AS IT STANDS Presents the Dangers of Eating Fast Food – Part 1

Lately, I’ve been increasingly wary of eating at fast food chains.

I think my concern about the subject was amplified by some research I did for a recent column:

Why I'm nice to people who serve me food

When I saw the following story, I realized this is an ongoing situation and it’s time to start posting a series of reports – about employees acting badly at Fast Food chains - based upon current news stories.

I know one thing; when you read enough of these reports you’re going to rethink about where you eat!

Feet-in-lettuce photo hits Internet, gets Burger King employees fired

Screen grab source

 

This News Just In: Iraq War Reconstruction: $6 billion to $8 billion wasted

        Good Day Humboldt County!

It seems like the numbers keep getting worse. Report after report, detailing the corruption in Iraq, is coming out.

The American taxpayer got screwed. I’m talking an epic rip-off. When are we going to hold investigations on all the dirty bastards who we know cheated?

What’s grim about these tales of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers monies, is that most of the culprits involved are still in business, and doing just fine…thank you. Moving on: 

“The official in charge of monitoring America’s $51 billion effort to reconstruct Iraq has estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion of that amount was lost to waste, fraud and abuse.

Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR) for the past eight years, gave that estimate in an interview with the Center for Public Integrity on Monday, shortly after releasing a new summary of his office’s many grim discoveries since it began work in in 2004.

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

                    Related: As It Stands: How 3 big lies have crippled America's economy

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

In Friday’s report, Bowen said the exact funds lost to fraud and waste “can never be known,” largely because of poor record-keeping by the U.S. agencies involved in the effort. These include the Departments of State and Defense, along with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

According to the report, auditors repeatedly found that the State Department and Defense Department failed to properly review invoices from government contractors, often approving billions of dollars in services without checking if costs were accurate or efficient. “I think the consistent theme throughout our eight years of oversight work has been the inconsistent availability of records and information on contracts and costs,” said Bowen, a former Texas lawyer.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Moon Maddness: 20 photos of people posing with the moon and having fun

   VIA THUMB PRESS

 

 

       GO HERE

  TO SEE THE REST

What’s It Going To Take? Officials admit the War On Drugs has failed but we’re still stuck with it

                Good Day Humboldt County!

Even as the Obama Administration pours more taxpayer money into the War On Drugs, there’s a candid admission among many officials in government that the so-called war was lost a long time ago.

Mexico’s new president is shifting his country’s focus in priorities. Since 2010, programs for building the rule of law and stronger communities have become the largest items in the State Department’s antidrug budget, with the bulk of the money assigned to Mexico.

I wrote the following column on the subject back in March - Growing global movement to legalize drugs faces uphill battle Nothing has changed since then. The only exception is that more people are speaking out against our current drug policies right now.

Meanwhile officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Justice Department say they now recognize that arresting kingpins and seizing large drug shipments have failed to make Mexico more stable, largely because of corruption and other flaws in the Mexican justice system.

The time to end this useless war on drugs is now.

“America’s drug problem is shifting from illicit substances like cocaine to abuse of prescription painkillers, a change that is forcing policy makers to re-examine the long and expensive strategy of trying to stop illegal drugs from entering the United States.

This rethinking extends beyond the United States, where policy makers are debating how to better reduce demand for painkillers. The effects would also be felt here and in Central America: With the drug wars in Mexico inflaming violence, some argue that the money now used for interdiction could be better spent building up the institutions — especially courts and prosecutors’ offices — that would lead to long-term stability in Mexico and elsewhere.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A LOOK AT ANXIETY: GOING OVERBOARD WITH MEDICATIONS FOR EVERYDAY PROBLEMS

           Good Day Humboldt County!

Are we an over-medicated society? It seems like there’s new disorders being diagnosed every day. Doctors are quick to pass out mood elevators at any sign of anxiety. Now, some experts want the rule book for pychiatrists updated and re-examined.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, is being called into question by some parties. Is it possible that what the manual says is anxiety, is more about enforcing social norms than medicine?

“In 1994, a study asking a random sample of thousands of Americans about their mental health reported that 15 percent had ever suffered from anxiety disorders. A 2009 study of people interviewed about their anxiety repeatedly for years raised that estimate to 49.5 percent - which would be 117 million U.S. adults.

Some psychiatrists say the increase in the prevalence of anxiety from about 4 percent to 50 percent is the result of psychiatrists and others "getting better at diagnosing anxiety," as Dr. Carolyn Robinowitz, a past president of the APA who is in private practice in Washington, D.C., put it. "People who criticize that are showing their bias," she said. "When we get better at diagnosing hypertension, we don't say that's terrible."

