cats are too much of a challenge.

When my mother died, my father started rescuing cats. He’s had quit a few since, some of which he did find homes for.

After a great visit with him, my wife and I brought two of his feline friends home. It meant having them fly on the plane with us. Not in cargo space. With us on the plane, on the floor between our feet.

Have you ever flown with animals? Cats in particular? I can tell you from experience they don’t enjoy flying. We flew in two airplanes to reach our destination – home. We didn’t sedate the cats on the first flight.

Mistake. It was like riding with lost souls screaming then growling in guttural tones that made your blood crawl! Our fellow passengers probably entertained thoughts of throwing us, and our cats, overboard!

We sedated them for the second plane ride. But there was another problem.

We missed our connection and had to spend nine hours in a very cold Seattle Airport until the next available flight to Medford, Oregon at 6:45 a.m. the next day.

Have you ever slept on connecting chairs? It’s impossible. I even tried the floor, but my sixty-four year-old body rebelled. Then I got sick after having a ten-dollar beer and a ten-dollar Whopper.

I have a bad stomach when it comes to flying anyway, and PTSD. Now you’re beginning to get the picture. It was ugly. My soul mate was up to the task however. Somehow she got me and the cats on the last plane.

We were in the rear seats. The poor guy in front of me, and the woman to the left, had to endure 45 minutes of my retching into a plastic bag. (Note: those bags smell so bad they alone can make you heave.)

We finally made it home. For now, we’re not introducing the cats to our pug, Molly. They’ve been traumatized enough. That meeting will come in good time when everyone (me included) is feeling better.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Terrorist currency, controversial pardon, and scientists trying to read your brain

ISIS has announced plans to mint its own currency. The coins will be engraved on one side with “The Islamic State” on top, and “Caliphate upon the methodology of the prophet” at the bottom.

Good Day World!

Today, I’m going to ask 3 questions to spur your interest on some current events:

1) When do you know for sure that your not slowing down ISIS, a Muslim terrorist organization?

a) When they increase their numbers after US coalition attacks?

b) When they confidently mint their own currency in Gold, Silver, and Copper?

c) When they continue to take over cities despite numerous US coalition airstrikes?

d) All of the above.

2.) Should Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe pardon his son for felony conviction?

a) Yes

b) No

c) OH, HELL NO!

3.) Can Scientists really read your brain?

a) I sure hope not.

b) Yes

c) Not yet, but they’re trying to.

If you’d like to share your answers either comment here (see link below) or Tweet me at https://twitter.com/AsItStands63 )

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Friday, November 14, 2014

Riots don’t solve social problems, they contribute to them

Demonstrators in Ferguson react to tear gas fired by police on Aug. 18 during protests over the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

(REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

                                                Good Day World!

The citizens of Ferguson and Berkeley, Mo, are living in fear.

They fear that if a grand jury decision doesn’t indict a white cop for shooting a black youth their community is going to be in a state of war for days – perhaps even longer.

Welcome to America in the 21st century.

Berkeley Ferguson Grand Jury Alert

“City of Berkeley, Missouri alert to residents about the upcoming grand jury decision regarding Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson fatally shooting Michael Brown. Ferguson, which borders Berkeley, was home to protests and riots after the police shooting. The bulletin advises Berkeley citizens to "make sure your home and family are prepared for a period of disruption."

Thousands of lives disrupted. For what?

A case that has been tried in the public court and judged by hot-headed activists. That’s what is happening.

To take Michael Brown as an example of all the innocent black young men that have been treated badly by cops throughout the nation, is a travesty.

We know, from a film taken minutes before his death, he was a thug. Anyone who walks into a store, steals cigars, and shoves innocent people aside in distain, is not a good example of black youth being unfairly treated.

Think about it.

Most people don’t really know the whole story. All they’re hearing is a one-sided account from his thug friend (who was with him in the store film). Yes, there were conflicting accounts. But why not let the Grand Jury work that out?

No one has heard the officer’s full account yet. He said he was defending himself, but the exact circumstances haven’t been revealed. Why not let forensic evidence tell the story?

What’s really sad is thousands of people’s lives will be disrupted because a group of people – not the parents by the way – are saying they want justice which translates to “they want their way or hell is going to break loose.”

If the parents are asking for peaceful protests, then the agitators who want violence should listen and reconsider looting and ransacking two towns in order to make a “social statement.”

Bottom line; riots are not the way to solve problems. They just create wider social divides.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Back to Blogging! I have returned…

7 24 12 030Good Day World!

It’s been an interesting break.

As judge (and chief opinionator) for this blog, it’s time for me to start researching interesting stuff to share.

During the short week I was gone, Oregon legalized marijuana, mankind landed a space vehicle on a moving comet 3 million miles away, Veterans Day was celebrated, and I got sick as a dog on a plane while transporting two cats to their new home...my house.

My pug, Molly, hasn’t met the two new additions to our family yet. That ought to be interesting, and worthy of a a future post.

It’s good to be back home.

I look forward to settling into my blogging routine as winter comes early. Can you say “Polar Invasion?” Last year year it was the “Polar Vortex.” I think I like that description for oncoming bad weather better. 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

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