Animal Food Checkoff Programs and the Economics of Meat Production

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Animal Food Checkoff Programs and the Economics of Meat Production – Politics – Utne Reader.

Here is an interesting article from Utne Reader on the new book by David Robinson Simon: “Meatonomics”.

This exert from the book is mainly about the food “checkoff” programs. Those are programs where the federal government takes a certain percentage of every product sold, say every pound of beef or pork, or a dozen eggs, or a gallon of milk. They then use that money to “promote” those products. In other words, to manipulate the public through advertising to buy more of those products.

Milk- it does a body good.

Pork, the other white meat.

What’s for dinner? Beef.

The incredible, edible egg.

I’m sure you’ve seen these ads, they’ve been around for years. According to the article, they’ve been VERY effective. For instance, the dairy producers report they’ve increased per capita milk consumption 12% to 620 pounds since their program started in 1983. More than 7 billion extra pounds of milk sold!

I don’t really have a problem with food producers trying to promote the sale of their products. If they all just got together voluntarily and threw their money in a pool to spend on advertising that they all agreed on, then fine.

Where I have an issue is that this program is mandatory. The federal government does not allow anyone to opt out and it forces ALL producers to pay for whatever it is that the government decides to say. We’re talking $557 million yearly, that’s a lot of advertising.

Why in the world do we even need the federal government to promote ANY product? Is this in ANY way consistent with the LIMITED government we are supposed to have according to our Constitution? It IS still the supreme law of the land, no matter how many ‘laws’ have been written into the books to subvert it.

Looks like nobody really cares. There’s already been a case where some beef producers disagreed with an ad campaign (Johannes v. Livestock Marketing Association) that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Basically, the court ruled that the statements (ads) were being produced by the government, NOT the beef producers and so they had no standing to object (I’m not a lawyer but that’s my take on it).

Tough titties in other words 🙁

It looks like a book worth reading if you’re at all interested in our increasingly corporate food system. The more I learn, the more I DON’T like what I’m finding out. There has to be a better way.

Charts: How Big Debt on Campus Is Threatening Higher Ed

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Charts: How Big Debt on Campus Is Threatening Higher Ed | Mother Jones.

If you read my earlier post on the college degree arms race (http://captjillsjourneys.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/disarming-the-college-degree-arms-race/), then you might like to read this as a follow up. It’s a little bit different take on the subject from Dave Gilson and Maggie Severns at Mother Jones.

They put out some good information. I’d like to see a chart there about how the amount of government aid correlates to increased prices for a college education. I have seen some work on that before. Maybe it was in a Reason magazine. Nope, I found it, it was in a Cato publication, heres a link to a summary page where you can read the whole thing if you’re so inclined  (http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/making-college-more-expensive-unintended-consequences-federal-tuition-aid)

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again 🙁

Liberator Online: There ought to be a law…?

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Liberator Online: There ought to be a law…?.

OK, I’m a little late getting this one out but here it is… the August issue of the Liberator Online, sent out by the Advocates for Self Government. As they say, it’s for “anyone who loves liberty”. 🙂

This one is pretty entertaining. I especially liked the articles on the “killer lurking in your kitchen”, and America’s nuttiest warning labels. There’s also a good video interview with Greg Glassman who founded CrossFit, along with the usual quotes, powerful pursuasion point, and libertarian response to corporate abuses by Dr Mary Ruwart. Enjoy…

“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed

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“Privacy” Held Hostage By “Security” – Public Unimpressed | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Another great article from Laissez-Faire. This one on the supposed conflict between privacy and security. I agree completely with Mr Leahy, the real issue is between control and liberty. I don’t know about you, but I will side with liberty EVERY time on EVERY issue!

“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom

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“Coupon Constitution” Threatens Fundamental Freedom by Bob Barr.

I couldn’t have said it better. Everything he says is the truth. It’s so sad what we have allowed to happen, what we have done to ourselves. It wasn’t Al-Qaeda that destroyed America, it was US!

Through our FEAR, we allowed everything America stood for to be shot down along with our enemies. We allowed the government to run rampant, in complete contrast to our founders intentions of an extremely LIMITED government with only a few areas of authority.

I hope one day the American people will come to their senses and take back our country before its too late. 

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin

10 Blogging Nuggets From a Newbie

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Great tips for bloggers 🙂

What TSA Really Stands For

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What TSA Really Stands For | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Thousands Standing Around, Trampling Several Amendments, Too Stupid for Arby’s, Touch Sex Army, Teaching Submission to Americans, Touchin’ Squeezin’ Arrestin’, Theatrical Security Agents, Touchin’ Sensitive Areas, Taking Scissors Away, Tough Shit America!, Totalitarian Security Agents, Tremendously Stupendous Arrogance, Taxpayer Supported Assault, Trampling Stupid Americans…..

Take your pick. I could go on (and on). They are nothing but a bunch of well paid (from our tax dollars) government goons. They have somehow been brainwashed to think (if I can use that word in this instance) that by violating our rights daily, they are actually doing some good.  🙁

To anyone who seriously believes that, I have a bridge to sell you!

Its all I can do to keep my mouth shut when I have to go to the airport. I’m sure one of these days they’re going to put me on the no-fly list and then that will be it for me. I’ll be unable to work and that will be that.

People tell me to just refuse to fly if I’m so against the TSA “keeping us safe”. Yeah, riiiiiiggght. Please tell me how I am supposed to get to work over in Singapore when I live in Texas without flying??? Oh, and by the way, the TSA is now in train stations, bus stations, ROAD BLOCKS, MALLS, STADIUMS, and they were even at the last presidential nominating conventions. So how the hell can I escape them???

The fact that they are shredding the entire constitution in the idiotic (impossible) quest to make us all “safe”, is not an issue to 99% of the people I see at the airport. I think THAT fact bothers me even worse then the TSA itself. That AMERICANS who are supposed to be so supportive of freedom that we will go halfway around the world to fight other peoples battles for them will not only accept these NAZI tactics, but cheer on the thugs. I can only shake my head and grit my teeth. What the hell has happened to us?

