Down until not. Questions and comments to my other site, dandoesn'tcarewhatanyonethinks.com.
Obama rules!
RepubliKKKans suck!
Have a nice day.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
From God's Book to Teabaggers' Ears: Pay your taxes!
"This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing."
Romans 13:6
Romans 13:6
Nuclear Power Concerns
No human endeavours get made perfectly. Proper engineering can minimize risks but never really eliminate them. Man made disasters happen through combination of human error, faulty equipment, and poor planning.
Disasters caused by forces of nature happen seemingly at random and engineers can plan for them but never actually divine all the details nor the upper limits of destructive forces.
Disasters with nuclear plants have the capability of rendering large swathes of our planet uninhabitable and inflect wind borne radiation upon the whole globe with resulting loss of human life, with children at greater risk.
Do we as a human race really need an iPhone upgrade every year?
[The recent events in Japan remind us that while the likelihood of a nuclear power plant accident is low, its potential consequences are grave. And an accident like Fukushima could happen here. An equipment malfunction, fire, human error, natural disaster or terrorist attack could—separately or in combination—lead to a nuclear crisis.
The U.S. will continue to obtain a significant portion of its electricity from nuclear power for many years to come, regardless of how rapidly energy efficiency measures and other sources of electricity are deployed.
Given this reality, the United States must take concrete steps now to address serious shortcomings in nuclear plant safety and security that have been evident for years. No technology can be made perfectly safe, but the United States can and must do more to guard against accidents as well as the threat of terrorist attacks on reactors and spent fuel pools.
The report outlines and explains 23 specific recommendations, listed below:....
Require reactor owners to develop and test emergency procedures for situations when no AC or DC power is available for an extended period.]
This first area of critical concern clearly concerns me, with an address with 2 nuclear power plants within about 120 miles, one right on the Gulf of Mexico and other smack dab on the Atlantic.
Hurricanes can bring down power grids for weeks.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/safety/ucs-nuclear-safety-recommendations.html
Disasters caused by forces of nature happen seemingly at random and engineers can plan for them but never actually divine all the details nor the upper limits of destructive forces.
Disasters with nuclear plants have the capability of rendering large swathes of our planet uninhabitable and inflect wind borne radiation upon the whole globe with resulting loss of human life, with children at greater risk.
Do we as a human race really need an iPhone upgrade every year?
[The recent events in Japan remind us that while the likelihood of a nuclear power plant accident is low, its potential consequences are grave. And an accident like Fukushima could happen here. An equipment malfunction, fire, human error, natural disaster or terrorist attack could—separately or in combination—lead to a nuclear crisis.
The U.S. will continue to obtain a significant portion of its electricity from nuclear power for many years to come, regardless of how rapidly energy efficiency measures and other sources of electricity are deployed.
Given this reality, the United States must take concrete steps now to address serious shortcomings in nuclear plant safety and security that have been evident for years. No technology can be made perfectly safe, but the United States can and must do more to guard against accidents as well as the threat of terrorist attacks on reactors and spent fuel pools.
The report outlines and explains 23 specific recommendations, listed below:....
Require reactor owners to develop and test emergency procedures for situations when no AC or DC power is available for an extended period.]
This first area of critical concern clearly concerns me, with an address with 2 nuclear power plants within about 120 miles, one right on the Gulf of Mexico and other smack dab on the Atlantic.
Hurricanes can bring down power grids for weeks.
http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/safety/ucs-nuclear-safety-recommendations.html
Thursday, November 3, 2011
NBA Lockout Hurting Businesses
[ORANGE COUNTY, Fla — The Orlando Magic was supposed to be hosting the Charlotte Bobcats at 7 p.m. for the first game of the NBA season Wednesday night.
Instead, streets of downtown Orlando were empty as the NBA lockout continued. As a result, Orlando businesses said they are enduring financial hardships.
Opening day of the NBA season last year had restaurants and bars packed full of "Blue and White Ignite" faithful.
But it's day 125 of the labor dispute between the players and the owners.]
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/nba-lockout-still-strong-magics-opening-night/nFTMY/
Instead, streets of downtown Orlando were empty as the NBA lockout continued. As a result, Orlando businesses said they are enduring financial hardships.
Opening day of the NBA season last year had restaurants and bars packed full of "Blue and White Ignite" faithful.
But it's day 125 of the labor dispute between the players and the owners.]
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/nba-lockout-still-strong-magics-opening-night/nFTMY/
From Davis Frum's Pen to God's Ears: Teabagger crazies may kill RepubliKKKan party
Of course, that would amount to a good thing for these mouthbreathing idiots to come back to reason, common sense, and fact based reality.
