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Saturday, June 26, 2010

BP Oil Leak with Dr. Steven Greer

Gulf Coast residents taking courses to receive HAZMAT cards so they can return to their homes and businesses after a hurricane strikes spreading the toxic mess inland.

Abstact Art - NOT!

    [click photo of oil off the coast of Alabama]

THE OIL SONG - Full Version

What are we doing?

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Monday, June 21, 2010

[Click photo to view full episodes on-line]

The Sea Shepherd Society

An Introduction to the Sea Shepherd Society

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Is it Happening Again?

Speculation that a huge methane bubble is growing under the Gulf of Mexico.

The case for Abiotic Oil.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Free Gaza, Free Palestine

RogerWatersHimself June 03, 2010 — 25th May 2010

"Over the new year 2009-2010, an international group of 1500 men and women from 42 nations went to Egypt to join a Freedom March to Gaza. They did this to protest the current blockade of Gaza. To protest the fact that the people of Gaza live in a virtual prison. To protest the fact that a year after the terror attack by Israeli armed forces destroyed most of their homes, hospitals, schools, and other public buildings, they have no possibility to rebuild because their borders are closed. The would be Freedom Marchers wanted to peacefully draw attention to the predicament of the Palestinian population of Gaza. The Egyptian government, (funded to the tune of $2.1 billion a year, by us, the US tax payers), would not allow the marchers to approach Gaza. How lame is that? And how predictable! I live in the USA and during this time Dec 25th 2009-Jan3rd 2010 I saw no reference to Gaza or the Freedom March or the multi national protesters gathered there. Anyway I was moved, in the circumstances, to record a new version of " We shall overcome". It seems appropriate.

Roger Waters

Many thanks to G.E Smith: lead guitar and Thor Jonsson, drum programming and whatever. Thanks guys!!!

PS. 3rd June 2010

And now piracy!!!!!!!

something to contemplate

via DGPNorth

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Tophat - FAIL

This morning it is claimed that BP is retrieving 6000 barrels (252,000 gallons) through their "Top Hat" device. If the leak were being 100% recovered this figure is in line with the total daily amount we have been told was coming out for the last month or so. As can be seen in this screen shot from around 9:30 AM PDT this morning, most of the oil is still coming out. Estimates range in the neighborhood of 20% of the oil being captured. BP has yet to close vents in the apparatus which were open to facilitate the placement of the device. This would then indicate that the leak is generating 30,000 barrels per day or 1,260,000 gallons per day - much closer to the high end estimates by specialists outside of BP and the Government!

Since the surface sheen estimates are in the 252,000 gallon per day range, this leaves over 1-1/4 million gallons per day drifting in the underwater plumes created through the use of dispersants!

Is New Offshore Drilling Worth It?

               [click chart]

 BP is still using dispersants - the white fluid - to keep the oil from reaching the surface.

Jean-Michel Cousteau regarding the use of dispersants

Friday, June 04, 2010

Hopi Fourth World End Times Prophecy
Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black...

The following extraordinary Hopi prophecy was first published in a mimeographed manuscript that circulated among several Methodist and Presbyterian churches in 1959. Some of the prophecies were published in 1963 by Frank Waters in The Book of the Hopi. The account begins by describing how, while driving along a desert highway one hot day in the summer of 1958, a minister named David Young stopped to offer a ride to an Indian elder, who accepted with a nod. After riding in silence for several minutes, the Indian said:

"I am White Feather, a Hopi of the ancient Bear Clan. In my long life I have traveled through this land, seeking out my brothers, and learning from them many things full of wisdom. I have followed the sacred paths of my people, who inhabit the forests and many lakes in the east, the land of ice and long nights in the north, and the places of holy altars of stone built many years ago by my brothers' fathers in the south. From all these I have heard the stories of the past, and the prophecies of the future. Today, many of the prophecies have turned to stories, and few are left -- the past grows longer, and the future grows shorter.

"And now White Feather is dying. His sons have all joined his ancestors, and soon he too shall be with them. But there is no one left, no one to recite and pass on the ancient wisdom. My people have tired of the old ways -- the great ceremonies that tell of our origins, of our emergence into the Fourth World, are almost all abandoned, forgotten, yet even this has been foretold. The time grows short.

"My people await Pahana, the lost White Brother, [from the stars] as do all our brothers in the land. He will not be like the white men we know now, who are cruel and greedy. we were told of their coming long ago. But still we await Pahana.

"He will bring with him the symbols, and the missing piece of that sacred tablet now kept by the elders, given to him when he left, that shall identify him as our True White Brother.

"The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.

"This is the First Sign: We are told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana men who took the land that was not theirs. And men who struck their enemies with thunder.

"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. In his youth, my father saw this prophecy come true with his eyes -- the white men bringing their families in wagons across the prairies."

"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. These White Feather saw with his eyes -- the coming of the white men's cattle."

"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron."

"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web."

"This is the Sixth sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun."

"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it."

"This is the Eight Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like my people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn their ways and wisdom.

"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.

"These are the Signs that great destruction is coming. The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands -- with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying.

"Many of my people, understanding the prophecies, shall be safe. Those who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World.

"But White Feather shall not see it. I am old and dying. You -- perhaps will see it. In time, in time..."

The signs are interpreted as follows: The First Sign is of guns. The Second Sign is of the pioneers' covered wagons. The Third Sign is of longhorn cattle. The Fourth Sign describes the railroad tracks. The Fifth Sign is a clear image of our electric power and telephone lines. The Sixth Sign describes concrete highways and their mirage-producing effects. The Seventh Sign foretells of oil spills in the ocean. The Eighth Sign clearly indicates the "Hippy Movement" of the 1960s. The Ninth Sign was the U.S. Space Station Skylab, which fell to Earth in 1979. According to Australian eye-witnesses, it appeared to be burning blue.

[click photo for more]

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Underwater Oil Plumes

Underwater plume travel - computer simulation based on current dynamics:

What is missing from this simulation is what happens when it reaches the
Thermohaline Circulation.

Oil Plume
to the northeast of Deepwater Horizon

Plume heads to deep water canyon on the way to west Florida coast.

NOAA launches 8 day mission to search for subsurface plumes.


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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Laundry Day

[click dirty laundry]

   Stevens Point 1969. I lived with 3 friends in an apartment above a chicken hatchery. The building was built sometime around the late 1800's or early 1900's. A tall, 3 story, brick building. What the ground floor had in extra height, ceilings 14' high, the third floor lacked with its 6'6" ceiling height. My hair brushed against the ceiling as I walked though.
   The stairs to the second floor were exterior to the building and the third floor was accessed from within our apartment. The second floor held the kitchen, a formal dining room, the living room, two bedrooms and a huge bathroom with a skylight well that rose up through the third floor to the roof. The main attraction of the bathroom was an absolutely wonderful claw foot bathtub, large and deep enough that I could totally immerse my 6'5" body.
   The third floor had two bedrooms and one large open room which we used for a while for pasting up issues of Counterpoint, our underground newspaper, prior to taking them to the print shop.
   Both floors of the apartment each had two large bay windows hanging out over the sidewalk below. Aside from perches from which to watch the comings and goings of the townsfolk, they also served as sniper hideouts for the mock battles we would engage in when one of us crossed the street to the hardware or drug store. Plungers and mops were enlisted against the Mattel Tommy Gun we had conveniently hung in the window.
   Across the street, besides the hardware and pharmacy, were several other shops and just down the street was a hotel. The street heading south split in front of our apartment with the southbound lane going around the west side of the hotel and the northbound lane on the east side. The streets re-joined beyond the hotel and then went down under a railroad over-crossing.
   The hatchery below had row after row of incubators full of chicken eggs. Once a month they would ship out a batch of chicks. That was the only time we noticed the presence of the chickens, the smell of burnt hair when their beaks were trimmed. So they wouldn't peck each other to death in the shipping boxes, a guillotine type instrument with hot blades was used to cut off the sharp tips of their beaks. The proprietor insisted the beaks were like finger nails with no sensory nerves and the process didn't hurt the chicks.

   We were raided one time by the ATF over the machine gun we had hanging in the bay window. About twenty agents and local police stormed up the stairs shouting they had warrants and they were coming in.      They were nice enough to allow us time to open the door for them rather than breaking it down. They asked for the machine gun and we took them to it. After examining it they asked if we had any other guns but we had none and told them so. They held a little powwow amongst themselves and decided we were cool. As they left they asked that we not hang the gun in the window as it was upsetting the neighbors.

