The last of the lamprey, avoid sunburn by drinking wine, and Thais practice death to get new start on life

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Awww the aroma of freshly brewed virtual coffee. The songs of the early birds in the growing light…another day in paradise! Pull up a chair and have a cup with me if you don’t have anything better to do. This is an interesting world we live in:

Last of the lamprey: NW tribes drive effort to save primitive fish

As long as American Indians have lived in the Pacific Northwest, they have looked to a jawless, eel-like fish for food. Tribes once harvested the lamprey from rivers throughout the Columbia Basin, which stretches from the Oregon coast up into Canada. But with dozens of hydroelectric dams in the way, the fish has followed the path of the buffalo — from a food staple of a people to a curiosity.

Drink wine, don't get sunburned

Important health tip for the summer: Drink more wine! A better protection against harmful sunburns might be a healthy dose of SPF sauvignon blanc, suggests a new Spanish study.

A compound found in grapes or grape derivatives may protect skin cells from skin-damaging ultraviolet radiation, report researchers from the University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council. The flavonoids found in grapes work to halt the chemical reaction that kills skin cells and causes sun damage.Previously, vino has also been found to fight Alzheimer's, ward off prostate cancer and even prevent cavities. I’ll drink to that!

To start life afresh, Thais "practice" death

For those facing a run of bad luck and wanting to start things over, one Thai temple has an unusual solution: "rehearse" death with a mock funeral, including lying down in a coffin.

Pram Manee temple in Nakorn Nayok province, 107 km northeast of Bangkok, holds two of the rituals every day: at exactly 9:09 a.m. (2:09 a.m. British time) and 1:09 p.m., since the number nine is believed by Thais to bring good luck.

Time to walk on down the road…

Reflections on the night…

Night is dark

Hiding in pain
Night is quiet

But trouble remains
Night is still for those 

suffering…

Night delivers dawn
Dawn delivers day

Day delivers hope

Dave

On God, and not jumping to conclusions...

If people ask me if I believe in God, I say “Yes I do.”
If you ask me what my religion is I’m going to say I don’t have one. I don’t belong to any organized religion.I see them all as paths to one true God (for lack of a better description), but prefer my own direct path.I believe in an omniscient entity with no name. No gender. No political affiliation.
I say God, because I haven’t found a better word that describes absolute power over all the many universes and planets. God’s design is beyond my mere mortal thoughts and imagination.
Sometimes dreams and visions blur into a twilight state and God gives me a message. It always takes time to understand the message. Sometimes I jump to conclusions and panic myself. Like this morning.
A sentence haunted my sleep. A question in the dark. “Is your house in order?” Several long dead relatives asked me that question throughout the night, but would say no more when I called out their names.
I woke at 4:30 a.m. to the barking of my pug  Millie. I led her downstairs and to the backdoor. As she did her thing in the darkness, I stood by the door waiting and wondering what the question meant.
I tried going back to bed afterwards, but the question picked at my brain like a Raven in a cornfield. Was I going to die soon? Is that what was going to happen? Didn’t that question insinuate my time would soon be up? Maybe today? Maybe tomorrow? I felt a sense of panic.
I got on my computer and posted on my blog (below), trying to divert myself. Trying to mentally put my fingers in my ears and go “blah, blah, blah…” at that stalking question.
I always refused to be afraid of death because I accepted it as an inevitable part of being a mere mortal. No one gets out alive right? No use in beating that fact down with talk of being immortal.
When I go for a walk my spirit soars and I see God everywhere. Conversations take place with every step and I open myself to the entire universe . I allow the beauty around me to soak in as I tromp down the road having my personal visions and revelations.
My walk this morning centered me as it always does, and I’ve came away from it with the answer to the question, “Do you have your house in order.” The answer is no, there’s something I need to do that I’ve been putting off for far too long. Not a will either. I have one of those.
The upshot is, I don’t think I’m going to die soon and the question was a prompt from a powerful friend to take care of something.
As It Stands, I’m sorry that I can’t share what the answer was with you, but suffice to say…I’m going to have a good day! I hope you do too.

Skyjacking mystery may be solved, a look at wacky fair food, and a veterans museum battles for survival

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffee pot is on, so grab a cup and let’s wander through news items that have nothing to to with the contrived debt crisis.Those fools have dominated the news enough.

