Entries Tagged 'travel' ↓
August 14th, 2010 — 1389, Caturday, Obama, animals, economic collapse, history, humor, offbeat news, travel
Originally published on 2.0: The Blogmocracy
Guests at Minnesota’s oldest hotel could request a cuddly cat for the night
My husband and I stayed at the famous Anderson House Hotel in Wabasha, Minnesota a few years ago. The female tabby we chose spent most of the night cuddling with my husband. But I didn’t mind. The room was picturesque and the food at the restaurant was good.
Petside.com blog post from November 29, 2007:
Wanted: Friendly, Warm, Affectionate Ambassador for Minnesota Cat House
Arnold…How may I help you?
Okay…I know it’s a family website. But it’s not what you think. So shame on you!
Actually, The Historic Anderson House in Wabasha, Minnesota is, according to innkeeper Teresa Smith, the state’s only legal “cat house.” And for a very good reason. The staff of the 151 year-old bed-and-breakfast includes five friendly felines who, upon request, will come to your room evenings, warm your bed, and keep you company. What’s more, the hotel provides a litter box, toys, and food with each “kitty-to-go.” Most guests reserve a cat with their room, Smith says, and many put their dibs in early to ensure their favorite will be available. Poor souls with allergies can request a no-cat room.
Read the rest.
A casualty of the Obamaconomy
I recently looked up the hotel’s website and was disappointed to find that the domain name was being “parked.” It turns out that the famous landmark hotel that had been established in 1856, had failed to survive the Obama administration. At least all of the cats who once provided companship for the guests still have homes.
Anderson House, Minnesota’s oldest hotel, closes
Last Update: March 23, 2009 – 7:19 PM
By: Kerry Westenberg
A voice-mail message at the storied hotel in Wabasha starts out with a promising welcome.
Then comes a sigh, and these words, “We are sad to say that due to the bad economics that are going on, the Historic Anderson House has had to close its doors.”
Until it stopped operating Thursday, the Anderson House had been the longest running inn in the state. It was built in 1856 when Wabasha was a bustling Mississippi River town.
…
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, but may be more famous for its collection of cats that guests could bring into their rooms for the night.
…
Fancher said that the more than dozen cats that resided at the hotel have been adopted by friends and former employees.
Read the rest.
Also see:
July 6th, 2010 — 1389, Blogmocracy, Uniguest, blog censorship, blogging, travel
By 1389
Marriott workcenter computers block another conservative blog
This thread in Blogmocracy tells the story:
The Osprey 139 | July 6, 2010 00:45
Hey Rodan and Savage. I was up in Flagstaff for the last two days. Tried to access the Blogmocracy from the Marriott I was staying at. Their workcenter computers have an interface/filter controlling web access called ìUniguestî. When I tried to access the site it told me it was blocked due to ìwhite supremacistî content.
I smell the minions of Chucky.
I did a little digging…
Uniguest website
1035 Acorn Drive
Nashville, TN 37210
p: 800.467.1218
f: 615.777.5500
Email service and support
Uniguest Email Contact Form
Here’s what I wrote:
I understand that your Uniguest software, which is being used by the Marriott hotels, is blocking http://www.theblogmocracy.com as a “white supremacist” site.
For one thing, this is completely untrue; there is nothing white supremacist about that site. Socialists and pro-jihadists all too often attack sites that aim to expose their activities by flagging them as “white supremacist” or “racist”, even when the site has nothing to do with race.
And furthermore, what business is it of yours if somebody wants to look at a white supremacist website? I sometimes check websites belonging to those who oppose me in the political sphere, merely to see what they are up to.
Please whitelist http://www.theblogmocracy.com so that anyone can access it from any of your systems.
January 2nd, 2008 — Europe, airlines and aviation, cellular, counterjihad, government regulation, mobile web, security, smiley, travel
But don’t get too excited. The test will run for just six months, only within Europe, and only on the Airbus A-318. And the experience will be just as regimented and micromanaged as everything else having to do with air travel in the twenty-first century:
During the first three months of the study, passengers will be allowed only to send text messages and e-mails. But during the second three months (originally the study was scheduled to last a year), passengers will be allowed to make voice calls. According to Wi-Fi Net News, calls can only be made above 10,000 feet and depending on passenger feedback, cabin crew can disable the service at any time. As you may expect, the satellite calls will be $2.50 per minute. Also, passengers will not know they’re flying on the test aircraft until after they board.
