Teddy Bear's Gone Viral

Every once in a while, yours truly gloms onto something funny and cute. In this instance,
it's Teddy Bear, a true afinciando of pumpkin. Enjoy. :)

Nature just works

Nature just works as seen by a pix like this. Enjoy

The First Law of Holes

If you're in a hole, stop digging - The first law of holes

is a wonderful quote that explains, in indirect fashion, how the war machine became America and why America continues to violate the first law of holes. 

To whit:

...let me introduce you to the concept of "blowback," which author Chalmers Johnson explained as "another way of saying that a nation reaps what it sows," which basically means that when you punch someone in the face, odds are very good that you're going to get punched back, and maybe they land that counterpunch, or maybe they don't, but that fist is going to come whistling at your face, count on it, and if it misses, there is always another fist, curled and hard and ready to fly...

...so let's talk about blowback, the story of which began seventy-three years ago at Pearl Harbor, when we were attacked by the Japanese Empire, and the United States entered the war in Europe and Asia simultaneously, and President Roosevelt endeavored to manufacture the Reich and the Empire out of existence, and placed the American economy on a wartime footing to do so, and in the fullness of time, it worked, and the war was over...

...but actually, it never ended, because the manufacture of war materiel made the manufacturers rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and they began to exert influence over American politics, and then FDR died, and Harry Truman took the big chair, and then George Kennan, the American Ambassador to the Soviet Union, wrote what has come to be known as the "Long Telegram," in which he described the bedlam of Stalin and Soviet intentions, and Truman along with a bunch of other people read it, and it scared the cheese out of them, and so the National Security Act of 1947 was passed, making America's economic wartime footing a permanent thing that endures to this day, and thus the Cold War was born...

Click Blowback to read BRT's take on this most interesting topic.

Click War is a Racket to read Smedley Butler's antiwar classic, an incendiary piece showing why William Rivers Pitt's article rings true. Factoid: Butler is the only two time Congressional Medal of Honer recipient.

As an aside, read Nature abhors a vacuum to see a first hand example of why the First Law of Holes apples, in this case, to US foreign policy.

Addendum: Ask Any Price continues the violation of the first law to the max.

In “Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War,” James Risen holds up a mirror to the United States in the 13 years since 9/11, and what it reveals is not a pretty sight. Risen, a Pulitzer Prize-­winning reporter at The New York Times, documents the emergence of a “homeland ­security-industrial complex” more pervasive and more pernicious than the “military-industrial complex” Dwight Eisenhower warned against. With the power and passion of Zola’s “J’Accuse,” he chronicles the abandonment of America’s cherished open society in a never-satiated search for security from an ill-defined threat.

Any questions?

Fall 2014

Fall never disappoints. :)

Belief/Doubt & Then Some

This is a pix yours truly took @ the Hirshhorn in DC depicting, in interesting fashion, the tumultuous relationship humanity has with reality, something we all share as living entities on a tiny planet called earth. :)

Ebola is brilliant

This is a truly excellent article about Ebola written by Abby Norman, a FEMA-trained in level 3 hazmat in a hospital setting.

To whit:

Ebola is brilliant.

It is a superior virus that has evolved and fine-tuned its mechanism of transmission to be near-perfect. That's why we're all so terrified. We know we can't destroy it. All we can do is try to divert it, outrun it. 

PPE, or, personal protective equipment, is sort of a catch-all phrase for the suits, booties, gloves, hoods and in many cases respirators worn by individuals who are entering a hot zone. These suits are incredibly difficult to move in. You are wearing several layers of gloves, which limits your dexterity to basically nil, the hoods limit the scope of your vision -- especially your peripheral vision, which all but disappears. The suits are hot -- almost unbearably so. The respirator gives you clean air, but not cool air. These suits are for protection, not comfort. Before you even suit up, your vitals need to be taken. You can't perform in the suit for more than about a half hour at a time -- if you make it that long. Heat stroke is almost a given at that point. You have to be fully hydrated and calm before you even step into the suit. By the time you come out of it, and your vitals are taken again, you're likely to be feeling the impact -- you may not have taken more than a few steps in the suit, but you'll feel like you've run a marathon on a 90-degree day. 

