Doctor’s lie to us sometimes according to study

                         Good Day Humboldt County!

Everybody lies — even doctors.

I’ve been saying this for years. Not only do they lie as a matter of convenience, but they often can’t agree on things like medication, or if vitamins are necessary to promote good health. For example: I have a civilian doctor and a VA doctor who are on different ends of the spectrum when it comes to taking Vitamin D. One says you can’t take enough and the other says Vitamin D doesn’t do anything good at all.

Take this new study that found 11 percent of doctors say that they have told a patient or a child's guardian something that was not true in the past year, and about 20 percent say they have not fully disclosed a mistake to a patient because they were afraid of being sued. The results also show 34 percent of doctors surveyed did not "completely agree" that physicians should disclose all significant medical errors to affected patients. Instead, these doctors said they only somewhat agreed, or disagreed.

Between lies and individual opinions on what is good and bad for us, the hunt for a “good” doctor looks like a lost cause. The fact that they lie to us at times comes as no shock to me. Patients should be aware that doctors don’t always have their best interests in mind. And, when they do screw up, they often hide the fact.

Time to walk on down the road… 

 

I’m sorry…I don’t recognize your face…

                         Good Day Humboldt County!

The road we’re taking today may be a familiar one to you. Have you ever had a hard time recognizing someone’s face? Someone you knew, like a celebrity perhaps? I know I have because of my short, and long term, memory loss from PTSD. It actually happens a lot to me.

There’s another reason why people have trouble recognizing faces. A study,published Jan. 23 in the journal Brain, talks about individuals who have prosopagnosia. If you’ve never heard of prosopagnosia, don’t feel alone. I know I haven’t. Apparently it’s a disorder rendering people unable to distinguish another's mug. Researchers say the reason for that is a breakdown in a brain pathway used to process faces. Study researcher Bradley Duchaine, of Dartmouth University, told LiveScience there are probably different types of prosopagnosia.

Anyway, I’ve learned something new today. Read the entire article here.

Time to walk on down the road…

 

 

Now you see it, now you don’t: the Impolite Fish Optical Illusion

This one of those “When you See It…” type of photos that really throw you off at first.

But then when it suddenly popped-out, I spilled my drink all over myself. Hint: with a little luck…you’ll see the word

_ _ _ k

So how long did it take before you were able to see it?

Do you like random illusions and stuff like that?

Because if you do I have just the place for you here.

The one that didn’t get away: Fishermen reel in shark the size of a school bus

Fishermen tie ropes around the carcass of a whale shark in a harbor in Karachi, Pakistan, on Feb. 7, 2012. The 40-foot whale shark was said to have been found dead in the Arabian Sea.

How can we tell what the face of evil looks like among us?

Good Day Humboldt County!

We meet people on the road though life who look normal (well, how about non-threatening?) who do things that shock us. Terrible, unfathomable things. Dark, senseless, stupid things that literally ruin other people’s lives.

Are these people evil? You read about them all the time because of the sensational impact of their crimes.

Do you know what the face of Evil looks like? Could you tell if a serial killer stood beside you in line at the super market? In my life experience, I’ve seen Evil’s un-remarkable face many times. After the fact. There was never a warning. Age and gender never mattered.  

One day a kindly male elementary school teacher beloved by parents, staff and students, the next a pedophile. Mothers killing their children because low life boyfriends don’t want them around. Then you have this ripped from current headlines:

 A father who murders his two young sons after murdering their mother.   

Anyone following Josh Powell, the Utah man suspected of killing his wife in 2009, had to be skeptical about his camping story with two young sons in the middle of a snowy night. The same night his wife Susan Powell, and the boy’s mother, disappeared. Yet, the police were never able to find her body, or come up with enough evidence to charge him with anything.

Then, when he looses custody of his two sons (photo right), he murders them, and kills himself in the family’s house rigged up like a giant Molotov cocktail. To compound this tragedy, the grandparents who had custody of the boys, were told shortly before allowing the fatal visitation with Josh that, “Mommy was in the car’s trunk,” during their camping trip! A bombshell. Did word leak to Josh Powell his kids were talking?

