My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on March 18, 2010

A few long time blog readers remember my blogging and supporting Earthrace her captain publicizing renewable fuels in a record breaking trip(s) around the world a couple years ago. More recently Captain Pete Bethune and his renamed vessel, Ady Gil, became part of an anti-poaching marine wildlife conservation organization called Sea Shepherd – see previous post – which has been trying to stop Japanese whaling near Antarctica. Unfortunately in an incident in international waters, a large steel hulled Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru No.2 headed toward the fiber composite Ady Gil and either purposely rammed or steered too close and split the high tech futuristic boat in two. The Japanese vessel hosed down the crew with water cannons as the splintered boat floundered. The large Japanese whaling ship continued without lending assistance … even after radio calls for help. The Ady Gil was eventually rescued by the Bob Barker and although attempts were made to keep the Ady Gil afloat, the crew wasn’t able salvaged her and she sunk. No injury to people was reported.

On January 15, 2010, empowered by New Zealand law (according to PR release), Captain Pete Bethune attempted to serve the captain of the Shonan Maru No.2 with a “citizen’s arrest” and was thwarted. A second attempt was made to serve an arrest warrant on February 15th along with an invoice for the loss of the Ady Gil and this time Pete Bethune was detained and taken back to Japan on the Shonan Maru No.2. He is currently in a Tokyo jail where he is awaiting formal charges and possible trial. Bethune lawyers and the Sea Shepherd organization is working in an effort to resolve the situation, but those who support Pete are asked to send him a email of support (instructions below).

1)   Send e-mail encouragement.
Captain Bethune wants to hear from you. Knowing that people are supporting him fuels his spirit. You may e-mail letters of positive support to Captain Bethune at: supportpete@seashepherd.org

Please note – Captain Bethune can only review your emails during his attorneys’ daily visits, so please keep them brief. He will not be allowed to keep these printouts in his prison cell, and he will not be permitted to respond. However, please know that he will appreciate these emails tremendously!

2)  Know what not to do.
Given Japan’s unique cultural and legal etiquette, it is equally important to behave with sensitivity and know what not to do. We know you would not intentionally do anything to negatively impact Captain Bethune’s case, so there are a few critical things you should know:

• Now is not the time to exert international pressure on Japan.
  Please refrain from appealing to the Japanese government with emails, phone calls, and/or protests on behalf of Captain Bethune. He has specifically asked that we not mount any sort of campaign to appeal for his freedom at this time, as doing so may actually be counter-productive to his situation.
• No visitors or gifts are allowed.
  Captain Bethune is not able to accept any gifts, food, or visitors at this time. So please, channel your positive energy instead into emails to Captain Bethune.  Don’t worry – his attorneys are ensuring that his needs are met and that he remains in good condition.

Additional thoughts …

For those concerned about the whaling industry or slaughter of sea mammals which has been given up by most of the civilized world – Japanese excluded – perhaps you’ll be interested to monitor the Sea Shepherd website or check out the recent Academy Award winning documentary movie The Cove (or TakePart site) focusing on the crude killing of dolphins. Having worked in the early 1980s with orcas, beluga whales, manatees and dolphins at Sea World, the practice of herding and killing these intelligent animals needs to be stopped. As an avid sportsman (pro-hunting and fishing) and someone who respects the environment, our society needs to pressure mankind to move away from this practice (already done in most of the world) … especially on the industry scale of today’s Japanese factory ships and “cove” type slaughters.

Category: Biodiesel, Environment, Video | 4 Comments »
Tags: bethune, biodiesel, dolphins, earthrace, sea shepherd, the cove, whales

Posted By RichC on March 17, 2010

Enjoyed a TWiT broadcast by streaming Security Now over a late lunch while catching up on my email today. The weather is starting to feel like we are turning the corner and closing in on spring; sunny and near 60 degrees today.