Yeah, the linked article is a little tongue in cheek but it does make some good points. Seriously.

I recently applied for the ‘trusted traveler’ program the Customs & Border Patrol  (CBP) runs. Only so I can get through the lines faster. In hopes that will help me  keep my “privilege” to travel for a while longer. It’s still in process (probably to be denied after this rant). The officer actually told me that because I have a criminal record (30+ years ago, another one 5+- neither of which had anything remotely to do with security) I might not be approved. WOW! She actually told me that my RIGHT to travel freely was NOT a right but only a privilege!

Well, NO! It is NOT a privilege! It IS a RIGHT!!!!

Despite the fact that I already have a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identity Card) which is given out by the TSA after a background check and is SUPPOSED to be so we can have UNESCORTED access through a PORT (airPORT), and also (had) a security clearance for work which also gave me a pretty thorough background check, I had to pay another $100 for the CBP background check for this program.

I asked the agent why with this being the THIRD background check, she was not able to see that I had been arrested and had a criminal record? Of course, she was not allowed to tell me that! 🙁

By this point I was getting pretty upset. She insisted I would have to trace down my own records and FAX them in to her within 30 days. OK, so I managed to get the records and tried for hours to fax them in. No luck, phone always busy. With all that money the government gets, they can’t do paperwork any other way but by fax? they can only afford one phone??? WTF???

I called and reached another officer (mine was off) and they gave me a different number to fax. No luck on that one either. So, here I am at work (offshore), we don’t have a fax. I have no mail or email that I can send the papers to. I only get off to go home the day before my time runs out. They sure make it easy to do something to help yourself instead of them. Yeah, riiiiiight. 🙁

Some free country we have… yeah, riiiiighhht. Sure you don’t want to take a look at that bridge?

Disarming the College Degree Arms Race

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Disarming the College Degree Arms Race – Politics – Utne Reader.

Although I found this article a little hard to read, I thought it made a lot of good points. Anyone thinking of going to college should read it through and really spend some time thinking about it. There are a few aspects to this issue that I haven’t seen come up anywhere else yet. I think we really should have some kind of national discussion about ‘credentialing’.

I noticed a long time ago how a high school diploma had warped into a bachelors degree. I mean, jobs you could get hired on for and do very well at with just a high school diploma back in the old days (before say 1990), now require at LEAST a bachelors degree.

I thought it must be because of how the schools have been dumbed down so much. I have a hard time understanding how/why a school would pass someone who failed all the tests. Someone who can’t either read or write. But apparently, the parents have demanded that their kids don’t deserve to fail. WTF???? If they failed the class, then yes, they DO deserve to fail!

The school systems gave in to the parents and pass pretty much everyone now. So a high school diploma has become pretty much totally worthless. I got a job tutoring people in college so that they could pass the remedial math and English classes, wow! Why were they accepted into college if they couldn’t pass BASIC math and English??? Now, anyone who wants a ‘decent’ job MUST go to college??!! So somehow we have to help them all get through it. Or at least that’s what we’re all told.

I have to disagree. I should NEVER have listened to my grandmother. She was one of those people who insisted “you’ll never be able to get a good job without a college degree”. I informed her that I already HAD a college degree (2 year AAS in Ocean Marine Technology). She insisted that “didn’t count”.

Why? I have no idea. I already HAD a ‘decent’ job. In fact, more than decent. It was a very well paying job, with way more than the usual time off, it had great benefits, and to top it off, I actually enjoyed it. I really looked forward to going back to work.

I was only a captain tho, and not on a cruise ship 🙁 Maybe if I HAD been working on a cruise ship instead of in the oilfield, my accomplishments would have been acceptable to my grandmother.

So, I quit my job as licensed master 1600 GT and went back to school. I started back at the local jr college where I got my AAS degree. I was going to go on to a university later for a degree in Chemical Engineering. Since I live in the middle of about a dozen chemical plants, I figured I would always be able to get a ‘decent’ job.

NOT the right thing to do!! I finally figured out that I was NOT going to be a chemical engineer after my 1st year at UT Austin! No way was I going to do that kind of work for the rest of my life! Now what? I had just spent 3 years in school (and a ton of money) and still no degree… I asked around and turns out that if I changed majors to math I would only need one more full year in school.

I was already BROKE again. I needed to go back to work. Back offshore where I could save some money again. So, I went back to the US Coast Guard only to find out they had changed the rules without telling anybody (which is against their own rules) and so I would have to start all over from the bottom.

I shipped out as an AB (on tankers) so I could start working my way back up again to only a 3rd mate unlimited license when the USCG had already given me a 2nd mates license (but then changed the rules and took it back). I did manage to earn my license and finally enough money to go back to school again.

I found that the University of St Thomas in Houston had a program where I could get almost all of my course work done without having to quit my job (offshore- 2 months on/2 off). I did have to quit finally to do one whole semester and got all my remaining math classes out of the way.

OK, so now I managed to FINALLY get an acceptable college degree! Whoo-hoo!! Did it do me any good at all??? NO!!! I have been on the lookout since I graduated (with honors) with a bachelors degree in MATH and I have not seen even ONE job advertised that would use it. Not even one!

Yeah, I could teach, but only if I went BACK to school for another couple of years for a teaching certificate! I’m sure my grandmother would love for me to do that so I could get a ‘decent’ job off the boats and live a ‘normal’ life. Get married, have kids and all that. She’s not around any more to tell me that so I do what I want with no guilt. 😉

Why in the world would I quit the job I have now to take one that pays only about 1/4 (or less), and works at least twice as much? It really doesn’t take a math major to figure out that equation just doesn’t work!

So, this whole idea of people having to go to college to get a decent job is a crock of sh*t as far as I’m concerned. Its too bad so many people (including me) have been suckered into spending so much time, effort, money for a piece of paper. People would probably be a heck of a lot better off finding something to do with their lives that they actually enjoyed doing. Maybe go to a trade school, or even ‘apprentice’ with someone. You don’t have to be in a school to learn something useful!

