Wednesday "News on The Run"

Looking out my window at the weather watching as rain lazily falls from the sky...it is the perfect kind of day to stay in bed, read a good book,  have tea and a snack in the middle of the afternoon.  The forecast is rain, rain and more rain through at least Saturday of this week.  The water is much needed, but seems this kind of rain for days on end always brings worry of flooding, so we will see just what the week has in store.

News of a local kind....

1.  We have new neighbors in town.  Watched them move into 47 Main Street last night. and briefly met them over at the Mountaindale Inn.  Seem like really nice folks, and always nice to see young progressive people moving into our little hamlet...wondering if they will be opening up a shop in the downstairs storefront so that we see a twofer...new neighbors, and a new business (which Mountaindale desperately needs).  Still holding my breath hoping that the rumored convenience store at the corner of Main and Post Hill is going to come into reality.

2.  Speaking about the Mountaindale Inn, don't forget that tonight is Open Mic night!  The first three have been a roaring success, with an incredible array of local talent showing up to play.  Rumor has it that Josh and Levi are going to be back again this week, as well as Richard whose energy and talent is loved by all.  Hope everyone comes out to say hello, and to enjoy some great musical talent.

Wednesday "News on The run"

Big news was Obama flying into Afghanistan.  Fact is, most of us do not care that his trip was a certain amount of political theater that has Republicans crying foul...GET OVER IT.  What I care about more is an agreement that is going to keep our American Troops in this God Forsaken hell hole through at least 2024..amazing how little that fact is being covered in the news loop.  The media also seemed to jump on the re-polish the tarnished Secret Service Bandwagon, making sure they pointed out the FINE JOB the Secret Sluts did in keeping the president safe on his trip into Afghanistan.  Of course they did...who wants a prostitute in a Burka.

The Bully on the world stage (that would be China) wants an apology from America for harboring the blind activist in our Chinese Embassy in Beijing.  If Hillary Clinton will not do it, this blog will.  FUCK YOU CHINA!  Maybe you should start respecting the basic human rights of your citizens, then there would be no need to provide aid and comfort to those seeking asylum from your harsh and neanderthal behaviors and rules.

Seems teh media is deliberately avoiding coverage of the Occupy Movements return as they start what is being called the American Spring.  Sadly, too many folks in the 99 percent seem to be asleep, or apathetic to their own plight.  There should be millions, not tens of thousands marching in the street demanding change, and that change could start by stopping Billionaires like Mitt Romney from getting elected.

Late Sunday Afternoon "News on the Run"

Store Window in Hurleyville

First, the weather outside is so stunningly beautiful and spring like...temperatures up into the 70's, the sun shining as birds chirp on the electrical wires just outside my apartment window.   Look for the temperatures to remain unseasonably high over the next few days with rain moving into our forecast overnight.  Today was a perfect day for a walk along our Rails to Trails corridor.  Speaking of which, the picture is of the new signage that will be going up on the trial in the next few weeks thanks to a grant from "Parks and Trails New York".

In local news of a Saint Patrick's Day sort, Ed opened up the Mountaindale Inn for the celebration, and all who attended had a wonderful time.  Our lone local bar will be opening full time for the season starting April 1st, and looks as if the Wednesday Night Open Mic will be returning...we are all looking so forward to that. In other festivities for the day, Marc and Kelsey held a small celebration of their own, and rumor has it that the food was FIVE STAR.   Also heard it through the grape vine that the High School's performance of "Grease" was sterling.

Seems that North Carolina Governor Bev. Perdue has done a 180 degree turn and is now shilling (prostituting) for the Natural Gas industry, now embracing the FRACKING technology she has so recently opposed and vetoed.  Wonder how much she got paid?

Seems that Puerto Rico was not happy with Santorum tellling its citizens to LEARN ENGLISH if they want to become America's 51st state...they have overwhelming voted for Scrooge McRomney in today's primary.  In this case, I go with Santorum...if you do not want to speak OUR LANGUAGE, don't live in America, or in this case become the 51st state.  Contrary to what Puerto Rico seems to think, WE DO NOT NEED THEM, and to be honest, letting them become a state is going to cost the rest of us here in America so SERIOUS MONEY.

NYPD THUGS again oust Occupy Movement protesters from Zuccotti Park...it would serve NYC well to remember that spring is fast approaching, and with that better weather look for ranks of protesters to swell as dissatisfied Americans challenge the police and their guerrilla warfare tactics.  At some point, the police and their weapons will be no match for crowds in large enough numbers to be an overwhelming force as "We the people" demand change.

Told you so....about two weeks ago I scoffed at the deal made with North Korea, said sending them food was a wasted effort as they would break their promises...well, two weeks later...BINGO, North Korea is going ahead with missile testing.  We have the bombs...lets use a few of them on both North Korea, and in Iran.  Like it or not, these countries will only respect an iron fist.

