Should the military intervene in civilian crime?

I think calling in the military to fight the violence in Chicago would be a mistake. There’s enough people angry at the federal government right now, without giving them fuel like this.

The growing violence is a problem, but the local politicians need to address it at the state level and not incite people by bringing in the military. I can see no good coming from that arrangement. 

Lawmakers: Military could quell Chicago violence

Excerpt:

“Two Illinois lawmakers say violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the National Guard must be called in to help.

Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford made a public plea to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to deploy troops.

The request comes amid a recent surge in violent crime, including a night last week that saw seven people killed and 18 wounded, mostly by gunfire.”

What's therapeutic, affects moral judgment, and confuses crocks?

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 04/25/2010 01:27:24 AM PDT

It's a comic villain's dream. The good guy is strapped down and bombarded by a powerful beam that can alter his sense of morality. It's also reality, according to a recently released report on magnets by the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists from MIT, Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center got together and scrambled the moral center of some willing subjects, using magnets. No, really. It does sound kind of sinister, but these respected neuroscientists suggest just the opposite. They believe the research has useful applications that may, for example, benefit the courts.

The researchers reported they affected the “moral decision-making process” with magnetic fields. The study discovered the part of the brain that changes people's moral judgments. I don't think this new study will change our legal system soon. It's a big, clunky setup involving huge magnets. It sounds scary to me, and I hesitate to consider all the nefarious applications if it ends up in the wrong hands. That's assuming it hasn't already.

Go here to read the rest. 

PHOTO: Florida wildlife managers have taped magnets to the heads of crocodiles to try and stop them from returning to residential areas. The temporary headgear is thought to disrupt their ‘homing’ ability because the reptiles are thought to rely on the Earth’s magnetic fields to navigate. Researchers at Mexico’s Crocodile Museum in Chiapas reported they had some success with the method, using it to permanently relocate 20 of the reptiles since 2004.”                                                                     Photo source

Goldman e-mails: ‘Serious money’ to be made

This is another confirmation of how devious the Wall Street crowd is. No wonder people hate guys like Blankfein. They live in another world and consider the rest of us rubes!

Firm boasted about money it was making as housing market collapsed

PHOTO- Goldman Sachs "made more than we lost because of shorts," Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said in a November 2007 e-mail.

View related photos

Can any political party be civil and still get out their message?

The woman who started The Coffee Party, Annabel Park, has discovered that the idea of gathering people together to civilly present an exchange of ideas, is naive. Nevertheless, she means well and keeps trying to make the idea work.

Will she be usurped by her own newly created political party for not being “aggressive enough?”  Read:

The Coffee party Heats Up

Tired of all the Tea Party talk, Annabel Park decided to throw a Coffee Party—and 200,000 people showed up.

“The question is whether Park or anyone else can hope to lead a successful movement based on civility instead of combat. There's a reason why pundits keep using the cliché that we're a deeply divided nation: there are intensely partisan minorities on the far right and the far left.”

GUEST OPINION: vote for prop 15

Candidates for office have to raise so much campaign money that they become beholden to the big-spending interests that fund them rather than to the voters who elect them.

But there's an alternative:

Proposition 15’s idea to levy a fee on lobbyists to fund political campaigns is worth a try

Image source

Alaska dog honored for leading troopers to fire

Step aside Lassie! We have a new dog hero for the 21st Century.

Buddy appears at a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday, April 23, 2010. The German shepherd was hailed Friday as a hero for guiding Alaska State Troopers through winding back roads to a fire at his owner Ben Heinrichs' workshop on April 4. He received a commendation and a stainless steel dog dish from the troopers. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Read the whole story here.

Archie Comics to unveil gay character in September

Move about keeping world ‘current and inclusive,’ CEO says

Archie Comics issue "Veronica 202" will introduce a new classmate named Kevin Keller, the first gay character in the Archie Comics series. The comic will be available in September 2010.

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Obama slams pending Ariz. immigration law

Gov. faces Saturday deadline; law makes it crime to be in country illegally

Excerpt:

“President Obama on Thursday criticized a pending Arizona law that would make it a state crime to be in the United States legally and requiring anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant to produce identification.”

Click for related content

Timeline: U.S. immigration policy
Key players in the immigration debate                                                     Photo source

VIDEO: Arizona is being overrun,’ governor says

Insurer targeted breast cancer patients to cancel

Government: Software flagged new cases, sought reasons to drop policies

Excerpt:

“During the recent legislative process for the reform law, however, lobbyists for WellPoint and other top insurance companies successfully fought proposed provisions of the legislation. In particular, they complained about rules that would have made it more difficult for the companies to fairly — or unfairly — cancel policyholders.

For example, an early version of the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives would have created a Federal Office of Health Insurance Oversight to monitor and regulate insurance practices like rescission. WellPoint lobbyists pressed for the proposed agency to not be included in the final bill signed into law by the president.

They also helped quash proposed provisions that would have required a third party review of its or any other insurance company's decision to cancel a customer's policy.”

PHOTO ABOVE: Even as WellPoint targeted women with breast cancer and who were pregnant for investigation, it prided itself for having women at the helm such as Angela Braly, president and chief executive officer.

Deadly airborne fungus in Oregon set to spread

Here’s a news item that really creeps me out. Anyone who has ever seen movies like “Outbreak” knows how deadly new strains of anything can be.

This is something to be afraid of. Very afraid. Where’s my gas mask? Time to pull it out and clean it up.

The new, rare strain infects people and animals, researchers warn

Excerpt:

“A deadly, airborne new strain of fungus has emerged in Oregon. It has killed nearly one out of four known affected people so far and might also attack animals ranging from dogs to dolphins. And it is likely to spread, researchers now warn.

The new strain known as VGIIc of the fungus Cryptococcus gattii not only targets humans but has also proven capable of infecting dogs, cats, alpacas, sheep and elk. Other strains have even infected porpoises.”

 

Relax and look for the five horses here

If you enjoy optical illusions this ought to be right up your alley.

I’m always amazed at how much work the artist has to go through to create something so clever.

Do you see all five horses yet? Relax. You will.

Image source

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