To anyone out there who’s thinking about college, take a lesson from me and don’t let anyone guilt you into something you’re not sure about. Take some time off- a gap year- and wander the world, think about life and what you want out of it. There are a million ways to earn a living, but you’re the only one that can figure out how you really want to do it. Go for it! 😉

Utne Monthly Music Sampler

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Utne Monthly Music Sampler.

OK, Here’s the monthly music sampler from Utne Reader. I can’t even listen to them out here since my computer is screwed up and the internet is too slow for stuff like that. No music, no videos for me til I get off here…

There’s a good selection to check out this month. They have a great variety in this one. Everything from American folk, blues, punk to Indian folk, classical, Bollywood. I would like to listen to some of this stuff, especially the albums by “Over the Rhine” and “Zachary Cale”, but those guys the  “Jaipur Kawa Brass Band” sound super interesting and I think I might like “Rusty Belle” too.

People into more classical or traditional music might like to try out the selections from Carol Kleyn, a harpist who sings about Silkies, and Van-Anh Vanessa Vo, who plays Vietnamese instruments and sings in a mix of old and new .

Check it out. Let me know which ones you like and why. I’ll be happy to try your recommendations 😉

Looking For Food Freedom In New York

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Looking For Food Freedom In New York : Personal Liberty™.

First it’s cigarettes, then it’s sodas, now its food 🙁 Mayor Bloomberg is a creepy wanna-be dictator! I can’t believe the New Yorkers are still putting up with this idiot!

Why in the world would anyone allow someone else to tell them what they can eat or drink??? Have they all somehow mutated into some kind of zombie? They only LOOK like adults, but on the inside they’re still just whiny little babies that only want to be told what to do. They actually pay attention and follow orders just because someone else tells them its for their own good?

I used to spend some time around NYC when I was growing up. I graduated from the Oceanics School which was based in NYC. I used to help out there and would walk from the school down to the train station every day. I would stop and talk to people along the way. No, they  were not all rude or dangerous. Most of them were friendly and really interesting to talk to. Very independent minded to say the least 😉 I can’t imagine how those people would react to this crap.

Have they all been somehow brainwashed? Maybe they all moved away due to the increasing infringements of their rights? I don’t know, but I would like see someone do a study on it. NY and CA seem to be the leaders of the rest of the country. I would HATE to see the rest of the states follow this leadership but I can already see it coming. Maybe if the study shows some kind of virus is eating up NYC residents brains, the rest of the country will quarantine that kind of ‘thinking’. I can only hope 🙁

Why Americans Can’t Die With Dignity

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Why Americans Can’t Die With Dignity | Mother Jones.

I thought this was a really good interview with Katy Butler. Author of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death”. I think its a very important issue that we just keep on avoiding. Even with all the talk about ‘death panels’ in Obamacare, we still don’t really get to the point. We need to have the discussion. We need to really do some deep thinking about how we want to deal with a major injury/sickness and death.

I’ve already been through the ordeal of losing both my parents. I was the one who had to make the decisions at the end for both of them. I do totally agree with Katy that we in America spend WAY too many resources on people who are in the last stage of life. Resources that could be much better spent on helping the quality of life rather than the quantity.

I myself would prefer to die before they put me on the machines, before I don’t know who I am anymore, or recognize my best friends. I don’t even consider that as LIFE! I hope I’m strong enough to just get it over with and off myself if I ever get to that point. I would hate to have to put someone else at risk of going to prison for helping me end my life with some dignity. Yeah, I say that now…

Reading the interview I was reminded of how my father changed his outlook once he found out he had cancer. The doctors at the VA hospital only gave him a few months to live. He had a rare form of cancer and so with a lot of help from friends was able to get treatment at MD Anderson hospital instead. It’s one of the best cancer treatment centers in the world. They did everything they could for him. It added probably a few more months to his life.

But he was sick as hell from the treatments. He was in pain most of the time. He was dying and he knew it but he was also determined to fight til the very end. He did. He died anyway (like we all will).

We were able to get some help for him at the end but it was too little, too late. I was trying to help deal with a lot of medical issues I wasn’t really prepared for (even tho I do have medical PIC- it’s harder to deal with someone you know and love).

Near the end, my father had no idea who I was. It would have been nice if he could have been helped by hospice at home, where he was comfortable and had his friends around. We were finally lucky to be able to put him in a hospice facility in Houston, he died there in only a couple of days.

I have no real idea of what all that cost. I just know it was a LOT and there was no way he could afford it. (And yes, I’m pretty sure those costs were passed on to the general public). No way anybody could afford all that! If he didn’t have that rare form of cancer, I’m sure he would have been ‘allowed’ to die a lot sooner. The hospital thought it was worth keeping him around so they could learn from his case. Hopefully they learned something to help someone else down the road.

I really should have had a discussion with my dad before he got sick. I would have felt better knowing what he really wanted. Not a decision made under that kind of stress. Some states have passed a Death with Dignity Act. I don’t think Texas is one of them. I would support it.

Lecture Series | Mariners’ Museum

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Lecture Series | Mariners’ Museum.

I only just found out about this lecture series when I read the link on my earlier post on The Project. It will be part of this Lecture Series. It sounds like a pretty cool thing to do if you’re in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Each lecture has a presentation by the author and a Q & A session afterwards. They have them almost monthly and they pick some good ones. The Project about pirates sounds great. They have one on sea monsters coming up Oct 10 that sounds good too.  🙂

Check the link for more information. The website for the museum is www.marinersmuseum.org . Its FREE! 🙂

Bill To Define Journalist Will Get Full Senate Vote

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Bill To Define Journalist Will Get Full Senate Vote : Personal Liberty™.

Just got this in an email… URGENT to all bloggers and anyone else concerned with free speech. This bill will destroy it! Call and write your “representatives” asap. It’s very important to defeat this bill. There is no definition of what a ‘journalist’ is in the Constitution and they have NO need to make one up now. All this bill will accomplish is to silence those of us they don’t like for whatever reason. Speak up now before it’s too late!

