The last week has been a series of ending it seems both big and small. Libya might just experience democracy for the first in generations as Gaddafi has seemingly been overthrown, Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple, a memorial finishes and a legendary hacker joins the team he often defeated.
The End of the Gaddafi in Libya Hit the link for an interesting explanation on how Libya uprising succeeding in potentially toppling the current dictatorship. The story is how a determined people, with solid planning, ingenuity and sacrifice can overcome impossible odds. It is also a story of how true democracy must succeed. Not handed to the people as a "gift" like it was done by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan but an organic hard fought decision by the people themselves, sadly earned with the literal blood of family and friends.
Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple One of the most successful CEO's in history has officially resigned his position, many believe due to his continued fight with cancer. It is no small exaggeration to say that Steve Jobs is one of the most important people in the history of computers, an invention that literally changed how society operates in just a few short decades. His achievements in technology development changes how we perceive information, enjoy entertainment, learn and so much more. While I may not like how Apple operates, there is no doubting that the things Jobs spearheads has literally changed the world for the better. Few people can make such a claim.
Lego Princess Ceinwyn Hit the link for a gallery of images of the Princess Ceinwyn created by Luke Hutchinson out of Lego. Very pretty with cloth sails and a nice Lego ocean base to complete the look. (via Brothers Brick)
Warren Buffet - Stop Coddling the Rich In an article in the NY Times, super rich Warren Buffett makes the rather obvious argument that it is time to tax the rich. The 10 year experiment of constantly cutting taxes on the "job creators" that the GOP has been advocating has simply not worked. Two recessions and negative economic growth for the poor and middle classes have proven this. The only people that have seen growth in these last years from the GOP policies? The super rich of course. Thanks to the multitude of tax loopholes that the GOP refuse to close, the rich actually pay less a percentage of taxes than any other group. Buffett points out he paid 17.4% while other people in his office averaged 36%. I am lower middle class and my burden came out to about 27%. I think the national average is something like 24%. Net result is all this crap about "being fair" that the GOP advocates fails to point out that the rich actually are paying less than everyone else. The article is worth reading and it sums succulently as tax cuts for the rich ("job creators") does not equal job creation as the rich do not allow tax policy to interfere with their efforts to invest and make more money.
Meet Comex, iOS Hacker Supreme Forbes has posted a great article that covers hacking genius of 19 year old Nicholas Allegra who has 3 times now hacked the Apple's iOS used in iPhone and iPad to create incredibly easy jailbreaks for those devices. A jailbreak allows you to use your paid for device in whatever way you see fit on whatever carrier you choose without big brother (Apple) having to approve it first. Hats off to Comex for his outstanding efforts, may he continue to be successful in thwarting Apple's iron fist of control.
US Patent System is Killing Innovation An interesting op-ed piece on Gizmodo that points out how the new era of "Civil War" between tech companies will likely stifle innovation. What is currently happening is in the billion dollar markets of smart phones and tablets various companies is trying to use patents to squash the competition and become the only real provider of a certain type of product. The main culprit is Apple who is attempting to use courts to block the sale of any tablet device that isn't an iPad. This leads to other companies going over their lists of patents and using Apple in return saying their iPad violates patents and shouldn't be sold either. This goes back and forth until an agreement is reach. The problem though is this kind of fierce legal fighting (besides being the opposite of capitalism), means that some bright guy in his garage will likely be sued into oblivion or just bought up before some new product that might be better than the iPad could ever reach the public much less the market. When that happens, innovation ceases to occur.
Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books NPR compiled a list of the top 100 books of all time based on the votes of their readers (apparently a paltry 60k). The list isn't definitive nor is the number order that important but as a list of fantastic books to read it works as a great resource.
