Adventures in Hackerspacing: Freeside Atlanta, Part II

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

This week on Adventures in Hackerspacing, Freeside Atlanta Part II: Hacking the Hackerspace!

After learning about the culture behind the space, I was eager to ask hackerspace veterans [Alan] and [Steven] about nuts and bolts, about behind-the-scenes crucial decisions, and one question in particular: What’s the most important requirement for a hackerspace? [Alan] jumped in with this response:

Number one by and far is a willing landlord. I think if you have a willing landlord everything else is incidental. You make it hard on yourself if you are on the second story, but take the second story if you have a willing landlord.

That wasn’t the answer I was expecting, but when you look around Freeside, it starts to make sense…

Graffiti, street art, or some kind of mural covers nearly every wall, including a bowel-evacuatingly frightening Slenderman who lurks behind the bathroom door. I expected “size of the facility” to rank higher on their list—and at nearly 6,000 square feet, Freeside has heaps of leg room—but even a garage or a small office can function as a hackerspace for a handful of folks doing software or small electronics work.

Instead, [Alan] and [Steven] cast their vote for a place you can modify and improve. Freeside is located among the warehouses of the Metropolitan Business and Art District, which has a history of housing those who make creative use of the spaces. According to [Alan], Freeside is a conservative user of the property as compared to others in the same warehouse community. It’s also on the ground floor, because lugging heavy equipment up stairs is more trouble than it’s worth. There are exceptions. MASScollective, as [Alan] pointed out, is a three-story space with a freight elevator, so a space off the ground floor isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. You just need to be creative about getting equipment above the ground floor.

[Alan] and [Steven] also took time to detail some of the legal issues that a hackerspace and its administrators may face. But first, the typical disclaimer:

I am not a lawyer, and the following information is not legal advice. [Alan] and [Steven] aren’t lawyers either, so be sure to consult an actual attorney before making any legal decisions about your hackerspace.

Freeside is officially a Georgia Non-Profit corporation, and they’ve applied for federal 501(c)(3) status, which comes with some tax breaks. Filing as a federal non-profit is quite the undertaking. [Alan] explained that the mountain of paperwork (around 80 pages) and increased responsibility for consistent and accurate record keeping can deter a space from applying. For Freeside, it’s worth the effort. Federal non-profit status looks good on grant applications, and [Steven] admits that they’ve been turned down for a few microgrants because Freeside’s still waiting to hear back on the 501(c)(3); their application is stuck in the backlog.

It’s also important to pick the correct type of organization for your space. Freeside chose 501(c)(3)—an educational and/or scientific organization—because they make an effort to educate the community and their members have published scholarly articles in the medical field. Some spaces go the route of the 501(c)(7)—social and recreational—because they can only claim to be a workshop organization.

They also pointed out the benefits of registering as a Limited Liability; if there’s a debt incurred by the organization, it’s founders are not liable for that debt. They can dissolve the corporation: assuming the organization has otherwise behaved responsibly. As [Steven] puts it, negligence trumps most legal safety nets, so it’s best to be above board on your paperwork and practices.

Then there’s the other kind of liability concern: safety.

Freeside has one hell of a workshop, and [Alan] was happy to give me a tour, but not before I strapped on the safety goggles that he handed me. No one expects members to walk in with an encyclopedic knowledge of how to operate every power tool. Whoever teaches you to use the big, loud equipment, however, is potentially liable for misuse by the trainee. If [Alan] taught you how to operate the table saw and you got hurt, whose fault is it? This was a problem that had Freeside members on edge. [Alan] explained how they approached the issue by carefully choosing the language that surrounds instruction, then securing a legal solution:

We don’t say ‘we certify’ you to use anything. There’s a welder guy we know who is able to actually certify people to weld, but if we’re doing a build-out of the space where we’re cutting 2×4's, I’m going to assume that they’ll use the chop saw. If they use the table saw and hurt themselves, that’s where things get tricky. They volunteered, so they can’t hold Freeside responsible, but that doesn’t include me personally. So I took out an umbrella policy to protect me from things like that.

