A two-year-old Pug named Bentley rides a wave as he competes in the 20lbs and under heat at the 4th annual Helen Woodward Animal Center "Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon" at dog beach in Del Mar, California September 13, 2009. The event helps raise awareness and money for orphaned pets while promoting responsible pet ownership.
via “Most Emailed” by Yahoo
REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SOCIETY ANIMALS)
By Steve Greenberg - Freelance, Los Angeles * Posted 9/12/2009 12:00:00 AM
My column “Let’s face it, no one will take the high road” received a lot of attention yesterday. Most of it negative, and coming from over a dozen blogs featuring NRA poster children. The Times-Standard Forum is full of examples. Comments under yesterday’s blog, which carried the column, are some more examples.
Despite the fact that I said I didn’t want to take away everyone’s guns, the idea that I dared to suggest there should be more safeguards against assault weapons awakened the wrath of extremists.
Talk about irony. I was talking with a friend in Fortuna today and he told me that he sold his shotgun. He explained that he knew a guy that would sell it for him, and it took him less than 24 hours to get $350 for it. Did anyone pay taxes or get their fingerprints taken during this transaction? No. Now, how often do you think that happens nationwide? It starts to get scary when you reflect upon it.
Related subject - Click here to read:
Meanwhile, would you like your very own assault/automatic weapon? No problem! Just go here and they’ll be glad to take care of you.
I found another web site that I highly recommend the NRA crowd go to. Maybe it’ll bring them down to earth. Try it, click here and read on.
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 09/13/2009 01:27:16 AM PDT
The Beatles were spot on with their song lyrics that suggested “Happiness is a warm gun.” That gun has to have bullets, and these are at a premium right now, for several reasons.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) scare tactics claimed when President Obama came into office he would take people's warm guns away from them.
The response was almost immediate. Sales of guns and bullets skyrocketed on this rumor. And make no mistake. It was a rumor. That fact doesn't seem to bother the people who went on a buying spree. There seems to be no end to this spree while people believe they may lose the constitutional right to purchase and own weapons.
In California alone, about 60,000 more guns were sold in the first seven months of this year, than in the same period last year, a 26 percent increase, according to the state Attorney General's Office. Click here to read the rest of this column.
Every now and then I like to talk about visitors to this blog.
My stat counter tells me that I have a lot of international viewers, and that I average about 500 visitors daily. The majority of viewers still come form the USA, but the gap has been narrowing this past year.
Just for fun, I picked out a segment of the readers – people in schools. They can be students or administrative staff, but they all have education connections.
Here’s a 24 hour list from Sept 10th to Sept. 11th:
Westmont College, Santa Barbara; San Francisco State University; Miami Dade College, Florida; University of Idaho; Department of Education & Training, New South Wales, Australia; Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky; Colorado Springs School District, Colorado; Elk Grove School District, California; City College of New York; Palomar Community College District, San Marcos, California; Rice University, Houston College; Georgia Department of Education; The School District of Lee County, Florida; Gorseinon College of Fe, Gorseinon, Swansea, United Kingdom; North Carolina Research & Education Network; Jordan School District, South Jordan, Utah; Wake County Public Schools, Raleigh, North Carolina; University of Mississippi; Alabama Research Education Network; Art-Institute-Of-California, Costa Mesa, California; Utah Valley State College; California State University of Chico; Bureau of Indian Education, Winslow, Arizona; Denver Public Schools, Colorado; San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, California; East Side Union High School, San Jose, California; and the Hawaii Department of Education, in Honolulu.
Just when I think I’ve heard it all something like this comes up. It’s bizarre, weird, and disgusting.
Nothing is sacred anymore. There’s no concern that even death is being exploited for the amusement of gawkers.
Throw in sex, and you can attract more visitors. What does that say about this new millennium?
By Jason Rhodes –
German anatomists plan a new show dedicated solely to dead bodies having sex as part of the Body Worldsexhibitions.
