A few random thoughts - Climate/Global Warming - UK climate researcher Phil Jones, the head of the British Climatic Research Unit tells the BBC(1) that the recent warming trend that began in 1975 is not at all different than two other planetary warming phases since 1850; there has been no statistically significant warming since 1995, and; it is possible the Medieval Warm Period was indeed a global phenomenon thereby making the temperatures seen in the latter part of the 20th century by no means unprecedented. And there is little mention of it in the press. PA School Spies on Students, at Home - Here we have a Pennsylvania School District spying on its students at home. They spying occurred over/through laptops that students were given by the district. The district- Lower Merion School District -, which operates Harriton High School, has given/loaned out , 2,300 of the Apple laptop’s to every student in the district. According to CBS news(2) - The suit claims a Harriton High School official enabled the device, concerned the sophomore was “engaged in improper behavior in his home.” An assistant principal later confronted the student, citing a photograph taken by the webcam as evidence. “She thought I was selling drugs which is completely false,” Blake said. The camera is right here. And the lens is able to pick up a wide angle shot of anything directly in front of it. One of these Apple Computers is provided to every high school student in the Lower Merion School District, 2,300 in all. The school says the feature is only used to locate a lost, stolen or missing laptop, and that they used the feature 42 times to recover 28 laptops over 14 months. In a report from Sci-Tech Today(3) The Robbins said they first learned of the remote monitoring capability on Nov. 11 when an assistant principal at one of the district’s two high schools told their son that he was “engaged in improper behavior in his home,” according to the lawsuit, and the evidence was a photograph from the webcam in his laptop. According to their suit, the father then verified with the assistant principal that the district can remotely activate and view through the webcam. The FBI is now looking into the case as a violation of Federal Wiretap laws. TSA To Swab Passengers Hands - The TSA is implementing a new mobile swabbing and analyzing unit at airports. The swabbing can and is being used at locations past the security screening checkpoint. According to CNN(4) Under the new protocols, tests will be conducted at various locations — including in checkpoint lines, during the screening process and at gates. Newer, more portable machines make it easier to conduct tests away from fixed locations such as the checkpoint. … The TSA said the machines test only for explosives. It declined to specify which explosives, citing security reasons. While the machines do test for explosives, the machines also test for illegal drugs(5) . According to information in a recent No Agenda Show(5) the machine – the IonScan 400b – , when tested on a TSA employee for a local news video segment, the machine tested false positive at least 4 times(6) . Footnotes are for reference only and may have little, if anything to do with the text from the post. See BBC article here. See CBS article here. See Sci-Tech Today article here. See CNN article here. See show notes for NA here. See 27 min mark into podcast for segment. See related FoxNews43 video here. Exciting, huh?

It’s never easy to hear of or see a child in pain. When it is your child, it’s a thousand fold more difficult. I was, yet again, reminded of this when my youngest had her heart broken. It was the result of the loss of a family member.
She had, along with her eldest sister and her eldest sisters friend, won four feeder gold fish at her schools carnival last school year. The fish grew and grew. They were so large infact that we were looking to get them into a pond and out of their 10 gallon tank. As life is want to do, being the fleeting, elusive force it is, two of the fish died today. My youngest was/is heartbroken over it. Being a parent and not having the words to help her learn from this important life event is doubly hard. More so when I’m not there to comfort and atleast hold her.
Her eldest sister made two cardboard caskets for the fish and put the kanji for peace on each lid. They were burried at our inlaws house while I was at work. I am, as ever, so very proud of my liitle girl. She has a heart as big as the world even though that means her heart will get hurt more than most… and that she will feel each pain as though it were the first time, each time.