Below are links to as many of the San Diego Comic Con Panels I could find that were posted on YouTube by people that attended the con. The panels cover topics like television shows, movies, comics, specific actors and creators and a wide variety of other topics. A panel could have actors, creators, and so forth appear from 30 minutes to an hour on stage to promote their current project often ending with fan Q&As. Usually the best panels are the ones where the participants seem to genuinely enjoy being there and interfacing with fans. Some of the many links before may seem incomplete for various reasons. They may include a necessary cut to remove copyrighted footage like trailers, gag reels and other fun stuff that if left in might result in the entire panel video being removed. Also in some cases the editing is just odd but most of the panel was there or it was the best I could find. The panels I recommend most is Castle, Eureka, Amazing Spider-Man, Game of Thrones (cause Emilia Clark is stunning), Joss Whedon (always entertaining), Kevin Smith (equally NSFW entertaining), and Torchwood: Miracle Day. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments along with links to any panels (or better copies) that I may not have found.
US Credit Ratings Downgraded for 1st Time Ever For the first time in the nation’s history, the US lost its AAA credit rating which was awarded back in 1941. Yet further sign of the problems the GOP manufactured crisis on the debt ceiling has caused. Their willingness to commit literal economic suicide for the entire country demonstrated just how little confidence even investors now have in our country. Ironic, considering most of what the GOP does is to benefit Wall Street. As if often the case, too much greed has resulted in far reaching consequences. Sadly, this will be yet another way for the GOP to spin things in their favor as most people don't have the brains or understanding to recognize how easy all of this could have been avoided. Instead they have proven beyond doubt just how far gone the GOP but with a significant amount of power to back the crazy up with due to complete lack of leadership from Obama who doesn't see a position he isn't willing to cave too. The GOP spin will be the high debt caused the downgrade and thus their approach is the only way is directly contradicted by S&P's own statements on the cause.
S&P also changed its assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would expire by the end of 2012 “because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues. More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating,” S&P said.
Note that "revenue increases" is another way of saying increase taxes by closing loops holes or ending existing tax cuts which the GOP refuses to do under any circumstances. In short, the GOP refusal to compromise and deal with the debt in an adult manner underlined our current leadership's dysfunction in a way that could no longer be ignored. No fake crisis, no awareness of just how bad things are.
New Spider-Man RevealedAbout a month ago Peter Parker died in a battle against the Green Goblin in Ultimate Spider-Man #160. The Ultimate SM universe is a modernized version of Marvel that takes more liberties with the characters. An example of that is this week's news that the replacement Spider-Man is a half black, half Hispanic named Miles Morales. Of course the right wing movement had a fit over this. Posts about the change were pretty much flat out racist and of course Glenn Beck diving in claiming it is some conspiracy orchestrated by Michelle Obama. In reality, the writer Brian Michael Bendis, had been considering it for a while and decided to commit to it after seeing Donald Glover in the costume for an episode of Community (great TV show). How this will play out in comic book form and how successful this change will be may take many months to determine.
Lego Serenity Hit the link to view the Lego creation of the ship Serenity from the movie and the Firefly series. Stuff like this makes you wish Lego would get more into the sci-fi business as this would be awesome to be able to build. (via BrothersBrick)
2004 Election May Have Been Hacked Court investigations in Ohio's 2004 presidential election (a key swing state then) indicates that the Republican Party may have hacked the election. The story is a key reason why the GOP was so gung ho on moving to paperless voting as most of the companies granted the contracts to provide electronic voting are Republican supported companies. In this case the company is Tennessee based SmarTech that was owned by Michael Connell (who died in an unexplained plane crash) who was a major GOP supporter. The evidence indicates that a redundancy switch to SmarTech kicked in during election day and after the change suddenly Bush experienced a surge in voting support. I suspect like most voting stories, the press will mostly ignore this one and focus on the fake ones the GOP creates to support their laws to prevent people from voting legally.
End of the Space Shuttle Era Today marks the official end of the Space Shuttle program as the Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday morning. Atlantis received a little fan love as it was towed home to the theme of Star Trek: Voyager. The program was launched back in 1976 with the test shuttle named Enterprise in homage to the Star Trek series. I was fortunate enough to see a night time shuttle launch back in 1996 I think. I don't remember exactly when but what I do remember is that amazing moment when night turned to day and the full capabilities of what mankind can do when driven towards a purpose that isn't entirely motivated by greed but simply for the quest for knowledge. I doubt we will see the like ever again. The first video is the towing (sound doesn't kick in for about a minute).