The news of the day seems to be focused on the house Democratic leadership and President Obama looking for votes in order to pass the controversial Senate Health Care bill. Ohio’s liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich is now a “yes’” vote and behind the bill after a trip home to Cleveland in AirForce One with President Obama. According to most counts, that puts the House only a few votes short of passing Health Care.  Michigan’s Rep. Bart Stupak is still holding firm with a ‘no’ vote, but I expect that IF Speaker Pelosi doesn’t whip the liberal votes she needs, that she’ll cave to language that will eliminate federal tax dollars being spent for abortions — that will bring aboard pro-life Democrats including Stupak (p. 237 and p. 2070 in the Senate version).

Call me a pessimist, but it looks to me as if the public opinion against the current overhaul is going to be ignored, and that President Obama will have a bill on his desk before his trip overseas. The only hope is that the CBO numbers frighten those Democrats who are wondering just how America will pay for this huge entitlement.

Category: Computer, News, Politics | 2 Comments »
Tags: democrats, healthcare, twit

Posted By RichC on March 16, 2010

I don’t want to be too critical about the ‘difficult for me to understand’ banking reform legislation, but after hearing comments on a WSJ podcast (below), the politically one-sided rush to reform does leave me concerned; it sure would be nice to have bi-partisan support for a banking oversight bill. My concern: If the Fed chairman is appointed to oversee the nations banking health, yet legislators are still permitted to bypass this federal oversight and set up yet more government (a Systemic Risk Council and the like), do we just have more government bureaucrats on the payroll?  If congress can still put pressure on the banking industry to make high risk loans to their constituents, be they to businesses or individual borrowers, are we really addressing the root cause of our banking problem? I have no problem shoring up the way the Federal Reserve monitors and enforces the way big banks take risk and protect their holdings, be it through higher capital levels, giving regulators more power to close loopholes and monitor derivatives contracts, but still see it critical to keep congressionally elected politicians from having additional leverage in the banking industry.

Pod – Wsjtmit by © Dow Jones And Company.
Download now or listen on posterous

bankingreform_wsj100316.mp3 (2079 KB)

Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Category: Audio, Business, Financial, Misc, Politics | 4 Comments »
Tags: banking, lending, posterous

Posted By RichC on March 13, 2010

Since we’ve had rain for a couple of days while on vacation, I picked up a book off the coffee table and started reading it here at the condo … before finishing the other ones I brought along I might as well add. It’s a book I’ve been curious about, but not willing to buy just yet — Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue. 

To be truthful, I like Sarah Palin as a person and even as an Alaskan politician. I find her story interesting from a genuine, middleclass, down to earth American point of view. She, and her family, appeals to heartland America in particular and a lot of working class people seeing her story similar to those who expanded our country. Her respect for, and appreciation of our freedoms and our independent spirit are more than talk — she lives it (in part thanks to her parents).

From the early days of her dad moving the family from the lower 48 to “make it in Alaska,” to her firm foundation and deep appreciation for self-motivation, hard work and neighbor helping neighbor principles (without government oversight) are all part of her background. Her family work ethic taught her to worked hard and focused her on earning scholarships in order to put herself though college at a lesser known Idaho state college that many in public service look down their nose at. In fact I’ve heard comment to the effect that it took her 5 years, without recognizing that many who pay their own way spend a few extra semesters earning the tuition and living expenses.

Sarah Palin also rose through Alaskan politics without being beholding to any group or organization, something candidates from political parties rarely do. These attributes made her, and perhaps make her, a poster politician for Americans seeking “change in Washington.”  It is interesting that the politician who ran on “changing” the way Washington works, now President Obama, may now be remembered as being exactly the opposite and is now looking more like the political operative he rallied against in order to get elected. It is sad so many were hoodwinked.

Unfortunately my admiration for Sarah Palin ends here as I reflect on the the breath of fresh air she brought to the 2008 Presidential campaign. There were times I worried about her really being prepared for the position of Vice-President or heaven forbid President. I didn’t see her ready – of course I didn’t see the liberal junior senator from Illinois ready either!

All in all, the book so far is excellent and I’ve enjoyed reading it. Dare I comment that “it’s an easy read” without my comment sounding offensive?

