Wednesday 12-31-14

Seed Libraries Struggle With State Laws Limiting Exchanges

      

(credit: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty Images)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gardeners at hundreds of spots around the country are sharing seeds as part of an increasing interest in locally grown food, but some agriculture officials say the well-meaning effort violates state laws.


In spots like Duluth, Minnesota, the conflict has surprised gardeners and library officials who never thought to examine the intricacies of state seed laws.

Agriculture officials say they weren’t looking for a fight but must enforce laws that are intended to protect farmers by ensuring seeds are viable, will grow the intended plant and aren’t mixed with unwanted seeds for weeds or plants.

Advocates of seed-sharing programs said they don’t necessarily blame agriculture departments, but some express frustration that laws focus on the needs of modern hybrid seed producers while limiting age-old, person-to-person seed exchanges.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/12/28/seed-libraries-struggle-with-state-laws-limiting-exchanges/


Civil Asset Forfeiture: The Final Stage Of Collapse Of Empire

Only the Rich Can Afford to Keep Their Homes



Philadelphia prosecutors agreed last Thursday to halt efforts to seize the homes of two of the lead plaintiffs in a widely publicized federal suit challenging the city’s use of civil forfeiture laws in drug cases.
Philadelphia drops a Civil Asset Forfeiture case to prevent any court from ruling just seizing people’s property is unconstitutional. Phily.COM has reported the case of Christos Sourovelis and Doila Welch,who were both caught up in having their homes seized to pay police pensions when the police arrested a relative they claimed was dealing drugs on their properties. Today, you basically have to shun relatives and never pick up a hick-hiker in trouble for if they have any drugs, even marijuana, there goes your assets.
The prosecutors, only after these people has money for lawyers and the press got involved, moved for dismissal in Common Pleas Court. The prosecutor agreed to drop the cases against properties as long as both owners took “reasonable measures” to ensure no further drug crimes occurred there.
Here is the entire problem. Only the rich can win for it is your burden to fork-over huge legal fees. If you do not have the money for lawyers, there goes your property. This is what is desperately wrong in America. Any law passed becomes your burden to prove it is unconstitutional. They can actually pass the ancient right of kings under the Common Law since there is precedent known as Prima Noctum – first night. The governor, mayor, county freeholder, whoever, could “legally” claim the right to spend the first night in bed with any women getting married in their district. It would then become your burden to say – NO. That is uncivilized.
There is ABSOLUTELY nothing as it now stands for them to pass such a law. It is then the public’s burden to say no way and fight. This is seriously wrong within out legal system. This allows police to kill people randomly or to pull every person over on their way to work to see if they have all their identification. Whatever they do is OK because they do not FIRST have to go to some constitutional court and ask – is this law justified? Consequently, only the rich can defend the constitution. All others can pray – that’s about it.
This is the final stage of the collapse of the Roman Empire. When the state runs out of money, it historically attacks the people. In Rome, whole armies began sacking their own cities to get paid. The police are doing just that. Whatever they can confiscate goes to funding their own pensions. This is a national problem that will only get much worse going into 2020. We have NOBODY in Washington representing the people any more. It is all about them v the people. This is why we will see a rise in third-party activity for 2016.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-28/civil-asset-forfeiture-final-stage-collapse-empire

Tuesday 12/30/14

License Plate Reader Technology Looks At Faces

Police and private companies link facial recognition software to databases that track motorists.
The leading suppler of automated license plate reader technology in the US (ALPR, also known as ANPR in Europe) is expanding its offerings to law enforcement. Vehicle owners have already had their movements tracked by the company Vigilant Solutions, which boasts 2 billion entries in its nationwide database, with 70 million additional license plate photographs being added each month. Now passengers can also be tracked if they hitch a ride with a friend and are photographed by a camera aimed at the front of the car. The Livermore, California-based firm recently announced expanded integration of facial recognition technology into its offerings.
"The new Vigilant Mobile Companion app expands the benefits of license plate recognition and facial recognition technologies to all areas of the agency," a Vigilant Solutions press release claimed. "Using many of the new analytic tools that Vigilant has released in its Learn product over the last couple of years, the app makes these tools even more easy to use and accessible on a mobile device. The app also features Vigilant's Facesearch facial recognition which analyzes over 350 different vectors of the human face."
Though primarily intended for fixed security camera installations, the software could allow police to identify the occupants of vehicles when the system is supplied with a clear photograph of a car's interior. In states such as California and Arizona where red light cameras and speed cameras photograph the front of a car, the video stream can be analyzed in "near real time" to catalog and identify the driver and anyone in the passenger seat of passing vehicles, flagging any "person of interest."
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently acknowledged the ability of standard ANPR systems to track a vehicle using the Vigilant Solutions online database that goes by the name National Vehicle Location Service, which has been fed with license plate images from law enforcement and private sources since 2008.
"A subsequent investigation revealed that a 2012 black Range Rover is registered to Eduard," the court wrote on December 17 in the case United States v. Loz. "A search of the National Vehicle Location Service's database also showed that this Range Rover had been spotted eight times near the closest intersection to Eduard's Forest Hills residence."
Only a handful of states have laws in place to regulate automated license plate reader technology.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/46/4602.asp

Gmail blocked in China

Google’s Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world’s biggest email service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the country’s “great firewall” was to blame.
Large numbers of Gmail web addresses were cut off in China on Friday, according to GreatFire.org, a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group. Users said the service was still down on Monday.
“I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google’s presence in China and even weaken its market overseas,” said a member of the group who uses a pseudonym. “Imagine if Gmail users might not get through to Chinese clients. Many people outside China might be forced to switch away from Gmail.”
Google’s Transparency Report, which shows real-time traffic to Google services, displayed a sharp dropoff in traffic to Gmail from China on Friday.
“We’ve checked and there’s nothing wrong on our end,” a Singapore-based spokesman for Google said in an email.
Almost all of Google’s services have been heavily disrupted in China since June, but until last week Gmail users could still access emails downloaded via protocols like Imap, SMTP and Pop3 that let people communicate using Gmail on apps like the Apple iPhone’s Mail and Microsoft Outlook.
China maintains tight control over the internet, quick to act against any signs of dissent or challenges to the ruling Communist party’s leadership.
The country has the world’s most sophisticated internet censorship mechanism, known as the “great firewall of China”. Critics say China has stepped up its disruption of foreign online services like Google over the past year to create an internet cut off from the rest of the world.