The personal umbrella insurance is less expensive than directors and officers insurance—which [Alan] only recommends if you plan to hire staff members (it covers equal opportunity, etc.) Now, as long as the Freeside guys aren’t creating a negligent environment, instruction is no longer a problem. You can check out Freeside’s policy page for more information and other guidelines. Many of these policies should be read as an “operations manual” rather than a strict rule book. Like most things at Freeside, their policies are empowered by fluidity.

Freeside has more stories to tell, but I’ll end the adventure here and instead suggest that you check out their space yourself. Swing by on Tuesday evenings for their open house, where you’re sure to meet plenty of friendly, knowledgeable folks, and can enjoy [Alan's] bizarre taste in YouTube videos on the big screen.

A monumental thank you to both [Alan Fay] and [Steven Sutton] for tolerating over three hours of my questions and at least as many hours of lurking, and a much overdue thanks to my old friend [Brian Cribbs] for introducing me to the Freeside community.

Finally, I want to hear about your adventures. Drop me a line and tell me about your space’s politics, crazy mishaps, how you regulate safety, legal threats, the creepy guy who sat in his car outside your space while calling to ask if he can use it to put on a puppet show for children (You’ll have to ask [Steven] about that one), or anything you’d like to see in the next installment of Adventures in Hackerspacing.

USB Implementers Forum Says No to Open Source

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota

 

For the longest time. one of the major barriers to hobbyists and very small companies selling hardware with a USB port is the USB Implementers Forum. Each USB device sold requires a vendor ID (VID) and a product ID (PID) to be certified as USB compliant. Adafruit, Sparkfun, and the other big guys in the hobbyist market have all paid the USB Implementers Forum for a USB VID, but that doesn’t help the guy in his garage hoping to sell a few hundred homebrew USB devices.

Arachnid Labs had an interesting idea to solve this problem. Since other USB device vendors such as Microchip and FTDI give away USB PIDs for free, a not for profit foundation could buy a VID, give PIDs away to foundation members making open source hardware, and we would all live in a magical world of homebrew devices that are certified as USB compliant.

This idea did not sit well with VTM Group, the people serving as the management, PR, legal, and membership and licensing department of the USB Implementers Forum. In a slightly disproportionate response, the VTM Group told Arachnid Labs to,

Please immediately cease and desist raising funds to purchase a unique USB VID for the purpose of transferring, reselling or sublicensing PIDs and delete all references to the USB-IF, VIDs and PIDs for transfer, resale or sublicense from your website and other marketing materials.

Interestingly, Arachnid Labs’ and scores of other requests for an open source USB VID haven’t hit the desk of anyone at the USB Implementers Forum, the people who are actually in charge of designating USB VIDs and PIDs. There are a number of ideas to get around VTM Group that include squatting on USB VID 0xF055, but we’re at a loss why there couldn’t be a foundation that gives out open source USB PIDs. Microchip, FTDI, and Openmoko do the same, so perhaps it’s time to email some key people at HP, Intel, and Microsoft

The Most Minimal Homebrew Computer

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota

 

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to fail. Going by that metric, [Stian]‘s three-chip 6502 homebrew computer is the epitome of perfection. It’s a real, working, homebrew retrocomputer using only three chips: a CPU, some RAM, and a microcontroller to bootstrap the computer and provide a video output,

The key to this minimalist build is having the entire boot process controlled by an ATMega16 microcontroller, This interfaces to the 6502 through a dual-port SRAM, a 1 kilobyte Cypress CY7C130. This dual-port RAM allows the CPU and microcontroller to access the same bit of memory, making it easy to bootstrap a computer from a bit of AVR code.

Output is provided with [Stian]‘s ATMega video text generator putting a 37×17 characters on any television with an RCA jack. While input isn’t handled yet, [Stian] says it should be possible with his AVR PS/2 keyboard library.

While other 6502 homebrew computers such as [Quinn Dunki] Veronica can reach unparalleled heights of complexity, there is a lot to be said about the minimalism of [Stian]‘s three-chip computer. With some clever coding and a modified parts list, it may well be possible to put a retrocomputer in the hands of everyone with a bare minimum of cost and parts.

CAN Hacking: Introductions

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

There is a right way and a wrong way to design embedded systems.