Hmmm…wonder what would happen if a flight attendant were to overhear a passenger using a cell phone to complain to someone about the airline, the plane, or the flight crew?
Also see:
This just in (1/8/08):
The technology used by the new generation of aircraft is now so advanced that aviation officials fear that terrorists could use it to fly the plane.>
Aviation regulators have refused to certify Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet until it redesigns its computer system to protect against such an event, The Times has learnt.
The Federal Aviation Authority is concerned that terrorists could use the Dreamliner’s in-flight internet system to connect to “systems critical to the safety and maintenance of the aircraft”.
In a report released last week, the FAA said that Boeing had left the pilots’ computers open to attack by connecting the Dreamliner’s entertainment system to the pilots’ controls.
A hacker with a computer and some IT training potentially could hijack the system from his seat.
December 30th, 2007 — PSA, U.S. law, airlines and aviation, tech industry, tech tips, travel, video
New U.S. TSA rules take effect New Year’s Day 2008
In a nutshell: You will no longer be able to pack spare batteries in checked baggage, but, within limits, you will be allowed to pack spare batteries in carry-on baggage. Most lithium batteries for consumer electronic devices such as laptops and video cameras will meet the restrictions. But large, professional-grade batteries may exceed the limits; if you have any doubts, call the manufacturer before you pack your devices for travel.
By Gary Krakow, TheStreet.com – 12/29/2007 10:34 AM EST
If you’re one of the millions of airline travelers who carry spare lithium laptop, cell phone and camera batteries with you, listen up: The government has some new rules which go into effect on New Year’s Day.
Fortunately, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is not worried about the batteries installed in your devices, be it an iPhone or laptop. Those are safe to bring along with you on the plane in your carry-on bag.
But the TSA is worried about loose, spare batteries. These are batteries with uncovered electrical contacts, which, if touched by other metal objects could cause an explosion and fire during a flight. So, the agency wants to make sure that any spare lithium batteries you take with you on your flight meet its new standards.
Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:
-
Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.
-
You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage
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You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!
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Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.
The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:
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Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.
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You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
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For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
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Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!
October 28th, 2007 — China, Kosovo, Russia, Serbia, airlines and aviation, books, counterjihad, disaster preparedness, ecoterrorism, enemy propaganda, mainstream media, outsourcing, political correctness, travel
(Updated 11/20/07, 11/24/07, 12/25/07)
You might know the answer to these questions:
Is the Pentagon bureaucracy on your side?
You think so? Then why does the Pentagon get its advice from a flagrant bigot who refuses to appear on a panel of speakers with an Israeli?
Yesterday, the University of Delaware asked Asaf Romirowsky to step down from an academic panel at the University of Delaware because another panelist, University of Delaware political scientist Muqtedar Khan, didn’t want to share the podium with anyone who served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
If Khan was just an academic, that would be one thing. But he also straddles the policy world: Khan is a a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Pentagon consultant. According to an e-mail he sent to the University, he gave a workshop at the Pentagon yesterday afternoon.
Is the Department of Justice on your side?
You think so? Then why did the DOJ botch the first Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial so thoroughly? True, there’s going to be another trial, but why couldn’t they have gotten their ducks in a row to do it right the first time?
Is the VA on your side?
You think so? Then why did they censor the text used in the flag folding ceremony for veterans in national cemeteries, in response to an anonymous complaint that was clearly motivated by anti-Semitism?
CW31 (cbs13.com) in California reports that, the traditional flag-folding recitation has been banned at national cemeteries due to a complaint filed at the Riverside National Cemetery. The complaint was apparently specific to the 11th fold of the ceremony, which honors Hebrew soldiers, Kings David and Solomon, and gives tribute to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
VA contact information
Is Wal-Mart on your side?
You think so? Just because of their “falling prices”/”everyday low prices”? How do you expect to afford even those “low prices” when all of the jobs have been sucked out of the US and exported to places like China?