Gunther von Hagens and his wife Angelina Whalley show corpses prepared using a technique invented by von Hagens called "plastination," that removes water from specimens and preserves them with silicon rubber or epoxy resin.
"It's not my intention to show certain sexual poses. My goal is really to show the anatomy and the function," Body Worlds creative director Whalley told Reuters in an interview, adding the sex exhibition may open next year.
Body Worlds exhibitions, visited by 27 million people across the world, have been criticized for presenting entire corpses, stripped of skin to reveal the muscles and organs underneath, in lifelike and often theatrical positions.
Von Hagens has already triggered uproar with a new exhibit which shows just two copulating corpses. Click here to read the rest at Reuters.
Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature.
Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals.
Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something.
The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders.
Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. In the first, the groups banded together to gang up on a common enemy. In the second, the groups banded together to gang up on the researchers! By the third and final experiment, the researchers managed to turn the groups on each other.
Click here to see the other nine at Brainz.
Okay…someone screwed up. I know that the Coast Guard training exercise was intercepted by someone who thought a real attack was happening, but why did they have to have this training event today of all days? On 911!
Doesn’t anyone know anything about “timing” for such events? You gotta wonder. Officials are already putting a spin on this and calling it a “good teaching moment.” Vice Adm. Currier made it clear to the press that his people didn’t do anything wrong, and there won’t be any apologies forthcoming.
Currier said this morning that the Coast Guard will review the training incident along the Potomac River that triggered security concerns about President Obama on the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Click here to read the whole story at CNN
If you can keep an open mind, then check out this satirical site.
Betty Bowers has a sense of the absurd when it comes to religion. Some may find this offensive, and if that’s the case with you…don’t view.
Otherwise, click here and go to Bowers’ site to see more.
Easy Rider sound byte:
They're not scared of you - they're scared of what you represent... what you represent to them is freedom.
Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper have the above conversation minutes before they are blown to pieces by two rednecks in a pick-up truck. The movie was released in 1969.
image via Starstore
So here we are, a House Representative (Joe Wilson) interrupting the President of the United States during an address to both houses. Not only was it a shameful outburst, it was a baseless accusation!
I watched Republican Senator McCain tell NBC news this morning that Rep. Joe Wilson’s accusation wasn’t true. Flat out. Wilson is the liar. He’s obviously courting the lunatic fringe who don’t care about the truth. They just want to attack Obama, and if it means lying…well that’s business as usual among the wackaloons who refuse to believe in reality.
While refuting the lies that are spreading around among conservatives, the President pointed out that Sarah Palin’s claim of so-called “Death Panels” was also a lie. Again, Sen. McCain, upon being asked, said that the charges were untrue.
Kudos to Sen. McCain. He really appears to want a bipartisan approach to solving this bill, and he’s not spreading lies. I wish there were more Republicans like him. While I didn’t think he would make a good president, I do think he’s a very good congressman that more members of the senate need to listen too.
From the Associated Press this morning:
“Democrats and Republicans alike are denouncing Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "You lie" at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress, an extraordinary breach of decorum for which the South Carolina Republican swiftly apologized.
"I was embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love," Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It demeaned the institution."
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told ABC on Wednesday: "Obviously, the President of the United States is always welcome on Capitol Hill. He deserves respect and decorum.
"I know that Congressman Wilson has issued an apology and made his thoughts known to the White House, which was the appropriate thing to do," Cantor said.
Wilson's outburst came after Obama said extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.
"You lie!" Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber.”
Click here to read the rest.
Better yet, you can probably use them with impunity where you live, and people will think your so cool while totally unaware of what you just said to them!
Now it’s time for…
“While I grew up hearing accidental French expletives that would sneak their way out of my mother’s mouth, for those who learned French in the classroom, I’m guessing the teacher was not willing (or able) to teach students how to properly and thoroughly cuss in French.
So, in that vein, here are some of my very favorite French curses. These are the things you hear spilling out of cab driver’s mouths, accidentally being shouted by my grandmother when she drops the milk, or accompanied by grimaced faces and occasional hand gestures in the streets of Paris.