The wrong way centralizes functionality that has no business being together, and makes it opaque to repairmen. This is usually chosen so as to “optimize for cost” by minimizing the number of computers… you know, in a “there’s maybe a market for 5 computers globally” kind of way.

The right way is to keep things as simple as will work, preferably not even using OS’s, when the tasks can be separated so one function per microcontroller. This way there is no multiplication of complication, and each separate processor’s code becomes simple and easily maintained. (and preferably also, kept with the install so that future repairmen have a chance to fix it!). This is known as robust design, engineering for maximum reliability, as a priority far above “cost”.

As manufacturers get better at this, expect, nay, demand that they become compliant! An essential, and yet still lacking part of this is the availability of the source, as well as the barrier-to-modification. The auto industry is notorious for keeping all their tech secret – so much so that most “scientifically published, peer reviewed” papers read more like sales brochures with even less actual detail than the patents that they’re trying to push.

Unfortunately, it seems keeping source code secret has a reputation as being some kind of “good” engineering practice, even though it’s basically fundamentally at odds with science and engineering. If you contract an engineer to make something for you, you will get the blueprints – if they don’t provide them, then they didn’t engineer it.

Car manufacturers have a lot to learn in this regard, but even more so do the “engineering software” companies who “sell products” in the MSFT style. It’s disgusting, and one day people will find it difficult to believe that it was ever considered reasonable business practice.

All that said: CAN is very good – no where near the performance of, say, FireWire, but still exactly as “KISS” like as you could hope for in a low speed / high reliability / easily debugged multidrop communications protocol. (Firewire is perfection at high bandwidth, but carries with it quite an overhead in terms of protocol, it was clearly designed by a comittee of computer engineers obessed with getting every little detail right. It is anarchistic democracy to USB’s benevolent dictatorship. CAN is just a few mechanics talking shop, and getting shit done whilst occasionally yelling over the other, but that’s ok, because everyone knows the pecking order, and shuts up and listens when it’s urgent.)

Apart from sheer BW, CAN shits all over ethernet’s stupid “if a collision, wait a random time, then try again” approach to sharing a wire. (Hint: this is why ethernet is not used to share wires anymore – do you know the difference between a “hub” and a “switch”? Remember 10Base2 ?)

Apart from the horribleness putting a “standard” behind a paywall (just like selling software licences imho, anti education.), CAN is a good bit of work, whose actual impact on the world for the better will be proportional to those benefiting from it, and therefore dependant upon being widely understood and used where appropriate. (Again, something that paywalls / licensing / general IP shit destroys).

I’m looking forward to this series :)

Introducing the Shapeoko 2

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota

 

For all the 3D printers that hit the Hackaday tip line, it’s surprising we don’t see more CNC routers. They’re arguably more useful tools, and with the ability to mill wood, plastic, and non-ferrous metals, open up the door to a whole bunch more potential builds. One of the most popular – and certainly one of the least expensive – CNC routers out there, the Shapeoko, just received a huge update that makes this minimal machine even more capable.

The new Shapeoko 2 keeps the same V wheel on an aluminium extrusion design with Makerslide, but fixes a few problems that limited the original Shapeoko. There’s a larger work area on this version, and the Y axes feature dual stepper motors. The biggest feature, we think, is the ability to handle materials larger than the machine itself thanks to its open front and back.

The Shapeoko 2 is available in two versions, a $300 mechanical kit that requires you to go out and get some motors, a power supply, and a grblShield, the full version, for $650, includes everything you’ll need to start routing wood metal and plastic at home.

Happy 2013 Birthday to Three Musical Superstars – Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, and John Coltrane

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota Aquarius Papers - Global Astrology: Happy 2013 Birthday to Three Musical Superstars – Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, and John Coltrane Aquarius Papers - Global AstrologyUsing Astrology, Spirit, and Archetypes to move and groove through the intersections of fate and free will.

Today we give a giant birthday shout out to these three legendary greats!

First,"the Boss." Bruce Springsteen (September 23, 1949) is one of the brightest lights if the huge musical Libra tribe that includes such greats as John Lennon, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Justin Hayward, Jackson Browne, and John Mellencamp. Bruce's tunes grab people all over the world, whether as social conscience or just great music. Today we have lots of great live performance videos!