Steve Dobbins has been bearing the brunt of that switch. He’s president and CEO of Carolina Mills, a 75-year-old North Carolina company that supplies thread, yarn, and textile finishing to apparel makers–half of which supply Wal-Mart. Carolina Mills grew steadily until 2000. But in the past three years, as its customers have gone either overseas or out of business, it has shrunk from 17 factories to 7, and from 2,600 employees to 1,200. Dobbins’s customers have begun to face imported clothing sold so cheaply to Wal-Mart that they could not compete even if they paid their workers nothing.
Here’s the comment I wrote for this article (I fixed a few typos and tweaked the formatting to make it work for this blog, because the comment form accompanying the article did not allow HTML):
I used to shop at Wal-Mart, back in their “Buy American” days. I stopped when I noticed that the good brands disappeared and the quality of everything in the store began getting worse and worse.
In essence, Wal-Mart is forcing their suppliers to outsource everything overseas, to destroy whatever reputation for quality they once had, and to become dependent on Wal-Mart. Then Wal-Mart makes the relationship unprofitable.
Here`s the solution:
-
Never buy anything at Wal-Mart [or, for that matter, Sam's Club].
If you`re so broke that you can`t afford anything better, then go to a flea market or a second-hand store, or do without. How much clutter do you really need, anyway?
For the holidays, give your child one good toy, or a good book or game, from somewhere else, not five pieces of cheap, breakable, poorly-designed garbage from Wal-Mart.
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If you`re a supplier, don`t start doing business with Wal-Mart. Find ways to survive and prosper without getting sucked into their system.
- If you`re a journalist of any type, report more stories like this about what Wal-Mart is doing to America`s manufacturing base, communities, employment prospects, and reputation for quality.
Expose the abysmal quality of the outsourced rubbish that American firms are importing from places such as China, partly or wholly in response to pressure from Wal-Mart. The lead paint fiasco is only the beginning.
There are a lot more scandals if you want to look for them. Follow the money! Just for starters: Look at political contributions. Look at where their employees are getting their health care.
Finally, please stop comparing Wal-Mart to companies such as A&P that maintained a reputation for quality during the era when they were able to out-compete other companies.
Remember: If cost is your only consideration, everything turns into a race to the bottom. You will eventually end up spending all your money on a lot of junk, none of which would be worth the price even if it were free!
Also see:
Is the FBI on your side?
You think so? Then why do they refuse to acknowledge jihadist terrorism when they see it?
Sleep safe tonight. Your children might just be getting their education from a mentally ill Muslim who is on the FBI’s Terrorist Watch List… There are just so many things wrong with this, I don’t even know where to start!
FBI: Teacher who attacked base guards was suicidal, not terrorist
The Associated Press – Jacksonville.com
. . .
Ahmad’s mother said the first-year teacher at Miami Central High School is mentally ill and had recently been in a mental institution, where officials reported he tried killing himself.
Oh, and by the way: If you happen to live in Miami, you just might want to ask what (if any) background checks are being done on prospective teachers!
(Added 11/7/2007) And what about this?
Again the US government reaches out to the wrong people: FBI’s Latest Outreach Outrage.
As reported in the Detroit Free Press (see: Detroit’s FBI chief: Violence extremism cuts across religions), two top FBI officials from that office “spoke to about 50 Muslims inside the Islamic Organization of North America, or Tanzeem-e-Islami.” The Free Press described the organization as merely “a Sunni mosque with a primarily Pakistani congregation” and tells us that the meeting was nothing more than “part of an effort by the FBI to reach out to Muslims and other communities.”
As everyone, especially the FBI, should know by now, the IANA is an Islamist pressure group.
(Added 11/20/2007) And this?
If the FBI wants the support of the American people when it comes to fighting terror in the skies, it needs to treat them with respect. Annie Jacobsen has the harrowing tale of what happened when a Good Samaritan was transformed into a terror suspect. Required reading for Thanksgiving travelers.
In a nutshell, an innocent traveler saw someone exhibiting bizarre behavior on an airliner. He reported what he saw, but then, the FBI hauled him in as the suspect. The FBI eventually let him go and considers the matter “resolved.” Naturally, since he’s pro-American and not a jihadist, the ACLU is uninterested in helping him recover damages. Of course, there’s no word on what happened to the person who actually was behaving strangely on the plane.
Oh, and by the way, how many more enemy moles are working at the FBI, the CIA, or the State Department?
(Added 11/24/2007) This many more?
