Start of the snow today.
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
I got on the 10 AM bus as today's major snow storm began to fall over Paradise
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January 31, 2008
Night time dispatch from the storm
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
After getting off the bus tonight on Clark in Paradise, the noontime snowfall came down more than ankle deep.
Before the storm
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
The snow snuck in our neighborhood yesterday morning, before the biggest snow here in this decade today around noon.
January 29, 2008
Another dispatch from the Ridge
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
On my way to school at 9 AM this morning, the snow here is still fresh powder before the major snowfall comes around noon in Paradise
A dispatch from the Ridge
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
I took this shot from my B-Line 40 route bus two days ago during a driving rain on Skyway
January 22, 2008
Dispatch from the Ridge
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
This is what I find outside my home this morning.
January 20, 2008
Is the fix already in?
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2007
The bear above supervises the upcoming California primary, but the fix may have already been laid in for the citizens of my state and this country. When we vote in November, my prediction is that we will have a race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
If New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg enters as an independent, he will siphon those votes from the Clinton campaign, just as his predecessors did in 1988 and again in 2000. That will lead to Senator McCain raising his hand over the bible on January 20, 2009, and being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
That will benefit the uber-rich, because the Congress shall remain Democratic and we will end up with four years of stagnant government. The result that none of the damage that George Bush, our generation's Calvin Coolidge (the president who put us into the Great Depression) will be overturned, Silicon Slavery shall fall upon the land, and those in power shall celebrate the Roaring Teens.
And may God have mercy on our souls.
The Red, White and Blue Super Bowl; Perfection?
photo bt Gary D. Brune 2007 courtesy of The NFL Network, NBC and KHSL Channel 24.
Is Super Bowl 42 the redux of the game from which I took this televised picture? One thing for sure, it is the Red, White and Blue Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the 18-0 New England Patriots.. Oh, the hype.and on an election year too.
January 19, 2008
Bernie Ward was silenced by the Feds
photo by Gary D, Brune copyright 2007
Radio talk show host Bernie Ward, a long-time critic of the George Bush administration and the uber-rich, was fired tonight from his position, according to KGO-TV. Ward dominated the late-night radio airwaves for KGO 810AM until the Federal Government filed an indictment of child pornography against him on December 7, 2007.
After the indictment was filed, Ward was immediately removed from the airwaves and the legal department of KGO's parent company MediaSpan Network immediately sent word down to the radio staff that any discussion of the Ward case would lead to suspension from the air. As a result, there is no mention of Ward whatsoever.
KGO Radio General Manager Micky Luckoff said to the television arm of their station “Technically, it’s against the law (what Ward did).. He admitted what he did. There’s no reason to believe he’s a pedophile.”
The text of Ward's indictment is available on the KGO television website, and it is based on an investigation that began in 2004,according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He admitted to downloading a few images of child pornography as research for a book he was working on. Federal investigators talked to him soon after the event, and he fully cooperated with the authorities.
As a life-long listener of KGO radio, this action disturbs me. The Feds have won by silencing one of their more ardent critics by using a technical violation of the law. He has been excised from the airwaves, and even though Luckoff said he would rehire him in a heartbeat, it is likely that Ward will be permanently replaced, and a chill will come across the airwaves as a warning.
January 15, 2008
Dispatch from the front
January 15, 2008 is one of the darkest days in this election cycle when at about 1800 hours, the Nevada courts reversed its earlier ruling and said that MSNBC did not have to have Dennis Kucinich in their debate in Las Vegas this evening.
As of today, we are looking at the greatest reality television series not only of the year, but in this country's history. This presidential election will go down as a cross between American Gladiator and Survivor, but with all the bloodletting being part of the public consumption. This may be perfectly appropriate for our society in that we pay more attention to American Idol than to what really should matter to us
The dog-and-pony show that aired tonight on MSNBC was a discussion among the three Democratic candidates vetted by the rich, and fully in the hip pocket of the uber-rich. Given the vetted candidates of the Republican Party, and these people featured tonight, there is no one amongst them with a lick of caring for us poor folks.
History has recorded that almost every American President has lied to his people during his term. One of these people will raise their hand over the bible in a little over a year and will do whatever their backers deem necessary to screw us over including lie to us.
The question that arises is simple -why should I participate in this election when I have no serious voice therein?
Canopy of the empty tree. Where's our protection?
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
Today is January 15 and because of the little “whiny” presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich, we're being reminded that the current election cycle is already brought down to the candidates approved by the uber-rich. According to the New York Times, Kucinich went to court and forced MSNBC to include him in tonight's Democratic Party debate. This is democratic?
