Incoming Comet ISON Now Visible in Binoculars – Yahoo News.
This should be a good show, if you’re somewhere you can see the constellation Virgo. Hope the sky is clear where you are!
I’ve been looking but it’s been much too cloudy here. I haven’t seen much of the sky for a few days. I’m working nights now so I should be able to see these things if it’s clear out. 😉
Helicopter ride reveals enormous mass of anchovies, herded by dolphins and whales | GrindTV.com.
Here’s a cool article I saw on the front page of yahoo. It has some cool photos and a video of a huge bait ball and a bunch of dolphins and a couple of whales feeding off the coast of California. The photographer was so lucky to get these shots! 🙂
Official: Super Typhoon Kills 10,000 in Philippines | gCaptain
I don’t know how they can call this official since they say right in the article they’ve only found 300-400 bodies. It’s still terrible. Hearing of things like this, I wonder how is that possible? I’ve never been to the Philippines but I would assume that just like everywhere else, they do have communications with the rest of the world.
There was plenty of warning that this storm was headed their way and that it was going to be VERY powerful when it got there! They had the warnings, why didn’t they leave? There’s a world of difference in outcomes for people who get the warnings (and so can/do act on them) and those who don’t!
The Galveston Storm of 1900 killed ‘more than 6000’ people (estimates range from 6-12,000 out of a total of about 37,000). Considering that Galveston is a very low lying, flat island and there was practically NO warning back then, they were probably lucky that ANYONE survived. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane.
I’m very sorry for the people of the Philippines and I wish them a speedy recovery, but I just can’t fathom why this sort of thing still happens. I expect many people were just too caught up in their daily lives to worry much about ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ It happened here in the USA too. Remember Hurricane Katrina? It devastated New Orleans and many other coastal areas from Florida to Texas.
We had plenty of warning about Katrina too. Why did so many people stick around New Orleans when they should have known what would happen? After all, New Orleans is below sea level, it’s surrounded by water, and the levees are old and it had been stated many times in the past that they should not be expected to survive a bad storm.
Seems to me that most of the people who stayed in New Orleans were poor. Is it the same in the Philippines, that only the people who stayed in the low lying, storm devastated areas were poor (relatively)? I know the Philippines is a poor country, but what I’m wondering is: did so many people die there because of that lack of resources? Personal resources and community resources. Or were there other reasons? Why did so many people decide not to heed the warnings???
The reason I’m curious about that is because so many people here in the USA blame what happened in New Orleans on lack of resources. They say that the poor of New Orleans took the brunt of the damage that Katrina caused. They say that the poor had no way to escape the storm. They say that our government is responsible for causing the deaths of those people in New Orleans because they didn’t throw enough money and resources into the preparations.
I understand that the Philippine government does not have the resources that the US government does. Is that why the US government was blamed for the disaster in New Orleans? Is that why no one is blaming the government of the Philippines? Or is the difference in the people themselves???
What makes some people do EVERYTHING they possibly can do to take care of THEMSELVES? While so many others don’t?
PS-the question applies to more than just hurricanes!!
4 On Your Side investigates traffic stop nightmare | KOB.com.
Can you believe this????
You really better pay attention, this IS coming to YOUR town (if it hasn’t already). THIS is the kind of sick shit that is happening more and more every day in the land of the once free. 🙁
Everyone involved in this ‘case’ ought to have the shit sued out of them! They ought to be sent to prison for the rest of their lives! They should be sentenced to intense forms of humiliation to be performed on them EVERY SINGLE DAY for the rest of their lives for what they did to this man!
If you can’t see what the War on (some) Drugs is doing to this country, then you are just willingly blinding yourself! It’s LONG past time we put a stop to all this pure, unadulterated BULLSHIT!
There is NO excuse for these violations of our freedoms. NO DRUG could EVER be worth even the slightest bit of ANY violation of our freedoms, PERIOD! And just in case you can’t figure it out on your own, our freedoms DO include the RIGHT to possess, use and abuse ANY drug we choose!
