A Do-Over?

Never went to the prom? Needs a better group of friends? Bored?:

A 29-year-old woman was arrested after police said she posed as a teenager and attended a New Jersey high school, according to local news outlets.

The woman, a resident of New Brunswick, is said to have given a fake birth certificate to the New Brunswick Board of Education “with the intent to enroll as a juvenile high-school student,” according to a Jan. 25 police news release. 

...After gaining admittance, the woman attended New Brunswick High School for four days before anyone noticed something was awry, according to 6ABC News.

If It Walks Like a Russian Stooge

Russian stooges are everywhere these days:

Gabbard, who went on to run for president in 2020, was extremely conspicuous for repeating Vladimir Putin’s talking points accusing the opposition to the Assad regime of being jihadists, including in editorials published in her home state Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It was behavior like this that led Hillary Clinton to say in 2019 “I’m not making any predictions, but I think [the Kremlin has] got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She’s the favorite of the Russians.”

To prove the point, Gabbard repeatedly appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show to oppose NATO membership for Ukraine. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Gabbard tweeted, “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border.” 

Then there is Matt Taibbi who has extensive experience in Russia, having lived there for most of the 1990s. He has long made excuses for Russia’s annexation of Crimea and separatist activity in the Donbas, including during his stint at Rolling Stone. He’s even made excuses for Russia’s meddling in American elections. And he was insistent that Putin would not launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a position he later acknowledged was a colossal mistake: “My mistake was more like reverse chauvinism, being so fixated on Western misbehavior that I didn’t bother to take this possibility seriously enough.” He quickly pivoted to doing podcasts with Katie Halper (of “Joe Biden is a rapist” fame) with titles like “How the US Caused the Ukraine Crisis.”

Pretty Pictures by Mars Probes

We live in wonderful times.

Just a Normal, Ordinary Guy

An underground shelter for each of his kids?:

The man who was discovered living in an Austrian cellar with his six British-born children is a "Doomsday prepper" who previously worked in IT in London, according to local officials.

Tom Landon, 54, is reported to be a conspiracy theorist who wrote several self-published books denouncing Austria's government.

He is believed to have been living in a network of cellars underneath a building guarded by security cameras in the small village of Orbitz, near the Czech border, for around nine months.

...Locals say they knew of Landon, who had been trying to buy cellars in the village for a while, and had been concerned by his erratic behaviour.

...He had bought up to five cellars in the village, according to Greil, apparently wanting one for each of his six children.

Books published in his name online include Dirty Justice, The Judas Principle and The Destructive Effect of Information Technology on Human Intellectual Development.

According to media reports he has also written a musical about the Austrian rock star Falco – known for his 1985 hit Rock Me Amadeus – who died in a car crash in the Dominican Republic in 1998. Landon, who was living on the island at the time, claims to have found the body and that there was a cover-up about the true cause of death.

On Being Hunted by Solomon Peña

Disturbing article about failed Republican candidate Solomon Peña (who has still be denounced by the Republican party despite today's indictment) and his shooting spree in Albuquerque:

Q.: One of the strange things to me is that right after he was allegedly involved with the shooting at your home, Solomon Peña was elected to a leadership position in the county Republican Party—a county ward chairman. 

A: Yeah. Our county is broken up into wards. And in the particular ward for the Republican Party, he was elected, which is so ludicrous. I am hoping that the Republican Party of Bernalillo County will remove him at this point in time. But the response from the Republican Party for the state—it’s interesting. They’re waiting until he’s proven guilty. The decision that was made by the judge in district court is that he’s going to stay in jail until the trial begins, which I’m grateful for. But, this should be an automatic removal as ward chair. So TBD. Let’s see what they really are going to do.

Heavy Rain in New Zealand's North

They are really getting slammed in Auckland and northern parts of the North Island!

 

LAPD Bans Thin Blue Line Flag in Public Areas

Surprising but welcome news!:

Along with banning the flag from station lobbies, Moore said his order includes patches on uniforms and bumper stickers on police vehicles. Violators could face discipline, a department spokeswoman said Thursday.

