Monday, May 23, 2011

The New Phone Books Here

I sent my request to the FBI and got the following letter

Dear Mr. (Pimpernel),

"Ths responds to your Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOIPA) request.

Based on the information you provided, we conducted a search of the indices to our Central Records System. We were unable to identify responsive main file records. If you have additional information pertaining to the subject that you believe was of investigative interest to the Bureau, please provide us the details and we will conduct an additional search."

Now, the next paragraph said that if I was on a watch list then they would not have to provide me any information or explanation. Excuse me kids, lmao. Now I can list out all the reasons why they do have a file, all my family had secret or top secret, my ex brother in law has a very active file because of his job, I dated a woman with a top secret cleanarnce and over 20 years ago the FBI had to admit that they had tapped our phone for 5 years rather than 3 (the law, not an investigation into wrongdoing by my family).

Hmmm, now what shall we do next. Perhaps the reader thinks Pimpernel does not know how to play the game; but, he does. He knows how to do a Freedom of Information request regarding events that their files would have mentioned him in. Rather than request my file, I can request an events file that includes a discussion of me. They then would have provided information proving I must be in a file of my own, now which event shall I choose. There are time limits on events under the FOIA. Something borrowed, something blue.

Dear friends, Pimpernel belongs to no organziations, has stolen nothing, is a pacifist and lives the quiet life I have previously described. Why would a meaningless person like me be on a watch list? That makes no sense, well, depends on why and which list. There are lists for all kinds of reasons, even ones that you are on where they dont have a problem with you.

A friend of mine who worked in the intelligence community had said that he was surprised he was not able to see my file previously, they told him no and he had a very nice clearance. He couldn't figure out why, that is why I asked for the file. Now, Pimpernel is confused too. I will have to ponder this for a bit and how I wish to proceed.

I am so silly, I don't need to do any of that, I have my father's writings, he died in my arms. No telling what might be in those, perhaps others would be interested in knowing. That is not quite fair either, I don't really have any of his writings, I do not have the space to keep such things.

End Times and a Time For Love

We all know about the end of the world not happening on May 21st, wasn't going to happen. Bad logic was behind the call and poor bible scholarship. Bigger question for me is who cares when our world changes, what does it matter on an individual basis, everybody dies, didn't you get the memo?

Now, this is going to be a planning exercise. If you believed that a major catastrophic event were going to occur (for the purpose of this post lets say a giant asteroid would hit the earth and cut the amount of sunshine the earth received thereby reducing the food supply). If you were in charge and believed such a thing, what sort of planning would you do?

For my part, I would want to protect as many as possible. In government they have what is known as "continuity of government". In the United States we have an extensive "continuity of operations plan". You can read the differant executive directives based on the links. Nothing ominous, planning and pubic information not fear mongering.

What would you save and how? Seeds and people and an infratructure to rebuild, obviously. What of all histories human endeavors would you save, what about the writings of Jane Austen, it would be a sad place without it. Space might require that we save only electronic copies of most things. What would you leave out, would you leave out Maplethorpes art? Would you try and purge history of the things that you did not believe were good (child pornography for example). How would you decide what to keep and what to lose and how would you justify it?

The Catholic Church has one of the most amazing libraries in the world, they have collected writings and art worldwide, much is not displaye; but, even heresey was saved because it is all part of our historical experience. How would you protect the greatest art being held in the Louve? I would make copies and hide the real stuff in vaults, same for the Smithsonian Museum. But, if you did too many would know something was going on, so you have to be very picky about the originals you kept.

I don't know a lot about the plans that were made except the obvious. I do however wonder about who would be allowed in underground basis. I wonder how I would choose. I wonder how you would keep people's spirits up, how joy would be ensured for the survivors. I would hire the best psychologists in the world to find ways to give people a individual virtual experience, tailored to them, one that could adjust and provide opportunity to fell that you had some control and could work towards goals. I don't know exactly I would do that; but, virtual worlds that provided a place to experience teamwork and community.

I would also prepare on replacing what we as humanity have achieved over the years. I look at the recent tornadoes and hope and believe that some planner has a plan for rebuilding, Joplin has a lot of history. What has happened there is devestating, we don't even know how many have been killed or injured and our hearts go out to them. When we have finished grieving for what and who have been lost, it will be time to cleanup and rebuild.

If you want to understand why the government builds survivalbe infrastructure, it is because natural disasters and man made ones have and will continue to occur. Because we know this, we have people who dedicate their lives to preparing for things that nobody wants to ever see occur.

Will there be more earthquakes and tornadoes, yes there will. Will we see a major quake on the New Madrid fault, we will one day and it will be horrific. Will we see a supervolcano, someday we will. Will asteroids hit the earth again, they have for billions of years.

How do you prepare people so that they would mentally survive such a horrible earth changing event? So much so that they would want to rebuild and not disparage any more than was necessary? That would be one of the biggest challenges, finding people who psychologically could get back up on their feet and plan for the future and work towards it rather than giving up.

I lost most of what I spent a lifetime building. It knocks you down for more than a hot second; but, getting up again is the best part. The people of Joplin will get up again and I think we need to offer them the moral support when the worst is revealed and it is time to rebuild. May God show them comfort during this very sad time.

Little Sick

Hello all, was feeling a little sick today so I slept in. Nothing serious, just my stomach. I did find out why my oven was acting weird, it is plugged into a switch that is turned on and off at the wall. LOL. Now I know what the wall switch does.

I saw the pictures of the tornadoes that happened yesterday, amazing. Joplin Missouri is basically gone if what I read is correct. That is an old town that has been around and seen a lot.

Yesterday a friend told me that they couldn't be with me anymore, long story, we did not seperate on bad terms, it was time for them to learn from someone new and that is how it should be. We did not grow apart, they grew up. That is what teachers like to see, now they can go and discover on their own.

I am very satisfied that they will do so well in the future, they will excel in an area that few have even heard of yet. I had considered ending this blog; but, I think I shall continue for other reasons now. Not everyone apparently likes what I write, that is more than okay with me.

Now a little question and I do like to question things rather than just think about how things effect me. We all know that there are odd things going on in the environment, hurricanes, earthquakes, animal deaths. A climate scientist is saying that it is do to climate change, that could explain certain things. What it cannot explain are the earthquakes, volcanoes and earth changes that are not related to the climate. Here is the article. It also does not explain the magnetic pole moving.

We were told that the earthquake in Chili is said to have moved the wobble of the earth, Japan's is said to have shifted the ocean floor 79 feet. That is a backwards explanation, the wobble caused the earthquake in Chili and the shifting of the ocean floor caused the earthquake in Japan, what caused these shifts is what we should be asking. I believe it is the movement of the magnetic pole.

I think it would be good for people to learn to look at things differantly. We have a tendency to ask how this or that effects us and then ignore things that we dont think will impact us. Be well.