A year ago today the Town Of Paradise burned. 90% of the Town’s population became homeless that day. 85 people burned to death. It burned approximately 219 sq miles, and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures. Most of this damage occurred in 4 hours. Here’s the link to the Paradise Wiki page. My Town Of Magalia also burned. About 25-30% of the dwellings gone. Here’s the link to the Magalia page.
My former home in Paradise burned. The only thing left were some cinder block walls.
My Grandpa’s home is also gone
That day I heard about the fire around 6:30am or so on one of my local Facebook groups, but it was so far away and we are used to fires up here…so I wasn’t too worried. My middle daughter came to tell me about it but I shrugged her off saying “yeah, I know, I’m not worried.” Next, my oldest daughter, who worked at the Feather River Cancer Center, said flames were in the parking lot of the hospital when she left there and suggested I’d better pack up the animals and my stuff…
At that point I began to think maybe this WAS serious so I gathered my clothes and important papers, my animals (1 big dog & 2 cats) their food and my “bugout bag” and loaded up the car. The roads were already clogged with people trying to leave as I attempted to get to my oldest daughter’s house further north in Stirling City. We sat at her house until about 8pm when the word came to evacuate her area too.
Off we all went in a caravan: my daughter, her husband, & their two kids, the husband’s parents leading the way, and me bringing up the rear. It was pitch black and I had to drive with one eye closed because my glasses were making me cross-eyed! By the time we got to Forest Ranch, there were flames almost to our road into Chico! In fact that section of Chico had to evacuate temporarily too!
When we got to a gas station, my daughter put gas in my car & told me there was a shelter opening up in Gridley at the fairgrounds. I spent a week or so there. I made some friends there, one of whom offered to let me & my animals stay at her family home. Lovely people I’m still in touch with to this day.
I was one of the lucky ones but many weren’t so lucky. My heart goes out to them and I hope & pray that our beautiful little Town can rise from the ashes to be a true PARADISE again. Here & there you see signs of hope:
I’m a #CampFire survivor. It’s been almost exactly a year since the town of Paradise burned. 90% of Paradise is gone. My town also burned, about 30%.
Recently, as a result of that fire, PG&E started implementing Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). That was when I realized I had no working landline because it was bundled with my internet when all the customers up here were switched over to U-Verse. That meant that once the power went off, and once the backup internet battery died after 2 hours, I was in a total power/phone blackout. This becomes problematic because I would no longer receive the alerts or warnings that Code Red or PG&E send out.
When the power came back on I attempted to call AT&T to request my land line be separated from my internet line. The first try, the office was closed. The second try, I went through 5 customer service representatives who couldn’t help me. One rep said to switch me back to DSL would cost me $86/month just for local calls! When I asked her why it was so expensive, she said “our costs have gone up.” I told her a lawsuit would be more expensive! The last one told me I would get a callback from a manager in 20 minutes. That was an hour ago.
At this point I’m waiting to see if they follow through, but I can say this much: I will certainly be part of any class action for damages as a result of their failure to address working phone lines during emergencies, especially in a high fire area like mine. I already got lucky from the first fire, I don’t want to push my luck.
Let me explain: music used to be huge in my life, starting with my first band-crush, KISS.
I was probably the only kid I knew that liked them but it didn’t matter. I knew I wasn’t alone because they sold out STADIUMS for crying out loud! And my mom would listen with me so it was all good! Actually now that I think about it, my taste in music has always had an acceptance of the theatrical, or artistic Flair. KISS’ look has been described as Kabuki-like because of the use of heavy black/white/red face paint. I can’t think of anyone else who used face paint with the exception of Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, and maybe David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust days. While it’s true the face paint and costumes were eye-catching, I really really loved their music! And when we talk about KISS’ music, we are talking about LIVE music. I’ve heard the same thing from so many sources, nobody but NOBODY put on a better Live Rock Concert than KISS. That legacy has lasted unchallenged (in my opinion) for nearly 40 years.
Until recently. While perusing YouTube for K-drama news, I happened to see suggested videos about BIGBANG and T.O.P (who I knew about from a K-drama called IRIS).