30 Years of the Space Shuttle in One Launch At the link is a look back at the Shuttle program as Gizmodo combined footage from 30 years of launches to kind of emulate a single launch. A true end of an era.
Space Shuttle's Final Launch Today was a true end of an era as Atlantis became the final space shuttle launch in history. The program is officially retired after 30 years in service. The first shuttle, Columbia, on April 1981 and today marks the 134th and final mission. This is the probable first phase of the eventually elimination of NASA as private corporations get paid more and more to take over their responsibilities. Considering knowledge for knowledge's sake has no value to corporations, this day will probably mark the beginning of many ends to come in regards to space travel and the quest of knowledge of the universe.
Lego Batcave Another work of Lego art. This one is a horizontal, more or less three floor representation of the Batcave complete with Batmobile, aircraft, and more that was created by Alex Schranz. Hit link for the gallery. (via Brothers Brick)
Lego Super Star Destroyer Lego has announced that they are going to release a 3,152 piece set that re-creates Star Wars' Super Star Destroyer. The set will retail for $399.99 and come with Dengar, Admiral Piett and IG-88 minifigs.
Weiner Resigns, GOP Wins Again Once again the GOP successfully proved that they do not have to be held to their own standards. Under mounting pressure from the typically spineless Democratic leadership, Anthony Weiner resigned his seat in Congress. This is despite the fact that while he flirted online, GOPer David Vitter was caught breaking the law by cheating on his wife with prostitutes and fellow GOPer John Ensign was caught breaking Congress rules by covering up that he cheated on his wife with a staffer. Sure Ensign resigned but not because of the cheating but because of breaking the rules was going to get him kicked out. Keep in mind that while the press was relentless for nearly three weeks to cover this, ignoring everything else in the process, they barely gave more than a few days coverage to the other two for much more egregious behavior. The double standard lives on and now the Democrats have proven that it’s ok for Republicans to declare open season on them. Why kill em with better policy if can do it with a tweet or two? I do agree with Crook and Liars, I honestly don't care what all three of them did. I dislike the hypocrisy of the two GOPers since they ran on family values but overall who they cheat on or with isn't my concern. Those actions don't affect me. What policy and laws they propose do. I wish that is what the press would spend their time covering but given a choice between the story of wieners that doesn't affect us and the story of things that do, they will also go for things that don't matter.
The big three of the video game industry has held its press conferences at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Microsoft announced a fleet of games for the XBox 360, Sony announced their new handheld called the PS Vita while Nintendo introduced their next console the Wii U with touchpad controller. Read on for more details; hit the title link if interested in watching entire video of their keynotes.
Nintendo Nintendo was last in the press conferences but not least as it presented a strong lineup of games and a new console that may allow them to once again compete with the others. The keynote started with a symphony playing Legend of Zelda tunes to a montage of Zelda games as a homage to the franchise's 25th Anniversary. Sadly no special collection is being planned, instead they are simply releasing a few past games like Link's Awakening along with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) for Christmas. In other words just business as usual. Games in the pipeline for the 3DS include Super Mario Kart 3D, Star Fox 3D, Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus 3D, and Tetris 3D. Most expected to be released by end of the year. Kirby Wii was also announced but the Wii was not the focus.
Weiner Admits to Picture The underwear picture heard around the world finally has its guilty man. New York Representative Anthony Weiner finally admitted the picture was his and apparently one of several he has sent out to woman over the internet the years. He admitted to the behavior but says he never had sex or even met the woman he was flirting with online. The GOP, of course, is asking for his head on a platter. Ignoring the fact that they stridently defended previous leaders like John Ensign among others that actually did take the step of cheating of getting laid by someone other than their wives. In the case of Ensign he broke the law multiple times to try and cover it up. Andrew Breitbart, he actually "broke" the story by buying the photos from one of Weiner's online woman, felt this "proved" he was a real journalist. After all in Republican land, if a "liberal" makes a mistake his entire career should be flushed down the toilet (see Dan Rather) but is a conservative makes nothing but mistakes (fake Black Panther story, fake Acorn story, fake Sherrod story, etc) then getting one right undoes all those others.