Now, before you go around dropping the French equivalent of the F bomb on your next trip, keep in mind that language plays an immensely important role in French culture. In fact, being articulate and well spoken is considered to be an extremely valuable asset and characteristic, and while the French also like to curse a lot, the term most often associated with curse words is “unrefined.” However, in the right place, with the right people, you can impress your French friends (and make them giggle) by appropriately using these very useful and colorful curses.”
Click here to continue.
The Beatles (Apple Corps Ltd.)
It is a day to get dressed to the nines, listen to the Beatles , get married and to ponder whether this is the end of the world as we know it. Sept. 9, 2009 — or 9/9/09 — is inspiring a number of events Wednesday: discounts on weddings, impassioned doomsday predictions and the release of the Beatles' whole, re-mastered catalog and a Fab Four-themed videogame.
A new animated feature film, "9," set in a post-apocalyptic world, will also hit theaters as hotels like Las Vegas' Bellagio and even a county clerk or two offer special "9/9/09" wedding prices.
As the rare date approached, buzz about it picked up on the Internet. On Tuesday, the term "9/9/09" was among the top 100 search terms on Google, while world's end theories abounded on YouTube.
via AP
Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
Posted: 09/08/2009 01:27:14 AM PDT
Dennis Turner isn't afraid to walk between two worlds if it means he can achieve his goal of helping people.
He knew when he started The Humboldt Cooperative in Arcata in November of 2003 that nothing but challenges lay ahead.
Challenges don't bother him. He's used to them. His roots are deep in Humboldt County's history, since his family first moved to the area in 1890. While Turner grew up in the Santa Rosa area, he was no stranger to Humboldt County and often visited his “Uncle Jimmy,” who lived in the area. He also married a local girl named Martha.
In 1973, Turner launched his career in helping people as a guidance counselor at McKinleyville High School. By 1978, he was running a research team for the Department of General Services in Sacramento.
He received his master's degree in career counseling at Humboldt State University in December of 1994 and went to work for the Department of Rural Human Resources in Crescent City. After six years, he became restless and decided it was time to move on.
By 2000, the times were changing as to the role of marijuana in society and Turner became interested in the therapeutic aspects of the controversial herb. Convinced that cannabis was good thing for those who needed it, he researched what it took to start a medical marijuana clinic. Click here to read the rest at The Times-Standard.
The controversy surrounding this speech is, in my opinion, without merit. How many other presidents have addressed the nation’s students? Why is it suddenly a bad thing because he did?
I went off on this subject (I do regret getting so irritated that I was starting to sound like a wackaloon myself) a few days ago because I was fed up with the lies that were being told about Obama being like Hitler, or wanting to get back at the Whites for their use of slavery earlier in this nation’s history.
If you’ve listened to what the opposition (that’s anyone who thinks anything Obama does is wrong) you’ve no doubt heard some outrageous accusations. What’s behind this movement?
Here’s what I know. CNN has reported that Lyndon LaRouche has been organizing the so-called “Tea-Baggers” to disrupt any town hall meetings on health care, and to boycott this speech today. That’s a fact.
LaRouche, a nutcase himself, is finding like-minded people and conducting a witch hunt (think the “Birthers) who are afraid of a black men! That’s right. If you don’t think that racism plays a major part in the attacks on Obama I invite you to go to numerous right-wing blogs and find out what they’re saying.
I know what I’ve seen and read, and I defy anyone to deny that. When he is compared to a monkey you have to know where that’s coming from.
From ed.gov - The U.S. Department of Education:
“During a special address on Tuesday, the president will speak directly to the nation's children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school. The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.
The U.S. Department of Education invites students of all ages, teachers, and administrators to participate in this historic moment by watching the president deliver the address, which will be broadcast live on the White House Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/) and on C-SPAN. We also encourage educators to use this moment to help students get focused and inspired to begin the new academic year. The Department of Education offers educators a menu of classroom activities—created by its teachers-in-residence, the Teaching Ambassador Fellows—to help engage students in the address and stimulate classroom discussions about the importance of education.
