True love: According to a survey of 24,000 people in 23 countries, 21 percent of adults would rather smooch their pet than their spouse on Valentine’s Day.
Least likely to choose non-human companionship: the French, of course.
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Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Males more likely than females to have noise-related hearing loss
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 02/07/2010 01:27:41 AM PST
“I wear hearing aids, but I consider myself lucky. There are a lot of people in America today who are deaf due to numerous environmental assaults on their hearing. Many of them don't have insurance to get what they need.
Recent research presented by the American Academy of Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery) in San Diego concluded that males are three times more likely to have noise-related hearing loss than women.
According to Dr. Hamid Djalilian of the University of California Irvine Medical Center, occupational and recreational noise exposure, as well as service in the armed forces, probably explain why men are at greater risk.”
Go here to read the rest of this column.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
I recall looking up at an oily rain …
Photo caption: Vietnam Defoliation Mission. A UH-1D helicopter from the 336th Aviation Company sprays a defoliation agent on a dense jungle area in the Mekong delta., 07/26/1969/National Archives photo
I was in Vietnam in 1970 and saw Agent Orange sprayed everywhere. Hell, I recall looking up at an oily rain as it came down upon me and the guys of my squad as we trudged through dense jungle areas like the one shown above. We didn’t think much of it other than it was sticky and added to our overall discomfort.
Now, I’m researching a column on Agent Orange – and the effects it has had on the children of the exposed veterans. The need for more research is now. Past studies and research (on these children) have somehow slide to the rear of the VAs priorities. The VA has been grudgingly awarding disability ratings to the veterans who were exposed, but the next generation is being forgotten.
At Long Last, A Small Justice
When grisly images of their daughter's death went viral on the Web, the Catsouras family fought back. Two years later, a court rules in their favor.
These are the photos the Catsouras family wishes you would see.
Excerpt:
“They say losing a child is the worst thing a parent can endure. But for Christos and Lesli Catsouras, whose 18-year-old daughter, Nikki, was killed in a devastating car crash in 2006, there was something much, much worse.
Two weeks after their daughter's death, on Halloween day, Christos got a phone call from a friend. "Have you seen the photos?" he asked, hesitantly. Nine color close-ups of Nikki's mangled remains, still strapped into her father's crushed car, had been circulating around town by e-mail. Within days, the images went viral, popping up on hundreds of sites. Now a California court has handed the family an important legal victory.” Go here to read the entire story
Friday, February 5, 2010
Sarah Palin to speak at the Redding Convention Center Feb.8 – Protestors Prepare Greetings
Looks like some folks in Redding are planning to greet Sarah Palin, but they’ll be outside the building she’s being paid to speak at.
I guess they don’t want to pay to hear her speak. I wonder how much she’s being paid for this gig? Her last one netted $150,000.
Looks like those Rednecks in Redding have got some some cash to spend.
SARAH PALIN will be speaking at the Redding Convention Center on Monday, Feb. 8 at 3 PM and again at 7 PM, approximately for an hour each time.
The protestors plan on creating a “HIGHLY VISIBLE, peaceful presence” outside the center.
Read The original press release here. from Redding progressives who are organizing these demonstrations.
The organizers are asking people to PLEASE POST & DISTRIBUTE FLYER EVERYWHERE YOU GO up till Monday morning. According to the protestors, “This is for everyone who could never quite picture Sarah Palin in the White House!”
Here’s what was happening in 1950 – the year I was born
- Korean War begins when North Korean Communist forces invadeSouth Korea.
- Sino-Soviet friendship treaty signed.
- Communist Chinese forces invade Tibet.
If you would like to check out what happened in the year you were born go to infoplease.com
I love some of the movie posters from 1950. The one above is a perfect example of the trashy B-Movies that were churned out back then.
World Events
British atomic physicist Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. Background: The Cold War
World Statistics
Population: 2.556 billion
population by decade
Nobel Peace Prize:
Ralph J. Bunche (US)
More World Statistics...
U.S. Events
- Truman orders development ofhydrogen bomb (Jan. 31).
- Assassination attempt on PresidentTruman by Puerto Rican nationalists (Nov. 1).
- Era of McCarthyism begins.
U.S. Statistics
President: Harry S Truman
Vice President: Alben W. Barkley
Population: 152,271,417
Life expectancy: 68.2 years
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 5.3
More U.S. Statistics...