 

The Google disruption began in the runup to the 25th anniversary of the government’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
Gmail’s setback could make email communication difficult for companies operating in China that use Google’s Gmail for their corporate email system, said GreatFire.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know anything about Gmail being blocked, adding that the government was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors.
“China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude towards foreign investors doing legitimate business here,” she said. “We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China.”
One popular way for companies and people to get around China’s internet censorship is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that allows unhindered access to blocked sites and services.
“It’s becoming harder and harder to connect and do work in China when services like Gmail are being blocked,” said Zach Smith, a Beijing-based digital products manager at City Weekend magazine. “Using a VPN seems to be the only answer to doing anything these days online in China.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/29/google-gmail-blocked-china-great-firewall

Monday 12-29-14

Hope this is not true for you or yours.   We have stolen their imaginations, with the tv, school classes and movies
 now we are stealing the creativity also.

Young people are 'lost generation' who can no longer fix gadgets, warns professor

Many broken or outdated gadgets could be fixed or repurposed with only a brief knowledge of engineering and electronics Photo: Rex Features

       

Young people in Britain have become a lost generation who can no longer mend gadgets and appliances because they have grown up in a disposable world, the professor giving this year’s Royal Institution Christmas lectures has warned.

Danielle George, Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering, at the University of Manchester, claims that the under 40s expect everything to ‘just work’ and have no idea what to do when things go wrong.

Unlike previous generations who would ‘make do and mend’ now young people will just chuck out their faulty appliances and buy new ones.

But Prof George claims that many broken or outdated gadgets could be fixed or repurposed with only a brief knowledge of engineering and electronics.

This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are entitled ‘Sparks will fly: How to hack your home’ she is hoping it will inspire people to think what else they can do with common household objects.             

Ideas include using a magnifying glass and shoe box to turn a mobile phone into a rudimentary projector; how to use tin foil to make too small batteries fit correctly and how to turn a bottle of water into a lamp.
Prof George said: “We’ve got a lost generation that has grown up with factory electronics that just work all of the time.
“All of these things in our home do seem to work most of the time and because they don’t break we just get used to them. They have almost become like Black Boxes which never die. And when they do we throw them away and buy something new.
“But there is now a big maker community who are thinking hard about what we do with all of these gadgets. They are remaking and repurposing things.
“I talked to someone who had used some LEDs on his bike so that he could put up a message as he was cycling.”
The first lecture, broadcast on December 29th is inspired by Newcastle inventor Joseph Swan who demonstrated the first working light bulb in 1978. During the lecture Prof George will attempt to play a computer game on the windows of a skyscraper using hundreds of light bulbs.
During the lectures she will also demonstrate how to send wireless messages using a barbeque, control a firework display with a laptop, use a torch to browse the internet, turn a smartphone into a microscope, how to turn a washing machine into a wind turbine, and how Lego can solve a Rubik’s Cube.
Hundreds of websites have emerged in the last few years where users post ideas about home hacks and electronics.
Professor George, added: I want young people to realise that that they have the power to change the world right from their bedroom, kitchen table or garden shed.
“Today’s generation of young people are in a truly unique position. The technology we use and depend on every day is expanding and developing at a phenomenal rate and so our society has never been more equipped to be creative and innovative.
“When I was eight years old I was given a telescope by my parents and I was fascinated - I would get up in the middle of the night to watch lunar eclipses.
“It was the first time I realised how mathematics and physics could be used in a practical and useful way and I knew immediately that this kind of hands-on investigation was what I wanted to do in life.
“If we all take control of the technology and systems around us, and think creatively, then solving some of the world’s greatest challenges is only a small step away. I believe everyone has the potential to be an inventor.”
Gail Cardew, Director of Science and Education at the Royal Institution said: “Our aim is to bring to life the incredible ingenuity, innovation and creativity of engineering.”.”
The Royal Institution Christmas lectures have been taken by many distinguished scientists since they began in 1825, including Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, Lord George Porter and Dame Nancy Rothwell.
They will be broadcast over three days between December 29 and December 31 on BBC four at 8pm.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11298927/Young-people-are-lost-generation-who-can-no-longer-fix-gadgets-warns-professor.html

Saturday 12-27-14

Why does this not surprise me at all.  You would think that wit the education they have they could say it simpler.   Or maybe it is on purpose?


EPA Regs Issued Under Obama Are 43 TIMES As Long As The Bible…

(CNSNews.com) -- Since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued 3,120 new final regulations, equaling 27,854 pages in the Federal Register, totaling approximately 27,854,000 words.

Using the Regulations.gov website and data from the Federal Register, CNSNews.com found 3,120 final rules published by the EPA since January 2009 covering  greenhouse gases, air quality, emissions, and hazardous substances, to name a few. The Federal Register publishes documents, including proposed rules, notices, interim rules, corrections, drafts of final rules and final rules but the CNSNews.com tabulation included only the final rules from the EPA.
For comparison with those final rules, the Gutenberg Bible is 1,282 pages long and contains 646,128 words.This means that the new EPA regulations issued by the Obama Administration now contain 21 times as many pages as the Bible and 43 times as many words.
Also, the EPA regulations have 25 times as many words as the entire Harry Potter series, which includes seven books with 1,084,170 words.

