Anonymous Explains Why 2.7 Million Stratfor Emails Were Hacked | ZeroHedge

Update: Speaking of a house divided:
Press Release: Stratfor hack NOT Anonymous

They are not exactly a highly structured, monolithic organization, it would appear.

Who is "Anonymous" really, after all?

In the comments at that top linked story from Zero Hedge, an alleged member of Anonymous describes some of the sub-groups under the larger umbrella of Anonymous, and their differing agendas. Worth a read for background info.

Labels: conspiracies

This was a truncated work weekend, being that the holiday straddled the bulk of it. Also I had to do some furnace repairs on Momcat's furnace (thermocouple went bad, and then the fan motor froze up.) Still between a couple hours each on Saturday and Sunday afternoon and today, I got some stuff done.

I finished extending the hot, hot! and cold lines down to the bottom of the tower...


...and terminated them where I will switch to PEX and sharkbite fittings:

I drilled holes through the base of the tower and into the house to run the PEX. As it turns out I need to get three 90 degree sharkbite fittings to install right inside the house wall to meet up with the nearest hot and cold water pipes. So I stopped on that part of the project for this weekend.

I got started installing the pipe insulation over the collector system pipes:


The insulation that will be exposed to the sun got a black pipe tape wrap as well:


Next week I will install these heat tapes on the bottom manifolds. My hope is that I can reduce the number of nights I need to drain down the panels by heating the bottom manifold this way. Otherwise any night below freezing (which is most nights in December and January), I'd need to drain the panels in the evening and refill them in the morning.

Alone now again. Daisycat went home this early afternoon. We had, the two of us, a very good time Christmas Eve, but the mulled wine we enjoyed did not agree with her system come morning, and she went home early this afternoon still feeling green.

Post-Christmas, I'm always left feeling blue. Three hundred and sixty four days I like my balance of solitude and company, but today I miss the big family gatherings at Grandma Cat's house, where my uncles and aunts and my many cousins congregated for the day. The adults held the main floor, and we kids either occupied the second floor or the basement, depending upon where Grandma's roomers were staying at the time. It was a hugely anticipated event--not so much for the food and presents, but for the infrequent occasion I had to visit with my cousins.

Grandma died years ago and everyone moved away. Dad died a few years ago. I never had kids, and my nieces and nephews, cousins and second cousins are scattered across the country. Now it seems only special occasions even bring Daisycat out here.

This song sums it up for me.

I'll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams...

Someone, somewhere is snugly ensconced in the midst of a big extended family gathering, nibbling yet another bit of dessert or one more bite of that wonderful stuffing, basking in the glow that only a gathering of good kin can bring.

Unfortunately that is not me, not this year.

Thanks for coming around, my dear readers. Here is hoping your Christmas was indeed merry and bright.

Labels: heart, wist

May the peace of our Lord fill your spirit this season.

This is Daisycat's new favorite Christmas song.



Merry Christmas yawl!


(God help me...)

Labels: art appreciation

You keep telling yourself that you are right,
That your cause is just,
That you are keeping the law.

Perhaps you will convince yourself, someday,
But the look in my eye, before you shot me,
Will haunt you forever.

Labels: stream of consciousness

One year from today, the Mayan calendar reaches its Zero Hour.

Given the events of the last few years, and the last six months in particular, I will be completely unsurprised to find us in the midst of a complete SHTF meltdown by this time next year.

Labels: watching the skies

Having trouble understanding which Republican candidate for president best reflects your views? This interactive test matches your views with the politician most closely aligned with them:

Candidate Match-O-Matic

Click to embiggen...

Labels: San Pedro homestead

I finished the construction and installation of the permanent ladder. Behind the ladder I installed the cold water supply to the mixer valve, and the regulated and unregulated hot water supply lines to the house fixtures. (The unregulated line will go to the dishwasher).


Up to the top of the ladder, the lines continue higher...

...and end at this contraption.

This is two mixer valves installed back to back. The first one off the top of the tank will be non functional initially. It is intended to be plumbed to a future tankless water heater, in order to provide automatic backup hot water on days when the sun fails to heat the water sufficiently. The valve will pass through water from the solar tank (via the cold water inlet) as long as it is hot enough. If it is below the set point it will draw water through the tankless heater (via the hot water inlet), triggering the tankless unit operation.