The Project: Award Winning Documentary on Somali Pirates

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http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Emmywinning-Filmmaker-Screens-Documentary-on-Somalian-Pirate-Hunters-2013-09-11/

Here’s a new movie coming out that looks pretty interesting. Called ‘The Project’, and directed by Emmy-award winners Shawn Efran and Adam Ciralsky. Hopefully it will bring some attention to a serious issue the worlds seafarers have to deal with.

If you happen to live in the Hampton Roads area (VA), it’s going to be shown for FREE. At the Mariners Museum (www.marinersmuseum.org). Thursday, Sept 19, 7:00 pm, followed by a Q & A session.

If I was home, I would definitely like to go see this. Pirates are a serious issue to all mariners. We may or may not know where we’re going. We’re not allowed to have any sort of protection against these thugs. Our companies expect us to run and hide in a ‘citadel’ onboard til the pirates decide to just leave. Yeah, riiiight, that works SO well…

There are thousands of seafarers injured and traumatized for life because of this. It seems it’s only when an American vessel gets attacked that there is even any publicity.

Pirate attacks happen almost daily on both the East and West Coasts of Africa. There are also attacks in the Malacca Straits, in the South China Sea, all over India and Pakistan, and yes, they still have pirates in the Caribbean  🙁

Too bad they’re not really at all like Johnny Depp.

Light it Up: Another Weed Ship Goes Up in Smoke

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Light it Up: Another Weed Ship Goes Up in Smoke | gCaptain

Wow! What’s going on in Tanzania lately?? Have they taken over from Columbia or Hawaii as the worlds leading pot producer or something?

For the 2nd time in a week, a Tanzanian flag ship has been lit on fire to avoid being caught and charged with smuggling marijuana. This time, the French are the ones chasing them down.

But again it looks like its the house burning instead of the cargo holds.

I wonder how many fishermen are hanging out in the smoke trail along with the French Navy?  😉

Daily Prompt: Toy Story- Sea Snark

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Daily Prompt:Toy Story- What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/daily-prompt-memento/

I’m not sure if my sea snark qualifies as a toy but playing with it (sailing) was my favorite thing to do while I was growing up (other than reading).

I used to take my little sailboat our almost every day, usually after school. Sometimes, I would even sail it TO school 🙂

Made out of Styrofoam, it was indestructible. Unlike the Titanic, it was actually unsinkable 🙂 We DID test that quite regularly 😉

I had SO much fun with that little boat. 🙂 I would go by myself. I would take out my friends. My brother would run circles around me with his outboard powered dingy, but I didn’t care. I always loved just sailing. Letting the wind drive me where I wanted to go. It was so engaging, so peaceful, so enjoyable. I STILL love sailing and go out every chance I can.

As a kid, I never would have imagined that I would wind up ‘sailing’ for a living (that’s what we call shipping out- ‘sailing’). I was on track to be a doctor back then. My grandparents were both pharmacists. My fathers mother was one of the first female pharmacists in the state of NY 🙂 (I definitely take after her) 😉 I made straight A’s in school and I did love studying all my subjects in class, especially math and science.

What happened was: I got sick and tired of taking the same classes over and over again in school. For example, I had been taking algebra since at least 5th grade. I always made straight A’s. I just couldn’t see the point of taking it AGAIN in 9th grade.

So, I started skipping those classes that I’d already taken. I was still making good grades. I could still keep up with the work. After all, I HAD already taken those classes (more than once). I’ll never understand why parents put up with the school systems dumbing down their kids so much!

Eventually, my family got tired of hearing about my transgressions from the school district. My grandmother decided I needed to go to a boarding school, to keep me from skipping 😉 Well, I give her credit. She tried. She really did.

Along with my Aunt Helen, my grandmother and I went on a road trip from Freeport NY, up through Niagara Falls (loved the Maid of the Mist) into Canada. We came back down through the Detroit area (went to a concert there- grandma wore earplugs 🙂 ). Visited family friends near Chicago. Stopped at a dozen fancy schools before we made it back to NY.

I have to admit, I was a total BITCH the entire trip. I didn’t want to go to any fancy-schmantzy rich kid boarding school! I would never fit in. I liked my life the way it was. I loved my town where I grew up and I could spend my days hanging out with my friends on the beach. Sailing, swimming, fishing, even sometimes jumping off the bridge to let the current carry me out to the Gulf so I could swim back in 😉

Yeah, I was also hanging out at the amusement parlor and the pool halls, sometimes the bars 😉 I was drinking and other things I wasn’t supposed to be doing.

It was really a lucky stroke of fate what happened when my grandmother got me back to her place in Freeport. She was so fed up with me after that search for an acceptable school for both me and her, she took me to the library and threw the book at me. Literally! She told me that it was a book listing ALL the accredited schools in the country and if I could find one in there that I liked, I could go there.

The book landed on a table in front of me. Opened to a page with a picture of a square-rigged ship in full sail. I was hooked! I grabbed that book and started reading that thing like my life depended on it (turned out it really did in a way).

The book gave details: the Oceanics School (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19720827&id=nN1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5eADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6581,6541976). Based in New York City, the school would charter these large traditional sailing ships for months long cruises with their students aboard. The ship sailed around the world and the students learned to operate the ship. They held classes on navigation, seamanship, oceanography, cultural studies and languages of all the countries the ship visited.

I was so excited. I told my grandmother “that’s it!”. That’s the one I want to go to!! She was aghast!! She told me “no way”. “No way are you going to ruin your life with those damn boats like your father did!!” Up til he bought his dream boat, the “Island Girl”, my father was an engineer. A ‘respectable’ professional career man. My grandmother would never forgive the Island Girl for my fathers decision to quit the corporate world.

