Random Thoughts & Musings Of A Jack of All Trades…
MisBehaved Woman Texas Hellraiser
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
"The faded images in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau are believed to be the most widespread collection of such art ever found in the U.S."
via White Wolf Pack - "Recently archaeologists have discovered America's oldest cave and rock art that has remained hidden for more than 6,000 years in Tennessee. The faded images were found in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau and they are believed to be the most widespread collection of such art ever found in the U.S.
Today the weather is transitioning from a mild moist air mass that has been over the area for several days and will be replaced with hot dry air, strong winds and low humidity today. The previous day’s favorable weather conditions allowed firefighters to make progress on construction of 3 miles of containment line. The 23,200 acre fire remains at five percent contained.
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
I suppose that since I am 2nd generation born and raised New Mexican, I take a lot of things for granted. I'm not a fan of the desert really so I forget that what I consider to be drab and boring is actually somewhat interesting to folks who are not from around here. Today I thought it'd be fun to take a little tour of the valley and show off some of the more interesting and/or unusual sights and attractions of the Mesilla Valley.
Silver Fire: This is a full suppression fire. Detected 6/7/2013. Cause: Lightning.
Located approximately 2 miles southeast of Hwy 152 and approximately 7 miles southwest of Kingston, New Mexico. The fire is approximately 300 acres burning in mixed conifer and shrub oak. Fire was active overnight and due to the steep terrain fire fighters have not been able to gain access to the fire safely. The perimeter of the fire has been lined by air tankers using fire retardant but continues to be active due to dry conditions. 120 personnel, 3 Air Tankers, 2 Heavy Helicopters, and 11 Engines are assigned to the fire.
Today’s operations are to establish an anchor point to get fire fighters to the fire safely. Managers will continue to use air support. Repellers will be working today to cut out a heli-spot big enough to fly in Hotshots.
CLOSURE: An official order will be issued. Campers are advised that the following campgrounds will be closed due to fire danger: Iron Creek Campground, Upper Gallines, Lower Gallines, Railroad Campground, Wrights Cabin, and Emory pass lookout. Trail #79 will also be closed.
Road Conditions: Highway 152 is closed through the Black Range, from San Lorenzo to Hillsboro. There is no estimate of reopening at this time. The Royal John Road is closed to the public, but residents are being allowed access at this time. Travelers are advised to check NM Roads for road closures before traveling. Go to www.nmroads.com
Fire and Smoking Restrictions
The Gila National Forest is in Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. Allowing campfires in designated developed campgrounds and picnic areas, which must be in a Forest Service provided grill or fire ring. Fires in rock rings will not be allowed. The use of petroleum- fueled stoves, lanterns or heating devices are acceptable, provided they meet the fire underwriter’s specifications for safety . Smoking is limited to a vehicle, building, or 3 –foot area cleared of all flammable materials.
For more information about the Silver Fire call: (575)388-8363 or go to www.inciweb.org.
Posted on June 3, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog
Peaceful Protesters Run Over and Killed by Tanks, Blinded and Brutalized
What’s causing the widespread rioting and violence in Turkey … with army tanks running over and killing protesters, protesters losing eyes or otherwise being blinded, the widespread use of tear gas (and perhaps chemical weapons), and scores seriously injured?
The original small, peaceful protest – brutally cracked down on by the government – was simply against the destruction of one of the few remaining public spaces in Istanbul … for the development of a shopping mall by the prime minister’s son-in-law.
As Pepe Escobar writes at Asia Times:
The recent spark in Istanbul was provided by a small group of very young environmentalists organizing a peaceful sit-in, Occupy-style, in Taksim Square to protest the planned destruction of one of the city center’s few remaining public green spaces, Gezi park.
Gezi park’s destruction follows a globally tested neoliberalism racket; it will be replaced by a simulacrum – in this case a replica of the Ottoman Artillery Barracks – housing, what else, yet another shopping mall. It’s crucial to note that the mayor of Istanbul, also from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), owns a retail chain that will make a killing out of the mall. And the man holding the contract for this “redevelopment” is no less than [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's] son-in-law.
But the tinder lit quickly because Turks are sick of Erdogan’s nose-in-business government, which is attempting to ban alcohol, rail against tobacco and otherwise trash liberties in what has long been a very cosmopolitan, largely secular society.
And it is partly the people’s hatred for the Turkish government’s backing of the Syrian rebels. As Escobar writes:
[Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan] is a man who over two years ago was yelling, “Mubarak must listen to his people” – and so should Assad in Syria. Now the majority of Turks totally reject Ankara’s “logistical support” for the “rebel” Syrian gangs. [Indeed, Spiegel reports that Erdogan's Grip on Power Is Rapidly Weakening.]
The irony cherry in the cake is Damascus, now gleefully warning Erdogan to curb the violent repression, listen to “his people”, or resign.
(Indeed.)
