This airy illusion leaves you looking for the birds

FIND THE EAGLES – There’s SEVEN of them in this image…

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Should women live in fear of male athletes?

Recent incidents show the ‘culture’ of sports has taken a terrible turn

Excerpt:

Is there something in our sports culture that condones the demeaning treatment of women by athletes, like the alleged acts of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (photo on left)?

 

Cosmologist outlines three concepts for time travel

The laws of physics actually accommodate the notion of time travel, through portals known as wormholes.

In an article in the Daily Mail this week, British cosmologist Stephen Hawking outlined not one, but three, theoretically realistic ideas for traveling through time one of which he says is even practical.

FDA investigates E. coli at Ariz. lettuce farm

Yuma grower may be source of outbreak; 19 sickened in 23 states

Excerpt:

“Food and Drug Administration investigators are looking at a farm in Yuma, Arizona, as a possible source of a widespread E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce.”

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Graham: 'Impossible' to pass climate bill now

Key GOP senator says oil spill, immigration debate have derailed legislation

Excerpt:

“A key Republican senator negotiating with Democrats on a climate change bill said Friday it's "become impossible" to pass the legislation now because of disagreements over offshore and immigration reform.”

No clear explanation for Wall Street’s wild plunge

After stocks plunge, search begins for cause

Computer programs exacerbate losses; Was there a ‘fat finger’ trade?

Another busy day at ‘As It Stands’

It’s 2:32 p.m. PST, and 845 viewers have stopped by to visit thus far. It’s fun seeing where visitors come from and wondering what they think when they stop by and take a peek. My thanks to you all, and don’t hesitate to stop by again.

Guest Opinion: As oil leaked, Interior Dept. official rafted with wife

“Though the Obama administration has stressed its involvement with the April 20 BP oil spill since "day one," at least one Interior Department official decided instead to phone it in and go white water rafting in the Grand Canyon with his wife and other officials.

Tom Strickland -- who serves as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's chief of staff and the department's assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks -- traveled to the Grand Canyon on official business on April 27, three days after the oil leak was initially discovered.

The incident bears similarity to the decision by National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter to stay on a ski trip with his son in the days following the thwarted Christmas Day bombing.

Other administration officials have canceled trips and events to focus on the spill. The Minerals Management Service wisely canceled an awards luncheon in Houston with the oil industry (where BP was a finalist)!

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson stayed away from the TIME 100 banquet where she was honored and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declined her Washington Post invite to the White House Correspondents Dinner in order to track the spill.”

Go here to read the rest.                                   Photo source

Students Kicked Off Campus for Wearing American Flag Tees

I re-read this article three times and each time I came away with mixed feelings. Students were told they couldn’t wear an American flag on their T-shirts (a normally accepted practice at the school) on Cinco de Mayo because the majority of the school is Mexican-American, and would be offended because it’s “their holiday.”

One excuse was that the principal wanted to avoid fights between the five students wearing the flag and the angry Latino population. I thought this was AMERICA. What happened to those student’s rights? They can’t wear something that is normally acceptable because the Latino population wants to celebrate “their holiday?”

Those boys were being intimidated for doing nothing wrong and school authorities threatened suspension – and finally sent them home – for what reason?

Fear perhaps? Did school authorities think they’d lose control of the students if their flag-wearing peers didn’t concede and turn their T-shirts inside out? If so, then that’s pretty scary and tells you what’s happening on that campus – racial discrimination.

What do you think about the school’s action? Right or wrong?

Excerpt:

"They said we could wear it on any other day," student Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."

Read the full story here.

Poisonous chemicals used to fight Gulf oil slick

A deadly side-show to the massive oil spill drama is playing itself out with marine wildlife as BP uses record amounts of a toxic stew (environmentalists don’t even know all the ingredients in it, making it difficult to access the damage being done) that is supposed to help disperse the gushing oil. 

Dispersants’ ingredients — ‘proprietary recipes like Coca-Cola’ — are secret

PHOTO: A sea turtle in the gulf surfaced Wednesday to feed, swimming through patches of oxidizing oil mingling with chemical dispersants used by BP to break up oil.

Why Was an Ad Criticizing Mayor Bloomberg for NYC's Marijuana Arrest Policy Censored?

New York City has the dubious distinction as the marijuana arrest capital of the world. The mayor's office doesn't seem to want to allow attention drawn to it.

Excerpt:

“Most New Yorkers don’t know that last year, the New York Police Department arrested close to 50,000 people for marijuana possession at a staggering cost of nearly $100 million.”