Xantrex 852-2000 XPower Powerpack Portable Backup Power Source
January 23rd, 2007A kind reader ordered this Xantrex portable power unit from Amazon via Cryptogon. (Many thanks to whomever you are!) I had never heard about this thing, but as soon as I checked it out, I knew that several of you would like to know about it, too.
Xantrex 852-2000 XPower Powerpack 600HD Portable Backup Power Source
This looks like a great unit, at a weirdly low price, considering what it does. (I’d like to know where it’s made. At this price I have a guess…)
AC and DC out. Recharge on AC or DC. (Solar, wind or hydro, anyone?) If you have modest needs, this should be easily enough power for all of your (LED or fluorescent) lighting and small appliance/electronic needs. Compact. Portable. Multi function… Great stuff.
If you wind up building a weird little power station with this, please send pics!
The XPower Powerpack 600HD provides up to 600 watts of backup power during a power outage and emergency power when you’re in your vehicle or away from home. The XPower Powerpack 600HD will jump-start your vehicle in a roadside emergency. This portable power source will operate a number of AC and DC powered devices such as a cordless phone, TV, radio, fan, computer, laptop, printer, and more. Ideal for power emergencies, the XPower Powerpack 600HD comes with a built-in emergency light to keep you out of the dark and to provide light so others can see you if you’re stranded. It also features an AM/FM radio so you can stay connected to important news and weather updates during a blackout. It even charges mobile phones so you can stay connected to family and friends during a blackout. The XPower Powerpack 600HD also can be used to operate small power tools or at your worksite our outdoors so that you can get the job done even without an outlet nearby.
‘We Will Be Able to Live to 1,000’
January 22nd, 2007Sure, Stupid, will we be able to drink the water? Or, maybe we won’t need any water. Maybe we will just download our consciousness into a computer running Windows version Hell-On-Earth-Meets-the-Matrix.
Where do they find these f*@*&#g lunatics? In universities flush with grant money, that’s where. Clear air, food and water for the people who are alive now? Oh no. F*ck that. There’s much more important work to be done!
Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey is so damn smart that in a serious essay about extending the human lifespan to 1,000 years, using genetic “therapies”, there isn’t one word about resource depletion on this planet!?
Additionally, I’ll sleep well at night knowing that people like Cheney will live forever. Won’t you?
Via: BBC:
Life expectancy is increasing in the developed world. But Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey believes it will soon extend dramatically to 1,000. Here, he explains why.
Ageing is a physical phenomenon happening to our bodies, so at some point in the future, as medicine becomes more and more powerful, we will inevitably be able to address ageing just as effectively as we address many diseases today.
I claim that we are close to that point because of the SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) project to prevent and cure ageing.
It is not just an idea: it’s a very detailed plan to repair all the types of molecular and cellular damage that happen to us over time.
And each method to do this is either already working in a preliminary form (in clinical trials) or is based on technologies that already exist and just need to be combined.
This means that all parts of the project should be fully working in mice within just 10 years and we might take only another 10 years to get them all working in humans.
Staying Off the “Electronic Plantation”
January 22nd, 2007Via: Harper’s:
Dale C. Carson, a former FBI agent and now a criminal defense lawyer in Jacksonville, Florida, authored the new book, Arrest-Proof Yourself. Funny and very politically incorrect, the book is a how-to guide for staying out of jail—which Carson says should be of concern not only to career criminals but to “people with lapses in judgment, bad manners, a taste for marijuana, and no knowledge of how the criminal justice system operates.†Being arrested might not necessarily lead to a prison stretch, but it will lead to permanent placement in the “electronic plantation,†the term Carson uses to describe the growing web of federal and state criminal databases. Once you’re on the plantation, he says, you can look forward to a lifetime of low-wage jobs and trouble with authorities. In the old days, Carson writes, “All anyone had to do to escape youthful indiscretions was blow town. Nowadays, that doesn’t work. Once you’re in the ‘puter, my friend, you’re there for life.†I recently spoke by phone with Carson about the many pearls of wisdom contained in his new book.
Energy Scarcity vs. Cost of the War in Iraq
January 22nd, 2007I built a spreadsheet with functions that break down the cost of the war in Iraq into dollars per minute. According to the Pentagon, the war in Iraq is costing $8.4 billion per month.
Cost of the War in Iraq Per Minute
Cost per month: 8400000000
Cost per week: 2100000000
Cost per day: 300000000
Cost per hour: 12500000
Cost per minute: 208333.33
That war is costing $208,333 per minute!
On the last page of the this Oregon State University story about wave power is the following sentence:
“OSU’s College of Engineering is seeking $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to build the national wave energy research center, where the engineers hope to test not only their own designs but those of other researchers and commercial developers.”