Reports: FBI has 'good' lead in 40-year-old 'D.B. Cooper' skyjacking mystery

Forty years after parachuting into folklore, the mysterious skyjacker identified as D.B. Cooper may soon be identified.

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 Let’s take a look at America's wacky fair foods

  Cotton candy, corn dogs and candied apples once ruled the midway at the local fair, but visitors now want food that's exotic — as long as it's on a stick, or more importantly, fried. From health-defying anomalies like fried dough injected with Pepsi to squirm-inducing chocolate-dipped scorpions, the new sideshow is food.

Photo:When state fairgoers tired of the iconic rib eye steak sandwich, the Indiana Beef Cattle Association invented the hot beef sundae, layered with mashed potatoes, marinated beef, gravy, cheese, corn "sprinkles" and a cherry (tomato).

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Chicago museum of veterans' art battles for survival

Joe Fornelli (photo right) knows the art of survival.

In 1965, when he was 22, the Chicago native was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he served in an army helicopter unit.

"So many crazy things happened, people getting killed or wounded or burned," Fornelli said. "You never get over it."

He found solace in art. One time he used instant coffee and water to paint the realities of war.

Fornelli and his fellow veteran artists find themselves in the midst of another battle -- to save their beloved National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago, which is struggling.The museum houses more than 2,000 pieces of art by veterans from World War II to the current conflicts in the Middle East.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: The Last Crusade: Will extreme intolerance finally result in Armageddon?

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 07/31/2011 02:40:21 AM PDT

The dangerously widening gap between Christianity and Islam is reminiscent of the crusades of old, but on a scale never before seen.

We're instantly connected by advanced technology, unlike medieval times when information traveled slowly. Today, a holy man/leader calling for jihad instantly reaches millions of devout Muslims. Something their medieval predecessors couldn't have dreamed of.

The thing that hasn't changed with these two religions is their intolerance of one another. Extremists, disguised as fundamentalists, still call for each other's blood.

The result: people like Andres Behring Breivik (right), a Norwegian and self-described Christian Fundamentalist crusader, slaughters 76 people in Norway in the name of God, the right wing political party and racial purity.

 According to a Reuters report, Breivik said, “I explained to God that unless he wanted the Marxist-Islamist alliance and the certain Islamic takeover of Europe to completely annihilate European Christendom within the next hundred years, he must ensure that the warriors fighting for the preservation of European Christendom prevail.”

The European press is full of stories about opposition to Muslim immigrants who bring their customs and beliefs. The concern about Muslim globalization has become a prime political issue in Europe. Right-wing political parties are gaining followers who see multiculturalism as a threat to their way of life.

The entire world has become the hunting ground for al-Qaida and other extremist Muslims. Its founder and, until recently, leader (now deceased), Osama bin Laden, formally declared war against the West when he attacked the twin towers in New York City on 9/11/01.

Since then, distrust of all Muslims has become commonplace in America and the West. Because of Muslim religious fanatics, we don't just see a Christian backlash against Islam but a national concern about our security. American lives have been forever altered because of religious fanatics.

We've resorted to intense security and have lost some of our basic Constitutional freedoms with the passage of the Patriot Act, a direct response to extreme Islamic attempts to murder innocent people.

Norwegian investigators are looking at a 1,500-page manifesto in which Breivik vowed “brutal and breathtaking operations” in order to stop “the ongoing Islamic Colonization of Europe,” according to the Reuters report. Analysts say the manifesto was inspired by heated rhetoric from groups in the United States -- some of which are quoted directly.

Robert Spencer, the co-founder of Stop the Islamization of America, is cited more than 50 times in Breivik's manifesto.

Worldwide, religion has become increasingly prominent in politics, and it contributes to the polarization of political parties. The Middle East is a prime example, as the Jews and Arabs have never managed a real peace thanks to extremists. America is not exempt from this divisive phenomenon.

Why are Muslim leaders so strangely silent when Muslim extremists attack innocent people throughout the world in the name of Allah? I ask the same question of Christians who don't denounce extremist brethren like Florida pastor Terry Jones, who calls on God to help him rid America of Muslims.

