What’s wrong with SOPA

          These two pictures are worth more than a thousand words.  Because the images presented such an intriguing message I wanted to use it here, but before I could I needed to do some fact checking.  It took only minutes to confirmed that Conrad Murray was sentenced to four years in prison for killing Michael Jackson and under the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) the maximum penalty for unauthorized streaming of copyright material is five years in prison.   Those are the facts.  I’ll let you decide what it says about congress and the justice system. 

          For more information about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the related senate bill the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), read my blogpost, Old Media and Bad Law. 

          If you know the creator of this graphic please let me know so that I can attribute it.

Preparedness is Common Sense

          Preparedness is more than surviving a nuclear war or the collapse of civilization.  Yesterday Reuters ran an article on the growing preparedness movement.  The writer quoted Michael Snider of the Economic Collapse blog as saying, “A lot of Americans sense that a massive economic storm is coming and they want to be prepared for it.”  That is true, but preparedness is more than that.

          Last year, in a blogpost titled Preparedness and Worldview, I wrote that the “need to be prepared for what might happen springs from the love I feel for my family and my conservative worldview” and that “as a conservative, I don’t expect others to solve a problem that I can or should solve.”  In that post I described how several years ago I was in rural Alaska when I got word that a major flood had hit my town in Washington State.  Quickly I assessed the situation in my mind.  Our home is atop a large hill so, short of a biblical flood, it was safe.  In addition, I knew we had taken reasonable measures to be prepared for such natural disasters.  There was plenty of food and clean water in the house.  If the power was out, my wife had a wood stove for heat and a windup radio for information.  Of course, I still wanted to talk to her, but I had a calm assurance that all was well. 

          When I was finally able to speak with her, she told me what I expected to hear.  The house was dry, but the hill we lived on was surrounded by water.  The power was out, but she had everything needed to wait it out.  As we said goodbye I smiled.  No government agency or program could possible provide that good feeling—it came from preparedness. 

          Decades ago those who prepared for disaster were disparagingly called survivalists, but today they call themselves “preppers.”  The Reuters article mentions SurvivalBlog as the “guiding light of the prepper movement,” and quotes blog editor and author James Wesley Rawles.  The information that Rawles makes available to the public and the community of interest that grew up around his blog inspired me to start RuminationsBlog.  From day one I linked to Rawles’ blog and he was one of the first to link back to this blog.  I continue to read SurvivalBlog almost daily.

Odds & Ends

Ice and Snow
So much for global warming.  Winter in Washington State had been mild, but earlier this week there was more snow on my property than I had ever seen.  Hundreds of thousands of customers in the region were without power and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was closed due to falling ice.
Ice chunks force closure of Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Reuters Discovers Preppers
Reuters ran an article on the growing “prepper” or preparedness movement.  The article mentions SurvivalBlog editor and author James Wesley Rawles and calls his blog the “guiding light of the prepper movement.”  I would agree with that sentiment.  I read SurvivalBlog on a nearly daily basis.
Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse

Gay Marriage in Washington State
Every time gay marriage is voted on by the people it is rejected, but liberal politicians and activist judges continue to force the issue upon a reluctant electorate.  The Washington State legislature, controlled by Democrats, is taking up the issue this year and despite what the voters have already said, may pass it.
Gay marriage gaining momentum in WA Legislature   

No Picnic
The News Digest section of this month’s Limbaugh Letter contains a story about Quail Hollow Farm, an organic community farm in southern Nevada.  The farm wanted to serve a “farm-to-fork” meal where neighbors and guests could tour the place and sample the produces.  First, the Southern Nevada Health District required a special use permit and, after the farm complied, still declared the food “unfit for human consumption,” and ordered it “doused with bleach and dumped.  The reason the food was unfit in the eyes of the bureaucrats was because it had no package labels or sales receipts.  As Rush points out, that was because the food was all grown on the farm.  Rush then asks, “What next?  Fines for ‘unlicensed’ lemonade stands.”  Actually, in a blogpost titled The War against Lemonade Stands, I pointed out that in Oregon it has already happened.  

Google Elections

          Saturday evening while searching for South Carolina primary results I rediscovered Google Elections, and have bookmarked it for future use as the election draws closer.  While I’m sure I used this site during the 2008 election, I apparently didn’t bookmark it and promptly forgot about it after the election.The results page at Google Elections 

           The home page is where you can read current political and election news.  The screen shot on the right is from their Results page showing how each county in South Carolina voted and the totals.  This page updated regularly that evening.  There is also a page that shows search trends, YouTube video views and how the candidates name is trending in news articles and blogs.  There is also a news page for each candidate and for many current issues.  I’ll frequently use this site as the year progresses.

Newt Fires Back

          They say that the best defense is a good offense.  Apparently, Newt Gingrich agrees.  He may win the South Carolina primary because of his answer to one question.  Speaking to Gingrich, John King of CNN said, “As you know, your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview with The Washington Post. And this story has now gone viral on the internet.  In it, she says that you came to her in 1999, at a time when you were having an affair. She says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage.”  Then King asked, “Would you like to take some time to respond to that?”  This was the type of story that sent Herman Cain home, but Gingrich didn’t back down.  He fought back with his first word and didn’t stop until the crowd was roaring approval.  Watch the embedded video if you haven’t seen his reply.  

           While I still have issues with Newt Gingrich, including the affair that broke up his second marriage, I don’t believe he could have answered King’s question any better.   

          As I write this blogpost the first results are trickling in and Newt is in a close second place behind Romney.  It is going to be an interesting evening.