Intelligence official: ‘FBI might as well put out a sign – Double agents wanted’
Posted: November 20, 2007
9:35 p.m. Eastern
Thanks to lax background checks, even after 9/11, the Hezbollah spy who managed to obtain sensitive jobs at the FBI and CIA is not the first terrorist supporter to infiltrate the U.S. government.
An alleged al-Qaida operative also infiltrated the Environmental Protection Agency, according to federal investigators and court documents obtained by WND.
The case, details of which are revealed here for the first time, involves Waheeda Tehseen, a Pakistani national who obtained a sensitive position with the EPA in Washington as a toxicologist even though she was not a U.S. citizen.
Like the Lebanese national suspected of passing secrets to Hezbollah, Tehseen lied about her citizenship on her government application, a falsehood that the government failed – in both cases – to catch in its security background investigation.
You probably won’t know the answer to this question:
Are Serbs, and Serbian-Americans, on your side?
You think not? Especially after everything that’s happened in the past sixty years?
Think again!
It may surprise you to know that, even now, Orthodox Christian Serbian-Americans pray every Sunday in church for America’s government and armed forces. Serbs, in Serbia and elsewhere, are waiting for Americans to come to their senses about jihadism in the Balkans and elsewhere, preferably before it’s too late to avoid widespread destruction to what’s left of the civilized world!
Download this book – FREE of charge – and read the other articles that follow.
Free book available in PDF format, courtesy of Andy Wilcoxson:
Gen. Mihailovic’s only crime was resisting the twin evils of Hitler’s fascism and Stalin’s communism.
. . .
“Because the book is out of print and the publisher went out of business more than 50 years ago copies of it are hard to come by, so I scanned my copy, and through the magic of the Internet you can download your own copy of the book in PDF format by right clicking this link and selecting “Save Target As” (please note file is 137 MB).”
. . .
General Mihailovich fell seventeen months after the so-called “liberation” of Yugoslavia. Reports from Belgrade on March 24th, 1946, announced his capture under puzzling circumstances on March 13th, 1946. His trial before a Communist military court began on June 10th, 1946. He was “sentenced” to death on July 15th, 1946, and murdered on July 17th, 1946.
General Mihailovich is no more. He has departed this world convinced that he was abandoned by the Allies. The voices that were raised abroad in his defence were not allowed to reach him and he died without the satisfaction of knowing that in the opinion of many he died an innocent man and a great soldier.
General Mihailovich is no more, but the legends of his heroic deeds are becoming more and more popular and they live in the hearts of the people.
General Mihailovich is no more. He has departed this world. Those who have murdered him have not only perpetrated a crime, they have also committed a grave mistake, for democratic public opinion is well aware of General Mihailovich’s merits.
General Mihailovich is no more. The last words of this great patriot were concise and poignant. He said:
“I strove for much, I undertook much, but the gales of the world have carried away both me and my work.”
But wait, there’s more!
Technorati : Bosnia, CIA, China, FBI, Kosovo, MSM corruption, Serbia, U.S. law, counterterrorism, disaster preparedness, ecoterrorism, enemy propaganda, jihadism, military, political correctness
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September 15th, 2007 — 1389 Message Blog, Goose Creek, Israel, PSA, blog censorship, blogging, climate and weather, energy, food and drink, humor, leftist-jihadist convergence, travel
…To visit these other sites!
Antijihadist 24×7: We need a break, but we never get to take one.
Are you a blogger? Do you suffer from blogger burnout?
Hungry for inspiration?
Just plain hungry?
- The Fresh Loaf is a huge website all about bread and baking. Yum! They have a news aggregator, bread baking lessons, all sorts of things. Their email address is at the very bottom of their webpage.
- Hmmm…that gives me an idea. Since The Fresh Loaf is a news aggregator, would any of you readers like to write to The Fresh Loaf and tell them about the problems with SonicWALL censorware on the Panera Bread WiFi?
Into geography? The Northwest Passage may exist after all.
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The explorers of old searched for centuries to find the fabled Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia by water. They never found it, because no such passage existed at that time. But that’s about to change.
What we call “global warming” is part of a natural cycle, and it isn’t all bad. This article, Northwest Passage Ice Shrinks to New Low, explains that melting of the Arctic ice pack will soon allow ships to make the passage during the summer. It will also open up a potentially oil-rich region for exploration.