Hacktivists...Beware of US Army Cyber Command

The news is racing through the ether's of cyberspace...The Department of Homeland Security is monitoring our Social Media Communications, basically infringing upon our "civil rights", threatening our "Freedom of Speech".  That news from my perspective is no news at all, it is something we all knew, or at least expected. Perhaps more alarming to hacktivists should be the US Army Cyber Command which was founded in 2010.  some "Cyber Security" experts have labeled 2012 as the year of the "Cyber War".

If one reads the McAfee  Report which forecasts cyber threats in 2012 you find disturbing ideas that require further scrutiny...for instance, would like to see the Pentagon report wherein our military says it will treat cyberspace as an "Operational Domain."  Included in said report, though little was made of it is a hint that the Department of Defense is creating a new doctrine that will highlight how the United States military will retaliate for a cyberattack, and one has to pose the question, "Will our military look to make a public demonstration of their doctrine by using our military might to go after say members of Anonymous?

(Reuters) - The Defense Department unveiled a new strategy for protecting military computer networks from hackers on Thursday, designating cyberspace as an "operational domain" U.S. forces will be trained to defend.

When you have determined individuals publishing attack codes, one can understand the worry that our military has...I mean it is their duty to protect America's corporate assets right?  God forbid that online protests using DoS are successful in shutting down say Mastercard or PayPals servers for awhile. Herein is the crux of that slippery slope...is the Pentagon's plans to make cyberspace a "Operational Domain" planned to protect military web portals and servers, or will said plans, and the force of the military be deployed to protect corporate interests and stifle free speech?  

Groups all over the world including our own "Occupy Movement" here in America use the internet, social media as an organizational tool to get their information out...could and would the United States Military shut down certain sites, or limit access in the name of "National Security"?  When one considers the new military vision for the future, when one realizes that the Pentagon sees a future where they use military assets to aid the Department of Homeland Security, the scary answer has too be yes, and in that yes is the very startling reality that our own American Democracy is now under attack from within, our military and the Department of Homeland Security threatening our civil liberties in the name of keeping us safe.

Army Cyber's Creed is a bit Scary

Cyber is not just a network. We operate in a contested environment which therefore makes it critical to improve our defense systems. These key defensive positions are manned by our Soldiers, civilians and contractors who need support to maintain the immediate tactical edge and expand strategic boundaries.
Network dominance is an integral part of the cyber fight – today and tomorrow. Cyber threats demand new approaches to managing information, securing information, and ensuring our ability to operate. Cyberspace is on par with the other war-fighting domains of land, sea, air and space. It is in cyberspace that we must use our strategic vision to dominate the information environment throughout interdependencies and independent systems.

The U.S. Army Cyber Command/2nd Army's breadth of responsibility spans the entire Army and the entire world - from the tactical edge to the strategic enterprise-level or national levels. Traditional boundaries no longer exist and anonymous attacks can occur literally at near light speed over fiber optic networks. Our enemies will deny the freedom of movement on our networks and use whatever they can from wherever in the world they are to gain advantage.

Army Cyber Command/2nd Army plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes, directs, and conducts network operations and defense of all Army networks; when directed, conducts cyberspace operations in support of full spectrum operations to ensure U.S./Allied freedom of action in cyberspace, and to deny the same to our adversaries. The total command strength will exceed 21,000 Soldiers and civilians and will be funded from within existing fiscal resources.

Cyber Command is composed of a professional team of elite warriors defending Army networks and providing full spectrum cyber, enabling mission command and providing global advantage! The cyber war fighting requires impact, integration, risk, and knowing ourselves, the enemy, and the cyber terrain.

We are the Army leader in operating, maintaining, and defending the network.

Charlotte Occupy Movement Burns American Flag, Red State Blog Goes Ape Shit

I can understand people getting upset over the burning of the American flag...that said, in these hard times when both our government and big business seem hell bent on decimating the Middle Class, oppressing the masses, can understand people's need to exercise their "Freedom of Speech", support their right to protest and seek redress. For my own political reasons, I am fully supportive of the basic precepts and goals of the "Occupy Movement".

While on Technorati this morning, saw where the "Red State" blog had made a major move on garnering Authority so popped over to see what all the buzz was about. Seems that a radical right wing redneck on the site had his knickers in a knot over Occupy Movement protesters in Charlotte burning the American Flag. Seems one Moe Lane only wants to support "First Amendment" rights for those that are expressing views and opinions that agree with his own, and his own views show a certain horrid bigotry and hatred towards those who hold a differing opinion from his own. Bold words, but let's look at some of Moe's derogatory hate filled name calling contained in a small two paragraph post.

