Easy is... snow diving!

Fred found that diving for his food kept him in shape and was a fun way to watch his weight!

The Mother of all buses...

Check this beast out click here. You really need to see more shots of it. The inside is stunning. The whole thing screams EXCESS!!

There's public & private options - you pick!

Thanks to Farleftside by Stanfill

9 reasons why there wasn’t stress in the good old days

Nowadays, people seem to be more and more stressed, even average people that at least apparently don’t take big gambles.
Researchers have put a lot of time and money into the study of this problem, and came up with a whole lot of theories, but really, don’t let those fool you. Here’s the real deal, here’s why it was so easy in those days.

Stickney and Poor’s (above photo) are known today mostly for spices, but back in the day, they also sold this syrup that helped babies sleep well; and if the opium inside wasn’t enough, then the 46% alcohol would definitely do the trick.

Bayer’s Heroin (photo on right)

Yeah baby, between 1890 and 1910, heroin was sold as a ‘less addictive form of morphine’. At some point, it was even recommended to treat the usual cough, but only in children.
Diacetylmorphine was first synthesized by Alder Wright, who concluded it was even more addictive than opium, and abandoned research in this direction. However, the Bayer company concluded that it was very effective in treating moderate pains and dealing with diseases such as asthma or tuberculosis, so they branded it as Heroin. What’s interesting is that it was branded pretty much at the same time with acetylsalicylic acid, that became later known as aspirin. It’s hard to say which one of these had more success…

Click here to read seven more examples of what passed for medicine in the good old days at ZME Science!

Prisoners' free health care plan beats anything on the streets

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 08/16/2009 01:27:21 AM PDT

Recent court rulings call for improved medical care for California's prison population. The court said the care now provided to prisoners is unconstitutional. The reality is everything possible is being done for prisoners health care right now.

The prison system continues to be the biggest drain on California's budget. Billions of dollars come out of state coffers to meet every mental and medical need of prisoners according to the court's orders.

A 2005 court appointed receiver oversees the responses to the prisoner's needs. That almost resulted in new medical facilities to treat 10,000 ailing inmates and create “a holistic” environment with indoor basketball courts, handball courts, electronic bingo boards, stress-reduction rooms, music therapy, kitchens to teach cooking skills and outdoor gardens where inmates could relax in private.

Click here to read the rest at The Times-Standard.

Birds of a feather drink together

They obviously have a better class of pigeon Down Under.

Instead of pecking around on the filthy pavements among cigarette butts and chewing gum, they prefer to sip filtered water and go to great lengths for a bath.

The trio pictured here, in Brisbane, Queensland, appear to have worked out a clever system of adapting the water fountain built by humans for their own pigeon purposes.

After waiting for the fountain to be free, one bird jumped on the lever and pushed it down to fill up the bowl, while another kept watch and the third splashed in.

Read more at The Daily Mail

BREAKING: Rush, Newt, and Sarah Supported Death Panels, Too!

From The Nation --

Attention, townhall protesters: Guess who else wants to pull the plug on granny and kill Sarah Palin's baby?

In some knock-out reporting, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow showed Thursday night that not long ago Rush Limbaugh promoted death panels on his own radio show, Newt Gingrich sung their praises in the pages of the Washington Post, and, as the half-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin actually proclaimed an official Death Panel Day for her state!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now, I wonder how long it will be before this must-see hypocrisy is featured on the nightly news and Sunday talk shows? Especially on your shows, Brian Williams and David Gregory, since you are, like Maddow, part of the "NBC family." Surely you're not going to ignore this major story at the heart of the health care debate, are you?

And for more must-see health care hypocrisy, viddy this: Glenn Beck on the Best Health Care in the World, from The Daily Show, aired the same night.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Glenn Beck's Operationwww.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

Early toolmakers were 'engineers'

Early modern humans in South Africa were using "heat treatment" to improve their stone tools about 72,000 years ago, according to new research.

By Griet Scheldeman

This technique may bridge a gap between the use of fire to cook food 800,000 years ago and the production of ceramics 10,000 years ago.

Evidence for this innovation was found at Pinnacle Point, a Middle Stone Age site on the South African coast.

The researchers have published details in the journal Science.

"We found that as early as 165,000 years ago, but definitely 72,000 years ago, people are doing more than just using fires for cooking, heat, light or protection," lead researcher Kyle Brown, from Arizona State University, US, told BBC News.

Click here to read the rest of this article.

8 WAYS HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM PROVIDES SECURITY AND STABILITY TO ALL AMERICANS

1. Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

2. Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.
3. Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.
4. Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.
5. Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.
6. Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.
7. Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.
8. Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.
Learn more and get details:
http://tinyurl.com/nbn5fg
Click here to read 8 Common Myths about health reform.

Check out this film: 'Power & Control LSD in The Sixties'

Experiments with LSD. Wait till you see some of the people who dropped the hallucinogenic compound back before anyone in the public heard about it.

As usual, it involves some sneaky crap by the CIA and others who sought to exploit it's properties for no good.

Click here to see the YouTube Video - Part One. A film by Aron Ranen

Food for thought today...