When I got home and told my dad about the Oceanics school, he was almost as happy about it as I was. He said “you’re going”, and “while we’re at it, we’ll send your brother too”! “You can’t skip school when you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean” 😉 So, soon enough my brother and I were off to sail around the world. We had some absolutely fantastic adventures sailing the 3- masted schooner Ariadne from Athens to Martinique!

That trip changed my life. I returned without my brother to sail the Ariadne again from Martinique back across the Atlantic. I had some incredible experiences with some wonderful people. It DID change my life.

I will be forever grateful to the Gallaghers (especially Stephanie) who took a chance on me and then helped me SO much. Even after I graduated from the Oceanics, Stephanie was instrumental in getting me set up in the Ocean Marine Technology program in Texas that got me started on the way to earning my license.

Because of the chance to go to the Oceanics, I am STILL sailing. Almost 35 years later.  🙂 I recently upgraded to Master Any Gross Tons and can sail pretty much any ship on the ocean. I still love the traditional sailing ships best but there just aren’t enough of them around to make a living on. Too bad 🙁

So, yeah, you could say my favorite plaything when I was young is still my favorite plaything now. 🙂

Here are a couple of great links. The first one is by Tim Harris of the ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl which he sailed on as a cadet with the Oceanics in the early 70s. The next one is of the same ship in a storm. The last is a link to the ship itself, in case you’re interested in sailing her 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iokDVlHybtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_YWgRBmVtY

www.lehmkuhl.no

NSA’s Secret War Against Online Privacy Seekers

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NSA’s Secret War Against Online Privacy Seekers.

Another interesting email from Global Wealth Protection this morning. I can’t say good, cause its NOT good. Its terrible! Its horrible that “our leaders” think of us as their “adversaries” now instead of their bosses (which we ARE)!!

It’s going to take a lot of effort on our part to have any sort of privacy now. I hope you take it into serious consideration. I’m not sure its worth it for me. I put a lot of my business right out in public (been posting on facebook for a while) and if they want to come and get me, they already know exactly where I am and what I’m doing. I’m a little surprised they haven’t come at me yet 😉

It still seriously bothers me that they’re doing this. Privacy is a basic human right (and NEED). We can not live together (peacefully) in society without it. The government has NO need! In fact, THEY are supposed to be open with what they’re doing. They’ve somehow managed to turn the tables and they hide everything they do and spy on everything we do.

They have absolutely NO authority (no matter what the hell they may try to scam you with)!! They are acting illegally and unconstitutionally and against every principle of a civilized society!

This kind of information gathering is about nothing but POWER and CONTROL (OF US). It has NEVER in the history of the world been used FOR the people, but ALWAYS against them! You give these power hungry psychopaths who fight tooth and nail to “get elected” to be “our rulers” this kind of power (“knowledge is power”) and you WILL regret it.

As they say in the article

“Make no mistake, this is the eye of Sauron. It is the empowerment of arrogance and power… and ultimately of death. You might think me dramatic but history doesn’t lie: Surveillance kills.”

Is it Safer to Work Offshore in 2013?

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Is it Safer to Work Offshore in 2013?.

Well, I don’t really know. I would like to see some statistics on how it compares to back in say the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Personally, I think its probably a LITTLE better. The companies I’ve been working with are constantly harping on safety. They go on and on til its coming out our ears. But I still hear of people doing really stupid things. Like that fire on the platform back in November last year , due to improper welding operations (http://www.blackelkenergy.com/news/67-explosion-and-fire-on-gulf-platform-occurred-during-welding-contractors-failed-to-follow-standard-safety-practices.html) . I mean, jeeze…

What the hell is it going to take?? I get sick and tired of being treated like a moron when I go to work. The company has to tell me how to get dressed in the morning? REALLY???

I’ve only been working offshore (professionally) since 1977! Having to re-take classes like BST (Basic Safety Training) or Rigpass really gets old. I mean, who forgets how to put on a life jacket??? What’s new in shipboard fire fighting? We have the same classes of fires we’ve always had (except they now label a galley grease fire as “K” for kitchen I guess- trying to make it SEEM like there’s actually something new). We fight them the same way.

I think the way to make things safer offshore is to concentrate on creating a culture of personal responsibility!!! Get people to understand that they can do what they’re going to do but THEY are responsible for their actions. They’ll pay attention if they know THEY are going to pay the price if anything goes wrong.

The fact is that we have all sorts of programs out here that SEEM to encourage safety. Instead, they take the ability to THINK about and then CHOOSE their actions away from people. Take away options from people and you take with it their responsibility. You can only BLAME them then, since you’ve taken away any REAL choices.

It seems to me these companies love to send people to these classes so they can tell the world, “it’s not OUR fault those people got hurt. After all, we sent them to training. They should have known how to do the job properly without getting hurt.” Yeah, like a day long class is really going to teach someone ALL they need to know to work safely out here. I don’t think so!

I’m NOT saying we need to go to any more classes!!! What I AM saying is that once a person goes through those very basic classes, they have only the bare minimum of knowledge. We can and should use the time spent in our weekly drills and safety meetings to train people PAST that bare minimum!

Those of us out here with some experience need to take into consideration that SOME of the people we’re working with are almost totally ignorant! From my perspective, it seems like a lot of the incidents are happening with relatively new people. We need to concentrate our efforts on training THOSE people! We need to keep a good eye on them. We need to take the time to really MENTOR them. We need to be generous with our time and our knowledge and not keep it to ourselves in fear of losing our jobs to the newbies…

It would help a LOT if we were not constantly having the crew size cut and cut and cut some more! OK, this below is referring to shipping and not so much drilling since I don’t know too much about drilling yet (but its probably still relevant)…

A typical ship used to carry a crew of 45-50 men. Now they sail with half that (and LOTS more work to do)! Some COIs (Certificate Of Inspection) will allow only 17 man crew (or less). This is for a 1000 ft long tanker!!! ATBs (tug/barge combination) which can run up to 600-700+ feet long, can be run with less than 10!!!

