Saturday, March 13, 2010

It Is Now Mathematically Impossible To Pay Off The U.S. National Debt

A lot of people are very upset about the rapidly increasing U.S. national debt these days and they are  demanding a solution.

What they don't realize is that there simply is not a solution under the current U.S. financial system.”

Go here to read the whole article.

Catholic Church in Europe facing abuse claims

Image: Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch

I’ve always had a problem with organized religions Each seems to attract extremists, and to believe it’s the “One True” religion.

It’s this narrow-minded attitude of self righteous people that turns me off. The “My Way or the Highway” religion requirements are hypocritical at best, and dangerous at the worst. Think Muslims who practice international terror in the name of Allah.

Then there’s this other terrible dynamic that seems all too common in the Catholic Church; Pedophiles. Sexual abuse cases with Catholic priests fondling children are being exposed worldwide daily. That trend has become one of the biggest threats to the Catholic Church yet; lawsuits suing dioceses that harbor pedophile priests.

Lawsuits alleging cover-up of pedophile priests could bankrupt dioceses

“Pope Benedict XVI, left, meets Archbishop Robert Zollitsch in his private library at the Vatican on Friday. Germany's top bishop says the pope encouraged him to pursue the truth about cases of clerical sex abuse in the pontiff's native Germany.”

View related photos

Prime-Time Supremacy – The New Look of Hate

 

The new FX series “Justified” shows a real and growing problem. Racism is alive and well in America today as more angry whites swell the ranks of White Supremacy groups. I have a column waiting in the wings about an all-white basketball league that is currently recruiting cities to play in.

Excerpt from NewsWeek: 

“Harlan is not the charming, genteel Mayberry you'd expect from a small town in Kentucky with a population around 2,000. At least not in Justified, the new FX series starring Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, a maverick U.S. marshal dispatched to Harlan after he gets trigger-happy on a suspect in a Miami restaurant.

It turns out that Harlan's little local white-supremacy group is part of a real and growing problem. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, membership in white-extremist groups is ticking upward, as downtrodden, angry Caucasians seek an outlet for their anxieties about a black president, illegal immigration, and a leaky economy. Still, the supremacy surge seems to be much more acute in Hollywood than anywhere else in the country.”

Read the whole story here.                                                       Photo(s) source

Friday, March 12, 2010

The reason the Mayan calendar ends in 2012

A laugh for Friday…

and a rainy day…

cartoon source

Past Pot Column Appears on T-S reader polls Today

I noticed that a column that ran last October was the 2nd Most Viewed on the Times-Standard list this morning at 8 a.m. It dropped down to #3 when the article “Three arrested in Eureka POP raid” took the top spot. It’s still the 2nd Most Emailed. I find it interesting to see something I wrote six months ago on today’s reader input gage Online. Here’s the column:

Marijuana proven effective in treating different types of cancers

Here’s links to the web sites that picked it up:

Tulsa NORMLCannabis NewsHemp NewsMichigan Medical Marijuana AssociationMedical Cannabis – a patient research platformLobitaWorldwide Marijuana SeedsCannabis CultureLegalize Cannabis Alliance News DatabaseSoft Secrets Forum –Cannabis To YouCanned in Totnes (Note: this site plagiarized my article and claimed to have written it)- Hemp Info- The Hemp and Cannabis FoundationThe Cancer and Marijuana BlogMedical Marijuana DoctorsCannabis News (this site ran the column – 1/11/2010) – The Washington Post – Post Partisan (Quick takes by Post Opinion Writers – Google shows my column here - but I had trouble finding it in their WP archives – I think you have to subscribe) – The Marijuana Cancer Cure Cult (this site ran my column on 2/3/10) – and Cannabischat (scroll down).

Photo source

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The 21st century version of Alice in Wonderland

Michael Ramirez Cartoon

School Cancels Prom Rather Than Let Lesbians Attend

Constance McMillen

Homophobia is still rampant in Jackson, Mississippi. Just ask 18-year old high school senior Constance McMillen.

Rather than let her wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to the high school prom school authorities cancelled the prom!

Here’s what they had to say:

"However, at this time, we feel that it is (cancelling the prom) in the best interest of the Itawamba County School District, after taking into consideration the education, safety and well being of our students."

