Archives for November, 2007
On the heels of a nice little quake, I thought I would blog about it. Alaska is a part of the “ring of fire”, and it still amazes me every time I look at the recent seismic activity here.
http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/Seis/recenteqs/index.html
We have many many earthquakes everyday. Most of them we don’t feel. Today’s nice 4.8 though rattled things for about 10 seconds where I work in Eagle River.
More soon…
Laura
**8:47pm update: It has been upp’d to a 5.01 - 5.2**
I copied this blog from my friend Sean. I felt it was more than worthy to be reprinted here:
From Sean Mormelo / http://www.myspace.com/seanmormelo
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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Synchronicity Ok, I don’t really know if this qualifies as Synchronicity but that’s what came to mind. Early yesterday morning (6am or so) I was still awake and the Oliver Stone Movie, Born On The 4th Of July came on. I tuned in and I was reminded just how powerful and well done this movie was. Especially in light of the fact that I had come back from seeing the New Coen Brother’s Butchering of the Pulitzer Prize winning Cormack McCarthy Book. But I digress..The point is, This Film, Born on the 4th of july is all about how fucked up the situation with Viet Nam was, and its relation to one man who served 3 tours, was shot and paralyzed. So, ya know I was thinking about the fact that A lifetime ago, I was in the Army and before they could send me over to another bullshit war, I was hurt and got a medical discharge and now, years later I’m so Glad that happened. At the time I was not. I’m getting ahead of myself here..Anyway, my Uncle served 4 tours in Nam, Special Forces, Delta Project, crazy black ops insanity. He came back a different person very fucked up, and never recovered. Anyway, so I get a call when I wake up yesterday to call my mom. I call her and she tells me that her brother died. The one that was in Nam and got fucked up. Meanwhile, watching the Oliver Stone movie 8 hours before really fucked me up and I had my uncle and Military related things on my mind. So, I call my sister and she proceeds to tell me that she had just gotten back from saying goodbye to her and her husbands good friend who was in the hospital, not expected to make it through the night. This was a 35 year old man, and a veteran of DESERT STORM (first Gulf War). It seems 6 months ago the VA was kind enough to send him a letter to let him know that he was the last living person from his former Platoon and that they had all died of some “Mysterious” Gulf war syndrom which cased various and different ailments in his former brethren and The Govt. Suggested that he come in and get checked out. Well he did go get checked out and they found his liver was failing. He was sick for about a month and then Friday Night he collapsed at dinner, went into a necrotic coma and he was on life support and not expected to make it through tonight. So, the first thing I thought was Depleted Uranium Tipped munitions because everyone who has researched this and or has been a soldier during that time knows what will ultimately have caused over 100,000 of or Gulf War 1 Vets to have died. It’s the dirty little secret of this generation that the Government is not acknowledging or admitting to just like how they denied the whole Agent Orange/ Cancer Connection, that killed so many of our Viet Nam era vets. My late uncle had effects from Agent Orange as well. Anyway, i’m not bullshitting about this and it’s easy to use GOOGLE to learn about all the atrocities our Government has bestowed upon us..The Nuked Troops in the 50’s, staged the Gulf of Tonkin Incident which created a lie that got us into the Viet Nam conflict, they shoot soldiers up with untested Mercury laced Vaccines that have been known to kill troops, they dowsed our boys with Cancer Causing agents then cast them aside and refused to admit to it until forced to do so with years of litigation, they used Nuclear Tipped Munitions in the first Gulf War and continue to do so at present, thus causing an entire generation of US soldiers debilitating illnesses at best, and hundreds of thousands ultimately death, and I can go on and on…..The whole point was yesterday the whole military connection, govt, fucking soldiers up, friends and family dying from indirect or direct effects of it and how synchronistic yesterday seemed. What a black black day. It really seems that events can be so connected and intertwined. Enjoy your lives. |
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We’ll be experimenting tonight from Glacier Canyon, trying to get a live video feed up of live music. Please stop by, make requests and chip in!
One thing I’ve learned in my 37 years, is to question almost everything, especially when reported by mainstream media.
This was more difficult when I was younger. A product of the public school system, we didn’t have computers or the internet to do research. We weren’t able to google the opinion of someone half a world away with the click of a button in .00368 seconds. We had pen pals. We used postage stamps. We had Encyclopedias. I remember that you were considered RICH, if you actually had the latest set of Britannica in your house, and didn’t have to trudge to the local public library to research Aardvarks for your next paper. Just pull the “A” encyclopedia, right off the shelf. Heaven.