I only WISH I had the head of the DEA in front of me right now! THAT entire agency should ALSO have to go through the same punishment I would give to the people I earlier mentioned. After all, everyone in the DEA is ALSO implicated in this case and every other case of abuse of the power of government involving the ridiculous excuse of the drug war!
It is ONLY when and if we violate the rights of some other PERSON that ANY kind of wrong has been done and so therefore that is the ONLY time society or any part of it has any damn thing to say about our RIGHT to make those choices.
I say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
🙂
Philippines braces for super typhoon, the strongest this year – Yahoo News.
I hope the people in the Philippines take heed and can get to safety. This storm looks like a bad one. Philippinos are known as some great sailors but their own ships are also known as having many accidents. I don’t know if there is a place to take their ships to be really safe in a storm like this but hoping they can make it through.
Peanut Butter Cup Pie Recipe – Kraft Recipes.
Ok, I have to admit, I got this from the same place I got the recipe for the peanut butter-banana monkey bread in my earlier post a while back.
http://captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/peanut-butter-…y-bread-recipe
I was looking at the pictures and practically drooling over them and found this other peanutty recipe. One more I’ll have to try when I get home.
I can see I’m going to have to invite some friends over. Oh yeah, peanut butter party! I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble with that one. 😉
4 Foods That Could Disappear If New Food Safety Rules Pass | Mother Jones.
Here’s an article from Mother Jones about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Obama signed it into law in 2011 and I suppose nobody read this one either. If they did, they had to have been paid off by the usual suspects in favor of large scale factory farming.
Obviously, no one wants our food supply to be full of dangerous ingredients. We would all like to be able to buy safe, fresh, affordable, wholesome food. The problem with this law is the same as with every law like this, the ‘law of unintended consequences’. In addition to that problem, some others are already popping up.
For one, this is just one example of how BIG companies use the law to their advantage. They are much more easily able to comply with it, even if it DOES cost them big bucks. They can still manage to get by, especially when it wipes out their competition.
This sort of thing happens all the time in this country and is just one example of how we do NOT have a free market at all. No free market would permit companies to grow as large as we have here. They can only get that way because the laws allow it through special favors and manipulation of the market and the laws themselves. 🙁
Regardless of the name of this law (seems they’re always named the opposite of what they’re REALLY about), it will wind up hurting small farmers, organic farmers, food co-ops, and consumers concerned about healthy, safe food.
The article mentions just a couple of ways this will happen. Again, remember the law of unintended consequences! Those things they mentioned will probably just be the bare minimum of the problems that will develop.
Why do we always insist on the worst possible agency (the government) to take care of our problems? We always seem to think “there ought to be a law”! One size does NOT fit all and we really ought to be able to figure out ways to deal realistically with these things WITHOUT the use of FORCE. It’s especially galling when the use of force (government aid) is applied to the side that is hurting the people in favor of giant corporations.
Food safety is a pretty important subject, even if it’s not one we usually think about much. I hope some of you will think about it a bit. As they mention in the article, the FDA is still accepting comments until November 15. If this is important to you, you still have a chance to at least get the word out and hopefully your comments will be taken into account with the same weighting as someone from Monsanto or Kraft Foods would (yeah riiiiight). I said ‘hopefully’.
Where Does Facebook Stop and the NSA Begin? | Mother Jones.
Here’s another article re: the NSA. It goes right along with the one I posted yesterday (and my related rant about it). In case anyone did not realize it, it’s not only the NSA that is spying on us. As this article points out, pretty much EVERYONE is spying on us.
Facebook is just one corporation that is in cahoots with the federal government to suck up our personal information and use it (against us) for their benefit. Apparently Facebook has some kind of deal with the feds to just hand it right on over, no warrant required.
I really don’t like the fact that my information, that I am just hoping certain people to see will be collected by some giant corporation and then sold to the feds. This way the government can get around the constitution (not really- but they hope we’ll fall for it) and steal all our information without going through the bother of obeying the LAW (the constitution) and having something specific enough to look for that they can ask for and get a warrant!