The other consideration is this: The "doffing" procedure, that is, the removal of PPE, is the most crucial part. It is also the point at which the majority of mistakes are made, and my guess is that this is what happened in Dallas.

The PPE, if worn correctly, does an excellent job of protecting you while you are wearing it. But eventually you'll need to take it off. Before you begin, you need to decon the outside of the PPE. That's the first thing. This is often done in the field with hoses or mobile showers/tents. Once this crucial step has occurred, the removal of PPE needs to be done in pairs. You cannot safely remove it by yourself. One reason you are wearing several sets of gloves is so that you have sterile gloves beneath your exterior gloves that will help you to get out of your suit. The procedure for this is taught in FEMA courses, and you run drills with a buddy over and over again until you get it right. You remove the tape and discard it. You throw it away from you. You step out of your boots  --  careful not to let your body touch the sides. Your partner helps you to slither out of the suit, again, not touching the outside of it. This is difficult, and it cannot be rushed. The respirators need to be deconned, batteries changed, filters changed. The hoods, once deconnned, need to be stored properly. If the suits are disposable, they need to be disposed of properly. If not, they need to be thoroughly deconned and stored safely. And they always need to be checked for rips, tears, holes, punctures or any other even tiny, practically invisible openings that could make the suit vulnerable. 


Can anyone tell me if this happened in Dallas?

Any questions?

Theology

Any questions? :)

99.5

Question - Why was a healthcare professional allowed to fly to Cleveland after being in direct contact with an Ebola patient or better yet, why did said professional decide to fly while possibly being symptomatic with said disease without considering the consequences?!!... Which constitute two "rather" questionable actions on the part of both parties that contribute to the quiet unease of yours truly while watching the CDC continue to stumble while trying to reign in this disease from hell before it's too late. Factoid, read Randomly Scary Stuff to see just how scary Ebola truly is.

Just about an hour ago, the CDC's Tom Frieden held a press conference in which he tried to diffuse the CDC's incompetence for a allowing healthcare workers who cared for the now deceased "Index Patient" Thomas Eric Duncan, to board a plane. A worker, who as was reported earlier today, was confirmed sick with the deadly virus. Still, in order to defend his agency from accusations of gross incompetence, of which it clearly is guilty, Frieden said that...

NEW PATIENT HADN'T BEEN BLEEDING OR VOMITING BEFORE FLIGHT

... Although, he promptly pushed the ball of blame back in her court adding that:

NEW PATIENT KNOWINGLY EXPOSED TO EBOLA,SHOULDNT HAVE FLOWN

But what is worse, is that as the WaPo reports the nurse had a fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit before boarding a passenger jet on Monday, a day before she reported symptoms of the virus and was tested, according to public health officials. "Even though there appeared to be little risk for the other people on that flight, she should not have traveled that way, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference Wednesday."

“She should not have flown on a commercial airline,” Frieden said.

The reason he said that is that since she was clearly symptomatic, she was also contagious. Which explains why the CDC is scrambling to uncover all those passengers who may have flown with her. 

As an aside, the excellent Frontline piece, The Trouble with Antibiotics comes to mind when reading about Ebola as this program, in indirect and powerful fashion, shows why this situation is serious to the max.

Read the Washington Post piece to get more info on this most interesting of news tidbit.

The Oil Weapon

Most intelligent people know that the Great Game is all about oil, the horrific incursion of ISIS notwithstanding, because in the end, it's all about oil and having access to it in order for the world's fossil fuel addiction to continue without interruption, something the Saudi's are all too eager to supply, providing it hurts Putin and limits Iran's push to becoming the hegemon of the middle east. Seen above is the breakeven oil price chart, courtesy Zero Hedge & the WS Journal, whereby an interesting tail can now be told. 

The full answer comes courtesy of Anadolu Agency, which explains not only the big picture involving Saudi Arabia and its biggest asset, oil, but also the latest fracturing of OPEC at the behest of Saudi Arabia...