The monumental irony, at least to me, is that both religions could live side by side if they just practiced what they preach. Both say they believe in an omniscient God that tells them how important the power of love is, yet they reject it in their daily lives. Each religion promotes peace but has prominent members who don't practice it. Instead, violent extremists from both sides are calling for crusades.

The historic crusades were geographically confined compared to the modern version, which covers the entire planet. Every atrocity committed today by these crazed religious killers seems worse than the last.

There's no sure-fire way to put an end to this religious war. Technology has presented us with wonders that have become weapons for extremists. From the Internet to smart phones, we've opened a technological Pandora's Box.

In this country, our Constitution guarantees separation between religion and state, but you wouldn't know it when you see how some of our leaders blatantly use religion to harvest votes.

If we can't stop this modern crusade in its tracks, we can at least slow it down and perhaps eventually turn the tide. We must not allow religious extremists to take over political parties. It's not too late to fight this dangerous crusader philosophy, which has the East and West on the brink of Armageddon.

As It Stands, mixing politics and religion was never a good idea, and the proof is all around us.

Websites carrying this column

#1 When does the world end? #2 Romafilosofia #3 Interceder #4 Waterintel #5 God’s Vacation

Predictions from world's top film prognosticator

Science fiction is where the future happens first, and that puts futurist Syd Mead at least two steps ahead of the rest of us.

The 78-year-old conceptual artist may be best known for designing the flying-cop-car-patrolled Los Angeles streetscapes in "Blade Runner," but he also dreamed up the original light cycles in "Tron," the Marine-transport starship in "Aliens" and visions of a class-stratified, off-Earth world for Neill Blomkamp’s highly anticipated March 2013 feature "Elysium." Here, Mead makes predictions for what we might one day see in film, in real life, or both.

Lightweight exoskeletons - Pointing to new electroactive polymers that contract powerfully and predictably when exposed to a charge, Mead foresees an era of lightweight human exoskeletons. Such strap-on limb supports could strengthen soldiers and help the elderly and the paralyzed. "These new materials are better than hydraulics or electric motors," he explains, "because they have a directional axis to pull and push, much like muscles do. So they’re very efficient, and more like a sheath than a bulky cylinder. That’s going to change the world."

Also Predicted: Hands-free highways, Printable replacement organs, Swappable car bodies, and Covert bank warfare.

What people are saying about this contrived debt crisis

I’ve got to hand it to the assholes/politicians ruining our economy while they play partisan games at the expense of the American middle class; they’ve got a lot of people shook up. Not just here in the U.S., but worldwide.

I hope they’re proud of themselves. They’ve proven to be the biggest collection of corporate crook lovers ever to screw up the House of Representatives AND the Senate at the same time! It’s an all-time low for Democracy. A minority has polarized the majority. Our system has failed. The world can see what’s happening better than the morons who are sinking the system.

I have one question for you: “Do you plan on backing new Tea Partyers to assure maximum damage to our entire democratic system in the future?”

I’d like to think voters will remember what the Tea Party has done here and will prevent their uncompromising climb to power in the years ahead.

Troops ask amid debt crisis: Will we get paid?

There’s global concern over US debt ceiling disagreement.

The Associated Press interviewed people across the country and found that, whatever their political leanings, frustration about the debt debate itself was the most commonly held view. Voters do not know how the debt showdown got to this point, at the brink, just days away from the United States being unable to pay all its bills.

Bob Krogman, a 60 year-old Air Force veteran who survived three helicopter crashes over North Vietnam standing outside the St. Louis VA Medical Center:

"Politicians care about themselves, and that's the way it's always been since I was in the military. I'm furious. I hate them.”

Denise Cox, 47, of Ohioville, PA, a western Pennsylvania nursing home worker:

"On both sides of the aisle, they all claim to be so smart. So how did we get to this point? It didn't happen overnight. All of these supposedly intelligent people brought us to this point, and now they are scrambling to see who they can take money from."

Robert Lydon, a pipefitter from Cohasset, Mass interviewed at Post Office Square, surrounded by banks and investment firms in Boston's financial district:

"They're fiddling while Rome is burning.They're playing to their egos and not thinking about the regular person on the street like me."

Miranda Ledouceur, 28 Woonsocket, R.I. resident:

"If they don't fix this there will be a lot of people on the street.Things are bad enough already."