Today Steve Jobs held the key note address for Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 that did not introduce the iPhone 5 as hoped but instead introduced iOS 5 with iCloud. The emphasis on the update is to try to put data "in the cloud" so easily accessible from any iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc). iOS 5 is being released sometime this Fall.
The key new feature is the replacement of the now defunct MobileMe called iCloud. The idea is a hub to store all data might use on an iOS device such as music, videos, photos, etc. It sounds a whole lot like Dropbox with an auto sync feature. All users will get 5GB free, not sure how much it costs for more. However, if you have music, Apple is introducing something called iTunes Match that will have you "upload" your music collection to iCloud and does not count to the 5GB limit. The reason for the quotes is it’s not really uploading your music but matching your music library to iTunes. This works for music already purchased from iTunes or music ripped from CD collection. If like me and didn't rip your collection at a good bit rate, this is a solid way to "upgrade" your collection to 256 kbps AAC files without going through the trouble of re-ripping everything. Just note that ACC is not as universally accepted a format as mp3.
DC Comics Rebooting 70 Year History DC has announced that it is rebooting its universe almost from scratch after their current "Flashpoint" story arc end. The relaunch will have 52 #1 titles come out that month starting with Justice League #1 (to left is the cover). The origin story, back story, events, costumes (including more clothing for the woman) and more will be altered to "modernize" the characters. While DC is being silent on specifics, it seems that the goal is to simplify the universe and make it easier to adapt to movies, television and video games. An example is from the art here which shows Green Lantern Hal Jordan using the ring to create a Gatling gun. Until the movie, that would have never done that, created preferring hitting hit opponents over shooting them. The tendency for creating guns was left to former Marine, Green Lantern John Stewart. Another example is Superman being de-aged to late 20s and more than likely no longer married, again aligning with the upcoming movie. The examples will probably continue with characters losing more complicated or "messy" portions of their past like deaths, marriages, offspring, and more. I am betting the directive is if the story arc or character can't be explained in less than two minutes, then that aspect will be removed from DC's new continuity. If you are a long time reader of comics, this news is probably bad but if you are looking to try them out (or hop off the collecting merry go round), this is good news. As a long time collector familiar with DC Comics history, I find the idea full of story potential but DC's execution over the years has been sloppy at best as Warner Bros executives ultimately make the big decisions and that often doesn't lead to good storytelling.
This linkfest is a bit rant heavy, call it a two week build up. If the political stuff bores you, just skip towards the end where have videos of a Lego creation, Tesla Orchestra doing Zelda theme, and various trailers.
North Carolina GOP Attempting to Ban Municipal Broadband An interesting thing has been occurring in North Carolina. When local telecom and cable companies such as Time Warner refused to provide affordable internet and cable service or even run the needed lines, the local government stepped up to fill the void. Now the GOP likes to sell the argument that only public companies can provide services cheaply and profitably but it turns out that in this area so can the government as multiple municipals created not only some of the fastest networks in the state, they did it for a profit and at half the cost to the customer. So what does Time Warner and other companies do about this? Do they try to compete? Do they try to make their networks better? Of course not. Instead they buy off the Republicans in the state government to pass a law that outlaws these types of companies. For now Governor Bev Perdue has refused to sign the bill but that is unlikely to last. Yet another example of the GOP policy of "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."
2011 Fall TV Schedule Announced The big four networks announced the official cancellations, renewals, and new shows that will be hitting the airwaves starting next Fall 2011. A lot of shows I liked were cancelled but for whatever reason I am mostly indifferent. On the schedule isn't really anything "buzz" worthy to me but really just a collection of mildly interesting programs. Any case hit the link to see how the schedule breaks down for CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and CW. Note that things usually get tweaked further the closer to airdate.
Just realized I have not posted anything here in a while. To me nothing major has happened. Technically stuff has happened in politics with Donald Trump and Huckabee deciding not to run for President but that was a gimme anyway. That fool Newt Gingrich is running but that too is just a play for money as he has proven to be a flim-flam artist but not much else. He knows the publicity will drive book sales and his speaking tours prices up which is all that really matters to him (besides the ego stroking). Still here are a few things that grabbed my interest.