[...Meanwhile tea party Republicans have bounced from Sarah Palin to Donald Trump to Michele Bachmann to Rick Perry to (now) Herman Cain, transfixing the media every time they lose faith in one messiah and search for another.
Yet sooner or later, the tea party Republicans must converge on a single choice. When they do, they will present the non-tea party Republicans with a troubling menu of possibilities.
For non-tea party Republicans, this second outcome opens all kinds of ugly, ominous possibilities. If candidate Romney loses, tea party Republicans will claim that the GOP lost because it failed to nominate a "true conservative." That claim may fly in the face of political math (how would a more extreme candidate win more votes?), but it will pack a lot of emotional punch. Intense partisans are always ready to believe that the way to win is to be more intense and more partisan...
For three years, Republican activists have lived in a fantasy world in which fringe characters like Sarah Palin and Herman Cain somehow "speak for the common sense of the common people." It seems incredible that anybody could believe such a thing. It seems crazy that anyone would actually need a presidential election to disabuse them of such notions. But as Benjamin Franklin said: "Experience is a hard teacher, but fools will have no other."] http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/31/opinion/frum-republican-tea-party-scenarios/
[...Meanwhile tea party Republicans have bounced from Sarah Palin to Donald Trump to Michele Bachmann to Rick Perry to (now) Herman Cain, transfixing the media every time they lose faith in one messiah and search for another.
Yet sooner or later, the tea party Republicans must converge on a single choice. When they do, they will present the non-tea party Republicans with a troubling menu of possibilities.
For non-tea party Republicans, this second outcome opens all kinds of ugly, ominous possibilities. If candidate Romney loses, tea party Republicans will claim that the GOP lost because it failed to nominate a "true conservative." That claim may fly in the face of political math (how would a more extreme candidate win more votes?), but it will pack a lot of emotional punch. Intense partisans are always ready to believe that the way to win is to be more intense and more partisan...
For three years, Republican activists have lived in a fantasy world in which fringe characters like Sarah Palin and Herman Cain somehow "speak for the common sense of the common people." It seems incredible that anybody could believe such a thing. It seems crazy that anyone would actually need a presidential election to disabuse them of such notions. But as Benjamin Franklin said: "Experience is a hard teacher, but fools will have no other."] http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/31/opinion/frum-republican-tea-party-scenarios/
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Too Much to Ask?: Clean water and and a toilet
Not really all that much to long for yet 2.5 BILLION people on OUR Earth lack these most basic necessities.
[By the time you finish reading this paragraph, one more child will have died from something that's been preventable for over a century. Nearly 40 percent of the world's population is still unable to secure a safe glass of water or access a basic toilet. While we continue to rally around the goal of ensuring safe water and sanitation for all, the real question we are left asking ourselves: how do we truly confront this in a way that results in realizing our vision within our lifetime?
Even today, as solutions are known and available, lack of access to safe water and sanitation continues to claim more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-damon/clean-water-_b_1064394.html?ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=110211&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
[By the time you finish reading this paragraph, one more child will have died from something that's been preventable for over a century. Nearly 40 percent of the world's population is still unable to secure a safe glass of water or access a basic toilet. While we continue to rally around the goal of ensuring safe water and sanitation for all, the real question we are left asking ourselves: how do we truly confront this in a way that results in realizing our vision within our lifetime?
Even today, as solutions are known and available, lack of access to safe water and sanitation continues to claim more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-damon/clean-water-_b_1064394.html?ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=110211&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief
Occupy Oakland General Strike
[By LISA LEFF
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Workers and students are among the hundreds of people gathering at Oakland's city hall plaza for an anti-Wall Street rally.
Protesters spilled into the street Wednesday morning, disrupting the downtown commute. So far, the crowds have been peaceful and the police presence light. Protesters are gearing up for a day of demonstrations and marches in the city, and across the country.
Oakland's "general strike" is protesting financial institutions blamed for high unemployment and the foreclosure crisis. Protesters also are striking against local school closures, waning union benefits and cuts to social services.
The city is allowing its employees to take personal time to participate in the strike. City Administrator Deanna Santana says 5 percent of city workers are taking the day off.
Copyright The Associated Press]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/general/oakland-prepares-to-be-occupy-movement-epicenter/nFSdp/
The Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Workers and students are among the hundreds of people gathering at Oakland's city hall plaza for an anti-Wall Street rally.
Protesters spilled into the street Wednesday morning, disrupting the downtown commute. So far, the crowds have been peaceful and the police presence light. Protesters are gearing up for a day of demonstrations and marches in the city, and across the country.
Oakland's "general strike" is protesting financial institutions blamed for high unemployment and the foreclosure crisis. Protesters also are striking against local school closures, waning union benefits and cuts to social services.