Crying doesn’t help, sinkhole swallows building, and man rescues pink kitty

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s that time again to enjoy some nice hot coffee or tea. With most of the news being about the Debt Crisis, I thought you’d like to read about something else this morning: 

Crying shame: Tears don't make you feel any better, study shows

Apparently weeping isn't the cathartic emotional release it's often cracked up to be, sniff, sniff. Please pass the tissues.

Florida sinkhole swallows building

An enormous sinkhole has opened up in the town of Leesburg, Fla.,, and it's hungry.

It's already gobbled up a garbage bin, an oak tree, the back wall of the building housing a salon and racks of supplies

The chasm that caused Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply to collapse is about 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

Roaming pink kitty finds new home

A man discovered a pink-colored stray cat roaming around the community where he lives. Yao Xianhai, from Lanzhou in western China’s Gansu Province, said he didn’t believe his eyes when he first spotted the pink kitten. “I thought I had a blurred vision, but I then realized it was truly pink.” No one has come forward as yet to claim the stray.

Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

Time to walk on down the road…

Random thought: Why would a conscientious objector join the Army?

I just don’t get it.

Will someone please explain why someone who describes himself as a “conscientious objector” would ever join the Army?

Did someone force  Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, 21, of Garland, Texas to join? I don’t think so. Common sense disregards that reason. So what are we left with?

He had a religious conversion while in the Army, or he was already a devout Muslim who didn’t want to go to Afghanistan but didn’t tell the recruiter (where he signed up) that he preferred carrying the Koran rather than a rifle. Kinda iffy.

The Army said “Okay” and granted him “conscientious objector” status in May after a very public campaign in which he reached out to local media. He argued that his Muslim beliefs prohibited military service. He didn’t believe in violence. Say that again? Abdo signed up as an infantryman with the 1st Brigade Combat Team (Rear Provisional) of the 101st Airborne but didn’t believe in violence? HELLO… A bit odd, don’t you think?

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This Sunday’s (July 31st) “As It Stands” column in The Times-Standard deals with the same subject:

The Last Crusade: Will extreme intolerance finally result in Armageddon?

“The monumental irony, at least to me, is that both religions could live side-by-side if they just practiced what they preach. Both say they believe in an omniscient God that tells them how important the power of love is, yet they reject it in their daily lives. Each religion promotes peace, but has prominent members who don‘t practice it. Instead, violent extremists from both sides are calling for crusades.”

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A week or so later (on May 13th), Abdo was charged with “child pornography” and was attending a court martial trial. That delayed his getting out. So, he goes AWOL. Despite his claims that he just wanted to be a peaceful Muslim and not wage war, he suddenly shows up by Ft.Hood with a detailed plan to murder his fellow soldiers.

What happened? Was he recruited while in the service by al-Qaida? Authorities found two clocks, an article outlining how to make a bomb from a magazine published by al-Qaida in Yemen and a backpack carrying a list of items needed to make a bomb. If so, that’s troubling.

  After being formally charged yesterday with possession of an unregistered destructive device in federal court he was led away in handcuffs by three U.S. Marshals. His parting shot to the press?

"Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood 2009!"

Hasan is an Army psychiatrist charged with the shootings that killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

As It Stands, is Abdo another religious fanatic striking out at the West? I’m not sure yet. What do you think?

photo source

Moonshine revival, 1.5 million hungry bats, and free pot for registering to vote in Michigan

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffees on and the days wasting away. Grab a cup and let’s see what’s happening on this Friday. I’ve had the pleasure of drinking pure 100% Moonshine in Macon County Georgia  back in the summer of 1968, and I’ll tell you it made my eyeballs roll, my teeth chatter, and damn near left me immobile for hours!

Distillery to make South Carolina's first legal moonshine

Two entrepreneurs are taking advantage of South Carolina's new micro-distillery laws to make traditional moonshine whiskey legally in the state for the first time. The Dark Corner Distillery will open next month in Greenville, where engineer Joe Fenten and longtime home beer brewer Richard Wenger will produce and sell small batches of 100-proof moonshine from a custom-made copper still.                   image

1.5 million bats in Texas city left hungrier by drought

There are 1.5 million bats living under a bridge in downtown Austin, and a historic Texas drought is making them hungrier than ever.That's bad news for the bats in the world's largest urban bat colony. But it is good news for the humans who gather each evening just a few blocks from the state Capitol building to watch their spectacular nightly trips into the nearby Hill Country to find food.

