Monday, January 16, 2012

Are you a Martian?

We all could be, scientists say — and an MIT-developed instrument might someday provide the proof  Old article, but what the hell..  MIT News.  Excerpts:

Are we all Martians? According to many planetary scientists, it's conceivable that all life on Earth is descended from organisms that originated on Mars and were carried here aboard meteorites. If that's the case, an instrument being developed by researchers at MIT and Harvard could provide the clinching evidence.
..
The idea is based on several facts that have now been well established. First, in the early days of the solar system, the climates on Mars and the Earth were much more similar than they are now, so life that took hold on one planet could presumably have survived on the other. Second, an estimated one billion tons of rock have traveled from Mars to Earth, blasted loose by asteroid impacts and then traveling through interplanetary space before striking Earth's surface. Third, microbes have been shown to be capable of surviving the initial shock of such an impact, and there is some evidence they could also survive the thousands of years of transit through space before arriving at another planet.

So the various steps needed for life to have started on one planet and spread to another are all plausible. Additionally, orbital dynamics show that it's about 100 times easier for rocks to travel from Mars to Earth than the other way. So if life got started there first, microbes could have been carried here and we might all be its descendants.

So..  Mission To Mars is partially a documentary?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Meanwhile, Fukushima's Still Cookin'..

More vegetables are deformed from stress  Fukushima Diary.  Delicious pictures featured at the link.  Dig in!

It's a dream apartment.  What's the catch?  Radioactive Apartment in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima, Measuring 1.2 Microsievert/Hr Inside  Ex-SKF.  Excerpts:

Relatively high levels of radiation have been detected from the concrete in an apartment building in Nihonmatsu City [in Fukushima Prefecture]. The Ministry of the Environment suspects that radioactive materials were in the concrete, and is investigating.

The apartment was built in September last year in Nihonmatsu City. According to the Ministry of the Environment, the glass badge worn by a student who lives in the apartment registered 3-month cumulative radiation exposure of 1.5 millisievert on December 27, prompting the city to survey the surrounding area.

The survey found 1.4 microsievert/hour from the concrete foundation of the apartment, and 1.2 microsievert/hour inside the apartment. The Ministry of the Environment thinks the apartment was built using concrete with radioactive materials, and is asking the building contractor for details.
I wonder if it is just concrete.



If you recall, 446,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the sewage sludge in Fukushima City on May 8, 2011. The sludge had been sold to cement companies until the detection at Koriyama City on April 30, when 26,400 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from their sewage sludge. In the case of Koriyama City, over 900 tonnes of this radioactive sludge had been sold to one cement company (Sumitomo Osaka Cement) alone.


If the surface radiation level of the concrete is 1.4 microsievert/hour, I believe the concrete has at least 100,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in it, if the radiation measurements of sludge and rooftop sediment are any indication.

No security deposit and the first three months free?  I'll take it!
 
Question:  Is it still "News" if it's nine months old?  NRC March Email: “The walls of the Unit 4 spent fuel pool have collapsed, and there is no water in there”

From: Boska, John



Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11:31 AM


To: Guzman, Richard


Cc: Pickett, Douglas


Subject: Developments in Japan


Importance: High


Rich, please review and comment, for distribution to our branch.


In a briefing with Joe Giitter that just ended, we were informed that the situation is now much worse in Japan. The walls of the Unit 4 spent fuel pool have collapsed, and there is no water in there. There were a large number of fuel assemblies in the pool, and the fuel may no longer be intact. The radiation levels are increasing so much that it may prove difficult to work on the other 5 reactors at the site, which could lead to more fuel damage and releases. [...]

The answer?  Yes.  Yes it is still news, and catastrophic to boot..

Breaking News: Possible rapid increase of temperature at Reactor 2    Fukushima Diary.  Excerpts:

One of the heat gauges at or near the bottom of the container vessel of reactor 2 measured heat over 100.


According to the explanation of Tepco, it’s the gauge of the equipment for moving control rod.