Out of curiosity I clicked on the music video called Bang Bang Bang. That was it, I fell down the rabbit hole! That video grabs you in the first 3 seconds and doesn’t let go! And it ups the ante throughout the song so that by the time you are done watching it, you want to party, or run some laps or go calling every radio station you can think of and begging them to play BIGBANG! So now, after a dry spell of maybe 20 years, I’ve gotten inspired by music again! Thank you G-dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri!
Here is the link for Bang Bang Bang music video. The production values are phenomenal, the outfits and props are over the top, and the music is catchier than anything I’ve heard in YEARS. Of course it’s a few years old at this point, it came out in 2015.
Another favorite is Fantastic Baby . This one is even earlier, it came out in 2012.
I have to say my life has changed. I’m motivated to do things I really didn’t care about before! I’ve got BIGBANG and T.O.P on my wall above my bed. I’ve got jewelry and artwork and cell phone cases and clocks and CD’s on order from eBay! I troll the internet for news and videos, and I even started posting about my BIGBANG (and T.O.P) love on Twitter (which I hadn’t used since it came out!)
If you are interested in getting some music for yourselves, I strongly STRONGLY recommend their CD MADE.
By the way, I don’t know if this is intentional or not but one of the members, Taeyang, may have been acknowledging the connection to KISS, as I happened to see him wearing a KISS shirt during an Interview. I also found these of G-dragon (bless him!):
Anyways, I’m off to troll YouTube for more reaction vids and fan-made stuff.
America, we are under attack. Journalism has always been a part of this Nation’s fabric; Many of the Founding Fathers engaged in publication, including Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine. Thomas Jefferson himself emphasized the importance of Freedom of the Press to the concept of Liberty. Yet today, as never before, Journalism, and even Journalists, are under attack by elites who apparently believe they do not have to be held accountable for their actions, and who will go to extreme lengths to silence or even outright own the institution of Journalism in this country.
The most obvious example of disrespect toward Journalists and Journalism is that of Donald Trump, who baldly calls the media “liars,” and encourages his acolytes to jeer along with him. (True sheeple, they are). Furthermore, anything Trump disagrees with he labels as “fake news,” yet his revisionistic versions of events are characterized as “alternative facts” by his mouthpieces.
According to the documentary, this trend came to light when it was revealed that there was a secret benefactor bankrolling Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker for posting a sex-related video. This fact was astounding because the benefactor, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel, had no connection to the case matter or its litigants. Rather, he was motivated by spite and malice because he had been “outed” as gay by a Gawker reporter years before. Shenanigans during the trial ( such as dropping the ’emotional distress’ charge thus absolving Gawker’s insurance company from liability and shifting the financial responsibility for damages onto Gawker’s founder) made it clear that the REAL goal was to financially ruin Gawker and shut it down as a media outlet. Nor is he alone in targeting media outlets. In some cases, most notably with Rupert Murdoch (not discussed in the program), money buys the forum with which to expound political views. After all, what better way to disseminate propaganda and shape the viewpoints of whole swathes of people? Another such acquisition was the purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal by Sheldon Adelson, “a prominent Republican donor” (from a review in the L.A. Times by Jeffrey Fleishman).
Investigative Journalism needs our support more than ever. In an era where credibility seems to go to the person with the deepest pockets, we need to applaud these brave souls who are committed to speaking truth to power. I myself subscribe to Mother Jones magazine, and have supported public broadcasting over the years. Most importantly, we must continue to be discerning in our news gathering, and be ready to fact check if necessary. Our continued Liberty depends upon it.
It’s June, 2017, and with depressing regularity, I still see headlines in the news about incursions against women’s reproductive rights. Our leadership (I use the term loosely) in Washington (Trump, The Republican-controlled Congress), insist on defunding Planned Parenthood, yet there is already no Federal funding for abortion…so what really are they accomplishing? Simply put, they are removing access to vital health screenings and birth control options for the poorest and least served among us. Reading the May issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, I saw a map showing just how limited women’s access to birth control is. The logic behind these tactics is baffling because the result of denying birth control or abortion services is an increase in population among those least able to afford children. The result of this Machiavellian scheme is generations of children growing up in poverty, with many a family destroyed by drugs, crime, violence, or some combination of same. Is that any sane person’s idea of “life?” I think not. How many of the misguided “pro-lifers” who picket abortion clinics have offered to adopt these “lives” they claim to care about? I’ve not heard of any. And yet these same folks also scream for welfare cuts (which exacerbates the scenario outlined above).
