What Scott Walker and Andrew Carnegie Have in Common

Good Day World!

Presidential wannabe, Scott Walker, has something in common with Andrew Carnegie.

Both thought worker’s shouldn’t have any rights.

In Walker’s latest attack on Wisconsin workers he took away their guarantee of one day off per week. Now employers can force people to work seven days a week!

It’s hard to believe Wisconsin is even in today’s America. Walker, as governor, has turned the clock back more than a 100 years when American workers literally had no rights.  

His union busting has helped employers keep wages down to a minimum.

In 2012 Walker took away workers collective bargaining rights. Like Carnegie, he believes workers don’t deserve a living wage, forcing them into an endless cycle of poverty.

The amendment that Walker introduced dismantled a rule that had been in place since 1927, guaranteeing workers 24 hours off a week. Just another example of Walker administration's efforts to roll back worker protections.

Classical economists saw labor as commodity, to be bought and sold according to market demands. Walker is obviously a follower of that theory.

When Andrew Carnegie saw the move toward cooperation as opposed to competition he lamented “…the destruction of individualism, private property and the law of accumulation is upon us.”

The difference between Carnegie and Walker is that Carnegie finally figured out he’d been a bastard when it came to business and how he treated workers. During the last 18 years of Carnegie’s life, he gave away $350 million to charities, foundations, and universities.

Don’t expect Walker to wise up however. He doesn’t give away money, he collects it, and cronies in the form of PACs collect it for him.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Fringe elements in Texas are sure martial law will be declared today

Good Day World!

Texas under martial law.

U.S. troops patrolling chaotic streets.

Detention and rounding up of citizens.

FEMA trains that oddly enough look like the trains that the Nazis used in WW II.

A labyrinth of tunnels built under Walmart stores for military attacks on civilians.

A dictatorship under President Barack Obama.

Sound crazy?

Not to some conservative extremists in Texas.

The Texas Republican Party platform has long reflected concerns over federal and international overreach, with calls for a U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations and the elimination of the Federal Reserve.

When a U.N. agency named the Alamo, the location of a famed 1836 battle in the fight for Texas Independence, a World Heritage Site earlier this month, some Texans saw the move as a prelude to an international takeover.

What’s really frying some Texan’s grits is planned military training drills in the West and Southwest, including in the Lone Star state.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command exercise, called Jade Helm 15, has brought these fears to a crescendo. Some of the exercises, scheduled from July 15 to Sept. 15, will be held in this city located east of Austin.

FACT

Jade Helm will be held on public and private land, with the permission of landowners. The military said Army Special Operations Forces will train in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, with the terrain intended to replicate areas where soldiers find themselves operating overseas.

RESPONSE

In a move a Dallas Morning News editorial called "cringe-worthy," Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, said he would dispatch the Texas State Guard to monitor Jade Helm to make sure it does not impinge on Texans' freedom.

Really? Apparently, the fringe element extends all the way to the Governor’s office.

Perhaps, because Texas is such a large state, it’s just a matter of odds – more people, more fringe lunatics. Whatever the reasons, conspiracy theories outnumber jackrabbits in Texas.

You don’t see the other states involved in the exercise going crazy with outrageous accusations. That’s because they’re in touch with reality, unlike the fringe elements in Texas.

The Lone Star state stands alone when it comes to crazy theories, and crazier responses to unfounded accusations.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Tunnel Tech: Mexican Cartels, U.S. Border Patrol Wage Underground War

    Afternoon update…new story                                

                                      Good Day World!

Mexican authorities have been searching frantically for the notorious drug kingpin known as "El Chapo” after his astonishing, elaborate escape from a maximum-security prison.

In a devastating embarrassment for the Mexican government, the kingpin, Joaquin Guzman, slipped into a shaft through the shower floor of his prison cell and got away in a mile-long, ventilated tunnel outfitted with a motorbike.

When it comes to tunnel tech, Mexicans have become experts.

According to the U.S.Border patrol there are four general methods for detecting tunnels:

Seismic activity (low frequency digging noises and tunnel transit noises)

Magnetic Anomaly (electrical power lines in the tunnel, metal digging tools or metal shoring)

Acoustic Activity (higher frequency noises)

Density Anomalies (the tunnel is a hole and so the amount of earth below the surface changes when you dig a tunnel)

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

One of the best ways to find a tunnel is to make a history of the area and then compare that history with what you initially found.

