Saturday, July 30, 2011

Predictions from world's top film prognosticator

Science fiction is where the future happens first, and that puts futurist Syd Mead at least two steps ahead of the rest of us.

The 78-year-old conceptual artist may be best known for designing the flying-cop-car-patrolled Los Angeles streetscapes in "Blade Runner," but he also dreamed up the original light cycles in "Tron," the Marine-transport starship in "Aliens" and visions of a class-stratified, off-Earth world for Neill Blomkamp’s highly anticipated March 2013 feature "Elysium." Here, Mead makes predictions for what we might one day see in film, in real life, or both.

Lightweight exoskeletons - Pointing to new electroactive polymers that contract powerfully and predictably when exposed to a charge, Mead foresees an era of lightweight human exoskeletons. Such strap-on limb supports could strengthen soldiers and help the elderly and the paralyzed. "These new materials are better than hydraulics or electric motors," he explains, "because they have a directional axis to pull and push, much like muscles do. So they’re very efficient, and more like a sheath than a bulky cylinder. That’s going to change the world."

Also Predicted: Hands-free highways, Printable replacement organs, Swappable car bodies, and Covert bank warfare.

What people are saying about this contrived debt crisis

I’ve got to hand it to the assholes/politicians ruining our economy while they play partisan games at the expense of the American middle class; they’ve got a lot of people shook up. Not just here in the U.S., but worldwide.

I hope they’re proud of themselves. They’ve proven to be the biggest collection of corporate crook lovers ever to screw up the House of Representatives AND the Senate at the same time! It’s an all-time low for Democracy. A minority has polarized the majority. Our system has failed. The world can see what’s happening better than the morons who are sinking the system.

I have one question for you: “Do you plan on backing new Tea Partyers to assure maximum damage to our entire democratic system in the future?”

I’d like to think voters will remember what the Tea Party has done here and will prevent their uncompromising climb to power in the years ahead.

Troops ask amid debt crisis: Will we get paid?

There’s global concern over US debt ceiling disagreement.

The Associated Press interviewed people across the country and found that, whatever their political leanings, frustration about the debt debate itself was the most commonly held view. Voters do not know how the debt showdown got to this point, at the brink, just days away from the United States being unable to pay all its bills.

Bob Krogman, a 60 year-old Air Force veteran who survived three helicopter crashes over North Vietnam standing outside the St. Louis VA Medical Center:

"Politicians care about themselves, and that's the way it's always been since I was in the military. I'm furious. I hate them.”

Denise Cox, 47, of Ohioville, PA, a western Pennsylvania nursing home worker:

"On both sides of the aisle, they all claim to be so smart. So how did we get to this point? It didn't happen overnight. All of these supposedly intelligent people brought us to this point, and now they are scrambling to see who they can take money from."

Robert Lydon, a pipefitter from Cohasset, Mass interviewed at Post Office Square, surrounded by banks and investment firms in Boston's financial district:

"They're fiddling while Rome is burning.They're playing to their egos and not thinking about the regular person on the street like me."

Miranda Ledouceur, 28 Woonsocket, R.I. resident:

"If they don't fix this there will be a lot of people on the street.Things are bad enough already."

Crying doesn’t help, sinkhole swallows building, and man rescues pink kitty

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s that time again to enjoy some nice hot coffee or tea. With most of the news being about the Debt Crisis, I thought you’d like to read about something else this morning: 

Crying shame: Tears don't make you feel any better, study shows

Apparently weeping isn't the cathartic emotional release it's often cracked up to be, sniff, sniff. Please pass the tissues.

Florida sinkhole swallows building

An enormous sinkhole has opened up in the town of Leesburg, Fla.,, and it's hungry.

It's already gobbled up a garbage bin, an oak tree, the back wall of the building housing a salon and racks of supplies

The chasm that caused Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply to collapse is about 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

A man discovered a pink-coloured stray cat roaming around the  community where he lives. Yao Xianhai, from Lanzhou in western China’s  Gansu Province, said he didn’t believe his eyes when he first spotted  the pink kitten. “I thought I had a blurred vision, but I then realised  it was truly pink.” No one has come forward as yet to claim the stray.
Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

Roaming pink kitty finds new home

A man discovered a pink-colored stray cat roaming around the community where he lives. Yao Xianhai, from Lanzhou in western China’s Gansu Province, said he didn’t believe his eyes when he first spotted the pink kitten. “I thought I had a blurred vision, but I then realized it was truly pink.” No one has come forward as yet to claim the stray.

Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

Time to walk on down the road…

Friday, July 29, 2011

Random thought: Why would a conscientious objector join the Army?

I just don’t get it.

Will someone please explain why someone who describes himself as a “conscientious objector” would ever join the Army?