In a departmentwide email, Moore said the flag’s original meaning of support for police had been overshadowed when it began appearing at rallies for the Proud Boys and other far-right extremist groups.

“It’s unfortunate that extremist groups have hijacked the use of the ‘Thin Blue Line Flag’ to symbolize their undemocratic, racist, and bigoted views. Flags serve as powerful symbols with specific meanings,” he wrote, adding that officers would still be allowed to display the flag in their personal work spaces, lockers and personal vehicles.

Moore’s decision went viral in right-wing media circles as critics lambasted him for what they called his kowtowing to progressive ideals. During one of her regular appearances on Fox News, former reality star and Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner accused Moore of “going woke on us big time” and predicted that the move would deal a blow to officer morale.

...Former LAPD Sgt. Jody Stiger, who once was president of the association that represents the department’s Black cops, said that he texted Moore to say he agreed with the decision.

“The reason being not because I think it’s racist, but the racists have hijacked it. It’s been around for decades, and our meaning of it is to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty,” said Stiger, who retired from the department last year to take a position as director of community safety for the University of California system. “That’s where it came from, and that’s where it always represented for most law enforcement officers.” 

While at the LAPD, he said he spoke up whenever he saw Trump memorabilia hanging around a police station. Such expressions were inappropriate in such a divided climate and may have violated a department ban on political activity while on duty, he said. His concerns, he added, were not politically motivated. “I don’t care if it’s a Biden flag,” he said.

Just When Jasper and I Think We’re All Alone….

When in Rome....

Oh, it’s been like forever since I did this! 

My first circuit around the floor was disagreeable; clinging to the wall the entire way. So, I had to practice. They had these little PVC walkers with wheels (like in the picture) - meant for kids. I didn’t realize the walkers were rentals. So, I found an unattended one, borrowed it, and took it around the floor. 

Then I noticed several girls, age about seven, were using the carpeted area outside the skating floor as a practice area. More friction there; less formidable. So, I joined them, plodding around, and taking pains not to get in their way. 

And so my last circuit around the floor was - better. Like they say, when in Rome, ….

Getting Annoyed at Google's Prudish Censorship of My Blog

Lately, I notice that Google administrators based in Muslim countries are systematically going through the 20,000+ posts on my blog and are removing posts that seem to offend them. Three such posts include: 

• A drive along the Las Vegas Strip, featuring pictures of the many large casinos there; 
• A reminiscence of driving through central Nevada and seeing signs for brothels; 
• A puzzling case where a tourist in Las Vegas fell into prostitution for insufficient reasons. 

Now, I can see how references to prostitution and gambling, or just references to Nevada, in general, might offend some people. Still, these examples are exceedingly mild compared to what is possible out there. 

I even notice Google administrators have been pondering a joke I made about Flat-Earthers. (No censorship there yet, thank goodness, but exactly where the line is there is unclear to me.)

Anyway, the content of my blog is my business.  If I want to make jokes about Flat-Earthers, or notice something seamy in Nevada, it's my business.  No one is making you read it.  So, just buzz off already!

Folsom Lake Levels

Rising smartly!

Solomon Peña is Quite The Republican Weirdo

Solomon Peña's wired in to other New Mexican weirdos:

Toulouse-Oliver, the secretary of state, was a target of Pena’s rage. On Twitter, the failed candidate blamed her for helping ensure the 2020 election was “rigged against Trump” and vowed to “personally volunteer my time to escort her handcuffed body to Guantanamo Bay Cuba.” In a statement to TPM, Toulouse-Oliver described Pena’s alleged crimes as the byproduct of election conspiracy theories. 

“The recent violence we’ve seen here in New Mexico against elected officials is the sad but predictable outcome of dangerous rhetoric and conspiracy theories, largely centered around false claims about our elections and election administrators,” Toulouse-Oliver said. “This drumbeat of lies and dangerous rhetoric aren’t just throwaway comments on social media. It can have real and frightening impacts on our daily lives as the recent shootings show. There simply is no place for it in our communities and democratic society.”