Category: Books, Politics | 2 Comments »
Tags: book, Politics, sarah palin

Posted By RichC on March 12, 2010

Since the weather has been wet and windy here in Florida, we decided to take a road trip north from Delray Beach towards Fort Pierce.  Our plan was to putter along and check on a couple sailboats. We opted to drive the A-1-A route along the shore and stopped at several of the pull-offs along Hutchinson Island. Before grabbing lunch, we spent 30 minutes in the wind along the jetty at Fort Pierce Inlet (below). The pier fishermen were out and the boats contemplating venturing out into the Atlantic all turned back; it was a bit rough. All in all we had a nice day and enjoyed both the drive and looking at boats for sale – AND ‘no’ … we didn’t buy one … YET.
😉

click photos for larger views

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: florida, fort pierce, hutchinson island

Posted By RichC on March 12, 2010

It’s hard to do much better than grab 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at what many consider to be the toughest race on the planet: The Dakar Rally. This impressive and resounding victory marks another important step on the road to dispelling the myths that still linger around what TDI clean diesel technology can do. Congrats to Team Volkswagen and the individual winners who took their respective Touareg TDIs all the way to the podium. Check this gizmag post for in-depth coverage of the race, as well as some great photos from this year’s Dakar Rally.

via tdi.vw.com

Posted via web from richc’s posterous

Category: Automotive, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: dakar 2010, diesel, tdi, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on March 11, 2010

One of the noticeable economic signs for average Americans that our economy might be in recovery is the rise of fuel prices. An article in this mornings Wall Street Journal stated that “Gasoline prices are throttling toward $3 a gallon”  and that “gasoline futures have rallied 21% since hitting a low in February to close Wednesday at $2.2851 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange.”

While rising retail prices for gasoline is expected to continue as demand increases during the vacation and travel season, the recession has been keeping people closer to home and spending their money on necessities … if they have money. Currently gasoline is averaging $2.75/gallon which is up 5.5% and 42% higher than last spring. The Energy Information Administration also released a report this week saying that gasoline “will likely exceed $3 a gallon at times.”

BUT … just to be a contrarian, China is experiencing inflationary pressures which could trigger weak demand for oil keeping crude prices from rising as demand in the United States returns – LINK.

Category: Automotive, Financial | No Comments »
Tags: diesel, economy, gasoline, oil

Posted By RichC on March 10, 2010

Murphy’s Law enacted itself today while I was enjoying continued R & R; a work related issue came up requiring me to access information with my computer. Unfortunately this was  information that I didn’t properly back up during my recently Windows 7 reformat and updated notebook computer. I of course have a backup, but it is at home on my Hammer NAS N1200 and there is even a copy on my Passport 320GB hard drive. Unfortunately I don’t have the HD with me (who really wants to carry more gadgets on a plane?) and I didn’t set up the ability to FTP to the NAS. Frustrating to depend on my client for information on a previous project. (BTW, I’m including my son’s Palm Centro photo on the right for today’s personal vacation photo)

While pondering the thought of correcting the problem when I return, I wondered just how my current connection was going to work anyway … so I ran a DSLReports speed test on my Sprint Palm Pre and MyTether app tonight – passable.

Category: Cellphone, Computer, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: backup, mytether, NAS, palm, sprint

Posted By RichC on March 9, 2010

While I do enjoy a routine that includes focusing what’s going on in the world, it’s nice to escape and check out for a few days.

After a perfect ‘beach Monday,’ our day Tuesday was cloudy and smattered with sprinkles, although temps were in the 70’s. We spent the morning hiding from the rain, but still on the beach. Taylor and I headed to Panera for lunch and to be able to check email and return a couple phone calls for work. Gma and Gpa took us to Duffys for ribs and I had to agree that they neared my memory of our old favorite, Tom’s Ribs, from a decade ago; wow has time flown by?

Category: Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: delray beach, florida, vacation

Posted By RichC on March 8, 2010

We’re enjoying a relaxing spring day listening to the wind and waves in the Florida sunshine. It is a welcome change from the 2009 – 2010 winter that seemed to have lasted long enough, at least in our corner of Ohio. Hopefully we will return in a couple days feeling regenerated … I’m sensing my batteries recharging already.

Category: Misc, Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: beach, break, delray, dunes, florida, sand, spring, vacation