To learn more, please see the following:
PDF (115K) | MS Word (119K) PDF (170K) | MS Word (184K) To further encourage student engagement, the U.S. Department of Education is launching the "I Am What I Learn" video contest. On September 8, we will invite students to respond to the president's challenge by creating videos, up to two minutes in length, describing the steps they will take to improve their education and the role education will play in fulfilling their dreams.
For more frequently asked questions, and information on this speech (what he’s going to say,etc.) click here.
Lately I’ve noticed that there’s been a lot of stories about celebrity boyfriends beating up their celebrity girlfriends, or worse yet killing them.
What is going on? Does anyone have an explanation for this kind of behavior? I grew up learning that you don’t hit or physically attack women.
I only have one thing to say to a brute like Merriman…you’re a cowardly bully!
Tila Tequila took another shot at love and, unfortunately, it's apparently taken a shot back at her.
The reality starlet was hospitalized early Sunday following an altercation with her San Diego Chargers boyfriend, Shawne Merriman, officials confirm to E! News.
The San Diego Sheriff's Department received a disturbance call from Tila "Tequila" Nguyen at 3:45 a.m. She told deputies she had been choked by Merriman and, when she tried to leave, he physically restrained her.
Nguyen, 27, signed a citizen's arrest warrant accusing the NFL linebacker of battery and false imprisonment. Click here to read the rest.
Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 09/06/2009 01:27:18 AM PDT
I want to remind veterans and their families that the annual North Coast Stand Down is coming up on Oct. 2, 3 and 4.
For those who are new to the area or haven't heard about Stand Down, it's a three-day event designed to empower veterans and their families. Numerous helpful services are offered to all, and the spirit of Stand Down is veterans helping veterans.
Veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Korea gather as brothers and sisters with one common goal: to support one another and share in the camaraderie of a common understanding.
This annual event draws more veterans every year. The word is out that it's not just for homeless or needy veterans, but for all veterans. The atmosphere is like one big family gathering for good meals and conversation.
Click here to read more about The Stand Down
The child was crying, which apparently greatly perturbed Matthews. "If you don't shut that baby up I will shut her up for you," Stephens warned Matthews, according to a Gwinnett County Police Department report. Moments later, Stephens acted on his threat, slapping Paige "across the face approximately four or five times."
Though the child "started crying and screaming" after being struck, Stephens told Matthews, "See, I told you I would shut her up." After police were summoned, Stephens told a cop that the child was crying "and he just slapped her," according to the report. Stephens was arrested for felony cruelty to children and booked into the Gwinnett County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond. Paige sustained "slight redness to the face," but was otherwise unharmed.
For the complete police report click here to go to The Smoking Gun
They ignore facts. They are always afraid of something. They view President Obama as a black man whose taking over “their” country.
They wear Confederate belt buckles, and share stories of the “good old days in the south” when “darkie” knew his place. They are angry women, and men, who saw their party voted out of power last year. They ignore little facts like that.
They are the conspiracy crowd. The lunatics suspect we are all going to be Communists, because our president is a liberal Democrat. They ignore facts.
The lunatic fringe will always feel disenfranchised because they are a minority. Even so, they are a loud emotional minority that babble jingoisms. They call on “God and Country” and tell lies like our president wasn’t born in the USA. They seriously ignore facts.
It’s really easy to spot the lunatic fringe, because they like to draw attention to their beliefs while re-defining reality. They are adults dressing up in colonial era clothing and calling themselves “Tea-baggers.” They like to ignore facts.
They claimed that Obama would be the worst president ever, when it came to gun control - violating our rights as Americans. It didn’t happen. It hasn’t happened. He wouldn’t dare to defy the NRA, and the gun and ammunition industry. Their lobbies rule Congress and the House. They can afford to ignore facts about record sales of automatic weapons going to Mexico’s drug cartels.
While the lunatic fringe may be small in numbers, they have the backing of the NRA and gun and ammunition industry lobbies. They do have some power. Probably more than we can even imagine. Ignoring facts is their cup-of-tea.
