Thursday, September 11, 2014

Rubio and Obama both miss the Obvious

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Seems both Rubio and Obama consider ISIS a tough nut to crack, and hint not too subtly that USA ground troops may be needed.  They both state that a Big Problem with ISIS is that it is well funded with oil money, which they go right on selling on a daily basis.

During WWII, Operation Tidal Wave was unsuccessful, but at least it showed we knew what was important:

KNOCK OUT THE OIL SUPPLIES!

Given our knowledge of oil extraction and transport facilities, it should not be too hard to figure out what surgical strikes are needed to stop this source of revenue without completely destroying the  components needed to rebuild after ISIS is no more.  Why on earth should there be a hands off attitude on this ever so obvious target?

Is our goal is to knock out ISIS, but only if it can be done without jiggering with the world's oil supply too much?  If so, American servicepeople should be notified of what they are fighting for, in this case The Seven Sisters, and allowed to opt out.

Massive solar installs within the USA would strike a blow to ISIS from which they would never recover. Simple simple, but not anything the Seven Sisters will support.  Know your enemy, it ain't ISIS.  If you look up just "The Seven Sisters" on Wikipedia, you have to scroll way down to find a reference to the book.  If you add in Oil Companies, they know the jig is up, and that you already know what the reference means, and they do given you a bit, which is inaccurate,  The term goes way back before the 1950's.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_%28oil_companies%29

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

On the Bicycle "Problem."

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If you can't figure out how to drive safely and comfortably past cyclists and all other persons, animals, and fallen trees, etc., you need to either slow down, pay more attention to the road, or get a smaller, narrower vehicle, or possibly all three. Thanks for all who have helped me formulate this stand. Too bad it won't fit on a bumper sticker.

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Stone Bear vs the Nevada County Cro-Magnons

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Well this is a side on NC I'd never heard of: 

http://stonebearman.wix.com/savestonebear#!about/c14xv

What to do about ISIS ?

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 Our entire foreign policy is based of keeping the oil companies as necessary and integral parts of our transportation system and economy.  They pay to lobby against the most logical way to make the Middle East a more civilized place in the long run.  That way is to have the USA government make solar power into a complete replacement for our oil centric transportation system, be it socialized or subsidized by the tax payers capitalism.  The citizens of the USA would get far more for their money in the long run via solar, and none would have to fight and die abroad, for the sake of the shareholders of the Seven Sisters, AKA, the Big Oil companies of the world.

The on-going wars for oil have resulted in the latest seemingly un-winnable situation, but I may have a partial solution:

Given that this is basically a guerrilla war situation, and we have failed hopelessly at using the solar option, I would propose the following technique to dispose of the fighters with as few civilian casualties as possible.

Drop extra ammo on them, where every 100th, 50th, 10th, or so round explodes in the chamber, using C4, to take out the user and anyone nearby.

To get this kind of ammo to them, there are several possible ways:

Have a group in an active firefight withdraw from the field, leaving behind ample supplies.

On an active battlefield, have small quad copter drones fly it in and leave it.  

Send a boxcar from Aleppo to Ar Raqqah (ISIS HQ), also containing hundreds of small drones.  Have those drones pre-flight instructed to go to hundreds of different sites around the city, in the dead of night, and then return to their boxcar post-flight.

In all cases, it would be best to find out if there is any standard packaging that the ISIS fighters are accustomed to, and to use it. 

This could also be done with larger artillery shells, but in that case, make each and every one be a C4 packed shell.

One other thing, when the C4 goes off, it also releases a dye, that contaminates all the remaining shell in the vicinity, so that should a friendly fighter, Peshmerga or who ever, will not use them, and it will aid in the careful handling of such shells for disposal, afterwards.

In short order the scene in ISIS would become one of:  "Sarge, are you sure this ammo is OK?"  "yeah, go ahead, use it."   KABOOM!   The chain of command would become very much so distrusted, and at least one less fighter and one less rifle, or artillery piece, with each successful hit. 

The oil companies will never allow this to be implemented, as I would agree with many, keeping the average American scared, is their goal, so that "bidness"  selling oil Texas style, can continue as usual.  I will again remind folks that one nuke placed in Galveston Bay will knock out 25% of USA refining capacity, and thus do major damage to our infra-structure, and that national security, if taken seriously, demands we decentralize our dependence on oil for our transportation needs. 

Saturday, May 24, 2014

How to Stop the Slaughter of Innocents, Revisited.

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On Nevada County Vents I was asked how I would stop the killings, Sandy Hook and Santa Barbara.

Outlined it before, but here you go again. 

 

Want to buy a gun? You get a thorough background check, and you post a bond, equal to at least 1/2 the value of the weapon. 

 

After a year goes by, you have 6 months to go to a bombproof drive through, put your guns in a drawer, the guns are whisked inside, the serial numbers are checked against the sale photos, a test bullet is fired and saved. You get your guns back. 