17:00 1/12: 48.4


23:00 1/12: 102.3


5:00 1/13: 116.4

Because the gauge at the bottom of the vessel measures 48, Tepco still asserts it’s in the state of cold shutdown. They assert it’s not because the fuel has moved or recriticality happened, only because the gauge was broken.

Broken temperature gauge.  Check.  If you'll excuse me, I'm off to Keep Shopping so the terrorists won't win and our economy won't sink.  So..  Who's gonna win that Super Bowl?

Murdoch blasted on Twitter for anti-Google tweets

BAM!  Oh, the insolence shown to this king among men!  From The Raw Story.  Excerpts:

When News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch attacked Google on Twitter for its opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, he had no idea what he was letting himself in for.


“Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying,” Murdoch tweeted to his followers.


As Business Insider quickly noted, however, the reaction from the tech community was swift and snarky — and by Sunday even included a Google policy manager.

Journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? Jeff Jarvis was one of the first — and nastiest — writing, “Google doesn’t pirate and it doesn’t hack dead girls, @rupertmurdoch. I am so happy I pulled my book from you.”
..
And comedian Rob Delaney urged Murdoch, “Sup bro you’re doing great on Twitter nobody thinks you’re a weird asshole or anything keep it up.”
And:
And an editor with the Newcastle Evening Chronicle remarked, “Interesting to see @rupertmurdoch rallying at Google’s copyright infringement. Will remember that next time his newspapers lift our stories.”

My, how the old fartbag's fortunes have turned!  Keep on, keepin' on Skidmark; Your cautionary tale hasn't fully played out.  Now, about that hacking scandal that hasn't gone away..

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Good News? Time Travel Exists! The Bad News? You Can Land Anywhere!

Time traveller, who came back after 74 years, died at the age of 31 years old  From The Truth Behind The Scenes.  Excerpts:

Translated: Did a space-time vortex snatch a man from the 1800s and plop him down in the middle of traffic on a busy New York City street? Many witnesses—including the New York Police Department—say YES…
..
The Spanish website sinmisterios.com recounts the tale of the best documented occurrence of time travel in recorded history. The incident is allegedly corroborated by witnesses 74 years apart.



All details are said to be documented by official law enforcement records.

Rudolf Fenz, Senior disappeared in 1876. Despite an intense search by police, Fenz was never found. Yet his family always held out hope that the kindly immigrant from Europe would return. They waited years, eventually dying one-by-one still with the hope that their beloved Rudolf might come back.



The return of Rudolf Fenz
Long after all his living relatives had died, Rudolf Fenz returned. And he returned in the most incredible fashion possible. For Rudolf Fenz suddenly materialized on June 1950 in the middle of a busy Fifth Avenue in downtown Manhattan—74 years after vanishing without a trace.


Seconds after appearing in the midst of heavy traffic he was struck down and killed by a car.

There's much more to the story.  That's just a taste.  Check it out.  It's worth the click.

Update:  A friend emailed with the official-debunk--an urban legend started from a portion of a short story by Jack Finney.   Too bad;  The Alanis Morissette-iness of the episode is delicious!  Thanks for the head's up, M!

Whether time travel ever proves to be reality or not, I will continue to put my faith in The Infinite Sophistication of The Universe, the sophistication that flows both through and to humanity, and to the infinite possibilities that that sophistication provides.

Oh!  The Possibilities! 

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Earthquake or Foreshock? Sumatra Hopes It's The Former..

7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes off the west coast of northern Sumatra  The Extinction Protocol.  Excerpts:

A 7.3magnitude tectonic earthquake at a depth of 29 km (18 miles) was recorded on Tuesday, 420 km (260 miles) south west of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey said. No immediate tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for its Indian Ocean area but later that was changed. The epicenter of the strong earthquake was about 1789 km (1111 miles) WNW of Jakarta, Java, Indonesia. The earthquake lasted for about 30 seconds, and residents in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, rushed out of their homes in fear, an AFP reporter said. They later returned indoors. In recent weeks, a spasm of earthquakes have rattled the region in around Indonesia and currently 7 volcanoes in the very geologically-active archipelago are on high alert status.