One volume of the Gutenberg Bible, which was published as a two-volume set in 1455.

To get an approximate word count for each EPA rule in the Federal Register, CNSNews.com evaluated a few random rules from the 3,120 EPA regulations published since Obama took office, and calculated an approximate average of 1,000 words per page. From this, CNSNews.com calculated that the 3,120 final EPA rules that have been published in the Federal Register so far take up 27,854,000 words.
This is only an approximation because some pages in the Federal Register carry more words than others, and some regulations end in the beginning or middle of a page. For example, one of the regulations was five-pages long and totaled 5,586 words, an average of 1,117 words per page.
Another regulation was three-pages long and 3,150 words, which averaged to 1,050 words per page. Another rule was four-pages long and 4,426 words, or an average 1,106 words per page.

The 7 volumes of the Harry Potter book series. (AP)

“The broader question of whether the Obama Administration’s EPA is ‘overreaching’ in its regulatory effects has not gone away. Critics both in Congress and outside of it regularly accuse the agency of overkill,” states a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, EPA Regulations: Too Much, Too Little, or On Track?
“EPA’s actions, both individually and in sum, have generated controversy,” the CRS report states. “Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have expressed concerns, through bipartisan letters commenting on proposed regulations and through introduced legislation that would delay, limit, or prevent certain EPA actions.”
Yet, EPA proponents are fighting for more rules. “Environmental groups and other supporters of the agency disagree that EPA has overreached,” said CRS. “Many of them believe that the agency is, in fact, moving in the right direction, including taking action on significant issues that had been long delayed or ignored in the past. In several cases, environmental advocates would like the regulatory actions to be stronger.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/new-epa-regs-issued-under-obama-are-43-times-long-bible

Friday 12-27-14

Could 2015 be the year of domestic robots and 3D printed food? Futurologist claims technology has reached a 'tipping point'

• Comments were made by London-based futurologist Dr James Bellini 

• He says more people will opt for mobile phone-controlled smart devices

• Many of these devices will be home-based, such as smart thermostats  

• Domestic robots are the product people are most looking forward to

• Dr Bellini added that we were beginning to see the phasing out of 'traditional' technologies, such as the TV set and landline phones

A smart home full of devices connected to each other, as well as domestic robots are closer than we think, according to one futurologist.

This year has seen a rush in the popularity of smart gadgets, with items like 3D printers and smart thermostats making it onto Christmas lists for the first time.

The trend is a sign of the way technology will accelerate in 2015, according to London-based futurologist Dr James Bellini.

Scroll down for video

 

Tipping pint: According to a recent survey, 26 per cent if people are most looking forward to getting a robot helper in the home.  Technology giant Honda already has a domestic robot, Asimo (left). Futurologist Dr James Bellini (right) claims the technology could be closer than we think

'The centrepiece of our future is the British home, which is rapidly becoming the digital hub for our increasingly connected lives,' he said.

'Our homes are set to be enriched further by energy; from high-tech gadgets and appliances to smart devices.'

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2886424/Could-2015-year-domestic-robots-3D-printed-food.html#ixzz3MvaO6lEp

12-26-14 Thursday

This should really be a surprise to no one at all. 

ISIS is turning Christian churches into torture chambers where it forces believers to convert to Islam… and funding its terror mission by selling stripped artefacts to Western collectors 

• Christian churches are reportedly being turned into torture chambers

• Artefacts worth millions have been stolen and sold to western collectors

• Experts say the fanatics goal is to 'wipe out' Christianity 

Islamic State militants are turning Christian churches into torture chambers where they force attendees to convert to Islam, it has been reported.

The fanatics are also said to be stripping the former places of worship of ancient relics, which they are smuggling to Western collectors to help fund their terrorist activity.

Christians were reportedly being held captive in make-shift torture chambers set up in raided churches in Qaraqosh, Iraq.

 

ISIS fighters are reportedly turning Christian churches into torture chambers where they forces attendees to covert to Islam

An expert told the Jerusalem Post that the terror organisation's goal was to 'wipe out Christianity.' 

'This is why they are crucifying Christians — which includes children — destroying churches and selling artifacts,' he told the newspaper.

'The reality is, this group will stop at practically nothing to raise funds for its terrorist mission.'

 Jihadists have pocketed around £23million from the sale of stolen artefacts in Nabaq, Syria, according to the Christian Post.

It was not known what relics had been stolen during the raid on churches. 

The news comes as it has been revealed that militants captured a Jordanian pilot after his warplane crashed while conducting airstrikes over Syria 

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2886308/ISIS-turning-Christian-churches-torture-chambers-forces-believers-convert-Islam.html


It is worse here imo, but the news people will not print the truth

Russian Inflation Exceeds 10% in December on Ruble’s Decline

Russian inflation exceeded 10 percent for the first time in more than five years spurred by sanctions and the worst ruble collapse since 1998.
Сonsumer prices increased 10.4 percent this year through Dec. 22, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said today in an e-mailed statement. Prices grew 0.9 percent in the week through that date, the most since April 2008, when the service started to provide weekly data.
The rout of the ruble, the world’s worst-performing currency in the past three months, is raising the price of imported goods. Price growth, compounded by the effect of a ban on imports of some foods imposed by President Vladimir Putin in retaliation for the sanctions the U.S. and its allies enacted over Russia’s policy in Ukraine, has raced past a revised central-bank forecast of 10.1 percent.