I looks like drug money fueled Peña's political campaign:

“APD detectives learned through witness interviews related to the shooting investigation that Peña identified individuals to funnel contributions from an unknown source to his legislative campaign,” said APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos in an official statement. “Detectives are working with other law enforcement agencies to determine whether the money for the campaign contributions was generated from narcotics trafficking, and whether campaign laws were violated.”

Celebration of Life for Historian Robert M. Utley

A charmed life.

 

A Very Albuquerque Doordash Story

I recognize the Burqueño paranoia. This is something I could see some of my relatives doing:

Court documents say Nicki Osborne was trying to confirm a delivery address when a female emerged from a house armed with a gun and yelled at Osborne to leave the area.

When Osborne tried to leave, a second female and a male emerged from the residence armed with guns and fired shots. Osborne was unharmed in the incident. 

When police arrived on the scene, the suspects barricaded themselves inside the residence and initiated a lengthy standoff before they eventually surrendered.

Thinking of Arkstorm Again

Marguerite was musing:

I’ve been thinking about the “mega flood” of 1862. And the evidence of earlier mega flooding incidents in California history. In no way are we prepared for this kind of massive, catastrophic scenario, and I don’t know that we will be by the time it happens again. Lengthy article, but well worth reading:

What they found was stunning. The Great Flood of 1862 was no one-off black-swan event. Summarizing the science, Ingram and USGS researcher Michael Dettinger deliver the dire news: A flood comparable to—and sometimes much more intense than—the 1861–1862 catastrophe occurred sometime between 1235–1360, 1395–1410, 1555–1615, 1750–1770, and 1810–1820; “that is, one megaflood every 100 to 200 years.” They also discovered that the 1862 flood didn’t appear in the sediment record in some sites that showed evidence of multiple massive events—suggesting that it was actually smaller than many of the floods that have inundated California over the centuries.

This map from the report doesn't give me confidence.  The bottom of my basement is 23 feet and 8 inches above sea level.  Which I think isn't nearly high enough....

Approaching a Break

It's raining hard tonight, but we are getting close to a break. The rains will ease Monday night, and there's a chance of showers on Thursday, but after that, likely no more rain for the rest of the month. 

Still, tonight, areas in the Sierras southeast of Sacramento will get hit hard (Valley Springs, Angels Camp, Sonora, Mariposa). Hoping the best for them. 

The rain monitor broke at Sacramento Executive Airport on Jan. 9th (the rainiest day so far), so it's necessary to substitute values for the 9th and 10th to get statistics. Still, Sac Exec is about 179% of average for the date, and the Sacramento City monitor near El Camino & Watt is 197% of average. It sounds like a lot, but we've had more rain even in the recent past (January and February 2017, just six years ago, saw more rain). Some local places are approaching flood (worried by North Natomas), but I'm hoping we'll avoid calamity in Sacramento. 

At first, the rains were light in the northernmost regions of the state, but lately they've received more. Indeed, the only places in California not to have been hammered are in the Mojave Desert.

Dance Workshop with Stacy "Jukeboxx" Letrice - Step One - January 14, 2023

A fun afternoon learning from Stacy "Jukeboxx" Letrice.  The Saturday half of the workshop was described as follows:

The 90 min Afro-Dancehall Fusion class integrates traditional West African movement, Jamaican dancehall, and African pop culture dance styles, creating a colorful montage of dances of the Diaspora. Participants will learn steps and techniques from African and Caribbean dance forms. Then, participants will apply those very movements to exciting and lively choreography. In addition, participants will gain the understanding of the fundamental similarities and differences between the various cultural styles while exploring individuality, confidence, body awareness, and performance. All levels welcomed.

Here's one of the practice exercises:

 

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Here's the music played for the main dance:

 

Tony Ashby's Obituary

Courtesy of Linda and Kate. One really nice guy:

GSPD & DEAD BLONDE – У России три пути

I heard this as exit music from the recent show I saw:

 

California Drought Eases Slightly

Before the last person in California washes into the ocean from all the rain, climate watchers finally concede that the state's drought has eased somewhat.