Check out the REAL results of the investigation into the Exxon Valdez incident. You’ll find that it was actually caused by the fact that the entire crew was exhausted and had NOTHING to do with the Captain at all. He could have been totally sober or drunk as a skunk and it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference.

They passed the 12 hour rule after the Valdez spill to remedy that. There are work hour restrictions in US law and in the STCW. So it applies to pretty much ALL shipping worldwide. That does include all the larger oilfield support vessels. I don’t know how the drilling industry has escaped notice on this but I don’t know of anything similar that they have to abide by (I might just be uninformed on this point- any drillers to comment?).

Ask any sailor around the world how well they follow that rule. I can almost guarantee you they’re being ‘forced’ by their company policies to break it constantly. Of course, company will never admit it, will blame it on the crew if it ever comes up, and will deny they ever had any idea it was happening 🙁

Being tired is one of the leading causes of accidents. I would think that would be one very easy solution to vastly improve safety. But of course, it would cost some extra money to hire a few extra hands. Is that gonna happen any time soon???

Safety first??? I don’t think so 🙁

Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb.

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Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb. – Quartz.

OK, I have to admit, I REALLY don’t like cockroaches. Especially these big ones. Or the ones we get down South near the water where I live. We call ’em Palmetto bugs. I’ll never forget the night I was just falling asleep. It was a hot muggy night (so no covers) and one of those huge suckers flew across the room and started crawling up my leg. I must have woken up half the block with my screams!

So, the idea of people actually FARMING these things just gives me the creeps. Maybe its just me? The Chinese people seem to think there’s some real good medicine in these things. I just remembered this exhibit I saw at the Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore last year.

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

I guess if you grind it up and add enough other stuff to it, you might not even notice it going down? I do try and taste different foods when I’m off traveling, but so far, the only bugs I’ve managed to try were some ants -chocolate covered- that helps 😉 – and some kind of grub they had at the ‘tasting kitchen’ at the New Orleans Insectarium (http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/insectarium). Those tasted almost exactly like that Honey Nut Crunch cereal. They did have other flavors, but I was OK with just trying that one 🙂

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Trying out some of the taste 'treats' at the New Orleans Insectarium

Trying out some of the taste ‘treats’ at the New Orleans Insectarium

I do see plenty of people in Thailand and Indonesia snacking on grasshoppers, water beetles, grubs, etc at the bars I go to. I always figured they must just be drunk. I never managed to work up the nerve to try any of those larger samples. Maybe next time…

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Or maybe not. I did read something recently where the scientists were recommending that we should ALL start eating insects. It would go a long way towards helping to feed all the starving people around the planet. Yeah, they are a great source of protein. Yeah, they cost a lot less to produce, they don’t cause as much damage as cattle, they’re easy to raise… yada, yada, yada. Personally, I would prefer people start using birth control before we’re all reduced to eating bugs for breakfast 😉

Music Review: Neko Case – The Worse Things Get …

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Music Review: Neko Case – The Worse Things Get ….

This was in my email recently. I love that magazine Utne Reader. They always have such interesting stuff. They even send me email updates  a couple of times a week. They do great film, music, art, book reviews. I might subscribe to them just for that. They also have really good writing and very different viewpoints from some of the other magazines I get. Pretty much totally opposite from Reason magazine for instance (which I also love- “free minds and free markets”). You won’t find much of the stuff they print in the mainstream magazines like Time either. They used to call themselves “the best of the alternative press”, now they say “cure ignorance”. I love it 🙂

Organizations, Activists Lining Up To Sue Against NSA Surveillance

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Organizations, Activists Lining Up To Sue Against NSA Surveillance : PersonalLiberty™.

I’m thrilled to see this lawsuit moving forward. In the case of First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles vs NSA, the court will be considering if it will allow the illegal, unconstitutional spy programs of the NSA (and other) goons to continue.

I would LOVE to see the courts throw this out and tell the NSA to shut its doors forever. I’m happy to see so many groups join in with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the National Lawyers Guild, Patient Privacy Rights, and many others to fight for our rights. I wish them complete success.

I have to say I have my doubts anything will really change even IF they manage to win a total victory in court. The people who work for these agencies have been brainwashed to believe that by trampling on our constitutional rights they will somehow save the country. Instead they destroy it with their police state tactics. 🙁

Book Review: A Captains Duty

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http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Book-Review-A-Captains-Duty-by-Captain-Richard-Phillips-2013-09-09/

OK, I haven’t read this book yet, but it looks like a good one and I’ll be looking for it when I get home. Sailors, merchant ships, pirate attacks, Navy SEAL teams to the rescue, WOW! It should be pretty intense 😉

This is the true story of the attack of the container ship Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates and the response of the crew.

I remember when it happened and I felt like, oh, so NOW people care. Its only because its an American ship. The pirates had been attacking ships for years and holding hundreds of sailors hostage and nobody did diddly til a US ship got attacked. It still pisses me off.

It’s something I never want to be involved in but can relate to for sure. So far, I’ve been lucky. I’ve never been attacked (yet) I’ve gone through the Suez Canal and the Malacca Straits a few times which are both areas with plenty of real life pirates. They’re NOT like Johnny Depp!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the movie with Tom Hanks starring as Captain Phillips of the Maersk Alabama is due out next month. I’ll try to catch it, but the book is always better than the movie IMHO 😉

Let me know how you liked it.

The “Domestic Terrorist” You Can Call a Hero

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The “Domestic Terrorist” You Can Call a Hero | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” — Henry Ford

I don’t know about a hero, but I certainly do admire the guy. Anyone who would put his life at risk to do the right thing the way he did gets some high-fives from me 🙂

“Our” leaders have almost completely destroyed the value of the dollar since the congress abdicated their duty and turned it over to the Federal Reserve (a PRIVATE, totally unaccountable group). Here’s a link to a chart showing that.

http://tribes.tribe.net/2012the-end-times/photos/013e009e-f1eb-4021-8884-b13e7f477588

Here’s a guy trying to provide a very needed service to the public, and they arrest him! We DO need REAL money (and NOT the crap paper they try to pass off on us).