Portland, Oregon is no stranger to acts of domestic terrorism. The most frequent type committed are acts by extremist animal rights groups (ELF, PETA, ALF) against furriers and the Oregon Health Science University’s (OHSU) Oregon National Primate Research Center. The most heated “demonstrations” have been in front of downtown furriers business’. Their actions resulted in the eventual closing of Schumacher Furs and, a year later the start of protests outside Nicholas Ungar Furs. In November, 2009 Horst Grimm, the owner of Nicholas Ungar Furs, won court order requiring four anti-fur activists to stay at least 50 feet away from Grimm and 15 feet away from his downtown Portland store(1) . The most notable recent case of Domestic Terrorism in Portland occurred on January 27th, 2010 in front of Nicholas Ungar Furs(2). An apparently distraught Daniel Shaull lit himself on fire and attempted to enter the furrier’s shop. Shaull was heard by passersby shouting, “There are animals dying! Animals dying!” Fortunately for the furrier, the entry door was locked and Shaull was unable to enter. A passing Portland Police Bureau Officer saw what was happening and retrieved what she believed was a fire extinguisher from the trunk of her patrol car and tried to extinguish the flames. Inadvertently the officer grabbed a red, riot sized can of pepper spray. A motorist did grab and extinguisher and with the help of additional PPB Officers, Shaull’s flames were put out. Shaull was transported to Emmanuel Hospital where he later died. Mentally disturbed, as his father states he was(3) or not, Shaull’s actions were those of a terrorist. To search Google for ‘Daniel Shaull‘ you get blogs touting Shaull’s “Ultimate Sacrafice” and “We must not let these supreme sacrifices go unlauded”. More propaganda to use a mentally disturbed terrorists actions to further Extremist goals. What was his goal, if not terrorist in nature then, to immolate yourself and then enter a business? While I do feel for the Shaull family, and I can empathize with Daniel Shaull’s issues, I will not sit here and say he was “just suicidal” or that his actions were not terroristic.

.(3) The Portland Anti Fur Campaign  was just alerted to the action outside Nicholas Ungar Furs earlier today [Wednesday]. We do not know who this person was nor do we know what his intentions were. If his intentions were to raise awareness of unnecessary animal suffering and killing done in the fur industry, and by businesses like Ungar Furs, then we wish him well. We are not saying that we want people to light themselves on fire and run into fur shops, but we do understand that sometimes you have to make noise and make a scene to stand up for the animals. It is really unfortunate that one would feel as if they must take such drastic measures, yet, this Fur Store has continued their bloody business despite protests outside for 3 years now. If the person’s motivation was to bring media attention to the issue, they obviously achieved their goal. Raise your fist, and your voice, Fox and Mink have no Choice! Footnotes are for reference only and may have little, if anything to do with the text from the post. Source: KATU.com. Source: OregonLive.com Source: KGW.com Exciting, huh?

Five years ago I turned in all my gear, went to a going away party, packed my car and drove out of Colorado.

It was January 28th, 2005 and I was no longer a cop waiting for my next shift to begin. I was me, heading out to Oregon, my wife and family and the rest of my life – life after a great time in my 13+ years in law enforcement and the rest of my life as whatever I chose to be. What I left behind were great friends and three daughters from my first marriage. I have been back to see friends, and mostly my girls over the intervening years. It’s always good to go for a visit, but it’s no longer home. I have grown a lot in the last few years and been through numerous personal trials. All of it has made me a far better man now than I was before. What got me thinking about this was the sudden realization that today was five years… Be safe.

I have become a Wazer, Wazian… a Waze user. Waze is a social GPS navigation system for iPhone, Android, WinMo and Symbian phones. Waze offers turn by turn navigation and road condition updates.  From the Waze site – Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road. 100% powered by users, the more you drive, the better it gets. Here is a video about Waze by Robert Scoble featuring Di-Ann Eisnor, community geographer of Waze.

I installed the application late yesterday on my iPhone. So far, I have to say, its a very ‘fun’ GPS Navigation application that, most of the time(1) , can get you where your going. Waze is FREE(2) . Here are some screen shots from the three main platforms-

You can get Waze here (or just to learn more). Footnotes are for reference only and may have little, if anything to do with the text from the post. I have run into a few instances where the app did not know or could not find a valid street number. Free as in BEER. Exciting, huh?

I came across this while studying up on H1N1(1) . According to one article(2) , the H1N1 mortality rate is 1 per 1,000 infected with 40 of the infected needing hospitalization. Even the seasonal flu has mortality rate similar to that of H1N1(3)  at less than 0.1%. Even this is low when compared to H5N1(4) which has a mortality rate of 592 per 1,000 or 60%. H5N1 is HUGE com compared to H1N1, and H1N1 is NOTHING compared to this killer. In my reading I came across the most disturbing fact, the world is facing a 100% mortality rate. Never mind infants, children, teens, adults or the aged(5) , I’m talking 100%.. You, me, and that annoying guy at the bus stop… everyone From what I can see, based on very minor sleuthing on my part(6) , the governments of the world are doing NOTHING about it.  There have been no international conventions held to even discuss this fatal disease. And, as far as I can tell, it has only been brought up in passing. Take, as an example of the utter lack of media coverage, this post from 1997 addressing the issue(7)  - Under a proposed bill – all federal funds will be withheld from the medical industry until it “gets serious and starts cracking…” We are under the guise that this extremely high mortality rate does not apply to us. In looking at graphs(8) for mortality rate, based on country, the impression is not one of urgency. Instead we are presented with -

