The Pug Report: ‘What’s with Millie? We had to take a new route today!’

Okay. Something is up.

After two years of walking the same route every day, Millie refused to go that way today! Say What? She was fine with going in the opposite direction – and we did end up taking a good walk in new territory, but that’s not the point.

Why? Is that “Supermoon” today/tonight a Bad Moon rising?

 “Even more than a normal full Moon, this “super Moon” gets a bad reputation for triggering natural disasters thanks to stories posted on the Internet. NASA says the facts don’t back that accusation. They point to the “super Moon” of March 1983 and the “almost super Moon” of December 2008 that resulted in no natural disasters occurring. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)  states that lunar gravity at perigee will only pull tide water nor more than an inch or so higher though local geography could result in a pull of up to six inches. That may be alarming if you’re an insect living on the beach, but it shouldn’t be to humans.” Source

I have to admit that I’m still mystified by her behavior. What was suddenly different today? Or, was it something simple like just being tired of the same old walk and she opted for a change? Maybe I’m wasting my time wondering what a pug is thinking. Especially a female pug! Like her human counterparts, she reserves the right to change her mind…anytime.

Now if it wasn’t for this guy’s prediction: “Earthquake forcaster Jim Berkland warns of a 'high risk' seismic window and potential for a massive quake poised to strike somewhere in North America in between the dates of March 19th and 26th,” I’d be fine and would think no more on the subject. Does Millie know something I don’t? I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

 

 

Humboldt Bloggers should thank Sal at Planet Tapperass for his clever introduction of their websites

Gotta hand it to Sal at Planet Tapperass

This is his second year of introducing Humboldt Blogs in a quasi-competition based on mystery methodologies. It’s a great way for outsiders to get glimpses of our Humboldt Blogisphere

If you haven’t already checked out Sal’s website, then please do. We need more humor in this world and it’s a lot of good fun.

Thanks again Sal, and maybe next year I’ll get in the finals!

image source

Utah Rep. Mike Lee: Federal Child Labor Laws Are "Unconstitutional"

First Missouri considers a bill that would repeal child labor laws in the state, calling it an interference with how parents choose to raise their kids. 

Now freshman Republican Congressman Mike Lee of Utah is lecturing that federal child labor laws are unconstitutional, and it really should be up to states to pass rules.

Via Raw Story:

"Congress decided it wanted to prohibit that practice, so it passed a law. No more child labor. The Supreme Court heard a challenge to that law, and the Supreme Court decided a case in 1918 called Hammer v. Dagenhardt," Lee said. "In that case, the Supreme Court acknowledged something very interesting -- that, as reprehensible as child labor is, and as much as it ought to be abandoned -- that's something that has to be done by state legislators, not by Members of Congress."

Lee's reasoning was that labor and manufacturing are "by their very nature, local activities" and not "interstate commercial transactions." He added: "This may sound harsh, but it was designed to be that way. It was designed to be a little bit harsh."

The key Congressional law that addresses child labor is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which placed a series of restrictions against the employment of people under 18 in the public and private sectors.

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law in the 1941 United States v. Darby Lumber decision, overturning Hammer, on the basis of the constitutional authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. It has hardly run into controversies since.”

Is Lee's lecture on giving child labor laws back to the states an opening for more states to consider repealing their own laws, and allow young children into the workforce?  Or is the GOP simply back to calling everything they don't like -- unemployment insurance, health care, public education, and apparently federal law -- unconstitutional?    VIA Care2

A Passion for Skateboarding: Creative Art Sculptures by Haroshi

If you have never heard about a Japanese wood sculptor named Haroshi, then read on:

“As a creator of amazingly beautiful wooden sculptures out of old, crashed and broken skateboard decks, Haroshi passed for a man of considerable resourcefulness.

His multicolored and meticulously sculpted art pieces simply astound with lifelike affinity, so in whichever way it’s even possible to mistake them for being real! In his works he stacks many layers with all piece elements being connected either in their original form or in shapes to form wooden mosaic, dots, and pixels. After that they’re cut down to size, shaven to get rid of the debris, and afterwards coated with a final glossy finish. And with a long-term passion for skateboarding, Haroshi even puts a broken metal skateboard piece in the center of each sculpture to give soul to the statue. You’d better see this bewildering craftsmanship and planning involved with the unrolling showcase:” GO HERE TO SEE MORE        Photo source

Enron whistleblower gets $1.1 million from IRS

Anonymous tipster alerted the feds to $600 million tax-evasion scheme. Yes, the bounty is taxable.