When that happens, be prepared for a showdown here in the US. You can expect that left-wing environmentalists will render aid and comfort to the jihadists by doing all they can to stop any exploration for oil that could lessen our dependence on sources in the Middle East.
Still keeping up on the counterterrorist beat…
Need something to write about for your own blog?
- 1389 Message Blog is 1389′s other blog. It’s a place where 1389 puts links to interesting articles and news stories, both for future reference and for everyone’s use. Raid those links to your heart’s content!
Freedom of speech in the blogosphere
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If you are uncomfortable with the use of the word evil, be advised that there is a difference between good and evil. The attack on September 11, 2001, was, and is, evil. It is not “hate speech” to label evildoers and evil deeds for what they are.
Society can survive only as long as enough people know good from evil and protect that which is good. We are not motivated by hatred, but by love for the Lord and for all His creation, especially our family, home, neighbors, friends, and country. Refusing to recognize evil when you encounter it will only leave you defenseless against it.
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Why do we have to explain such a simple thing? By choosing to go up against jihadists, we have made some enemies, exactly as we expected would happen. Our adversaries are trying to shut down access to this blog, and other antijihadist/counterterrorist blogs, by falsely reporting it to content-filtering or “censorware” vendors as containing “hate/racism/violence”. This sharply reduces the number of places from which our audience can access our sites.
But if you look at 1389 Blog, you will find that there is no hate speech on this blog. No trash talk. No incitement to violence. No mention of anything pertaining to racial issues. No ad hominem attacks. No bloody pictures. Comments are moderated, and we don’t even allow swear words.
Any site that does not go along with the prevailing left-wing “political correctness” – especially sites that expose jihadist acivities – is at risk for the same type of de facto censorship. Follow this category link to keep track of our efforts to preserve freedom of speech in the blogosphere.
Technorati : Goose Creek, Homeland Security, Israel, PSA, Panera Bread, SonicWALL, blacklisting of antijihadists, climate change, cyberjihadism, e-jihadisblogging, energy, food, geography, humor, incident tracking, sites we like
Del.icio.us : Goose Creek, Homeland Security, Israel, PSA, Panera Bread, SonicWALL, blacklisting of antijihadists, climate change, cyberjihadism, e-jihadisblogging, energy, food, geography, humor, incident tracking, sites we like
Ice Rocket : Goose Creek, Homeland Security, Israel, PSA, Panera Bread, SonicWALL, blacklisting of antijihadists, climate change, cyberjihadism, e-jihadisblogging, energy, food, geography, humor, incident tracking, sites we like
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August 24th, 2007 — Chicago, Foehammer's Anvil, Ft. Hard Knox, Islam, Panera Bread, SonicWALL, The Religion of Peace, Wi-Fi, blog censorship, blogging, censorship, censorware, counterjihad, cyberwars, e-jihadis, food and drink, political correctness, security, smiley, travel
For rolling updates on this topic:
Stop Blog Censorship!
What do you mean, I can’t read Foehammer’s Anvil at Panera Bread?
To our amazement and disgust, some of us have recently discovered that access to legitimate news and political sites – especially antijihadist sites, including Foehammer’s Anvil and Jihad Watch – is being blocked at many WiFi sites, workplaces, schools, government buildings, and other locations. This blacklisting is done automatically by content-control software, also known as “censorware.”
In Jenn Sierra’s article, Are Anti-Jihadist Sites Blocked where you Work, Study, or use Wi-Fi?, she mentioned that she was forbidden to access Foehammer’s Anvil from the supposedly “unlimited” WiFi at Panera Bread.
How do they set up this “censorware”?
Generally, an outside company is in charge of setting up the “censorware”. Depending on how it is set up, the censorware will block everything that falls into certain broad categories – not just blatant pornography, but anything having to do with sexuality, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, weapons, and violence. All too often, it also excludes anything “politically incorrect” that someone might conceivably classify as “bigotry” or “hate speech.” In other words, it locks out a huge range of sites offering news and views that are vital to effective participation in American society.
Unless someone knows how, and is willing, to loosen those restrictions, adult voters and taxpayers will find themselves treated like small children who cannot be trusted to make up their own minds. Forget about enjoying a broader range of political news and opinion than what the mainstream media conglomerates deign to provide. If you’re traveling, or if you are located where you have no other way to get to the Internet, you’re out of luck.