Professor Juan Cole reports:
The USG Open Source Center translated Yalcin Dogan’s “Survey Finds Turks Disapprove of Alcohol Restriction, Policy on Syria” from Hurriyet Online for Sunday, June 2, 2013. It give the following polling numbers on the restriction of alcohol sales to before 10 pm.
“Those who say it is an intervention into the way of life make up 60.8 percent of the population.
Some 34.7 percent of the population consume alcoholic drinks. . . .”
“‘Has anybody using alcohol caused any harm to you?’ Those who say they did not make up 92.9 percent of the population. Those who say they did constitute 7.1 percent.”
“‘Could the restriction on alcohol use stop you from using alcohol?’” Some 75.9 percent say it could not while 24.1 percent say it could.”
Some 70.8 percent of respondents said that they think “the AKP’s (Justice and Development Party) policy on Syria is wrong is 70.8 percent.”
Even within the Ak Party, about 32 percent rejected Erdogan’s vocal support for the rebels over the Syrian government.
(It probably doesn’t help that Turkish soldiers have captured chemical weapons in the hands of the rebels.)
For link to complete article click link below.
via What’s Causing the Riots and Violence in Turkey? | Washington’s Blog.
Reblogged from Redwood Forest:
A lurid but vague class action accuses corrupt and abusive IRS agents of stealing 10 million people’s medical records without a warrant – including “intimate medical records of every state judge in California.”
John Doe Company sued 15 John Doe IRS agents in Superior Court.
“This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service (‘IRS’) agents (collectively referred to as ‘defendants’ herein) during a raid of John Doe Company, in the Southern District of California, on March 11, 2011,” the complaint states. “In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians.
“No search warrant authorized the seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000 Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil investigation and their medical records had no relevance whatsoever to the IRS search. IT personnel at the scene, a HIPPA [sic: recte HIPAA] facility warning on the building and the IT portion of the searched premises, and the company executives each warned the IRS agents of these privileged records. The IRS agents ignored and discarded each of these warnings, ignored their own published and public-reliant rules and governing ethical requirements, and ignored the limitations of the court’s search warrant authorization, seizing the records under threat of destroying company property.”
Plaintiff’s attorney Robert E. Barnes declined to elaborate on the complaint’s allegations, saying he will have more information “in a few months.”
“I had to file to protect against the statute of limitations being an issue, but am still investigating all facts,” Barnes told Courthouse News in an email.
The putative class claims the IRS agents’ seizure of medical records violated the 4th Amendment.
“These medical records contained intimate and private information of more than 10,000,000 Americans, information that by its nature includes information about treatment for any kind of medical concern, including psychological counseling, gynecological counseling, sexual or drug treatment, and a wide range of medical matters covering the most intimate and private of concerns,” the complaint states.
“Despite knowing that these medical records were not within the scope of the warrant, defendants threatened to ‘rip’ the servers containing the medical data out of the building if IT personnel would not voluntarily hand them over. Moreover, even though defendants knew that the records they were seizing were not included within the scope of the search warrant, the defendants nonetheless searched and seized the records without making any attempt to segregate the files from those that could possibly be related to the search warrant. In fact, no effort was made at all to even try maintaining the illusion of legitimacy and legality.
“After being put on notice of the illicit seizure, the IRS agents refused to return the records, continued to keep the records for the prying eyes of IRS peeping toms, and keep the records to this very day. The records may concern the intimate medical records of every state judge in California, every state court employee in California, leading and politically controversial members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild, and prominent citizens in the world of entertainment, business and government, from all walks of life.”
To top it off, the IRS agents were rude, childish and arrogant, the complaint states:
“Adding insult to injury, after unlawfully seizing the records and searching their intimate parts, defendants decided to use John Doe Company’s media system to watch basketball, ordering pizza and Coca-Cola, to take in part of the NCAA tournament, illustrating their complete disregard of the court’s order and the Plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights.
“This complaint seeks justice for each and all of those individuals subjected to the invasive and unlawful search and seizure conducted on March 11, 2011.”
The complaint adds: “The search warrant authorized the seizure of financial records related principally to a former employee of the company; it did not authorize any seizure of any health care or medical record of any persons, least of all third parties completely unrelated to the matter.
“While executing the warrant, the defendants seized personal mobile phones, including all the data and information on those phones, without any employing the proper and procedurally correct screening methods to protect private and privileged information, all of which was completely unapproved by the search warrant.”
The IRS’ data theft was so enormous it affects “roughly one out of every twenty-five adult American citizens,” the complaint states.
It claims that one of the IRS agents involved has a “history of misconduct, ethical breaches, and criminal activity,” including lying to grand juries, lying to witnesses about their rights during investigations, and “abusing search warrants and subpoenas for privileged information.”
It claims the IRS refuses to reveal which agents participated in the raid, who saw the medical records, and which agents have the records today.
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
I find it very sad and disturbing that the general masses have little-to-no interest in facing our "prison problem"...in spite of millions of Americans being incarcerated, folks on the outside still tend to assume that if you are in prison, you deserve everything you get. Sooner or later this problem child of ours is going to grow to such proportions that it will no longer be able to be ignored by anyone.