Given the experiences of Republican Candidate Ron Paul and Kucinich, we clearly see that the rich and well-to-do are telling the people of the United States of America the candidates they approve of and will allow to become president. Which means we have over ten months to argue about candidate that will not threaten those in power.
With the research I've already highlighted about non-lethal methods of controlling people, the mission of the uber-rich is clear. When they can make opposition to their methods of screwing the poor something they can control without consequence, this country is no longer a constitutional republic, let alone a democracy.
They will use UAVs and Chinese made cameras to find out any opposition or protest to their desire to redistribute the national money from the poor into their pockets. Using police armed with shotguns that have taser shells, they will silence anyone who has reached their boiling point, seize their assets and incarcerate the individuals.
We are on the road, with the Napoleonic Card our government calls RealID, a device designed to impose the ethic of Guilty until Proven innocent, to becoming silicon slaves.
More on this later.
January 13, 2008
The fog is clearing in Paradise
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
The United States Constitution has been rescinded by technology, and the poor people of the world need to book passage to the modern equivalent of Devil's Island. The result therein is that this election is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless. It will be an exercise of sound and fury signifying nothing.
The Military Channel's Futureweapons has revealed the seondary reason for our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just before World War Two the European powers engaged in the Spanish Civil War, where they tested out the latest weapons technology of the day. Our forces are doing the same thing overseas today, except they are developing non-lethal technology.
For example, in five years or so, Butte County law enforcement agencies will have the latest unmanned air vehicles. These UAVs will have the best available optics for the cameras on board that can relay any information the police want wherever they want it. These UAVs will be cheap, can stay in the air for days if necessary, and will be as silent as the wind, thus making them undetectable from the ground.
The UAV patrol detects a protest demonstration of poor people in Chico and alert the ground forces. They will have shotguns armed with the latest technology from Taser International, the XREP round.
Extracted from Taser.com, this is the explanation of XREP; “the TASER XREP – the eXtended Range Electronic Projectile. XREP is a self-contained, wireless projectile that fires from a standard 12-gauge shotgun. It delivers the same Neuro-Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) bio-effect as our handheld TASER X26, but can be delivered to a distance of up to 100 feet.”
This standard 12 guage shotgun shell takes the taser concept and makes it an independent accurate non-lethal round. This shell does not have to touch skin in order to deliver its shocking payload. It can shoot electricity through clothes and incapacitate anyone. As was demonstrated on Futureweapons, nobody can withstand the round.
When the demonstration becomes loud, the police are told to open fire with their XREP rounds. They soon have the demonstration subdued, the demonstrators in custody, and they will be incarnated for as long as the system desires.
Their arrests will be downloaded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's new super-database, and be acceesible to any authority that requests it. After their release, those demonstrators needing to look for work will have to present their new Real ID, issued by California's Department of Motor Vehicles to the standards of the Department of Homeland Security. The prospective employer runs the ID, accesses the FBI databse, finds out about the arrest, and politely dismisses the job seeker.
President Bill Clinton tried to impose this card upon the country when he proudly raised a flag-draped credit card for national health care over his head. He was just ahead of his time and technology.
With the battle of terrorism as the cover story, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security said that people need to prove that they are who they say they are. With the RealID functioning as the Napoleonic Card (the Napoleanic Code being guilty until proven innocent) all Americans will be technologically assumed to be guilty until proven inocent
More on this later..
January 10, 2008
A tree is threatened in Paradise
Today Lou Dobbs reports that New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg is investigating whether he should run for president this year. All I have to say is beware of the one-eyed jack.
In 1988, when George Herbert Walker Bush ran for president, Ross Perot ran as an independent candidate. While Perot did not win a single state that year, his candidacy lead to Bush, the former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, being sworn in as President.
Twelve years later, when George Walker Bush ran for president, Ralph Nader cast his hat into the ring for the Green Party. That candidacy lead to W being sworn in, and our current national predicament.
Perot and Nader drew independent voters to their campaigns, and after the elections of 1988 and 2000, these men have more or less disappeared from the national scene.
The current Republican field for this election is weak. The strongest candidate is McCain who is older than Ronald Reagan when he ran for president in 1980. He is being sold as a maverick, but just imagine if Bloomberg comes into this campaign.
Dobbs reports that Bloomberg has more money In his bank than Perot did when he ran for president. At the height of Perot's popularity, he mysteriously self-destructed, but his candidacy got that Bush elected. I have a question here; will Bloomberg do for the Republicans what Perot and Nader did before? While this appears on the surface to be a historical coincidence, is it?