I've been hip to Mister Bruce Springsteen and his music since the early 70s and “Greetings from Asbury Park,” and he puts on one of the most electrifying live shows anyone could even want to see! For your consideration, a happy birthday assemblage of some great performances.

From the beginning of his career, "Spirit in the Night" - Live in Los Angeles with the E Street Band, 1973.

A more recent version from Sacramento, 2008 of "Spirit In The Night."

Another major hit from his first album, later made a hit again by Manfred Mann and the Earth Band, "Blinded By The Light"

A great acoustic performance of "Blinded By The Light" from Oct 15, 2005 in Madison, Wisconsin.

A GREAT must see alternate version! "Blinded By The Light" A total groove out!

An early one! From 1978, live in Phoenix, Bruce and the E Street Band doing one of his first and greatest, letting the world know he was a musical force majure! “Rosalita” (let it buffer so it doesn’t stop and start)

An October 2009 performance from the Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA of "Rosalita,"

THE song that woke a lot of the world up! A great performance of "Born To Run" from The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, on October 25, 1976.

Another great performance of "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ, July 8th 1978. (Let it buffer for awhile or it'll stop several times in the performance.)

Here are two more great performances of "Born to Run," this one from Landover,MD, from November 24th 1980, and this one at Madison Square Garden, New York, from the All Star Benefit for the Homeless Children on December 13, 1987.

From the same album, here's a great performance of "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" at the Capital Center, Largo, MD, on the 24th of November 1980.

Here's "Prove It All Night," another great turn from his early days.

From the same era, Bruce and the E Street Band doing the ever incredible "Thunder Road" from the 1979 No Nukes concert. Here's another magnificent performance of "Thunder Road" from 1976 (when he made the covers of Time AND Newsweek on the same week!)

Another of my favorites! This song gave me two of the best lines I’ve ever passed on to another human being! “Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be king, and the king ain’t satisfied until he rules everything,” and “It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”

This is pure gold from the Barcelona 2002 concert. If you want to catch a glimpse of what it’s like at a Bruuuuuuuce concert, check out the crowd!!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Badlands” From the same show, the song that’s a declaration of hope and determination to take our destiny into our own hands! “Promised Land”

("Badlands" and "Promised Land" were the same two he did with Jackson Browne in Central Park at the 1982 Freeze Now! Concert after the march from the UN. A million people clocked in, making it the largest antinuke protest ever. I was a “peacekeeper” assigned to a section near the stage. When he broke into “Badlands,” a million people roared and stomped their feet and shook the Earth in a once in a lifetime experience!)

This one’s electrifying! From Bergen, Norway, in 2009, Intro & "Badlands"

Lest you think Barcelona has anything on the Brits, the crowd goes wild at Glastonbury in June 2009 as for the Boss cranks out a fantastic performance of “Badlands.” And from the same gig, “Thunder Road” When the crowd roars out the lyrics throughout the entire song, it’s some kind of statement!

Live in NYC in 2001, the awesome “Jungleland”

From the next chapter in his career, the awesome "No Surrender" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in Washington DC, 11th October 2004.

Here's Bruce doing "I'm Goin' Down" live in Camp Nou, Barcelona, 20th July 2008.

Two more great performances of the same song! Here's "I'm Goin' Down"live in Kansas City, 1984, and "I'm Goin' Down" in Frankfurt on 7 March, 2009.

As long time fans know, Bruce has deep feelings about our country and all that's right and wrong about it. Here he is doing the legendary Woody Guthrie song once proposed as the "true" national anthem for the US, "This Land is your Land" live at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA on September 30, 1985. I also found Bruce and another American icon and champion of the working class, Pete Seeger, doing "This Land is Your Land" at Obama's Inaugural fete.

A while back I did a post on "Chimes of Freedom," one of the most remarkable songs ever written by America’s bard, Bob Dylan. Here is an amazingly powerful performance by the Boss of this paen to freedom in East Germany in 1988 before the fall of the Berlin Wall! “Chimes of Freedom in East Berlin”

From the same tour, here’s Bruce in Copenhagen in 1988 offering us "Chimes of Freedom."

