EOMMD

It's the End Of Month Meme Dump!

Jaimen Hudson

Left a quadriplegic by an accident at the age of 17, Jaimen Hudson never said die. Instead, he found a way to soar – and the world took notice.

Hudson is chirpy, curious and 25 years old. He’s lived in Esperance, on the southern coast of Western Australia, all his life, but has a north Queenslander’s habit of tagging his sentences with “eh”. He runs the diving and fishing business that his parents launched before he was born. He is an active member of the local tourism association. He is a quadriplegic, and he can fly. In the spring of 2015, Jaimen Hudson sat in his wheelchair on a walkway overlooking Fourth Beach, about seven kilometres south of Esperance, and sent up a drone.

Read Jaimen's story here.

monument destroyed

No, this one isn't about ISIS destroying ancient relics in the Middle East. This one is much closer to home and is to be celebrated.

Newly erected Arkansas Ten Commandments monument destroyed

A new monument in the US state of Arkansas listing the Ten Commandments has been destroyed less than 24 hours after it was unveiled.

The 6ft (1.8m) granite slab was erected in the grounds of the state capitol.

A suspect is reported to have driven his car into the structure early on Wednesday while filming on his mobile phone and posting footage on Facebook.

Michael Tate Reed is now accused of defacing an object of public interest and criminal trespassing.

He is also accused of first-degree criminal mischief.

A Facebook Live video by an account under the name of Michael Reed shows what appears to be a driver pointing his headlights towards the monument and shouting "Freedom!" as he moves toward it.

Mr Reed was accused of destroying a different Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma three years ago, media reports say.

He was diagnosed with a schizo-affective disorder (a mental health condition) after that incident but was released from hospital in January 2015 as part of an agreement with the Oklahoma County district attorney's office in which he pledged to continue receiving treatment and therapy, Tulsa World reported at the time.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee tweeted that "some idiot in my home state broke all 10 commandments at the same time. He wasn't Moses and it wasn't Mt Sinai".

The initiative to build the statue was led by Arkansas Senator Jason Rapert, who sponsored a 2015 law to display it on state grounds.

Mr Rapert said it "honoured the historical moral foundation of the law".

But opponents including the American Civil Liberties Union said that its appearance amounted to "an unconstitutional endorsement of religion" - they threatened to take legal action to have it taken down.

The statue was financed by more than $26,000 in private donations, local media reported.

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The Resistance

Sunset Beach House

So, we decided to take a vacation to Hawaii and stay on O'ahu's north shore, and there are lots and lots of homes available for rent. We settled on one nicknamed, appropriately enough, the "Sunset Beach House."

It did have some nice sunsets.

And, yes, it's located on "Sunset Beach" on the north shore. It's at the northeastern end of Ke Iki Road. So one would think that it would be rather quiet. No neighbors on the east side. Except for the people that decided to pitch a few tents not far away. Not on the property, for sure, but close enough where we could smell what they were cooking. And I know I heard them fucking at least once. And their dogs kept escaping, so they would have to whistle loudly and yell at the dogs to come back. 

Oh, and King Kamehameha Highway was just steps from the house, so we could hear every car, and truck, and motorcycle, and emergency vehicle that passed by.

And no, it didn't have any air conditioning, so we sweated like dogs most of the day. The early mornings and evenings were nice, though. And the house had some nice artwork.

It even came with a pack of wild cats that were living under the house. The girls went nuts over them.

It even came with a decent quantity of geckos. Some of them are really beautiful, but they drove the girls nuts.

Oh, and there are wild chickens everywhere. Roosters too. And the roosters do their thing at any time of the day or night. But not usually at sunrise. And the chickens would get close and do their "buh-GAWK" noise, especially when we were trying to sleep.

Hawaii is beautiful. O'ahu is gorgeous. But my advice would be not to rent the Sunset Beach House.

irony?

So, as soon as we leave for vacation:

1) the air conditioner on the 3rd floor starts leaking badly;

2) the elevator dies completely; and

3) a tropical storm is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, and we won't be back home for about another week!

Is that irony? Or just life? I guess I could blame #45.

Trumpcare edition

20 arguments

Playing catch (up)

Ark Encounter

What a tremendous waste of taxpayer money!

FFRF

Old Man Fibber

See Roy Zimmerman on tour!

100% foreign-owned!

