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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Biggest News Story Not Given To Us
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You may have heard a story a while back about a swine flu virus exploding on a train. Of course we were told not to worry and there was absolutely no link to that accident and the Swine Flu Epidemic. I have to confess I thought the media spin on this was a little odd because why should a dangerous substance such as a virus that could potentially harm the whole world travel on a passenger train I presume in first coach???
Finally a journalist of all people has filed charges against the offending organization and agencies responsible for this. Here is an excerpt.
"In her charges, Burgermeister presents evidence of acts of bioterrorism that is in violation of U.S. law by a group operating within the U.S. under the direction of international bankers who control the Federal Reserve, as well as WHO, UN and NATO. This bioterrorism is for the purpose of carrying out a mass genocide against the U.S. population by use of a genetically engineered flu pandemic virus with the intent of causing death. This group has annexed high government offices in the U.S."
If any part of this story is true then the media has a responsibility to alert the public. For the rest of the story follow this link.
Friday, June 26, 2009
COMFEST 2009
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I will be attending Comfest for the next three days. If you have not ever attended Comfest, you are missing the finest Columbus Festival! Hope to see you there.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Evil Bible Dot Com
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"It always amazes me how many times this God orders the killing of innocent people even after the Ten Commandments said “Thou shall not kill”. For example, God kills 70,000 innocent people because David ordered a census of the people (1 Chronicles 21). God also orders the destruction of 60 cities so that the Israelites can live there. He orders the killing of all the men, women, and children of each city, and the looting of all of value (Deuteronomy 3). He orders another attack and the killing of “all the living creatures of the city: men and women, young, and old, as well as oxen sheep, and asses” (Joshua 6). In Judges 21, He orders the murder of all the people of Jabesh-gilead, except for the virgin girls who were taken to be forcibly raped and married. When they wanted more virgins, God told them to hide alongside the road and when they saw a girl they liked, kidnap her and forcibly rape her and make her your wife! Just about every other page in the Old Testament has God killing somebody! In 2 Kings 10:18-27, God orders the murder of all the worshipers of a different god in their very own church! In total God kills 371,186 people directly and orders another 1,862,265 people murdered." Here is the link to Evil Bible.com.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Public Art or Eyesore?
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Every week James Howard Kunstler does a program called the Kunstler Cast hosted by Duncan Creary. This week and next week Jim and Duncan explore the subject of public art and public eyesores.
I took art classes in college and remember these non artistic pieces of art that were really poking fun at the publics ignorance of what constitutes art. This sculpture is called erosion and is a perfect example of a public eyesore masquerading as art, in my opinion. But as both Duncan and Jim point out, it is a perfect fit for the ugly building it is in front of! I can't wait till next episode of the Kunstler Cast, to see what other "treasures" are presented.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
This Should Be Required Reading
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I follow a blog called CLUBORLOV which is a blog from the author of Reinventing Collapse by Dmitry Orlov.
This talk was presented at The New Emergency Conference in Dublin, on June 11, 2009.
"we all have to prepare for life without much money, where imported goods are scarce, and where people have to provide for their own needs, and those of their immediate neighbours. I will take as my point of departure the unfolding collapse of the global economy, and discuss what might come next. It started with the collapse of the financial markets last year, and is now resulting in unprecedented decreases in the volumes of international trade. These developments are also starting to affect the political stability of various countries around the world. A few governments have already collapsed, others may be on their way, and before too long we may find our maps redrawn in dramatic ways."
For the complete talk follow this link.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Day Turns Into Night!
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This is Bejing China around 11:30AM after a storm! I find it odd that pollution is not even mentioned in the story.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Avett Brothers Come To Columbus This Weekend
This is one of my favorite Avett Brother tunes. They will be performing at The Newport Music Hall Saturday night, June 20th. I can hardly wait!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Knife Making 101
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Several years ago I began making knives as a hobby. Due too doomerish circumstances I ended up having to tear down my workshop for a considerably long time. Several knife projects have been on terminal hold. I started making knives again recently and I had forgotten how enjoyable the experience! When I went to the gun show last month I was overwhelmed with the amount of knives for sale...most of them Chinese imports. I am half way through a knife project today, and looking to start another. Thanks to the HD TV switchover I will have lots more time for my other hobbies.
Friday, June 12, 2009
H D-Day (What will I do instead?)
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Thanks to my friend Bonie, I know what I am going to replace my little TV with once the HD- TV replaces my analogue. No chance of reprogramming me now! I am not sorry to see regular scheduled programming go. They will have to give me a free TV in order for me to sign up for the future programming. Guess I am just gonna be out of the loop!
I got this from Wikipedia!