 

Accelerating inflation is logical, according to Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States at ING Groep NV in Moscow. Companies are saying “everybody is raising prices and so will I, especially when people start panic-buying not only electronics and cars but also everyday goods,” he said by e-mail.
Annual consumer-price growth has also reached 10.4 percent from a year earlier, in reaction to the exchange rate, devaluation and inflation expectations, Polevoy said.
Inflation may reach 11.5 percent next quarter before it begins to decelerate, according to the Bank of Russia’s base-case forecast published last week. Policy makers postponed their 4 percent target to the end of 2017, after failing to meet their goal for more than two years.

 

Consumer spending may contract 6.3 percent to 6.5 percent next year, while fixed-capital investment will probably shrink 10.1 percent to 10.3 percent, according to the central bank’s stress scenario.
“That’s clearly negative for the economy, as accelerating inflation will strongly undermine consumer demand in the first quarter,” Vladimir Osakovskiy, the chief economist for Russia at Bank of America Corp. in Moscow, said in an e-mailed note. “Policy and market implications will be limited, as it is already fully priced in by the massive 650 basis points hike last week.”

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-24/russian-inflation-exceeds-10-percent-in-december-on-ruble-s-decline

Merry Christmas 12-25-14

The true reason for the season?

The Son was born

Isa 9:6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The reason He was born

 Gal 1:4, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
 
    1Pe 2:24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
   

What we need to do about it

  
Act 16:31, And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.


Act 19:4, Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

What should we believe about Him?


1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Why you wont do it

1Co 1:18, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
   
1Co 2:14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

One last thought

1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Co 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 1Co 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Wednesday 12-24-14

Privacy will not exist in 10 years, Pew survey of tech experts says

A Pew Research Center survey of over 2,500 technology industry professionals and experts found that over half believe there will not be a “secure, popularly accepted and trusted privacy-rights infrastructure” in place in 10 years.
The “Future of Privacy” survey found that 55 percent of the 2,511 experts polled do not agree that there will be a system in place allowing people to decide how their information will be shared while also letting companies make money, according to Top Tech News.
This comes as some have claimed that privacy is dead and has been for quite a while. Others are claiming that the public should just accept the lack of privacy as the new norm.
One executive at a top-level domain name operator, who spoke anonymously, reflected that perspective.
“Big data equals big business,” the anonymous executive said to Pew. “Those special interests will continue to block any effective public policy work to ensure security, liberty and privacy online.”
While that may be the case for the United States, some European countries are taking a stand for online privacy and the rights of consumers to control how their personal information is used.
The Netherlands, for instance, recently threatened Google with massive fines if the tech giant does not change their privacy policy to comply with their consumer protection laws.
Another expert said that the very concept of privacy will evolve so much over the next decade that it will be all but unrecognizable compared to the meaning it has today.
“Society’s definitions of ‘privacy’ and ‘freedom’ will have changed so much by 2025 that today’s meanings will no longer apply,” Nick Arnett, a business intelligence expert, said.
The notion of ubiquitous surveillance also came up in the Pew research. Today’s technology has allowed for mass surveillance that was previously unimaginable and experts say this problem will only get worse.
“I do not think 10 years is long enough for policy makers to change the way they make policy to keep up with the rate of technological progress,” said John Wilbanks, chief commons officer for Sage Bionetworks. “We have never had ubiquitous surveillance before, much less a form of ubiquitous surveillance that emerges primarily from voluntary (if market-obscured) choices. Predicting how it shakes out is just fantasy.”
One of the biggest drivers behind the erosion of privacy appears to be the fact that many consumers simply don’t care, according to Bob Briscoe, chief researcher in networking and infrasctructure for British Telecom.
“Lack of concern about privacy stems from complacency because most people’s life experiences teach them that revealing their private information allows commercial (and public) organisations to make their lives easier (by targeting their needs), whereas the detrimental cases tend to be very serious but relatively rare,” Briscoe argued.
An anonymous information science professional agreed.
“Individuals are willing to give up privacy for the reasons of ease, fastness, and convenience,” the anonymous professional said. “If anything, consumer tracking will increase, and almost all data entered online will be considered ‘fair game’ for purposes of analytics and producing ‘user-driven’ ads.”
Whatever the reason, it is hardly arguable at this point that privacy is decreasing in an increasingly connected world.
It remains to be seen if people will actually begin to care about this erosion of privacy or if these experts are right and the future is more bleak than we can even imagine.

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Privacy_will_not_exist_in_10_years%2C_Pew_survey_of_tech_experts_says/40188/0/38/38/Y/M.html

Tuesday 12-23-14

Waterfall freezes over on the Yellow River

Tourists have been flocking to a section of China's Yellow River in far greater numbers recently as part of the Hukou Waterfall has frozen over in the incredibly cold weather.

With temperatures dropping to as low as -12° Celsius, part of China's second-largest waterfall has become a wall of ice, making it seem like someone has emptied the contents of a fire extinguisher over the entire scene.
The Hukou Waterfall is situated where the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi meet and it is roughly 66-ft high.
Located on China's Yellow River - the third-longest on the continent - the waterfall is hugely popular among tourists and the recent cold snap in the area has not deterred many visitors now keen to see the natural phenomenon in its new guise as an ice palace.
One tourist told reporters, "Ice is everywhere. Icicles on the waterfall; everywhere. I did not know the Yellow River could be frozen so it's surprising. I came here specifically for the stunning view of the Yellow River."
While some may be in a hurry to see "Hukou on ice", temperatures in the far west of China may drop even further. Two years ago, the mercury fell to -40° Celsius, so the waterfall could freeze over entirely by the onset of Spring.

