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Oakland Weather forecast and History California

Feb 052012

Do you ever find yourself saying “when I was a kid it was so much hotter” or “so much colder”. Well it seems it is true and something I have been saying forever. Back in the 80′s I remember freezes for days, heat waves and even a 7 year drought that brought along the Love To Save Water campaigns in the Oakland Unified School District.
I feel we have not had extended extreme weather like we did back then and after checking many records it appears to be true.

Month                Rec. High             Rec. Low
January:       74°F (1/28/84)        30°F (1/30/75)
February:     81°F (2/26/86)         29°F (2/05/76)
March:         88°F (3/11/05)         34°F (3/03/76)
April:           97°F (4/29/81)         37°F (4/01/76)
May:            105°F (5/12/76)      43°F (5/05/75)
June:           107°F (6/8/73)        48°F (6/16/02)
July:            103°F (7/13/72)      51°F (7/1/75)
August:        99°F (8/6/83)          50°F (8/17/77)
September:   109°F (9/14/71)    48°F (9/28/86)
October:       103°F (10/2/80)     43°F (10/6/07)
November:    84°F (11/2/97)        36°F (11/29/1975)
December:    75°F (12/7/79)       26°F (12/9/72)
Source: Yahoo Weather.

So as you can see the records high temperature and record low temperature for Oakland, CA were set back in the early 1970′s. It seems like most Oakland Record temperatures were set in the 70′s and 80′s.

The highest recorded temperature was 109°F in September of 1971.
The lowest recorded temperature was 26°F in December 1972.

Mind you all the historical weather records that I could find only date back to 1970.
These are the best records I can find containing all of the years and months for local weather in Oakland, CA dating from 1970-2011.

Here you can easily compare this day in history for the last 4 years.

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Feb 5, 2012

Occupy Oakland – Help Fight Big Banks

May 172012

You all know what’s going on with Occupy Wall Street. Maybe you care but can’t participate.
This solution is really easy, will hurt big banks and save you money.
Seriously guys hop on board.

It’s easy!
• Open an account with a Credit Union.
• Transfer your funds to the new account.
• Follow your bank’s procedures to close your account.

Share!
• Invite your friends on facebook. Facebook invite.
• Post to your facebook.
• Share with other groups you’re involved with.

Find a credit union near you:
http://www.findacreditunion.com/

If we all do that they will feel the pain. We will feel the gain. We count. We matter. We can make a difference together without protesting on the streets.
We are the 99%.
We will send a clear message and give the 1% a taste of the fear that we experience every day when we aren’t able to pay for our rent, food, medication, utilities, student loans, etc.

Join Occupy Oakland.
There is an Occupy SF going on already.

The Solution.

We are the 99%!

Imagine……

WHY ARE WE BOYCOTTING?
The Durbin Amendment is an add-on to the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Public Law No. 111-203), signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010. The Act allows the Federal Reserve to regulate debit card interchange fees of banks with over $10 billion in assets. Over the summer, the Fed released the final rule on the matter by limiting debit card interchange fees to a maximum of 21¢ per transaction. In response, these “major banks” have decided that beginning early 2012 any consumer with less than $20,000 in combined accounts will be charged a monthly $3-5 fee if they use their debit card at any point during the month. This is a blatant attack on the 99% that cannot & will not be tolerated. In a stand of solidarity, we must transfer our money & close our accounts with these major banking institutions to take our business to credit unions (or local banks if a credit union isn’t available).

FACTS/FIGURES:
• With the Durbin Amendment in affect, banks will still make 19¢ profit per processed transaction [*1]
• The average consumer uses his/her debit card 24 times per month [*2]
• Without the additional fee, Bank of America stands to turn a $3,228,480,000 annual profit from its 59 million customers’ debit card transactions [*3]
• Without the additional fee, Wells Fargo stands to turn a $2,626,560,000 annual profit from its 48 million customers’ debit card transactions [*4]
• Without the additional fee, JP Morgan (Chase) stands to turn a $4,924,800,000 annual profit from its 90 million customers’ debit card transactions [*5]

Sources:
[1] http://www.natlawreview.com/article/credit-union-study-swipe-costs-adds-confusion-to-debit-fee-battle
[2] http://money.bundle.com/article/cash-check-plastic-how-we-pay
[3] http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzQ1NzV8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM%3D&t=1
[4] https://www.wellsfargo.com/downloads/pdf/invest_relations/wf2010annnualreport.pdf
[5] http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ONE/1425507660x0x458380/ab2612d5-3629-46c6-ad94-5fd3ac68d23b/2010_JPMC_AnnualReport_.pdf

This was created as an event on facebook with the V for Vendetta backing, a Guy Fawkes Mask, for November 5th and by an author who was very rude for those with positive feedback on the negative logo and image. I am switching to a credit union and sharing the idea and info with everyone as an on going effort.

May 17, 2012

Oakland Police Helicopter to fly again

May 122011

The Ghetto Bird
Oakland Police Department building If you’re looking for the murder rate try Oakland Homicide Count.

You may wonder where the Oakland Police Helicopters have been hiding these last few years.
Our Ghetto Birds, also known as ARGUS which stands for Aerial Reconnaissance Ground Unit Support, have been grounded for the last 2 years. In 2009 budget cuts forced the choppers to stay on the ground… outside of a hanger. Where they been battling weather damage since they were moved form Hangar 1 to the South Field outdoors. I’m not sure of their exact homes at this time but I believe they are still sitting outside where they can sometimes be seen from Hegenberger.

