Monthly archive for July2014 - page 2

I am still at a loss as to what to call this..accident? atrocity?  It seems certain now that Ukrainian Separatists (Putin’s proxy army) recklessly committed this act, thinking they were shooting at a Ukrainian military transport.  There is a civil war going on over there, though you would never know it by reading the American media.  So I’m settling on incident for now.  Here is a link to a story at the Daily Mail (UK) with in depth information on the surface-to-air missile system used to shoot down the jet.  If you don’t want to read the whole article, this graphic has a lot of info as well.

According to this Washington Post story, the Ukrainian government has released surveillance video of a flatbed truck hauling a Russian surface-to-air missile lanucher heading out of Separatist controlled Eastern Ukraine into Russia.  The launcher and missiles are of the type believed to be responsible for the destruction of a Malaysian Airlines plane yesterday which resulted in over 300 civilian deaths.  Russia and the Russian backed Separatists have denied involvement, pointing the finger of blame at the Ukrainian government.  Separatists control the Ukrainian territory where the airliner came down, and the speculation is that they are “sanitizing” what is essentially a huge crime scene, combing it for any remnants of the missile which destroyed the Boeing 777 and removing them.  US surveillance of the war zone indicated that a radar associated with this type of surface-to-air missile system was in operation at the time of the incident, but could not pinpoint the area the missile was launched from.

Cross posted at Men Out of Work Blog

Word Crimes is “Weird Al” Yankovic’s latest single.  Even if  “Weird Al” is not your thing, you should watch this – it’s good.  And I don’t just say that as a confessed language snob.

Hell, I probably commit many of those crimes here on a daily basis.  Fortunately for me it seems more like a civil matter rather than criminal.  So sue me!  Or don’t.  By the way the “scare quotes” around “Weird Al”?  Those belong there, apparently that’s the correct spelling.  So – no crime committed!

Well, not 100% Soul Train, but close.  I saw The Spinners perform last night, and it was an excellent show I must say.  Let me back up a little – The Spinners were an R&B group that started in the 1950’s, but had their greatest sucess in the 70’s.  To be honest, the group I saw last night was more of a clone, since there is only one surviving member of the original group.  However, they performed all the group’s hit songs faithfully, and they are all excellent showmen in their own right.  I will try to post some video later if I can figure out how to do it, meanwhile you’ll have to be content with these YouTube videos of the original group.  Most of these are from the 1970s TV show Soul Train, hence the title of this post.  The Soul Train performances were really just lip synching, but I imagine a live performance over the TV using 1970s technology would sound terrible, so at least the songs sound OK.  The show we saw last night was performed 100% LIVE, no lip synching, and it was terriffic.  OK, on to the music.

The Spinners had little success in the 1960s, though they did have steady work under MoTown management.  This song was written for them by Stevie Wonder, charted at #14 that year and got the ball rolling for them:

The group switched record labels in 1972 and released the next song on Atlantic Records and it was their first top 10 single.  Ironically, it was a “B” side:

The next song was the folow up single in 1973 and cemented the band’s reputation:

This song charted for the group in 1980:

I think it’s fair to say that the 1970s were definitely the best of times for The Spinners.  But the music lives on, and is being performed faithfully by a new generation, a well deserved legacy for five guys from Detroit.

I’m not sure incident is the correct word, but at this point I do not know exactly what to call this.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 has crashed in Ukraine, and there are reports that it was shot down during the conflict there among Ukrainians, Russians and Ukrainians aligned with Russia known as “separatists”.  So you have Ukrainian military fighting with Separatists who are aligned with and backed by Putin’s Russia.

Here are the basic facts as we know them now.  The airliner was enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and cruising at altitude (33,000 ft) when contact was lost over Ukraine, and reports of an airplane crash began coming in.  Eye witness accounts say the aircraft “fell in pieces” and preliminary reports indicate a very large debris field consistent with a breakup of the plane at cruising altitude.  There were no survivors at the crash site.  There are rumors also that at the same time Separatists were on Twitter claiming to have just shot down a Ukrainian military transport, as they had previously done a day or two before. Once Malaysia Airlines confirmed it’s flight was missing, the tweets were deleted.  The Separatists are also believed to be in possession of the type of military ground-to-air missiles that would be capable of striking an aircraft at that high altitude.  The plane was flying too high to be vulnerable to a shoulder-launched “stinger” type missile.  As far as I can tell those are the facts.

Now for the speculation: it is very possible that the Boeing 777 airliner was shot down by Separatists who mistook it for a Ukrainian AN-26 transport.  It is confirmed they had shot one down a day or two before this incident.  The planes look nothing alike, but they are of similar size, and if the separatists had reports of military planes in the area, then undisciplined operators or commanders could have made the error.  There is also this:  the Kiev Post is reporting that the Ukrainian Security Force (SBU) intercepted phone calls between Separatist commanders talking about the situation which seem to confirm the hypothesis of mistaken identity.  Chilling, if true:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo (Donetsk Oblast).

Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?

IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. Its smoking.

VG: How many minutes ago?

IB: About 30 minutes ago.

SBU comment: After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later.