What is required is to first benchmark the border in such detail that any tunnel large enough to pose a threat can be recorded. The tunnel detector won't know that it found a tunnel, it will just record what it "saw."

Once a history is recorded for the border area of interest then new scans will show changes which would hint at something that is very likely to be a tunnel.

Some tunnels can be 3,000 feet long, three feet wide and seven feet high with concrete floors, railroad rails, electric lights, water pumps, and Port a-Potties half way along the tunnel.

Such tunnels are very deep.

Another good way to detect these tunnels is to detect not the tunnel, but the dirt being hauled away.

If you have a line array of seismic sensors and you listen to all the noises that are coming from south of the border then it is pretty easy to detect the thumps of trucks full of dirt driving over bumps.

By using several sensors it is possible to "point" to the spot where all those bump noises are happening. If this system determines that somebody must be building a ten story building and all that's on the site is a one story wooden house, then TUNNEL might leap to mind.

The best way - according to DHS in their instructions to border people - to find tunnels is to drive your vehicle over the ground and when your wheel falls in a hole, you have discovered a tunnel (really).

Despite the tunnel tech methods I’ve described drug cartels continue to make them by countering with their own methods – adapting after every discovery. So why do they even bother with tunnels?

Simple. Because they’re the cheapest (and safest) way to smuggle drugs and contraband into our country today.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Two Presidential Candidates to Avoid If You’re Pro-Marijuana

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Democratic and Republican candidates running for the presidency have stated their positions on medical and recreational marijuana legalization numerous times in the past.

Now someone has put together a guide detailing what presidential candidates think about marijuana legalization – both recreational and medical.

The folks at the Marijuana Policy Project have released their Voters Guide to the 2016 Presidential Race, detailing the candidates’ positions on marijuana policy.

They even gave them grades. The two worst grades given out – to no one’s surprise - went to Chris Christie and Rick Santorum.

Christie has even gone so far to say he’d turn the clock back on all of the progress made toward legalizing marijuana. 

Chris Christie

The New Jersey governor not only opposes marijuana legalization, but has spoken out repeatedly against states that have legalized it. He opposed the New Jersey medical marijuana law, which was passed before he became governor, and has hampered its effectiveness with strict limitations he has imposed.

Christie on marijuana policy:

"[Marijuana legalization]’s not gonna come while I’m here … See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado where there’s head shops popping up on every corner and people flying into your airport just to come and get high. To me, it’s just not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey and there’s no tax revenue that’s worth that." —International Business Times, July 25, 2014

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[In response to the question,"If you were president, how would you treat states that have legalized marijuana?"] "Probably not well. Not well, but we’ll see. We’ll have to see what happens." —Huffington Post, June 20, 2014

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[When asked if he would enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized and regulated marijuana:] "Absolutely, I will crack down and not permit it." …States should not be permitted to sell it and profit [from legalizing marijuana]." —Huffington Post, April 14, 2015

Rick Santorum

The former US senator from Pennsylvania rejects marijuana legalization for any purpose, does not believe states have the right to set their own pot policies, and supports enforcing federal drug laws even in states that have voted to legalize it.

Santorum on marijuana and drug policy:

"I think Colorado is violating the federal law. And if we have controlled substances, they’re controlled substances for a reason. The federal law is there for a reason, and the states shouldn’t have the option to violate federal law. As Abraham Lincoln said, you know, states don’t have the right to wrong." —HughHewitt.com, April 16, 2015

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"The federal government does have a role in making sure that drug use—that states don’t go out and legalize drugs. That there are drugs that are hazardous to people, that do cause great harm to the individual as well as society to the whole.

And the federal government has a role in making sure those drugs are not in this country and not available and that people who use them illegally are held accountable. Ideally states should enforce these laws but the federal government has a role because it is a public health issue for the country." —Santorum campaign event, Jan. 9, 2012.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Cruz Caught Cheating, His Book Got Buying Bumps From PACS

    Good Day World!

Getting caught cheating is not a path to the presidency. Its something presidential hopeful Ted Cruz needs to learn.

The New York Times has refused to put his bestseller on their list after finding evidence that his book sales were not authentic.

“According to New York Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy, “In the case of Cruz’s book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.”

Strategic bulk purchases is a polite way of saying that Cruz, his super PAC, or organization that he cut a deal with, bought the books in bulk to inflate his sales numbers and land him on the bestseller list.

Republicans have been using this tactic for years. Sarah Palin had her super PAC buy $64,000 worth of her books in 2010.