January 10, 2012

Russia and Iran dump the dollar?  That's provocative..!  Press TV.  Excerpts:

Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Seyyed Reza Sajjadi says Iran and Russia have turned to their national hard currencies instead of the American dollar in reciprocal trade exchanges.



Sajjadi said on Saturday that the proposal for the replacement of the US dollar with the Iranian rial and Russian ruble was raised during a meeting between Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the 11th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) last June.


Permanent SCO members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, along with India, Mongolia and Pakistan, is an observer state to the intergovernmental mutual-security organization.


The Iranian envoy said Tehran and Moscow switched to their national currencies in preference after the meeting between their presidents.


Sajjadi also pointed to Russia' strong opposition to sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying Russians have clearly announced that they will not accept fresh anti-Iran bids that target the country's Central Bank and financial institutions.

Last June?  And then they patiently waited to drop the hammer.  And now they have.  Uh-Oh! 

Escalation?  Iran sentences American to death in spy case

Or not?  Panetta: Iran not building bombs yet

No long-term lung damage from occasional marijuana use  Ha Ha!  Little by little, brick by brick, all the scary lies disintegrate..  Raw Story.  Excerpts:

People who occasionally smoke marijuana do not suffer long-term lung damage the way cigarette smokers do, and may actually experience a slight improvement, said a 20-year US study published Tuesday.



Since the research included more than 5,000 people over a long time span, the authors said it should help clear up some of the confusion about the risks of marijuana smoking, which is increasingly common in the United States.

Perfunctory "Experts' Caution:"

“Marijuana is still an illegal drug, and it has many complicated effects on the human body and its function,” said Stefan Kertesz, senior author of the research in the Journal of the American Medical Association.



“In our findings we see hints of harm in pulmonary function with heavy use, and other studies have shown that marijuana use increases a user’s likelihood of a heart attack… and impairs the immune system’s ability to fight disease.”

Romney wins New Hampshire primary  Paul's second, and Huntsman's third.  Where's Newtie?  Looks like 5th place.  Losing to Santorum must sting..  or at least froth..  Raw Story.  Excerpts:

Former governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) is the projected winner the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, just a week after pulling out an 8-vote win over former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) in Iowa. By 8:10 ET, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) was declared the projected second-place finisher.
..
In the one obvious hit against his fellow Republicans, Romney did address the Gingrich documentary that’s been making headlines since Sunday: “President Obama wants to put free enterprise on trial, and in the last few days we’ve seen some desperate Republicans join forces with him. This is such a mistake for our party and for our nation.” He called such attacks the “bitter politics of envy” and “resentment of success.”

Say what you want about Bullshit Mitt, I do love his cartoon show!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Blowee-oh-weee-ooohh!

The day it was so windy the waterfall ran uphill: Britain battered by 106mph gales which leave two dead - and there's more to come in the next 24 hours

From The Daily Mail:  Bullet points/Excerpts:

*Winds of 106mph recorded in Pennines. Force 11 winds batter Channel



*Atlantic front hits UK with fierce winds and heavy rain


*Van driver, 50, killed by tree falling on his vehicle as gales cause havoc


*Sailor dies after tanker in English Channel is hit by huge wave


*Extreme weather causes misery for millions heading back to work


*Roads closed and trains delayed by fallen trees


*Roof of grandstand blown off at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey


*Trains affected as passengers are urged not to travel

Crazy fucking wind damage pictures at the link..

Thursday, December 29, 2011

It's Official: Stonehenge Stones Were Moved 160 Miles

From National Geographic.  Excerpts:

Some of the volcanic bluestones in the inner ring of Stonehenge officially match an outcrop in Wales that's 160 miles (257 kilometers) from the world-famous site, geologists announced this week.