Free pot in exchange for registering to vote?

A medical marijuana shop's offer of free pot in exchange for registering to vote appears to have gone up in smoke.

Your Healthy Choice Clinic of Lansing, Mich., had been offering a half gram on its website ahead of a vote for city council seats and after the council approved capping the number of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits and setting a $1,000 application fee.

Clinic owner Shekina Pena earlier said she wasn't trying to buy votes.

Time to walk on down the road…

Three crazy inventions that you probably never heard of…

Cigarette Pack Holder - crazy invention, 1955. (Right)

 

(Left) crazy invention

Illuminated Tires, 1961

A woman adjusts her stocking by the light of the Goodyear’s illuminated tires. The tire is made from a single piece of synthetic rubber and is brightly lit by bulbs mounted inside the wheel rim. Photo:Life

     (Right)

crazy invention

Shower Hood, 1970 -

For the woman who likes to put makeup on her dirty face.

photos via Crazy Pictures

This Time Republicans Are Silent When A Congressman Says “Act Like A Lady”

UPDATE BELOW

GOP RULES: #1 What’s okay for Republican speakers to say is not okay for anyone else.

“Disrespectful.”

“Demeaning to all women.”

“Patronizing.”

Those were just a few of the Republican responses when a congressman accused a congresswoman of not “acting like a lady.”

(See Video to hear  how supposedly “un-lady-like Rep. Schultz is.)

But that was 2010, and it was about attacking Democratic Senator Arlen Spector, after he told Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to “act like a lady” when she was talking over him on a television news show.

The GOP was appalled.  Bachmann claimed she was “stunned by his arrogance.”  The female co-chair of the RNC started demanding an apology Spector’s primary challenger called him out.

Yet when Republican Congressman Allen West of Florida sends an email to House leadership, condemning fellow Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her “attack” on him on the House floor, calling her “vile,” “unprofessional” and “not a lady,” there isn’t a peep to be heard from the party.

As much as Republicans hide behind female politicians to push their draconian cuts and policies that are most harmful to women, then claim that since a woman supports them, they must actually be beneficial, accusing a female politician of not “acting like a lady” is only a crime if that politician is a Republican.  Because, essentially, to the GOP, Democratic women aren’t “ladies.”  They strive for gender equality, they fight for women to be able to work and raise families rather than always choose between the two, they argue for equal pay and the right to have autonomy over their own bodies, families and personal choices.

They fight for women.  And apparently, that just isn’t ladylike.

Florida’s Lois Frankel, who is challenging West for his seat in 2012, responded to the congressman’s sexist diatribe, stating that with his “out of control, rude, sexist and completely inappropriate remarks is it any wonder that Washington can’t get anything done?  We have critical issues from the debt ceiling to creating jobs to two wars; yet instead of getting things done for South Florida families Allen West would rather grandstand and call names that are offensive to all of us.” source

UPDATE:

At 12:15 pm ET today, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will hold a conference call with reporters, emphasizing that all the GOP presidential candidates have so far refused to reveal their fundraising bundlers. By contrast, the Obama campaign has revealed its bundlers.

What ever happened to flying the friendly skies? Passngers beat up pilot!

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

An American Airlines pilot was beaten Wednesday night as he tried to escort two belligerent brothers, Jonathan and Luis Baez, off a flight from Miami to San Francisco.

I’ve lost track of the many serious (and sometimes silly) incidents that happen when people board airplanes and don’t want to play by any rules...

Related stories:

• What part of 'no smoking' don't you understand?
• Woman escorted off flight after snapping photo
• What will get you kicked off US Airways? Saggy pants or underpants?

What people have to say today in the news…

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Here we are again, another day in paradise. Grab a mug of hot coffee or tea and we’ll look through today’s headlines to see what we can see:

News quotes:

Sen. John McCain railed against "bizarro" alternative plans by "Tea Party hobbits." He said, "What is really amazing about this is that some members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation and that is foolish.” cartoon source

Boehner issues blunt warning to debt dissenters He told members of the GOP, “Get your asses in line!”

