Friday, July 19, 2013

As It Stands blog: Monkeys get bad rap in virus movies & scientists unearth largest known virus yet!

   Good Day World!

If there’s one thing that really bugs me it’s viruses! I couldn’t sleep for a week after the movie “Outbreak” came out thinking about monkeys spreading the deadly virus in a neighborhood near me! Forget about Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies, a deadly virus can reach you anywhere, in any place, and you can’t even see the suckers coming!

How scary is that? It seems to me that monkeys need to get better agents because they tend to be the one’s who spread deadly viruses around in the movies. Ever see the movie “Contagion?” A virus spread by monkeys kills millions of people in a matter of days, and someone has to figure a way to stop it.

How about “28 Days later?” It’s about an animal activist who sets things in motion by releasing chimps from a lab. Once again, primates take the heat. At least monkeys weren’t the villains in The Andromedia Strain. Six monkeys were not blamed in this original virus movie.

But enough of the movies and monkeys. Let’s turn to what’s happening in the real world. Here’s an interesting article that may just make you feel a little squeamish…don’t worry, no monkeys are involved!

“Giant viruses, more than twice as big as the last largest known viruses, have now been unearthed from sludge across the world, researchers say. Even more titanic viruses might await discovery, the scientists said, and they may have features that could blur the lines between life and viruses, which are not considered to be living things. Ten years ago, researchers accidentally discovered mimivirus, what until now was the biggest, most complex virus known.

Now the research team that discovered those giant viruses have unearthed two more that are even bigger. The shape of these new viruses, which resemble ancient Greek jars, reminded the scientists of the myth of Pandora's box, giving the germs their name — pandoraviruses.” (read the story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, July 18, 2013

As It Stands blog: A new Cheney in the senate? Are you Linkedin? Change Tumblr passwords ASAP!

Good Day World!

It’s Thursday. Pot Luck Day at As It Stands. I’ve cobbled together a few items for you to chew on. Nothing too heavy. Just a few slices of life:   

Dick Cheney (aka Darth Varder) has a Daughter, Liz, who is Running for a Senate Seat in Colorado

Liz Cheney launched her campaign for Senate on Wednesday by calling the 69-year-old Republican senator she's looking to unseat "confused." Daddy told her to say that.

Cheney made official her Republican primary challenge in Wyoming to veteran Sen. Mike Enzi on Wednesday, calling for a "new generation"(read evil empire)of conservative leaders in Washington.

The only question now is Darth Vader’s evil empire about to expand? Liz Vader…has a ring to it, don’t you think?

---------------------------

I’m feeling helpful today so I’m going to hook you up with the next article:

How to Ask for a LinkedIn Introduction — and Get One

By Carol Ross

Ross is a Bell Labs engineer turned career coach, entrepreneur, speaker, and writer. She has created career development programs to help talented midcareer professionals be more successful in a competitive, increasingly digital marketplace. Contact Carol on LinkedIn or by email.

---------------------------

Tumblr

Warning! Warning!

Use Tumblr's iPhone or iPad apps? Change your passwords now!

After discovering an issue which could allow passwords to be compromised, Tumblr has released what it describes as a "very important security update" for its iPhone and iPad apps and asked users to change their passwords.

It seems that, under certain circumstances, the prior versions of the iPhone and iPad apps would allow an individual with malicious intent to "sniff" — or intercept — passwords as they are in transit across a local network.

The latest update — version 3.4.1 — fixes this issue, but Tumblr asks that those who've used prior versions of the apps should update their passwords on Tumblr and anywhere else they may have used the same password.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

As It Stands blog: Are ‘Dabs’ & Pot Concentrates the New Crack?

  Good Day World!

 On April 7, 2013 I wrote a column - Faster is not always better: THC 'dabs' can be dangerous Apparently it’s resonated with some people and continues to pop up in the 10 Most Viewed stories for The Times-Standard on a daily basis.

