Thursday, July 19, 2012

Wal-mart Bathroom Troubles

This is why you should never use bathrooms at Wal-Mart.

Newsnet5 from a CNN report:

MONTICELLO, Ky. - A woman visiting a Kentucky Walmart found herself in a sticky situation.

Monticello city officials said the woman went to use the store's bathroom when she realized she was stuck to the toilet seat. It was later determined the seat was covered in Super Glue.

The woman was stuck inside the restroom for nearly an hour. Now, police are investigating the incident.

"We're looking at it. Right now, I wouldn't be prepared to say which way it was -- accident or intention," said Monticello Police Deptment Chief Ralph Miniard.

Paramedics were on hand to help pull the woman off the seat. She was taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out.

This isn't the first time someone was glued to a toilet seat at Walmart.

What appeared to be an April Fools' prank caused a man to be glued to a toilet at a Maryland Walmart on March 31.

Putting Super Glue on a toilet is considered a crime, and the perpetrator could face second-degree assault charges, said Lt. Matthew Donnelly of the Elkton Police Department.



Helium Shortage





 I went to my local party store to see on getting some balloons filled for an event. When the worker informed me that there was a helium shortage and she could not guarantee the balloons could be filled that far ahead of time.

Helium shortage..humm...why isn't this on the news along with the rest of depressing headlines.



Brad Plumer from the Bend Bulletin has the skinny:

Yes, helium. Thanks to a 1996 law that has forced the government to sell off its helium reserves at bargain-bin prices, the country’s stockpile of the relatively rare and nonrenewable gas could soon vanish.
Party supply stores are already feeling the pinch, as helium shortfalls are driving up the price of balloons. But it’s not birthday parties we should worry about. A severe helium shortage, experts say, would cause problems for large swaths of the economy, from medical scanners to welding to the manufacturing of optical fibers and LCD screens.
Congress is slowly grasping the extent of the problem. At a sleepy Senate hearing last week, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee listened to an array of experts chat about helium. The hearing was tied to a bill, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., that would change how the government sells helium from its Federal Helium Reserve to prevent shortages.....
...So how did we get to this point? Back in the 1920s, when blimps and other airships seemed like a useful military technology, the United States set up a national helium program. In the 1960s, it opened the Federal Helium Reserve, an 11,000-acre site in the Hugoton-Panhandle Gas Field that spans Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. The porous brown rock is one of the only geological formations on Earth that can hold huge quantities of helium. And the natural gas from the field itself was particularly rich in helium — a relative rarity in the world.
By 1996, however, the Helium Reserve looked like a waste. Blimps no longer seemed quite so vital to the nation’s defense and, more important, the reserve was $1.4 billion in debt after paying drillers to extract helium from natural gas. The Republican-led Congress, looking to save money, passed the Helium Privatization Act, ordering a selloff by the end of 2014.
There was just one small hitch. According to a 2010 report by the National Research Council, the formula that Congress used to set the price for the helium was flawed. Bingaman has dubbed it a “fire sale.” The federally owned helium now sells for about half of what it would on the open market.
And, since the Federal Helium Reserve provides about one-third of the world’s helium, this has upended the entire market. There’s little incentive to conserve, recycle or find new sources of helium. Instead, we’ve been frittering it away. And once helium escapes into the air, it can’t be recovered.
Worse, under existing law, the Federal Helium Reserve could run out of money to operate as early as mid-2013. When that happens, it will still have a large chunk of the world’s helium supply locked in the reservoir — but no one will be able to access it.

So it's the governments fault.

Some people say we will run out of helium in 30 to 50 years. I don't believe we are going to run out completely. I think we have reached peak helium.

What does this mean for us?

Not to much, for now, unless you're in the balloon business.
But if this escalates it could be bad. Helium is used in MRI machines, arc welding, and deep sea diving.

So, if you wanted to hop in a chair with a bunch of helium balloons and fly around like Larry Walters or dive for sunken treasure like Jacques Cousteau, you better get while the gettin's good.








Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Paducah Airship

This came from a Paducah, Kentucky news paper.

The Paducah Daily Sun, April 19, 1897


"Grey Drones" in Kentucky



The times are a changing, but less Bob Dylan and more of a Orwellian outlook.

First we had the mysterious Black Helicopters flying around doing God knows what and now there are Grey Drones.




Here is a list of drone (U.A.V.'s) bases in Kentucky. Its not surprising Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox, two of the most secret military bases, are on the list. But Corbin, Kentucky?

Interesting and strange, since Corbin has a population of around 7,000 and that the department is under SOCOM (special operations command) so, think Delta Force and SEAL Team 6.

Why should you care if the military has a base next door to you. Because, according to a Air Force document, the police can use military drones to spy on you with out a warrant.


Drones on the list
link to Wiki 
PUMA AE    
RQ11B Raven
Wasp
RQ7B
Viking
MQ1C






The list is from a Dept of Defense report.

But, it's not just the military. Local and federal law enforcement have, or will have, grey drones in the sky. Police in Lakota, N. D. used a drone to arrest one person.






Mark Mazzetti did a piece in the New York Times on military drones.

 "When I visited the base earlier this year with a small group of reporters, we were taken into a command post where a large flat-screen television was broadcasting a video feed from a drone flying overhead. It took a few seconds to figure out exactly what we were looking at. A white S.U.V. traveling along a highway adjacent to the base came into the cross hairs....
 “'Wait, you guys practice tracking enemies by using civilian cars?' a reporter asked. One Air Force officer responded that this was only a training mission, and then the group was quickly hustled out of the room."
— Mark Mazzetti, "The Drone Zone"
News links on drones

ABC Drones in the US

CBS

RT Texas college hacks drone



 


Friday, July 13, 2012

Mysterious Explosion in Perry County



On December 11, 2011 there was an explosion in the hills of  Hazard, Ky that shook windows. Witnesses saw a large smoke cloud coming up over a ridge line. Calls to 911 came in with reports of planes crashing and all hell breaking loose.

The Hazard fire team investigation came up with no plane, no explosion crater, and no fire. They did find a defunct mine shaft that was smoking.

Explanations range from mine fire,gas explosion, meteor, and, of course, UFO's.

My money is on the mine fire. I just hope Hazard doesn't turn into another Centralia , PA.

Lex 18 new report: 

Youtube compilation of news reports





The Louisville UFO Dogfight

Louisville Courier-Journal staff artist Wes Kendall



The event happened in Louisville, Ky around General Electric Appliance Park.

Here is the Courier-Journal report on the event.
 Source: Gardiner Harris, Louisville Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), Mar. 4, 1993
Two Jefferson County air unit police officers — described by their lieutenant as "solid guys" — swear they had a two-minute dogfight with a UFO during a routine helicopter patrol Friday night.

Two officers on the ground said they, too, spotted the object. The UFO — a glowing pear-shaped object about the size of a basketball — literally flew circles around the helicopter, even though the fliers say they were moving at speeds approaching 100 mph.

In one blinding moment when both craft were hurtling toward each other, the UFO shot three baseball-size fireballs out of its middle, all three officers said. The fireballs fizzled into nothing. Officers Kenny Graham and Kenny Downs haven't talked much about their Friday night flight over General Electric Appliance Park because they fear few will believe them. But they are convinced they weren't hallucinating.

"We both go to church every week," Downs said as a way of explaining how normal the two normally are. "In fact, I might start going to church twice a week." Officer Mike Smith, in his squad car below, said he saw the object for only about a minute. But he confirmed the UFO shot three fireballs into the air and then disappeared. Officer Joe Smolenski said he tried for more than a minute to catch up to the object in his squad car. "I've been looking for 'em for 14 years, and I guess this is the closest I've come to something I couldn't explain."