In this day and age, why is it that women still struggle to control choices affecting their bodies? Most of the time it can be laid at the feet of the Conservative Christian movement, whose underlying patriarchy demands a woman be subservient to a man, and whose agenda includes removing the concept of choice in the area of sexual freedom. The tactics have shifted over the decades from demonizing women for engaging in sex for purposes other than procreation, to restricting a woman’s access to birth control methods or abortion services by redefining what constitutes “life.” During the 80s, particularly with the Reagan Presidency, the alignment of the so-called “Moral Majority” with the Republican Party saw the reinvigoration of the “pro-life” movement. This was evidenced by chipping incrementally away at Roe, either by case law or legislation, coupled with an effort to shift public opinion regarding when life actually began.
It is this last aspect that I find particularly insidious: by “life,” are we talking about cell activity, or are we talking about viability? And this is crucial, because viability in my opinion, is the only real test here. Most scientists and doctors have accepted the earliest point at which a fetus can survive outside a mother’s womb is at 24 weeks. Any earlier, and the fetus would require some sort of medical assistance or it would die–and I’m speaking from experience here, because I myself was born at 24 weeks and I still spent 3 months in an incubator! The idea that “life” begins at conception is to completely ignore the fact that without the Mother’s host body, there is no material with which to create a new being. And THAT, dear readers is the real EVIL of this mind-set: it completely marginalizes the woman and removes her from consideration even though she is indispensable to the entire process! It is the woman’s body that suffers the effects of pregnancy–from mild discomfort in the form of nausea or vomiting, to more serious impacts like calcium depletion, etc, or the onset of pregnancy-related conditions like diabetes and the like. Only a woman can truly lay claim to the statement “My flesh and blood,” because all the building blocks of this potential being come from her. To deny her any voice in this process is to declare she is nothing more than an animate incubator. And that, to me, is outrageous.
The Constitution states people have a right to be secure in their person, place, and property. The Roe Court stated that included a woman’s right to autonomy over her own body. I agree. The fact that this even needed to be litigated is such a sad commentary on our society…why are there no cases dealing with access to viagra, or chemical castration of male pedophiles or rapists? What if women denied men sex altogether? Furthermore, when did the religious views of one vocal group become the guideline for everyone? Our Founding Fathers believed in a Separation between Church and State–and with good reason! History is replete with examples of atrocities committed in the name of religion.
Isn’t it time we all took our noses out of everyone else’s privates? Why yes. Yes it is.
Im no astronomer, but I am capable of simple observation. For some time now I’ve noticed the moon is at the wrong place in the sky at certain key times. For example, a few months ago, around 11 pm, I went out to call my cats in for the night, and I noticed the moon was very far advanced in its path in the sky: it was nearly at the moonset point, and it should have been at midheaven…and just this morning at 5am, again while calling the cats to come in, I noticed the moon was just past the moonrise part of the sky, almost at the midheaven, instead of further along toward moonset.
What’s even weirder is that this isn’t consistent from night to night, but random. I know there is talk of pole shift nowadays, and you might think that would explain what’s going on ( and maybe it does), but why is there no chatter about this? This is big, it’s scary, and I don’t like it one bit. I used to browse YouTube for answers, but I don’t trust anything any more with all the deliberate misinformation and fear porn out there, it’s next to impossible to inform yourself about anything.
So, I may never get an answer, but at least I can hope that my story will cause other people to look up and pay attention and add their voice to mine. Something strange is going on boys and girls, keep those eyes and ears open!