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/waterfall-freezes-over-on-the-yellow-river-9942588.html

Monday 12-22-14

It is not over by a long shot, I don't think

Attkisson: CDC Hiding Numbers of Possible Ebola Cases in US

Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Media Buzz,” investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson said the CDC is not putting out the current information on how many potential cases of Ebola they are currently tracking in the Untied States.
Attkisson said, “I called CDC not long ago and I said how many cases are being monitored in the United States and they said 1,400. I said, ‘Where are these updates on your website? ‘ They said they’re not putting it on the web. This is public information we have a right to know and the media should not hype it, but should cover it.”

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2014/12/21/attkisson-cdc-hiding-numbers-of-possible-ebola-cases-in-us/

Saturday 12-20-14

Civil Rights Victory in the Sixth Circuit

The case of Tyler v. Hillsdale, from Michigan, filed in federal court challenging the prohibition on individuals with who have been involuntarily committed or adjudicated mentally defective, as applied to the plaintiffs circumstances. There’s a reason that Dave Hardy is calling this a major case, because I believe this could result in Congress having to restoring funding (denied since 1992) the relief from disabilities program, since the Circuit Court ruled that his rights could not hinge on whether or not a state has implemented its own relief from disabilities program as enacted through the NICS Improvement Amendment Act of 2007.
Note that this is an as applied challenge to the prohibition, not a facial challenge, meaning it’s still presumptively constitutional to prohibit individual with a mental health commitment or adjudication from obtaining firearms. Mr. Tyler, the plaintiff in this case, had a very brief mental health crisis after a messy divorce, and has been fine for years since. The Circuit Court ruled that a lifetime prohibition was a violation of his rights under the Second Amendment.
Violence Policy Center was originally the driving force behind the FOPA restoration of rights provision getting defunded by Congress back in 1992. Sugarmann managed to accomplish this by pointing out cases where felons had their rights restored, then went on to commit heinous crimes. He’s been trying a similar tactic with his “Concealed Carry Killers” campaign. So this ruling will undoubtedly make Josh Sugarmann a very sad panda.
h/t to Robb Allen for the icon.

http://www.pagunblog.com/2014/12/18/civil-rights-victory-in-the-sixth-circuit/

Tuesday 12-16-14

DOD wants bullet that can change direction after being fired

 

New .50-caliber bullets that can change direction after they have been fired could soon make U.S. military snipers more deadly.

The EXACTO program — or Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance — is being developed by California’s Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC at the behest of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to a DARPA video posted on YouTube.

“The objective of the EXACTO program is to revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing the first ever guided small-caliber bullet,” DARPA officials said in a July statement accompanying the video. “The EXACTO .50-caliber round and optical sighting technology expects to greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems.”

The specially designed ammunition can change direction in midair.

How that is done remains a tightly held secret. The Defense Department and its related agencies declined to comment.

DARPA’s statement announced that testing had been successful, a historical first. The video shows two rounds of testing, in February and April. A bullet was deliberately fired off target both times, then changed path. In the second test, it appears to have struck the intended target.

Snipers generally operate in two-man teams — a shooter and a spotter — who have to make adjustment for a number of factors once they’re in position.

For instance, DARPA says sniper teams find places like Afghanistan, with its high winds and dusty terrain, extremely challenging. The Defense Department thinks it is “critical” that snipers engage targets faster and more accurately, which will likely increase safety by concealing their location longer.

DARPA hopes to give them EXACTO soon.

The program’s second phase, completed over the summer, provided a number of improvements, and the current phase will focus on a system-level live-fire test and further refinements, the statement said.

Weapons experts applauded the breakthrough, but they wonder if the technology will translate to success in the field.

Ted Gatchel, professor emeritus at the Naval War College and expert in amphibious warfare, fortifications and small arms, said he doesn’t see a moral dilemma, as guided artillery and bombs are already staples of a modern military, but he has reservations about feasibility. Sniper teams already carry a large amount of gear with them. Gatchel didn’t see how it would be possible to add to that load.

He also saw potential issues with getting off a fast second shot.

After a miss, a team’s spotter generally counsels the shooter on adjustments based on where the first shot hit, or if they are successful, they move to a secondary target. They then take an almost immediate second shot.

Inserting technology into the process could potentially impact that speed.

He also wondered whether a person’s reflexes in guidance, as high-velocity rounds travel faster than sound, would be an issue.

“I don’t know if you push a button and it takes over,” Gatchel said. “I just couldn’t find out enough about the system to know how it works.”

Gatchel also saw potential pitfalls in inserting technology into an arena marked by rough terrain, rain and sand. He used the analogy that a map will still work with a bullet hole in it, while a tablet or a computer might not.

“You still need to train these snipers in the traditional methods,” he said. “Right now, sniping is a real precise art.”

Gatchel said if the program truly works, there is good reason to keep it highly classified, which led him to several other considerations that will likely be taken up by military officials.

Concepts generally precede the ability of technology to execute them, Gatchel said. He pointed to Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of a multibarreled gun that foresaw the invention of the machine gun but couldn’t be realized until the perfection of the self-contained metallic cartridge.

The ability of the enemy to come up with effective countermeasures must also be taken into consideration.

In World War II, the Germans employed a radio-controlled bomb called the Fritz X, Gatchel said, that sank the Italian battleship Roma and damaged a number of ships during the Allied landing at Salerno. Within just a few months, the Allies had developed a means of jamming the radio controls, thus rendering the bombs ineffective.

And some weapons are so lethal that fears over the enemy capturing them and either reverse engineering or developing countermeasures can limit, or outweigh, their use.

Iran recently claimed to have successfully reverse engineered a RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone that it captured.

Taking all of that into account, technological advances such as EXACTO can often contribute to or improve existing programs — or perhaps be used for something else altogether, Gatchel said. So even if it doesn’t find its way to the battlefield, it can still be beneficial.