15 States Get Florida's $2 Billion On one hand you have to give credit, Republican putting money where his mouth is. On the other hand the state is hurting for jobs, is hurting for income and just needs helps so the money isn't really his but the citizens of the state. Sadly logic never plays into GOP thinking as Governor Rick Scott cancelled a high speed rail project that would have given Florida $2.4 billion to build. The GOP's hatred of infrastructure projects (better to let things fall apart) knows no bounds. The empty gesture didn't "return" the money to the government but instead allowed 15 states to pick up the pieces and improve their own rail systems. For the GOP, if it doesn't benefit the rich, it shouldn't benefit anybody even though a rail system is a cheaper, safer, and all around better alternative to transportation for commuters compared to rush hour traffic. Just a reminder the primary goal of the GOP is "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."
Library of Congress' National Jukebox "The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives." The Jukebox is streaming only with a huge collection of music, speeches, readings and more going back nearly the entire century.
Osama bin Laden Dead After nearly 10 years, the architect of 9/11 is finally dead. The Al Qaeda leader was killed by US soldiers after his hiding place, a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was discovered. The body was confirmed to be his via DNA results. The body itself was dumped at sea as no country wanted to "host" the body since it would likely grab unwanted attention. President Obama gave a speech at 11:35PM EST confirming the kill. Approximately 5 seconds later the GOP began work on trying to spin the event as a success for Bush Jr. and how Obama was riding on his coattails. Spontaneous celebrations began in front of White House and ground zero and reportedly elsewhere as people celebrated his death. Europe's leadership was pleased with his death and quick to remind everyone that the terrorist threats will continue. Sadly that is all too true for as many terrorists that might have had their will broken by this death, probably just as many have a new martyr to rally around.
R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen On April 20th, the fans of Doctor Who experienced a huge blow when Elisabeth Sladen died at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer. She played Sarah Jane Smith, the "companion" in Doctor Who from 1973 to 1976, cameoed several times in the reboot and then starred in the spin-off show "The Sarah Jane Adventures" which still has a few shows left unaired. "Never meet your heroes,' wise people say. They weren't thinking of Lis Sladen," Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat said.
"9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes" While the GOP with Tea Party assist has done a wonderful job of confusing people about taxes, you really wish people would read things like the above article. It hammers home what I have been saying for a while which is the GOP true slogan is "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest." The article attacks their main myths about taxes and backs them up with something the GOP doesn't bother - actual facts and not just a bunch of repeated opinions. For example, guess what, the poor do pay taxes. It may not be income taxes but they pay it in federal payroll taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes and a whole bunch more. In fact, because the poor have less that are deductible and less tax loop holes to take advantage of, they pay a higher percentage (11%) then the average rich (4%). But since the GOP like to attack income taxes, then the rich must be paying a high cost. Turns out that isn't true. The reason again is lots and lots of tax loop holes for the rich, loopholes the GOP have refused to close. With a lot of fancy tax work, the average person can abuse the system and take their tax burden down to 2% or less. Another argument of the GOP is the richer the rich are, the more they will help everyone else. Except that has not happened. The top tax rate (pre-deductibles and loop holes) went from 70% in 1980 to 35%. At the same time the average income of 90% of Americans in the last 30 years has increased a whopping $303.00 (around 1%). Nope not a typo. The rich though have enjoyed a $1.1 million add to their bottom line. How about this, tax breaks create jobs. Turns out they don't always, especially when no conditions are tied to the breaks as the GOP prefers to do things. Again thanks to loop holes and the already low tax rate, it is currently more profitable for corporations to create temporary jobs to enjoy the tax rate and then quickly fire people after. All that matters is on paper is the jobs had been created, not how long they had existed. Temporary jobs are not exactly what people have in mind. There is more than that and worth the read. (via Chicago Tribune)
I don't really get into personal stuff on my blogs. Main reason is because just like my privacy but in this case it seems needed as for me it is a true End of an Era with the death of my cat of nearly 19 years - Gizmo (11/1992 - 4/2011).