Rank Countries Amount Date

1

Swaziland: 30.7 deaths/1,000 population 2008

2

Angola: 24.44 deaths/1,000 population 2008

3

Lesotho: 22.33 deaths/1,000 population 2008

4

Sierra Leone: 22.26 deaths/1,000 population 2008

5

Liberia: 21.45 deaths/1,000 population 2008

6

Zambia: 21.35 deaths/1,000 population 2008

7

Mozambique: 20.29 deaths/1,000 population 2008

8

Niger: 20.26 deaths/1,000 population 2008

9

Afghanistan: 19.56 deaths/1,000 population 2008

10

Djibouti: 19.16 deaths/1,000 population 2008

These types of charts are designed to give  the impression that its only X per 1000 who need worry. This cannot be further from the truth. As they say, it looks good on paper and keeps the public misinformed. By posting only certain ‘Mortality Rate’ graphs, it leads the average person to assume that, statistically, they are at no more risk than anyone else. Take for example the United States average ‘Mortality’ rate from the same source as above.

106

United States: 8.27 deaths/1,000 population 2008

The average American looks at this data and sees that only 8.27 people per 1000 die in any given year. While that sounds hopeful, and gives the false impression that the condition – should it be acquired – is not always fatal, does not tell the whole story. It shows only that in any given year, 2,481,000  +/- Americans die from this condition. It does not say how long the process takes nor does it mention that the condition is ALWAYS fatal. We have had people suffering from this condition for over 100 years. One, Ulialia Peres Gien(9) , suffered for over 140 years before finally succumbing. Others are not as lucky and the disease kills them shortly after birth. Race, and religion have no effect on the ultimate outcome. People have been overcome with the disease while driving and operating cars, trucks and trains, in the middle of concerts, in bed… If you contrast this with the Firearms Mortality Rate(10) you can see that we are talking to widely different animals. This chart is solely those killed by firearms, while the national mortality rate is by all causes. This cart is also misleading in that its per 100,000 persons, not the 1000 used in the Mortality Rate chart above.

Rank States Amount

1

District of Columbia: 31.2 (.31(11) )

2

Alaska: 20 (.2(11) )

3

Louisiana: 19.5 (.19(11) )

4

Wyoming: 18.8 (.18(11) )

5

Arizona: 18 (.18(11) )

= 6 Nevada: 17.3 (.17(11) )

= 6 Mississippi: 17.3 (.17(11) )

8

New Mexico: 16.6 (.16(11) )

9

Arkansas: 16.3 (.16(11) )

10

Alabama: 16.2 (.16(11) )

Additionally, we know that not everyone will suffer fatal mortality in this manner. This is a true national and world wide tragedy with only the medical and pharmaceutical industries truly benefiting from the continued lack of finding a cure. Even with the current advances in medical treatment, we will come to a point where we will be unable to sustain, let alone maintain, world population levels. In light of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – in strict violation of their name and stated purpose – utter failure to come up with prevention plans,  I have come up with a few precautions to be followed to help prevent the spread of Mortality -

At the 1st sign you may be suffering from mortality, call in sick to work. This, I believe, will help stop a majority of person to person spreading of the disease. If you suspect a loved one or friend may be suffering from this condition, call 9-1-1. Every minute counts.

Mortality must be stopped.  How long will we allow our loved ones to succumb to this condition? How many aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, co-workers and strangers will we allow to die before we take action? We can no longer afford to stand by and do nothing(12) . Footnotes are for reference only and may have little, if anything to do with the text from the post. Swine flu.. See source article here. Source here. Avian or Bird Flu. we used to just call them old when I was a kid. Google is your friend. See original post here. Our graph was obtained from here. Source for age here. Obtained here. adjusted x/1000 This has been a work of satire and was written for fun. Exciting, huh?