It is important to keep track of solar flares, especially for those of us interested in amateur radio. (Sun spot activity dramatically affects radio propagation.) It is also a lot of fun to get a glimpse of auroral displays. One site that we have found useful is AuroraChasers.com [1]. They offer a free e-mail alert service.
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Michael Z. Williamson [2] found a site with lots of useful information on 12 Volt DC power systems [3].
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A reader in Pebble Beach, California is a part-time FFL [4] that recently got “stuck” with 2,000 rounds of Black Hills 75 and 77 grain target grade .223 Remington ammo. (A customer had placed a special order with a small deposit, but then moved without leaving any contact information before the ammo arrived!) If you live on the central California coast or in the San Francisco Bay Area and you own a .223 bolt action, then you should jump on this. Contact Michael via e-mail [5], or phone: (831) 622-9033
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The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented move of bailing out Bear Stearns makes me wonder about further bailouts in the near future. As the liquidity crisis spreads, and the US residential real estate market continues to tank, I can only foresee the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB [6]), wherein the US Treasury (read: the US taxpayers) will effectively become the lender of last resort for countless billions in toxic debt–mainly mortgage-backed securities. The full implications of the MOAB are frightening. We are, in essence, about to nationalize millions of “liar loan” [7] mortgages. Stand by for mass inflation, folks!