Bernard Von NotHaus with his Liberty Dollar and the anonymous inventor of bitcoins have done us all a great service. We NEED some competition with government money. Monopolies are usually not very good for the consumer of whatever product it may be. Government monopolies are even worse, since they are backed up by FORCE.

I could go on and on about the financial mess we’re in (and I will eventually) but I think I better take a break for now 😉 Read up on this post and let me know if you want to hear more. I’ve got LOTS of good information on this subject and its really something we should all be paying some attention to at this point in time.

Update on M/V Gold Star

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Here’s an update on the Gold Star. The ship with the cargo of $80 million or so in hash/marijuana/weed. This one has a video to watch.

It looks like an ‘exciting’ chase. At least for the authorities. I can’t see how anybody could still be on the ship. Maybe there’s still someone in the engine room? The entire house is in flames! Looks a little strange to me. I have no idea what hash is worth these days but the cargo holds look empty…

.http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Video-Smugglers-Set-Ship-on-Fire-in-Mediterranean-2013-09-09/

The Rise of the Antiwar Libertarians

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The Rise of the Antiwar Libertarians – The Daily Beast.

I can’t agree with them calling either Justin Amash or Rand Paul Libertarians. They’re not. RON Paul was the only Libertarian we’ve had in D.C. for a LONG time.

I can say I’m glad to hear the word libertarian mentioned in some other context than in reference to a ‘nut job’ 🙂

I’m happy they’re both against the war on Syria. I would just like to see them actually follow some consistent principles of liberty. As long as they stick with the Republicans, that pretty much eliminates the chance of that happening. 🙁

I would LOVE to see these guys lead this country back to its founding principles of INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY. In other words: Libertarian principles! I don’t see it happening until WE start pushing them that way.

All I can do at this point is to write letters of support when they DO manage to support the right side of an issue (one that supports individual liberty), and telling them why they were wrong when they supported the opposite.

I can only HOPE they actually read my letters. To think they might pay some attention and THINK about what I’m saying about principles and basing actions on them would be fantastic! Pipe dream? Probably 🙁

PS- try the Worlds Smallest Political Quiz at the top of my page and see where you land. I’m a libertarian 🙂 What are you?

Freeport LNG Signs 20-Year Supply Agreement with Toshiba

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Freeport LNG Signs 20-Year Supply Agreement with Toshiba | gCaptain

Good news for us 🙂 I live nearby and this should help our local economy out quite a bit. We’ve already had a few LNG ships in the port since they’ve opened this up.

Too bad they make it so hard for the sailors to get ashore. Our local Seamans Center will go to any ship in port and bring the crew to the center, to town, Walmart, the mall, wherever. They have a very nice facility and even offer free lunch on Mondays to all the port workers, truck drivers, seafarers, etc.

The companies need to stop being so obstructive. They’re just using 9-11 for a bad EXCUSE.  It IS the law, both in the USA and international that they MUST provide safe access to the shore! Why are they still allowed to prevent it instead??? 🙁

U.S. EPA Fines Shell for Arctic Air Pollution Violations

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U.S. EPA Fines Shell for Arctic Air Pollution Violations | gCaptain

OK, they got fined $1 million, I don’t think that’s really all that big a deal to them. I am SO glad I didn’t stick with that job!

That was going to be my perfect job. I left Oceaneering after they brought my ship to the Gulf of Mexico. What a HUGE culture shock! I’ve done everything I could do to get the hell back overseas ever since (STILL trying). When I got the offer from Frontier Drilling to go as 2nd mate on the Frontier Discoverer (now Noble Discoverer), I was on that like white on rice 🙂

It was out of the GOM, the pay and benefits were better, the schedule was better and best of all, it was drilling but NOT going to be stuck sitting in one spot for months on end not doing anything. This one was supposed to work in Alaska in the summers and Australia in the winters. I figured, great, I would still get to do some actual navigation. Finally get to go somewhere interesting again!

So, I flew over to meet the ship in Singapore. Whoa, what a surprise I got. I had the idea the ship was ”new”. The ship itself was built in 1966 (but NOT well taken care of- parts of it below decks looked like Swiss cheese- NOT good!). They stuck a new drill rig on it midships. They stuck a new house on it aft. It still had the original engine (that wouldn’t start) and bridge. Not much in the way of modern electronics, no DP systems- it was “turret moored”. They only had a captain, chief mate and 2 second mates for bridge team. I guess we were going to stand watch like a regular ship (12-4, 4-8, 8-12) instead of the usual 12 hour watch like the oilfield. I never did find out since I quit before we left Singapore. They did have a bunch of good ABs at least.

I really wanted to keep that job. It offered everything I wanted. Actual sailing around to interesting places around the world, good crew (international), good schedule, good pay, good insurance, decent quarters.

I hated to leave! But things were getting pretty scary to me. More and more every day. For instance, I would make my way up forward to the bridge for my watch and someone would casually mention to me that the “swimming pool” was full again. WHAT???? Swimming pool??

Yes, some ships do actually have swimming pools but this one was NOT supposed to. So, what were they talking about. Turns out, the swimming pool was a void space, starboard side midships. It went all the way down from the main deck to the bilge. Every other day it would fill up to the top. Then it would drain down. What was going on? No one knew. No one really seemed to care…

I was there only about 3 weeks. We would have fire drills every couple of days. Mostly because we could not conduct a ‘proper’ fire drill to satisfy the authorities. We would start the fire pump, but where was the water??? We could never get any water to the forward part of the ship. Why not??? Yeah, pretty important question…

Turns out that about 50 feet of the fire line had been cut out previously. No one had put a blank on the line. No one had ‘remembered’ about it. So, when we started the fire pump, the water from the fire line would fill up the swimming pool instead of going down the fire line to the forward part of the ship. WOW!

So, OK, that problem solved. Only took 3 weeks I was there and who knows how long before that they had been without any fire fighting capability. Again, no one seemed to care.

