2012 and what it has brought for me

It is that time of the year again where everyone gets their minds going and determines what the year brought for them.   For me it has been a very interesting year, a year that brought forth new ventures and more struggles.   After spending a year and a half in Pennsylvania My wife, daughter and I decided to come back home to California and take a job with a newer company.  It seemed like a great opportunity to get back into the action sports industry but it deemed to be harder and a more stressful lifestyle.  Not so much the action sports industry being hard, but working for the company itself has been a task.   In taking this position I had to work extra hard to put process’s in place but having no direction made it pretty hard to do and the low pay made it that much more  stressful.   We have been back in California for about 10 months now and living with my parents.  Added upon the low pay, STRESS has ridden my body and mind.  But the positive thing is that I have a job.  The other great thing is while working for this company I have decided to take it upon myself to grow their social media since I have started I helped it grow from 7,000 fans on Facebook to 16,000 that is 9,000 fans gained.  I have learned quite a bit while working here for the past few months now, and that is to make sure you back yourself up and record all the work you have done.  Sometimes all that you have is your work.  Unfortunately I am a person that likes to look out for a team and not just myself, I shouldn't say unfortunately. To move away from this subject an on to another great thing in my life for 2012 is that we are having another baby girl!!  With this great news, brings a greater responsibility to get my family on its feet and move out of my parent’s house.  This year has been pretty stressful but I have been ever so grateful for the chances that were given to me and the blessing of another child.  I almost forgot another great thing that happened just a couple of weeks ago my wife and I were sealed in the San Diego Temple.  That is an LDS temple.  Even though 2012 had been a little hard and understanding the hardships for many of those suffering through this terrible economy.  All that I pray for is a great 2013 year where we all can be at our best and drive toward our goals.  God has his plans for all of us individually and what that plan is only he can direct us.   Before the year ends be sure to take a moment and write down some new year’s resolutions and strive to reach those goals and pray for guidance as I will. 

Until next time Artothebeat out! 

A fully operational Death Star, a nationalized Twinkie industry, and motorcycle-riding "judges" who also act as jury and executioner

On the wish lists of Americans: A fully operational Death Star, a nationalized Twinkie industry, and motorcycle-riding "judges" who also act as jury and executioner

The White House's "We the People..." website allows Americans to petition the Obama administration on a variety of issues citizens believe need addressing. Requests range from serious (petition tohave the White House publicly acknowledge the U.S. drone program) to self-interested (federally legalize weed now!) to completely absurd (have Vice-President Joe Biden serve as Guy Fieri's sidekick on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). Most are angry with the administration, with roughly 70 percent of current petitions asking that individual states — like Texas — be allowed to peacefully secede. What's more: Anyone can create a petition, with the caveat that each request must garner 25,000 signatures in order to be considered for an official White House response. Presented without comment (and in no particular order), here are 11 of the most ridiculous White House petitions awaiting signatures:

1. Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016

Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016. 

By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.

Total signatures: 1,428

2. Allow United States military service members to place their hands in their pockets

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds of service to the United States military, this regretful termination of service to this great nation is often precipitated by inane uniform and personal conduct policies.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all uniforms have pockets and hands fit perfectly inside them, and they sheathe our knife hands gloriously. It must be acknowledged that placing one's hands in one's pockets is not a sign of disrespect, but a precautionary action to prevent injuries.

Therefore, these undeniable truths being told, the service members of the United States military respectfully request the President of the United States to restore our sacred right to place our hands in our pockets — on or off duty.

Total signatures: 3,730

SEE MORE: 3 reasons President Obama's lunch with Mitt Romney is a good idea

3. Deport everyone that signed a petition to withdraw their state from the USA

SEE MORE: 5 reasons the GOP won't stop bashing Susan Rice

Deport Everyone That Signed A Petition To Withdraw Their State From The United States Of America.

Total signatures: 25,879

4. Build a statue of Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan John-117 on the White House lawn

He deserves more praise for what he has done.

Total signatures: 4,526

5. Nationalize the Twinkie industry

We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center.

Total signatures: 3,998

6. Establish new legal system of motorcycle riding "judges" who serve as police, judge, jury, and executioner all in one

This is a petition to dissolve the current legal system and replace it with a single Hall of Justice, run by Judges; motorcycle-riding law officers who act as police, judge, jury, and executioner.