We’ll never know. All we can do is shake our head and look at the photo at the top of this page of Josh and Susan Powell, and their two sons. Who would of guessed that normal(?) looking family would have such a sad ending? Just look at those smiles. They all seemed to glow with happiness. Gone now.

Time to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

Democracy, hypocrisy, walk hand-in-hand in world politics

                    Good Day Humboldt County!

Put on your walking shoes and let’s stroll down a long and winding trail with political pitfalls, and other challenges to true democracy. Here and in Egypt.

Despite giving Egypt millions of dollars every year in poorly concealed bribes described as relief funds, the current Egypt government is arresting Americans for promoting democracy. Quick! Does anyone remember the so-called Arab Spring last year?

Now things have gotten ugly and American pro-democracy workers face trial in Egypt for spreading the word about democracy. If you’re a little confused by this reversal of attitude in Egypt, don’t be. Just remember that the military led the coup against Mubarak, and they’re still in charge, despite what the majority of people in Egypt want today.

To my utter disgust, the US resembles a fascist plutocracy with the military being able to detain suspects  without charge…  just like Egypt our good buddy. Americans live in a Democracy as long as they do it in a designated free speech zone. Otherwise, its pepper spray and jail here too.

So where does this political mess leave the U.S. taxpayer whose funding of these open bribes for cooperation from third world countries continues to flow? Nowhere. Oblivion. The bottom of the well. The silent majority with no hope of ever getting a voice.

Despite the hypocrisy of our interpretation of what democracy means, our warlords continue to spread the doctrine like a religion. The question is: “Should we export democracy?” The next question is: “Can we export democracy?” 

Democracy, in the minds of the minions in our military industrial complex, is a wedge into another country in order to seize their natural resources. A righteous club to bludgeon the unbelievers. The patriotic thing to do.

As It Stands, the true meaning of democracy has been submerged in the slime of politics, conquest, and greed since we decided to colonize the rest of the world in the name of “freedom.”

Time to walk on down the road…

PAC-Man Gone Bad: Icon Represents Unfair Elections Today

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted:   02/05/2012 02:40:03 AM PST

When Pac-Man, the arcade game, was released it caused a social phenomenon that spurred sales of cross-merchandising throughout the U.S. It became an icon for the 1980s.

Pac-Man is the highest-grossing video of all time. According to the Davie-Brown Index, it has the highest brand awareness of any video game character among American consumers and is recognized by 94 percent of them.

Up until a year ago, when I heard comments about Super-PACs, the thought of that entertaining little yellow gobbling face made me smile. Now that iconic image has been perverted into a political Pac-Man with unlimited support from special interests.

This is the year of the Super-PAC. Randy Cable of South Carolina's conservative talk radio station WORD put it in context during a recent interview. “They're (Super-PACs) a game changer,” he said.

I couldn't agree more. This is the first presidential race to feel the influence of Super-PACS, political action committees that can receive unlimited money from individuals, corporations and unions. Think about that.

Thanks to our Supreme Corporate Court, some of the emerging Super-PACS are nothing more than powerful outside organizations devoted to electing a president of their choice.

It's early in the race, but Super-PACs are clearly outspending candidate committees two to one. That means they control the air time and limit their opponents' opportunity to reply to the lies and false information they spew. It makes for an uneven fight from the start.

“These Super-PACs don't have reputations to protect, so I think there is a tendency for them to get nastier in the ads that they run, and they don't have the same restraints operating on them as candidate committees do,” said Ellen Weintraub, member of the Federal Election Commission in a recent interview.

Every presidential candidate has a Super-PAC supporting his campaign this year. The Super-PACs are supposed to operate independently of the candidates, meaning they can't communicate directly with the politicians and their campaign staff.

Actually, the Super-PACs are run by people who know what the candidates think. Many of them are former staffers and advisers to the presidential candidates.