Next came the age of personal computers, and entire sets… volume after volume of encyclopedias, were available right at your fingertips. Digitized encyclopedia software and disks became “bonus” items when purchasing a computer. My first home computer was a Packard Bell. 14.4 modem and all. How did we cope before home computing???
All of a sudden, everything you ever needed to know was seconds away. Enlightening and scary. I’ve discovered so much information in the past 10 years, I sometimes don’t know how it all fits in my brain. Sometimes, it doesn’t. And although I’ve forgotten some details along the way… the one thing I certainly don’t forget, is to question almost every thing you hear.
Almost every *fact* we’re taught in history class is completely bogus. An alternate reality created to make us, the United States of America, Americans; seem like the most powerful and wonderful country on the planet. The most giving, the most caring. I bring this up today, on Thanksgiving… because again, we’ve been given misinformation. I’m not saying to give up your pumpkin pies, your turkey, your football.. I’m just saying educate yourself. Research all sides of each and every thing you’re fed on CNN and Fox News. Use your brains and come to your own conclusions.
http://www.danielnpaul.com/TheRealThanksgiving.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pequot_War
So today I’m thankful for my children, my family and friends, my cats, the roof over my head, the food on my table.
And I’m really thankful I’m not a Pequot Indian 369 years ago.
Happy slaughter day…
Laura
Summit Lake : Hatcher Pass Alaska : (C) 2007 Laura Thayer
Guess that’s the price you pay for having a high mileage older vehicle. It still amazes me thought, that no matter what the problem, you can’t get it out of the shop for less than $400.
Also, gas is officially higher than I’ve ever seen it. $3.14 a gallon here in Wasilla Alaska. Diesel is $3.44 a gallon. Surprisingly, the gas jumped .02 a gallon over the past couple of days, and diesel remained the same. Yay. Everything is going to get more expensive, and I wonder how far off the gas prices are in the preview of “I Am Legend”… over $6 a gallon. It’s probably going to come to that.
How much can you absorb? Prices continue to rise, and wages don’t. Something in your life has to suffer. Entertainment? Cheaper food? What happens? 
So I had a strange “dream” last night, actually it was this afternoon. I woke up around 11am, was up for awhile and then went back to sleep. I dreamt that I was paralyzed, but it was realistic, like I wasn’t asleep. I think I had an out of body experience or OBE. In one portion of this *dream* I was actually sitting in the living-room chair, but could not move. Sean walked by me, but I couldn’t speak to him, and he couldn’t see me. Then when I was back in my body, I was paralyzed. I had to make myself wake up and move. Anyway, it was the first time i’d ever experienced this before, and it freaked me out a little bit to say the least. Anyone else had these experiences? Would love to hear about them.
I was just checking the aurora forecast. I would love to webcast the aurora (northern lights) some night. I don’t see a good night in the forecast for a few weeks, but I’ll keep checking.
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/
L
Hurry up folks!!! Less than a week left to get in line for the most repulsive invention ever: Turducken.
Seriously.
I gave up eating meat in 2005, i’m not including fish and seafood… although I know those are “meats”. But even if I were still eating meat, I wouldn’t get anywhere near this invention. I use that word loosely. Who thinks of these things?
The thought of it makes my gag reflex come alive. Don’t forget these healthy nutrition stats:
Serving Size: 1/12 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Yikes. Eat up America! And be that much closer to your 77th consecutive heart attack.
Peace
I have tons of pictures up on my flickr site. But the ones that are the most popular (view wise anyway) are pictures that I took of Colbie Caillat. Not sure why that is. Her sudden stardom I guess. Her quirky little love song, Bubbly.
There are also a lot of pictures that end up on the “Explore” pages of Flickr, that I just can’t figure out! Their algorithms are beyond explanation. If anyone figures them out, let me know… in the meantime… go support someones art on flickr (or your favorite artsy fartsy site).
Peace out.
Laura
Thought I should start posting some things about Alaska, since my blog is losely based on this beautiful place!
Just ran across this site today… may have posted a webcam site before. Anyone interested in different parts of Alaska.
http://www.akmining.com/webcams.htm
This is a cool site where you can actually look at the drum recordings (seismograph readings). Click on the thumbnail for detail.
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/waveforms/crest/22221212_thumbc.html
Alaska is one of the most seismic places in the world. Pretty amazing feat!
I found this 47 minute video really informative, and I wanted to share. Most of us go through our day, never really knowing where the current dollar comes from. It’s just something we earn and spend.