At some point, please take a moment to reread my post linked above, since I posted the lyrics, and after all, the Chimes of Freedom are flashing for all of us.

As a bonus, here's the original 7 minute studio version by Bob Dylan of "Chimes of Freedom"

Bruce once said, "blind faith in your leaders will get you killed." I found an unbelievable video of Bruce Springsteen doing "War" in 1985 at the LA Colliseum, and posted it, along with the lyrics, back in 2007 during a global protest of the Iraq war. Since that video has been cut short for some reason, I found the entire performance which I linked below.

I saw him perform this way back when, and it still grabs me by the throat. This is a message for everyone who needs to remember that in fact, "blind faith in anything will get you killed." For your eye opening enjoyment, here's the entire performance of the musical juggernaut, "WAR"

Here's another great performance which you should check out! Bruce performing "War!" live, along with the man who originally did it, Edwin Starr! And from “the Rising” tour, yet another performance of the ever-amazing and powerful "War!"

Here are a few more great tunes written by others, done by Bruce:

"Blowin' In The Wind/Bad Moon Rising"

"Who'll Stop The Rain" live in Stockholm 2009.

From the same concert, we move back into three of my favorite songs written by the Boss:

"No Surrender" & "Badlands" & "Night"

Here's more of his hits,

"Dancing in the dark" from Barcelona 2002

"Glory Days" from Dave Letterman's last night on NBC.

Here's Youngstown done live in Youngstown.

The song he says Patti Smith "stole" from him, in that she definitely made it a major hit on her own before Bruce's version, the awesome "Because the Night" from a 2007 European performance.

Here's his rocking version of the Gary U.S. Bonds mega-hit "A Quarter To Three" in Sevilla.

I found a few clips of Bruce with various friends doing other people's songs. These are some great performances, so check them out!

First, U2 & Bruce Springsteen live at the 2009 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame doing "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Here’s another great live video by these two doing this song at Madison Square Garden! Bono waxes philosophical about rock and roll, and what he says.... Bruce Springsteen and U2 performing “I still haven’t found what I’m Looking For”

Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, here’s Bruce and Axl Rose at the 1994 ceremony inducting John Lennon as a solo artist performing John’s song "Come Together."

Here’s an awesome performance by Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen doing "It's my life."

We close this Happy Birthday celebration with a full on, entire concert video from August 1978 in Landover, Maryland. This one is a young man at his peak during his Saturn Return! For your enjoyment,

Bruce Springsteen Live in Maryland – Part 1 (2 hours)

Bruce Springsteen Live in Maryland – Part 2 (42 minutes)

For our first encore, we’ll fast forward 7 years to another full show, with a different set list than he was playing in 1978! For your enjoyment, from Paris in June 1985, an entire 3 hour show. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live in Paris

For our second encore, Bruce joins Neil Young in 2004 doing one of my favorite tunes of all time, "All Along The Watchtower" in Minneapolis. Dylan wrote it, Hendrix did the definitive version, and Springsteen keeps it alive!

Thanks for being the voice of the working people all these years. I was once told that very few good things come from New Jersey, and that you were definitely one of them (along with Jon Stewart and a few more!) You've proved that true over the years. Thanks for the incredible tunes over the past 40 years! May you have many more as you rock on into your 60s!

*********

As I mentioned earlier, a very happy birthday goes out to two more great legends also born on this day, the awesome Ray Charles (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004). Ray took a variety of styles and took them over the top in his very unique way. Ray Charles was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century across many different genres of music. From Wikipedia:

He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business...”

For your enjoyment, Mister Ray Charles! I found some videos of Ray Charles that span his career from 1963-1999.

First, here's Ray performing live in Sao Paulo, Brazil 1963 doing two of his early hits! Rock out with "What'd I Say" and "Hit The Road Jack."

A great b/w live performance of "You don't know me."

here is an electrifying performance by Ray Charles of "Let the Good Times Roll!" Wow!

For another great dance tune, from what looks to be the same show, Ray ripping out "What'd I Say"

Another live video of an early hit! "I Got A Woman"

From The Dick Cavett Show on September 18, 1972, here's Ray live doing "America The Beautiful." From the same show, "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Georgia On My Mind."