For example, a Democratic Super-PAC founded by two former aides to President Obama, “Priorities USA,” is busy running an ad campaign trashing Mitt Romney, who is beginning to look like the GOP's pick for the presidency.

Another good example is Romney's campaign, supported by the Super-PAC called “Restore Our Future.” Carl Forti, a former political director for Romney, helped launch “Restore Our Future.” He said the PAC will have raised between $300 million and $350 million by the end of January.

Newt Gingrich is supported by the Super-PAC “Winning Our Future,” which is heavily funded (a reported $10 million) by billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

“I don't think it's buying a presidency any more than it was when Joe Kennedy helped his son,” Sig Rogich, a veteran Republican operative who serves as Adelson's government affairs consultant, said in an interview about the massive donations that the casino mogul has made to Gingrich's Super-PAC.

The Citizens United Supreme Court decision in 2010 allowed these unique political action committees (Super-PACs) to form. In the case of Citizens United against the Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Corporate Court ultimately ruled that the government could not limit political spending by corporations. Big surprise there, huh? Don't expect your vote to count for much this election.

Let's get real. We face enough challenges with other forms of election fraud. Letting the Super-PACs gobble up our remaining chances for a fair election is the last straw. What chance do common Americans have when candidates openly try to purchase the presidency with the blessing of the highest court in our land?

It's really sad to think about the entertaining little yellow ball with the big mouth that use to make many people happy and is now being associated with corporate greed and voter fraud.

As It Stands, the other day I saw a cartoon of Pac-Man gulping down wads of cash and couldn't help thinking the artist should have added our Bill of Rights!

The World Wide Web: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly…

             Good day Humboldt County!

Let’s take a walk down the road that leads to the “Garden of Eden” of knowledge. Also known as the Internet. The web is a double-edged sword that offers the world’s biggest library, and also offers hackers access to other’s private correspondence:

“Saboteurs stole passwords and sensitive information on tipsters while hacking into the websites of several law enforcement agencies worldwide in attacks attributed to the collective known as Anonymous. Breaches were reported this week in Boston, Syracuse, N.Y., Salt Lake City and Greece.” (article source)

Hacker’s with multiple agenda’s, good and bad, attack government and private web sites because they can. Some view hackers as terrorists. Others as the voices of the people. I think you have to look at each incident in detail to determine who was taking the high road on each story.

For better, or worse, the internet has given most Americans a voice – a collective voice that can’t be ignored at times. For example take this story:

Despite about-face, Komen funding conflict far from over – people across America responded immediately when the Susan G. Komen Foundation cut off funding to Planned Parenthood.

Then there’s stories like this that are slightly unsettling: 

Related story: Hackers: We intercepted FBI, Scotland Yard call – hackers attack cops in retaliation for evicting Occupy Wall Streeter’s.

Sometimes I’m thrilled at what I see, like when Americans nationwide rallied against the proposed censorship of the internet. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a United States bill introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. It failed miserably because of the tremendous backlash from blogs, other websites, and social medias like FaceBook and Twitter.

I confess to duel feelings when it comes to the good and the bad aspects of the internet. Perhaps the biggest saving grace to me is the fact it provides ALL AMERICANS with a voice, unlike our news media corporations. I just have to remember that nothing is perfect. When the first bite of the internet apple was taken in the Garden of Eden/Technology all mankind was affected. There’s no turning back. With the knowledge comes power. Given that power, some people tend to abuse it.

It’s the way of the world.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

There’s a fungus among us that eats plastic…

Good news for the environment. A safe way to dispose of used plastic products has been announced, and we can thank Mother Earth:

“Scientists have not found a single way to break down polyurethane--luckily, nature has found a way on its own. Yale scientists recently found a fungus in the Amazonian rainforest that naturally eats polyurethane.