As of this writing it’s #7. Check back tomorrow and it may be #2. For the last 90 days, this column has crept back into circulation as one website after another continues to pick it up. No wonder. Concentrated marijuana is becoming more well known every day. What started in California and expanded to Oregon, has now swept across the county. You’ll be hearing more in the moths and years ahead about these “dabs” or concentrates – for better or worse.

The day after my column came out, April 8, 2013, “Drugs Forum,” an online drug information website had this reader feedback:

“Hey guys,
Last night I took one of the biggest dabs of my life. I purchased a gram of Green
Crack wax concentrates from my favorite dispensary and loaded up a full dab, yes a full! Normally a half dab gets me good but I felt like going all out. I looked at the mini oil rig peice and felt a nervousness and anxiety hit me, if that means anything. I took the whole dab on one hit and it went down fast. Lungs were full of concentrate wax. Exhaled and it didn't feel right. Well first of all, its was almost impossible to breathe normally cuz of the size of hit and thickness of wax. I felt like something hit me in the brain super hard and I was dizzy. The difficulty to breathe might have made me have an anxiety attack but it took me 10 minutes to return to normal calm mind. Do you think anxiety caused this pale/ sweating response? It was really unpleasant. Or could it have been a super large hit? Not used to milking a bong with wax! Any response helps. thanks!”

The Atlantic Wire came out with a good piece on “Dabs” a month later – The Amateur's Guide to Dabs – on May 15th, 2013. It’s got more information than I was able to squeeze into my short column.

More recently this website – Treatment Line offers treatment alternatives for addicted for Dabbers. It also provides a lot of good information and is worth checking out. Read Potent Marijuana Concentrate (BHO) Is Anything But Harmless

Finally AlterNet came out with this article on July 1, 2012: It asks, Is 'Dabbing' the Crack of Pot? Good question. Is it? What are your thoughts on the subject? (Note: if you’d like to email me any comments please send them to richarddavestancliff@gmail.com )and I will keep them confidential.

Time for me to walk on down the street…

 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

As It Stands blog: All the planets aligned for a fan one night!

      Good Day World!

I always enjoy hearing positive stories and the one I have for you today is a good example. Nothing earth shattering. Just a superstar who’s more grounded in reality than most. When he encounters two fans it becomes the thing that legends are born from. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did:

“A woman on her way to see the Dave Matthews Band perform in Hershey, Pa., on Saturday stopped her car to help a stranded bicyclist — and in the process saved the very rock show she was going to see.Emily Kraus and her boyfriend, Joe, were already running late when they noticed a man on the side of the road. When they pulled over to help, it was none other than Dave Matthews.

The singer was out for a pre-concert bike ride when he got a flat tire, and he didn't have a cell phone to call for help. Kraus happened to have a bike rack on her car, and she told local TV station CBS 21 that Joe helped Matthews load his bike while she held his helmet.

Matthews then got in the car and rode with the couple to the concert. The three made small talk about his tour, and Kraus told CBS 21 that the rocker was very humble. He later invited Emily and Joe to dinner, had them visit backstage and gave them front-row seats for his show.

During the concert, Matthews made mention of the whole ordeal and the "nice lady named Emily" in the red car who gave him a ride to the gig.

In reply to a photo posted on CBS 21's Facebook page, Kraus said she has been listening to the Dave Matthews Band since she was 9 years old. "All the planets aligned last night — something greater then I'll ever be able to comprehend,"she wrote, adding later, "My cheeks still hurt from smiling, giggling and laughing all night long ... this will always be remembered." (Story ran here 1st)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, July 15, 2013

As It Stands blog: Tiny Satellites for all, & Tanks Purchased for the 2022 World Cup!

  Good Day World!

Here we are on Monday. It comes this time every week. Today, I have two quick stories for you to get your mojo going for the week ahead:

Someday, swarms of satellites the size of a tissue box will be snapping pictures, taking environmental readings and broadcasting messages from orbit — but the entities controlling those satellites won't be governments.

Instead, they'll be hard-core hobbyists and elementary-school students, entrepreneurs and hacktivists. In short, anyone who can afford a few hundred dollars to send something to the final frontier.

