Most “super” supermoon of 2013 on June 22-23

MoonHowler

Is everyone ready for the superest super moon this weekend?  Why is this the supermoon weekend?  The full moon is the nearest it gets to the earth in a year.

super moon 1

From earthsky.org:

…[A]stronomers call this sort of close full moon a perigee full moon.  The word perigee describes the moon’s closest point to Earth for a given month.  Two years ago, when the closest and largest full moon fell on March 19, 2011, many used the term supermoon, which we’d never heard before.  Last year, we heard this term again to describe the year’s closest full moon on May 6, 2012.  Now the term supermoon is being used a lot.  Last month’s full moon – May 24-25, 2013 – was also a supermoon.  But the June full moon is even more super!  In other words, the time of full moon falls even closer to the time of perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth.  The crest of the moon’s full phase in June 2013, and perigee, fall within an hour of each other

Coming to a sky near you this weekend.  Hopefully skies will be clear..

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California Marijuana growers decimate the environment

MoonHowler

 

New  York Times:

marijuanaARCATA, Calif. — It took the death of a small, rare member of the weasel family to focus the attention of Northern California’s marijuana growers on the impact that their huge and expanding activities were having on the environment.

The animal, a Pacific fisher, had been poisoned by an anticoagulant in rat poisons like d-Con. Since then, six other poisoned fishers have been found. Two endangered spotted owls tested positive. Mourad W. Gabriel, a scientist at the University of California, Davis, concluded that the contamination began when marijuana growers in deep forests spread d-Con to protect their plants from wood rats.

That news has helped growers acknowledge, reluctantly, what their antagonists in law enforcement have long maintained: like industrial logging before it, the booming business of marijuana is a threat to forests whose looming dark redwoods preside over vibrant ecosystems.

Hilltops have been leveled to make room for the crop. Bulldozers start landslides on erosion-prone mountainsides. Road and dam construction clogs some streams with dislodged soil. Others are bled dry by diversions. Little water is left for salmon whose populations have been decimated by logging.

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Morris Davis: The Military’s Sexual Assault Problem: Avoiding Déjà Vu Again, Again

MoonHowler

Moe Davis

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

M-H

Guest Post:  Colonel Morris Davis, (retired)

At a White House press conference on May 7, President Barack Obama said members of the U.S. military who commit sexual assaults will be “prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged.  Period.”  Clearly the president intended to send a laudable message that sexual assaults are a serious problem and perpetrators will face serious consequences, but good intentions can have unintended consequences.

On June 13, Military Judge Marcus Fulton found that the president’s remarks constituted unlawful command influence in two on-going courts-martial.  As a result, two service members accused of sexual assaults will not be subject to punitive discharge from the service if they are found guilty.  Judge Fulton’s decision was clearly intended to send a message that no one, not even the commander-in-chief, can put a finger on the scales of military justice.

 

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Always listen to your reporting alligators

MoonHowler

alligator

 

Every so often someone raises the the question about my anonymity.  I am not anonymous.  Most people know who I am and I have said many times, if you want to know who I am, email me.  Unless you are a troll, I will tell you.

Not only do most people know who I am, they also know how to get hold of me.  Such was the case today.  I got a call from a person who said they weren’t a birdie but they were an alligator swimming in the moat at the McCoart building.  Too funny.  I have never noticed a moat down there but if s/he says so, I’ll believe it.  My alligator then told me that there was a huge groundswell of support for none other than Melissa Peacor.  S/he then said that it was from people who really had little to do with her on a daily basis.  It was also from people who weren’t too fond of her, mainly because of gossip they had heard.

When someone is attacked, one of two things usually happen.  That person can be seen as a scapegoat and everyone turns on them.  There are classic examples of scapegoating in both the new and old testaments of the bible.  There are hundreds of examples in literature.  The same group mentality exists, oddly enough, down through the ages.

Scapegoating (from the verb “to scapegoat“) is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame as a scapegoat. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals.

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2A trumps 1A?

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

A gun rights supporter was hit with a stun gun on Tuesday after he heckled the father of a murdered gun violence victim at an anti-gun violence rally, Concord (N.H.) Patch reported.

John Cantin of Manchester, N.H., spoke at a Mayors Against Illegal Guns event in Concord, N.H., discussing his efforts to persuade Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) to change her April “no” vote on gun background checks, Patch reported. Cantin had dealt personally with gun violence, as his daughter, Melissa Charbonneau, was shot and killed by her husband in 2009, according to the Union Leader and the New Hampshire Department Of Justice.