Advantages of HDTV expressed in non-technical terms
High-definition television (HDTV) yields a better-quality image than standard television does, because it has a greater number of lines of resolution. The visual information is some 2-5 times sharper because the gaps between the scan lines are narrower or invisible to the naked eye. The larger the size of the television the HD picture is viewed on, the greater the improvement in picture quality. On smaller televisions there may be no noticeable improvement in picture quality.
The lower-case "i" appended to the numbers denotes interlaced; the lower-case "p" denotes progressive. With the interlaced scanning method, the 1,080 lines of resolution are divided into pairs. The first 540 alternate lines are painted on a frame and then the second 540 lines are painted on a second frame. The progressive scanning method simultaneously displays all 1,080 lines on every frame, requiring a greater bandwidth.
[edit] Disadvantages of HDTV expressed in non-technical terms
[edit] Limitations to picture quality
In practice, the best possible HD quality is not usually achieved. The main problem is that many operators do not follow HDTV specifications fully. They may use lower bitrates or smaller resolution to pack more channels within the limited bandwidth, reducing video quality.[23] The operators may use a format that is different from the original programming, introducing artifacts in the process of re-encoding.[24] Also, image quality may be lost if the television is not properly connected to the input device or not properly configured for the input's optimal performance, which may be difficult because of customer confusion regarding connections. Also, some HDTV broadcasters intentionally distort the aspect ratio of program material for convenience, for example, when horizontally stretching the 4:3 source used for the standard-definition version of their channel up to 16:9 for the HDTV version of their channel, resulting in an image where objects are too "short and fat". The proper approach (properly obtaining a true 16:9 version of the source material instead of horizontally-stretching the 4:3 version) is not always used. This aspect-skewing "shortcut to 16:9" has been observed on several so-called "16:9" major HDTV cable channels in the USA as recently as June 2009 with the FOOD Network HD channel and HGTV HD channel being two examples.
[edit] Connector cables
Appropriate cabling must be used. Either HDMI, DVI, component video or VGA cables must be used to support a high-definition signal. For instance, if composite or S-Video cables are used for connections from a cable box or satellite dish then only an SDTV quality picture will be seen. Component video cables are RCA cables that are color coded for proper signal. They consist of three video cables (green, blue, and red), two audio cables (red and white), and they carry an analog signal. HDMI cables carry all the video and audio in one cable using a digital signal.
[edit] Signal quality
As high-definition video broadcasts are digital, the disadvantages of digital video broadcasting also apply. For example, digital video responds differently from analog video when subject to interference. Unlike in analog television broadcasting, in which interference causes only gradual image and sound degradation, interference in a digital television broadcast will freeze, skip, or display "garbage" information. This is often called the "cliff effect" where one either gets a perfect picture or none at all. The quality of the antenna is especially important, especially in DVB-T which is extremely sensitive to impulse noise from electrical appliances or automobiles and may require the installation of fully shielded antenna cables in order to successfully receive a picture.
Early ATSC receivers were very sensitive to dynamic multipath interference. Third and fourth generation receivers, in place since 2001, have made ATSC as resistant to multipath as DVB.
[edit] Aspect ratio
In order to view HDTV broadcasts, viewers may have to upgrade their TVs at some expense. Adding a new aspect ratio makes for consumer confusion if a display is capable of more than one ratio but must be switched to the correct one by the user. Traditional standard definition programs and feature films (mostly movies from before 1953) originally filmed in the standard 4:3 ratio, when displayed correctly on an HDTV monitor, will have empty display areas to the left and right of the image. Many consumers aren't satisfied with this unused display area and choose instead to distort their standard definition shows by stretching them horizontally to fill the screen, giving everything the appearance of being too wide or not tall enough. Alternatively, viewers may choose to zoom the image which removes content that was on the top and bottom of the original TV show.[25]
[edit] Confusion about formats
Another disadvantage of HDTV compared to traditional television has been consumer confusion stemming from the different standards and resolutions, such as 1080i, 1080p, and 720p. Complicating the matter have been the changes in television connections from component video, to DVI, then to HDMI. Finally, the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray Disc high definition storage format war for a period of time created confusion for consumers. This particular format war was "settled" with Blu-ray emerging as the victorious standard when Toshiba withdrew from the HD DVD format in February 2008, and then the HD DVD Promotion Group was dissolved on March 28, 2008.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saving Electricity
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I found a great site that helps you save electricity and money! Click here and start saving.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Welcome Back To Norka Lydia Brownfield.
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Lydia Brownfield will be performing at Norka Futon tonight at Gallery Hop. Check out her fan site.
Also multi media artist's Nicole and Shannon Frecken. Come on out and rock out with Lydia, Shannon, and Nicole.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Who Killed The Electric Car
Talk about reinventing the wheel. We have already had an electric car only to have it destroyed! This is part one of a ten part movie. Check it out. See if you can shed a tear for GM, Chrysler, or Ford!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Goodbye GM by Michael Moore
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I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.