   I worked second shift at the local hospital in the evenings, mopping and waxing floors and doing other janitorial work. Most of the work was easy and since I was by myself I had time to ponder many things beyond mopping, the Vietnam War being one of the major issues on my mind. The one creepy thing about the job was cleaning the morgue after an autopsy, blood clots and little pieces of body parts stuck in the drain strainer had to be manually removed and placed in Bio-hazard bags.
   They had Muzak playing throughout the hospital, the same playlist every night at the same time. I could keep track of my progress by which song was playing in which room. The only time it changed was in December when the Christmas song playlist would run. I tended to go a little insane after about two weeks of that!

   One evening I came home from work just before midnight and upon entering the dining room I found the table set with two place settings, table cloth and all, candles burning in their holders on the table.
   On the plates, in the center, was a very small white pill about the size of a saccharine tablet. A glass of Merlot sat next to the plate. My roommate Dave had prepared us dinner!
We sat down at the table, made a formal scene of putting on our napkins as bibs, scooped up the tablets with our spoons and washed them down with the wine.
   Having finished dinner we put on some Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies and waited for the LSD to kick in.
Soon we were floating along with the music, first Joe then Pink Floyd's "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave Grooving With a Pict" on 16 RPM.

   After Floyd, Dave wanted to get out of the house so we decided to make the journey useful. We grabbed our laundry baskets and headed off to the laundromat about eight blocks away.
Giggling the whole time we stuffed several machines with our dirty laundry, repeatedly consulting each other as to the correct quantity to put in the machine.
   After starting the washing machines we spent most of the first cycle watching the clothes swirl in the water, calling out "Shirt", "Pants", "Undies" as the various objects came into view from the depths of the machine.

   After becoming bored with the washing machines we decided a good place to be was inside the dryers, so we each climbed into a dryer on opposite sides of the room. It was as though we were in space capsules soaring along together as in the To Jupiter and Beyond scene at the end of 2001 Space Odyssey.
    While we were in the dryers a lady came in and loaded up several washing machines. Dave and I sat in our dryers trying not to make eye contact with each other since when we did we couldn't control our laughter. To this day I'll never know how she never noticed us inside the dryers. Fortunately after she put her wash into a drier she left so we were able to get out. We were laughing so hard at what had happened that tears filled our eyes as we loaded our clothes into dryers.

   When our laundry was done we folded it and headed back to the apartment. When we got to the spot where the road split in front of our apartment we sat down on the triangular traffic island in the middle of the street with our laundry. The sun was about an hour from rising and the sky was just beginning to lighten. The building fronts were illuminated by the street lights and the nighthawks, with their echoing shrieks, flitted just above the lights.
   Otherwise there was absolute silence without a hint of a breeze. The scene was surreal, as if out of a Fellini movie. The final sequence of Toby Dammit, Fellini's contribution to Spirits of the Dead came to mind, the broken bridge as the sun rises. We sat there on the little traffic island discussing movie scenes and plots that would fit our surroundings.

   We had been there about twenty minutes before the first car came along. We could hear it coming from blocks away, the sound of tires on pavement braking the silence. I turned to see the car and from several blocks away I could see it was a cop car heading south towards us. I alerted Dave but he said that we were doing nothing wrong and at most the cop could tell us to leave. The car did not slow down as it approached so I thought it would just drive by. Instead, as it reached us the cop slammed on the brakes. The car went past us, tires squealing, and came to a stop about 20 feet past us. He sat there for about 45 seconds then punched the gas, smoking his tires, and raced of down the road, around the hotel and down under the overpass.
   From there we could hear him racing down to the next cross street then heading east to the next road which crossed the tracks. From there he raced north to the next street bringing him back towards the street we were on.
   Again he came down the street, approaching us from the north, and repeated the scene of locking up his brakes in front of us, this time a couple of feet sooner. Then off he went making another loop to come back around again.
   Now we began to think his actions were rather odd and that if he did it again we would leave and head up to our apartment.
   Sure enough, he did the skid maneuver another time, braking even sooner this time, but still sliding past us.
   This time, when he took off, we ran for our stairs as soon as he went around behind the motel. Instead of making the long loop, this time he short circuited around behind the hotel coming back northbound to the traffic island only to find us gone. We were already in our apartment and got to the bay window in time to see him get out of his car and start inspecting the island with a flashlight. Then he got back in the car and started shining his spotlight all around.
   Soon he was met by two other police cars and then an unmarked police car. They all got out and talked before getting back in their cars and racing off.
   We spent the next several hours in the bay window watching as police cars raced up and down the street in front of our apartment in search of us laundry toting, traffic island sitting, hippies as though it was the crime of the century.
   Or was it a matter of the skidding cop trying to prove to his fellows that in fact it wasn't HE that was hallucinating?.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Movie Night at the Lair

1967 - I had just turned 18, Freshman in college, this movie had a profound affect on me. I bought the sound track and would put it on at 11 and sing along at the top of my lungs until I would lose my voice.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Bright Blue Ball Spinning Free

I highly suggest you start the music at the link just below, then with it playing in the background, when the lyrics begin, return here and start this video with its sound off. In any event, keep this video's sound off to maintain your sanity!

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity
Paint it with a skin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me
A peaceful place, or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race
Full of hope, full of grace, is the human face
But afraid we may lay our home to waste

There's a fear down here we can't forget
Hasn't got a name just yet
Always awake, always around
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Now watch as the ball revolves and the night-time falls
And again the hunt begins and again the blood wind calls
By and by, again, the morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes from some men's eyes
(Well I know)
It strolls the sidewalk and it rolls the streets
Staking turf, dividing up meat
Nightmare spook, piece of heat
It's you and me, you and me

Click flash blade in ghetto night
Rudy's looking for a fight
Rat cat alley, roll them bones
Need that cash to feed that Jones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Commissars and pinstripe bosses roll the dice
Anyway they fall, guess who gets to pay the price?
Money green, or proletarian gray
Selling guns instead of food today
So the kids they dance and shake their bones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirit's sleeping then the flesh is ink
History's page will be neatly carved in stone
The future's here, we are it, we are on our own
On our own, on our own, we are on our own

If the game is lost, then we're all the same
No one left to place or take the blame
We will leave this place an empty stone
Or that shining ball of blue we call our home

So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south and white comes north
And the whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours
While the current fashions set the pace
Lose your step, fall out of grace
The radical, he rant and rage
Singing someone got to turn the page
And the rich man in his summer home
Singing just leave well enough alone
But his pants are down, his cover's blown
And the politicians throwing stones
So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
'Cause it's all too clear we're on our own
Singing ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
It's dizzying, the possibilities

Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
[Ashes, ashes, all fall down]

Friday, November 04, 2011

What's It All About?
Maybe not what you think...

[click photo]

There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland
And the bankers are taking my home and my land from me
There's a big achin' hole in my chest now where my heart was
And a hole in the sky where God used to be
There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland
There's a well where the water's so bitter nobody can drink
Ain't no way to get high and my mouth is so dry that I can't speak
Don't they know that I'm dyin' why's nobody cryin' for me
My American dream fell apart at the seams
You tell me what it means you tell me what it means
There's a home place under fire tonight in a heartland
And bankers are taking the homes and the land away
There's a young boy closin' his eyes tonight in a heartland
Who will wake up a man with some land and a loan he can't pay
His American dream fell apart at the seams
You tell me what it means you tell me what it means
My American dream...
There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland
There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland
There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland
There's a home place under fire tonight in the heartland

The occupations may seem like a noble effort, but they are...

Maybe not what you think...

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

The Migration Has Begun

[click dancing bears]

These are live cameras - best viewed between 7:00 am and 4:30 pm Central Time.

There is much more to see at

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

       Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Monday, September 12, 2011

Reports Of My Demise...

[click photo]

On my recent voyage to Tralfamadore my traveling companion Kilgore Trout got drunk and grabbed the controls sending us careening through the Chronosynclastic Infundibulum.

Since then, every time I've logged onto the internet and seen the conditions of things these days, I zip off back in time to when this country stood for something good and useful.

This has made it difficult to relate to, more or less to comment on, the despicable state of affairs which is this country today. As soon as I formed a thought, but before I could get it down on paper - or electrons as it is - whoosh, I was back somewhere conversing with the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Sam Clemens and even Tesla.

Having returned to the Chronosynclastic Infundibulum and passing backwards through it I seem to be stuck back in time only to return to find the OUTRAGEOUS TEXT ENHANCED LINK BULLSHIT all over The Lair and my other blogs.