I’m sure not making any plans to see the 2022 World Cup. It sounds more like preparation for an international war if the wrong team wins!Qatar WC

Qatar is set to purchase 118 Leopard tanks and 16 tank howitzers from Germany in preparation for hosting the 2022 World Cup.

German newspaper Bild am Sonntag made the announcement Sunday claiming the oil-rich nation will pay several billion dollars to German defense manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and defense tech group Rheinmetall.

The deal comes after the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the initial purchase of 62 Leopard tanks and 24 howitzers this past spring.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Sunday, July 14, 2013

As It Stands: A Boomers story: once I believed, but now I don’t

By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

I didn’t start out distrusting our government.
 

 I was proud to say the Pledge of Alliance when I went to school in the 1950s and early 1960s. I never questioned what our government was doing because my teachers told me our government was an institution that maintained people’s rights.
I believed them. My parents believed them. Almost everyone believed our government protected our civil rights.

Except for African-Americans and some progressive whites. That segment of society had to fight for equal rights, but I didn’t see much of the battle for a couple of reasons.
For starters, I seldom watched television. When I did, it was only for special programs like watching the Mickey Mouse show, or Howdy Doody. News about civil rights demonstrations seldom slipped into my social studies classes. When it did, in the early 1960s, the coverage was spotty at best.
 

It wasn’t until I graduated from high school in 1968 and went into the Army that I began to have misgivings about our government. After my tour of duty in Vietnam (1970) I was a different person. For numerous reasons. When I got out of the Army in 1971, I bought a car and traveled around the country.

Like other Vietnam veterans at the time, I was not given the red-carpet treatment for serving my country. My country had changed. Or, I was the one who changed. I now knew that I had grown up clueless, and I began to see the world around me for what it was. 

For the first time I followed the news. I was in Ohio on June 17th, 1972 when the Watergate burglars broke into the Democratic Party’s National Committee headquarters. The rest is history. I tore up my honorable discharge because it was signed by Richard M. Nixon.

 My disillusionment was so great I felt compelled to do something about it. That was a turning point in my life, when I knew I had to expose all the lies I grew up with and the machinations of the current administration.

 Throughout my career in newspapers I sought the truth behind political intrigues and exposed everything I believed the public should know. My ability to get information during the late 1970s through the early 1990s, was limited compared to what’s available these days to anyone who has a PC and the internet.
 When I began this blog and the newspaper column in 2008, I returned to politics and news with renewed interest. A lot has happened in the last five years. Two historic elections, a great recession, and now the revelation that the government has been spying on all Americans for an unknown period of time.

 They still do. Yes, I know you can argue that PRISM and other secret government programs are for our own good. You can also argue that our government has gone too far in monitoring our every activity.

 I admit I’m more concerned about our freedoms now than ever before in my life. I’ve watched the Patriot Act morph into other secret programs in the name of national security, and it appears we’ve got to live with Big Brother watching our every move, even after exposing him.

 I’m not surprised George Orwell’s 1984 is selling like hotcakes lately. The sales rankings for Orwell’s dystopian view of the future spiked like crazy two weeks ago, according to Amazon.com.

 A new generation is discovering this classic book. I think that’s a good thing. People need to question what’s happening when the government starts stripping away liberties in the name of safety and ideology.

 Knowing that what I’m write here could put me on a secret government list, deeply disappoints me. I’m proud to be an American. I fought for freedom, not an overbearing government. But as revelations continue to unfold about the NSA’s, CIA’s and FBI’s illegal activities, I can’t trust our government.

 After five years immersed in political history and current events, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Obama administration continues to follow in the footsteps of every president since Richard Nixon.
Those footsteps have led to a disconnect between the government and the people and have resulted in the biggest case of spying in our history.

The image of Watergate fades beside the enormity of what’s happening in America today.
 As It Stands, my disillusionment is somewhat abated by the fact that social media has become so powerful, government corruption is harder to conceal. 

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...