Political speech – especially “unpopular” political speech, or speech that makes some people uneasy – is exactly the type of speech that our Founders most wanted to protect. It’s also the type of speech that is most often shut down by the current wave of “political correctness”.
The coffeehouse has a venerable tradition as a place for reading and sharing newspapers, for socializing, and for exchanging news and ideas. Attempts to suppress this freedom of expression took the form of closing the coffeehouses or of prohibiting coffee itself, which proved largely futile. Nowadays, we rely on the Internet café to meet the same needs in a slightly different way. Too bad that the technology itself, which potentially lets us share information, exercise our freedoms, and express our creativity, is being misused to narrow the range of ideas that we are allowed to debate.
Where is this censorship going to end? There’s already a scarcity of printed news that addresses the issues of jihadism or the dangers to our freedom and our way of life posed by the growing Islamization of the U.S. And neither television news, nor our elective officials, even acknowledge that there might be a problem.
Food for thought: If we did have a newspaper that covered those topics, do you suppose someone would complain if we were to take it into a Panera Bread store to read while we’re eating? What would our response be if someone did raise a fuss? Just askin’…
If you’ve visited this blog before, or if you’ve already met 1389 elsewhere on the Web, you’ll know that I’ve never been afraid to “stir the pot” whenever it needs to be stirred. Nobody has attempted to shut down 1389 Blog, probably because it hasn’t built up a big enough audience yet. Even so, this issue affects all of us, bloggers and readers alike. Keep in mind that the blogs you like to read won’t be able to survive if it becomes too easy to stop their readers from seeing the blogs!
So here’s what to do:
Contact Panera Bread at: 
Ronald M. Shaich, Chairman and CEO
Panera Bread
6710 Clayton Road
Richmond Heights, MO 63117
Tel: (314) 633-7100
Fax: (314) 633-7200
Email contact form
Investor Relations:
800-301-5566, ext. 6500
investor@panerabread.com
Contact SonicWALL, Inc. at: 
Matt Medeiros, President and CEO
SonicWALL, Inc.
1143 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1306
USA
P +1 888.557.6642
P +1 408.745.9600
F +1 408.745.9300
Email contact form
“What else can I do?”
- Pass the link to this article along to your family and friends.
- Ask them to contact Panera Bread and SonicWALL.
- Find out whether these sites are blocked where you work, study, or use WiFi:
- If antijihadist websites are blocked:
- Try to find out what type of censorware or content filtering system is blocking your access.
- Here are two quick ways to pass this information along to us:
- Bookmark this link for rolling updates:
Stop Blog Censorship!
More Information:
Subscribe to 1389 Blog!
Technorati : Bury Brigade, Digg, Foehammer s Anvil, Ft. Hard Knox, Islam, Jihad Watch, Jim Sutter, Panera Bread, Religion of Peace, SonicWALL, blacklisting of antijihadists, blog swarm, blogging, censorship, censorware, counterterrorism, cyberjihadism, e-jihadis, jihadis, jihadism, political correctness
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August 8th, 2007 — American South, MySpace, Technorati, Twitter, counterjihad, disaster preparedness, incident tracking, medical, security, tech tips, travel
I practically never post anything to this blog about myself and my day-to-day experiences. After all, this blog is not about me! But this time, I’m making an exception, simply because, on my travels, I recently witnessed an odd series of events, and those events raised questions that need to be answered. I liveblogged these events on Twitter, along with more mundane details of the journey.
Event #1: Last Friday, northbound through rural Georgia on I-75, we were caught in an unexpected traffic jam. The slowdown turned out to be a “gaper’s block” caused by a roadside vehicle fire. When we got to the scene, we saw a motorhome that had burned all the way down to the chassis. We saw no other damaged vehicles, nor anything else indicating why the motorhome had burned.
Event #2: That same day, just a few hours later, we were westbound on I-24 through the mountains of Tennessee, when, once again, traffic came to a complete halt. When the traffic flow started up again, all motorists were herded onto the left shoulder, while a hazmat response vehicle sped by with its siren screaming. This time, we saw a truck cab that had burned all the way down to its chassis. Some liquid, probably fuel, had spilled onto the pavement. Little remained of the truck cab, but the remainder of the rig appeared undamaged. Here again, it was not apparent what had caused the fire.