This is the first fungus species, identified by the Yale researchers as Pestalotiopsis microspore, which exclusively subsists on polyurethane. It can also grow in an anaerobic (air-less) environment, which will hopefully allow it to take root in the deepest regions of our trash heaps. Jonathan Russell, a Yale scientists of the group, has managed to isolated an enzyme the fungus uses decompose plastic. The scientists hope to use the extracted chemical to eliminate plastic trash and to help in bioremediation projects.” (article source)

 

Students discover fungus that loves to eat plastic

“Students from Yale discovered a new type of fungus, called Pestalotiopsis microspora, while on a Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory trip to the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. While there, the students were tasked with collecting microorganism and plant cell samples, and the fungus became one such sample.

When the students returned, it was discovered this fungus loves eating plastic, more specifically polyurethane, which we use millions of tons of every year. Popular uses include foam for inside furniture, building insulation and flooring, as a sealant, varnish, or paint, for making surfboards and inflatable boats, and it even gets used to make watch straps and garden hoses.” (article source)

2-feet of Snow: Major snowstorm pummels Colorado, closing roads

Wow! Two feet of snow in Denver!

Seriously, snow has come to the high plains and it actually looks like winter now….

“A powerful storm walloped eastern Colorado and western Nebraska with the region's first heavy snow of the new year on Friday, closing schools, disrupting hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport and creating blizzard conditions on the High Plains.

A foot of snow piled up in the Denver metropolitan area, with up to 2 feet reported in the foothills west of the city, said Frank Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.”

Website helps raise financial support for ailing loved ones

You never know. This website may make a difference for you or a loved one some day.

       Good Day Humboldt County!

One of biggest financial challenges facing most Americans today is health care costs. They can ruin a family and put them on the streets in nothing flat.

The road to health care recovery in America is riddled with financial landmines and politics that threaten to make things even worse.

I was noodling around on the net and found this website – giveforward.com - and thought it was worth sharing with you. I’m not endorsing the website. I’m merely suggesting it might be worth looking into. According to the website:

“GiveForward pages empower friends and family to send love and financial support to patients as they navigate a medical crisis. Start a GiveForward page today and ease the burden of your loved one's out-of-pocket medical expenses.”

If, by chance, you do use the services provided, would you let me know how it turns out? Thanks

Time to walk on down the road…

 

 

 

 

Fact: In over half of the USA you can be fired for being gay

In 29 states including Virginia, it is still legal to fire someone for being gay, and in 34 states it is legal to fire someone solely for being transgender.

Related Reading:
VA Lawmakers Consider Gay Adoption Issue
V.A. Board Defies Cuccinelli, Votes for Nondiscrimination
Virginia Board of Social Services Rejects Gay-Inclusive Adoption Rules

Read more: employment non discrimination act, lgbt ENDA, lgbt USA, lgbt virginia, lgbt workplace discrimination

Back Talk: Teen Lives in a world of words in reverse

Try doing what Alyssa does in her head. I bet you can’t unless you write the word down. If you can, then you’d better get on You Tube. People like this stuff.

I just love unique people. Here’s one who stands out from the crowd with her word flip-flopping skills.

Alyssa Kramer can say any word backward.

The 14-year-old from Poteau, Okla., can flip words around and spit them back out almost instantly.

Over 1 million You Tube viewers liked this video. I enjoyed it, despite being baffled how she does it. If you’d like to read more about her go here.

Fear of Robots: We’ve been down this path before…

Good Day Humboldt County!

Since the term “robot” was first coined in 1921, Americans have been suspicious of their intentions.

In an uncanny parallel to the 1920s, Americans today are concerned about losing jobs, and worse, to robots.

Last year I addressed these concerns in this column: 

• Workplace reality: more robots, less humans

I recently ran across this article from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, visit the Future Tense blog and the Future Tense home page.

A Robot Has Shot Its Master-The 1930s hysteria about machines taking jobs and killing people.