He was a cat of pure love that made it so easy to love him back. He gave it and received it absolute ease and no conditions. The simple act of existing and acknowledging his existence with all he needed to be happy. The simple act of saying his name would lead to a pleased look and this loud rumble that was surprising loud for such a little body. He was so slow to anger. He hated his belly to be touched and messed with and yet despite that you would have to spend a determined five minutes to build his aggravation to the point to even get the growls to come out of him. By then the hurt look on his face would compel you to stop and give him a hug. If you got to loud, he seemed to read that as a sign of distress and would make it his mission by insisting you come down, either by meowing loudly or hopping on you and biting at your head until you stopped.
He loved bed time, often coming to get me if I was taking too long and leading to the room. He would hop into his "well" and I would drift to sleep with his quiet purring next to me and wake up the next day to his presence. The moment he knew I was awake the purr would start again. He loved nothing more than to be around me even if just across the room.
If I have one regret with him it was the last week of his life. It was not really a busy week or anything; I just had things I was doing. He continued to lull me to sleep and be there when I woke. Where normally I rub him, hub him and retrieve him to put in my lap, that week I didn't really do that. A wave would be enough (last thing I did before his death) instead of what should have been a hug or a rub. I didn't go get him as much as I normally do, leaving him to his own devices.
I don't doubt he knew I loved him, I just am sad that his last week was less than it should have been. I regret taking him for granted and just assuming he would always be there. To all of you, just make sure to give your pets that extra hug, another second of rub and don't let just calling their name or a wave be enough to show you care. That last week will probably become one of my great regrets.
Goodbye Gizmo. The greatest, sweetest, most loving cat I have ever experienced. You were pure love without a touch of malice, something that is truly rare in this world. You will always be cherished for the happiness you brought to my life.
Legoland Star Wars Gallery The Star Wars attraction at Legoland California which as more than 2000 Lego Star Wars sculptures on display. Hit the link for a gallery of some of the masterpieces.
25 Years of Pixar Animation An excellent fan made video that celebrates 25 years of excellence from Pixar which brought us Toy Story, Cars, Up, Wall-E and so much more.
WonderCon Green Lantern Footage and Panel Below is four minutes from Green Lantern along with all five parts of the WonderCon panel. Over all the footage makes the movie look much better than the teaser trailer had. Definitely going for an epic, universe spanning feel that DC movies have normally lacked.
Obama's Speech on Libya Today President Obama gave a speech on the US's involvement in the quest for freedom in Libya (transcript at link). I still have not wrapped my head around on what I think of our participation in trying to eliminate Gaddafi who is yet another of Ronald Reagan era puppets that have come to bite us on the rear along with Hussein, Osama, and pretty much every other conflict from the last 30 years. When was the last time Republicans made a major nationwide impacting decision that didn't turn out to be wrong in hindsight? Yeah I can't remember one either. The idea of the US truly fighting for freedom is a nice change of pace considering in most cases we have either been trying to force freedom on others or simply preserving the oil flow. On the other hand, we are still fighting two other Republican created wars that seem to have no real end in sight and even if Obama has an exit plan (another nice change of pace), a third front just seems to be two too many. We are committed, I hope it works but the line should stop at us providing soldiers on the ground or helping in the rebuilding effort. At this point if the "rebels" cannot take the country by convincing the military to join them, it becomes a moot point as the US simply cannot afford to take on a unified Libya. Sure we could beat them, very easily but as we already learned with Iraq and Afghanistan, defining when victory has actually occurred is a murky line that we can't seem to identify.