I live in a sleepy town in Northern California. Usually not much happens here, but sometimes we do have a brush with the paranormal or the unexplained. The incident I’m about to relate did happen, but because I didn’t make note of the day or time, or otherwise document it, I can’t be specific about when it occurred, other than to say it was very green and lush so I’d guess it was Spring or maybe early Summer, within a year or so of this writing. I was driving south down the Skyway to Chico, (can’t recall why), and the roadway was pretty empty around me. There were other cars but they were far enough away that I felt alone on my bit of road.
I was about midway down the stretch between Paradise and Chico and I was admiring the view off to my right, which we locally call “The Little Grand Canyon,” or Honey Run Canyon. Honey Run bridge is one of the few remaining covered bridges in California. The canyon itself is quite vast, and snakes north, with Butte creek meandering quietly through.
Anyway, as I’m hitting the halfway point I realized that suddenly, out of nowhere, this very large plane, like a cargo plane or a bomber, is to my right. (I should point out I am no expert on plane types, I’m just giving my best guess as to its identification). I did not see it approach, nor did I see it in my rear view as I passed it. It’s possible that its approach may have been hidden by my position behind some trees, but I was coming from an uphill vantage point so I had the higher elevation relative to its approach, and I did not see it in the distance as I came downhill. That said, while it was visible to me there was nothing to hinder my view. Its appearance was sudden, and silent, and inexplicable. It was also extremely low, on a par with the canyon rim. Immediately I began trying to rationalize why it was there: was it a fire bomber? No, there were no fires in the area… Was it military? Perhaps, but why fly so low and travel in a canyon that was bound to narrow further on? Not only that, but it seemed to travel very slowly as it flew. Also, the silence of the plane was a surprise because as a rule, bombers are very noisy and droning. That close it should have vibrated my whole car!
As suddenly as it appeared, it was gone, and I could find no mention of it in local news or papers, or even online. I began to wonder if it had been cloaked, and maybe the cloaking malfunctioned? Was it some super secret government spy plane? Was it a time space anomaly that I just happened to witness? I don’t know, and I suppose I’ll never know, but I’ve thought of it often since it happened, and decided I’d go ahead and go on record as having seen it in case anyone else out there may have seen it or perhaps something similar.
UPDATE 5/23/17: Recently I came across some videos on YouTube that talked about the “Fake Plane” phenomenon, in which holograms or other non-actual aircraft are seen in the air, and then they suddenly disappear, similar to an image being shut off.
I don’t know what I saw exactly, but the bare facts of my sighting seem to fit with the so-called “fake plane” incidents. There are a few theories out there that it is military tech, or some sort of black ops trickery (to what end who can say…) or shadow government agenda (again, why?) I do remember some folks saying the planes that hit the Twin Towers on 9/11 were holograms, and the damage was caused by explosives planted within the building. If it is a secret program, the implications are enormous: widespread panic could ensue over a hologram of a UFO, for example, and people might be made to believe an alien attack was imminent, especially if coupled with top secret military aircraft that resemble and maneuver like UFO’s…and if you believe like I do that 9/11 was an inside job, it isn’t much of a stretch to think that certain factions could be capable of creating chaos on a grand scale…
I have to say it is a very weird experience, seeing something, then not seeing it, and realizing it was dead silent (and planes of that type have a very LOUD drone, I hear it often during a bad fire season). You begin to doubt your senses and your sanity, but you can’t deny that you saw something. As I said, weird.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.
Wanted to give a shout out to an ebay merchant who went way beyond good customer service–over a year ago, I purchased a personalized license plate frame which I was informed was a prototype, and which the seller offered to replace once he got stock in. I told him I was happy with the prototype, but he surprised me about a week ago by sending 2 of the finished design!
In appreciation, I said I would give him credit publicly. Therefore, I wish to thank ebay merchant Moldman88 for remembering me and for proving that good customer service is NOT dead, and that we should all remember to shop with the independent merchants instead of putting our dollars in the pockets of big corporations who dont care about us as people.
With this post I am widening my series to include a narrative by someone I only just recently became connected with, but whose story is important enough to bear repeating. About 2 months ago, I happened to be watching the SYFY channel’s Paranormal Witness program. I had no idea that by the end of the show I’d be so stunned by the revelations that I would actively seek out the woman who was sharing her story–but that is what happened.