My first reaction was – can you say “Photo Shop?”
Then I looked at it closer. Was it possible? Could it be like one of those Lincoln Log Homes painted in childlike colors?
It’s something to ponder this Friday, before this Labor Day weekend.
If you’re going somewhere, be careful. If you’re not, then stop by this blog again to see what I’ll be posting for you. TGIF
The Republicans have once again solidified their mission as the Obstructionist Party by trying to make hay over something past presidents have done without any problems from crazed conservatives.
Click here to read more about those conservative obstructionists at AlterNet.
After reading the above Link and the article below ask yourself, “Is our President trying to spread socialism?” Or, is this just another tempest in a teapot by conservatives? I’m interested in getting your comments on this issue.
By LIBBY QUAID, LINDA STEWART BALL /AP Writers
When kids all across the country return to school Tuesday, some will see a welcoming message from President Barack Obama and some won't.
Obama's planned address to students has touched off yet another confrontation with Republican critics, who have battered the White House over health care and now accuse the president of foisting a political agenda on children.
The president will speak directly to students Tuesday about the need to work hard and stay in school. His address will be shown live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN at noon EDT, a time when classrooms across the country will be able to tune in.
Schools don't have to show it. But districts across the country have been inundated with phone calls from parents and are struggling to address the controversy that broke out after Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent a letter to principals urging schools to tune in.
Districts in states including Texas, Illinois, Minnesota,Missouri, Virginia and Wisconsin have decided not to show the speech to students. Others are still thinking it over or are letting parents have their kids opt out.
Click here to read the rest at The Chicago Tribune.
President Obama’s health care reform proposal was defended last night by Congressman Mike Thompson, who showed up at Redwood acres and stayed longer than expected.
It was obvious that some people, who just wanted 15 minutes of fame, were there to protest issues totally unrelated to the topic at hand. Time and again, I winced as they babbled about their personal agendas.
I lost count of how many times Thompson had to shut people up while someone else was trying to speak. My only surprise at this kind of behavior was that the “big mouths” weren’t wearing tinfoil hats!
Looking at the scope of the whole meeting I can only conclude it was a “dog-and-pony show” that did not result in anything but a chance for people to blow off steam. How many intelligent questions were asked about the issue at hand – health care? While you’re trying to count them, how many sane alternatives to the proposed problems did you hear?
I had the sense of a crouching beast (as opposed to a human audience) threatened to engulf Thompson at any moment. It’s a good thing he’s a military veteran, because he needed to show some balls to back off the crouching beast at times!
This inability to no longer have civil discourse in so-called town hall meetings is reflective of society today. Polarization goes beyond the Republican’s and Democrat’s inability to agree on anything. Our whole country is polarized by people who live on “sound bytes” and who avoid facts that may go against their emotional beliefs, and what the political pundits say they should think.
I heard, and read on some of the local blogs and TV station, that some people thought the meeting went pretty well. Hmmmmm….now there’s a sad statement. There was actually a time when public meetings weren’t dog-and-pony shows that had clowns interrupting every five minutes.
As It Stands, welcome to the breakdown of our country. Chaos creeps in with cretins leading the way!
And I thought mine was ugly!
We all come across some seriously bad websites in our day-to-day lives on the Internet. It’s just an unavoidable fact of life, like coming across monsters on the way to the market in video games. When you come across these things, you should approach them with a modicum of fear, for it is something you don’t know, after all. But, more than that, you need to be brave, and you need to relish the experience with full sense of humor employed. These are the 20 worst websites from across the world.
Bella DeSoto
Bella DeSoto deserves special recognition for creating what may possibly be the absolute worst page in the history of all bad web pages. This site is so amazing, so incredible in its evil genius, that it nearly crashes most browsers today – in 2009. That being said, be careful, because you absolutely must experience this site yourself – It’s too large for most screen-capture software to handle. Both vertical and horizontal scrollbars will seem unfit to handle the vast distance they will have to travel. I postulate that no man has ever full explored the entire site, as it would likely take more years than he has in him. Did I mention the unstoppable soundtrack?
