What’s Going On

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New Year:  I hope everyone had a safe Holiday.   It’s hard to believe we launched the website in August of 2011, it’s been six months and going fast.

Mid-Week:  I am going to try something different for the midweek. On Tuesday, there will be posts talking about our Constitution. Wednesday will be focused on the mind, and Thursday I will show a disaster movie.

Expo: Prepare and Survive Expo will have their first show in Portland sometime during the month of April. I will have more details to follow in the coming months. If you would like to be a vendor, please contact their website for more information. Continue reading

americancensorship.org

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The following information comes directly from American Censorship.org

(NOV 16) Today, Congress holds hearings on the first American Internet censorship system.

This bill can pass. If it does the Internet and free speech will never be the same.

Join all of us to stop this bill.

Website Blocking

The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.

Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users

It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.

Chaos for the Internet

Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn’t be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.

 

News Flash

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Solar activity: There are two major events happening on the sun. One, there is a very large prominence on the sun.  Two, dark filament of magnetism is winding halfway around the entire sun. I am unaware of the effects this will have on the earth.  I will keep my eye on the situation. I will report back to you if there are any negative effects from the collapse of these structures. This information comes from SpaceWeather.com

Cyber-attack:  Attacks on our computer systems are not reported on that often.  It’s easy to focus on preparing for natural disasters, but what about technology disasters? Our infrastructure is not bullet proof. I will leave the Wall Street Journal article up in the “News Section”, it is a great article about this threat. The Tech Herald talks about home grown hackers breaking into business computer systems, and taking sensitive files. Continue reading

News Flash

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Preparedness: September is National Preparedness month. This is good time for you to check your emergency kit to make sure everything is up date.  Check out 30 days 30 ways Facebook page for simple, easy ways to prepare. Join me on National Preparedness group, and connect with people across the nation.

Solar ActivitySpace Weather reports the following activity: “This morning [September 6] at 0150 UT, sunspot 1283 produced an M5.3-class solar flare…Because of the sunspot’s central location on the solar disk, the eruption was Earth-directed and a CME might be heading our way.”  Update:  The same sunspot produced an X.2 flare less than 24 hours later, both are earth directed!!

Earthquakes: This has not been a quiet month so far, according to the Earthquake-Report.com.  There was a 6.6 in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Tonga felt a harmless 6.3 off their coast. The strongest earthquake this month belongs to Aleutian Islands in Alaska, with a strong 7.1. I would highly recommend you visit The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network website for information on unusual activity for the NW region of Washington. There is no need to be alarmed, but the information will be important if there is more unusual activity in the future.

Fires:  Texas is still dealing with the several intense fires.  Oregon firefighters are still battling the Dollar Lake Fire near Mt. Hood, which is closing in on a few miles away from the Bull Run reservoir.  Another fire to keep an eye on is the High Cascades Complex near Warm Springs. That fire has consumed roughly 106,697 acres, with 70% containment.    The Shadow Lake fire near Mt. Washington has claimed 4,610 acres so far.

Financial: The issue of false signatures on mortgages may go back to 1998. The Washington Post covers the story in, “Widespread robo-signing of mortgage documents found as far back as 1998 could haunt owners.”  Stop by UsaWatchDog.com for more great articles about our current economic situation.