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $294.6 billion
Federal spending: $42.56 billion
Federal debt: $256.9 billion
Consumer Price Index: 24.1
Unemployment: 5.9%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.03
Sports
World Series
NY Yankees d. Philadelphia Phillies (4-0)NBA Championship
Minneapolis Lakers d. Syracuse (4-2) No wonder I’m a Laker fan. It was destiny!Stanley Cup
Detroit d. NY Rangers (4-3)Wimbledon
Women: Louise Brough d. M. duPont (6-1 3-6 6-1)Men: Budge Patty d. F. Sedgman (6-1 8-10 6-2 6-3)
Kentucky Derby Champion
MiddlegroundNCAA Basketball Championship CCNY d. Bradley (71-68)
NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (10-1-0)World Cup
Uruguay d. Brazil (2-1)
Entertainment
Events
- Saturday morning children's programming begins.
- Phonevision, the first pay-per-view service, becomes available.
- Broadway classic Guys and Dollsdebuts at the 46th Street Theatre and becomes an instant hit. The show ran for three years and became one of the Great White Way's longest-running shows, with 1,200 performances.
- Charles Schulz introduces thePeanuts comic strip.
- Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, Born Yesterday, The Third Man
- Paul Bowles, The Delicate Prey
- Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
- Ernest Hemingway, Across the River and Into the Trees
- Mary McCarthy, Cast a Cold Eye
- Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Family Moskat
- Wallace Stevens, The Auroras of Autumn
- Lionel Trilling, The Liberal Imagination
- Col. David C. Schilling (USAF) makes the first nonstop transatlantic jet flight in 10 hours and 1 minute (Sept. 22). Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation
- The first Xerox machine is produced.
- The first self-service elevator is installed by Otis Elevator in Dallas.
- Richard Lawler (US) performs the first successful kidney transplant at Loyola University. Background:Health & Nutrition
Movies
Books
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Way West, A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
Music: The Consul, Gian Carlo Menotti
Drama: South Pacific, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan
Oscars awarded in 1950
Academy Award, Best Picture: All the King's Men (Robert Rossen Productions; Columbia)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Bertrand Russell (UK)
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Otto Diels and Kurt Alder (both Germany), for discovery of diene synthesis enabling scientists to study structure of organic matter
Physics: Cecil Frank Powell (UK), for method of photographic study of atom nucleus, and for discoveries about mesons
Physiology or Medicine: Philip S. Hench, Edward C. Kendall (both US), and Tadeus Reichstein (Switzerland), for discoveries about hormones of adrenal cortex
Deaths
llinois Dem defiant after arrest history surfaces
It never ceases to amaze me what scumbags run for public office. They usually get busted for their bad deeds way after the fact (as demonstrated here), but generally are unrepentant and even defiant.
Cohen arrested in 2005 for allegedly holding a knife to a girlfriend's throat
Excerpt:
“A political newcomer who won the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutenant governor said he has no intention of leaving the race after details emerged about his arrest for allegedly holding a knife to his former girlfriend's throat.
Scott Lee Cohen struck a defiant tone even after running mate Gov. Pat Quinn predicted he would have to leave the race. Cohen said people should wait for all facts to become known.”
AP PHOTO: According to the Chicago Tribune, police records show Scott Lee Cohen's (above) former girlfriend has been arrested for prostitution. He has denied hitting her and says their relationship was "tumultuous."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Man dies in rare fatal shark attack in Florida
Attackers may be juvenile great white sharks, research scientist says
Excerpt:
“A man kite surfing off a Florida beach died Wednesday after being surrounded and attacked by sharks.”
Go here to read the story
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Iran sends mouse, worms, turtles into space
An image taken from Iran's Press TV shows a Kavoshgar 3 rocket being launched on Wednesday. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA
President: ‘Scientific arena is where we could defeat (West’s) domination’
“TEHRAN, Iran - Iran announced Wednesday it has successfully launched a 10-foot-long research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space — a feat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Go here to read the whole story.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Doctor casts new light on cat that can predict death
“When doctors and staff realized that a cat living in a U.S. nursing home could sense when someone was going to die, the feline, Oscar, was portrayed as a furry grim reaper or four-legged angel of death.
But Dr. David Dosa, who broke the news of Oscar's abilities in a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007, said he never intended to make Oscar sound creepy or his arrival at a bedside to be viewed negatively.” Go here to read the story.
AP – FILE PHOTO - In this July 23, 2007 file photo, Oscar, a hospice cat with an uncanny knack for predicting when patients are going to die.
Woman walks home with six-inch knife stuck in her neck
This ought to be an entry for Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Looking at that knife in her neck, it’s hard to imagine that the body can seal off pain through shock…but it does sometimes.
“Mugging victim Julia Popova calmly went home after being robbed on her way home from work - without realizing she had a six inch knife stuck into her neck.