After realizing these "Text Enhancement" links were only occurring on my desktop computer and not on my other computers nor on other peoples computers I ran a full scan with MalwareBytes and after 1 hour and fourteen minutes of scanning it found nothing. I was going to go online and see if I could find anything out about it so I hovered over one of the links to make sure I had the title right. I then noticed a little question mark Icon so I clicked on it. It gave me the choice of opting out of the service. So after scrolling through about 15,243 Captcha phrases until I found one I could read enough to get it right, I am finally opted out and the links have gone away.

What I want to know is why was I apparently opted in automatically and forced to go through the crap of opting out?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

proof of life

Last seen snooping at a Denver conference center, Agent BB2 seems to have dropped off the intertubes on us. This fills me with dread. Is he suffering? Has he been abducted? Has he finally snapped and run back off to the wilderness? Has one of his fifty dogs eaten his computer? Has he fallen into the depths of the bottomless 9/11 archives? Has something unendurable happened? What has happened to our furry friend?

Do we send out a search party? Or do we just sit and worry?

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Death of the Internet
Surveillance & Censorship

"How do you hold the sovereigns of cyberspace accountable to the public interest when most CEO’s argue that their main obligation is to maximize shareholder profit?”

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

America is Waiting!

America is waiting for a message of some sort or another.
Takin' it again. Again! Again! Takin' it again.
Well now... no, no... now, we ought to be mad at the government not mad at the people.
Takin' it again. Again! Again! Takin' it again.
I mean, yeah, well... wha-what're ya gonna do?
America is waiting for a message of some sort or another.
No will whatsoever. No will whatsoever! Absolutely no honor.
No will whatsoever. No will whatsoever! Absolutely no integrity.
No will whatsoever. No will whatsoever! I haven't seen any any any citizen over there stand up and say "Hey, just a second."
No will whatsoever. No will whatsoever! I mean, yeah, so... wha-what're ya gonna do?
America is waiting for a message of some sort or another.
It is impossible to achieve the aim without suffering!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

The Steve Irwin is Free!

In my email today...
The Steve Irwin is Free, Thanks to Thousands of Donations!

Dear BB2,

Sea Shepherd supporters rock!

Due to the generosity of our supporters around the world, we have raised over USD$735,000 to save our flagship Steve Irwin—less than two weeks after the launch of our SOS! - Save Our Ship fundraising campaign! Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible for us to fund a bond to release the vessel from detainment! Together, we will continue to make a difference.

As many of you are aware, on July 15, our flagship vessel the Steve Irwin was detained in the Scottish Shetland Islands pending our ability to fund a bond we estimated to be in the amount of USD$1,411,692.87. The detainment was ordered by British courts due to a civil lawsuit brought against us by Maltese fishing company Fish and Fish Ltd.

The British court set the bond today at £520,000 (approximately USD$846,290). Thankfully, we were able to post the bond earlier today, and the Steve Irwin will soon depart to the Faeroes for Operation Ferocious Isles. The Steve Irwin will join the vessel Brigitte Bardot and her crew, who are already onsite defending pilot whales.

I sincerely thank everyone who donated to help Save Our Ship. Your help enabled us to Free the Steve. However, despite everyone’s best efforts we didn't quite raise the entire amount and had to cut into our already scarce budget to meet the bond amount and Free the Steve. We face the ongoing costs of Operation Ferocious Isles, the transit of our vessels from the northern hemisphere to the southern for Operation Divine Wind, and then the cost of that Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign as well. We are all on the same crew, despite our different roles and varying locations. We all feel that inner drive to protect innocent lives and ecosystems, and I know many of you have given what you can— but please keep your donations coming in. Without your help, we cannot continue this important work.

We are in a war to save our oceans from ourselves, and if we lose, we all lose because if the oceans die, we all die – it’s as simple as that. Thank-you!

For Our Oceans and for the Steve Irwin,

Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President
Sea Shepherd

Monday, August 01, 2011

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

That Explains It All

Non Sequitur by Wiley

Don't Ya Think?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Can You Help?

The Nines Ain't Gonna Like This!

                    [click image]

A female polar bear swam for a record-breaking nine days straight, traversing 426 miles (687 kilometers) of water—equivalent to the distance between Washington, D.C., and Boston, a new study says.

The predator made her epic journey in the Beaufort Sea (see map), where sea ice is shrinking due to global warming, forcing mother bears to swim greater and greater distances to reach land—to the peril of their cubs.

The cub of the record-setting bear, for instance, died at some point between starting the swim and when the researchers next observed the mother on land. She also lost 22 percent of her body weight.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011

let's have a little hitchcock around here

[click image]

Just a little nostalgia....

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Friday, June 03, 2011

Whale Wars Returns

Tonight season 4 of Whales Wars begins on The Animal Planet Station at 9:00 PM. Join the Sea Shepherds and the newsest addition to their fleet of 3 ships as they try once and for all to end the Japanese whale slaughter in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Gun

In the early '80s I lived with my friend Tom and his girlfriend Terri in a house only five minutes from Folsom Lake. It was on a dead end street with about 9 other houses. The street ran downhill and each lot was leveled as a "pad", a seemingly California thing. The various homes where I lived in Wisconsin were all on hills which were allowed to slope in their original manner.

The ground was hard pan - impenetrable clay hard as cement - with a thin layer of imported top soil. On the one side of the yard was a rock wall which dropped down to the neighbors on the west, on the other was an embankment about five feet high on top of which our neighbor had a six foot tall wood fence.

The house had a nice large, covered, screened in patio on the back where Tom kept the bed for his dog. This dog had a fascination for the yard of the neighbor with the wood fence and was always going over there. The lower yard to the west had no fence but the dog never went there. Instead he would run across the yard, jump up the embankment then push off the top of the embankment to reach the top rail of the fence and pull himself over.

Tom had a pellet gun, a replica of a Colt 45 revolver, which we would target shoot with in the back yard. It looked fairly real, but on close examination you could see the cover for the CO2 cartridge and the fact that cylinder couldn't revolve. The small bore of the barrel was also a give-away.

One day, shortly after our house had been broken into, I came home to find a revolver laying on the dogs bed. Thinking it was Tom's pellet gun I scolded the dog for taking it and went to pick it up. As I lifted it I turned it such that I got a view of the barrel pointing at me. I freaked! Fuck, this ain't no pellet gun! It had a full size bore and I could see the copper tips of the bullets pointing at me from the cylinder holes!

I took the gun into the house, unloaded it and put the gun in one drawer and the bullets in another.

When Tom and Terri got home that night I showed it to them and neither had any idea where it might have come from. We began to worry that whoever had broke into the house had been packing the gun and dropped it somewhere. Already fearful of confronting a burglar, now we where even more concerned that he might be armed.

One evening about a week later we heard our neighbor behind the fence yelling at his wife from his backyard. He was obviously agitated and kept yelling "Where did you put it?", "Under which bush?"

I went out and asked him: "Are you looking for something?"
"Would it happen to be a gun?"
"Yes how did you know?"
"What kind?"
"A Colt 45 revolver."
"I have it."
"How the hell did you get it?"
"It was on the dog's bed."
"How did it get there?"
"You tell me!"
"Well last weekend my wife and I had a fight and I went out and got really drunk. She took the gun and hid it outside under the bushes."
"I guess the dog jumped the fence again, found the gun and brought it home."

Satisfied with his explanation I returned the gun and bullets to him, although I was concerned of the need for her to hide the gun in the first place.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Oh For An Airplane!

[photo BB2]

Oh for an airplane, that's where I'd be! Not a jetliner, rather an ultrlight or glider. Perhaps a balloon, that's it, a deck chair and balloons - lots of balloons!

Monday, May 23, 2011

       Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The License Plate

[Image - BB2]

In 1973 I quit my bed testing job at the furniture factory after they screwed me out of my vacation. When I took the job I was told that after one year I would have a week of paid vacation. After 14 months of working there I applied for my vacation and was told I was only eligible for two days.

Upon protesting that fact and pointing out I was promised a week after one year I was informed that their "Year" cuts off on December 31st. Vacation was allotted at one day for every ten weeks worked before December 31st of the previous year - the months I worked after January 1st did not count towards my vacation until the following year.

I again protested, pointing out that I had work 30 weeks and 2 days before January 1st and should therefore have three days. Wrong again - holidays didn't count in figuring your vacation, therefore I had only worked 29 weeks and two days.

Having four sick days accumulated I scheduled my two day vacation for a Thursday and Friday. The following Monday through Thursday I called in sick. During that time I went to Sheboygan and applied for work at the Kohler company as I heard they were hiring whereas jobs in Stevens Point had all but dried up. The day after applying I got a phone call that my application had been accepted.

