Blog Ranger

American Civil Liberties Union:

Link: American Civil Liberties Union:.

From the ACLU

Late Friday night, the ACLU caught wind of a dangerous backroom deal brewing. The “deal” would rush a House vote that would push through a dangerous sellout on government spying powers, possibly in the next few days.

We need you to immediately contact your member of Congress. Let your representative know you’re watching and expect him or her to stand firm. That means no immunity for lawbreaking phone and internet companies, and no spying on Americans without a warrant.

Stop Secret Spying Deal

Gas to Hit $7 a Gallon | Autopia from Wired.com

Link: Gas to Hit $7 a Gallon | Autopia from Wired.com.

If this happens we will not only see impact on driving habits but will also likely begin to see rolling revolts over food prices throughout the world.  Reliance on fossil fuels has just about caught us.

Stockpiling food

Link: R.O.I. - WSJ.com

It is becoming increasingly disturbing the number of recent articles that deal with the impact of rising fuel prices on food supply.  The link above is to a Wall Street Journal article on April 21st about stockpiling food to offset future food inflationary costs.

Truckers ‘going broke’ and threatening to strike / QCTimes.com

Link: Truckers ‘going broke’ and threatening to strike / QCTimes.com.

Just a reminder that while most of the media coverage of the economic downturn is focused on real estate and investment houses the very real impact is on people.

As one trucker noted, “In no way, shape or form do truckers want to hurt this country. My whole deal on this thing is that I’m shutting down on April 1. Call it a strike, a shutdown or just flat-ass going broke.”

YouTube - Tent cities spring up in LA

Link: YouTube - Tent cities spring up in LA.

Blogranger says:  Since it is unlikely that you will see this pop up on the NBC Nightly News here is a story from the BBC about the human impact of the subprime mortgage debacle. 

Snow Flurries Possible In Central Florida During Hard Freeze - Orlando Weather News Story - WKMG Orlando

Link: Snow Flurries Possible In Central Florida During Hard Freeze - Orlando Weather News Story - WKMG Orlando.

Well, if this happens it will certainly be of note...stay tuned!

Rocket Launcher/Flight Path

Link: wcbstv.com - CBS2 Exclusive: Feds Seize Rocket Launcher In N.J..<br>
This is one to watch, and listen for more information about....

SkyNet is Now On Line: Unmanned aircraft crush worldwide enemies – from Nevada | NetworkWorld.com Community

Link: Unmanned aircraft crush worldwide enemies – from Nevada | NetworkWorld.com Community.

Yup, nothing could go wrong with this. 

Actually, I am less worried about a WestWorld scenario in which the skies are clouded with mischievous hellfire wielding missiles then I am the slide towards decreasing the use of military force to solve problems.  I posted on this back in 2004, see http://blogranger.typepad.com/blogclub/2004/04/index.html

I close again with a quote that seems appropriate from Jon Katz, "war without sacrifice is definitely a 21st century idea. Why should citizens of any country hesitate to wage such a war if they have the machinery? War has recently seemed so terrible that civilized societies view it as a last resort. But American history is crammed with technological innovations that are neither discussed nor much thought out. Drone Wars might not appear so terrible. They might even become irresistible"

Sometimes it just Catches Your Eye

Sometimes you just glance at an image and you there is a random synapse that fires reminding you of something else. 

I saw this photo of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, a few days ago in a CNN story.  He was in the process of warning the Israeli's of their imminent demise.

There was something that struck me about the particular head shot...at first I couldn't really place what that was.  Then I remembered a Budweiser commercial .

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Budweiser Select ads, they basically morph their select logo into a number of new situations?  See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QivBS3EnYuI

Wonder..how much they paid Ahmadinejad to be in the ad :)

Texas Kaos:: Breaking: Stunning Court Reversal May End Bush's War Crimes Trials

Link: Texas Kaos:: Breaking: Stunning Court Reversal May End Bush's War Crimes Trials.

This is a pretty clear sign of just how abusive, wrong, and perverse is the "war crimes trial system."  Not only is it a mockery of the rule of law that our nation used to stand for but now even the Bush administration can't play be their own mutated rules.