“Major”: These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino.

“Grek”: Yes, Major.

“Major”: The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first “200” (code word for dead person). We have found the first “200”. A Civilian.

“Greek”: Well, what do you have there?

“Major”: In short, it was 100 percent a passenger (civilian) aircraft.

“Greek”: Are many people there?

“Major”: Holy sh__t! The debris fell right into the yards (of homes).

“Greek”: What kind of aircraft?

“Major”: I haven’t ascertained this. I haven’t been to the main sight. I am only surveying the scene where the first bodies fell. There are the remains of internal brackets, seats and bodies.

“Greek”: Is there anything left of the weapon?

“Major”: Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.

“Greek”: Are there documents?

“Major”: Yes, of one Indonesian student. From a university in Thompson. 

Militant: Regarding the plane shot down in the area of Snizhne-Torez. It’s a civilian one. Fell down near Grabove. There are lots of corpses of women and children. The Cossacks are out there looking at all this.

They say on TV it’s AN-26 transport plane, but they say it’s written Malaysia Airlines on the plane. What was it doing on Ukraine’s territory?

Like I said, chilling if true.  I’m sure there will be a lot of finger pointing by both sides before we find out what actually happened.   280 passengers and 15 crew lost.  Many different nationalities on board, including Americans.  This is a full blown International Incident which will put the Ukrainian conflict in the front pages for some time.

Additional Info:

New York Times

Fox News

Kiev Post

I accidentally learned something today courtesy of Althouse.  I learned for the first time of a poem called Ode on Solitude by an English poet named Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest! who can unconcern’dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mix’d; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

I am a relatively solitary person (as much as one can be these days), and prefer calm over excitment.  Since the poem struck a chord with me I thought that sharing it might give you, the reader, some insight into who I am and that act of sharing might also broaden my own insight into who I am.

Alexander Pope wrote this poem at the age of 12.

I have lived in California nearly my whole life and for as long as I have been self-aware there has been talk of dividing California up into at least two states – Northern and Southern California (s).  Despite the sterotype of California being a completely ultra liberal La La Land, most of the state outside of the Southern California and the Coastal population centers is very traditional and in some cases ultra conservative.  This causes feelings of disenfranchisement among a significant plurality of the population and a sense that they are force fed policies they do not like by voters who may as well be on a different planet.  This political polarization is usually what gives rise to talk of secession, separation, division, outright warfare, etc.  The separation idea recently gained traction again when venture capitalist Tim Draper filed a petition with the Secretary of State to place an initiative on the ballot to divide California into six states, known as the Six Californias Initiative.  The petition was accepted by the Secretary of State and the next step was to collect approximately 800,000 petition signatures to get the proposition placed on the ballot.  According to this report in Time, the signatures have been gathered.  Now the secretary of State must verify the signatures’ validity – and then place the initiative on the ballot for the November 2016 election.

I would be in North California

Is this a good idea?  I’m not sure.  The proposed division would place me in North California.  Also in North California would be Point Reyes National Seashore on the coast and Lake Tahoe in the Sierras.  So far, so good.  However, politically North California would still be a blue state, along with South and West California and Silicon Valley.  Central California and Jefferson (Jefferson? yes, Jefferson) would be red.  Hmmm.  Dunno bout that.

If I had to guess I would say that the proposition makes it onto the ballot, but is turned back in the election.  I can imagine that the Democratic Machine will go to full power to knock this down if only to keep the Republicans left in this state under their thumb.  And very possibly…in my imaginary opinion… there will be a “tribute” system set up in the counties where this passes a la The Hunger Games by which they will be required to send their young Republicans to the Capitol where they will fight each other in death matches for the amusement of our Democrat Overlords.  Hey…it’s California.  Anything can happen.

Cross Posted at Men Out of Work Blog

If anyone’s interested, California is experiencing a drought.  It’s not the first one and it won’t be the last.  If you live here, or know anything about California geography you know that for the most part the state is a desert.  There are notable exceptions – the northwest corner of the state is a rainforest, and parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains  and the coast get significant precipitation, but the rest is arid.  Dry.  It’s not a recent development.  It’s been that way since the first people got here.

Proviso: I claim absolute moral authority to opine on this subject due to my status as “technical California native” and my propensity for curmudgeonly armchair political sniping.  

Back to our story.  Whenever we in California experience an extended drought, there is much handwringing and pleas to “conserve” ring throughout the media.  In fact the California Water Resources Board just authorized local Water Utilities to fine “water wasters” up to $500 to *ahem* encourage water conservation.  While I believe “conserve” is a good idea all the time, not just during a drought, I respectfully submit that the idea of conserving our way out of this shortage is a fantasy.  Conservation will not solve California’s chronic water shortage.  In California you can never have enough water. Never.

There are a number of large water storage and delivery infrastructures in California designed to collect and distribute water to the thirsty state.  The last of those infrastructures were completed by 1970, when California’s population stood at just under 20 million.  California’s population today stands at approximately 38 million.  So in the past 40 years the population has nearly doubled, and nothing has been done to improve our water collection, storage and delivery system which was already inadequate for a population of 20 million.  But if you overwater your begonias you’re the problem.  Right.