While ARGUS has been grounded it still flew in emergency situations such as the death of four OPD officers in March of 2009 and the Oscar Grant riots. It was even here over my house last month after someone was robbed, shot and killed out front. The ghetto bird was here in seconds so it had to have already been flying on another mission. It was here before the cops or ambulance so I would say it is a valuable asset to Oakland’s Police Department and fighting crime. I also kind of miss the sound of the ghetto bird hovering around at night. It’s something I grew up with. I remember when we were kids whenever the ghetto bird was over our hood we would purposely scatter and pretend to be running or hiding. It worked we got spotlighted one night and were all so happy but scared at the same time.

It used to fly about 1,200 hours a year but has only been approved for 200 hours from now until March according to KTVU. While that is not a lot, it’s a start. Currently Oakland is undergoing even more cuts and losing more officers by the year. We’re going down to 650 and were at 802 a year and a half ago.

One simple solution to budget cuts would to be to hop on board the drone train. Congress is forcing the FAA to open up US skies to drones for use by Government Agencies. I feel this could really help keep our budget under wrap and the streets safer. however there are many possible problems as discussed in this article.

Oakland Police Helicopter Facts:

OPD’s Helicopter Air Support Unit was started in 1971
ARGUS stands for Aerial Reconnaissance Ground Unit Support. I was told this by two Oakland Police Officers during my High Schools career week in 1996.
The Helicopter Pilot of ARGUS goes by the call sign of Eagle One when on the radio to dispatch and assisting ground units. I learned this while listening live to a manhunt unfold on a scanner app by the name of Scanner Radio Pro.
Argus Panoptes was also a giant with a hundred eyes known as the all seeing in Greek Mythology.
ARGUS crashed in 1973 killing two Oakland Police officers. Several reports say the pilot was shot in the head by a sniper and a group even claimed it yet the final report says it was a mechanical failure even though the pilot had a bullet hole in his head. Fishy?
OPD has been undergoing many budget cuts and are down to 662 police officers from 802 a year and a half ago. Cuts plan on dropping the count to 650 or lower.

People often mistake News Choppers for the Oakland Police Helicopter. An easy sure fire way to tell the difference is the Police Helicopter will always circle around it’s targeted area like a Hawk or other bird of preyand at night have a spot light on.
News Helicopters will hover off in the distance usually at a much higher altitude. So I call these Humming Birds because that’s basically what they do.

Photos:
We used to have two helicopters from what I know and I have even found 2 pictures with two separate “N numbers”(A unique identifier issued by the FAA like a car licenses plate) so it seems we did or still have two. However I can not find any info stating that after the groundings and budget cuts we still have two. Please if you have any insight or something to share contact me.
But as of 2009 two choppers were grounded. So they may both be sitting there.
Ghetto Bird Oakland Police
This is what seems to be the current chopper with the N number N510PD. How funny right? Is it an 0 or an O? It works either way!

Oakland police helicopter chopper
And the maybe still second chopper with N number N220PD.
Photos taken by pointnshoot on flickr.

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May 12, 2011

Rolling Through the Bay San Francisco Bay Area Toothpick city

May 162012

Artist Scott Weaver’s amazing piece “Rolling Through the Bay”, a toothpick Rube Goldberg machine was made with over 100,000 toothpicks over the course of 35 years. he started it in 1974. It is a depiction of San Francisco, with multiple ball running “tours” to different parts of the city. It will be on display in the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium until the end of June.

May 16, 2012

Will Radiation From Japan Reach California?

Mar 172011

Radiation in California?
Will we get radiation in California from the Japan Nuclear Crisis?
The answer the Government would like you to believe is likely not. However if you read on you’ll find the answer is it seems to already be here.

So to the point, recent test this month on the West Coast have shown a lot more radiation in California.
I think we have a reason to worry.

A March 6th 2012 test of a HEPA filter recorded radiation levels 668% or 6.68 times the normal background radiation levels. This test took place 43 days after initial tests and shows a 130% increase since January 22nd. Youtube video

Japan Nuclear Crisis

Will Radiation From Japan Reach California? picture

draft lens17572581module154794941photo 1320345328buy amazon2 Will Radiation From Japan Reach California? picture

The distance from Japan to California is something like 5,100 miles. Exactly? I’m really not sure but the point is it’s a LONG way.

The distance from Japan to California allows for a lot of dissipation along the way and because the radioactive fallout cloud material is denser than air it falls to the ground or gets brought down by radioactive rain along the way over the Pacific Ocean. But it is still showing up on the West Coast and in California.

Radiation Maps

Here are a few live radiation maps you can check for a current radiation levels in California based on real time Geiger Counter stations in the US.

You can click the radiation map to see a full version.
I have been watching from March 2011 to March 2012 and have seen it change from an average of 22-30 in the Bay Area to 30-40. So it has gone up over the year.

real time radiation map
They call this “near real time” Gamma counts for the San Francisco Bay Area.
If you would like to see another city.

So in conclusion, I think we may be doomed and it could be slow and painful for many.
If you think about it this is not the first time the West Coast has been bombarded with radiation. The US Government dropped a few nuclear bombs on Japan back in 1945 during World War II. Also our very own Gov dropped many many bombs in the Pacific Ocean and Nevada Deserts back in those days.
Now a days we have a cancer epidemic. Could this be the result?

Potassium Iodide Pills?
I personally am worried because there is nuclear meltdown radiation in California and San Francisco from Fukushima, Japan.
So like everyone else did I hopped online and bought Potassium Iodide Supplement pills. They are also known as Iodine Supplements or Iodoral pills.
Of course being curious first I read the many positive reviews and I realized that Iodine Supplements are good for your health regardless of radiation poisoning from Japan.
All in all I learned something new about Potassium Iodine while researching all this Japan Nuclear Crisis information. They are good for you! Check out the reviews.