The discovery leaves two big ideas standing about how the massive pieces of the monument arrived at Salisbury Plain: entirely by human hand, or partly by glacier.
..
The origin of the bluestones, however, has weighed heavy on the hearts of archaeologists. Rocks resembling the material under a microscope haven't been found anywhere relatively near Stonehenge—at least until now.



Pinpointing the stones' origins is crucial to understanding how so many heavy hunks of rock made their way to the open plain where Stonehenge now stands.


"There's no way of explaining how these stones were transported without knowing where they came from," said study co-author Robert Ixer of the University of Leicester in the U.K.
..
As late as two years ago, the pair thought the blocks couldn't have come from the country—no samples from Welsh outcrops matched the Stonehenge blocks.
..
The very first one—a chunk of rock collected in Wales 20 years ago—was a perfect match to the Stonehenge bluestones. The geologists spent the next two years checking a piece of Stonehenge bluestone against other outcrops around Wales.
..
The rocky outcrop fingered by the duo's analysis is called Craig Rhos-y-Felin, which is now located on private land near a sheep farm.



The site is a long, bush-covered set of crags the size of four double-decker buses.
And:
The new find leaves two prominent theories for how the Welsh rocks got to Salisbury.



Humans could have quarried the site and dragged the blocks on wooden rafts. Or a giant glacier may have chiseled off the blocks and ferried them about a hundred miles (160 kilometers) toward Stonehenge, with humans dragging them the rest of the way.

Or..

Monday, December 26, 2011

Oh, Newtiepants..

Newt compares campaign’s Virginia debacle to attack on Pearl Harbor  Really?  The Raw Story.  When I say "Excerpts," I really mean "Ridiculous to follow:"

Certainly no-one will ever accuse Newt Gingrich of having low self-esteem. Talking Points Memo is reporting that Gingrich’s campaign manager Michael Krull has taken to Facebook to vent about the Virginia Republican Party’s judgment that the former Speaker of the House did not qualify to appear on the March 6 primary ballot.



“Newt and I agreed that the analogy is December 1941,” he writes, comparing the campaign’s failure to acquire the 10,000 signatures necessary to compete in the Virginia primary to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. “We have experienced an unexpected set-back, but we will re-group and re-focus with increased determination, commitment and positive action.”


On December 7, 1941, 353 Japanese bombers mounted a raid on American military assets billeted at Pearl Harbor, a Navy base on the island of Hawaii. According to WikiPedia, 2,402 Americans lost their lives, with 1,282 injured. Eight U.S. battleships were damaged, four of them sunk. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, as well as three Navy cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer.

He's done.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

December, 2011 Browser Clean Up

Two from Zero Hedge:

It's Official: US Debt-To-GDP Passes 100%  Excerpts:

With precisely one year left for the world and all of its inhabitants, at least according to the Mayans, not to mention on the day of the Winter Solstice, it is only fitting that US debt, net of all settlements for all already completed bond auctions, is now at precisely $15,182,756,264,288.80. Why is this relevant? Because the latest annualized US GDP, according to the BEA, was $15,180,900,000.00. Which means that, as of today, total US debt to GDP is 100.012%. Congratulations America: you are now in the triple digit "debt to GDP" club!

Mark Faber: "I Am Convinced The Whole Derivatives Market Will Cease To Exist And Will Go To Zero"  Excerpts:

"I am convinced the whole derivatives market will cease to exit. Will become zero. And when it happens I don't know: you can postpone the problems with monetary measures for a long time but you can't solve them... Greece should have defaulted - it would have sent a message that not all derivatives are equal because it depends on the counterparty." And on the long-term future: "I am ultra bearish. I think most people will be lucky if they still have 50% of their money in 5 years time.."

Bárðarbunga: more seismic unrest at another one of Iceland’s large volcanoes  The Extinction Protocol.  Excerpts:

During the night there was an small earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano. The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm was ML 3.04 in magnitude. It had the depth of 8.5 km. This might have been a dike intrusion. But it is hard to know that for sure at the moment. This earthquake swarm only lasted for an about 2 to 3 hours before it stopped.