I returned to work that next Friday and after working 1/2 day - the requirement to claim my sick pay - I told them to take their job and shove it.

As I began packing up the apartment for the move my ex-wife went to Sheboygan to find us a house. She scored big on a two bedroom two story home on 5 acres of land with a barn and shed for the sum of $65 per month. The upstairs had a half bath and we later rented it out to a friend for $25 per month.

When the packing was done I rented a U-Haul trailer, loaded it up except for a few things we couldn't fit in and headed to Sheboygan.

About a week later I returned one evening to Stevens Point to get the last couple of Items. In the mail were the license plates for the car we had recently purchased. All my tools were already in Sheboygan as were my collection of nuts and bolts. Being evening time the hardware store was closed so I placed one of the plates in the rear window and went to a friend's hose.

About 10:00 PM we decided to go out and have a pizza at our favorite pizza shop - the Red Lantern. It was located on a four lane road which was the main highway out of town. To the north was the crest of a hill about 1/2 mile away.

As we left after dinner I stopped at the entrance to the street and checked for traffic. I saw a set of headlights just coming over the crest of the hill. Being a 30mph zone and the car 1/2 mile away I saw no problem pulling out onto the highway. The next thing I knew there was horn blasting, tire squealing pandemonium then flashing red lights.

It turned out to be a cop! He had to be doing at least 90mph to be on us that fast. He got out of his car screaming at us that we tried to kill him. I pointed out that it was a 30mph zone, he was 1/2 mile away when we pulled out and that he had no siren or flashing lights to warn us of his speed. He backed off slightly but then noticed the license plate in the rear window.

"Your license plate is not legally displayed"
"I know, it just came today and I am in the middle of moving and have no tools or bolts to install it."
"It must be legally displayed!"
"I know, sir, but I have now way to currently do that. I will go to the hardware store in the morning and get bolts to install it."
"You can't move this car until your license is properly displayed!"
"But officer, as I explained I have no way of doing that at this time!"
"You can't move this car!"

At that point my friend and I climbed back into the car, discussed the situation, reclined our seats and laid back to wait for morning.

After about ten minutes there was the knock of a flashlight on the driver's window.

"What are you doing?"
"You said we couldn't move the car!"
"You can't stay here!"
"But we are waiting for the morning so we can walk to the hardware store."
"You can't stay here!"
"But you said we can't move the car!"
"Not without the license plate legally displayed!"
"Should I pull into the parking lot so I am not on the street?"
"No, you can't remain on private property and I told you you can't move the car!!!"
"If I can't move the car and can't stay here, what am I supposed to do!!!!?"
"Properly display the license plate!"

Totally frustrated I got back out of the car and started searching the ground for anything which might work to fasten the license plate. Finding two sticks which were slightly larger than the holes in the bumper and a rock, I took the sticks and drove them through the license plate and into the bumper holes with the rock.

"Officer, is that now properly displayed?"
"Yes, thank you."

He got back into his patrol car, turned off his flashing lights and drove away, To Protect and Serve written across his door!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

alerting the media

[click image]

A brand new bag....

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Folks Back Home Are Making Me Proud!

May 1933: Hitler Abolishes Unions

On May 2nd, 1933, the day after Labor day, Nazi groups occupied union halls and labor leaders were arrested.  Trade Unions were outlawed by Adolf Hitler, while collective bargaining and the right to strike was abolished.  This was the beginning of a consolidation of power by the fascist regime which systematically wiped out all opposition groups, starting with unions, liberals, socialists, and communists using Himmler’s state police.

First of all, assaulting the rights of workers to collectively bargain has absolutely nothing to do with any immediate budgetary issues. It does however have everything to do with ending one of the basic rights of labor to organize.

Second, and more importantly, the budget “crisis” in Wisconsin is both exaggerated and created in part by the new Republican power base as a tool to attack political opponents. Walker decreased state revenue when he enacted tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, who are not surprisingly large campaign donors for his political campaign.
The ball is rolling:
And tonight here in Sacramento

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Great News for the Whales

[click image]

Captain Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard fleet have caused the Japanese whalers to abandon their Scientific Research Hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary:
On Friday, Japan said it was bringing home its four whaling ships, weeks before the usual end of the annual cull in mid-March, citing the need to protect their crew from Sea Shepherd's sustained harassment.

Japan -- which hunts the ocean giants under a loophole to a global ban that permits lethal "scientific research" -- has killed 172 whales this season, only about a fifth of its target, the fisheries agency said.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tokyo had summoned the Australian, New Zealand and Dutch ambassadors and made "a strong request to take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of Sea Shepherd's obstructionist activities".
Australia -- which last year launched legal action against Japan's whaling programme at the International Court of Justice -- and New Zealand earlier on Friday said they hoped Japan had given up whaling for good.
Japan has long defended whaling as part of the island nation's culture and makes no secret of the fact that the meat ends up in restaurants.

Tomoaki Nakao, the mayor of Shimonoseki, the port from where the whaling ships leave each year, said: "I want Japan to maintain a firm stand and continue appealing to the world about the legitimacy" of scientific whaling.
Just what is legitimate about killing whales in a sanctuary for food and calling it scientific study?

Latin America urges Japan to stop whaling!

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Saturday, February 12, 2011

[photo merge by Kae]

Here they go again, tinkering with the genetics of one of our food sources for the benefit of corporations. A new genetically modified corn has been approved for use in the United States by the Department of Agriculture. In addition the FDA has also certified it safe for human consumption. It has already been approved for use in Canada and Japan among a number of other countries.

Manufactured by the Swiss company Syngenta, the corn named Enogen contains a microbial gene which causes it to produce the enzyme alpha-amylase, a compound which currently must be added to the corn during the fermentation process to produce ethanol. The presence of the enzyme in the corn at the time of milling jump starts the process of turning the starch to sugar.

Not everybody is happy about this - from the New York Times:
The decision, announced Friday, came in the face of objections from corn millers and others in the food industry, who warned that if the industrial corn cross-pollinated with or were mixed with corn used for food, it could lead to crumbly corn chips, soggy cereal, loaves of bread with soupy centers and corn dogs with inadequate coatings.

“If this corn is comingled with other corn, it will have significant adverse impacts on food product quality and performance,” the North American Millers’ Association said in a statement on Friday.
The North American Millers’ Association, representing 43 companies including General Mills and Con-Agra, also claims that Syngenta's own research shows that as little as one kernel of Enogen in 10,000 normal kernels could weaken the corn starch enough to interfere with food processing operations. They are also fearful of recalls and distribution disruptions should it enter the food stream.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is also worried:
“This is StarLink all over again,” said Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She was referring to the situation in 2000 when a genetically modified corn approved only for animal use got into the human food supply, prompting huge recalls and disrupting American exports.
The Center for Food Safety is also preparing to sue:
The group persuaded a court to temporarily revoke the approvals of the biotech alfalfa and sugar beets because the Agriculture Department had not done a full environmental impact statement. The department, which has been reviewing Syngenta’s application since 2005, did not prepare such a statement for Syngenta’s corn.
In the end the supposed benefits of this product, an 8% increase in production and 8% decrease in natural gas consumption are certainly not worth the risk.

It's time to go back to whole, organic foods and stop mutating our food sources!

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Australia Braces For New Threat
Catagory 4 Cyclone Yasi

Hospital in Cairns to be evacuated by the RAAF.

UPDATE 1/2/11: The cyclone has now come ashore near Cairns as a Catagory 5 storm.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Revolution in Egypt

Cell phone service and internet connections have all been shut down to hide what is going on. Reports filtering out speak of police using live rounds of ammunition against the citizens and of the army joining forces with the citizens. The true extent of the situation remains to be seen.

Live coverage here.

Agent 99 has been following the developments here.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

To Our Friends Down Under & Down South

Australia and Brazil have been hit recently with record rains and floods. May the rain stop and the sun dry you out.

Into The Night's YouTube Channel

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Corporation

I'm sick of corporations too.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Big Lie...
The Oil Is Gone

So they tell you it is gone? Nothing left to see? No news here? Ya Sure - see for yourself!

All images from the last 2 weeks in the Mississippi River Delta.

More Deepwater Horizon coverage at the Lair

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

another completely useless peacenik mashup

I'm sick of them.

Even when they're this straight to the point.