Atheist Group Wants 9/11 Cross Removed from Museum - Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, said, "This cross is now a part of the official WTC memorial. No other religions or philosophies will be honored. It will just be a Christian icon, in the middle of OUR memorial.”

 

Holocaust survivors have issued a "plea" to Facebook to "deny access to their powerful social networking platform to anyone promoting" the notion that the Holocaust should be denied or that it was a hoax. The appeal said,

“We, the undersigned, are Holocaust Survivors who saw our parents, children and loved ones brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. We are writing to you to protest Facebook’s policy that categorizes Holocaust denial as “free speech,” rather than the shameless, cynical and hateful propaganda that it is...

Do not permit Holocaust denial any platform on Facebook to preach its inherent message of lies and hate. By allowing this hate propaganda on Facebook, you are exposing the public and, in particular, youth to the anti-Semitism which fueled the Holocaust. Please correct this terrible error in judgment before our generation passes away.”

Time to head on down the road…

Former Top Gun pilot and high-level GOP fundraiser is center of corruption case

Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III (pictured at right) and his oil company are at the center of the case that could be one of the largest-ever prosecutions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act by the Justice Department.

In a case first reported by NBC News in June 2008 , the eight-person jury affirmed that Sargeant conspired to deprive al-Saleh of a one-third share in profits from the contracts

In his place at the defendants’ table was Marty Martin, one of the oil company’s top executives and formerly a senior CIA operative who, for two years after 9/11, advised former President George W. Bush on terrorism. During the trial, al-Saleh alleged that Sargeant and Martin directed $50 million in graft to the highest levels of the Jordanian government. The money, he claimed, bought the oil company a continued monopoly on supply lines of fuel through Jordan to U.S. forces in Iraq.

The existence of that monopoly cost the American military as much as $200 million in excess charges, according to a congressional investigation and Pentagon audit.

Citizens can turn-in dog crap to city for gold…no really

This story makes me think about Washington D.C. and the pack of assholes that call themselves our leaders. The deal is reversed however: our government hands out a load of crap to the public, and they end up paying for it!

“A city in northern Taiwan is trying the Midas touch to persuade reluctant residents to clean up after their canines: offering a chance to win gold bars to anyone handing in bags of doggy deposits.

Starting from August 1, dog owners and other residents of New Taipei City, bordering the capital Taipei, can hand in waste to government cleaning teams in exchange for tickets to a lucky draw. The prizes: three gold ingots worth T$60,000 ($2,100), T$18,000 and T$12,000.

The number of draw tickets is unlimited, and the winners will be named in October, the city government said in a statement. "We are hoping the draw will attract a wide participation, especially as the gold price is rising," said New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department official Chen Chao-ming. The city will give free garbage bags to would-be collectors. It is also beefing up more conventional measures, including rewarding people for photographing dog owners leaving mess uncleaned, and stepping up its own poo patrols in dog haunts.

But it will be hoping for better results than the central city of Taichung saw in 2009, when its offer of T$100 shopping vouchers for each kg of excrement collected yielded little more than criticism and ridicule.(Reporting by Christine Lu; editing by Jonathan Standing and Ron Popeski) image

The cushiest prison in the world, lucky family wins multiple lotteries, and a glowing dog that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffee sure smells good this morning. Glad you could join me. Let’s see what’s happening in this crazy world we live in. Pull up a chair and have a stare:

Luxury digs in store for Norwegian mass killer

Norway's unrepentant mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is now under arrest. And he should count himself lucky for -- if entirely undeserving of -- a penal system in that country that is among the cushiest in the world. There's no capital punishment, and the longest jail term allowed is 21 years (a caveat: if a prisoner is deemed to still be a threat, his sentence can be extended in five-year blocks indefinitely, though it's highly unlikely, according to Norwegian officials). In Norway, rehabilitation is the guiding principle, not punishment -- a somewhat difficult notion to swallow given the gravity and callousness of his crimes.

Norway's newest jail may hold rapists and murderers, but Halden Prison -- the country's second largest and most secure facility -- looks more like a posh sleepaway camp. In fact, architects say they purposely tried to avoid an "institutional feel." When it opened in 2010, some news accounts called it the "most humane" prison in the world.