"Yeah, I know: “Occupy WHO?” Still, there are people out there who take the dirty hippie wannabees seriously, so every so often there needs to be a refresher post."

Seems Moe likes referring to those in the "Occupy Movement" as dirty hippie wannabees a lot, as he uses this expression twice in the same paragraph. His redundancy is pathetic, and his hateful description of desperate people deplorable. Many people in the Occupy Movement are there because Wall Street and the Banks wiped out their savings, crashed the values of their homes, and have left them without ability to find work. Many of those protesters are protesting because they have grown tired of a government that no longer takes care of the "PEOPLES BUSINESS" but instead acts as the government for and by "BIG BUSINESS". Moe's second paragraph shows the danger in letting a neanderthal right wing fruitcake have access to a thesaurus.

"Mind you, the geniuses were apparently doing the burning in the middle of their own squatters’ encampment. Which suggests that ‘fascist’ is semantically equivalent to ‘not willing to let dirty hippie wannabes auto-darwinate** themselves and their ilk;’ and before you renounce the ‘fascist’ label hereby, consider that permitting these idiots to immolate themselves would result in a very nasty cleanup job for some poor sanitation workers. To say nothing of the paperwork."

Squatters Encampment...So, those exercising their "First Amendment" rights in a way Moe disagrees with are now Squatters? Moe, not being an overly creative type again uses his favorite epitaph/rallying cry for the third time in two paragraphs, categorizing America's great out of work huddled masses as "dirty hippie wannabes". Thinking here that Moe should play two parts in a remake of the "Wizard of Oz", as he is obviously in need of both a brain and a heart.

Question of The Day...Rose Bowl Parade

So, catching up on the news, and see where the Occupy Movement is going to have a presence of some sort at the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. The Police Department in Pasadena has been negotiating with people in the movement, trying too get them to agree to march at the VERY END of the parade after all the floats, bands and various other groups have passed along the route, and the media wraps up its coverage.

So, the question..."Should the Occupy Movement accept this offer, or instead hold a full fledged demonstration, try to disrupt the parade?"

I have mixed emotions on this one...as a firm believer in our First Amendment Rights, and because there is very little chance the movement will gain much coverage marching at the end of the parade, I tend to support the idea of a full on protest with tens of thousands of protesters showing up in force. From a sentimental stand point, having watched the parade on TV for decades, kind of hate to think of the day being spoiled for every one in the viewing audience. But, sometimes, social issues of this magnitude have to trump the entertain value of the event.

Occupy Movement Gaining Momentum As National Anger Grows

With marching orders from Federal Government (Homeland Security) Police Forces in cities across America stepped forward using fear tactics, and out right brutality tried to crush the "Occupy Movement" here in America. Tear gas, rubber bullets, billy clubs and percussion bombs were the call of the day as camps were ransacked, protesters forcefully evicted, many of them wrongfully arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their "First Amendment" right to freedom of speech, their right to demand redress. Local ordinances and laws meant to control or coral society used to supersede our federally protected rights.

Sure, local government succeeded in evicting these protesters from parks across the land, but as the shutting down of major ports on the west coast this week have shown, these cities, their police intimidation tactics have failed in crushing, even killing the Occupy Movement. The paper of our nation's capital, the Washington Post, reported on the success of the movement, stated for all of our elected officials to see the undeniable fact that protesters were successful in shutting down various ports including shipping terminals in Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon and Longview, Washington. The timing of these actions could not have been more perfect as Time Magazine this week announced that Protesters" were their choice for "Person of the Year".

America is becoming a powder keg, the tactics of local police departments (under orders from local government) are driving protesters to take steps to protect themselves, yet the press wants to use these attempts at self protection and paint them and the protesters here in America as militant actions, and militant groups. What is one supposed to do when they believe in their cause, and find themselves faced with overwhelming force...police on horses swinging billy clubs, police in riot gear shooting tear gas, rubber bullets and god knows what else into the crowd of peaceful protesters.

It has been reported that some of this weeks protests did not remain peaceful, news sources reporting that some protesters threw bags of paint, lighted flares and debris at the police who were attacking them...asking the obvious question here, what did the police hurl at these PEACEFUL PROTESTERS? More importantly, where is our Armed Forces? Are they not charged with protecting the rights (Freedom of Speech) of American Citizens? We applauded the Egyptian Military early this year when they protected citizens against "Local Policemen Gone Wild" yet are content watching our own policemen here in America use those same out of control tactics, are content to let the press put out government orchestrated propaganda, rather than accurately reporting ALL SIDES OF THIS IMPORTANT STORY.