The second mixing valve is hooked up conventionally to mix cold water with the hot water on those days when the solar hot water is too hot for normal faucet use. The unregulated tap running to the dishwasher allows the use of high temperatures for this purpose only.

Down at the lower tank, I plumbed the cold water inlet...

...and installed an expansion tank.

The tank is inverted to allow the water to drain out on those occasions when I need to empty the system for hard freeze protection.

There was rain forecast for today. It was kind enough to hold off until about 4:30 PM, allowing me nearly a full day to work on this project.

Left to do is to extend these lines under the house with PEX and hook into the house system, then pressure test these additional fittings. Once they are confirmed to be leak proof, I will install the foam pipe wrap on all the pipe not exposed to the sun, with the exception of the bottom headers that will get an electric heat tape wrapped over them.

After than I will put it online and begin saving beaucoup propane costs.

Note of interest: photos taken with my new camera gifted to me by my nieces.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

Storing more than seven days of food makes you a suspected Terrorist

Welcome to Fascist America.

Labels: fascism on parade

Rest in peace, my little dollface.

The gray tortoiseshell on the right in this cat pile is Dolly, aka Poochie. She died this evening of severe respiratory infection complicated by difficult to treat diabetes, age approximately eleven years.

It has been a challenging year with her diabetes regimen, but I wouldn't rewind it. There were lessons and testing in there for me.

I'm really only starting to process the loss...

------------
update: She bore an uncanny resemblance to the original LOLcat (see right sidebar).

Labels: cats, heart

Detainment Camps Going Live: FEMA Seeking Subcontractors To Provide 'Temporary Camp Services' In All 50 States by Mac Slavo

Combine this with the recently passed legislation which authorizes the establishment of domestic war zones and the subsequent detention of those who are suspected of engaging in "terrorist-related activity" (remember how broadly the government has defined this phrase), and Alex Jones is looking more and more like a prophet rather than a tinfoil hat nutcase.

Since I'm not busy watching "Dancing With The Stars" etc. but am writing my observations about the collapse of the world financial structures and preparedness to deal with the aftermath, I'm sure I am on some government goon's watch list.

So be it. As long as I can stand before God with a clear conscience, I am good. What is to come is in His hands, as my efforts were inspired in the first place by His leading.

Those who talk armed insurrection are fools. They do not understand the scriptures if they believe that they can prevent what is written therein. The Enemy and his minions obviously believe that they can do so, which is why "the nations rage", but they are the greater fools. It is written that the Beast will make war against the saints and will prevail against them. (Rev 13:7-8) It is the Lord Himself who will cut short this tribulation.

What will you do in that day? Will you stand with the Lord, and thereby find yourself in the multitude beneath the altar? (Rev. 6:9-11) Or will you join in an ill-fated, human-inspired effort against the Beast and his devices? No, refuse the Mark as you must (Rev 13: 16-17, Rev 14:9-11), but as with this, in all aspects of your life remain obedient to the Lord.

In light of the linked story, consider this:
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Rev 13:9-10

This will indeed be a time of severe testing of faith and patience.

Labels: fascism on parade, watching the skies

Hampered as I was by a persistent head cold, and by concern over a sick cat, I did not get much accomplished this weekend.

In the garden I mowed the paths between the beds. I waited on this until we had a hard frost, because lots of little creatures use the tall grass and flowers for habitat. After hard frost, most of the humming, whirring, chirping sounds characteristic of a meadow have fallen silent, so I make the assumption that they have either gone to hibernation or in the case of most adult insects, they've died off.

This is not quite how I envisioned the paths. Originally they were to be grass that got mowed regularly, with the clippings blown into the beds for mulch. With the flowers that grow riotously in the paths plus this unique micro ecosystem created by regular watering in the midst of the desert, I can't bring myself to do that except after the end of the season.


Rather than getting to any plumbing, I elected to begin construction of the permanent ladder/steps that go inside the tower to provide access to the upper water tank and appurtenances.