“I never think it’s a bad idea to try something out,” Gatchel said. But “if it works, you can’t argue against that.”

 

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/dod-wants-bullet-that-can-change-direction-after-being-fired-1.319419

Monday 12-15-14

Some thing good to know

 

 

 

 



Saturday 12-13-14

Cool tool, I like the concept, but it being a fuel container might make it a target, especially if fuel prices go up again.  (You can see a video at the link below)

http://www.etrailer.com/tv-Demo-Rampage-Vehicle-Organizer-RA86619.aspx?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etrailer&utm_content=gas

Review of Rampage Vehicle Organizer RA86619

Today we're going to review part number RA86619. This is the Rampage trailer can locking toolbox with separate compartments, steel construction. This locking toolbox offers storage for tools, gear, and valuables. Has a jerrycan design which will fool the would-be thieves into thinking that the box holds only fuel. It is designed to fit a traditional 5 gallon jerrycan mount. Has a stainless steel lock right up here at the top. Keeps the content safe and secure.

Comes with the 2 keys. Right now it's in the locked position so this cap will not turn to open up the lid. If you put your key in there, right in there, and then you turn it to where it's straight up, take the key out, that will allow you to rotate this cap right here. When you rotate it, it will lift the lid up. Then you can see it has a separate compartment right up here. It also has, if you swing this open, you can see it actually has 2 removable drawers right here that you can take out.

Put them back in. There's a bigger one on the bottom. Up here is a removable top mounted tool tray that lifts out. All of them have these nonslip liners on it to keep the equipment from sliding and shifting in them. Same way on these removable, has the liner on the bottom. Also right here on the front door, you'll see there's holes here.

These are screwdriver storage slots that you can drop screwdrivers in there to hold them into place. The top lid and the front door are hinged for simple access. It is all a sturdy steel construction. Has a corrosion resistant powder coat finish in a glossy red. Then when you go to close this, if you just push this down, you can hear it close. It will actually lock this into place. Now it's still in the open position, so if you want to totally lock it, put your key in, turn your key toward straight 180 degrees across and then with that they can't move that.

They can't get the front door open either. Storage capacity on this is 950 cubic inches. It comes with a 1 year warranty. Give you a few dimensions on this. The overall height, the very bottom to the very top, is going to be right at 18 inches. The width on it is going to be right at 13 inches. The depth on it is going to be right at 6 inches deep. Again, just to show you, we're going to open this up and show you the tool box. Again, it's locked. What you want to do, put the key in, unlock it. Go ahead and twist this cap, raise the lid. Have access to, also has a nice little handle on here. I forgot to show you that earlier. Has a little handle that you can carry it around with. The top one and hinge open the front door. Put your screwdrivers right in here. Pull out your storage bins just like that. Close it. That should do it for the review on part number RA86619, the Rampage trailer can locking tool box with separate compartments in a steel construction. .

'Driving while black' apps give tips for police stops

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A "Driving While Black" smartphone application is set for release this month, but its developers say motorists should be careful when they use it.
"Do not reach for your phone when you are talking to police," stressed attorney Melvin Oden-Orr, who created the app with another Portland lawyer and a software developer.
Avoiding any move that could make officers think you're reaching for a gun is just one of the tips "Driving While Black" offers. And despite its attention-grabbing name, the common-sense advice it offers applies to motorists of all races.
The app describes how people can assert their civil rights with officers, enables drivers to alert friends and family with a push of a button that they've been pulled over, and includes a recording function to document the interaction.
With attention focused nationally on police killings of unarmed black people, it's one of several free smartphone applications that aim to help people navigate encounters with law enforcement.
"Five-O" is an application released this summer by three Georgia teenagers that people can use to create their own "incident reports" on police encounters, and contribute to community databases that rate how individual officers treat people.
And "Mobile Justice," released by American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in four states, enables users to record and upload video of police encounters so that ACLU lawyers can look for due-process violations.
It's modeled on "Stop and Frisk Watch," an app the ACLU released for New Yorkers in 2012.
"It's obviously in the forefront of everybody's mind; the police know they are being recorded and people in public know they can record," said Sarah Rossi, ACLU-Missouri's director of advocacy and policy.
Portland attorney Mariann Hyland got the idea for "Driving While Black" after learning of an app for drivers suspected of drunken driving. She and Oden-Orr collaborated on it with developer James Pritchett.
The term "driving while black" reflects widespread frustration among African-Americans that they are more likely to get pulled over than white people -- a reality confirmed in a Justice Department report last year that also found black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be ticketed and searched than whites.
The key to surviving a traffic stop, Hyland and Oden-Orr say, is to remain calm, keep your hands on the wheel, be respectful and make no false moves.
It doesn't sound difficult, but such encounters can be dangerous for police -- putting them on heightened alert -- and drivers can find it difficult to relax when they feel they're being stopped for their skin color.
"They describe a pattern of getting pulled over by the police, and they find it to be very frustrating and sometimes that frustration can lead to anger," Hyland said. "You have to always be mindful to check the anger."
Their app -- which The Oregonian newspaper reported about last week -- doesn't provide legal advice, but it will include a directory of lawyers for drivers who believe they were wrongfully stopped or searched.
"It's about being safe during a traffic stop so that everyone goes home alive," Oden-Orr said.

http://www.wtop.com/256/3760777/Driving-while-black-apps-give-tips-for-police-stops