As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?
It is with sad irony that the company which invented "planned obsolescence" -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to "improve" the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.
So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors. The company's body not yet cold, and I find myself filled with -- dare I say it -- joy. It is not the joy of revenge against a corporation that ruined my hometown and brought misery, divorce, alcoholism, homelessness, physical and mental debilitation, and drug addiction to the people I grew up with. Nor do I, obviously, claim any joy in knowing that 21,000 more GM workers will be told that they, too, are without a job.
But you and I and the rest of America now own a car company! I know, I know -- who on earth wants to run a car company? Who among us wants $50 billion of our tax dollars thrown down the rat hole of still trying to save GM? Let's be clear about this: The only way to save GM is to kill GM. Saving our precious industrial infrastructure, though, is another matter and must be a top priority. If we allow the shutting down and tearing down of our auto plants, we will sorely wish we still had them when we realize that those factories could have built the alternative energy systems we now desperately need. And when we realize that the best way to transport ourselves is on light rail and bullet trains and cleaner buses, how will we do this if we've allowed our industrial capacity and its skilled workforce to disappear?
Thus, as GM is "reorganized" by the federal government and the bankruptcy court, here is the plan I am asking President Obama to implement for the good of the workers, the GM communities, and the nation as a whole. Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions:
1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.
We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of the planet.
The other front in this war is being waged by the oil companies against you and me. They are committed to fleecing us whenever they can, and they have been reckless stewards of the finite amount of oil that is located under the surface of the earth. They know they are sucking it bone dry. And like the lumber tycoons of the early 20th century who didn't give a damn about future generations as they tore down every forest they could get their hands on, these oil barons are not telling the public what they know to be true -- that there are only a few more decades of useable oil on this planet. And as the end days of oil approach us, get ready for some very desperate people willing to kill and be killed just to get their hands on a gallon can of gasoline.
President Obama, now that he has taken control of GM, needs to convert the factories to new and needed uses immediately.
2. Don't put another $30 billion into the coffers of GM to build cars. Instead, use that money to keep the current workforce -- and most of those who have been laid off -- employed so that they can build the new modes of 21st century transportation. Let them start the conversion work now.
3. Announce that we will have bullet trains criss-crossing this country in the next five years. Japan is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first bullet train this year. Now they have dozens of them. Average speed: 165 mph. Average time a train is late: under 30 seconds. They have had these high speed trains for nearly five decades -- and we don't even have one! The fact that the technology already exists for us to go from New York to L.A. in 17 hours by train, and that we haven't used it, is criminal. Let's hire the unemployed to build the new high speed lines all over the country. Chicago to Detroit in less than two hours. Miami to DC in under 7 hours. Denver to Dallas in five and a half. This can be done and done now.
4. Initiate a program to put light rail mass transit lines in all our large and medium-sized cities. Build those trains in the GM factories. And hire local people everywhere to install and run this system.
5. For people in rural areas not served by the train lines, have the GM plants produce energy efficient clean buses.
6. For the time being, have some factories build hybrid or all-electric cars (and batteries). It will take a few years for people to get used to the new ways to transport ourselves, so if we're going to have automobiles, let's have kinder, gentler ones. We can be building these next month (do not believe anyone who tells you it will take years to retool the factories -- that simply isn't true).
7. Transform some of the empty GM factories to facilities that build windmills, solar panels and other means of alternate forms of energy. We need tens of millions of solar panels right now. And there is an eager and skilled workforce who can build them.
8. Provide tax incentives for those who travel by hybrid car or bus or train. Also, credits for those who convert their home to alternative energy.
9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.
Well, that's a start. Please, please, please don't save GM so that a smaller version of it will simply do nothing more than build Chevys or Cadillacs. This is not a long-term solution. Don't throw bad money into a company whose tailpipe is malfunctioning, causing a strange odor to fill the car.
100 years ago this year, the founders of General Motors convinced the world to give up their horses and saddles and buggy whips to try a new form of transportation. Now it is time for us to say goodbye to the internal combustion engine. It seemed to serve us well for so long. We enjoyed the car hops at the A&W. We made out in the front -- and the back -- seat. We watched movies on large outdoor screens, went to the races at NASCAR tracks across the country, and saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time through the window down Hwy. 1. And now it's over. It's a new day and a new century. The President -- and the UAW -- must seize this moment and create a big batch of lemonade from this very sour and sad lemon.
Yesterday, the last surviving person from the Titanic disaster passed away. She escaped certain death that night and went on to live another 97 years.
So can we survive our own Titanic in all the Flint Michigans of this country. 60% of GM is ours. I think we can do a better job.
Yours,Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com/