View the rest of these sites at Manolith
Meet…
Matt Kepnes who gave up the cubicle to pursue a life of adventure, hoping to avoid an office for the rest of his life. You can find his daily musings at Nomadic Matt.
Now on to the hostels…
“Everyone wants to party on the road but with a million hostels in the world, where should you go?
I’ve searched high and low, drank with the best of them, and endured sleepless nights by the toilet to find the best party hostels out there.
Here are twenty that will keep you drinking, dancing, flirting, and hugging the porcelain goddess until the sun comes up:”
Kabul -Location: Barcelona, Spain
Located in the center of Las Ramblas, Kabul has a very open second floor where all parties happen. Happy hour officially begins at 7, which is usually a few hours after everyone wakes up.
With a reputation for partying, this place keeps drawing those who start partying at 2 a.m. and sleep until 2 p.m. This place gives new meaning to the term “late night.” I was called a quitter for sleeping at 5 a.m.
Click here to read about the rest.
Move over Barbie! This hot chick is coming into your neighborhood!
She may look like a refugee from the 1970s, but don’t be fooled…this is probably some cheap Chinese knockoff!
Is it a real product? Something photo-shopped perhaps?
She looks like she’s maybe 12 or 13 years-old.So far no one has come forward to say this sick little pedophile’s delight is a phony.
Just another argument for the Fall of the New Western Civilization.
I found this at ParentDish
Credit: Gizmodo.com
Fall is slowly settling upon us.
While walking with Millie my pug, we’ve been watching the leaves turn into a riot of color. The tree-lined route we take every day, is changing from green leaves to red, to yellow, to orange. Signs that summer is coming to an end.
The multi-colored umbrella we stroll through is alive with birds. We see horses, donkeys, dogs, and cats, as we pass through silently, wrapped in our own thoughts. The Ravens and the Blue Jays compete for supremacy of the sky, or perhaps a tree.
The tree has always been a popular way of suggesting stability. We say our roots run deep, like an old oak, to let others know that our family has lived in an area for generations. The majesty of a redwood tree goes unchallenged, as we strain to see their tops. Their very size suggests eternity.
There are many fruit trees, oaks, and spruce to see on our daily walk. There are a few redwoods, still relatively young and only a couple of hundred feet high, with thin trunks and limbs. We have a half dozen young redwoods lining our back yard. There are also huge stumps on our route, sad reminders of once majestic giants in their prime.
I try to fix my memory on the beauty of the healthy trees, hoping it will take me through the long winter ahead, when they will be stripped bare to brave the elements. They whisper, as we walk by each day, about upcoming skies of gray.
Every month I would run to the local liquor store with my buddy to buy up the latest editions. We’d go to the nearby park and read them…happy as clams to be caught up in another world where anything is possible.
It’s weird seeing Marvel become a Disney acquisition. I never would have guessed.
By Dawn C. Chmielewski
The Walt Disney Co. today announced that it had agreed to acquire comic-book giant Marvel Entertainment, creator of such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man, in a cash-and-stock deal worth an estimated $4 billion.
The acquisition would give Disney access to a library of more than 5,000 characters -- several of whom have inspired major films for other Hollywood studios. Marvel, meanwhile, gains the clout of Disney's ability to take a popular character and make money on it through films, television and licensed merchandise.
Click here to read the rest of this story in the LA Times.
(Photo via AP / Marvel Comics / Columbia Pictures)
I never would have guessed someone could stand me for so long! Shirley is the center of my universe. Anything I accomplished in life thus far is a tribute to her.
As a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, I haven’t been a constant joy to live with, yet she’s always stayed at my side, and “had my back.”
If you know Shirley, you know how loving and compassionate she is. She’s a hugger. She works in an oncology clinic and greets everyone with love and the understanding she will do all she can to help them.
Humor is just one of the things that strengthens our bond of love. We both believe that life is too short to waste being negative about things. We both believe that a positive attitude changes a person’s life, allowing them to contribute to society and be happy.