Indeed, one of the many perks at Halden is flat-screen televisions in inmates' rooms. There's no HBO, though, so reruns of Oz and The Wire are contraband. Still, prisoners get private cells with mini-fridges and large windows to let in more sunlight. Here, then, is a quick tour of what luxuries may await Breivik behind bars. (That's a figure of speech, of course: There are no iron bars at Halden.) GO HERE and be prepared to be surprised.

Haul in the family: one lucky clan wins its third lottery

Wondering where all your good luck has gone? Maybe the McCauleys of Charlotte, N.C., have it. For the third time in 20 years, a member of the family has won the lottery. A buzzy article from the AP delves into the details. Back in 1991, the family won $15.5 million from the New York Lotto.

This was their biggest haul, but not their last. Sixteen years later, Amy McCauley held the ticket to $160,000 in the North Carolina Education Lottery. Then, in 2009, Amy picked up two more prizes, each worth $1,000.And now, in 2011, Kimberly McCauley (daughter of Amy) won $100,000 on a scratcher card.  image source

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South Korean scientists create glowing dog – report

South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.

Time to walk on down the road…

A Ballad of Blood and Iron by Chris Floyd

A Ballad of Blood and Iron: Will You Be Free?
Will You Be Free by Chris Floyd

When the guns no longer sound
When the dead are in the ground
When the foe hangs from the tree
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When blood and iron rule the day
When ash and bone mix with the clay
And choke the fruits of victory
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When the children of the slain
Cry for revenge to ease their pain
Lost in shadows you’ll never see
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When the fear comes round again
And they call for troops to send
To some new war across the sea
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

Lyrics and music © Chris Floyd
This was recorded with the remarkable multi-instrumentalist Nick Kulukundis, who also produced the track. This is a slight reworking of a song that originally appeared on the album Wheel of Heaven. Final photo,"Taxpayer," © Lee Mayr.

Slaughtered sparrows simile wins 2011 bad writing contest

Rats! I forgot to enter again. I’m sure I could write a pretty awful opening to an imaginary novel. A sentence in which tiny birds and the English language are both slaughtered took top honors Monday in an annual bad writing contest:

Sue Fondrie of Oshkosh, Wis., won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for her sentence comparing forgotten memories to dead sparrows, said San Jose State University Prof. Scott Rice. The contestant asks writers to submit the worst possible opening sentences to imaginary novels.

Fondrie wrote: "Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories." Story - graphic

FAAs operating authority expired, U.S. losing cyber war? Two societies, separate and unequal

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s that time again. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and we’ll see what’s happening around this country. The effects of the Congressional pissing match are already being felt:

No end in sight for FAA shutdown

The legislative stalemate between Republicans and Democrats in Congress forced the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, the furlough of nearly 4,000 federal workers and the issuance of stop-work orders for dozens of airport construction projects across the country.

Prospects for quickly ending the legislative dispute between the House and Senate appear grim, with neither side signaling willingness to compromise. The FAA's operating authority expired last week. Air traffic controllers have continued to work, as well as FAA employees who inspect the safety of planes and test pilots.Transportation officials have said safety won't be compromised. But it was unclear how long the FAA can continue day-to-day operations before travelers begin to feel the effects of the shutdown. Photo

Head of U.S. cyber agency resigns suddenly

The head of a U.S. agency that helps respond to cyber attacks resigned suddenly after several high-profile attacks on government computer systems but the Department of Homeland Security declined Monday to comment on the reason.

Vickers' resignation follows several high-profile hacker attacks against the Pentagon and public websites of the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Senate.         graphic

 The question is why? Are we losing the Cyber War? 

 

Wealth gap widens between whites, minorities

The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data.

The analysis shows the racial and ethnic impact of the economic meltdown, which ravaged housing values and sent unemployment soaring. It offers the most direct government evidence yet of the disparity between predominantly younger minorities whose main asset is their home and older whites who are more likely to have retirement accounts or other stock holdings.

"I am afraid that this pushes us back to what the Kerner Commission characterized as 'two societies, separate and unequal,'" said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, referring to the 1960s presidential commission that examined U.S. race relations. "The great difference is that the second society has now become both black and Hispanic."