Did someone force  Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, 21, of Garland, Texas to join? I don’t think so. Common sense disregards that reason. So what are we left with?

He had a religious conversion while in the Army, or he was already a devout Muslim who didn’t want to go to Afghanistan but didn’t tell the recruiter (where he signed up) that he preferred carrying the Koran rather than a rifle. Kinda iffy.

The Army said “Okay” and granted him “conscientious objector” status in May after a very public campaign in which he reached out to local media. He argued that his Muslim beliefs prohibited military service. He didn’t believe in violence. Say that again? Abdo signed up as an infantryman with the 1st Brigade Combat Team (Rear Provisional) of the 101st Airborne but didn’t believe in violence? HELLO… A bit odd, don’t you think?

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This Sunday’s (July 31st) “As It Stands” column in The Times-Standard deals with the same subject:

The Last Crusade: Will extreme intolerance finally result in Armageddon?

“The monumental irony, at least to me, is that both religions could live side-by-side if they just practiced what they preach. Both say they believe in an omniscient God that tells them how important the power of love is, yet they reject it in their daily lives. Each religion promotes peace, but has prominent members who don‘t practice it. Instead, violent extremists from both sides are calling for crusades.”

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A week or so later (on May 13th), Abdo was charged with “child pornography” and was attending a court martial trial. That delayed his getting out. So, he goes AWOL. Despite his claims that he just wanted to be a peaceful Muslim and not wage war, he suddenly shows up by Ft.Hood with a detailed plan to murder his fellow soldiers.

What happened? Was he recruited while in the service by al-Qaida? Authorities found two clocks, an article outlining how to make a bomb from a magazine published by al-Qaida in Yemen and a backpack carrying a list of items needed to make a bomb. If so, that’s troubling.

  After being formally charged yesterday with possession of an unregistered destructive device in federal court he was led away in handcuffs by three U.S. Marshals. His parting shot to the press?

"Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood 2009!"

Hasan is an Army psychiatrist charged with the shootings that killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

As It Stands, is Abdo another religious fanatic striking out at the West? I’m not sure yet. What do you think?

photo source

Moonshine revival, 1.5 million hungry bats, and free pot for registering to vote in Michigan

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffees on and the days wasting away. Grab a cup and let’s see what’s happening on this Friday. I’ve had the pleasure of drinking pure 100% Moonshine in Macon County Georgia  back in the summer of 1968, and I’ll tell you it made my eyeballs roll, my teeth chatter, and damn near left me immobile for hours!

Distillery to make South Carolina's first legal moonshine

Two entrepreneurs are taking advantage of South Carolina's new micro-distillery laws to make traditional moonshine whiskey legally in the state for the first time. The Dark Corner Distillery will open next month in Greenville, where engineer Joe Fenten and longtime home beer brewer Richard Wenger will produce and sell small batches of 100-proof moonshine from a custom-made copper still.                   image

Image: One of some 1.5 million bats emerges from below the Congress Street Bridge near downtown Austin

1.5 million bats in Texas city left hungrier by drought

There are 1.5 million bats living under a bridge in downtown Austin, and a historic Texas drought is making them hungrier than ever.That's bad news for the bats in the world's largest urban bat colony. But it is good news for the humans who gather each evening just a few blocks from the state Capitol building to watch their spectacular nightly trips into the nearby Hill Country to find food.

Image: Homepage of medical pot clinic's website

Free pot in exchange for registering to vote?

A medical marijuana shop's offer of free pot in exchange for registering to vote appears to have gone up in smoke.

Your Healthy Choice Clinic of Lansing, Mich., had been offering a half gram on its website ahead of a vote for city council seats and after the council approved capping the number of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits and setting a $1,000 application fee.

Clinic owner Shekina Pena earlier said she wasn't trying to buy votes.

Time to walk on down the road…

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Three crazy inventions that you probably never heard of…

Cigarette Pack Holder - crazy invention, 1955.

Cigarette Pack Holder - crazy invention, 1955. (Right)

Illuminated Tires, 1961
A woman adjusts her stocking by the light of the Goodyear’s illuminated tires. The tire is made from a single piece of synthetic rubber and is brightly lit by bulbs mounted inside the wheel rim.
Photo:Life

 

(Left) crazy invention

Illuminated Tires, 1961

A woman adjusts her stocking by the light of the Goodyear’s illuminated tires. The tire is made from a single piece of synthetic rubber and is brightly lit by bulbs mounted inside the wheel rim. Photo:Life

Shower Hood, 1970 - crazy invention for the woman who likes to put makeup on her dirty face.

     (Right)

crazy invention

Shower Hood, 1970 -

For the woman who likes to put makeup on her dirty face.

photos via Crazy Pictures

This Time Republicans Are Silent When A Congressman Says “Act Like A Lady”

UPDATE BELOW

GOP RULES: #1 What’s okay for Republican speakers to say is not okay for anyone else.