The 22-year-old office worker had grappled with her attacker when he snatched her handbag as she walked to her parents' home in the Russian capital Moscow.
But she was so shocked by the ordeal she didn't know that the thug had buried a kitchen knife in her neck just fractions of an inch from her spinal cord.
Her horrified parents rushed her to hospital where surgeons managed to remove the blade without damaging Julia's spine.
"Shock had kicked in and her body prevented her from feeling any pain. She simply walked home without feeling the knife in her back," said one medic.”
Photo and text via Austrian Times
Monday, February 1, 2010
Agent Orange leaves deadly legacy for the next generation
I was contacted by blogger, Sharon L. Perry founder of Agent Orange Legacy, last week when she responded to one of my posts on corporate corruption and chemical companies in particular.
After reviewing her blog, I was so impressed that I became a member. Not enough people know about the generational effects Agent Orange has on Vietnam veterans children today. This site will provide you with information that may help someone you love.
It’s time that all Americans know that Agent Orange has another deadly legacy beyond what it did to our men and women who served in Vietnam. It’s time for the government to address the needs of these families.
AGENT ORANGE LEGACY
MISSION STATEMENT
Agent Orange Legacy is a grassroots movement dedicated to uniting the children of Vietnam veterans who are ill or not and adversely affected by their parent(s) service in Vietnam and exposure to agent orange and other toxins in order to lobby Congress to create or change public policy regarding the plight of the children of Vietnam veterans and their children.
EMAIL US @ aolegacy@gmail.com
JOIN OUR LOBBYING CAMPAIGN WWW.AGENTORANGELEGACY.US
We are looking for state coordinators. Join Your State Group/Chapter now.
The Lobbying Campaign group will help us coordinate our efforts.
Please visit our Public Policy website for more information
Our Lobbying Campaign will consist of the following:
1) Creating a state chapter in every state
Join Your State Chapter Now
2) Defining our Issues as a group
Join Speak Out
3) Documenting our stories to present as testimony
Join The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword
4) Building an online museum to create awareness about the plight of the children of Vietnam veterans & their families
Join Let's Build A Museum
5) Connecting with other agent orange victims worldwide to build a coalition
Join Global Awareness Let's Build A Coalition
We offer the following Support Groups:
Wives
Widows
Mother's
Our Father's Were Lost
Nam Vets Connecting
Poetry Corner
Smart blogging can boost your career
Jacob Grier's blog, "Liquidity Preference," helped him land a job at the Carlyle Restaurant in Portland, Ore. Photo by David Barzelay
But just one flub can nix your chances of landing a job
Excerpt:
“Thanks to the blog, he had already connected with two well-known mixologists in Portland. Those contacts ended up taking him to an industry event where Grier met the bar manager at the Carlyle, and the rest is history.”
Read the whole story here.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Multitasking: The good, the bad, and the future
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 01/31/2010 01:27:22 AM PST
I'm a lousy multitasker. Some of my earliest memories involve walking, chewing gum and day-dreaming, which led to smacking into fences, trees, street signs and other people. I learned my lesson the hard way -- in the school of hard knocks.
I always envied people who could multitask. Multitasking is really about paying attention. It's an art, and some people can shift their attention from one thing to the next and respond to the thing most worthy.
However, recent research shows that multitasking has a dark side. Multitasking is taking a toll in our society, according to researchers at the University of California at Irvine. They found workers take an average of 25 minutes to recover from interruptions, such as phone calls or e-mail, before returning to their original task.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
‘Princess and Frog’ items recalled for cadmium
For years, I’ve been reading about toxic toys from China. Now, toxic toys seem to be a homegrown product. The producers of these necklaces are American!
Regulators cited toxic metal in pendants sold exclusively at Walmart
“The recall of about 55,000 "The Princess and the Frog" necklaces reflects concerns of an emerging threat in children's products.”
Go here to read the story.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Biggest and brightest full moon of 2010 tonight
I don’t know if we (here in Humboldt County) will get clear enough skies to view this first full moon of 2010.
We’ll find out tonight.
As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight
Photo source:NOAO/AURA/NSF
This enhanced image of the moon was taken with the NOAO Mosaic CCD camera, using two NSF telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The moon is superimposed on a separate image of the sky.
Excerpt:
“Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.
This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.”
Go here to read the whole story.
Full moon craziness
Many people think full moons cause strange behavior among animals and even humans. In fact several studies over the years have tried to tie lunar phases to births, heart attacks, deaths, suicides, violence, psychiatric hospital admissions and epileptic seizures, and more. Connections have been inclusive or nonexistent.
The moon does have some odd effects on our planet, and there are oodles of other amazing moon facts and misconceptions.
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