The city is allowing its employees to take personal time to participate in the strike. City Administrator Deanna Santana says 5 percent of city workers are taking the day off.
Copyright The Associated Press]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/general/oakland-prepares-to-be-occupy-movement-epicenter/nFSdp/
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
H. L. Mencken: My patron saint
"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it."
H. L. Mencken
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1297.html
H. L. Mencken
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1297.html
Department of Call Me Unsurprised, Part 2: Fukushima released twice as much radiationas thought
Of course, US corporate media cannot report an earthquake damaged the plant, causing it to spew radiation before the tsunami hit. The CA Diablo Canyon sits on a fault line.
Even the World health Organization minimizes the risk from radiation released in a nuclear accidents, using 3 pages of a report to write all humans receive some ionizing radiation from various natural sources but that exposure probably doesn't kill people.
Then on page 4 we find "long term effects from radiation exposure," such minor things like elevated numbers of humans with thyroid cancer, especially children.
Sheesh, I feel better already.
[The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have released twice as much radiation into the atmosphere as previously estimated, according to a study that contradicts official explanations of the accident.
In a report published online by the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, experts from Europe and the US estimated that the quantity of the radioactive isotope caesium-137 released at the height of the crisis was equivalent to 42% of that from Chernobyl.
Significantly, the report says the plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, may have started releasing radiation between being hit by a magnitude-9 earthquake on 11 March and the arrival of a tsunami about 45 minutes later.
"This early onset of emissions is interesting and may indicate some structural damage to the reactor units during the earthquake," the report said.
The operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power, and the Japanese government maintain that the facility withstood the quake but was damaged by waves that breached its protective seawall.] emphasis added
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/28/fukushima-released-double-radioactive-material
Even the World health Organization minimizes the risk from radiation released in a nuclear accidents, using 3 pages of a report to write all humans receive some ionizing radiation from various natural sources but that exposure probably doesn't kill people.
Then on page 4 we find "long term effects from radiation exposure," such minor things like elevated numbers of humans with thyroid cancer, especially children.
Sheesh, I feel better already.
[The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have released twice as much radiation into the atmosphere as previously estimated, according to a study that contradicts official explanations of the accident.
In a report published online by the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, experts from Europe and the US estimated that the quantity of the radioactive isotope caesium-137 released at the height of the crisis was equivalent to 42% of that from Chernobyl.
Significantly, the report says the plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, may have started releasing radiation between being hit by a magnitude-9 earthquake on 11 March and the arrival of a tsunami about 45 minutes later.
"This early onset of emissions is interesting and may indicate some structural damage to the reactor units during the earthquake," the report said.
The operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power, and the Japanese government maintain that the facility withstood the quake but was damaged by waves that breached its protective seawall.] emphasis added
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/28/fukushima-released-double-radioactive-material
Department of Call Me Unsurprised, Part 1: Rick Parry's tax plan favors the rich
[Gov. Rick Perry’s proposal for an opt-in flat tax would primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans, according to a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization. Compared with current tax policy, the plan would most likely reduce federal tax revenue by $570 billion, or about 15 percent...
Because no one would be forced to use the alternate system, Mr. Perry has said, no one would have to pay higher taxes (at least initially; presumably if a family’s income changes a few years after entering the plan, it may no longer be advantageous). Even so, the greatest beneficiaries of the flat-tax option — that is, the households that would be most likely to switch to this system — are far and away the highest earners:]
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/rich-get-biggest-break-in-perry-tax-plan-study-finds/?partner=rss&emc=rss&wpisrc=nl_wonk
Because no one would be forced to use the alternate system, Mr. Perry has said, no one would have to pay higher taxes (at least initially; presumably if a family’s income changes a few years after entering the plan, it may no longer be advantageous). Even so, the greatest beneficiaries of the flat-tax option — that is, the households that would be most likely to switch to this system — are far and away the highest earners:]
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/rich-get-biggest-break-in-perry-tax-plan-study-finds/?partner=rss&emc=rss&wpisrc=nl_wonk
Pete Townsend Calls iTunes "Digital Vampires"
[The Associated Press
LONDON — The Who's Pete Townshend on Monday branded Apple Inc.'s iTunes a "digital vampire" that profits from music without supporting the artists who create it.
Townshend said that faced with the Internet's demolition of established copyright protections, iTunes should offer some of the services to artists that record labels and music publishers used to provide. These include employing talents scouts, giving space to allow bands to stream their music and paying smaller artists directly rather than through a third party aggregator.
The guitarist was delivering the first John Peel Lecture, named in honor of the influential British radio broadcaster who died in 2004.
Townshend asked if there was any reason iTunes "can't provide some aspect of these services to the artists whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire" to make money.