Cantin’s remarks were interrupted by Daniel Musso of Brentwood, N.H. Musso was later charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and two counts of simple assault, police told the Union Leader. Patch added that Musso was held on $5,000 bond, with an arraignment set for June 19.

This crowd depicts mob mentality at its very worst.  I am amazed that these protesters don’t have more respect for free speech than what is shown here.  For heaven’s sake, the man’s daughter was murdered by her husband in 2009.  Where is the respect?  I am not sure that I want people behaving like this owning guns.

The Delusion of “Logo-gate”

Angelina_Apr
PWC Witch Hunt
PWC Witch Hunt

The destructive nature of these constant attacks on the ever widening circle of county employees must end.  The climate within the McCoart building is one of mistrust and confidence levels have been diminished.  Whether it be for a desk, a toilet, a sink, an Easter egg hunt or the process of finding a new logo, these constant investigations and searching for wrong doing  is no way to run county government.  It’s like big brother is watching every move just to see if they can catch wrong doing.  Who can work effectively in such an environment.

We witnessed a serious smack down during Supervisors time today.  Supervisor Peter Candland, for unknown reasons, decided that it would be a good idea to attack Supervisor Frank Principi over this continued, ad nauseum, discussion over a county logo.

Pete submitted a three page, single spaced, diatribe demanding to know every single detail of who, what, when, why, where of the county directive to obtain a new logo for marketing strategies.  My question is why?  Why has this issue risen to the level of such intense scrutiny?  Like there was some kind of fraud involved.  Was it the best process or best logo choice, probably not, but the insistence on making this logo issue the next Benghazi  conspiracy needs to stop.

There was an  “all call”  fundraising e-mail that was penned by Robyn Candland, excoriating the process and targeting Frank Principi as the “democrat” villain.  Pete chose to turn his need for every nook and cranny to be inspected from a BOCS issue into a FOIA need.  That is not how it should have been handled.  Frank apparently thought the level of questions were over the top and formally objected .  Having read them and included them in this post, I would say that I agree.

 

NOTE:  Video below the fold

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House Republicans attempt another anti-abortion measure through lies and deception

MoonHowler

war on women 2

ktar.com:  (Arizona)

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans on Tuesday make their most concerted effort of the year to change federal abortion law with legislation that would ban almost all abortions after a fetus reaches the age of 20 weeks.

The “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” expected to pass by a comfortable margin late Tuesday, would be a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions up to the time a fetus becomes viable. Fetal viability is generally considered to be at least 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

The measure will be ignored by the Democratic-led Senate and the White House, saying the bill is “an assault on a woman’s right to choose,” has issued a veto threat.

Even if the policy were to become law, it would almost certainly face a legal challenge. That’s a prospect supporters hope for as part of the ultimate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.

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Republican Men Need to Shut Up about Rape

Elena

war-on-women

 

I just want someone to tell me why extreme right wing Republican men continue to talk about their belief that women who are raped don’t get pregnant.  SHUT UP already.  Cause let me tell you, I know someone, someone close to me, that became pregnant after she was raped.

Right now, right now in this country, in the 21st century, once again, Republican men in congress, behaving like their religious belief system must be legislated, i.e. forced upon women (hmmm, sounds like Sharia law to me) are at it again.  Their intent on outlawing ALL abortions beyond 20 weeks has begun.  Now let me say here, once again, for the hard of hearing, no one WANTS an abortion, it isn’t an easy decision, nor it is an easy procedure.  But this just in, women have sought abortions throughout the ages.

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Asteroids: Something else to worry about

MoonHowler
Space terrorist?
Space terrorist?

Washingtonpost.com:

The White House and NASA on Tuesday will ask the public for help finding asteroids that potentially could slam into the Earth with catastrophic consequences.

Citing planetary defense, the administration has decided that the search for killer rocks in space should be the latest in a series of “Grand Challenges,” in which the government sets an ambitious goal, helps create public-private partnerships and sometimes offers prize money for innovative ideas.

“This is really a call to action to find all asteroid threats to human populations and know what to do about them,” NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said Monday. She said the asteroid hunt would help prove that “we’re smarter than the dinosaurs.

So if someone discovers a huge asteroid headed our way, what do we do about it?  Detection is only part of this equation.   Have we been too complicit about the threat of asteroids causing a  Catastrophic event?  Will we eventually become the next dinosaur?

 

Gov. McDonnell’s personal items

MoonHowler

Washingtontonpost.com:

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen, have used taxpayer money for a range of small personal items they should have paid for themselves under state policy, according to spending records.