Here it is partially installed.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

This is the "partial" audit of the Fed that Ron Paul was able to extract from Congress. Even so the results are flabbergasting. TARP was "only" $800 billion:

The first ever GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Reveals $16 Trillion in secret bailouts

To place $16 trillion into perspective, remember that GDP of the United States is only $14.12 trillion.
The entire national debt of the United States government spanning its 200+ year history is "only" $14.5 trillion. The budget that is being debated so heavily in Congress and the Senate is "only" $3.5 trillion. Take all of the outrage and debate over the $1.5 trillion deficit into consideration, and swallow this Red pill: There was no debate about whether $16,000,000,000,000 would be given to failing banks and failing corporations around the world.
...
The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows. [Note: these are all major stakeholders in the privately owned 'FED' -CR]

Citigroup: $2.5 trillion ($2,500,000,000,000)
Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)
Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)
Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion ($868,000,000,000)
Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)
Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)
JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)
Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)
UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)
Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)
Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)
Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)
BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)
and many many more including banks in Belgium of all places

View the 266-page GAO audit of the Federal Reserve(July 21st, 2011): http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696
FULL PDF on GAO server: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf

Gosh, how handy to own a central bank, such that you can have them write you a two and a half trillion dollar check when you're a little low on lunch money!

And some of you *still* think Occupy Wall Street is the problem.

Bankster. Lamp post. Some assembly required.

Labels: fascism on parade, financial ponderings

As readers know, I've been following Celente for a while, due to his prescient forecasts
I knew Gerald Celente got screwed in the MF Global collapse. I hadn't heard him talk about it until now.

Gerald Celente: 'IT'S FASCIST. CAN'T YOU SEE IT?" - Part ONE - YouTube
Part TWO

This is worse than I realized.

Welcome to Fascist America.

Labels: fascism on parade, financial ponderings, liberty, society and culture, watching the skies

The author of xkcd has put up a fascinating chart in lieu of a cartoon here. It encapsulates a ton of information in a relatively small space, employing the "picture worth a thousand words" principle:

xkcd: Money Chart

There is plenty of grist for thought, no matter what your political/social persuasion.

As for me, I intend to print out this sucka on the biggest format I can set it to (probably 36"x 48") and use it as a conversation starter.

Labels: financial ponderings

Having arrived home to my farm for the first time in two weeks this afternoon, I'm still unpacking and coming to grips with the reality that I not only escaped Vegas (third circle of hell), but am not, in fact, still lost in the icy Minnesota wastelands. Too much stirring of ancient memories--somewhere deep inside me I had begun to be convinced I was trapped in the grip of Old Man Winter's icy claws again. I'm shaking off the sensation as I shake off the head cold I caught.

In other news, my sister and her family bought me a new digital camera, and here I left it on my desk in the apartment when I left this morning. Dang! I planned to try it out this weekend taking pics and videos. Yes, videos! I now finally have a camera that can capture vid clips, and I intend to use it here and there to post videos together with my progress pics. But alas! Not this weekend.

I think the way I feel this evening, I will be up for working on my projects starting tomorrow. I bought more of the plumbing parts I need to inch closer toward a working solar hot water system.

Those of you who recommended the shark-bite fittings, hey great tip for small projects. But dang dudes! I bought a handful to interface my solar system with my house water system--maybe 8-10 fittings total--and nearly dropped my jaw when I saw the register tally. It wouldn't take much of a project for shark bites to make the project cost scream into the stratosphere. I think for most of my cheap and easy type projects going forward I'll stick with solvent-welded PVC. Sure the PEX roll was dirt cheap, but the the fittings way more than made up for the savings.

Labels: minutiae, San Pedro homestead, vacation

I like finding these people when they are ready to open up and discuss their experience. Nothing beats first hand experience of SHTF for winnowing out theory from reality:
Incredible Survival Q & A From Serbia

----------------------
Also:
FerFal's classic treatise on post-collapse Argentina

----------------------

Labels: preparedness

Notice a common thread between these prominent figures in the Eurozone?



If you were an international banking cartel hellbent on taking over a continent, how would *you* do it?

Labels: fascism on parade

I've been out and about, traveling the country. It will be damn fine to be home again in my tropical paradise.

Labels: minutiae