 

 If you don't have them, the government keeps the bond, and you are not allowed to buy another gun for five years. If you can't afford the 1/2 the cost, there will be plenty of insurance companies willing to step in and help out, for a fee of course. 

 

Now here's my latest wrinkle. Before you can buy a gun, you have to get three people who have known you for over 1 year to declare to the government that you are not likely to be or go nuts. Just three people, mind you. If they turn out to be wrong, 50% of any tax refund due to each one of them, will be deducted next IRS time. Wrong would include anything that involves illegal activity and your weapon. (losing it, anyone shot with it (including yourself) etc. 

 

If you lose your weapon to a documented theft from your premises, this bond loss does not occur. Documented theft would include before pictures of secured to building gun safe, and guns in the safe, and then either the damage done to the structure or if it is still there, the remains of the safe. You must notified the local sheriff within 48 hours if such a break-in occurs. Obviously you can rig an alarm that notifies you over the internet. 

 

In short, you can keep all the guns you want, but you've got to have others to vouch for your sanity, and you have to keep them secure. 

 

In time, crime committed with guns can be quickly traced to the owner, and to the locality where a theft may have occurred. Owners will have a much greater chance of getting their guns back if the thieves are caught for anything, even if they file off the serial numbers. Remember the test round? That provides the ID that gets your gun returned to you. I assume you have no problem with that aspect of things. BTW you did ask how, so here is my answer.

 

Test rounds do not work for shotguns, sorry about that.

 

A few notes that cropped up:

 

  • Jennifer Olson Doug, are you trying to change his beliefs or are you trying to be right ?
  • Jennifer Olson It's like spitting in the wind..
  • Davi Rodrigues Douglas, I commend you on devising a plan. It is, unworkable and unconstitutional though. Putting up a bond just to exercise a constitutional right? that would be struck down like the poll tax. The poor couldn't afford to have a right. The three wise men to sign for you is another failure. This is a fundamental right douglas. Fundamental rights do not hinge upon your knowing 3 people that would lose out if you failed somehow.
  • Davi Rodrigues Also, test round firing results would be very difficult to match up by the results alone. They're like analyzing lie detector graphs. The manpower it takes would be prohibitive
  • Douglas Keachie We The People is supposed to mean something. We do not stand as individuals in the bleeping wilderness, we bond and know one another, at least within small groups. Are you telling me you don't have three people who can stick their necks out for you? Well T.S. Elliot, learn to be a little more social before we give you a deadly weapon with REACH well beyond you mind, apparently.
  • Jennifer Olson You just have a stronger stomach than me Douglas , I understand what you are saying and it is maddening to me that others don't . When it becomes emotional I no longer find myself being rational I find myself being defensive because it is maddening .. ...See More
  • Davi Rodrigues I know 3 people, but I know others who don't. But once again, individual rights do not hinge upon your friends and neighbors extending them to you
  • Douglas Keachie A society has to protect itself from within its members. Using shrinks is maybe ok for some obvious defects, but just as we have 12 of our peers on a jury, to decide all kinds of things about our "fundamental rights," so then can we round up three fri...See More
  • Davi Rodrigues We're not talking about just three people knowing you. we're looking for three people to co-sign for you
  • Douglas Keachie That's exactly right! Of course, they might like you to co-sign for them. So it shouldn't be that hard, and also would let you know who your friends really are. This is getting delicious!
  • Ae Stewart It's a sad day in Isle Vista. Spent some time there when I was younger, going to bed.
  • Jennifer Olson Agreed Ae.. Stepping away from this debate .. Sleep sounds like a much better option . I find myself thinking of loss not politics. Sad indeed. Finding nothing at all "delicious" about this topic
    9 mins · Edited · Like · 1
  • Ae Stewart There doesn't seem to be an emoticon for "tears..."
  • Douglas Keachie "The manpower it takes would be prohibitive" can be done by computers, just like facial analysis.
  • Douglas Keachie I take my best throughts and place them where I can reference them easily in other debates, and where my offspring can see I at least tried, and maybe they can build on it: http://farstars.blogspot.com/.../how-to-stop-slaughter-of...

 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Republicans WaterGating Again

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No shame and totally unaware that we can all read their stuff as they attempt a "sneak attack."  Very funny, really, I do feel like Bugs Bunny or Tweety Bord.  http://www.redstate.com/diary/davenj1/2011/05/15/weakening-the-democratic-base-part-5-liberal-netroots/

Monday, April 21, 2014

Another SciFi Starter Kit

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Establish a prison in Antarctica. Cells with no social media or news of the outside world, past the date of internment. Each cell with a door to the outside and freedom, and totally sound proof. Only one of said cell door per square mile can open once every 24 hours, unless the person returns to it. Each cell with an unbreakable picture window, looking out at the snow. 365 day sentence for anyone found with an illegal gun, very brief trials, one level of appeal. Lose that and you are penquin for a year.