Whose safety are they worried about? McMillen and friend, or the entire student body? It’s a point to ponder after reading the whole story here:

School prom off after lesbian’s date request

VA looks at new effort to reach homeless veterans

I know that news from the 41st Congressional District – and not ours – doesn’t interest a lot of people here. Perhaps it should. Look at what Congressman Lewis is doing for veterans.

Comments by Jerry Lewis:

“On any given night, 131,000 veterans can be found sleeping on the streets and in homeless shelters across America. These former men and women of uniform now represent one-third of the nations homeless population. In our own Inland Empire community, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates there are nearly 2,000 homeless veterans who struggle every day to find a place to sleep and to eat a decent meal.

Under the leadership of my good friend, Secretary Eric Shinseki, the VA has pledged to end homelessness amongst our nations veterans in five years. This ambitious goal will provide nearly $4.7 billion a year in healthcare, housing, job training, education, and other services targeted at not only helping veterans exit homelessness, but also at preventing veterans from becoming homeless in the first place.


On March 4th, 2010 at the FY2011 Budget Hearing for the VA, I spoke with Secretary Shinseki about this important issue. In our conversation I pledged to support the VA in its efforts and I challenged my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to also support this national imperative. As we proceed with the work of Congress in the months ahead, the House Appropriations Committee on Veterans Affairs will now make ending homelessness amongst our nations veterans a top priority.
With this investment, our country will seek to ensure that no man or woman who serves our nation is forgotten.” Photo source

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Vigilant Pug Helps Save Drowning Cat

Dog Helps Save Drowning Cat

Chloe the Pug saved her sister Willow, a Siamese cat, recently. Forget about fighting like cats and dogs. These two are best friends.

Read the story here.

New Jersey raid nets biggest illegal indoor grow in state’s history

hemp

This bust kinda reminds me of the French Connection, but it’s the Vietnamese Connection in this case! Arrested were:Thu N. Nguyen, 44, Tuan A. Dang, 35, and Ngoc H. Bui.

Excerpt:

“Along with a vast array of indoor cultivation equipment, 3,370 growing plants, 115 pounds of harvested marijuana and $65,000 cash was seized in the raids on five different large homes, which one law-enforcement official described as "mansions."

Go here for the full story.

Looks like robbers are hitting hard times like the rest of us

Our Great Recession has taken it’s toll on all professions. That includes robbers. It’s becoming more of a crap shoot than ever for thieves who gamble on their illicit earnings.

The woman in the following story is a good example of what I’m talking about. These are indeed hard times.  

Police: California robber holds up 11 people, gets $6

Are you ready for the toilet of the future?

Page One PR - San Francisco

The heated seat sounds like  a good idea to me. The rest of this toilets gadgets are just a little to “Buck Rogers” though.

“Amenities include heated seats, sound effects, lids that raise automatically.

Dr. Michael Sykes, a San Diego molecular biologist who runs the International Center for Bathroom Etiquette blog says he’s surprised at how long it’s taken for high-tech toilets to hit the U.S.”

Photo by Kim Terca / Page One PR

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

VA to automate its Agent Orange claims process

U.S. Air Force planes spray the defoliant chemical Agent Orange over dense vegetation in South Vietnam.

This is BIG NEWS for veterans. An alert reader sent me this story: VA to automate its Agent Orange claims process

“The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that it will fully automate how it pays claims for illnesses related to exposure to the chemical Agent Orange to keep an overburdened system from collapse.

It is the department's first effort at automating claims processing in its 80-year history, says VA chief technology officer Peter Levin. It comes as the agency struggles to cut a backlog of more than 1 million disability claims, appeals and other cases.”

Terrorists come in all colors and countries

Pa. woman accused of recruiting jihadistsImage: Colleen LaRose

What does a terrorist look like? They’re dark-skinned and are Muslims right? Wrong! It’s time we understand that the enemy comes in all colors and from all countries. Even right here in America.

I’m not talking about terrorist cells. I’m talking about a person like Colleen R. LaRose who carries on her own jihad against the USA and other Western countries like Ireland and Sweden.