Friday, January 07, 2011

Sunday, January 02, 2011

Endless War

[click photo]
The disasters numb within us
caught in the chest, rolling
in the brain like pebbles. The feeling
resembles lumps of raw dough

weighing down a child’s stomach on baking day.
Or Rilke said it, ‘My heart. . .
Could I say of it, it overflows
with bitterness . . . but no, as though

its contents were simply balled into
formless lumps, thus
do I carry it about.’
The same war

We have breathed the grits of it in, all our lives,
our lungs are pocked with it,
the mucous membrane of our dreams
coated with it, the imagination
filmed over with the gray filth of it:

the knowledge that humankind,

delicate Man, whose flesh
responds to a caress, whose eyes
are flowers that perceive the stars,

whose music excels the music of birds,
whose laughter matches the laughter of dogs,
whose understanding manifests designs
fairer than the spider’s most intricate web,

still turns without surprise, with mere regret
to the scheduled breaking open of breasts whose milk
runs out over the entrails of still-alive babies,
transformation of witnessing eyes to pulp-fragments,
implosion of skinned penises into carcass-gulleys.

We are the humans, men who can make;
whose language imagines mercy,
lovingkindness we have believed one another
mirrored forms of a God we felt as good—

who do these acts, who convince ourselves
it is necessary; these acts are done
to our own flesh; burned human flesh
is smelling in Vietnam as I write.

Yes, this is the knowledge that jostles for space
in our bodies along with all we
go on knowing of joy, of love;

our nerve filaments twitch with its presence
day and night,
nothing we say has not the husky phlegm of it in the saying,
nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness,
the deep intelligence living at peace would have.

“Life at War” By Denise Levertov, from To Stay Alive

Lindsey Graham calls for permanent US military presence in Afghanistan
We can see everything
America's Empire and Endless Wars Are Destroying the World, and Ruining Our Great Country

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Take Me For a Ride!

[Shuttle over the Andes - click photo]

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Home Energy and Environment Coal Electric Plant Proposal, Bitter (and Racial?) Divisions

Coal Electric Plant Proposal, Bitter (and Racial?) Divisions

( – promoted by lowkell)

A great article appeared in yesterday's Virginian-Pilot about the proposed coal-electric plant in the town of Dendron, Virginia, upstream (and upwind) from Hampton Roads on the James River.

The proposal is still early in the permit-seeking process, but the tiny, destitute town and its surrounding population have already formed staunch and angry Pro- and Anti- groups.  The article suggests that, most unfortunately, these groups are noticeably arranged along racial lines.

If all goes as planned, the plant's twin 650-foot emission stacks – nearly 100 feet taller than the Washington Monument – will rise just behind the backyards of Main Street. Where tranquil woods now stand, bulldozers will muscle mounds of fly ash that will rival Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. Each week, more than 500 boxcars of coal will clatter in around the clock.

The dilemma cleaved Dendron largely along racial lines, a fact residents say they hate to mention, but then do. The community, roughly half black and half white, had a long history of getting along – until blacks saw the plant as opportunity and whites saw it as disaster.

Suddenly, conversations grew testy between old friends. "Yes" and "no" signs were swiped out of yards. Mundane town meetings turned into accusation-filled marathons.

While it's tempting to start trying to explain this apparent phenomenon, that seems unwise.  Pushing this story into a pre-existing narrative formed by the local and national history of racial politics is unlikely to isolate or clarify anything useful about the specific issue of whether this plant ought to be built, and whether it ought to be built in Dendron.

Likewise, the story offers some other ways to understand what's happening there now.  For instance, the town was created as a byproduct of an earlier resource-extracting industry, and the echoes of that history are very clearly present still:

The town in the shadow of the smokestacks is broke. It's been that way since the saw mill packed up. Born as a company town in the 1880s, Dendron – Greek for "trees" – once boomed with 3,000 residents and scores of stores, banks, hotels, restaurants, even a skating rink and movie theater.  But when the virgin forests gave out and the Great Depression hit, the Surry Lumber Co. abandoned Dendron – taking more than just jobs. Company buildings were dismantled, along with the water and electricity systems. The ice plant was moved to Wakefield. The iron tracks of the railroad were wrangled right out of the ground. A 1931 fire finished off most of what remained – destroying 21 buildings on Main Street.

Dendron has limped by ever since. Last year's town operating budget was $50,000. Sidewalks are buckling. The population is shrinking. The water system, installed to replace the company one, is leaking so badly that the state is threatening $25,000-a-day fines. The repair bill could reach $2 million.  At one recent meeting, the mayor put it like this: "We're hooked up to life support. This is a critical time." Enter ODEC, with a plan to buy the lumber mill site [and build a power plant], and an offer to the town that, at least initially, sounded like a savior: a $10,000 zoning application fee, $600,000 toward water repairs, $65,000 for new sidewalks, $100,000 for a picnic and playground area. The co-op even replaced the worn-out copier in Town Hall. The real windfall, however, would come in property taxes – $1.6 million a year to Dendron and $22 million to surrounding Surry County.

Any strategist prefers to have the choice of where and when to fight. Here we see a rather cunning move by the power company in selecting an incredibly vulnerable community with a distant memory of times being better when Dendron was a “company town.”

In such a setting the utility could probably hope to have the thing well underway before a resourceful opposition appeared.  And indeed, the company’s proxies appear to have swept the most recent town council elections.  Of course, many other officials will need to sign off before the plant is reality.  This plant will directly affect millions of Virginians living in Hampton Roads.  It's upstream and upwind from a huge population center, several wildlife refuges, the lower Chesapeake Bay, and major drinking water sources.  Effective opposition first requires awareness.

People should be talking about this plant not only in Dendron, but in all Seven Cities of Hampton Roads, and on the Peninsulas and the Eastern Shore.

  • rangergirl

    I have to disagree with one little statement here; you say that the utility would have this well underway before any resourceful opposition appeared. I am a soon to be former Dendron town council member and I can assure you that ODEC was stalled for over a year before getting the votes they needed for passing their applications. During that intervening time period a very vocal and local opposition group went from its nascency to its very well organized maturity. Granted that those who are proponents of the plant unseated incumbents (like myself) and hopefuls who are opposed to the project–I still count much of what has occurred as a victory. Now let’s push to the ultimate victory by getting all downwind involved and stopping the plant from destroying what is left of Dendron.

    Thank you for posting!!


text:
Home Budget, Economy Obama Speech Puts Ball in GOP’s Court

Obama Speech Puts Ball in GOP’s Court

The November 2012 elections will be defined by how Congressional Republicans react to the gauntlet thrown down by President Obama on Capitol Hill last night. Here are their choices and the political implications:

  1. Pass the American Jobs Act. Puts all the risk/reward for the economy through November 2012 on Obama. If the unemployment rate goes down, Obama gets the credit; if not, we could be looking at President Romney.
  2. Reject the American Jobs Act. Puts all the risk/reward for the economy through November 2012 on Republicans. If the economy improves despite continued inaction, Republicans can bask in the glow; if not, President Obama can blame the do-nothing Congress for the continuing slump.
  3. Pass some elements of the American Jobs Act, reject others. The political ramifications of this option aresn't that far off from #2 – President Obama could still say "Well, I told them what I'd do, and they didn't do it, so if you want to know why the economy still stinks, ask Eric Cantor."

Given how GOP-pushed austerity is devastating employment, this seems like exactly the right strategy for President Obama. If he hadn’t introduced a sizeable bill and demanded it be passed right away & as written, Obama faced the possibility of voters blaming him for the terrible results of defacto GOP economic policies. Now Congressional Republicans get to choose their own destiny – and it’s hard to imagine they’ll choose wisely.

  • relawson

    If the Republicans go along they can blame the failure on Obama.  Don’t kid yourselves – this plan will fail.  It may create a token number of jobs at great cost, but it won’t make any sizable dent in the unemployment level.

    The best political response for Republicans would be to support a bill that will fail (well, at least everyone not up for re-election) so the others up for election can say “told you so”.

    This is exactly the type of gamesmanship I hate about politics.  But these thoughts are going through everyone’s superficial insincere minds as I type.  How many times do government bailouts need to fail until people get that they don’t fix long-term problems?  They fix temporary problems.  We have a long-term problem that needs a long-term fix.

    If you are lucky, Republicans will obstruct.  Then you can say “if only those Republicans had gone along with our plan things would be better”.

    Unemployment is NOT going down before the election in any dramatic fashion if this is the solution.  Republicans are making the wrong political move if they obstruct this bill.  If I worked for them, I’d tell them to scrape together just enough votes to make it happen – and no more.  I’ll bet that’s exactly what happens because anyone who’s done the math knows that this plan isn’t going to make a meaningful difference in unemployment.

