Featured Quote

In 1913, Henry Ford wrote the following as the directors had been reaping the rewards of profits - "The wages we pay are too small in comparison with our profits. I think we should raise our minimum pay rate".

Saturday, July 27, 2013

You've got it all wrong about the U.S. Governmnet

"People should not fear their government, Government should fear their people."

"The Government is spying on us."

Well, here is a newsflash, people...  We ARE The Government.  The United States of America is a Democratic Republic By The People, For The People.

The people in power are the ones YOU put there.

You want the government to change, you want to change government?  Stop electing rich, white, christian men.  Start electing people like Bernie Sanders (I) and Elizabeth Warren (D).

Vote for people who never went to Law School.  Vote for Farmers - not CEOs of large Agri-Businesses.  Vote for the local country store owners, not the CEOs of large oil companies.  Vote for the IT guy, not the owner of a massive retail chain.  Vote for the Scientists, not for the Televangelists.  Vote for people who believe in the Constitution as ACTUALLY written more than the recently added (ie, 1956) "Under God" part of the Pledge.

Vote for people who can't afford to launch massive media campaigns.  Vote for people who care more about leaving this world a better place for everyone's children more than making a quick profit.  Vote for people who won't sell their vote for campaign cash.

Use our Laws, our Constitution, to fight the rich and powerful organizations that seek to usurp our country and claim our Government as their own.  Fight Monsanto, the Koch Brothers, ALEC, etc.  Our Constitution is set up to protect the Individual from the Powerful, from the Majority.

We ARE The People, We ARE our Government.

Now for a Fun Poll...

Friday, July 26, 2013

DIY Motorcycle Clothes Dry Roll

Redneck Engineered Motorcycle Bedroll Pack for Clothes or Do-It-Yourself Motorcycle Luggage.

You are going on a big trip on your motorcycle, but you don't want to spend a lot of money on waterproof luggage and are wondering how to keep your clothes dry? ... so, here is how I did it.

Start with a 5'x5' canvas drop cloth from Home Depot.  It has a leak-proof backing, which will be the inside of the roll.

Get some waterproofing spray and spray on the non-backing side, the canvas.  This is for extra insurance against water.

Lay your clothes on the drop cloth.  Use the shiny 'leak-proof' layer as the inside.

Fold up the 'bottom'

Fold the sides over to  cover the clothes.  This prevents water from coming in sideways.
I folded down the sides and folded the top down - just an option.

Roll the drop cloth up - making a Roll Bag.

Attach tarp clips to the end.  I took the pic with three, but ended up using only two.

Use a bungee to wrap around the roll, hook to the tarp clip.

I used three PowerTye Soft Tyes to attach to the front of my motorcycle.  One went over, two went under.  I used bungee balls to connect the two that went under to the one that went over the top.  This provides for stability - a three-point-stance so to speak.

I used small bungees to wrap around the center strap and connect to the bungees holding the roll.  This connected everything and prevents side-to-side sliding while on the road.

It rained for 110 miles on this trip.

When I got to the hotel : 

All nice and dry!

As a bonus - no scratches or rub marks on the chrome!

Everything you need to make it (except the bungee cords):

Yes, the Cold weather is Caused by Global Warming

"Its chilly in July in Mississippi - so much for Global Warming."  Duh-Huh-Huh...

Yes, the unusually chilly temps in Mississippi and Chicago, etc ARE caused by Global Warming, ya idjits.  The North Pole now has a Lake!!  That is a BAD THING. Sea Levels could rise, drowning coastal cities and island nations.  Crops fail, risking a movie popcorn shortage! Weird weather messes with bird migration and fish spawning and may threaten maple syrup production!!  You're risking the Pancake Breakfast!!!

...scientists, eyeing the fourth year in a row of exceptionally harsh late-winter weather in parts of Europe and North America, suggest warming is precisely the problem.

In a complex tango between ocean and atmosphere, warming is causing icy polar air to be displaced southwards, they contend.

"The linkage is becoming clearer and clearer, I think, although the science has not yet been settled," said Dim Coumou of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) near Berlin.  - from Weather Underground
And :
 Frigid temperatures like these are sometimes used to refute the idea that the planet as a whole is getting warmer with each passing year. That's just not so, say NASA scientists, who point out that even on a warming planet, bitterly cold temperatures and harsh winter weather will still be possible and even commonplace.
One of the reasons they can coexist is a phenomenon known as Arctic Oscillation, a phrase used to describe the interaction of the jet stream and Arctic air during the winter. It can cause unseasonably cold air masses to sweep over what are normally temperate latitudes, NASA reports, making for unusually cold and severe winter weather across many parts of the U.S. - from Weather.com
So you can deny climate change, make your stupid jokes and refuse to join reality until you die, leaving this planet a time bomb so your children can suffer - or you can wake up, educate yourself and try to leave the world in better shape than you found it.

Expect Extreme weather, even extreme cold, due to Global Warming.  Try to comprehend what is happening.

I've said it before and I'll repeat : Global warming doesn't mean it will never be cold anywhere ever again.  Some may think that it is too complex for simple minds, but no, its really not - I refuse to believe people are that stupid.

one year or one particular spell of weather will never alone prove or disprove what is happening to the climate. Even as man-made greenhouse gases exert a consistent pressure on the climate, trapping more heat close to the surface of our planet, surface temperatures from year to year will fluctuate depending on the naturally variable forces at work around the globe. In the early 1990s, the mass of sulfates blasted into the atmosphere by the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano reflected sunlight and counteracted much of the man-made warming effect for several years. In 1998 El Nino combined with the man-made effect to give us one of the warmest years ever.

Allowing for this variability, global warming theory does not posit a linear, year-to-year increase in temperatures. Nor does it say that harsh winter weather will simply end. What it does say is that increasing concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, with unchecked growth, will contribute a greater and greater warming influence on the world’s climate.

“The bottom line is this: there is no global cooling tr end,” Hansen wrote in his 2009 temperature analysis. “For the time being, until humanity brings its greenhouse gas emissions under control, we can expect each decade to be warmer than the preceding one.”
Now - Take this Quiz. I'll give you one :

A 2011 survey by the British government found that extreme weather can negatively impact the range of what?

Thursday, July 25, 2013

CeMe Motorcycle Safety Concept

I need an electronics wiz!!

I've come up with a Motorcycle safety concept.  I don't think that it has been tried anywhere - and I've looked.  I got the inspiration riding behind a school bus.

Here is the idea in motion :

LED Lights blink at an adjustable rate
 This will provide better visibility - actually grabbing drivers' attention - than modulated headlights, which are nothing but annoying or flashing brake lights or other gadgets out on the market already.  It is a change, a flash - and people notice that.  Oncoming headlights are steady on and people tune those out fairly easily, but a blink will get attention!
Better visual representation, but static
Yes, there are a lot of LED brake light flashers and I like the concept of deceleration warning lights that flash when you decelerate by any means - even just letting off the throttle!  But, that doesn't help when the bike is in motion.

I need someone with a bit more experience in, and understanding of, electronics to help me produce the first prototype.  I've researched and this is, from what I can tell, completely street legal.  I've got a sample IC from Touchstone Semiconductor and am ready to get the parts together to build - just need a hand with the electronics.  I'd like to do a good Proof Of Concept and then maybe go to Kickstarter.

"Simple" circuit board

A companion to this would be a small LED that would attach to the helmet and blink.  It would need to have a replaceable battery.  I've seen a helmet with a built-in blinking light - but no way to replace the battery (if I understand correctly).