... which however is merely using "the oil weapon" to target the old slash new Cold War foe #1: Vladimir Putin.

To wit:

Saudi Arabia to pressure Russia, Iran with price of oil

Saudi Arabia will force the price of oil down, in an effort to put political pressure on Iran and Russia, according to the President of Saudi Arabia Oil Policies and Strategic Expectations Center.

Saudi Arabia plans to sell oil cheap for political reasons, one analyst says. 

To pressure Iran to limit its nuclear program, and to change Russia's position on Syria, Riyadh will sell oil below the average spot price at $50 to $60 per barrel in the Asian markets and North America, says Rashid Abanmy, President of the Riyadh-based Saudi Arabia Oil Policies and Strategic Expectations Center. The marked decrease in the price of oil in the last three months, to $92 from $115 per barrel, was caused by Saudi Arabia, according to Abanmy. 

With oil demand declining, the ostensible reason for the price drop is to attract new clients, Abanmy said, but the real reason is political. Saudi Arabia wants to get Iran to limit its nuclear energy expansion, and to make Russia change its position of support for the Assad Regime in Syria. Both countries depend heavily on petroleum exports for revenue, and a lower oil price means less money coming in, Abanmy pointed out. The Gulf states will be less affected by the price drop, he added.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is the technical arbiter of the price of oil for Saudi Arabia and the 11 other countries that make up the group, won't be able to affect Saudi Arabia's decision, Abanmy maintained.

The organization's decisions are only recommendations and are not binding for the member oil producing countries, he explained.

Today's Brent closing price: $90. Russia's oil price budget for the period 2015-2017? $100. Which means much more "forced Brent liquidation" is in the cards in the coming weeks as America's suddenly once again very strategic ally, Saudi Arabia, does everything in its power to break Putin.

Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Also, this brings up the question of the viability of "unlimited" fracking and oil sand supplies in the US because if our reserves are so large, why is this action needed? Food for thought if you ask me.

On a Brighter Note :)

Smartphone picture quality simply astounds yours truly as these untouched "gems" were snaps taken on the fly in NYC & DC. Unreal kinda says it all. Enjoy. :)

"Don't Do Stupid Shit"

"Dont Do Stupid Shit", the quote heard around the world is moot because the US is doing SS every minute it's in the Middle East. We created this mess and we don't have enough brains to get out of it so it's Orwell writ large. Endless war, Oceana against Eurasia and an end game that never ends. 

To whit: 

Then there’s this from Tuesday’s USA Today:

• “Militants have funneled weapons and fighters through Turkey into Syria. The Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, have networks in Turkey….
• Turkish security and intelligence services may have ties to Islamic State militants. The group released 46 Turkish diplomats it had abducted the day before the United States launched airstrikes against it. Turkey, a NATO member, may have known the airstrikes were about to begin and pressured its contacts in the Islamic State to release its diplomats.
• “This implies Turkey has more influence or stronger ties to ISIS than people would think,” Tanir said.”

(“5 reasons Turkey isn’t attacking Islamic State in Syria”, USA Today)

But there's more with a lesson from the ghost from hell, the secret bombing of Cambodia, courtesy the US of A.

The Cambodian Civil War lasted five years, from the coup in 1970 to the fall of Phnom Penh to the communists in 1975. During this five-year span, the Cambodians and Americans witnessed the rise to power of one of the most radical and brutal political parties of all time: the Khmer Rouge. Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge exploited the U.S. aerial bombardment as a means of propaganda, which proved extremely crucial for their rapid growth to power. 

Pol Pot

And this:

The Khmer Rouge, previously a marginalized guerrilla group,  propagandized the bombing campaign to great effect; by the CIA's own intelligence estimates, the US bombing campaign was a key factor in the increase in popular support for the Khmer Rouge rebels. After their victory in 1975, the Khmer Rouge oversaw a period in which another one-to-two million Cambodians died from execution, hunger and forced labour.

And so it goes.

Stupid Shit indeed.