    A strong Republican turnout means they think the plan will work, just enough means they are playing politics, and no Republican support mean whatever you think it means.


text:
Bryce Reeves Supports Forcing Virginia Colleges to Allow Concealed-Carry on Campus

    By Craig Bieber, cross-posted from the Albemarle County Democratic Party website.

    The Free Lance-Star published an article today about the debate last night between Senator Edd Houck and Bryce Reeves. During the debate, Reeves expressed his support for compromising the security of Virginia’s colleges, including the University of Virginia, by forcing them to allow people to carry firearms on campus:

    The candidates also differed on whether people on college campuses should be allowed to carry guns.

    Reeves said he has a concealed-carry permit and is in favor of allowing guns on campus. Houck said he opposes that, and supports the current law allowing colleges to make their own rules on the issue.

    Also from the article:

    Asked about his thoughts on consolidation of wealth in the top 1 or 2 percent of people, Reeves said those are “job creators.”

    “I think those folks work very hard for their money,” he said. “Those folks at the top 1 percent are job creators.”

    Houck said some of those people, like the Koch brothers, have made their money by outsourcing American jobs to other countries, something he opposes.

    “If this is how they make their money, at the expense of all these American jobs, it’s wrong,” Houck said.

    Reeves is far too extreme to represent Albemarle in the Virginia Senate. Help Senator Houck carry election day by volunteering and helping GOTV. Email campaign@senatorhouck.com or (540) 710-6383 for ways to help!

    • truthteller

      The differences are clear and the GOP has nominated an extremist who is willing to shove guns down the throats of campuses which already have enough difficulty managing their security in these tough times and siding with the 1% even though they are not fulfilling their obligations to VA workers to …. you know… create jobs.

      Edd Houck believes that with wealth comes added responsibility to actually create jobs and support sensible investments and while pro gun doesn’t believe in telling campuses how to manage their own security.

      This is a race that can use your attention. If you have family or friends that are persuadable in this district give them a call. This is a seat we ought to and need to hold


text:
License key invalid?

Discussions about technical problems regarding OpenEstate-ImmoTool
Forum rules
Please consider the general rules for this board, before you enter the discussion.

License key invalid?

Postby ArthurZ » Tue 25. Jun 2013, 09:02

Just downloaded and installed the Immo-Tool.
When I try to validate my license it stated invalid. Also renewed my license but the problem occures again.

Re: License key invalid?

Postby Andreas Rudolph » Tue 25. Jun 2013, 18:29

Hi ArthurZ,

I assume, that there is a problem with copy & paste. Some other users also reported about problems like this. We're going to check, how to fix that problem. As a workaround you can copy the license key into an editor to make sure, that there are no hidden characters (spaces). Afterwards copy the license key from your editor and paste it into ImmoTool's license dialog.
Mit freundlichem Gruß / Yours sincerely
Andreas Rudolph
User avatar
Andreas Rudolph
Posts: 3741
Joined: Tue 16. Feb 2010, 21:48
Location: Berlin, Germany

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The Motley Fool Discussion Boards

Previous Page

Investing/Strategies / Retirement Investing

Subject:  Re: Anunity Date:  1/11/2000  11:03 AM
Author:  TTRoberts Number:  17643 of 87535

eyeball390, you asked:

<< If i withdraw my annunity before 59 1/2 can this be rolled into an Ira without paying the 10% penailty or income tax? >>

No, you can not "withdraw" an annuity and "roll" it over into an IRA without being taxed. . . . . . unless the annuity is already in an IRA.

Copyright 1996-2018 trademark and the "Fool" logo is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Inc. Contact Us


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The Motley Fool Discussion Boards

Previous Page

Investing/Strategies / Retirement Investing

Subject:  Proceeds of a house sale... Date:  5/10/2000  11:32 AM
Author:  PThrash Number:  21872 of 87535

... what to do? My mother's house has sold, and I will be receiving a not-that-large sum of money ($150K) that, aside from her social security and her small pension, is the whole amount of money she will have forever and ever. As the POA and responsible party, I need to figure out what to do with the money to maximize income so that her last years in a nursing home are not burdensome to her or to us.

Granted, it's not a lot of money. However, even as a complete neophyte to the world of finance, I have a suspicion I can do better than a money market or other savings-type account. Any ideas?
Copyright 1996-2018 trademark and the "Fool" logo is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Inc. Contact Us


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Message Font: Serif | Sans-Serif
No. of Recommendations: 5
I have just been sampling this discussion, and I must say I'm very disappointed in the entire tone of it. I may take this board off my favorites. Too bad, it was a good idea.

I don't agree with everything Jeffery says, but I admire his courage in sticking to his beliefs and convictions, and expressing them in a consistent and polite way. I do not admire the defensiveness and personal attacks he has received in response. If you all were as comfortable with your lifestyle, choices, and moral code as Jeffery is, you wouldn't feel so threatened by his statements.

Jeffery tries to live his life in such a way that he is an example to others of the benefits of a Christian life. If you have a different belief system, then your life is an example of the benefits (or detriments) of your own choices. We are all free to accept or reject what others say here. But we should all respect others' rights to express their sincerely held beliefs.

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No. of Recommendations: 1
I sincerely your concern and dismay, but it's not "the Left" that caused the problems you describe.

Feigning ignorance is a key component of the Left.
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Message Font: Serif | Sans-Serif
No. of Recommendations: 0

I'm a little confused by tax accounting for mutual funds.

Let's say that I bought the Gizmo Fund (symbol WHIZX) on 1/2/98 for $10,000.

In 1998, I got a letter saying that there were:
$1,000 in long term gains
$500 in short term gains
$150 in dividends

In 1999, I got another letter:

$2,000 in long term gains
$700 in short term gains
$350 in dividends

On 1/2/00, I sold the fund for $12,000.

What do I owe taxes on, and when?

PS - I apologize if this question has been asked before - I did a search and looked through the FAQ's.
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What was Your Dumbest Investment?
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When Life Gives You Lemons
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No. of Recommendations: 0
No. They are not anti-bisexual.
They just know what a slippery slope logical fallacy is. They also know that 3 > 2 and the complications it will lead to.

I actually think three (mixed) is less problematic than two same sex

at the wedding of two males, who wears the white dress????
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Not only are you finding what to buy, but it sounds like you are also having fun doing it. And that counts for a lot too!

It's fun for any investor when he/she is winning, but not so fun when they aren't. This week hasn't been fun, not because I'm losing money, because the game has gotten tough again.

Yesterday, I was in and out of the market in maybe forty minutes with nothing to show for it. I found some senior secured debt that was attractive, and I was ready to buy, because their financials were decent. But when I checked my holdings (one of the steps I do as part of my due-diligence), I saw that I had already put on a marketable position (which is different for me than a full position) last fall at a much better price. So I was faced with the decision to add or not. But I backed away, mainly on the basis of Moody's estimate of the company's prospects should the economy continue to slow.

Also, on the basis of marking myself to market over the weekend, I pulled the current offering-list of an issuer whose bonds had moved back into the money for me. With them, I have a full position. But if their prospects looked good, I'd be willing to add. Their financials seemed to be decent. However, my reading of the Moody's report again steered me away, especially their warning about how the privately-held company was disadvantaging bond-holder claims. So, the obvious response was not to add. I've got as much exposure is as prudent for my account size.

Also, yesterday, I did something I generally don't do. I looked at the slice of corporates offering at least 5% but no more than 6%. But that turned up no leads. So I was done for the day.

Today, what I saw in the slice I generally troll, anything paying 6% or better, was more rising prices. So I backed out of there and switched over to munis and spent some time digging into Puerto Rico's debt. But I didn't like what I saw. So, again, it was a case of fast-in/fast-out with nothing to show for it.

Some days/weeks are like that. But they aren't fun. I'd rather be finding things to buy and spending down my cash. Last year, through a truly heroic effort, I got cash down to sub 5% of AUM. But the persistent calls have pushed cash back over 11%, which drives me crazy. I HATE carrying cash. I love it when I have to sell something in order to buy something. That's when you've got a target-rich environment and the shopping is easy and fun. But this grind, grind, grind can be a drag. But that, too, is part of the game. Good investing, effective investing, is never all sea shells and balloons. Most of it is the dull, dull work of scan-vet-execute, scan-vet-execute, and then get up the next morning and do it again. But bonds have provided me with more than a good living for over a decade now. So I shouldn't complain too loudly. When all is said and done, it's a easy, easy gig. Not as sexy as stock investing, but mostly worry-free, and long ago --as the trader's quip goes-- I decided I'd rather "sleep well, than eat well".