Here's Ray in 1999 doing Leon Russell's masterpiece, "A Song For You."

We'll close this brief birthday tribute to the Amazing Ray with a clip called "The Giants Of Rock 'N' Roll" done live in Rome in 1989 featuring Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, James Brown, Fats Domino, and more! Enjoy this 8:49 of pure gold!!

*********

A big happy also goes out to the 'Trane Himself, the legendary John Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967). He pioneered several forms of jazz, was one of the most significant saxophonists in jazz history, and worked with the greatest of the greatest. He was so revered that he was actually canonized as a saint by the African Orthodox Church! Since I can't do an entire birthday tribute this year due to time constraints, here are a few videos I found of the Sax Master!

John Coltrane performing live in Belgium in 1965 playing "Naima."

From 1961, a great live performance of 'Trane with his quintet (Eric Dolphy on flute, Elvin Jones on drums, McCoy Tyner on piano and Jimmy Garrison on bass) doing "My Favorite Things"

Here's a live video from April 1959 of Miles Davis & John Coltrane performing "So What" From Miles Davis' album, "Kind Of Blue."

For your enjoyment, a 9+ minute live audio-only clip from 1958 of 'Trane and Miles at the Newport Jazz Festival doing "Bye Bye Blackbird"

Here’s a great 8+ minute video clip of ‘Trane and the great Wes Montgomery doing the Thelonious Monk jazz standard, “Round Midnight”

A live performance of "On Green Dolphin Street"

From Germany in 1960, a rare video clip of ‘Trane with Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb performing “Hackensack”

Here’s the John Coltrane Quartet in a rare 1965 video from France performing what is said to be the only live video of “A Love Supreme” and “Ascension” (it’s a 2+ minute promotional video for a 6 DVD set of that performance)

Since we just had the Equinox yesterday, I figure this one’s perfect for today! From 1960’s “Coltrane Sound” album, John Coltrane with McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Steve Davis on bass performing “Equinox”

The 11 minute studio version of the incredible "Blue train."

If you want to hear the entire one hour 1957 studio album, here’s John Coltrane’s “Blue Train”

Here’s the entire 38 minute studio album from 1960, the first with all compositions written by JC. “Giant Steps”

Here’s the entire 1 hour 15 studio album from 1962! “John Coltrane Plays the Blues”

Here’s the entire 40+ minute studio album from 1966! “Meditations”

We'll close this birthday celebration with his 1958 11 minute studio version of "Stardust"

For our encore, a full one hour 36 minute “Jazz Icons” television clip! John Coltrane Live 1960, 1961, 1965

All three of these guys were/are awesome, and set the standard for the ages. There’s a lot more of their music over at you tube, so if you’re inclined, check out anything and everything these major league talents ever did. They definitely influenced music across several genres for decades, and are still among the most loved and respected in their styles.

Copyright © 2013 Robert Wilkinson

September 23, 2013 | Permalink

Technorati Tags:Axl Rose, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band, John Coltrane, Jon Bon Jovi, Miles Davis, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, Patti Smith, Pete Seeger, Ray Charles, U2, Wes Montgomery

Comments Verify your Comment Previewing your CommentPosted by:  | 

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type: Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

 

Post a comment Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.

Comment below or sign in with Typepad Facebook TwitterGoogle+and more... You are currently signed in as (nobody). Sign Out (You can use HTML tags like and