The Future of the World, and Schools

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The wheels of cultural change move slowly. From what I can see, both sides are blind to the biggies. Factories will become much more automated. Robots will become much improved, and most common jobs will be taken over, or done remotely drone style through robots by the lowest bidder, even if they are on the opposite side of the planet.

Thus a great deal of the population will become “surplus” in the job market, yet still in need of the basics of food, shelter, clothing, and medicine. Letting youngsters know at an early age that they will have to choose to chart a course to avoid being stuck on the bottom of this 2050 food chain is crucial, and actively exploring alternatives and directions with them will be at the heart of any educational plan that will do them any good. As for public schools I would see them changing drastically, into spots where many are informed of their fate, as they watch the ultra rich grab onto more any more of the previously general public’s wealth, and given “common core” skills, just so they can understand their predicament, and make a non rioting transition to this Brave New World.

I will predict that in time legislation will show up to encourage later pregnancies via 90% ed credit, 5% retirement, and 5% mad money payouts, to those, male and female, who do not reproduce before age 22 or so, DNA ID required, obviously. How will they catch the boys? DNA registry.

I will also predict that students with drive will quickly realize that they can learn faster at home or in the library or in special parts of schools with zero tolerance for time wasting and full internet suites. The biggest problem in public schools is students who literally make a career out of “chewing up the clock,” not only for themselves, but everyone else in the classroom around them. Most who bitch about administrators being too many and paid too much don’t realize that a great deal of their time is spent dealing with such “clock chewers.” The administrators have evolved into these roles, and yet the general public has no clue.

This is the 21st century. You can’t turn back the cultural clock to 1950, and the world wide markets have made damn sure of that, especially the evolving capitalists in the USA. Here’s where the bulk of the Tea Party members want so desperately to go, but you can’t go home, anymore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J55S38xwxnQ

Sunday, April 06, 2014

Bicycle Safety, on Highway 49, between the San Juan Ridge and Nevada City

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A Thread Dealing with People Who Drive Highway 49 between The San Juan Ridge and Nevada City, and the apparent total disregard some of them have for bicyclists, who might wish to travel the same route.

If you try to drive the whole thing at 45, it is narrow and windy. If you relax and do 20 to 45, as portions of the road and safety dictate, it is way more than wide enough, with each scenic turn revealing a new vista of joy, unless of course you run into those who believe that 45 is a mandatory requirement instead of an upper maximum limit, and have strayed into your lane because of it.

The freedom to travel safely was an assumption of the Founding Fathers, otherwise it would have been ahead of the 2nd Amendment. They never considered the possibility of bandito automobilius infesting the public right-of-ways.

Many are blaming the bicyclist, exercising his lawful rights, for the unsafe driving of the motorist, at too high a speed to avoid a 3 foot wide 6 foot long colorful object, on a roadway that is 10 to 12 feet wide minimum, per lane.

If blocks of concrete of the same size and colorations were randomly placed each night along the edges of the road, you can bet that after the first five or six crashes, motorists would learn to SLOW DOWN in the riskier spots. In short, if there was a clear and present danger to the motorists themselves, for which they would be held fully accountable, and quite possibly medically endangered, they would learn to drive the road safely and respectfully.

If you do not wish to hit a bicyclist, drive at a speed that allows you to avoid doing so. The "speed limit" is just that. The fastest speed allowable without a ticket on SOME parts of the roadway so marked. All the rest of the roadways are governed by the BASIC speed law, which is, no faster than what is SAFE, for everyone one, it's not just about YOU.

If you truly cared about the well-being of bicyclists, and not just you ability to go slightly faster than is safe for them, you certainly would NOT promote the idea that if a bicyclist got bumped off, "well it's his fault, he shouldn't have been on that road, motorist in a hurry hurry, is excused." Yes, being bumped by a vehicle is as bad as rape, and it is totally avoidable, and spreading attitudes that might make high schoolers or adult jerks think is is OK to open a door, as it will be the bicyclist's fault for being there, is just plain vicious, and brings you down to their level, and makes you an accessory, in my eyes. You don't like how I see things, so be it, I have a right to my own opinions, just as you have a right to yours. Happy Venting!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Trees R Us

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http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/diagnosis-tables

Thursday, January 16, 2014

My Favorite Quotes Shaw

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“This is the true joy in life — being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one… being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.” 

~ George Bernard Shaw

Stick It Back to PG&E Using the Smartmeter.

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I log into PGE every third day now, just to sharpen my conservation moves, and saving about $40/month by doing so. If you got to have that meter, use the SOB and and cut PGE out of some of the profit they hope to get from it. Keep in mind, that by knowing what everyone uses and when, they can very carefully buy as little additional energy futures as possible, and maximize their profits, while sticking us with the costs of the meters. Open an account and don't let them get away with this. You'll also run up their hosting tab, and put them on notice that we are ticked off.