Disrespectful.”

“Demeaning to all women.”

“Patronizing.”

Those were just a few of the Republican responses when a congressman accused a congresswoman of not “acting like a lady.”

(See Video to hear  how supposedly “un-lady-like Rep. Schultz is.)

But that was 2010, and it was about attacking Democratic Senator Arlen Spector, after he told Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to “act like a lady” when she was talking over him on a television news show.

The GOP was appalled.  Bachmann claimed she was “stunned by his arrogance.”  The female co-chair of the RNC started demanding an apology Spector’s primary challenger called him out.

Yet when Republican Congressman Allen West of Florida sends an email to House leadership, condemning fellow Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her “attack” on him on the House floor, calling her “vile,” “unprofessional” and “not a lady,” there isn’t a peep to be heard from the party.

As much as Republicans hide behind female politicians to push their draconian cuts and policies that are most harmful to women, then claim that since a woman supports them, they must actually be beneficial, accusing a female politician of not “acting like a lady” is only a crime if that politician is a Republican.  Because, essentially, to the GOP, Democratic women aren’t “ladies.”  They strive for gender equality, they fight for women to be able to work and raise families rather than always choose between the two, they argue for equal pay and the right to have autonomy over their own bodies, families and personal choices.

They fight for women.  And apparently, that just isn’t ladylike.

Florida’s Lois Frankel, who is challenging West for his seat in 2012, responded to the congressman’s sexist diatribe, stating that with his “out of control, rude, sexist and completely inappropriate remarks is it any wonder that Washington can’t get anything done?  We have critical issues from the debt ceiling to creating jobs to two wars; yet instead of getting things done for South Florida families Allen West would rather grandstand and call names that are offensive to all of us.” source

UPDATE:

At 12:15 pm ET today, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will hold a conference call with reporters, emphasizing that all the GOP presidential candidates have so far refused to reveal their fundraising bundlers. By contrast, the Obama campaign has revealed its bundlers.

What ever happened to flying the friendly skies? Passngers beat up pilot!

An American Airlines pilot was beaten Wednesday night as he tried to escort two belligerent brothers, Jonathan and Luis Baez, off a flight from Miami to San Francisco.

I’ve lost track of the many serious (and sometimes silly) incidents that happen when people board airplanes and don’t want to play by any rules...

Related stories:

What people have to say today in the news…

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Here we are again, another day in paradise. Grab a mug of hot coffee or tea and we’ll look through today’s headlines to see what we can see:

News quotes:

Sen. John McCain railed against "bizarro" alternative plans by "Tea Party hobbits." He said, "What is really amazing about this is that some members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation and that is foolish.” cartoon source

Boehner issues blunt warning to debt dissenters He told members of the GOP, “Get your asses in line!”

Atheist Group Wants 9/11 Cross Removed from Museum - Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, said, "This cross is now a part of the official WTC memorial. No other religions or philosophies will be honored. It will just be a Christian icon, in the middle of OUR memorial.”

 

Holocaust survivors have issued a "plea" to Facebook to "deny access to their powerful social networking platform to anyone promoting" the notion that the Holocaust should be denied or that it was a hoax. The appeal said,

“We, the undersigned, are Holocaust Survivors who saw our parents, children and loved ones brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. We are writing to you to protest Facebook’s policy that categorizes Holocaust denial as “free speech,” rather than the shameless, cynical and hateful propaganda that it is...

Do not permit Holocaust denial any platform on Facebook to preach its inherent message of lies and hate. By allowing this hate propaganda on Facebook, you are exposing the public and, in particular, youth to the anti-Semitism which fueled the Holocaust. Please correct this terrible error in judgment before our generation passes away.”

Time to head on down the road…

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Former Top Gun pilot and high-level GOP fundraiser is center of corruption case

Image: Florida News - July 14, 2011

Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III (pictured at right) and his oil company are at the center of the case that could be one of the largest-ever prosecutions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act by the Justice Department.

In a case first reported by NBC News in June 2008 , the eight-person jury affirmed that Sargeant conspired to deprive al-Saleh of a one-third share in profits from the contracts

In his place at the defendants’ table was Marty Martin, one of the oil company’s top executives and formerly a senior CIA operative who, for two years after 9/11, advised former President George W. Bush on terrorism. During the trial, al-Saleh alleged that Sargeant and Martin directed $50 million in graft to the highest levels of the Jordanian government. The money, he claimed, bought the oil company a continued monopoly on supply lines of fuel through Jordan to U.S. forces in Iraq.

The existence of that monopoly cost the American military as much as $200 million in excess charges, according to a congressional investigation and Pentagon audit.

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...