..There are signs that magma is rising at great depth underneath the Bardarbunga volcanic centre.

Historic! HIV Vaccine Approved for Human Clinical Trials  Unicorn Booty.  Excerpts:

The vaccine, developed by researchers at the University of Western Ontario, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start being tested in humans in January.



It is the first preventive HIV vaccine approved for clinical trials to use a whole HIV-1 virus, which has been both killed and genetically engineered, to activate immunity. In this way, the new vaccine is much like the killed whole virus vaccines that are successful against polio, rabies and influenza.

Gingrich: I’ll ‘ignore’ any Supreme Court ruling I disagree with  What a wonderful "democratic thinker!"  Idiot.  The Raw Story.  Excerpts:

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is doubling down from Thursday’s Fox News debate on his vow to abolish federal courts if he disagreed with their decision.



According to The Hill, in a conference call with reporters, Gingrich indicated that it was in the president’s power as commander-in-chief to deem any Supreme Court ruling irrelevant if he or she in the White House disagreed.


The former House Speaker used the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Bush administration exceeding its constitutional authority in handling suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay in 2008 as a basis for his extreme view.
 
“They just ignored it,” he said. “A commander-in-chief could simply issue instructions to ignore it, and say it’s null and void and I do not accept it because it infringes on my duties as commander-in-chief to protect the country.”
 
I love that Romney and Ron Paul are beating the shit out of this douchebag with negative, but all too true attack ads.  I've been waiting a loooong time to see Herr Gingrich(pronounced "Gin-greck") drown in the political cesspool of his own creation!  Merry Christmas to all!
 
“The FBI Estimates That 80 Percent Of All Mortgage Fraud Involves Collaboration Or Collusion By Industry Insiders”  Washington's Blog.  Excerpts:
 
Fraud By The Big Banks – More Than Anything Done By The Little Guy – Caused The Financial Crisis



The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Thrift Supervision noted last year (page 7):


The FBI estimates that 80 percent of all mortgage fraud involves collaboration
or collusion by industry insiders.


This confirms what one of the country’s top fraud experts has said for years: that it was fraud by the big banks – more than anything done by the little guy – which caused the financial crisis:

Breaking News: Programmer of Fukushima confesses “Fukushima had a cyber attack”  Under-reported, huh?  Fukushima Diary.  Excerpts:

A computer engineer found out operating system of Fukushima plants have been attacked and those attacks were mostly from / via Russia. This engineer is counted as one of the members of Fukushima 50.
..
Because the system was shut down after black out they could not operate the systems to control the pressure, water injecting, radiation shield etc. and that had to be done by him.



He managed to reboot the system and restart it in manual mode but he encountered series of troubles such as password entry screen did not come out or his password entering was disturbed by compute bug. He sorted it out by formatting the system but it was obvious that someone sent virus to the system.


He tried to send virus backward and it reached to Russia. Someone sent virus from or via Russia.

Every crazy CIA plot you’ve heard of originated with one man  IO9.  Excerpts:

There are stories that have come to light, over the years, that make the Central Intelligence Agency look like a collection of Looney Tunes shorts. The violence, the slapstick, and the over-the-top ridiculousness of the experiments that have been conducted over the years boggle the mind. They came from the (slightly-boggled) mind of one man: Sidney Gottlieb.

Medical Marijuana Laws Shown to Reduce Traffic Fatalities  Popular Science.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  Marijuana;  Is there anything it can't do?  Excerpts:

..A new study out of University of Colorado Denver and Montana State University shows that legalizing medical marijuana sales in various states over the past two decades has led to a nearly 10 percent drop in traffic fatalities. What the study really shows--by way of causal chain--is a five percent drop in beer sales, and that has in turn led to fewer fatalities on the road. Put that in your pipe and smoke it (couldn’t resist just one).