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No. of Recommendations: 5
Philosophical binaries have roots at least back to Plato in Western thought. The railings of Dope, Jedi, and a few others on this board put that legacy in sharp . . . well, I could say "relief," but that's hardly the feeling inspired. ;)

As personally comforting as such an orientation may feel for some, not every political position comes down to "either/or." It's quite possible--though a source of unending rage to conservative purists--to adhere to mildly paradoxical propositions simultaneously without being a hypocrite. There's a common English word for such a practice; let's call it "complexity." In this case, I can comfortably claim that 1. Obama has fallen well short of progressive hopes on some foreign-policy issues (with a decided "assist" from intransigent Congressional Republicans); and 2. Obama was by far the better of the two choices for President.

We're now several decades into the Karl Rove-inspired tactic of attributing to liberals the worst political traits of the neocons: to wit, authoritarian tendencies, name-calling, and other clannish behaviors. Doing so muddies the waters and--in a sound-bite culture--fairly quickly neutralizes legitimate criticism on a range of policy positions. But the facts remain: many liberals identify as such precisely because they value independent thought and creative problem-solving. Many would be happy to vote for a 3rd party or 4th party candidate if our winner-take-all system better facilitated those options. Since it does not, they prefer pragmatism to apathy.

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No. of Recommendations: 13
A white New Yorker, a white Redneck and a black Nigerian are
sitting in a hospital in Alabama. Their wives are giving birth
at the same time.

After a while, the doctor comes and announces that they all have
a son, and that everything went well, except for a little problem.
In all the confusion with three women giving birth at the same time, the babies got mixed up, and the mothers are still unconscious.

So he asks them to look at the babies and pick one. "And,"
he says, "because we're in Alabama I'll ask the Redneck
pick first."

The Redneck takes a baby in his arms and walks out into the hall, where his family is waiting. They immediately see that he is carrying a black baby.

After he explains what happened, they all shout: "You idiot! You picked the Nigerian baby! Didn't you see it's black?"

"Of course I did", the man replies, "but this is the only way to be sure we don't go home with a New Yorker".
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No. of Recommendations: 1
when the flat is rented i get £600 plus a month, for sure no investment will give me a return anything like that?

I don't know why you say that. Assuming £625/month (since you said £600 plus) is £7,500/year. That's a 4.17% return annually. However, once you take into account property/council taxes, repairs, maintainence, and vacancies/other times when the tenants don't pay, you're probably down to somewhere between a 3% and 3.5% annual return, at best. A 3% return would be £450/month and a 3.5% return would be £525/month. As already suggested, you could probably buy an annuity that would pay you £500/month. Or you could invest in divend paying stocks, preferred stocks, debt securities, or bonds.

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Thank You

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Thank You for becoming a BETA subscriber to
“The Gym Is YOU”

Congratulations on taking your first step toward increased fitness and functional strength as well as independence from the gym.

You will receive a welcome email that explains our program and contains a download link to your special report. The title is a surprise, so you’ll have to check your email to find out more, but I’m sure you will be pleased.

To make sure you get all the installments of the program, be sure to check your “junk” folder and “whitelist” us.


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Cailey Ostrowski

Special Events Assistant

Cailey Ostrowski is studying at Boise State University with plans to receive a degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Management.

In the special events department at Boise State Public Radio, Cailey will help coordinate events for the station and station-sponsored events throughout the community.

Cailey aspires to earn her MBA, and one day, manage a non-profit organization of her own.

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jueves, 14 de septiembre de 2017

Borders Exploration Group environmental project
Isla de Luna, Bolivia -  July 14th – 18th 2017

In July this year Borders Exploration Group, a group of young people from the Scottish Borders, travelled to Isla de Luna on Lake Titicaca to take part in an environmental project with the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative. The aim was to raise awareness of the fragility of the environment of the lake and to give information to visitors about the island and its surroundings.  To do this we collected rubbish from around the island in order to create a sculpture, hand-built a sign to accompany this and assembled information banners which had previously planned in collaboration with Jaime at BAI. Following is our blog which explains in detail how it all went.

acaban to Isla de Luna – Coati Day 1 14 July 2017
By Group D

We all woke up early to get breakfast, stock up on water and get the bags ready for the venture to Isla de la Luna (Coati). There were still a couple of things to buy for our project so Jane headed out to the shops in Copacabana with Jaime and Laetitia to get empty sacks, chicken wire and paint.
When the minibuses arrived we hastily moved all of the bags on to the top.

 A dedicated band of people stayed behind to wait for another taxi to make sure the whole group's water supply arrived safely to our destination. We were very laden!

On our travels we witnessed breath-taking scenery despite the bumpy ride due to the challenging terrain.

After following the coast a little way, past fish farms with restaurants on wooden legs, we drove up and over the hills. Finally we rounded a corner to be greeted by the sight of Luna Island in its entirety.
At Tejepa we were met by two launches. After some scurrying around to find life jackets we were transported across the short stretch of water to this stunning island.

It took a while to unload everything off the boats as along with our personal belongings we were bringing several large bags full of wet suits, buoyancy aids and masks for the community on Coati. These had been generously donated by different companies in the UK, James at www.foxlake.co.uk/ ; Mick at www.reefersandwreckers.com ; www.aqualung.com/uk ; longstanding  BEG member Jim McPherson and Leanne Gillie and is for the people on Coati to use -with the help BAI -  to give tourists visiting Luna a chance to swim in the lake and see the wildlife, particularly the endangered Fresh water Titicaca frog (Telmatobius coleus)in its natural habitat.

We were warmly welcomed by the local community who had prepared a traditional lunch for us. As well as trout from the lake, sweetcorn, fava beans (like a broad bean) and other tasty food we were offered quinoa and barley juice that none of us has tasted before.

Later, after we’d been introduced to our homestays and found where we were sleeping, we climbed the island peak of the island. With the island at 3800m a further 100m to the top was quite slow going but well worth the effort!

The top was a good place to discuss the aims and objectives of our first full day on the island. Jaime had split the island into four sections and standing at centre of the quadrant, he explained where we would start clearing the
litter from tomorrow.

The island is only small – total coastline 6 km –so it was decided that a morning was enough to clear the shoreline and in the afternoon we could attack the hill.

Afterwards, we hiked to the North West side of the island to watch the mesmerising sunset behind Isla del Sol before heading down to our accommodation to put on warm clothes before dinner.

Dinner was a delicious vegetable soup thickened with semolina and with chips added. After we were given flasks of hot water and different verbs to add - coco leaves rosemary, a citron one and another. All exhausted, we headed to bed soon after dinner but couldn't help gazing at the beautiful starry sky.

Isla de Luna – Coati Day 2 15 July 2017
By John Little
It was a 7.45 start for breakfast at 8.00 in the school. It was rolls, butter, jam and banana to eat with a cup of coca mate (tea). The plan for the day was to clean litter from all around the shoreline.
The four groups set off in different directions to the furthest points east and west.  Our group, consisting of Dav, Mark, Emma, Caitlyn, Lucy, Jane B and had the north-east quadrant.

We spent the morning scouring the coast and easily filled three big bags of rubbish by 12 am.

Now on the north side, we had to climb up and over the hill past the Quencha / Inca ruins with our rubbish to get back to the community and lunch!

Lunch was a delicious soup and fresh fruit.
The ladies in the community had a rota system for cooking and each day different families prepared the food in their homes and then came to the school to cook it

After that we received a demonstration from the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative team -Jaime, Riccardo, Gabriel and Laetitia – showing us how they operate on a day-to-day basis including how they keep count of the population, size and weight of the Lake Titicaca water frogs.

Jaime and Gabriel, who were in the water in full wet suit gear, collected samples of frogs and brought them in plastic bags to the shore.

I got to hold a bag with the endangered Telmatobius coleus and see it up close. Having never seen one of these water frogs before, it was an amazing experience.

After this it was back to work clearing the remainder of the shoreline and then moving up onto the hillside. Some groups had finished the waterfront already but we still had a small section to do so Jane B and me headed back over to the north side.

We filled a bag in no time -not giving much thought to the weight –and then headed straight up between the terraces hoping to meet the rest of our group at the top. It was a struggle, particularly as we were at 3,800 metres and not yet used to the altitude. However, by the end of the day we had a huge mound of rubbish and it was a satisfying result seeing how much difference we had made.