They did finally manage to get the main engine started too. I’m not sure why they bothered. The company man assured me they would TOW the ship to Alaska if they couldn’t get it started. They were bound and determined to get it there on schedule!

I almost fell out of my (top) bunk when they finally lit it off! It sounded like a bomb went off the first time it rolled over. Of course, the engine being so old, they don’t service that type anymore, or make parts, so the engineers were having a hell of a time. A great bunch of guys. They all walked off the ship a week before I left. The chief mate left a couple of days before I had enough. The QMEDs left when I did. All that were left was the Captain, the other 2nd mate (who was used to getting shot at while working in Africa) and the (foreign) ABs who were staying til the end since they wouldn’t be allowed to stay once the ship got to the states.

I felt bad leaving like that before my scheduled hitch was over. That was one of only a couple of times in all these years I’ve quit like that. It just wasn’t worth either my license or my life for that job no matter how badly I wanted it. Every time I see this ship in the news I’m reminded of that time in Singapore and glad I made the decision I did. I feel sorry for the people who had to deal with all that crap in Alaska. 🙁

Here’s a link to the ships details so you can see what I’m talking about 🙂http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=636014934

Nautical Institute- The Navigator

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A ‘real’ way of life: enjoying the rewards and challenges of a career at sea

In this series, The Navigator speaks to current navigational personnel about their motivations, careers to date and thoughts for the future. Under the spotlight this issue is Officer Cadet Thomas Chitseko, who is currently undergoing final preparations for his orals examinations.

What interested you in a career at sea?

Seafaring is a way of life: a vocation rather than a job. This appealed to me as, having tried a couple of 9-5 jobs, I realized that I wanted my work to be an integral part of my life, not something that I did in order to pay for my ‘real’ life at the weekends.The opportunities to travel and to spend my youth doing something other than looking at a computer screen were also strong motivators.

What career path has led to your current position?

I studied International Relations at the London School of Economics in the UK and worked in e-commerce and for a corporate communications consultancy for a while before coming to sea.

Where do you see your career going from here?

I hope to complete my training and take up an appointment as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) deck officer over the next twelve months. The unique role of the RFA provides developmental opportunities that tally closely with what I want to get out of my career at this stage.

What’s the most important aspect of being a watch-keeping officer?

It’s crucial that watch-keeping officers are instilled with a sense of professionalism corresponding with the responsibilities that they hold. The mission of The Navigator to develop and promote the professional identity of the modern OOW, is a vital one.

What are the greatest rewards of your life at sea?

I have enjoyed the opportunity to get ashore in some exotic places and to develop my understanding of the world. I’ve also met some interesting and entertaining old (and younger) salts at college and aboard the ships on which I have sailed. This said, it is the expectation of taking responsibility for driving ships, and the motivation that this provides to become a capable OOW, with all that this entails which, has been the greatest reward of my time at sea so far.

What do you think are the greatest challenges for future navigators?

Getting heard ashore. We are living at a time where technological advancement should be making navigation more safe and effective than it has ever been. However, partly due to the fragmentation of the maritime sector and substantially due to the distance imposed by working at sea itself, the feedback mechanisms for getting lessons from the coal-face of seafaring integrated into the regulations, training and technology that will shape the future of the industry are not, in my opinion, all that they could be.

PS-I didn’t write this post (above). I tried to link this to the website since they say feel free to share and I thought this was a good article in their publication “The Navigator”. I couldn’t get it to work or the photo to transfer. Sorry. The link to the Nautical Institute is www.nautinst.org you can find the Navigator there along with lots of other great information for seafarers and all the latest DP news

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Zombie Pigeons Are Invading Moscow

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Zombie Pigeons Are Invading Moscow | Smart News.

Braaaainsssss… 😉 LOL! I LOVE zombie movies, books, etc! I just had to check out this post I got from the Smithsonian. I don’t want to ruin your anticipation so, read the link…

I didn’t get to see the birds before they died, but I wonder if they have the same thing going around S. Louisiana? I had to stop by Houma (LA) on my way home from work last hitch to renew my HUET (Helicopter Underwater Egress Training) cert. I was outside the hotel having a smoke (HATE these new non-smoking places!), in the early morning and noticed a few dead birds on the ground. OK, 1 dead bird is one thing, 2 is curious, 6-7 of them is something of concern! They all looked the same to me. I’m not any kind of bird expert but I think they may have been some kind of swift or martin (purple martin?) . Nope, too bad, I didn’t take any pictures 🙁

I asked the lady at the desk if she knew about them and she said, yeah, they’ve been dropping like flies just around her hotel and a couple of blocks nearby for the last couple of weeks. She said they had called the authorities and no one cared enough to come out and investigate 🙁 We were all left wondering what was happening to those birds???

Here Comes the Story of No Hurricanes

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Here Comes the Story of No Hurricanes | Mother Jones.

Here we go again with the global warming… Am I the only one who remembers back in the 70s when we were all supposed to be frozen into ice cubes by now. According to the almost unanimous scientific consensus, we should start shopping for parkas and load up on the firewood! Next it was global warming and now it’s ‘climate change’. Can’t these guys make up their minds?

I actually met one of these so-called experts a couple of years ago. I got off my tuna boat in Kiribati. They were having a meeting where I was staying. Here’s a link to an article written at the time- (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2010/nov/09/kiribati-climate-change-conference-intro). The reporter even asked me what I thought about it for a man in the street’s opinion piece.

I asked a delegate why should I (or anyone else) believe him when the scientists were more in agreement about global freezing back in the 70s than they are about global warming now. I think I pissed him off. I mean,  disrespecting his so superior scientific knowledge and all that. REALLY??!! He had NO idea what I was talking about! OK, he was a few years younger than me so he probably doesn’t remember all the hysteria personally like I do, but he’s supposed to be an expert. Can’t we expect the experts to know more than just the ordinary guy in the street???

Back 'yard' of the best hotel on Tarawa 2010

Back ‘yard’ of the best hotel on Tarawa 2010