Recent Commentsshekinah on New Moon in Libra Pt. 1 - What’s Happening in October-November 2013Lainie on New Moon in Libra Pt. 1 - What’s Happening in October-November 2013Andrew Adam on Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From FukushimaDebbie on Happy 2013 Video Birthday to Gwen Stefani, India.Arie, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Cochrane, and Chubby CheckerMaria on Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From FukushimaMicheline on Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From FukushimaJoanne on Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From FukushimaJulia on Happy 2013 Video Birthday to the Remarkable Musician and Humanitarian Known As Stingcaliban on How Can We Know Success From Failure, and How Much Control Do We Have Over Life?Valerie on Astrology in October 2013 – A Cardinal T-Square with Other Frictional Gear GrindingSara on Happy 2013 Birthday to the Immortal Groucho MarxRodJM on How Can We Know Success From Failure, and How Much Control Do We Have Over Life?Jeanette on Happy 2013 Birthday to One of the Greatest Poets in History, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad RumiDebbie on Happy 2013 Birthday to One of the Greatest Spiritual Astrologers of All Time, the Legendary Marc Edmund JonesDebbie on How Can We Know Success From Failure, and How Much Control Do We Have Over Life?Philipp Manser on Happy 2013 Birthday to One of the Greatest Poets in History, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad RumiCathy on Astrology in October 2013 – A Cardinal T-Square with Other Frictional Gear GrindingVeronica Norman on Happy 2013 Birthday to One of the Greatest Poets in History, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad RumiDebbie on Astrology in October 2013 – A Cardinal T-Square with Other Frictional Gear GrindingRobert on There Are Many Ways To Meditate – Pt.3Amrita on Happy 2013 Birthday to One of the Greatest Poets in History, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad RumiKate Minogianni on There Are Many Ways To Meditate – Pt.3Kate Minogianni on Astrology in late September 2013 – It’s a Venus square Mars weekend as Mercury enters ScorpioRodJM on Mahatma Gandhi’s “Seven Deadly Social Sins”RodJM on Astrology in late September 2013 – It’s a Venus square Mars weekend as Mercury enters ScorpioRodJM on More than 800 Scientists Affirm There Is No Doubt that Humans Are Responsible for Global WarmingJake on Antarctica After the Ice Has Melted and All Coastal Cities are Under 190 Feet of Wateryzse on We Have Saturday Night Attitude Dancing Courtesy of the Legend, Mister Boo “Lucky” WilburyDebbie on Astrology in late September 2013 – It’s a Venus square Mars weekend as Mercury enters ScorpioDebbie on More than 800 Scientists Affirm There Is No Doubt that Humans Are Responsible for Global WarmingSubscribe to this blog's feed

Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From Fukushima

AppId is over the quota Translate Request has too much data Parameter name: request Aquarius Papers - Global Astrology: Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From Fukushima Aquarius Papers - Global AstrologyUsing Astrology, Spirit, and Archetypes to move and groove through the intersections of fate and free will.

Fukushima just had another disastrous spill of “430 liters of contaminated water thousands of times more radioactive than legal limits, its operator said Thursday.”

From a story by Arata Yamamoto and Alexander Smith, NBC News, titled Water 6,700 times more radioactive than legal limit spills from Fukushima we read the latest unfortunate news about a global problem that’s getting worse by the month. From the story:

TEPCO, said the water which spilled from the storage tanks had radiation readings as high as 200,000 becquerels per liter -- almost 6,700 times higher than the legal limit of 30 becquerels.

Although sandbags have been placed to prevent further spread of the leak, some of that water may have already reached the plant's harbor on the Pacific Ocean through a drainage trench, TEPCO said.

... A TEPCO spokesman told a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday that the leak happened because workers miscalculated the amount of water the tank was capable of holding due to it sitting on a slope.

This has to be the most inept company in the world. The government says the usual blather about pledging to work with TEPCO to prevent any more leaks. Right. Because politicians are known for their expertise in containing out of control nuke spills.

Speaking of covering things up, later in the article we read “The operator announced Tuesday that four tons of rainwater contaminated with low levels of radiation had leaked during an operation to transfer water between holding tanks, Reuters reported.” Funny how that never made the news these past 48 hours.

So great. The tanks get flooded with every tropical depression that blows through, and we get major leakage we’re not told about until something else comes along that’s worse, forcing it back into the news. Only then do we seem to find out what else has happened and what hasn’t been working.

We also read a Japanese “fast food company,” Yoshinoya, now intends to grow vegetables within 60 miles of the contaminated site. Wow. There is some kind of extreme collective denial going on here. And the Japanese government says to drink and laugh more because it’ll mitigate radiation poisoning. Wow again. This is delusional thinking.

The entire miserable mess that IS “Fukushima” is a slo-mo train wreck unfolding right before our eyes. The longer the incompetents allegedly dealing with the problem are allowed their criminal negligence, the worse it’ll be in the long run for the entire globe.

Nuclear anything is bad for life on Earth.