Event #3: While I was still pondering the odds of having seen two roadside fires involving large vehicles on the same day, traffic stopped again, just up the road on I-24 in the mountains of Tennessee. Sure enough, we could see clouds of smoke in the distance. When we finally went past the scene, we saw two active grass fires, with firefighters working on putting them out. At one of the fires, I saw a large rectangular area of burned grass. It appeared that a burned vehicle, the size of a truck, bus, or motorhome, had just been removed.
Was this a coincidence, or something else? I discussed this with someone else who shares my interest in counterterrorism and tracking unusual events. He said that fires like these are strictly local news, and that if they don’t take place near a city or town, they might not be reported at all. Even when they do make the local news, it’s very unlikely that anybody would put them all together and report on the fact that an unusual number of vehicle fires happened on the same day. These three fires might well have been a coincidence, but we have too little data to draw that or any other conclusion.
On the other hand, what if it wasn’t a coincidence? If a group of people wanted to cause havoc and destruction, and to have a good chance of getting away with it, what might they do? We’ve all been led to expect an apocalyptic attack one or more major cities, which would make the national news and launch an immediate manhunt. But what if they were to sabotage and burn dozens, or hundreds, of vehicles in rural areas instead? How would anybody connect the dots?
Since then, I’ve been searching for any mention of these fires in the local news, to no avail. As of this writing, I’ve yet to find any news story that I can associate with the date and location of these particular fires. That’s frustrating, but it tells me that we can’t rely on the mainstream media, or official sources, to recognize these dots, much less connect them!
This is where citizen journalism comes in, which means you and me. Use whatever tools are available to do the job. If you don’t have a video camera or a camera phone, at least get a phone with web browsing and text messaging capability, so that you can transmit the details of what you encountered.
How would a database or wiki help? The task of “connecting the dots” would be much easier if we had a database or wiki that everyone could use for reporting unusual events and local-scale disasters, and that everyone could search to find patterns and causes of events. In order to be useful, this would have to be a large-scale project that takes in and organizes detailed data from all over the U.S. It would take plenty of resources to start up such a database or wiki on a server that could handle the traffic, to launch and promote the project, and to sign up enough participants to give the project a good start. This is not a one-person job; clearly, it would take more funds and more time than I presently have at my disposal. Nonetheless, this is my proposal for the future, and if enough other people are interested, we could get it done!
For now, we can improvise by using the “blogosphere” itself as our database. If you witness anything unusual, regardless of whether or not you think it is terrorism-related, just blog about it and then pass the information along to others. If possible, set up your blog so that you can make blog posts from your mobile device. Even if all you have is a forum membership somewhere, a Twitter account, or a MySpace page, use it as a vehicle for recording what you saw! After awhile, the search engines on the Web will find these blog posts, and anyone will be able to use them to look for patterns in unusual events. Using even the simplest blogging or microblogging system will get your data out into the world where good use can eventually be made of it.
Tech tip: Did you know that you can claim your Twitter account as a blog on Technorati?
It’s very easy to do. It will make your tweets searchable and it will give you more of a presence on Technorati.
On Digg, I posted a comment to elaborate further on what this database or wiki should contain:
If you can find an interactive, real-time map of disasters, please let me know. But I’m looking for records of disasters on a local scale, that are never posted anywhere but the local news – or are not posted to any media at all. And I’m also looking for a repository of data that goes back into the past, to make it easier to search for patterns over time.
Noteworthy things to track include the following:
- Disease outbreaks in humans, animals, and plants
- Unusual numbers of, or disappearances of, wildlife (such as the recent bee dieoff)
- Power outages, Internet and phone service outages, and other infrastructure failures (such as the recent bridge collapse) whether there were casualties or not
The vast majority of these things will result from natural causes or human error, and not from terrorism. Nonetheless, knowing about those other causes could potentially save many lives also.
Update – August 16, 2007:
Here’s a link to a very disturbing incident. I have no further information about this, and do not know whether there is any connection between this new incident and the ones that I noticed previously. In this instance, the news story implies gang activity.
Bomb blows up truck, owner inside
I found out about this incident by using this resource:
Global Terrorism Incident Map: Here are the Links and Contact Info
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