Lt. David Pope, who was roused out of bed at 12:30 Saturday morning by a call from the startled officers, attested to their sanity and sincerity.

"These guys are totally solid guys," Pope said. "There's no doubt in my mind there was something out there."

The night started out like every other night. Graham and Downs got to work around 6 p.m. and were soon in the air flying a routine patrol. Graham, 39 and an 11-year veteran, was the pilot. Downs, 39 and a five-year veteran, was the spotter.

While in the air, they received a call about a possible break-in near Sanford Avenue and Buechel Bank Road. They flew off and quickly reached the area, which is near the northeast comer of Appliance Park, around 11:50 p.m.

As they circled, Graham saw something that looked like a small fire off to his left. Dozens of bonfires had been lit around the county that night by revelers delighting in the new snowfall.

But Graham soon decided i! wasn't a fire. Downs shined his 1.3-million-candlepower spotlight on the object, which began to drift back and forth like a balloon as the light washed over it. Then it gradually floated up to the helicopter's elevation about 500 feet above the ground, where it hovered for a few seconds.

"Then it took off at a speed I've never seen before," said Graham: an experienced pilot.

The object made two huge counter-clockwise loops and finally approached the helicopter's rear.

Graham, afraid-the object would ram his tail rotor, pushed his speed above 100 mph. The UFO shot past them and instantly climbed hundreds of feet in the air. It descended again and flew close to the helicopter. Graham tried to close the gap with the object, and it again flew away. As the UFO approached on a parallel course, the three fireballs burst out of its core.

Scared, Graham banked away from the object.

"When we came back around, it was gone," Graham said.

When the two returned to their base, Graham called the control tower at Standiford Field to ask if their radar had spotted anything unusual. It had not.

Downs called the county's radio dispatchers to ask if anyone else had reported sightings. No one had.

But the two did get confirmation from two officers on the ground, one of whom was Smith.

"I have no idea what it was," Smith said, but his confirmation cheered the two fliers.

"It makes me feel better," Downs said, "that there are... grown men out there who are sworn to protect this community and who saw the same thing."
Officers Downs and Graham, helicopter air unit, involved in the "dogfight"

There is a post at Unusual Kentucky that may shed some light on this mystery.

 Paranormal Witness on the SyFy channel covered this event. Jump to 32:24









Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bowling Green Ghost Bridge


Living in Bowling Green, Ky I have heard many stories of the "Ghost Bridge". Legend has it, a young girl committed suicide by jumping off the bridge in the waters of the Barren River. If you park your car at the end of the bridge, turn the engine off, and put it in neutral. She will push the car across the bridge.

So, my wife and I decided to check out the legend.

We park the car on the west side of the bridge, about 15 feet past the entrance facing the east side, and follow the directions of the legend.
turn off car...check
put car in neutral...check
and foot off brake....check

To my surprise we started to move, picking up speed, all the way to the end.

I have my theory on the spirit pushing bridge, but go out and explore for your self.





Bridge: Old Richardsville Road Bridge
Location: Old Richardsville Road, Bowling Green, Kentucky

Big World Still Kickin


I was told by a friend that Richmond, Ky local legend Big World had died. There was scuttlebutt running around the web that he had passed. Thankfully he is still alive. 

The Richmond Register reported that he was in the hospital for pneumonia treatment.
 
Big World

When I go to Richmond my trip is not complete unless I do two things:
  • Eat at Fong's ( I recommend the General Soul Chicken)
  • See Big World 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012


Rare wax figure of Einstein

In May of 2012 the Mammoth Cave Wax Museum in Cave City, Ky sadly closed. Selling off most, if not all, of there collection of famous wax figures. The museum's rarest and most valuable is that of Albert Einstein. The wax figure is said to have been formed from Einstein's own face. This one-of-a-kind wax figure is selling for 1.5 million bucks on ebay.

Lifelike: The sculpture is thought to be a one-of-a-kind as it was peeled from the face of the man himself