The McDonnells have billed the state for body wash, sunscreen, dog vitamins and a digestive system “detox cleanse,” the records show. They also have used state employees to run personal errands for their adult children. In the middle of a workday, for example, a staffer retrieved Rachel McDonnell’s newly hemmed pants at a tailoring shop nine miles from the governor’s mansion. Another time, a state worker was dispatched to a dry cleaner 20 miles away to pick up a storage box for Cailin McDonnell’s wedding dress.

About six months into the governor’s term, the official who oversees mansion spending told the McDonnells that they should not have charged taxpayers for a number of expenses, including deodorant, shoe repairs and dry-cleaning their children’s clothing. The official asked the McDonnells to pay the state back more than $300, which they did, and also gave them a refresher on what the state will and won’t provide for occupants of the governor’s mansion.

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The Road Battle: The roads down our throats

MoonHowler

Activist

Washingtonpost.com:

A proposed six-mile highway outside Charlottesville is so wasteful and ill-conceived that it’s achieved literary status. It prompted best-selling novelist and area resident John Grisham to write a book implicitly denouncing it.

“The Activist,” published last month and aimed at youths ages 10 to 12, is fictional. But Grisham said it was inspired by the decades-long battle over a $245 million bypass west of the city that’s home to the University of Virginia.

Grisham, famed for such legal thrillers as “The Firm,” said the new book is about “a boneheaded bypass around a lovely little college town and all the issues that go into such a boondoggle.”

The rest of the state, and especially Northern Virginia, should be equally appalled. The road is one of the most egregious examples of a pattern in which Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration relentlessly pushes a major highway project despite abundant evidence that the money could be spent more wisely elsewhere.

 

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Virginia: Yoga and Voodoo

MoonHowler

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The candidates have said it all. This line up is simply amazing. Not in my Virginia…please!!

The core problem is that there can be no re-branding of the Republican Party. How do you re-brand core beliefs? If you feel homosexuality is a sin, you can’t re-brand that. If you have strong anti immigration feelings, how is that re-branded? There is no magic wand that waves away these feelings. At best, Republicans can tone down the rhetoric and stop trying to legislate the social issues. Other than that, I simply don’t know what can be done.You are still talking about the same core party members and people who vote for their beliefs. One’s  common core of values simply doesn’t re brand.

Many of the moderate  Republicans are chased out of office these days to the screams and shouts of “RINO!”  There doesn’t  seem to be room for these people under the big tent any more.  some of my favorite people are moderate Republicans, which should come as no shock.  I eschew zealots of any flavor.

Perhaps what we will soon hear is the swan song for the Grand Old Party. I think that is sad. Perhaps we have already heard it, as the Old Guard dies off or goes out of office, often in disgust. My feeling is the Grand Old Party died off a few years ago and the swan song was sung. What’s left? The Republicans who I just don’t feel can claim the Grand Old Party logo.

The make overs simply won’t work.

Perry rejects equal pay for equal work legislation

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has vetoed a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women.

An aide to state Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D), who authored the equal pay bill, HB 950, said Perry’s office called on Friday to say he had vetoed it. State Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who introduced the Senate version of the legislation, told the Texas Tribune that she had received the same call.

In a statement, Thompson said she was “deeply disappointed” and “heartbroken.”

“Women will still have to struggle to receive their equal pay for their equal work,” she said.
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Wisconsin continues the war on women: Sit down and shut up!

MoonHowler

mediate.com

Wisconsin Senate Republicans abruptly shut off debate and moved quickly into a vote on Wednesday that approved the passage of Senate Bill 206 – a bill that, if signed into law, would mandate that women seeking an abortion would first have to undergo an ultrasound.

On Tuesday, June 11, Democrats blocked a final vote after hours of debate on this same issue. Moving into Wednesday morning with presiding Republican Senate President Mike Ellis on the WI Senate floor, only two senators, Democratic Senator Kathleen Vinehout and Republican Senator Mary Lazich, were able to speak.

There is almost nothing to say about this situation.  What totally rude pigs.

Speech was cut off for everyone but the two senators.

When Lazich completed her speech, Senate Democrats attempted to extend the debate but were met with shouting from Senate President Mike Ellis (R), who demanded an immediate vote. It was then that things descended into chaos.

“It’s non-debatable! Call the roll!” he shouted. “You’re out of order!”

“You’re out of order!” an unidentified State Senator shouted back.

Scott Walker is expected to sign the ultrasound bill.  He was quoted as saying ultrasound didn’t bother him.  Well, I guess not.

When are these politicians going to stay out of women’s reproductive issues?  Wisconsin, the U.S. Congress….no time soon I guess.