Most Corporations Don't Pay Taxes Right now Republicans are continuing the argument that if we do everything we can to make rich people and corporations happy, they just might be kind enough to create jobs for the rest of us. This belief extends to profits where 2/3 of US corporations doesn’t pay taxes and in fact often get paid by tax papers for simply existing. An example, from the Daily Show, is GE which made $14.2 billion in profits and was paid $3.2 billion in tax benefits. Yet we should give up more. Sure we have been making them happy for more than 30 years with constant drops in taxes, eliminating regulations, and so much more. Rich Republicans are demanding we ignore that the average American's income has remained stagnant for 30 years while the rich has grown over 500%. Ignore that corporations are showing the largest jump in profits since 1950 and most are not only showing record profits but have a lot of cash banked. Instead they say everyone that isn't part of the top 2% should give up more. Education, labor rights, more taxes, anything and everything that can be given should be given to corporations. Heck we are even giving up our jobs so they can be done overseas but according to Republicans we are just not doing enough. Sure corporations are doing outstanding by cutting jobs and letting Republicans feed the meme but this year will be different! We just have to give up more! And come this time next year what will the Republicans be saying when the job market is about the same for the third year in a row? Yep, we have not given up enough. Just like they have been saying for the last 30 years. When will people get it, the Republican Party has only one agenda - make the rich richer, to hell with the rest.
At 2:46PM Japan time (5:46AM UTC/GMC time or 12:46am EST) a 9.0 magnitude (upgraded from 8.9) earthquake struck 231 miles off the coast of north Japan. The resulting tsunami was reported to be as high as 33 feet high when they struck the coast of Japan causing extensive damage and unknown casualties. Aftershocks continue to be felt in the country as rescue efforts begin. The earthquake is the fifth largest recorded magnitude since 1900 and the largest recorded for Japan. (EDIS details on quake)
In additional at least 20 countries and Pacific islands have issued tsunami alerts. Effected countries include Russia, Indonesia, Guatemala and state of Hawaii. The time of land fall can be estimated but size of the tsunami when it hits will be unknown as no telling how much it may dissipate as it travels across the Pacific Ocean. There is even a giant whirlpool off the coast.
For Japan the crisis turns to rescue and recovery with shelter, food and water becoming an issue for people trapped by the water, mud and destruction. For the rest of the world, we hold are breath and wait to see what happens as countries in the tsunami's path are hit. Thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan.
Below are links to live coverage of this tragic disaster along with a video of the tsunami as it swept across farmland taking homes, cars and more with it a path of destruction.
Update: The tsuanami wave has hit the various Pacific countries but the after effects continue. The wave reached as far as six miles inland near Sendai, destroying entire town in the Miyagi Prefecture. Japan's nuclear power plants are in a state of emergency as cooling systems have failed and its possible the venting of nuclear gas may be necessary to avoid a meltdown. If that wasn't enough, some of them are now reporting radiation leaks into the surrounding area. Now buildings are collapsing, on fire and people are stuck on roofs desperate for rescue. Land all along the Pacific Ocean were hit, with reports of 8 foot waves in Hawaii (causing minor damage) and retaining enough power to still be a few feet high wave rolled through San Francisco Bay. The long term problems Japan is facing are massive in proportion. We already know the Japanese people are resiliant and strong. The question isn't will they recover, just how long it will take.
If you wish to donate, the Red Cross is taking donations here or used text messaging by sending the word REDCROSS to 90999. Each text will donate $10 to the fund and will show on your next phone bill.
Here are more links to coverage, videos and more of this tragic disaster that has taken a current unknown number of lives.
Tsunami hits Sendai - 18 minutes of video as the tsnuami strikes area Google Crisis Reponse Site - resources to get more information, including "People Finder" for those effected by disaster. Power of the Japan Tsunami - Color code image of tsunami amplitude (in cm) for 1st 24 hours of wave propagation. Earthquake Ripple video - Computer generation of shockwave as spreads across Pacific Ocean Audio of Quake - "harmonic and rhythmic sounds are the sonification of seismic activity off coast of Honshu" during the quake. Skyscapers swaying video - Bizarre to see even if part of building design to help absorb earthquake shock waves. Eyewitness Video Collection - A bunch of videos that show the disaster as it occurred Aerial Photos of Destruction - Large gallery that shows extent of the damage to Japan
The last week has been a series of ending it seems both big and small. Libya might just experience democracy for the first in generations as Gaddafi has seemingly been overthrown, Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple, a memorial finishes and a legendary hacker joins the team he often defeated.