Critics, including other leading psychiatrists, disagree. They say the apparent explosion in anxiety shows there is something seriously and dangerously wrong with the DSM. Its next edition, due in May, would lower the threshold for identifying anxiety.

The criticism rests on three arguments. First, the DSM fails to recognize that anxiety is normal and even beneficial in many situations, so it conflates a properly functioning brain system with a pathology. Second, the DSM's description of anxiety is more about enforcing social norms than medicine.

Finally, they say, anxiety is adaptive. Its brain circuitry was honed by evolution for a purpose. Only when that mechanism misfires should a person be diagnosed as mentally ill.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Overheard: A conversation about climate/global warming

           By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
   Overheard at Mom & Pop’s Café USA:
   First diner - “Climate change catastrophes are becoming common nowadays.”
   Second diner: “Oh no! Here we go with the liberal global warming conspiracies.”
   Story on open newspaper (Associated Press June 8) between the two diners:
  “The first six months of 2012 accounted for the warmest January-through-June period on record for the contiguous U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on July 9th.” 
  First diner - “Who said global warming? I try not to use that term because your conservative hackles flare up every time I do. I’m just saying climate changes are obvious right now.” 
  Second diner - “Of course they are. The earth’s climate goes through continual changes. It has since the start. We‘re in a lousy phase right now, that’s all.”
Same story on open newspaper between the two diners:
   “Climate models indicate the hot temperatures are not expected to ease anytime soon. ‘It looks like it’s going to stay above normal, for much of the remainder of the summer,’ said Jon Gottschalck at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.”

  First diner - “Okay. What about the U.S. National Academy of Sciences claim that
Climate change is occurring, most likely increasing global average surface temperatures worldwide about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century?”  
Second diner - “Sounds like change at that rate won’t make a difference to mankind for at least another thousand years.”
   Same story on open newspaper between the two diners:
   “In 2011, the U.S National Academy of Sciences concluded in a final report on U.S. global warming effects that ‘Climate change is occurring, and very likely caused primarily by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks.’" 
  First diner - “Can we at least agree that the recent climate changes in our country have been devastating, and that manmade pollution contributed to it?”
  Second diner - “I have to admit that was something when that derecho (editor’s note: a pattern of thunderstorms racing in a straight line)  struck Washington on June 29th . I was hoping a few Democratic Congressmen might get swept up… no seriously, playing the Al Gore card isn’t going to get it.”
    Another open newspaper (AP article June 7th) between the two diners: “At least 30 deaths were blamed on the heat, including nine in Maryland and 10 in Chicago, mostly among the elderly. Three elderly people found dead in their houses in Ohio had heart disease, but died of high temperatures in homes lacking power because of recent outages, officials said. Heat was also cited as a factor in three deaths in Wisconsin, two in Tennessee and three in Pennsylvania.”
    First diner - “Had to get that partisan shot in didn’t ya George? This climate change business is no laughing matter. We should be looking at ways to prepare for what’s happening to our environment right now and in the future.” 
Second diner - “Are you aware that some climate scientists, such as Georgia Tech's Judith Curry, dismiss connections between global warming and U.S. heat waves? She says on her website, Climate Etc. ‘We saw these kinds of heat waves in the 1930s, and those were definitely not caused by greenhouse gases.’ I don't think what we are seeing this summer is outside the range of natural variability for the past century." 
Another open newspaper ( Associated Press June 9) between the diners: “June's derecho, that unleashed 80 mph winds that knocked out power for millions from Ohio to Virginia, has been seen as a consequence of global warming. ‘Derechos don't happen very often, but with heat waves more common under climate projections, they would most likely increase in frequency and severity,’ says forest ecologist Chris Peterson of the University of Georgia in Athens. He pointed to likely extreme-weather effects on forests in a 2000 study.”
   First diner - “Looks like we aren’t going to solve anything today George. I gotta go to work now. See ya tomorrow…”
  Second diner - I guess not Pete. We can take this conversation up again. Same time. Same place. It’s your turn to buy, though!”
   As It Stands, until the great partisan debate about the reason for rising world temperatures is set aside and actions taken, we might as well join George and Pete at Mom and Pop’s Café USA.  

Websites that have picked up this column:

1) Topics – Mendocino News -

2) Doing it Green -

3) Global Warming News Blog – Daily Global Warming News

4) Year 8888 – Climate Change

5) Event Earth -

6) The Basics of Global Warming -

7) Global Warming – Articles about Global warming

8) The Global Warming Diet

9) Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming

10) The History of the Movement to Stop Gobal warming

11) Taking It Global -

12) Environment News

13) Al Gore News

14) Citizens Climate Lobby -

15) Pros and Cons about Global Warming -

16) Energy Destiny -

17) Hub Pages -

18) Squidoo -

19) Citizens Climate Lobby -

20) Dream Catalyst

21) Ian McPherson blog -

22) Fast Company -

23) Understanding Climate Change -  Energy Education Foundation

24) Total Wealth Essentials Elite Group Inc.