Mitt Romney landed on the bestseller list by declining speaking fees and forcing universities to buy tens of thousands of copies of his book.

Ben Carson’s “bestseller” was fueled by a pro-Carson super PAC buying up $150,000 of his books.

Bestseller list rigging appears to be a uniquely Republican phenomenon. President Obama became a legitimate best-selling author, the same goes for former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.” (source)

For more about how tactics are used by right-wing groups to pressure the media and spread misinformation to the public read The Republican Noise Machine

Republican candidates have been gaming bestseller lists for years, but list makers like The New York Times are beginning to catch on, much to the chagrin of people like Ted Cruz.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Gangsters are a bigger threat than international terrorists

Good Day World

Make no mistake, more Americans are killed by gangsters than from international terrorists.

According to FBI statistics there’s 33,000 violent street gangs, motorcycle gangs, and prison gangs with about 1.4 million members are criminally active in the U.S. today.

Many are sophisticated and well organized; all use violence to control neighborhoods and boost their illegal money-making activities, which include robbery, drug and gun trafficking, fraud, extortion, and prostitution rings.

The number of gangs in the U.S. is on the rise across the country, as is gang-related violence, with no sign that it will let up anytime soon, according to a leading expert.

The gangsters continue to get younger. A fatal shooting allegedly carried out by a baby-faced 12-year-old named Jarrell Milton is the most recent example of gang violence in Nebraska.

Experts all agree that the problem remains a generational one: Gang members raising their children into the lifestyle.

In addition, gangs are using the allure of hip hop stardom to draw recruits. Slickly produced music videos uploaded online show members counting money, cooking drugs and flashing firearms.

To get a current overview of gang activity throughout the country go to the National Gang Center website.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE

Gang Violence Is on the Rise, Even as Overall Violence Declines

No city is safe from gangs.

While Washington DC deals with multiple neighborhood-based street crews that could span just three blocks, surrounding suburbs are homes to chapters of national gangs, such as Bloods and MS-13.

In the Virginia suburbs, “every town, every city, every county is at risk,” said Robert Vilchez, Arlington County Regional Gang Task Force coordinator. “Nobody is immune from this gang problem.”

The only way to really address our national gang problem is to break the generational gang ties. That’s going to take education and dedication from the communities riddled with gangs.

This idea is nothing new. There’s individual programs in communities that attempt to steer children away from a life of crime, but they are often limited by scant funds and participation from families.

The gang culture has to change. As long as gangsters are idolized by youngsters, they will continue to recruit them through the media, online videos, and from within gang families.

Perhaps that’s why I look at these gangs as domestic terrorists, and more of a threat to our society than international terrorists. 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Clueless comments common in presidential campaign

  Good Day World!

It’s absolutely amazing to hear some of the world-class out-of-touch comments coming from political candidates these days.

One of my recent favorites came from Jeb Bush when he told New Hampshire’s The Union Leader that to grow the economy, “…people should work longer hours.”

He later went on to clarify his comment (something he has had to do a lot of since declaring his candidacy). In a statement, a Bush aide clarified that he was referring to the underemployed and part-time workers.

Jeb isn’t the only clueless candidate.

Without a doubt, Donald Trump epitomizes clueless when it comes to politics and what Americans want in a leader. The guy is a joke, but Republicans aren’t laughing because he’s burning their brand with comments such as calling Mexican immigrants, "rapists" and "killers."

The quotes that really rang the bell were Trump’s claiming to have “…a great relationship with the Mexican people.” And, that he was going to “win the Latino vote” in the 2016 presidential election!

Then we have the following:

Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon who believes the human brain is too complex for anyone but God, and who compares gays to child molesters.

“Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn't matter what they are.”

Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist who refuses to talk about the age of the Earth and who thinks people in government are after him.

Paul didn’t help his credibility as a presidential candidate by declaring, during his Monday Senate speech against National Security Agency counterterrorism surveillance, that “people here in town think I’m making a huge mistake. Some of them, I think, secretly want there to be an attack on the United States so they can blame it on me.”

Marco Rubio, a man who doesn’t believe in climate change (despite the opinion of 97% of the world’s climate experts), or that man contributes to it.

“Our climate is always changing,” he said, noting that human activity has nothing to do with it and that any efforts to do something about it “will destroy our economy.”

Ted Cruz, a Harvard-trained lawyer beloved by creationists. He flat-out doesn’t believe in climate change.