Yeah, maybe I AM talking about Donald Trump.

FCC Approves For the First Time 100% Foreign Ownership of US Broadcast Stations

By David Oxenford on February 24, 2017Posted in AM Radio, FM Radio, Multiple Ownership Rules, Public Interest Obligations/Localism, Television

The FCC yesterday released its first decision approving 100% foreign ownership of a group of US broadcast stations. This comes after significant relaxation of the FCC’s interpretation of the foreign ownership limits which, less than 4 years ago, had been interpreted to effectively prohibit foreign ownership of more than 25% of a company controlling broadcast licensees (see our article here about the 2013 decision to relax the restrictive policy). In yesterday’s decision, the FCC approved the application of an LLC controlled 100% by a husband and wife, both Australian citizens, to acquire complete control over several companies that are the licensees of 7 AMs, 8 FMs, 13 FM translators, and 1 TV translator in Alaska and Texarkana, Arkansas and Texas. The FCC’s approval requires that these individuals get FCC approval if any other foreign owners are added to their company, but otherwise imposes no other significant conditions on this acquisition. Given the simple 50/50 ownership of a husband and wife in a closely held company, the ownership reporting and analysis conditions imposed on public companies who have been allowed to exceed the 25% threshold in the past (see our article here and here) were not required in this case.

What is perhaps most interesting is just how routine this process has now become. Very recently, the FCC approved investment by a Cayman Islands based fund of more than 5%, up to 49%, of the ownership in Pandora (which owns a company that holds a radio station). These approvals come on top of several other acquisitions by foreign investors of non-controlling interests in broadcast licensees. As long as these owners are approved by various US government agencies as not presenting security risks, the approvals don’t seem to be an FCC issue. The FCC noted in yesterday’s order that allowing this kind of foreign ownership brings new sources of capital into the US broadcasting industry, and may encourage other countries to relax their ownership rules to allow investment by US companies in broadcast companies serving other countries. What a difference a few years can make!

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and this...

Russian radio takes over local DC station

The Russian state-sponsored news outleet Sputnik is entering the Washington, D.C. radio market in an effort to push back against what it called "constant attacks" by U.S. media companies.

Sputnik Radio announced that it has taken over 105.5 FM, which previously aired bluegrass music.

In a statement, Mindia Gavasheli, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's D.C. bureau, accused U.S. news organizations of unfairly attacking and criticizing the news outlet, which is funded by the Russian government.

family!

You just have to love it when, as soon as leave for vacation, your 3rd floor A/C starts leaking badly at home, and it's only caught by your niece, who is staying in the house while you are away.

I mean, it could have been a real disaster if not for family being around to stop the water from ruining who knows how many walls?

Family. A mixed blessing in so many ways.

 

bougainvilleas

We have planted three new bougainvilleas in our backyard on the island. Almost immediately, they started to take off. Hopefully they will form a giant bush in the corner.

The following is a semi-regular column on gardening in the Port Isabel-South Padre Press. Lots of good stuff on gardening in the RGV.

Bougainvilleas

A question that we get asked frequently is about the care of Bougainvilleas. The Bougainvillea plants are very tough plants that grow similar to a vine. The limbs of the Bougainvillea are rigid and do not reach for a support to climb on like Mandevilla or Jasmine. Bougainvillea can be grown on a trellis, but you have to be the one to intertwine the long stems to the trellis. Most people like to let them grow freestyle which is up and eventually over. The problem with that is they can get huge. Another problem with freestyle growth is working around the plant (like mowing): the stickers will easily cut you. 

In the Rio Grande Valley, the Bougainvilleas will bloom most of the year. The exception to this would be if they were exposed to the brunt of a cold north wind during the winter months. If they are exposed to that wind they will lose their leaves until spring. In many cases the plants on the southern exposure usually stay in bloom throughout the year and actually like the colder temperatures and shorter days. 

As far as care goes with Bougainvilleas, they are tough and do quite well on their own, but given a little TLC, they can be spectacular. Good organic fertilizers will keep them blooming for a long period of time. Espoma Plant-Tone and Espoma Palm-Tree fertilizer work well on Bougainvilleas. Medina Hasta-Gro and the Lady Bug Flower Power are a good combination to keep them at their optimum. Some of the showiest plants I have seen are Bougainvilleas that have been pruned very hard and fed immediately after pruning. Do this on a six to eight week interval and these plants will bloom so heavy, you can hardly see the leaves. 