The largest recipient of water is California’s Ag Industry which is a $43.5 Billion industry (2011) – the largest of any state in the nation.  So not just important to California, but to the national and indeed the global economy.  This is why you should care about this even if you do not live or farm here.  If you like to eat, this is your problem too.

So what do you do if you are in a political leadership role in California government and there is a serious chronic infrastructure shortfall and a globally important industry is in peril?  Why, you put together a huge bureacracy to pour money into a different non-existent problem.  Case in point:  The Bullet Train to Nowhere, which will likely cost at least $100 Billion if not much more.  And the best part is once it’s built, no one will use it and taxpayers will have to subsidize if to the tune of billions per year!  Forever!  Water your crops with that.  But…but…trains!  Like in Europe!  Yeah, the 18th Century called and they want their technology back.

There is a building in downtown Sacramento across 10th street from the west steps of the Capitol.  It is officially “State Office Building No. 1”, the office of the State Treasurer, and on that building there is an inscription:

It is a line from the poem “The Coming American” by Sam Walter Foss.  It was obviously written at a time when the nation was young, when strong and ambitious visionaries were needed to shape a growing nation.  Well, the nation may not be young anymore, but we still need ambitious visionaries to tackle our challenges.  There are hard choices that must be made – California’s agriculture industry is too important to the world to let it die on the vine.  And if we are not ready to put up a fence at the State line and prohibit more people from coming here, something I DO NOT think could or should be done, then we need to make the state livable for a population not only of our current size, but of our projected size.  If we build for the present, we have already lost.  Some environmental concerns may have to be rethought or perhaps abandoned altogether, since you cannot put 40 millions or more of people in a place and not have it impact the environment.  Like I said, hard choices.  If our leaders response to a challenge is to tell us “settle for less”, then they are not men or women to match our mountains.  What they are telling us is that they are not up to the challenge and it is time for new leadership.  But we can afford neither the option we have practiced for forty years: Do Nothing, nor the option we are practicing now: Do The Wrong Thing.

In case you’re new here, welcome!  And here are a few ins and outs of how my blog operates.  First off, I’m Mike, the sole proprietor.  Pleased to meet you.  This blog is my peronal communication platform, and posts here reflect only my personal opinions.  I claim no expertise in anything.  In other words, if I write about Law, do not use that as legal advice.  If I write about medicine, do not take that as medical advice.  Get the picture?  OK, good.  Since there is no “official” theme to this blog, you will find posts about many different subjects here which may (or may not) fall loosely into one of several “categories” which you will find listed in the right hand sidebar just under the “recent posts”.  If you want the unfiltered blog, that is to see all posts regardless of category, simply start at the top and keep scrolling down.  Newest posts are at the top, and as you scroll down you go back in time.  If you wish to view only posts in a certain category, then find the category you want in the sidebar and click on it.  Voila!  Only posts in that category will be displayed.  Also in the sidebar are listed “popular posts” and “recent posts”.  Popular posts are those most viewed – not neccessarily the best, but most viewed.  For whatever reason.  And recent posts are just that…the most recent posts.  At any time you can click on the “home” button at the top right to bring you back to the top of the front page.

Within each post I will embed links for additional information – whenever you see red text like this you can click on it, and it will open the link in a new tab.  Try it.  Back? OK, good.  Many of the graphics such as pictures, graphs or cartoons may be enlarged simply by clicking on them.  Some of these graphics are mine, others are not. Embedded youTube videos can bel viewed by clicking on the “play” arrow at the bottom left or in the center of the YouTube frame.  Easy.

Finally – comments.  To the left of the post title, under the red date box you will see a grey box that says “comments” with a number in it (usually a zero, unfortunately).  If you wish to leave a comment on a post, click on that box and a dialogue box will appear – type your comment and click “submit”.  If you don’t want to enter your e-mail adress just use a fake one.  I do not work for the NSA.  Comments can be simple – “I like this” or “you are an idiot”.  My favorite one so far is “ha ha ha this”.  I guess he thought the post was funny.  I think that’s about it.  If you have any other questions, leave them in the comments.  Enjoy.

It’s nice to find a lawyer with a sense of humor.  Though to be fair, both the lawyers I know have great senses of humor, and most of the ones I read online do as well.  But today we’re going to focus on Kevin Underhill’s sense of humor.  Kevin is a lawyer, blogger and author.  Currently guest-blogging at The Volohk Conspiracy, he also has his own law-humor blog called Lowering the Bar.  Bookmark it – you won’t be sorry.  Kevin has also written a book titled The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance.  It is available at Amazon, through the Men Out Of Work Blog  Amazon portal.  To order it there, click on the title or go to The Men Out Of Work Blog Homepage   and use the Amazon search box there.

The book is not about Sasquatch, it’s a compilation of strang-but-true laws that are actually on the books.  The reviews on Amazon are overwhelmingly good.  You can check out Mr. Underhill’s “preview” at The Volohk Conspiracy : part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.  The final Part 5 had not been posted as of this writing.  Check it out.  You know you could use a good laugh!