I tweaked my widget to allow me to enter an “opportunity cost” element to see how many minutes of war spending would need to pass before the cost of the other thing could be paid for:
OSU’s wave energy research center could be built with what is spent on the war in Iraq in about 14.4 minutes.
I was so shocked by this number that I started thinking bigger. For example, what is the total annual budget of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory?
The annual budget now stands at $210 million. In other words, the U.S. spends more on the war in Iraq in one day (about $300 million) than it does on the ANNUAL BUDGET for the primary government laboratory that is tasked with renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.
What you have here is a proof, with mathematical certainty, that the U.S. government is engineering energy scarcity issues.
This isn’t even an interesting topic anymore, given these numbers.
The far more interesting question is:
Since they are obviously allowing these energy problems to escalate, what do they have in mind for all of us when the “crisis” finally hits?
Like I said in a recent comment:
“We have a problem with human nature. There is, however, no shortage of readily available energy… Water, top soil loss, copper and wheat issues are going to impact peoples’ reality before any of the energy scarcity issues do.”
Hmm. It’s interesting how the energy scarcity meme drowns out the sound of the wolves barking at the door.
Tell me the shit is hitting the fan because of top soil depletion, or fascists with nuclear weapons, etc. but don’t insult my intelligence by saying that there isn’t easily enough energy available from the oceans, the sun and the wind. And the cost? Do you want me to send you a copy of my handy Iraq War Opportunity Cost In Minutes Calculator?
I don’t like religion. It’s certainty and exclusion of simple, observable data—that don’t fit the dogma—are anathema to my nature. The energy scarcity argument, on its own, is like the American dream: you’d have to be asleep to believe it.
Again: We have a problem with human nature. There is, however, no shortage of readily available energy.
In the end, I guess it doesn’t matter. I’d just prefer to know the real score, rather than some nonsense that doesn’t even stand up to basic arithmetic.
Armed Standoff Over Federal Income Tax: Ed Brown Interview
January 21st, 2007Whenever it comes to someone challenging the actions of the federal government, you can trust the mainstream media to run their standard psyop scripts: Government—good. Lunatic law-breaker with gun—bad. This is how most accounts of the Ed Brown case have been playing out in the corporate media.
What Really Happened linked to an interview of Ed Brown that was conducted by a community access TV program as the standoff began. I don’t know if this paints a better picture of Ed Brown and his supporters, or not, but it appears to sum up the situation.
The tax protest movement thinks that the law is on their side, and it is. There’s one problem: Darth Vader doesn’t pay any attention to laws. Darth Vader is going to get what he wants, law, or no law.
Ed Brown has figured this out, the hard way.
A quick note on military strategy: The federal government holds all the cards in this situation. They can surround the place and wait Ed and his friends out. Or, the feds might decide to storm the place. Notice how the feds get to pick and choose how and when to proceed? That’s not a good situation, if you’re Ed Brown.
Additionally, Ed has been inviting people to his property to show support for him and the issues.
Insurgency 101: Don’t start a war with a powerful enemy and then issue a press release asking people you don’t know to show up and support you after the shit hits the fan. The biggest question I have at this point: How many armed feds are now in Ed’s house with him?
For those who believe that Ed Brown is going to serve as some kind of martyr for the tax movement, I’ve got some bad news for you: It’s not going to happen in any tangible way. The full time psyop media will spin this thing to the point where Joe and Jane Six Pack will believe that Ed Brown was Hitler himself.
How do I know?
Because it’s already happening.
Mind Games: Everything Is Under Control
January 21st, 2007This Washington Post article has it all. From tinfoil hats to LSD, from microwave radiation to aliens, from schizophrenia to actual, military voice to skull projects.
Via: Washington Post:
“Maybe I can fix you, or electronically neuter you, so it’s safe to release you into society, so you won’t come back and kill me,” Alexander says. It’s only a matter of time before technology allows that scenario to come true, he continues. “We’re now getting to where we can do that.” He pauses for a moment to take a bite of his sandwich. “Where does that fall in the ethics spectrum? That’s a really tough question.”
Energy Scarcity? Give Me a Break
January 21st, 2007This guy built a wave generator buoy out of PVC pipe and bicycle parts:
The next time your lights go out, or you think your electricity bill is too expensive, or you hear news about greehouse gasses, just remember this video.
Related: Is Peak Oil a Faith Based Collapse Theory?
Related: A Solar Solution for World Power
Related: Solar Tower
Related: Linear Induction Wave Buoys
Help Path to Freedom Grow the Future
January 20th, 2007Path to Freedom is looking ahead from the frost disaster. If their work inspires you like it inspires Becky and me, consider helping out in any way that you can.
Thank you.
The Radical Christian Right Is Built on Suburban Despair
January 20th, 2007WOW! It’s amazing how much I share in common with these people, in terms of the root causes of despair. I can empathize with their despair. I’ve personally felt it. The difference, however, between people like them and people like me, are the approaches we choose to the solutions.