Before I delve into the topic, I just want to send a little gratitude to my son, who positively HATES it when I watch all my spooky ghost shows, but ends up watching them with me (mostly because I have the remote LOL!)
Ok, now for the specifics. The episode in question, The Apartment, aired 9/12/12 @ 10pm. In content, it was much like other stories of ghost activity: moved objects, unexplained activity, brief sightings etc, but this story had an added twist: serial nightmares. And, it was local. For me, that was the clincher. Below is the local newspaper account of the facts:
Ten years ago, Jodi Foster hopped on a train with her 2-year-old daughter, Hannah, and made her way from rural Montana to Chico. She had fond memories of this town, where she’d spent a summer in 1997 caring for her grandmother. With the help of a few friends, she found a nice, two-bedroom apartment on Parmac Road and moved their modest belongings with hopes of creating a home.
But within mere hours of being in the new apartment, Foster got an uneasy feeling. It was as if someone was watching her, she said. Unable to put her finger on what was wrong, she pushed the feelings aside, reassuring herself that her cute, clean apartment was just fine.
Something lingered, though, and before long she started having dreams, vivid accounts of strange events and places she’d never been.
The article goes on to detail the series of dreams that Jodi had, all revolving around a young woman who was abducted and tortured by a couple until finally the young woman is murdered. One odd aspect about the young woman was her silence–she spoke instead through her eyes. In one of the most vivid dreams, Jodi sees the actual murder, and the woman mouths the words ‘help me.’ The paranormal activity isnt confined to dreams either: objects were continually being moved, and at one point heaped in a pile on the bed, with Jodi’s daughter’s stuffed Ernie doll repeating “I feel great” in rapid succession. This proves to be the last straw and Jodi complains to the Apartment manager who agrees to relocate Jodi to a different complex in exchange for not speaking about the haunting. Jodi agrees and moves across town, gets a new job, and becomes involved in a relationship.
At first, Jodi does not realize that the people and events she is being shown are real, but after researching stories of abduction in the local library, Jodi learned the name of the young woman (Marie Spannake) and her address at the time of her abduction–the very same apartment that Jodi had rented! A picture in the article confirmed this was the same woman who appeared to Jodi in her dreams, and whose body was never found. Armed with a name, a face, and some additional details from recent dreams, Jodi contacts a local crime journalist who relates details of a similar kidnapping in a nearby town. The victim in that crime was kept prisoner for several years before managing to break free. Her captors were arrested, and the wife (Janice) agreed to testify against her husband in exchange for immunity. During her testimony, the wife mentioned that she and her husband had abducted another woman the previous year–Marie Spannake.
Jodi got in touch with local police and gave them every detail she could think of, including what she believed to be geographic coordinates of the location where Marie’s body was buried. Because the case was still considered open, they could not confirm anything. Jodi then contacted an investigative reporter who was able to get a copy of Janice’s interrogation. One small detail explained why Marie didnt speak–her vocal chords were severed.
Unfortunately, even armed with the information Jodi supplied, local police were unable to locate Marie’s body and the case remains unsolved. Janice has since begun a career as a therapist, and works for a nearby County. As a result of her testimony, Janice’s husband was convicted and is currently serving time in prison. He is due to be released for parole shortly. Jodi herself has seen her life transformed. Journals she kept detailing her dreams were eventually compiled and edited into a book Forgotten Burial-A restless spirit’s plea for justice and can be ordered HERE.
I guess it goes without saying (but Im saying it anyway!) that if you, or anyone you know may have info that may be of use in this ongoing investigation, please contact Chico Police. They can be reached the following ways:
If you would like to report a crime or activity, please call (530) 895 – 4911, use our Online Crime Report Form, or download our printable Crime Report Form for mailing or drop off at Chico P.D.
Marie Spannake deserves to rest in peace, but more than that, she deserves justice. With that I think I’ll close with my usual
and T.O.P (who I knew about from a K-drama called IRIS).
Its ALL Blarney!! 
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