25) Pepper Groups

26) Energy Federation -

 

 

Joe Paterno's halo removed from Penn State mural

No man, or woman, should be painted with halos, because they ARE NOT angels. I’m sorry, but if you have a halo that means you’re one of God’s servants…at least according to the Christian faith. Right?

Joe Paterno was no angel. He was a great coach, but that will forever be overlooked because people will remember how he enabled Sandusky all of those years while those boys were being molested.

 Artist Michael Pilato adds a halo over football coach Joe Paterno's head to a mural in January in downtown State College, Pa. Pilato created the mural several years ago. On Saturday, Pilato removed the halo - Photo - Pat Little / Reuters

Today’s Feel-Good Story: Family Fulfills Dying Man's Wish: $500 Tip For Waitress

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

The waitresses reaction is really cool…

          Good Day Humboldt County!

 I really enjoy reading about stories that are so uplifting.

Yes, it’s kind of bittersweet, as it’s about someone dying, but his last wish was something so special it’s going to keep on giving beyond what he envisioned:

“A Kentucky man's family fulfilled his dying wish when they left a $500 tip to their waitress at a Lexington restaurant a few days after he died, the NBC station WLEX in Lexington. And that wish has turned into something bigger.

Before he died July 7, 30-year-old Aaron Collins told his family he wanted to eat pizza and leave the server a large tip, but didn't have the money, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. His family raised the money through a website that Collins' brother Seth started. (Source)

Controversy or diverson? Olympic uniforms made in China rile some people

 I think it really stinks that our National Olympic Team’s uniforms were made in China. Having said that, the controversy over the uniform’s origin has ignited senators and citizens to cry “foul!” over the purchase.

What makes me laugh is the fact that we purchase billions of dollars worth of clothing from China annually, but these uniforms are the straw that broke the camel’s back? C’mon folks, let’s get real. Look at the big picture. I think this “controversy” is the work of the mainstream media, pols looking to divert people from real issues, and some Tea Party types with time on their hands.

‘Nuff said…here’s some links:

Outrage Over Ralph Lauren's 'Made in China' Team USA Olympic Uniforms

Lawmaker outraged over team USA's uniform

Growing Outrage Over Team USA’s Olympic Uniforms Made in China

American religious institutions losing members due to lack of confidence in them

   Good Day Humboldt County!

The numbers don’t lie. Church attendance across the board is down. Organized religion has never been under more scrutiny by the public than now. Scandals have eroded the church’s credibility.

Is it any wonder that millions of Catholics have left the church because of the ongoing sexual abuse that has been exposed?

Televangelists acting badly helped destroy people’s beliefs when they took their money in the name of God, and bought themselves all the luxury’s possible in this world with it. The question I have is; what do people turn to after their religious beliefs have been turned upside down? 

“Americans' confidence in religious institutions has hit an all-time low, with only 44 percent expressing a "great deal" of confidence in organized religion, according to a new Gallup survey.

This follows a downward trend since the 1970s, when 68 percent of Americans had a high degree of confidence. Gallup cites two big blows to confidence in organized religion: 1980s scandals involving televangelists like Jim Bakker and the Catholic sex abuse scandal in the 2000s.

It's also worth noting that organized religion is far from the only institution in which Americans are losing confidence. Americans also are souring on schools, banks and television news, according to Gallup's survey.”

Time for me to walk on down the road…

TRENDING: Cities that declare bankruptcy – San Bernardino makes 3

I was talking with my sister who owns a house in San Bernardino yesterday, when she asked me if I heard the city was declaring bankruptcy? I didn’t and was surprised.

Her house, valued at $500,000 before the recession hit, has been reduced in value to $250,000.

“I’m getting out of here,” she assured me.

I asked where she would move to? Her answer was typical of her, “Anywhere but here!”

Let’s see now, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes both declared bankruptcy recently, so San Bernardino makes three in California in the last 30 days…a trend? 

in the news today..

“San Bernardino became the third California city in less than two weeks to file municipal bankruptcy protection Tuesday night when the city council voted to make the move in the face of a $45-million budget shortfall.

Shortly before the council's vote, Interim Mayor Andrea Miller recommended the city of 209,000 seek bankruptcy protection due, in part, to its inability to make payroll over the next three months, the Los Angeles Times reported.(source)”