Happy holidays, and enjoy this randomly sampled information!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Frequently Asked Questions in "The Shining"

What do the Numbers Mean?   Kubrick uses "The Shining" to warn us of Mayan End of the World happening December 24, 2011, not December 21, 2012. 

Six!  Days 'til Doomsday!  Five!  Leapin' Lizards!  You get the point.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

SPIN's Top 50 Albums Of 2011

Huh.  This is the short list.  The list with reviews are here.  So..  Britney finds a home in the Top 50, but Wilco, The Antlers, and The Arctic Monkeys are nowhere to be found?  What sucks:  Destroyer's not here, either.  What's cool:  M83 at 19, and Girls at 5.  Both are fantastic. 

Bonus video from also-ran Destroyer:  Flimsy, nonetheless, an excuse to show this video.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Shape Of Things To Come..

The New Shape Of Things To Come/Webbot Report is out.  Never a dull word.  Buy it here.  Summarized:  Serious, SERIOUS Weirdness Just Ahead.  From there, everything shifts, and we enter New Territories, our perceptions, our realities, forever altered. 

Nothing is what it seems.  Nothing is ever, or has ever been, what it seems.  We are all about to learn that, together.  The Test begins shortly.  As always:  Buckle Up, and don't forget to Breathe!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Amazing huge cloaked UFO next to Mercury – Dec 1, 2011

From The Truth Behind The Scenes.  Watch the video.  Compelling.  I haven't seen any reasonable explanation yet, but that's not saying there isn't one...

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Man arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he's from the future

A love story for the ages!  Beautiful! From Crave.  Excerpts:

A would-be saboteur arrested today at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland made the bizarre claim that he was from the future. Eloi Cole, a strangely dressed young man, said that he had travelled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world.



The LHC successfully collided particles at record force earlier this week, a milestone Mr Cole was attempting to disrupt by stopping supplies of Mountain Dew to the experiment's vending machines. He also claimed responsibility for the infamous baguette sabotage in November last year.


Mr Cole was seized by Swiss police after CERN security guards spotted him rooting around in bins. He explained that he was looking for fuel for his 'time machine power unit', a device that resembled a kitchen blender.


Police said Mr Cole, who was wearing a bow tie and rather too much tweed for his age, would not reveal his country of origin. "Countries do not exist where I am from. The discovery of the Higgs boson led to limitless power, the elimination of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone. It is a communist chocolate hellhole and I'm here to stop it ever happening."

And OOhh!  Twilight Zone/Outer Limits twist..

Mr Cole was taken to a secure mental health facility in Geneva but later disappeared from his cell. Police are baffled, but not that bothered.

After a brief consultation with John Titor, Cole will return again to finish the job, clothed this time in either 100% cotton or some kind of poly cotton blends..  Good luck and Godspeed, Mr. Cole.  I too, hate fucking Kit Kats..

Former GOP Sheriff of the Year Busted in Gay Sex-for-Meth Deal

From Gawker.  Excerpts: 


Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. was the beloved Republican sheriff of Arapahoe County, Colo., for nearly 20 years before he retired in 2002. In 2001, he was named national Sheriff of the Year. Yesterday he was arrested by the department he used to run for offering a man meth in exchange for sex.


I really do feel some degree of sympathy for this very conflicted man.  His Inner-Demons - Crazy Screaming Volume Control must be stuck on 11 and he can't turn it down..  So many instincts repressed and channeled elsewhere..  His tensions, now refined, made even more taut by his choice of occupation(with all accompanying  knowledge of Crime and Punishment and Societal Decay..  How far will we/he sink?).  A heretofore classic example of the extremes of duality one persona can assume:  The relentless crime fighter yin balanced by the meth smoking sodomite yang..  His inner dialogue; Chaos.  The last paragraph of Gawker's story is devastating in its irony: 

It's not clear whether Sullivan's love of meth-sex may have predated his retirement. He was booked into that Arapahoe County Jail, which also goes by the name Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.