By Matt Novak

(Excerpt) “What about the 1930s lent itself to a fear of technology that was made tangible through a humanoid robot? Predictions for the future are always a direct reflection of the times in which they’re created. During times of economic insecurity it’s hard not to be filled with anxiety about the future of your country, your family, or your employer—should you be so lucky as to be employed. Just as all politics is local, all futurism is now. Over the last few years we’ve seen Americans of all political persuasions flood the streets; concerned about the future, and more often than not, concerned about their jobs. At the same time, we’ve seen a renewed fear of robots invading the workplace. Earlier this fall, Slate’s Farhad Manjoo warned that even the highly educated—doctors, lawyers, scientists—could find their jobs outsourced to robots in the future; farm workers and warehouse employees are in more immediate danger of being replaced.”  Read the rest here.

Check out a slideshow about the great robot panic of the 1930s in the pages of print media.

Time to walk on down the road…

'Veterans For Weed' agrees to name change after complaints

I’m not sure if this is even a real case of veterans posting this logo. Because they call themselves “Veterans For Weed” doesn’t mean they really are veterans.

The Wisconsin-based group does not show names of its leadership or members on its website which seems suspicious to me.

I like the idea of veterans calling for legalization of pot (they have as much at stake as anyone), but question the approach this group has taken.

“A group of veterans calling for the legalization of marijuana plans to change its acronym after the Veterans of Foreign Wars sent a cease-and-desist order to the pot group’s organizers. But a controversial logo will remain, the pot advocates say.

The “Veterans For Weed,” a Milwaukee-based group that says “the real reefer madness” is when veterans get arrested for pot possession, has been using the acronym VFW on its website and promotional materials.

The Veterans of Foreign War called the pot group use of the acronym “misleading and illegal,” Stars and Stripes reported.

But the self-described group of stoners refused to take down their "POT POW" logo, which has drawn fire from veterans and military families. The logo is a variation of the iconic Vietnam-era POW/MIA poster showing the silhouetted profile of a prisoner behind barbed wire. The original logo was created for the National League of POW/MIA Families, according to Stars and Stripes, and is not copyrighted.

Still, it is cherished symbol, and the National League of POW/MIA Families has asked that it be taken down from the website.”

‘Mr. President, why isn’t legalizing pot a legitimate topic to discuss?

For the ninth time, the White House has solicited the American people for direct input on the issues they cared about, and then, when the resulting answers called overwhelmingly for marijuana law reform, President Obama ignored the will of the American people.

Once upon a time Obama claimed that marijuana legalization was a “legitimate topic for debate.” Apparently that’s changed. Tom Angell, Media Relations Director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) sent me this email yesterday:

“Hi Dave,

Well, the YouTube/White House "Your Interview with the President" livestream just wrapped up, and unfortunately the web giant did not find the time to present President Obama with the marijuana legalization video question from a retired police officer that received, by far, more votes than any other video in the contest.

They did find time, however, to pick the president's brain on pressing national issues like.... late night snacks, singing and dancing, celebrating wedding anniversaries and playing tennis. 

Seriously...”

Related topic: From AlterNet today:

Why is Obama So Chicken, Unwilling to Even Address the Question of Pot and the Failed Drug War?

New pathways to communication: researchers read brain waves

        Good Day Humboldt County!

Today’s new road leads us down a path that may sound ominous at first (shades of Big Brother), but it’s actually a move in the right direction when it comes to treating epilepsy patients. That doesn’t mean this new technology will only be used for good. I foresee another path, a darker one, for this technology. Our military will use it to read prisoner’s minds. For all I know, they’re already doing that. What’s next? Americans arrested for anything having their brains picked?

There’s always two paths to choose from. The road to enlightenment, and the road to destruction, when it comes to technological advances in our society. Now the story:

“Scientists have found a way to decipher actual words from a person’s brain waves, a feat that sounds very much like mind-reading, a new study shows.

The research may sound like scary science fiction -- once a person’s brain waves can be read, will any thought be private? -- but the positive implications are enormous for patients who have lost the ability to speak through damage, such as stroke, or disease.

In the study, scientists worked with a group of epilepsy patients who were undergoing treatment for intractable seizures. Sensors were implanted deep in their brains in an effort to locate the source of seizures, so doctors could remove the malfunctioning tissue, according to the new report published in PLoS Biology.