Monsanto is hosting a “Bee Summit.” Bayer AG is breaking ground on a “Bee Care Center.” And Sygenta AG is funding grants for research into the accelerating demise of honeybees in the United States, where the insects pollinate fruits and vegetables that make up roughly a quarter of the American diet.
The agrichemical companies are taking these initiatives at a time when their best-selling pesticides are under fire from environmental and food activists who say the chemicals are killing off millions of bees. The companies say their pesticides are not the problem, but critics say science shows the opposite.
Die-offs of bee populations have accelerated over the last few years to a rate the U.S. government calls unsustainable. Honeybees pollinate plants that produce roughly 25 percent of the foods Americans consume, including apples, almonds, watermelons and beans, according to government reports.
Scientists, consumer groups, beekeepers and others blame the devastating rate of bee deaths on the growing use of pesticides sold by agrichemical companies to boost yields of staple crops such as corn. Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer and other agrichemical companies say other factors such as mites are killing the bees.
“This is a difficult, high stakes battle,” said Peter Jenkins, a lawyer with the Center for Food Safety, which sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March on behalf of a group of U.S. beekeepers and environmental and consumer groups over what they say is a lack of sound regulation of the pesticides in question.
“They may have a lot of money. But… we’re going to win,” Jenkins said.
The uproar worries officials at Bayer and Syngenta, who make the pesticides, as well as Monsanto, DuPont and other companies who used them as coatings for the seed they sell.
“Everybody is concerned by it,” said Monsanto Chief Technology Officer Robert Fraley in an interview.
Monsanto plans to host a summit in June for experts from around the country to analyze the issue and discuss potential solutions. Bayer is breaking ground on a facility in North Carolina to study bee health.
The European Union said this month it would ban the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or “neonics,” used for corn and other crops as well as on home lawns and gardens. Similar constraints in the United States could cost manufacturers millions of dollars in sales.
“We are concerned… that the science sometimes gets trumped by the politics,” said Dave Fischer, an ecotoxicologist at Bayer CropScience who is meeting with bee keepers and studying the bee deaths. He said critics “are searching for a culprit.”
via Monsanto, Bayer seek answers to bee losses – NBC News.com.
Corporate politics is business as usual inside the United States, as I am once again shocked to report the EPA has sided with industry lobbyists over public health in approving a highly dangerous pesticide that the European Union recently decided to ban over fears of environmental devastation.
Not only have neonicotinoid pesticides been linked repeatedly to mass bee deaths, also known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), but the continued use of such pesticides threatens other aspects of nature (and humans) as well.
What’s even more amazing is that the decision not only comes after the EU publicly discussed the major dangers surrounding the use of the pesticides, but after the USDA released a report surrounding the continued honeybee deaths and the related effects — a report in which they detailed pesticides to be a contributing factor. Just the impact on the honeybees alone, and we now know that these pesticides are killing aquatic life and subsequently the birds that feed upon them, amounts to a potential $200 billion in global damages per year. We’re talking about the devastation of over 100 crops, from apples to avocados and plums.
And there’s countless scientists and a large number of environmental science groups speaking out on this. The EPA has no lack of information the subject. And sure, there are other contributing factors to bee deaths, there’s no question about that. We have an environment right now being hit with Monsanto’s Roundup even in residential areas, we have chemical rain, we have insane amounts of EMF — but it’s pretty clear that neonicotinoid pesticides are at least a major contributing factor. And beyond that, they have no place in the food supply to begin with.
The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) details the EU ban that came right before the EPA acceptance of the death-linked pesticide:
“The EU vote comes after significant findings by the European Food Safety Agency that these pesticides pose an unacceptable risk to bees and their use should be restricted. Along with habitat loss and pathogens, a growing body of science points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a key factor in drastically declining bee populations.”
So why are they approving this pesticide to now pollute the United States in what potentially amounts to an even larger capacity than the EU?
Link to Full article below.
via Insanity: US Approves Bee Death Pesticide as EU Bans It.
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
Whenever we can manage it, Steve & I take off and head to the high peaks of the Gila Wilderness. On really great trips, we can stay out for a week or more...on absolutely fantastic trips, we don't see any other humans for the entire week...
I grew up in these mountains; I never missed a fishing or hunting trip...not because I was a fan of fishing or hunting - but because I was a fan of spending days on end out of doors with so many trees, flowers and rocks to get acquainted with.
Reblogged from MisBehaved Woman:
The freedom movement lost one helluva warrior when Hardy Macia succumbed to Hodgkin's Lymphoma today at the very young age of 43...
I never had the honor of meeting Hardy in person, but worked with him through most of Gov. Johnson's presidential campaign. He was truly an inspiration and always led by example...
A fighter literally until his last breath, Hardy taped this video pleading for medical marijuana legalization just last week.