Total signatures: 2,972

7. Give us back our incandescent light bulbs! 

In the spirit of liberty and freedom we believe that decisions, such as what kind of lightbulb we use, should not be made by the government but by the individual. The federal government is phasing out incandescent lightbulbs by law and the last incandescent lightbulb factory in America has closed. This is not the role of the government. Not only did this move shift jobs to China (since CFLs are too dangerous to manufacture in America) it has limited the freedom of Americans to make their own choices in how they will light their homes and businesses. The free market should decide which lightbulbs succeed, not the government.

Total signatures: 1,358

8. Provide university graduates ability to trade their diplomas back for 100 percent tuition refunds

Because of the inability of recent college graduates to find gainful employment in order to repay their college debt, and since this college debt cannot be eliminated in bankruptcy, and most of the recent additions to the job market have been in service related industries, the Obama administration should take up the cause of reducing college debt and hold those accountable responsible.

In the name of Consumer Protection, recent college graduates should have the ability to return the diploma and not make any reference to receiving education from the college in exchange for a 100% refund of college tuition. This may be extended with a graduated (ha, get it?) reduction for the last four years, with a red line at January 20, 2008.

Courtesy of @IowaHawkBlog, great thinker of our time

Total signatures: 1,193

9. Have the President attend a Fark.com party. If scheduling does not permit, at least have a beer with Drew Curtis.

Too many serious petitions on this site asking the President to work his butt off. We believe that he should have a chance to have a good time.

Total signatures: 1,111

10. Transfer funds from the drug war to fund the research and development of thegenetic engineering of domestic cat girls

We believe that the genetic engineering of cat girls could be potentially beneficial for the economy and an effective for use as domestic house servant. The money being used to fight the drug war is effectively pointless. We could be using this money to fund other much more important things such as the genetic engineering of cat girls for domestic use. The government could then sell these genetic household workers to boost the economy and try to further decrease the national debt. They could be used around the house so that the homeowners could pursue jobs to also boost the economy.

Total signatures: 838

11. Shut down White House petitions, since they never get a sincere response, few read them & they are ultimately worthless

Since the White House never actually responds to any petitions in sincerity (like letting the one man whose job it is to oppose marijuana to respond to the marijuana legalization initiative, or having the head of the TSA respond to why we can't de-fund the TSA) we should immediately de-fund and dismantle the White House petition website.

In recent days it has become a mockery with petitions for secession from almost every state, and cities wishing to de-secede in such events.

We ask Barack Obama to admit that this is a mockery of democratic process and immediately dissolve this joke of a website.

Total signatures: 852

View this article on TheWeek.com

When the sun turns blue

There have been several recorded times in history when the sun has suddenly turned blue. The scientific explanation for them is even better than the legends people created to explain them long ago. A blue sun allows you to see — briefly — what the skies are like on Mars.
All right, not literally into Mars, but blue suns do happen under circumstances which recreate conditions in the Martian atmosphere. The yellow sun that we have isn't so much yellow as it is an ordinary white star whose light is filtered through our atmosphere. That atmosphere is made up of little particles that scatter blue light. Blue gets thrown around the sky, occasionally coming down to Earth, which is why the sky is that lovely blue color. As all the blue light gets filtered out of the rays of the sun the remaining light skews yellow. So when we look up at the sun itself, we see it as yellow.

On Mars, the reverse happens. The atmosphere doesn't scatter much light because there isn't much atmosphere to be had. What atmosphere there is has picked up a lot of dust, and that flying dust scatters light. Because it's a great deal larger than the particles of air, it scatters longer wavelengths of light, and so red is filtered out instead of blue.

Sometimes on Earth, when there are fires going, or in the wake of a dust-spewing volcano, there is enough red-scattering dust in the air to recreate the look of Mars. The atmosphere does scatter a lot of blue light, but not all blue light. Just enough so the sun looks slightly yellow. The dust so effectively takes care of the red light that what blue light does come down from the sun is the only light that can be seen clearly. The dust doesn't necessarily have to be all around the viewer. If the dust is far off toward the west or east, the sun can be behind it without the viewer necessarily noticing anything wrong - except the sun turning blue.

Blue suns have caused alarm in many areas of the globe, but the most famous American consequence of a blue sun was Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831, when Nat Turner and several other slaves rebelled in Virginia. The rebellion had been planned well beforehand, but it was said that the blue sun was seen as a starting signal. Scientists are split on exactly what turned the sun blue. Some think it was ash scattered through the air after an eruption from Mount St. Helens. Others have found records of wildfires in Virginia around the time of the rebellion, which would have kicked up dust into the air. The rebellion was ended after only a few days, but it remains a pivotal part of American history, tied in with an extraordinary optic phenomenon.

Source: I09 http://m.io9.com/5963520/when-the-sun-turns-blue