Bougainvilleas do have their nemesis – the Bougainvillea Looper caterpillar. This caterpillar likes to hit the newest tender growth and blooms making them unsightly. This bug is easily controlled with Thurcide (BT) as a liquid or the Dipel Dust (Powdered BT). This needs to be reapplied after rain or overhead irrigation.
 

 

red snapper season

Big news for anglers.

from the Port Isabel-South Padre Press

TPWD extends red snapper season in federal waters

Following a series of public meetings on the Texas coast to seek angler input, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), along with the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC), have reached an agreement that will allow private recreational anglers to catch red snapper in federal waters on weekends this summer. 

The framework agreed upon for the 2017 season will allow recreational anglers to fish for red snapper in federal and state waters for 39 weekend days beginning Friday, June 16 and running through Labor Day. The open fishing days each week would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday only with additional open days on Monday, July 3, Tuesday, July 4 and Monday, Sept. 4. Red snapper harvest would be closed in state and federal waters Monday through Thursday each week except on the days noted above surrounding national holidays. Texas state waters will then remain open for the duration of the fall season starting Sept. 5. 

After a disappointing three-day federal fishing season for private recreational anglers, discussions developed between the five Gulf states, Gulf state congressional offices and the USDOC to explore ways to extend the federal recreational angler red snapper season this summer. TPWD sought public input on different options being proposed to extend the season, which involved a trade-off, closing some days of fishing in Texas waters from the shore out to nine nautical miles in exchange for more fishing days where both state and federal waters would be available for recreational anglers. 

“For years we have heard loudly and unambiguously from outraged recreational anglers who have only seen their fishing seasons get shorter in federal waters,” said Carter Smith, TPWD executive director. “Based on recent public comments, we think this option, which is for this year only, provides some much needed recreational opportunity for Texas anglers, as well as important economic benefits for our coastal communities.” 

According to the latest red snapper stock assessment, both recruitment and biomass has been twice as high in the western Gulf (west of the Mississippi River) as compared to the eastern Gulf. Additionally, several of the stock assessment indices show increasing red snapper abundance in the western Gulf with record highs reported in 2014. TPWD Gulf trawl data also shows increasing abundance over time for juvenile red snapper. All of this data suggests that red snapper populations off of Texas can safely handle the additional landings which result from these extra fishing days. Of note is that over the last three years Texas’ private recreational landings have accounted for less than 7 percent of the total Gulf wide landings. 

Recreational anglers can help TPWD collect important red snapper data by downloading the iSnapper app and reporting their landings. By reporting landings, TPWD can have a better understanding of the health and abundance of the red snapper fishery in Texas. 

“Active angler participation in our data collection efforts is essential in aiding the department with the sustainable management of this resource,” Smith emphasized. 

The size and bag limit for red snapper during the extended federal season days will remain the same; 15 inches and 4 fish per person in state waters and 16 inches and 2 fish per person in federal waters. 

Agencies involved in the extension decision include all five Gulf state fish and wildlife agencies in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi; various congressional offices; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration housed in the USDOC, as well as the public and other stakeholders.

solar eclipse

Look up! A total solar eclipse! Where are the virgins?!

On Aug. 21, 2017, people across the United States will see the sun disappear behind the moon, turning daylight into twilight, causing the temperature drop rapidly and revealing massive streamers of light streaking through the sky around the silhouette of the moon. On that day, America will fall under the path of a total solar eclipse .  

The so-called Great American Total Solar Eclipse will darken skies all the way from Oregon to South Carolina, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this "path of totality" for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience.

Here is Space.com's complete guide to the 2017 total solar eclipse. It includes information about where and when to see it, how long it lasts, what you can expect to see, and how to plan ahead to ensure you get the most out of this incredible experience.

Update 6/26: Don't forget to check outall our most recent articles about the total solar eclipse, including tips on where and how to see it. There are lots of great places to see the eclipse, including 21 U.S. National Parks . Check here to find out where some of the Space.com staff members will be viewing the eclipse from.

REMEMBER: Looking directly at the sun, even when it is partially covered by the moon, can cause serious eye damage or blindness. NEVER look at a partial solar eclipse without proper eye protection . See our complete guide to find out how to view the eclipse safely. 

Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely)

NatureVision TV

On a recent airplane flight, I discovered "NatureVision TV". It's wonderful and a little reminiscent of the "slow TV" movement coming out of Norway.

NatureVision simply puts beautiful pictures to soothing music. It's also a little reminiscent of "Soylent Green" where people get to spend their last hours viewing beautiful pictures of a long-lost nature. Kinda weird, but nice.

You can find NatureVision TV on some airplanes, on Sling TV, on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime and others.

Here's a preview:

Chong Lincoln ad

How is it that this Tommy Chong spoof of the Lincoln ad series was released over two years ago and I didn't see it?! Spooky.

line of succession

Rotten from the top down.

no is not enough

She's back.

Boeing

But will there be enough room in the overhead bins??

reap what you sow

Will Republicans keep pushing this crap? I don't recall any outpouring of sympathy at the several attacks upon liberals, abortion providers, etc, in days past.

The Resistance

It's becoming more and more obvious that any thinking person needs to be among the resistance to the Agent Orange asshole currently occupying the White House.

SUP!

They say that Stand Up Paddle Boarding was invented in Hawaii by a bunch of surfers that hung out around the north shore of O'ahu. What a coincidence! We're renting a house on the north shore of O'ahu for a week, right down the beach from where the guys who "wrote the book" on Stand Up Paddle Boarding invented it. Or that's the legend. Hawaii is full of legends.

PaddleTV, huh? Well, of course.

Techlicious

As long as I'm on the topic of new tech, the site Techlicious does regular reviews of all things technology, including, as in this one, a rating of different tech systems of picture storage. You can join their daily newsletter. I'm already using two of the top sites.

The Best Photo Sharing Sites

Digital cameras and smartphones mean that most of us have a ton of photos scattered everywhere from phones and computer hard drives to Facebook and Instagram profiles.

But what happens when you switch phones, upgrade computers, or simply want to search all your photos at once?

Uploading pictures to a photo sharing site is a simple way to answer all those questions—and the services offer lots of other benefits, as well. You can organize large photo collections, make it easier for friends and family to contribute to shared albums and ensure your pictures stay with you no matter what device they came from.

There are four main criteria to think about when picking the best site for your needs:

1. Cost of storage. First, you need to figure out how much memory you’ll need. This is largely determined by where most of your pictures are coming from. Smartphone photos can range from 500KB to 2MB in size, while photos from point-and-shoot cameras are usually 1-5MB, depending on the megapixel-count of the camera. Choose lower storage limits at first; you can always pay for more when you need it.

2. Automatic photo sync. If you take a lot of photos, a service that syncs images automatically via a smartphone app or folder on your desktop can take the hassle out of backing up.

3. Privacy. Do you want complete control over who can see your pictures? Family albums, for instance, might benefit from a site that keeps albums password protected.

4. Full-size upload and download. If you want to back-up a collection or print your photos, find a service that allows full-resolution uploads and downloads. Some services downsize photos for quicker uploads.

Below are our favorite sites and their best features.

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TechRadar

The site TechRadar often has some great info if you are shopping for some kind of tech.  Still prepping for Hawaii, and I think that a GoPro Hero5 Black might be just the ticket.

The 10 best GoPro and action cameras in 2017

They're small, they're simple, and they're tough.

Action cameras are unlike any other kind of camera. They're designed to be attached to helmets, surfboards, cars and other objects, and they're small, tough and simple to operate, with a lens that captures the world in high-definition video and in a wide-angle fish-eye perspective.

Their small size and dramatic POV ('point of view') footage has made them popular with extreme sports participants, who capture their adventures by attaching cameras to themselves or their equipment. They're also used by TV production companies where using a regular video camera would be impossible.

GoPro is the market leader with its iconic box-shaped Hero cameras, but action cams also come in a 'bullet' style, like the iON Air Pro. There's lots of choice now, and you shouldn't just buy on brand – think about what you want from an action camera and how you plan to use it.

If you're helmet-mounting, then a bullet cam will probably be the best choice. For a chest mount a box design will be more stable. And when it comes to features, do you really need Wi-Fi, 4K, GPS or even a screen? These all bump up the price, and while they are invaluable in some situations, you can still get great footage without them.

Full article.

Tides4Fishing

Tides4Fishing lists tides and other weather info for quite a few spots in the Northern (and Western) Hemispheres of this beautiful blue globe at this link. Sure wish they had an app. Tides Near Me is a good app for local tides, but not much else.