DHS: 100 Million Americans Could Lose Power in Major Sun Storm

Millions of Americans face catastrophic loss of electrical power during a future magnetic space storm that will disrupt the electric grid and cause cascading infrastructure failures, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document.
DHS’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stated in an internal 2012 fact sheet outlining its response plan for severe “space weather” that the actual impact and damage from a future solar storm is not known.
“An analysis of the space weather impacts indicates that the greatest challenge will be to provide life-saving and life-sustaining resources for large numbers of people that experience long-term power outage from damage to the U.S. electrical grid,” the FEMA document, dated March 1, 2012, states.
The FEMA fact sheet noted the findings of a 2010 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency that monitors sun storms, warning that an extreme solar storm could leave “130 million people without power for years,” and destroy or damage more than 300 hard-to-replace electrical grid transformers.
Major solar storms are rare. Two major solar disruption events took place in 1859 and 1921, times when electricity was less prevalent than today.
The study said a future solar storm like the great magnetic storm of May 1921 would black out most states east of the Mississippi River along with most states in the Pacific Northwest.
The long-term loss of electrical power likely would produce catastrophic loss of life.
However, the FEMA document disputed that worst-case scenario, noting that in 2011 DHS experts were “not convinced” about the dire consequences outlined in the earlier study.
Still, DHS scientists in 2011 warned that the U.S. electric grid remains vulnerable to damage from an extreme geomagnetic storm. The scientists said the extent of damage to high-voltage transformers from a space storm “are not well known” and the matter needs further study, the report says.
“Based on an analysis of many space weather studies, there does not appear to be specific agreement among space weather and electric industry experts regarding space weather impacts on the U.S. electric grid,” the document says, adding that there is “general agreement among the experts that extreme geomagnetic storms could have significantly damaging impacts on the U.S. electric grid.”
Space weather is defined as conditions on the Sun, in space, in the earth’s magnetic field, and upper atmosphere that impact space and ground technological systems and can “endanger human life on earth,” the report says.
The report outlines the scenario for a major “coronal mass ejection” from the Sun that will first be detected by U.S. satellites. The magnetic band reaches the earth within 24 to 72 hours, affecting up to 100 million people.
The largest such storms, called G-5s, would cause transformers and transmission lines to be “severely damaged.”
The storms last from hours to a day but can disrupt electric power grid operations, GPS satellites, aircraft operations, manned space flight, satellite operations, natural gas distribution pipelines, and undersea communications cables.
GPS satellites could be disrupted causing them to produce false positioning information.
“The extreme geomagnetic space weather event will cause widespread power outages to a large number of people (approximately 100 million people) in a multi-region, multi-state area of the U.S. due to geomagnetic induced currents damaging EHV transformers, especially along coastal regions,” the report says.
Power losses may cause spiraling failures that could lead to loss of systems that control water and wastewater systems, perishable foods and medications, lighting and air conditioning, computer, telephone and communications systems, public transportation, and fuel distribution.
After the magnetic storm passes in some 36 hours, power will be restarted and within 36 hours up to 65 million will regain electric power.
By two weeks, after damaged equipment is replaced or repaired, another 25 million people will have power restored.
However, the report indicates that it would take up to two months to repair or replace damaged electrical power equipment for the remaining 10 million people over six states.
Mark Sauter, an adviser to security companies and coauthor of the textbook Homeland Security: A Complete Guide, said severe space weather poses a major homeland security challenge.
“It occurs rarely, can’t be predicted, full protection is impossibly expensive and the potential impact ranges from inconvenient to cataclysmic,” said Sauter, who obtained the document under the Freedom of Information Act.
“The released documents indicate DHS/FEMA—with buy-in from the electrical industry and U.S. military—has now settled on a ‘plausible’ planning estimate that 25 million Americans could lose power for two weeks and 10 million could be without power for up to two months—and this estimate, the government admits, is 10 percent of one major outside study,” he said.
Sauter said FEMA’s more-than-200-page response plan for dealing with a solar storm was blacked out from the released documents.
“This makes one wonder why FEMA is refusing to release the government’s space weather response plan,” he said. “How would the government deal with 10 million, or many more, Americans without power for two months, or even longer?”
Sauter questioned whether the government is taking the threat of a major solar storm seriously, or is “just going through an obligatory bureaucratic exercise that in reality reflects DHS/FEMA crossing its fingers and hoping that such a plan will never need to be used.”
“Is FEMA simply worried about alarming the public?” Sauter asked. “For example, advice on the DHS Web site urges citizens to disconnect appliances and avoid using the phone during a space weather emergency, but doesn’t go into how people should survive for two months without electricity.”
Peter Pry, a former CIA official who now heads a group that has warned about the impact on the electric grid of a nuclear detonation-caused blackout from electromagnetic pulse, said a congressional EMP Commission warned several years ago of the threat posed by a geomagnetic super storm.
Such an event “could have catastrophic consequences for civilization,” Pry said.
A similar solar blast like the 1859 Carrington Event could collapse electric grids and life-sustaining critical infrastructures worldwide, putting the lives of billions at risk, he said.
U.S. utilities are unprepared for major solar storms such as the Carrington Event or the 1921 magnetic storm.
“We are running out of time to prepare,” Pry said, noting that NASA reported in July that Earth narrowly missed a second Carrington Event.
Pry said current legislation known as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (CIPA) passed the House last week unanimously and would help protect against natural or manmade EMP.
FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre had no comment on the fact sheet and its outline of the potential damage from a major solar storm
“FEMA constantly monitors and plans for all hazards, and that includes the potential impact from a coronal mass ejection,” he said.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/dhs-100-million-americans-could-lose-power-in-major-sun-storm/

Friday 12-12-14

It is amazing that adults would even have to discuss, let alone vote on something as simple as this.  Almost makes you wonder.