Yeah, I know that when I post to Facebook everybody in the world can look at it if they want. I’m hoping that people that I know, or people with similar interests will stop by my page and join in the conversation. I’m NOT really trying to send it directly to some government goon with nothing better to do than spend his entire career illegally spying on people!
You question my calling it “illegal spying”? I call it that because they do NOT have any probable cause to look at anything I do! They do not have any warrant! ANY time the government looks at ANYTHING to do with you without probable cause and a warrant IS illegal under the constitutions 4th and 5th amendments (and others)!
I just can NOT understand why more people aren’t up in arms over this. People really don’t give a damn about the daily violations and constant erosion of their freedom. WHY? Can anybody explain this total apathy? Have Americans been THAT brainwashed, THAT terrified by their government as to allow anything and everything that same government wants to do as long as they say it’s ‘for our own good’? 🙁
Yeah, I guess Facebook might be classified as a ‘public’ space, but who says the government can sneak up and eavesdrop on a conversation you’re having among friends in the park??
It’s really the same thing.
ALL human beings have a RIGHT to privacy! It’s a basic necessity for any civilized society.
The US government was formed ONLY to PROTECT those rights we already had just because we are human beings! WHEN are people going to realize that the government is NOT doing ANY of this stuff for our own good but only for THEIR own good?
WTF is it going to take to get people to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?????
The NSA Review Panel Is An Even Bigger Joke Than We Previously Thought | TechCrunch.
Surprise, surprise, surprise… NOT! Did anyone really think they would do the right thing? Anybody seriously think they would stop their illegal, unconstitutional activities? Anybody actually think they would give up their chance to spy on everything and everybody in the entire world???
Just because they got caught? REALLY???
Anybody who really thought they might, just might do the right thing just because they got caught with their pants down has no inkling of how ‘our’ government really works these days.
We had just better face it, until and unless WE put a stop to this crap, they are just going to find another way to get what they want. What they want is total control over you, me, EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY in the USA (and the world if they can find a way)!
They’re well on their way to accomplishing this sick goal of theirs. They got the PATRIOT Act passed which violated every amendment of the constitution but the one about quartering troops in your home. Then they keep trying to scare the crap out of everyone so they can keep it up. Constant threats we need them to violate our freedoms to protect us from, yeah riiiiiighhhht.
Obamacare is their latest scam and a pretty good jump in their capabilities. After all, if you control someones health, their physical body, then you do pretty much control them. Is somebody going to argue against that?
I’d like to hear those arguments if anyone has one. I know there must be some supporters of this stuff out there. Unbelievable! 🙁 But polls show the majority of Americans support this stuff (illegal spying), http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/05/poll-public-supports-nsa-spying-on-their-email-neighbors-and-foreign-leaders/.
WTF has happened to America? We USED to be the most free country that ever existed and now we have flushed our freedom in the toilet. For WHAT?????
WTF are you so AFRAID of??? WHY do you let them manipulate you like this? You let them take away our hard earned freedom because of FEAR??? Or is it because of apathy? Or you’re too busy to bother? WHY are you allowing this to happen?
I would REALLY like to know. I just don’t get it.
6 Sky Events This Week: Taurids, Lagoon, and Neptune – News Watch.
I love watching the stars at night. I miss being able to see them clearly. Its just SO amazing sky watching from a ship at sea without all the light pollution we get at home.
Looks like the Taurids (meteors) will be the main thing to look for tonight. Venus and Cassiopeia should be bright and easy enough to spot, even with the lights of the city around and no need of a telescope.
I’ll be back at sea by Thursday but I don’t expect to be able to do much star gazing, there’s not much chance of a dark ship on a drilling rig (and we would not want that to happen!!!).