Here stands a man in shambles:  His law enforcement achievements forever overshadowed by the hypocrisy of his actions, a joke for late night comedians and lovers of schadenfreude everywhere.  A cautionary tale of repression and addiction.  A goddamned shame that his sexual orientation so shamed the man that he could only act upon his desires through the use of methamphetamines..

It's too bad his gay guilt drove his life to ruin..  Can you imagine the headline had he chosen otherwise?  "Nation's first gay National Sheriff Of The Year recounts his obstacles to the top."
   
Can you imagine the positive impact this man could have had had he just told the homophobes with their shame issues poisoning his mind to simply Fuck Off?  I hope this man finds peace.  I hope this man can rebuild his shattered foundations, rising to the task of making sense of the destruction his inner demons and behavior have caused.  It really is ok to be gay.  Hopefully, he can now understand and respond accordingly..  Good luck, Sheriff Sullivan.  Your near-term future will not be easy.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Oklahoma Continues To Rumble..

6th earthquake in 4 days recorded in Oklahoma  Yahoo News.  Excerpts:

Another small earthquake has been reported in Oklahoma.



The U.S. Geological Survey says a 3.2 magnitude quake struck just before 6 a.m. Sunday about 27 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The Logan County Sheriff's Office says no damage was reported


On Saturday, a 2.4 magnitude tremor was recorded at about 7 a.m. about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City near Sparks.


Sunday's earthquake is the sixth in the area since Thursday, when a 3.7 magnitude quake was recorded near Prague. Three more were recorded Friday.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Chinese TV Host Says Regime Nearly Bankrupt

The Epoch Times.  Holy shit; This guy's as good as dead.  Excerpts:

China’s economy has a reputation for being strong and prosperous, but according to a well-known Chinese television personality the country’s Gross Domestic Product is going in reverse.



Larry Lang, chair professor of Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in a lecture that he didn’t think was being recorded that the Chinese regime is in a serious economic crisis—on the brink of bankruptcy. In his memorable formulation: every province in China is Greece.


The restrictions Lang placed on the Oct. 22 speech in Shenyang City, in northern China’s Liaoning Province, included no audio or video recording, and no media. He can be heard saying that people should not post his speech online, or “everyone will look bad,” in the audio that is now on Youtube.

In the unusual, closed-door lecture, Lang gave a frank analysis of the Chinese economy and the censorship that is placed on intellectuals and public figures. “What I’m about to say is all true. But under this system, we are not allowed to speak the truth,” he said.
And:
Lang’s assessment that the regime is bankrupt was based on five conjectures.


Firstly, that the regime’s debt sits at about 36 trillion yuan (US$5.68 trillion). This calculation is arrived at by adding up Chinese local government debt (between 16 trillion and 19.5 trillion yuan, or US$2.5 trillion and US$3 trillion), and the debt owed by state-owned enterprises (another 16 trillion, he said). But with interest of two trillion per year, he thinks things will unravel quickly.


Secondly, that the regime’s officially published inflation rate of 6.2 percent is fabricated. The real inflation rate is 16 percent, according to Lang.


Thirdly, that there is serious excess capacity in the economy, and that private consumption is only 30 percent of economic activity. Lang said that beginning this July, the Purchasing Managers Index, a measure of the manufacturing industry, plunged to a new low of 50.7. This is an indication, in his view, that China’s economy is in recession.


Fourthly, that the regime’s officially published GDP of 9 percent is also fabricated. According to Lang’s data, China’s GDP has decreased 10 percent. He said that the bloated figures come from the dramatic increase in infrastructure construction, including real estate development, railways, and highways each year (accounting for up to 70 percent of GDP in 2010).


Fifthly, that taxes are too high. Last year, the taxes on Chinese businesses (including direct and indirect taxes) were at 70 percent of earnings. The individual tax rate sits at 81.6 percent, Lang said.

Once the “economic tsunami” starts, the regime will lose credibility and China will become the poorest country in the world, Lang said.

It looks like the Global Economic Collapse will now just come down to sequence:  Who collapses when, and Who starts the process.  Oh, and Who has it worse.