Gloucester board: School restrooms gender-specific

GLOUCESTER, Va. (AP) -- The Gloucester County School Board has designated school restrooms as specific to students' biological genders.
The move comes in response to a transgender student's use of boys' restrooms at Gloucester High School.
Media outlets report that the board adopted the gender-specific restroom policy Tuesday night.
The decision drew criticism from the ACLU of Virginia and Equality Virginia. The groups say the policy is discriminatory and will violate federal Title IX requirements.
The ACLU of Virginia says officials at the high school decided this fall to allow 10th- grader Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy, to use boys' restrooms and locker rooms.
Grimm tells media outlets that he's disappointed by the school board's decision.
School Board Chairman Randy Burak says he believes the board's action was in the best interest for all students.

http://www.wtop.com/346/3760089/Gloucester-board-School-restrooms-gender-specific

And who decides who is crazy, want if they decide that your crazy because you don't think the same way you do?

Government In Action: Guns Being Seized By Police From People On Secret List

Legal gun owners in New York State deemed mentally unfit by health professionals are unknowingly being added to a state database for probable future gun confiscation.

As part of provisions listed in the state’s draconian SAFE Act, New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services has found 278 gun owners whom physicians and other “mental health professionals” have identified as mentally unstable, according to a FOIA request submitted by the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Gun owners can be identified by physicians, psychologists, registered nurses or licensed clinical social workers as unfit without their knowledge, as the law does not require health professionals to inform a patient or ask their permission before reporting them to the state.

Some of those identified in the database have reportedly already been visited by police and had their guns confiscated.

Via the Post-Standard:

Cayuga County sheriff’s deputies confiscated guns and took back pistol permits from three residents, one more than the database shows, according to Sgt. John Leja of the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office.

Police in Cortland County confiscated guns from at least one permit holder, according to Cortland County Clerk Elizabeth Larkin, whose office processes gun permits. “We had another man who came in and voluntarily handed us his permit and gave his weapons to the police and said, ‘I don’t want them anymore,’ ” Larkin said.

New York allows gun owners to co-register their weapons with another permitted family member. In that case, Cortland County Clerk Elizabeth Larkin says, “[T]he sheriff’s office or state police would not confiscate them.”

Critics of the mental health database say the fear of being identified will keep many people from seeking much-needed treatment.

“It’s bigger than I had thought,” New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services Executive Director Harvey Rosenthal told the Post-Standard regarding the amount of people identified. “It sends a message to those who might need care that there are a lot of people who are going to be in a database.”

Gun control advocates, however, say the 278 figure is small –  when unfairly compared to the state’s population of 20 million – and claim that guns will only be taken from “individuals who, under no circumstances, should have guns.”

Despite tremendous opposition – scores of New York gun owners last year collectively shred their registration forms in protest of the law - the state remains steadfast in their efforts to seize firearms from the citizenry.

As reported last month, police in Buffalo announced they would begin collecting guns from families who’d suffered the loss of a permitted gun owner.

“We recently started a program where we’re cross referencing all the pistol permit holders with the death records, and we’re sending people out to collect the guns whenever possible so that they don’t end up in the wrong hands,” said Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derrenda.

Some believe SAFE Act supporters and legislators are counting on gun advocates to take their fight to federal court, where a case can be established that could effectively disintegrate the Second Amendment altogether.

“The law’s backers are calling the bluff of gun owners in a very high-stakes gamble,” writes Michael Filozof for American Thinker. “[T]he SAFE Act has – by design – implications far beyond the borders of New York. The law’s backers… know that if the law is upheld in the federal courts, it will be only a matter of time before the opportunity arises for Congress to pass similar legislation for the entire nation, effectively killing the Second Amendment forever.”

Indeed, earlier this year, one of the members of Michael Bloomberg’s now-defunct “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” group penned an alarming op-ed coming clean about the organization’s true intentions: total disarmament of law-abiding gun owners.

“Under the guise of helping mayors facing a crime and drug epidemic, MAIG intended to promote confiscation of guns from law-abiding citizens,” Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik said, confirming what many already suspected about the group.

New York Assemblyman Steven F. McLaughlin, addressing rejected democrat proposals during a New York State Assembly Session shortly following passage of the SAFE Act, also noted that the bill originally mentioned confiscating “assault weapons” and magazines from law-abiding citizens.

Police were already sending notices to people listed on another registry uncovered last year, which targeted New York residents who possessed firearm makes and models now banned under the SAFE Act.

 

http://marketdailynews.com/2014/12/09/government-in-action-guns-being-seized-by-police-from-people-on-secret-list/

Thursday 12-11-14

Is the way we win this war, is by us changing who we are?  I can understand safety for our soldiers and I understand this is UK, but will we do the same thing here? and if so why?  Would it not be better to instead of hiding who we are at war with and we are stop them before it comes to that?  Are we such a County of cowards that it comes to that?  I'm not talking about the regular soldier, but the people that make the decisions, are they really that naïve to think that cowering is the way to get them to stop?

US Troops Warned Not To Wear Uniform In Europe

European Command will not say what has prompted the directive, which affects some 70,000 US service members.

Spokesman Navy Capt Greg Hicks said: "We continually assess threats to our forces with and alongside our host nation counterparts, and take appropriate measures based on those assessments. 

"We will not get into the specifics of those threats nor the assessments."

http://news.sky.com/story/1375750/us-troops-warned-not-to-wear-uniform-in-europe

I came across this site the other day, it is a food calculator for a family, that wants to put up some food for a future time that is worse than now.  I liked it for a lot of reasons, one is because it gives you various ages, also takes into account fruit and oils.

TheFoodGuys.com - Food Storage Calculator

The following calculator will help you figure the minimum food storage amounts needed for your family. These amounts are based on the recommendations listed in the LDS Church's Home Production and Storage manual. These figures are recommendations, and are basic year supply minimums only. You will need to choose the best options and foods you should store for your family.

http://thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html