I’ll have to try and go sailing again when I get in from work. 😉
I’m learning how to do this, instead of posting my photos separately, I’m putting them all in this one post this time. That first shot is one I took while I was sailing as captain of a tuna boat. We were in port, in Tarawa (Kiribati). It’s a photo of a couple of reefer ships waiting to fill up with our catch of tuna and bring it to buyers, in someplace like Bangkok or Tokyo.
This is my entry into the Word A Week Challenge for this week. The challenge comes from this website, check it out : http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/a-word-a-week-challenge-two/ The word of the week is: TWO.
So, my photos all have 2 of something.
2 boats- I took this while searching for the boat builders on Sulawesi Indonesia, the seaweed harvest was going on, everyone was out helping
2 chickens- during the seaweed harvest, Sulawesi Indonesia
2 buffalos- on the roadside on the way to look for the boat builders, Sulawesi Indonesia
2 dancers- at a dance exhibition, Ubud Bali
2 cooks- at a night market, Singapore
2 girls- getting ready for temple, Bali
2 bugs
2 pansies blooming
2 butterflies
I had a ton of fun taking these pictures, looking back at them makes me want to take off again and go somewhere exciting, but for now I’m stuck at home and back to work in only one more day. 🙁
I sure hope the new year brings me more adventures! 😉
Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Tart Recipe | Epicurious.com.
Here’s another yummy looking recipe! To add to its rating on my scale, it’s easy to make. To top it off, it’s CHOCOLATE!
Yummy!! 🙂
Maritime Monday for September 30th, 2013: Movies About Sailors Part 5; Sailor’s Luck | gCaptain
Yeah, I know I’m late. 😉 I’ve been so busy, I’m falling WAY behind in my emails, etc. I had hoped to be able to catch up a little bit this weekend but STILL just SO busy. I’ve only got a couple of days before I have to go back offshore and not sure what kind of access I’ll have to the internet, so trying to post a few now to keep my loyal followers happy. 😉
Here’s another from Monkey Fists’ great series on Maritime Movies. Movies About Sailors Part 5: Sailor’s Luck looks like another great batch of movies to while away a lazy afternoon.
I haven’t seen ANY of these movies which seems like something I’ll need to fix one of these days. Some of them look pretty good. I would like to watch the Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea starring Kris Kristofferson and the Sand Pebbles starring Steve McQueen (he got an Academy Award nomination for this role).
Some of the other movies look pretty good too, like Sinbad the Sailor with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Anthony Quinn and Maureen O’Hara. Should Sailors Marry? starring Clyde Cook looks interesting. Of course Sex and the Single Sailor would be high on the list. 😉
I hope Monkey Fist continues to come out with these great posts of maritime related movies. I’m saving them so if I ever do get some time to just relax one of these days, I’ll be able to just look back at my old posts and find the perfect one for my mood. Adventure, romance, comedy, drama, its all there. I hope some of you will get a chance to watch soon. I think it’ll be a while for me. Enjoy! 🙂
Free Markets: Just What the Doctor Ordered | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.
This is an excellent article by former Congressman Ron Paul on the problems with our health care system. He brings up a good point and one I have mentioned myself in previous posts about the confusion of language. How the arguments we use to discuss these important issues are skewed from the very beginning because the meanings of the words we use have been twisted.
Socialism, Corporatism, Facism, Capitalism, Democracy, Republic, Liberal… all of these terms have been used and confused. Purposely? I can’t swear to it, but I would say: YES! All of these terms have been used in discussions about American politics and all of them are in one way or another accurate but it’s getting very hard to have a discussion and use any of these words and have your intention understood.
When I talk to others about Obamacare and call it socialized medicine, I am meaning simply that it is NOT in any way a free market system which is what we SHOULD have here. What we DO have here is not in any way a free market system either. Not by a long shot! We have not had anything remotely resembling a free market in health care for a LONG time!
So when the supporters of socialized health care put down the free market as the cause of the problems we have, it is just incredibly frustrating, since it is actually the socialization of our medical system which is the root cause of our problems and NOT the free markets! Ron Paul does a fairly good job explaining all this in this article.