It’s easy to criticize from afar, but be sure to put yourself in their shoes. I remember how I felt when I was trying to figure out how I was going to survive in the collapsing U.S. No money. No job. No hope at all. VERY WEIRD THOUGHTS WENT THROUGH MY HEAD. VERY WEIRD. Let’s just say that I felt as if I was facing a life or death situation. All options were on the table. What did I have to lose?
This will sound very out of character to most of you, because of how much I rail against the obvious fraud of organized religion, but I actually believe that it was Divine intervention that brought me together with Becky and helped us to get out of the U.S. and into a better environment. The harder I tried to figure out how to stay alive in the U.S., the worse my situation became. After I met Becky and we decided to leave, well, you wouldn’t believe how good my “luck” has been. (Of course, the occasional hiccup was to be expected.) While most of the doors remained closed, the ones that lead out of the U.S. opened up. With hard work, Becky and I walked through them together. Based on what I’d gone through versus where I am now, Divine intervention is by far the best explanation.
Have you ever heard this joke? There are many iterations of it:
A man was caught in a flood. Two men came by in a boat to rescue him, but he waved them away shouting, “No thanks, the Lord will save me.”
One hour later another boat came along, but the man said, “No thanks, the Lord will save me.”
Eventually, a helicopter arrived but the man insisted, “No thanks! The Lord will save me!”
Unfortunately, the man drowned and at the gates of heaven he asked St. Peter, “Why didn’t the Lord save me?”
And St. Peter replied, “For crying out loud, he sent two boats and a helicopter, what more do you want?!”
The fetishization of religion is resulting in the same old fascism because people are making up their own versions of God and God’s plan and all the rest of that bullsh*t in their heads. It’s psychopathy. The more you think you know, the darker the path becomes.
Admit defeat. Hit bottom. Open yourself up to different options and don’t try to anticipate what they will look like when they appear. After all, lilies in a field are a much purer expression of God than any construct of man, according to Luke 12:27. What does that tell you about the way organized religions are behaving? How can the answer come from something so filthy and corrupt?
It can’t.
Observe what happens carefully. When the liferaft appears, jump aboard. Waiting for Clarity on the Brink of Oblivion is actually a retelling of the “Lord Save Me” joke above, although I didn’t realize that when I wrote it. I realize it now.
How many lifeboats are showing up to save you as you drown?
Via: Alternet:
The engine that drives the radical Christian Right in the United States, the most dangerous mass movement in American history, is not religiosity, but despair. It is a movement built on the growing personal and economic despair of tens of millions of Americans, who watched helplessly as their communities were plunged into poverty by the flight of manufacturing jobs, their families and neighborhoods torn apart by neglect and indifference, and who eventually lost hope that America was a place where they had a future.
This despair crosses economic boundaries, of course, enveloping many in the middle class who live trapped in huge, soulless exurbs where, lacking any form of community rituals or centers, they also feel deeply isolated, vulnerable and lonely. Those in despair are the most easily manipulated by demagogues, who promise a fantastic utopia, whether it is a worker’s paradise, fraternite-egalite-liberte, or the second coming of Jesus Christ. Those in despair search desperately for a solution, the warm embrace of a community to replace the one they lost, a sense of purpose and meaning in life, the assurance they are protected, loved and worthwhile.
During the past two years of work on the book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, I kept encountering this deadly despair. Driving down a highway lined with gas stations, fast food restaurants and dollar stores I often got vertigo, forgetting for a moment if I was in Detroit or Kansas City or Cleveland. There are parts of the United States, including whole sections of former manufacturing centers such as Ohio, that resemble the developing world, with boarded up storefronts, dilapidated houses, pot-hole streets and crumbling schools. The end of the world is no longer an abstraction to many Americans.
Any Lawyers Out There Want to Help Me Sue Microsoft?
January 19th, 2007Reader SB submitted the following screenshot of Cryptogon on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7:
Screenshot of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 warning users that Cryptogon is a, “Suspicious website.” Here’s a large version of the image.
The browser includes a fault prone routine that attempts to guess whether or not a site is a phishing site. Since Microsoft knows their Magic 8 Ball can’t be trusted, they leave it up to users to determine whether or not sites are legitimate, and have built in a voting mechanism right into the browser!
Read that link above if you think I’m kidding. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
In the meantime, how many legitimate sites are being blacklisted by this clunky software?
What if paid trolls, who are tasked with destroying the reputation of sites that represent a threat to the status quo, start using Microsoft’s browser to blacklist legitimate sites?
Maybe these are questions that Microsoft should have to answer in court.
Do Internet Explorer Users Know What They’re Missing: Firefox
Related: Microsoft Vista Developed with Help from U.S. National Security Agency