Researchers ran brain waves through a program they hoped would translate the brain's electronic signals into actual sounds. It worked. Based only on the recordings, the computer was able to pluck out the words spoken to the patients. Previous research has been able to reconstruct what a person is looking at from brain scans.” (Read the rest here)

Time to walk on down the road…

So you think it was tough getting up this morning eh? Wait till you hear how one man’s morning started

Michael Sweat woke up with a Beamer on him this morning. Needless to say, it was “sweat and go” for awhile until help came:

“A Connecticut man woke up to a real-life nightmare early Tuesday morning when a car police were pursuing slammed into his apartment while he was sleeping and landed on top of him.

Just after 12:30 a.m., Hamden Police spotted a BMW wanted for motor vehicle violations and attempted to stop the driver. Police pursued the car from Hamden to New Haven, through the Southern Connecticut State University campus and into the Newhallville section of New Haven. Hamden Police made several attempts to stop the fleeing BMW, police said, but the driver lost control, crashed through a first-floor apartment at 91 Winchester Ave. and fled.

Michael Sweat, 34, a tenant, was trapped beneath the car for more than an hour as rescuers attempted to free him. Sweat was taken to the Hospital of St. Raphael with second- and third-degree burns to his lower body and is expected to recover.”

Talk about having a bad day. You’d be hard pressed to beat Mr. Sweat’s day…and to think it’s not over yet!

British tourists become terrorists when they go tweet…tweet…

Good Day Humboldt County!

Sometimes, our path is an airborne one that starts out as a flight of fancy but ends up like a nightmare.

Tweet at your own risk...

According to the Sun and the Daily Mail — daily tabloids published in the United Kingdom — a handful of ominous-sounding Twitter jokes got 26-year-old Leigh Van Bryan and 24-year-old Emily Bunting kicked out of the United States before they could even begin their long-awaited vacation.

According to the Daily Mail, it was because of those tweets that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) flagged Bryan and Bunting as "a potential threat." Upon arriving at LAX, the two pals were "detained by armed guards," explains the publication:

Despite telling officials the term 'destroy' was British slang for 'party', they were held on suspicion of planning to 'commit crimes' and had their passports confiscated. ... Federal agents even searched [Bryan's] suitcase looking for spades and shovels, claiming [Bunting] was planning to act as [Bryan's] 'look out' while he raided Marilyn's tomb.

The two were quizzed for five hours before being "put in a van with illegal immigrants and locked up overnight," writes the Sun. They were then kept in separate holding cells for 12 hours before being put on a flight home!

Time to walk on down the road…

Drone On: of Death, Destruction, and Spying …

Once upon a time, not so long ago, when you heard the word “drone” this is what came to mind:

1) a male honeybee

2) to making a continuous humming sound

3) an idle parasite or loafer, and

4) to utter in a monotonous tone

In our world today, drone has taken on additional meanings: an unmanned aircraft that can bring down death and destruction and that can spy on any country in the world. Here’s two examples of drones in the news: 

“Members of Iraq's government were infuriated by the United States continuing to fly unmanned surveillance drones to protect State Department assets such as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and American personnel in the country, The New York Times reported Monday.”

(Top Photo) Sr. Airman Nicholas Hart helps guides an RQ-4 Global Hawk Block-20 into its hangar at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County, Calif., June 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Appeal-Democrat)

Then we have our own drone controversy here at home.

“The Los Angeles Police Department is warning real estate agents not to use images of properties taken from unmanned aircraft, saying the flying drones pose a potential safety hazard and could violate federal aviation policy.

Drones can range from as small as model airplanes built by hobbyists to as large as a commercial jet. Nationally, there has been an intense and growing debate about the safety of allowing drones to operate in airspace used by passenger aircraft.”

What to know more? Go to link below:

FULL COVERAGE: Drones

Photo: The Qube, a type of drone that might be seeing civilian use, can fit in the trunk of a car and can be controlled remotely with a tablet computer. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times