I would just LOVE to see a real, honest discussion about how to fix our health care system (along with all our other problems). A discussion with clearly defined terms, with facts and rational arguments ONLY allowed to be brought up, instead of anecdotes and emotions over-riding all logical conclusions.
It looks like that is never going to happen. Obamacare has already been forced upon us and the emotions (hope, greed, envy, etc) have won out over reason. 🙁
Pirates Hauling $400 Million Since ’05 Pocket Little of Booty, Report Shows | gCaptain
I’m amazed they needed to do a study to learn this! Pirates work for bosses too, just like pirate leader Muse told Tom Hanks in the movie Captain Phillips. 🙁
According to the study, the pirates only get about 0.01 percent of what they manage to collect. The rest goes to the ‘financiers’. Wow!
One of the comments makes an excellent point and its too bad that no one will actually follow up on this idea…
“So! — the real crooks behind this reign of terror at sea are (as elsewhere) the financiers and the companies, who are profiting from the work of their ‘foot-soldiers’.”
Civil forfeiture: The grabbing hand of the law | The Economist.
I’m always amazed at how many people still don’t understand the way our government has changed. Our government that was formed ONLY to PROTECT our rights has somehow morphed into something intent on destroying them instead. Asset forfeiture or civil forfeiture as they call it in this article is just one particularly horrible example.
I started paying more attention to this issue years ago when I heard about a case where a man had his airplane stolen (confiscated) by the government. He spent years and thousands of dollars trying to get it back. It’s hard to fight the government when they’ve already stolen every asset you might have to pay for a lawyer to fight them with. 🙁
Since then, I’ve heard of SO many cases around the country. It’s really sad. The laws are written so that they are technically filing charges against the PROPERTY. Property is not a person. Property has no rights. Property can not defend itself. Property is guilty until proven innocent (which is VERY hard to do)!
We now have over 200 federal forfeiture statutes!! Any one of which could be used to steal everything you own. You are not likely to win any part of it back (unless you have big bucks hidden away someplace). Even then, good luck!
This article from the Economist concentrates on the Dehkos, who are fighting right now to keep their grocery store. Grocery store! Apparently the grocery store has been ‘money laundering’ for the last couple of years! Pretty obviously the grocery store is NOT guilty of anything, much less ‘money laundering’ (which is not a crime anyway since there is no victim).
This charge against the ‘grocery store’ leaves the Dehkos (who actually own/operate the store) in deep trouble. The government has already confiscated all the money they had in the bank. How hard do you think it is to run a business when all your money has just been stolen?
Thanks to the Institute for Justice (www.ij.org), the Dehkos might just have a fighting chance. They’ve stepped in to help fight government overreach and will try to help these people recover their money and their lives.
The article mentions a case involving a motel. This case was just recently settled. The Caswells spent almost 4 years fighting the attempted government theft of the property that had been in their family for generations. Thanks to the help of the Institute for Justice they were finally able to prevail. Here’s a link for more on that case http://www.ij.org/massachusetts-civil-forfeiture-release-3-15-2013. Its a pretty good example of the kinds of things going on around the country.
Sorry to say, most people in this country don’t have the help of the Institute for Justice. I wish more did. I’ve been a supporter of the IJ for years, I REALLY appreciate everything they do. Most people don’t have the resources to fight the government. So most people will lose.
It’s a legal fiction to charge the property. It is ONLY done to make it easier for the government to win its case. Cases that most probably could NOT be won if they had to play by the rules.
Take a look at some of the information posted by the Forfeiture Endangers American Rights Foundation (F.E.A.R.- www.fear.org). They’ve been at the forefront of this issue for years. They’re trying to make some very needed changes but seems they’re not making much headway. Here’s a link to a ‘position paper’ from F.E.A.R. on asset forfeiture http://www.fear.org/fposit.html.
I keep hoping that if more people only knew about all these violations of our rights. Of all the ways the government is stealing our freedoms. Of all the ways they are making our society poorer and meaner. Then people would stand up for themselves and put a stop to it. Say ‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’. I keep hoping…