INTERESTING TIMES

I don't believe the powers when they tell me to panic. And I definitely don't believe them when they tell me NOT to panic. I think back to 9/11, when all those people in burning skyscrapers, just hit by airplanes, were told to remain calm and stay at their desks. The ones who decided for themselves that the situation was fubar and ran down the stairs were the ones who survived.

For this Japanese quake and tsunami the media machine has been spewing something constantly. Panic. Don't panic. Nothing to worry about. All under control. Oooops, out of control. Whoopsie.

It's up to us to decide what to do for ourselves.

Japan reportedly to rate nuclear crisis at highest level
By Chico Harlan, Monday, April 11, 9:30 PM

TOKYO — Japanese authorities planned Tuesday to raise their rating of the severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis to the highest level on an international scale, equal to that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to the Kyodo news agency.

A level 7 accident, according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, is typified by a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-to-raise-rating-of-nuclear-crisis-to-highest-level/2011/04/11/AFxrFEND_story.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

Aquatic Invasive Species Boating Permit
in 2010 paddlers will be required to have one for boats over 10 feet in length
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He's supporting that crappy FISA bill ("to build cred with the security community") and he has decided that he's not above the rest when it comes to taking money....never mind spending limits.....the pundits say he'll do "what it takes to get elected". I still wish for a person who could get elected based on principles instead of on their willingness to bend over. I still pray that he has integrity but he is showing signs of decay.

On Obama's vote, and a telling picture:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/senate-approv-1.html?cid=121701404#comment-121701404

( Hillary voted against the FISA Amendment Act! Does modern politics require that candidates vote themselves more power at every opportunity, and deny powers to other with the same ruthlessness? Text from article behind this cut. )

...to search your laptop or cell phone.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/90325
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I just got a phone call from a guy who said his name was John Leskey, and who claimed he works for URSLP. When I asked him to explain what URSLP is, he was unwilling to explain. Googling those letters doesn't get me anywhere. John was looking for a guy (C) that I used to work on the river with some 15 years ago. C is out of the country, last I heard, through a friend of a friend. When I asked John how he got my number he said that I was listed as a "possible associate" of my former raft guide co-worker. When I asked him if he was with a collection agency, there was a long pause before he answered that it was personal business. So I'm guessing that he is trying to collect from C. And considering his tactics, I don't blame C if he blows this guy and whatever debt off. I offered John the hotmail address that I have for C, and he said he doesn't have email! What bullshit. He calls me because he knows I used to work with C, but he doesn't have email. There is something completely wrong about this.

Because this guy was after an old friend of mine, I invite you and everyone to call him up.
Let him know that "possible associates" don't welcome his inquiries.
Here are his numbers:
713-266-9876 extension 3084
800-891-5035 x3084 (I called this number without the extension and the message said "the number you have called is currently not assigned" WTF?)
The number he was calling FROM is 866-891-6939. He called just before 9am on 5/30/07.

Whoever he is, and whatever he is after, I do not like his methods. And I do not like getting collections calls for a person that I worked with 15 years ago. If that counts as an "associate" then I have a billion associates! And I am not responsible for their financial issues.

Amended 3/14/08: Just got a comment (on another entry) that another person by the name of Lisa Reynolds is harassing people using the same phone numbers.

Amended 4/16/09: New comment reveals Leskey hasn't changed his approach. Googling his name today yields these:

Googling his name yields this today:
http://www.callercomplaints.com/SearchResult.aspx?Phone=866-582-4084

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-582-4084

Amended 2/18/10: New commenter just filed a complaint with ftc.gov after a call from one Charlene S. Smith looking for a neighbor. Charlene contact: 866-516-6961 x4138. Prior FTC charges against her company: Civil Action No.: H-02-1410 (sl), FTC File No.: 002-3133.

Today in the mail I got a big pile of begging junk. I get a great range of junk, from tree hugger to gun toter junk, and lots of hippieshit for sale. I contribute to almost no one, but sometimes will send $20 cash to a cause just because I'm inspired. The last thing I want to do is give money to a politician which they will then spend on harassing the hell out of me.

So TODAY I get junk mail from the Alley Cat Allies, begging for my money to help make the lives of some ferile CAT better. And I wonder, how (the hell) did THEY get my address?? I have never subscribed to Cat Lover's Magazine.... But I did buy cat stuff at a PETSMART using a CREDIT CARD.

Looks to me like the great database in the sky tracked my CAT to this barn, then sold my information to whoever would pay. Now the clients of the data hoarders have commenced to begging. If I get a barrage of cat shit I'm going back to CASH ONLY. And I'm never ever going to Petsmart again.

As far as I am concerned, my next sushi meal is a LOT more important than some ferile cat buried under a bureacracy.