January 08, 2008
Second dispatch from the Ridge
Photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
Paradise Fire Department responds to an emergency on Clark Road during a snow flurry that hit Paradise this afternoon.
Dispatch from the Ridge
photograph by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
This afternoon a snow flurry hit Paradise, and this snowplow buzzes up Clark Road trying to keep up with the snow.
January 07, 2008
A tree falls in Paradise
As I said yesterday, except now with 300 days and three votes in California towards the 2008 Presidential Election, I hate when I'm right, or when I remember things from high school. No matter what the spinsters say, this election is about one thing – money. How much of it can the uber-rich collect?
After Richard Nixon beat George McGovern for president in 1972, this country had the first of its fuel crisis. Lines at gas stations were common and drivers were told they could only buy gasoline when the last number of their license plate fell on an odd or even day.. Nixon declared that this country would go on a course towards energy independence. That was then and this is now with new buzz phrases, but the same old talk.
Fast forward to when President Bill Clinton was himself facing impeachment charges. What history tells me is that the only thing that saved him from being removed from office was the 10,000 point Dow. His backers were making a lot of money, so they let him finish out his term.
In 1999 it became clear to me that not only George Bush would be nominated for President, he would win. What made that apparent was that the next president would make over 300,000 a year. Federal law indicates that a sitting president cannot raise their own salary. However, towards the end of his administration, Lyndon Baines Johnson made a deal with Nixon – Nixon's salary as president would go up if Johnson's retirement benefits went up.
It looked like a similar deal was struck before Bush was elected. As long as Bush made his backers filthy rich, they would make his administration comfortable.
Which leads me to the events of this weekend. Candidates Ron Paul and Dennis Cusinich protested their lack of inclusion in the ongoing debates. Kind of feel like the men that would have a hance of speaking for the poor are being squeezed out of this campaign. Those candidates that are left will have been thoroughly vetted, not for their ability to serve the people of the United States, but for their ability to make their uber-rich backers even richer.
With 300 days left for us to decide between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, there will be no one who will speak for the average American, let alone for the poor. It won't matter which candidate calls themselves an agent of change, they will do the same thing president elected in my lifetime has done – make lots of money for their backers.
More on this later.
January 06, 2008
A tree fell in Paradise
photograph by Gary D. Brune copyright 2007
It sometimes is hard to deal with being right. The photograph above I took on November 20 of last year at the K-Mart store in Paradise because I reasoned that the Sears Holding Company by investing in the signs on the stucco wall doomed the trees in front of them. After Christmas, eight trees were felled in front of this K-Mart.
It shows the attitude of our capitalistic society. Nothing shall stand in the way of business making as many dollars as possible.
I just watched the rebroadcast of the New Hampshire debate between the Republican and Democratic campaigns for President, and here, with 302 days to the November election, this will end up being the most over-analyzed campaign in history. I'll have to wade through 302 days and three votes here in California, and what will prevent me from being burned out on this campaign and election.
During the Republican segment, a significant bit of time was spent on both health care, with the candidates branding government health care such as Medicare as socialist, and immigration, again with the candidates saying that we are a country that is run by the rule of law and that all immigrants should wait in line at the border for their opportunity to come into this country.
What I understand from our present immigration laws is that the applicant has to have something to directly contribute here or at least have a sponsor with enough resources to prevent the applicant from being a drain on our society. In other words, we must be able to exploit the prospective immigrant.
If the 12 million undocumented immigrants that the Republicans acknowledge were rich, we would have no problem with them being here, at least as long as they have money. Since it is generally acknowledged though that these people are poor, we don't want them. What nobody wants to say here is that we would rather have the poor immigrants die in their country of origin than live here.
The health care debate has the same tenor in that the Republican candidates want individuals to be able to pay for their own insurance, or have some sort of medical savings account in place. If the person is not well-to-do enough to foot the bill for their medical care, the government should not have something in place to help them.
The tree in the picture above, undocumented immigrants, and poor people all have the same problem. They are a drain on the free and unfettered ability of our capitalistic society to make as much money as it can.
January 05, 2008
PG&E watches over a tree
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
A Pacific Gas & Electric employee watches over a tree that fell onto Wagstaff in Paradise that took out power lines on the way down during yesterday's mega-storm.
PG&E restored power after several hour, but Paradise Radio 1500 AM reported that at it.s most potent, the storm knocked out electricity to over 15,000 residents on the Ridge.
A lucky house on Rocky
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2008
The owners of this house on Rocky and Wagstaff in Paradise were extremely lucky when this tree fell during yesterday's mega-storm. The power lines it took out isolated that neighborhood for several hours.