The Vietnam War protests were a grassroots movement that fermented and grew over a period of years, finally reaching maturity during the 1968 Presidential Elections. The same dissatisfaction that fed that movement has been growing here in America since 2007 when, under George W. Bush and the Republicans our economy crashed. Four years now have passed, four years where 7.5 million illegal aliens have been allowed to keep their jobs and depress American lower and middle class wages. Four years where the one percent have grown ever richer while 16 million Americans remain under employed or out of work as jobs continue to be shipped overseas. Four years where America allows China to flood our nation with cheap inferior goods while our factories continue to close. Four years since Main Street taxes were used to bail out Wall Street fat cats while average citizens lost their homes or saw their mortgages under water after the real estate market collapsed.

Anger is rising like the wave of a Tsunami, and more and more citizens are saying enough as Washington DC goes about politics as usual. Local police can try to stamp out protesters, but Time Magazine's person of the year choice says it all. The Occupy Movement is growing, becoming stronger, and the 2012 Elections may be remembered for something other than who our next president will be.

Wednesday "News on the Run"

Good Morning Mountaindale...said in my best Robin Williams voice.

Was outside just a bit ago, and wish I had taken my camera out with me. Saw the most beautiful male Cardinal up in the branches of one of the birch trees out behind my apartment. Was a stunning treat with which to start the day.

Big news of the day from my perspective...Time's person of the year is the "protester". Tipping my hat to protesters around the world, saluting all those in the "Occupy Movement". Nice to see that Time got it right this year.

Republicans muscle tax cut bill through House knowing it is dead on arrival in the Senate...nice try Boehner, but hitching the pipe line to the deal IS DIRTY POLITICS. When I think of you, why does SCUMBAG come to mind? How about acting on behalf of the people, rather than acting on behalf of Big Business and the Republican Party.

Rep. Terry: Boehner will link pipeline bill to jobless insurance, payroll tax bill

By Ben Geman - 12/02/11 11:00 AM ET

House GOP leaders plan to attach legislation to speed up approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil sands pipeline to a broader package that extends unemployment insurance and payroll tax cuts, a Republican lawmaker said.

No texting or cell phone calls while driving...sounds good in theory, but HOLD THE PHONE, and read the fine print. Seems there is an exemption to this newly proposed bill. You could talk on a cell phone that is actually INSTALLED INTO YOUR CAR. Isn't that convenient. We'll outlaw hand held cell phones, even with a Bluetooth, but if spend more money, get another line that is permanently hitched to the car, you can talk while driving. GM and Ford MUST LOVE THIS EXEMPTION.

After ten years America's troops are coming home from Iraq, and it turns out WE WERE DUPED. When the question is asked, "Was the sacrifice worth it?" the answer has to be a very resounding NO. Thousands of our troops dead, tens of thousands more injured, a price tag into the trillions, and all we accomplished was replacing one dictator with another one.

Portland Police Try To Paint PEACEFUL Protesters With Scarlet Letters By Releasing What Amounts to BLACK LIST

Jack Booted THUGS Abuse Protesters Again in Portland

For those thinking the "Occupy Movement" is over, guess again. In Portland yesterday there was yet again a very tense standoff between over zealous officers of the Portland Police and protesters as the Portland Occupy Movement tried once again to take over another park, tried again to exercise their "First Amendment" rights. The mayor of Portland has decided those rights simply do not exist, stating for the record, "We cannot afford another protest." EXCUSE ME...so, the mayor decides that the police in FULL RIOT GEAR can be dispersed ahead of a protest to BREAK IT UP, that said police can intercede to preempt citizens from practicing their First Amendment?

In another draconian move, the Police Department has taken to creating what amounts to a Black List, doing their best to see those protesters BRANDED, marked with the label of troublemakers by releasing a full list of names and charges to the press.
Yesterday's HERO List

Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree and Interfering with a Police Officer
34-year-old Keller Henry*
25-year-old Christina Marine Doyle
33-year-old Tara Dannett Parrish, aka Tara Farsovitch, aka Tara Colvin
22-year-old Katharine Marine Sharkey
47-year-old Ronda Jami Harrison-Rodgers
20-year-old Carsen Jean Harrison-Bower*
25-year-old Jakc Davis
60-year-old Philip Green
21-year-old Jordan Levi Benning*
56-year-old James Douglas Gless
32-year-old Justin Alexander Kertson
23-year-old Mitchell Drinkwater
23-year-old Todd Andrew Herman
18-year-old Zane Matthew Greening
22-year-old Jeffrey Scott Hamilton
18-year-old Clifford Lawayne Collins*

A 17-year-old male

46-year-old Michael Earl Withey was charged with Harassment.

40-year-old Troy Anthony Thompson* was charged with Criminal Mischief II and Criminal Trespass II for climbing onto City Hall roof.