Indictment alleges American used Internet to spark terror overseas

  1. She went by the name “Jihad Jane.” It reminds me of another traitor to our country during the Vietnam war – Jane Fonda aka “Hanoi Jane,” who has never been tried for her collaboration with the enemy because she was a movie star with a lot of money and political connections.  

                                        Ireland arrests linked to the above case
Authorities in Ireland on Tuesday arrested seven people accused of joining a plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist, and U.S. officials said the two cases were linked.

Safety advocates say product can cause infant suffocating

Image: Baby sling

I’m somewhat skeptical about this style of baby sling (see photo) being branded as dangerous.

This same basic design for carrying babies goes back hundreds of years in numerous cultures. All of a sudden it’s a death trap? What do you think?

Is it an over-reaction? Are American men and women just so stupid that they wouldn’t notice if their child was suffocating in a sling like this?

The concern: infants can suffocate, and at least a few have.

photo source

Banks and financial institutions continue operating like the recession never happened

“Federalist

Are you wondering what reforms have been imposed upon the banks and financial institutions that caused our economy to nearly collapse while we were bailing them out? None. Nothings changed. They still play their games. They still hold the strings to power in our capitalistic country.

How much hope is there for real financial reform you may ask? In my opinion, none. Look at those clowns in Congress. They’re so polarized that they can’t agree on the simplest subjects. Throw in the lobbyists for those financial institutions, and you can see why there won’t be any real change in the financial regulatory system soon. Consumers lose as usual. It’s a corporate world after all!

So far in congressional debate, it’s lenders 1, consumers 0

As Congress this week inches toward a new set of rules to avert another global financial collapse, it is focused on two conflicting goals: reforming the banking system to protect consumers while still giving lenders the freedom to take risks.”

photo source

Monday, March 8, 2010

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?

PTSD is not something you can cure with drugs. As a matter of fact, there’s no definitive cure.

With counseling, group therapy, and years of support, a person can still lead a relatively normal (I’m really not sure what normal is) life. Sometimes it’s necessary to add drugs to peoples PTSD treatment.

For example, I take Trazone at night to sleep. Zoloft,  a common anti-depressant drug that’s been around for over a decade, is also used as part of a treatment program. There are other drugs out there that have proved their worth as partial components for PTSD therapy.   

But, a potentially deadly drug- Seroquel -  manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has been linked to the deaths of soldiers returning from war.

Although it has not been approved for treatment of PTSD, Pentagon purchases of Seroquel nearly doubled between 2003 and 2007. Elspeth Ritchie, medical director of the Army's Strategic Communications Office told the Denver Post the drug is "increasingly utilized as an adjunct for PTSD."

Yet the FDA continues to approve it!

Introducing Andrew Sullivan – my kind of guy

« “Don’t Mess With Mossad!” | Main | The Walking Wounded »

Read today’s column Washington Bullshit Watch

New book claims Robin Hood stole from the rich and lent to the poor

New book claims Robin Hood stole from the rich and lent to the poor

A new book claims that Robin Hood was not as selfless as he is often depicted, suggesting he stole from the rich and lent money to the poor as an early kind of loan shark.

 Robin Hood: The Unknown Templar has a lot of Englishmen talking. Every hear the phrase, “Say it ain’t so Joe?” The British are saying, “Say it ain’t so  Robin.”

image source

Sunday, March 7, 2010

In a better world, we wouldn't keep animals in captivity

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By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 03/07/2010 01:27:21 AM PST

San Diego Zoo, 1960 -- I'm 10 years old and it's my first visit to a zoo. My parents and I walk past cages full of fascinating animals for several hours. At one of our stops my Dad points out the biggest rat I'd ever seen peacefully lumbering around in its enclosure.

He weighs about a hundred pounds Dad said, “which means he's heavier than you.” That sobered me up quick. As he talked about the capybara, I moved closer to the cage and came eye-to-eye with one of the big rascals.

What I saw was sorrow. A longing for home. “They can be found in Panama, Columbia, Venezuela, Peru...” Dad droned on, but his words were lost in my growing sadness.

Go here to read the rest.

Blog Break Until Presidential Election is Over

I finally hit the wall today. I can't think of what to say about all of the madness going on in this country right now. I'm a writer...