Happy Anniversary my “Brown-Eyed Girl!”
An alert reader of yesterday’s “As It Stands” column – Space aliens, Satanists, and those who try to Control your Mind – sent me this link about tinfoil hats that were featured in my column. I found it quit educating and very amusing!
The following research was carried out by the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department, MIT.,
and the Media Laboratory, MIT.
Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.
Click here to read the results and to see more styles of tinfoil hats!
Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 08/30/2009 01:30:40 AM PDT
In 1985, when I heard that a bunch of people dressed up like space aliens and met at Giant Rock in nearby Landers, I couldn't resist attending the festivities. Every year they held a real UFO Convention with visitors from around the world.
At the time, I was the editor of a weekly newspaper in Twentynine Palms called “The Desert Trail,” and eager to witness this extraterrestrial event.
Landers, a ghost town once supported by the Los Padres Mine, was famous for Giant Rock (the largest free-standing rock in the world) and for the man who carved a small room in the bottom of it, where he carried out weekly meditation sessions to communicate with space people.
Click here to read the rest.
Dave Berman is based in Humboldt County, and is a self-described “advocacy journalist.” Last year, I was one of the signers of a campaign Dave started about “un-provable election results.” See “We Do Not Consent.”
If you’re not familiar with Dave, I strongly encourage you to not only read this new book of his, but look back at his web sites and other books that have made a positive difference in the world we live in.
One of these days, Dave and I might collaborate on some articles regarding suspect election results, and or, some community project.
Heres…………….Dave Berman!
“I have posted my new e-book, We Do Not Consent, Volume 2 (free .pdf) and launched my new video blog, Manifest Positivity(http://ManifestPositivity.blogspot.com). WDNCv2 is made up of essays previously published here at the WDNC blog, book-ended and given context by a previously unpublished intro and epilogue (both reprinted below), as well as a glossary that now also appears at Manifest Positivity (please click the book or new blog to read that, a frame of reference for terms cultivated and simply used a lot in my past and future public service work).
This is the same combination of steps I took three years ago when I launched theWDNC blog in conjunction with publishing the first WDNC book (free .pdf) as a collection of essays from my previous blog, GuvWurld. There is a strong sense of continuity through all these projects, as summarized in Manifest Positivity's statement of purpose:” (Click here to continue reading.)
The “man” got sneaky this time. There’s more than one way to serve a warrant I suppose…
“Police in a Florida City used the promise of economic stimulus checks to lure 76 people to their arrest on a variety of outstanding warrants.
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department set up "Operation Show Me the Money" to round up people wanted on charges ranging from second-degree murder to guns and drug charges to failure to pay child support.
Using the name of the fictitious "South Florida Stimulus Coalition," police mailed letters asking the suspects to call an undercover phone line and make appointments to claim their money. When they showed up at an auditorium and presented their identification, they were led to an area where uniformed police were waiting to arrest them.”
Click here to read the rest at Reuters.
Photo via Google Images
It’s no laughing matter, but scientists are saying that nitrous oxide (N20), commonly called laughing gas, is adding to global warming.
The idea of global warming is a highly controversial theory, and scientists worldwide seem divided over what to call the earth’s warming trend. Now we have something else that is reputed to attack the ozone layer.
Here’s an exerpt from a recent Time magazine:
“But even with that battle all but won, scientists are finding a new man-made threat to the ozone layer: nitrous oxide (N2O), otherwise known as laughing gas. A study published in the Aug. 28 Science found that N2O — a by-product of agricultural fertilizer and a number of other industrial processes — is now the biggest ozone-depleting gas in the air, and could present a real threat to the ozone layer in coming decades. And worse, unlike CFCs, N2O — which also adds to global warming — is not regulated by the Montreal Protocol, meaning there is no global effort to try to reduce emissions.”(Read "Can Steven Chu Win the Fight Over Global Warming?")
Click here to read the whole story at Time.
Photo via Time.