A few of us couldn’t resist going back up the hill for another sunset and we were accompanied by ‘Policía’, one of the little dogs on the island that appeared and followed us  regularly to different parts of the island.

For tea we had a tasty thick broth, and then enjoyed the evening with our group and some of the community around a huge campfire. The stars were fantastic, there were so many and they were so visible in the clear sky so it was great just to lie back and stare up at them next to the warmth from the fire.

Isla de Luna – Coati                                       Day 3              16 July 2017

By Jane, Zoe, Mairi & Lauren

For those of us who wanted to see the sun rise from the top of the hill it was a 5.45am start but this was well rewarded when the sun finally peaked out between the 6000+  metre peaks of  Ilampu and Janco Uma -   well worth the wait!

A quick descent and then it was breakfast time and all together to divvy up the jobs for the day; sculpture building or banner preparation and assembling all being done on the North side of the island where the Inca ruins were and the jetties for the boats coming on day trips from the mainland.

Unfortunately, one of our group - Lucy -had tripped and injured her ankle the day before so it was decided she would need to go to the mainland for an x-ray along with leaders David, Pam and Davin our expedition doctor. A couple of other ill people were ill too so our numbers were a bit depleted as we walked up and over the hill. However, the enthusiasm was still high even when everyone realised they needed to carry the rubbish back over with us for the sculpture!

Everyone chose whether they wanted to work on the sculpture or banners

The sculpture and sign  (First morning)

On the first morning we planned and designed our sculpture with huge enthusiasm and some amazing ideas. However we soon realised our original idea of producing an abstract frog was out with our capabilities. Not deterred, the team then decided to construct a more simple shape; a rectangle.

We selected a good location for the sculpture to sit where it would be seen from all three jetties but before we could put it in place, we needed to level out the ground.

Next we produced a chicken wire frame, tied together with string and then further secured it with wire hooks.

The sculpture  also needed a sign. Jaime and
Joseph sourced some wooden planks that were lying about on the shore and began removing nails from them to reuse.

 Eilidh joined in and together they found three reasonable planks and posts to go at the ends but as they began trying to nailing the posts to the planks they realised that it was not going to work too well.

The banners (first morning)

Those of us who were in the team for making the banners were tasked with putting together four large frames to display some information banners at the tourist arrival point on Isla de la Luna. These banners had been created prior to arriving in Bolivia by a group of the Borders Exploration Group volunteers and Bolivian Amphibian Initiative who used their creative and technology skills to research and display the relevant information. They displayed information about different aspects of the island, such as the culture, flora and fauna, wildlife (including the endangered Lake Titicacan frog) and about the local environment.

 Our first major task was to strip a selection of logs that had been given to the project by the local community on the island. This involved using any tools we could get our hands on (pen knives, mini axes and even plain stones!) to take away the rough bark that covered the log. This turned out to be quite a lengthy task, and incredibly frustrating at times when only tiny sections of the bark peeled off bit by bit.

It wasn’t until a local showed us a very efficient way of removing large sections all at once (whacking a stone into the bark until it all came loose- quite simple really!) that we made any real progress. The next task was to sort the logs into thicker and thinner logs and from here we could measure the logs to the required lengths and mark them to be cut when the right tools were to be delivered to the site that afternoon.

Lunch came to us today to save the time we would lose walking up and over the hill. Around midday the first ladies arrived by boat and soon after we were sitting eating in an idyllic spot which looked over the lake and towards the Cordillera Real mountain range.

Once again it was tasty food – soup followed by potatoes with a traditional peanut sauce and salad. Then we were back to work !

The sculpture and sign (afternoon)
For the sculpture we’d reached the point where the  bags of rubbish we had collected the previous day could be tipped into the frame and the top could be sealed up.

  With the sign, Eilidh and Joseph had come up with  a great idea to use natural forces to support the planks. That decided, the afternoon was taken up with hole digging to secure the posts. As with the banners, this was a hot and tiring task but by late afternoon the sign was in place ready for painting the following day.

The banners (afternoon)
After lunch Jaime arrived with a saw so we took it in turns to saw the excess length off the logs. We then spent the rest of the afternoon split into two teams, one digging holes in the chosen sites for the banners to be displayed and the other watching two of the locals alongside Ricardo and Gabriel (volunteers from the Bolivian Amphibian Initiative) putting together the first frame by first of all; very carefully making measurements to ensure the frame was completely linear which was a very intricate task as the smallest knock to any of the logs meant having to go back to the beginning.

This team then took it in turns to create grooves in the logs (one on each end for the posts to slot together). This, at first, appeared to be a very easy and fun task as it involved swinging heavy tools and hitting the log with lots of force, but it ended up being incredibly physically exhausting and difficult as one volunteer quickly found out when one slight hit too hard resulted in the entire log splitting down the middle.

Once four of the logs had their grooves, Gabriel and Ricardo took a couple members of this team aside and showed them how to slot the four posts together, hammer nails in to each corner of the rectangle and use strong wire to ensure these were very securely attached. This was quite a hard task as the wire was very strong and needed quite a few hands on deck to make sure it was tight enough.

The team digging the holes for the banners also had a very physically exhausting job as they had to measure the exact distance between the holes for the poles to stand and use a shovel and a pickaxe to dig down through the dry and hard ground.

At 5pm we had done all we could for the day. Tired but content with our efforts, we headed back; some round the shoreline and some over the hill.

There were a few of us who couldn’t resist stopping to watch another awesome sunset but by dinnertime we were all in the school room ready for food. The day had been pretty exhausting so everyone headed back to their homes soon after dinner.

Isla de Luna – Coati Day 4           17 July 2017

Our last full day and with the promise of a visit to the ruins in the afternoon, we wanted to be all finished by mid-afternoon but there was still a lot to be done. After several days walking up and over the hill some people were feeling a bit weary but once we reached the north side everyone got quickly stuck into the remaining tasks.

The sculpture and sign

For the sculpture we realised that we could be more creative than a rectangle and that something more relevant would make a better impact. We liked Laetitia’s suggestion of a tree so with the remaining chicken wire we set to work making branches.

We wrapped some of the many large plastic bottles we’d collected in chicken wire and attached them to the rectangle to produce a palm tree/ pineapple sculpture.

Chloe and Emma now had the Spanish translation of the message for the sign – which we had discussed and voted on before we had even arrived on the island. So now several people set to writing the letters neatly in pencil and then painting them carefully on.  Despite having a couple of paint brushes fingers appeared to be the preferred method resulting in quite a lot of blue and white fingers!

The holes team discovered that when the first frame was finished and lifted to the first site for erection, the two holes were too close together.
The second team discovered they had to hammer the nails very carefully from the right angle or it would result in a wonky nail which proved nearly impossible to remove. Despite these minor setbacks, by the afternoon all the frames had been put together and lifted into their positions.

The banners
The next day both teams got straight back to work – one on digging the holes and the other putting the frames together. Both teams faced some challenges.

 The holes team discovered that when the first frame was finished and lifted to the first site for erection, the two holes were too close together.

The second team discovered they had to hammer the nails very carefully from the right angle or it would result in a wonky nail which proved nearly impossible to remove. Despite these minor setbacks, by the afternoon all the frames had been put together and lifted into their positions.

We then all had to pull together some of the taller members of the group to help us tie the banners on to the frames so that they sat in the centre which took lots of to-ing and fro-ing, but once they were done was extremely satisfying to see all the hard work had pulled off.

To top it all off, a lovely tourist guide even stopped to praise us and let us know how impressed she was with the information and the banners and our host Alvaro Mamani seemed pretty pleased too!

When we had stopped for lunch it seemed unlikely that we would get everything finished in time but everyone pulled together and it all was completed by 3pm.

So, once we’d taken photos and cleared up and returned all the tools we posed for a group photo in front of the final banner before heading in to look at the Inca ruins we had been walking past each day.

Once our last delicious dinner was all eaten, we had a farewell evening with Alvaro Mamani, head of tourism on the island;  Jaime, Laetitia, Gabriel and Riccardo, from  BAI,  the ladies of the community and of course all the Borders Exploration Group team.

The projects had helped us appreciate the beautiful Lake, the fragile environment in which it is set as well as really encouraging us to work together as a team.  Best of all, everyone was pleased with all that had been achieved. So there were lots of thanks from all parties, along with some slightly battered traditional Scottish snacks and a little taste of whiskey!

Early the following morning we would be setting off early into the mountains of the Cordillera Real so no one was late heading to bed. But the beautiful night sky was already full of stars and I couldn’t resist lingering outside looking for shooting stars – and I saw one!
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