“A whistleblower who exposed a tax fraud scheme by Enron and Wall Street firms has been awarded a $1.1 million reward by the Internal Revenue Service.

The payout came from the new IRS Whistleblower Office, but was made under prior, less generous guidelines. Those older rules, which still apply in some instances, call for a reward of up to 15% of the money that the IRS recovers based on the information.

The whistleblower office was revamped in 2006. Now when whistleblower information about alleged tax cheating leads to IRS collection of unpaid taxes and the subsequent recovery amount exceeds $2 million, the whistleblower can pocket up to 30% of the recovered money.”  Rest of Story here

Expert explores possibilities: What was the Sphinx?

There has never been a satisfactory answer to what the Sphinx actually is or was.

“Anyone who goes to Giza can see for himself or herself that there is something ‘wrong’ with the Sphinx. It only takes an instant. The body is gigantic and the head is just a pimple. The Egyptians never did anything like that, they were always meticulous about proportions in their art. So how is it that we have this monster with a tiny head sitting there in the sand, then?”

There are several other things wrong with the Sphinx. They are: GO HERE

Corporations Versus Individuals: The End of the Left/Right Paradigm

Looks like the New World Order isn’t going to be a global Big Socialist Government (unless, perhaps, you count corporate socialism).

“This may not be a brilliant insight, but it is surely an overlooked one. It is now an Individual vs. Corporate debate – and the Humans are losing.

Consider:

• Many of the regulations that govern energy and banking sector were written by Corporations;

• The biggest influence on legislative votes is often Corporate Lobbying;

• Corporate ability to extend copyright far beyond what original protections amounts to a taking of public works for private corporate usage;

• PAC and campaign finance by Corporations has supplanted individual donations to elections;

• The individuals’ right to seek redress in court has been under attack for decades, limiting their options.

• DRM and content protection undercuts the individual’s ability to use purchased content as they see fit;

• Patent protections are continually weakened. Deep pocketed corporations can usurp inventions almost at will;

• The Supreme Court has ruled that Corporations have Free Speech rights equivalent to people; (So much for original intent!)

None of these are Democrat/Republican conflicts, but rather, are corporate vs. individual issues.

For those of you who are stuck in the old Left/Right debate, you are missing the bigger picture.”

Excerpts above from Barry Ritholtz at this website

Oxycodone on Ice?: Ice cream seller accused of dealing drugs

Momma watch your babies…

“A New York man has been arrested for allegedly selling illegal prescription drugs from his ice cream truck, making more than $1 million in a year, prosecutors said.

Louis Scala sold ice cream to children from his "Lickity Split" truck and would allegedly make stops at prearranged spots where customers knew they could buy pills, according to the New York Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

Scala, 40, is accused of selling more than 40,000 prescription oxycodone pills from his ice cream truck in the borough of Staten Island and heading up a 30-person drug ring that included more than two dozen runners to fill fake prescriptions, prosecutors said.

Another suspect, Nancy Wilkins, is accused of using her position as an assistant at a Manhattan orthopedic office to steal blank prescription pads and allegedly sell them for $100 a page, prosecutors said.

The phony prescriptions would be filled by runners who would be paid in cash or in pills, they said.

The ring earned more than $1 million in the past year, sometimes charging up to $20 for a single pill.”

Read the rest of the story here.

In Japan, the Mormon network gathers up the flock

The only thing that rivals the Mormon church’s ability to spread the word is its ability to cope with emergencies.

Within 36 hours of the earthquake striking off the coast of Sendai on March 11, the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that all 638 of its missionaries in the country -- 342 Americans, 216 Japanese and 80 from other nations – were safe.

Within a few days, the church also had accounted for all but about 1,000 of its 125,000 members in Japan.

Photo - Fukuoka Japan Temple is the 88th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints        

Full Story

Experts say ‘Don’t worry’ as tiny amounts of Japan's radiation reachs California

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

First readings are 'about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening'

Call me paranoid, but I think our media is covering up some information about what’s really happening, while spoon-feeding us facts very slowly.

That part about “first readings” has sinister implications for the future. Maybe it’s just me, but I have an uneasy feeling that before this crisis is under control there will be health-threatening levels of radiation hitting up and down the entire West Coast.

Forget ‘Bad Moon rising’: It's a 'Supermoon' rising, the biggest in 18 years

It'll hit closest point to Earth of year Saturday, bigger and brighter than ever

“Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur on Saturday, leading some observers to dub it a "supermoon."  Full Story

PHOTO - The dazzling full moon sets behind the Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert in this photo released June 7, 2010, by the European Southern Observatory. The moon appears larger than normal because of an optical illusion of perspective