I would love to hear some comments after you watch it…
<embed style=”width:400px; height:326px;” id=”VideoPlayback” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” src=”http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-9050474362583451279&hl=en” flashvars=”"> </embed>
Paul Grignon’s 47-minute animated presentation of “Money as Debt”
The US dollar has lost 66% of it’s value against the Canadian dollar since 2000. As of today, $1 US = $1.03 Canadian.
What does this mean? I means a great deal.
At the end of 2006, the dollar lost .17 against itself since 2000. So in 2006, $1.17 had the same purchasing power as $1 in 2000.
Look at the fall of the dollar in the last 10 years against the Canadian dollar:
http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/exchangeglobal/result.php?year_source=1996&year_result=2006&countryE%5B%5D=Canada”
How much has your salary increased since then? Goods and services continue to rise at a dramatic rate, wages are not keeping up… I don’t think people realize yet how poorly the dollar is doing. People are relying on credit to keep them afloat. Credit cards, consolidation loans, payday loans. Eventually it will all catch up. Foreclosures are at an all time high. 1 out of 142 homes in Georgia.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MarketTalk/story?id=3630951&Business=true
Investors are pulling out of the dollar and diversifying into Euro and Yen, at an alarming rate.
Personally I’m going to look into gold and silver. From different sources, but here is one, Lear Financial.
http://www.refernow.com/referral/74828b9d/3612.html
More soon..
L
http://www.loosechangethefinalcut.com/
I encourage you all to check this movie out.
I believe we’ve been misled about the events on 9/11. Everyone should research the timeline of that day:
Long link but well worth the read. If it makes you angry, it should. Sick? It should.
If you don’t want to buy the DVD itself, you can watch it online, $6.95 for 5 days.
Today I’m saddened by the news I just received from my friend. She just dropped her girls off with their father, her ex, who is about to move with them to another state, allowed by the courts. Her heart is broken. Being ripped from her chest. And I know EXACTLY how she feels.
After finishing an almost 3 year long battle with her now ex-husband. The courts awarded him full custody. The courts awarded a man the right to take their daughters out of state, limiting the contact with their Mother, thinking this will be in the best interest of the children. So now you’re thinking… OH well she must be a crackhead, slut, drunk or abusive. To the contrary. In the end, it’s more about who has a more powerful attorney, who can slander the other better, without looking bad themselves, who is a better manipulator, of the courts, and of the other spouse.
Let me tell you what a fucking sad situation this is. It’s sad for everyone. But mostly it’s the children that are affected. One of the most frustrating situations is when the children are placed, or somehow end up with an abusive ex. Maybe not someone who is physically abusive, but mentally, which in my opinion, can be equally as bad, and leave just as many scars. People underestimate the power of this type of abuse. It doesn’t even have to be verbal abuse, yelling, saying hurtful things. It can be passive aggressive. Body language, mental torture. It takes years to get over these kinds of abuses. Actually, “get over” isn’t what I mean, you never get over abuse. Time makes it easier to accept the things that have happened, and hopefully made you wiser to it. But I know from experience, you can be removed from it for a decade, and then a situation will arise, someone snaps a comment at you… and you’re taken right back to that nasty place you once lived. Call it an abuse flash back. You skin crawls. You feel it all over again, the guilt, the shame, the feeling of being helpless and trapped.
This is where I am tonight. Sickened with the thought that another woman has to go through the separation from her children, the gripping pain in her chest, the disbelief, the pain, the tears, physical illness, depression, anxiety, fear, self-loathing, numbness. Yet I know there are millions of women suffering right now. Victims of their husbands/partners first, then of a system that fails them. The system is broken.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure that men suffer when they are separated from their children. But for a woman, a Mother, it IS different. This human life was created inside us. It grew, and we endure amazing physical changes. We grow and extra organ, to feed and nurture this little life. For half a year, we can feel them moving inside us. No man can understand this. Not fully. Not ever. Women feel actual physical pain when separated from their children. Only when they see their children again, to they have a certain peace. A calmness in their souls. That wonderful mother/child connection.
Hopefully my friend will call me later, and I’ll listen to her, that is if she has anything to say. She may be too drained emotionally to talk. I’ll understand that too. So this blog is for her, and all the other non-custodial Mothers out there, suffering tonight, hurting, crying. You’re not alone, even though you feel like a gaping open sore exposed to the universe. I’m right there with all of you.
I’m an old school dreamweaver user. This wordpress crap is making me crazy. I may have to scrap this and go to html.
I’ve been on jtv a little bit, trying to figure that all out too, need a better cam though.
sad