ITunes declined to respond to Townshend's comments.
Apple's service is the market leader among legal download services, accounting for about three-quarters of music downloads.
Townshend said consumers, as well as the industry, needed to change their attitude to digital music.
"It would be better if music lovers treated music like food, and paid for every helping, rather than only when it suited them," he said.
"Why can't music lovers just pay for music rather than steal it?" he said.
Copyright The Associated Press]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/top-news/pete-townshend-brands-itunes-a-digital-vampire/nFRfn/
LONDON — The Who's Pete Townshend on Monday branded Apple Inc.'s iTunes a "digital vampire" that profits from music without supporting the artists who create it.
Townshend said that faced with the Internet's demolition of established copyright protections, iTunes should offer some of the services to artists that record labels and music publishers used to provide. These include employing talents scouts, giving space to allow bands to stream their music and paying smaller artists directly rather than through a third party aggregator.
The guitarist was delivering the first John Peel Lecture, named in honor of the influential British radio broadcaster who died in 2004.
Townshend asked if there was any reason iTunes "can't provide some aspect of these services to the artists whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire" to make money.
ITunes declined to respond to Townshend's comments.
Apple's service is the market leader among legal download services, accounting for about three-quarters of music downloads.
Townshend said consumers, as well as the industry, needed to change their attitude to digital music.
"It would be better if music lovers treated music like food, and paid for every helping, rather than only when it suited them," he said.
"Why can't music lovers just pay for music rather than steal it?" he said.
Copyright The Associated Press]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/top-news/pete-townshend-brands-itunes-a-digital-vampire/nFRfn/
Anonymous Hacks Mexican Drug Cartels
[A video address published online in Spanish and English by a self-described member of Anonymous Veracruz, Mexico, accuses Los Zetas, one of the most powerful drug cartels in the country, of kidnapping an unnamed male Anonymous member and holding him hostage.
The video address, published in early October, was apparently made using a text-to-speech program, features footage of a person in a Guy Fawkes mask and threatens that the hacktivist group will release identifying information about the cartel’s businesses and associates if the supposedly kidnapped person isn’t set free or if he is in any way harmed.]
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/anonymous-takes-on-mexican-drug-cartel-los-zetas.php
The video address, published in early October, was apparently made using a text-to-speech program, features footage of a person in a Guy Fawkes mask and threatens that the hacktivist group will release identifying information about the cartel’s businesses and associates if the supposedly kidnapped person isn’t set free or if he is in any way harmed.]
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/anonymous-takes-on-mexican-drug-cartel-los-zetas.php
"Risky Grain Elevator Jobs"
[By JOHN HANNA
The Associated Press
ATCHISON, Kan. — The men killed in a grain elevator explosion in Kansas included an Iraq war veteran, an avid collector of model John Deere tractors who hoped to farm and a soon-to-be husband looking forward to a wedding only three weeks away.
Four of the six were younger than 25, something unsurprising in a business that experts say involves a lot of physical labor and tends to be a young man's game.
The work there also tends to be dangerous. Farmers take their grain to elevators to be stored, and sometimes processed, before it is marketed or sold. Fine, highly combustible grain particles flow through the buildings as corn and other grain are moved. A spark from equipment or perhaps a cigarette can ignite the dust, sending a pressure wave that detonates the rest of the floating dust in the facility.
Relatives gathered Monday outside the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator in Atchison, about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City. They turned the company's sign outside the elevator into a memorial for the dead, with photos, flowers and a gray sweatshirt honoring one with his name written in marker and the question, "Why!"]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/agriculture/young-drawn-to-hard-dangerous-jobs-at-elevators/nFRt2/
The Associated Press
ATCHISON, Kan. — The men killed in a grain elevator explosion in Kansas included an Iraq war veteran, an avid collector of model John Deere tractors who hoped to farm and a soon-to-be husband looking forward to a wedding only three weeks away.
Four of the six were younger than 25, something unsurprising in a business that experts say involves a lot of physical labor and tends to be a young man's game.
The work there also tends to be dangerous. Farmers take their grain to elevators to be stored, and sometimes processed, before it is marketed or sold. Fine, highly combustible grain particles flow through the buildings as corn and other grain are moved. A spark from equipment or perhaps a cigarette can ignite the dust, sending a pressure wave that detonates the rest of the floating dust in the facility.
Relatives gathered Monday outside the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator in Atchison, about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City. They turned the company's sign outside the elevator into a memorial for the dead, with photos, flowers and a gray sweatshirt honoring one with his name written in marker and the question, "Why!"]
http://www.wftv.com/news/ap/agriculture/young-drawn-to-hard-dangerous-jobs-at-elevators/nFRt2/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)