Cruz is convinced the whole thing is a hoax. “The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming,” he told CNN earlier this year. “Contrary to all the theories that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn’t happened.”

Anyway, I could go on and on, but this is enough for today.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Message to Millennials: Ear Buds Aren’t Your Buds!

                                         Good Day World!

Now hear this…

Pull those ear buds out before it’s too late!

Doctors warn that a steady onslaught of loud noise, particularly through ear buds, is damaging the hearing of a generation wired for sound — although they may not realize it for years.

Earlier this year the World Health Organization warned that 1.1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss because of personal audio devices, such as smartphones, and damaging levels of sound at entertainment venues like electronic dance music festivals, where noise levels can top 120 decibels for hours, according to an NBC report.

"Probably the largest cause [of hearing damage] is millennials using iPods and [smartphones]," says Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri, an ear, nose, and throat specialist from Munster, Indiana.

Hearing loss among today's teens is about 30 percent higher than in the 1980s and 1990s, Cherukuri estimates.

"You (once) had a Walkman with two AA batteries and headphone thongs that went over your ears," he told NBC News.

"At high volume, the sound was so distorted and the battery life was poor. Nowadays, we have smart phones that are extremely complex computers with high-level fidelity."

Cherukuri tells young patients to stop wearing headphones — especially earbuds, which place the sound closer to the ear drum, enhancing volume by as much as 9 decibels.

According to the National Institutes of Health, repeated exposure to sound over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. Permanent damage can happen in minutes, experts say, and when the damage is done, it's irreversible.

"Noise exposure in kids is a growing concern," said Nicole Raia, a clinical audiologist at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.

Raia said she sees more tinnitus in young people, an early sign of hearing loss, but, "we don't catch them until they are in their 20s and 30s."

A study published in 2014 revealed that nerve synapses can be more vulnerable to damage than hair cells in the inner ear.

WHAT TO DO

Experts say the best way to protect young ears is to apply the "60/60" rule: Keep the volume on the MP3 player under 60 percent and only listen for a maximum of 60 minutes a day.

When using headphones in a noisy place like a school bus or subway, the tendency is the turn the volume up, so use headphones that cover up outside noise.

How is your hearing? Take this online audio test

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A 3-D printed car, 5-story apartment building, and other amazing 3-D products

"3D-Printed-Building-5641" by EdytaZwirecka - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3D-Printed-Building-5641.jpg#/media/File:3D-Printed-Building-5641.jpg

                                       Good Day World!

In the 1960s it was – “Beam me up Scotty.”

In 2016, it will be “Go ahead and 3-D me a car please.” 

I wondered where 3-D technology would go when I first read about it in 2010. What’s amazing is how fast 3-D printing has become commercial. It seems literally anything can be 3-D printed.

Some examples:

Startup Local Motors plans to get into the automotive industry next year when it launches what it promises will be the world's first 3D printed car.

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A Chinese company has successfully 3-D printed a five-story apartment building and a 1,100 square meter villa from a special print material.

World's first 3D-printed apartment building constructed in China

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The 3-D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3D Printing In Zero-G) experiment by NASA demonstrates that a 3-D printer works normally in space. In general, a 3-D printer extrudes streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create 3 dimensional objects.

3D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3D Printing In Zero-G)

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What Can 3D Printing Do? Here Are 6 Creative Examples

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What’s next? Are you wondering what’s coming up in the 3-D printer world?

Here’s Five big 3D printing trends to shape the year ahead

Time for me to walk on down the road…

The New Normal: Why I feel like a dinosaur

Good Day World!

I feel like a dinosaur sometimes.

Try to imagine the following scene:

Your standing on the steps of the New York Public Library watching three fat nude women getting their bodies painted by an artist.   

Nearby, little children, and their parents, check out this blatant act of public nudity with curiosity…and not much more.

This event actually happened.

The event was organized by Kimberly Massengill — who goes by the name of Substantia Jones — to mark the eighth anniversary of the Adipositivity Project, which celebrates fat bodies and works to combat sexism.

Okay. So this is supposed to be a good thing.

When I was growing up this same scenario would have been viewed quite differently. All three women, and the artist, would have been arrested for public indecency. Parents would have covered their children eyes up and hoped they weren’t scarred for the rest of their lives.

As my fellow baby boomers and I fade away into history, it’s not without a sense of wonderment, and disgust, at how some things have changed. The new normal has no limits.

I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I just know that once you cross some boundaries there’s no turning back. Like the dinosaurs.

Time for me to walk on down the road…