Tides4Fishing

final farewell

Another massive mothballed ship, this one the USS Independence aircraft carrier, was towed past South Padre Island on its was to dismantling at the Brownsville Ship Channel. The size of these things is amazing.

from the Port Isabel-South Padre Island Press

FINAL FAREWELL

Hundreds of people gathered on the rocks of the jetties at Isla Blanca Park Thursday afternoon, June 1st, to say their final farewells to the USS Independence, a Forrestal class aircraft carrier with nearly four decades of service in the American Navy fleet. 

“I just wanted to see it,” said Pete Rico, who traveled with his wife all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma just for the occasion. “(It was) a 14 hour drive,” he said. Rico served aboard the Indy from 1965 to 1968, he said. 

Though he was somewhat sad to see that the ship will be dismantled, he understood why it will be. “It needs to be recycled. The taxpayers have been paying the storage fees up in Bremerton, Washington where it came from,” he said. After waiting on the jetties for six hours, Rico stood with his back to the water as his wife took a photograph of him holding a sign in the Independence’s honor. 

“We served with a lot of people. I think there was 175,000 crewman that served on it, both officers and enlisted people, over the 38 years that it was on active duty,” Rico said. 

Seeing a ship that could comfortably hold the same number of people as a small town was definitely a spectacle for another Navy veteran, Brownsville resident Doug Nelson. “It’s just amazing, especially these big aircraft carriers that are so large that my little guy, we had 100 people, and these had 5,000 of them,” he said. Nelson served aboard the USS Lowe, a radar picket ship, in 1972, he said. Asked why he came to see the Independence off, he replied simply, “It’s a Navy thing.” 

Another Independence vet, James Ory, traveled from San Antonio to say goodbye to the old girl. “Came to see my boat for the last time. This is her last port of call,” he said. “It’s sentimental. Never going to see it again,” Ory said. 

He previously saw the ship in Bremerton, Washington, where it was held in storage until the government decided what its final fate would be. But it wasn’t just Navy veterans who came to say goodbye. La Grulla resident and Army veteran Juan Antonio Garcia, and his wife Isabel, sat in camp chairs facing the calm ship channel waters. The couple are currently staying at Isla Blanca Park for the summer. 

“Es un orgullo verlo ya por última vez y ya no vamos oírlo. Ya no se va volver a ver,” Garcia said. 

“It’s a proud moment to see it for the last time, and we won’t hear of it again. It will not be seen again,” he said. He likened attending the Independence’s arrival as attending the funeral of a loved one. He came to pay his respects, he said. 

“Es como cuando acompañas un difunto al cemeterio. Eso se trata aquí, ahorita,” he said. “It’s like when you accompany a deceased loved one to the cemetery. That’s what’s happening here, right now.” 

Ory said he was happy to see so many people turn out for the farewell voyage. “I’m glad there’s a lot of people here. All up and down here, there’s a lot of old Indy shipmates and everybody has a different story,” he said. “I really hope nobody forgets her; she was a great ship, the last of her kind,” Ory said.

dry drowning

Wow, no idea. As if drowning in water wasn't bad enough, how about dry drowning or secondary drowning?

Dry Drowning and Secondary Drowning: What to Know?

If you're like most parents, you probably figure once your child is done swimming or playing in the water, his risk of drowning is over. But "dry" and "secondary" drowning can happen hours after he's toweled off and moved on to other things. There are steps you can take to keep your child safe.

These types of drownings can happen when your child breathes water into his lungs. Sometimes that happens when he struggles while swimming. But it can be a result of something as simple as getting water in his mouth or getting dunked.

It can happen to adults, but it's more common in kids because of their small size, says Raymond Pitetti, MD, associate medical director of the emergency department at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

With dry drowning, water never reaches the lungs. Instead, breathing in water causes your child's vocal cords to spasm and close up after he's already left the pool, ocean, or lake. That shuts off his airways, making it hard to breathe.

Secondary drowning happens a little bit differently. Your child's airways open up, letting water into his lungs, where it builds up, causing a condition called pulmonary edema. The result is the same: trouble breathing.

Symptoms of dry drowning usually happen right after any incident in the water. Secondary drowning generally starts later, within 1-24 hours of the incident, Pitetti says.

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And it just happened to a 4-year-old Texas boy.