This is the first time I’ve run across someone building a legitimate ministry on Marijuana. There’s probably more out there. I just don’t know where.
I found this site when someone told me my recent column “The government has a monopoly on growing and researching marijuana,” was featured.
Interested in becoming a THC Ministry? Here you go:
“The Minster’s Sanctuary Kit includes powerful legal precedents, successful cases, a history of Roger’s religious credentials and successful court actions and positive critiques from all the major cannabis magazines: High Times,Cannabis Culture, Heads, and Skunk.
The kit has approximately 130 pages of well-researched materials with research done on the state, national and international level. Included in the kit are real Motions to Dismiss marijuana charges written by lawyers and used successfully by members of our Ministry.”
Still want to know more? Click here to visit this unique ministry.
Things aren’t bad enough for the state bean-counters, so they raise our taxes again!
This just makes the case that California is becoming too expensive to live in. I wonder how many people, and businesses have escaped this cash-strapped state since last year? Maybe, in some ways that’s good. It cuts down on the population!
Here’s the latest news about the public screwing in the works…
“While Californians are still feeling the sting of income and sales tax hikes signed into law earlier this year, now comes news that state tax authorities plan to take a little more from their pockets.
For only the second time in 30 years, the tax board is lowering the point where each tax bracket begins, bumping many people into a higher category. At the same time, officials are cutting back some deductions. Everyone will pay more, even people whose bracket or income doesn't change.
The extra sums will total as much as $140 per family, on top of the increases previously enacted.”
Click here to read the rest of this article from the LA Times
Cartoon by Bob Conroy via EGPNews
If there’s one drawback to living in Humboldt County it’s the price we pay for gasoline!
Our little county continues to lead the nation in paying the highest prices for fuel. I’ve heard a lot of theories about why this is, and thus far none seem to be on the mark.
Does anyone have the answer out there in blog land? Please…enlighten me. Meanwhile, here’s the latest news on oil prices…
“Oil prices fell again Wednesday as traders awaited a government report that could show if Americans are using more gasoline and crude.
Benchmark crude for October delivery slipped $1.05 to $71 a barrel. In London, Brent crude fell 99 cents to $70.83.
Crude prices soared last week after the government reported that U.S. crude stockpiles fell by the largest amount in nearly a year. Even though the report could be explained by a sharp drop U.S. petroleum imports, the benchmark contract surged, touching new highs for three straight days until it hit $75 a barrel on Tuesday.” Click here to read the rest at MSNBC.
Nothing from the article above explains why we get the dubious honor of leading the nation in fuel prices.
It’s not like Humboldt County is the most remote county in the nation. Surely there others more remote than ours that still pay less than we do?
Perhaps it’s just the price of living in paradise.
By Tim Molloy
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal icon who carried on his family name and fight for the poor and working class after his brothers' assassinations, has died at 77.
Watch breaking news of Sen. Kennedy's death
The Massachusetts Democrat died Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor with which he was first diagnosed in May 2008, his family said in a statement. He had served in the Senate since 1962, two years after his brother, John F. Kennedy, was elected president, and was the third longest-serving senator in history. In a statement Wednesday, President Barack Obama called him "the greatest United States senator of our time."
Aftter the deaths of President Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, he became the patriarch of a famous family that included John F. Kennedy Jr.., Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics who died earlier this month.
Click here to read the rest at TV Guide via ABC News
.
This is an excellent Op-Ed piece by a very talented writer…
By Meghan Daum
By the time you read this, the world will have peered inside the undoubtedly depressing and quite possibly child-endangering world of the nation's reigning social pariah. I'm referring to Wednesday night's two-hour special on Fox, "Octomom: The Incredible Unseen Footage." At press time, I'd only seen clips, but I think I can guarantee that we're in for another wave of Octo-villification, not to mention some major sanctimony.
Nadya Suleman, in case anyone's lucky enough to need a briefing, is the woman who gave birth to eight premature babies in January, the result of the implantation of six embryos, two of which split. She was later revealed to be not only single and unemployed but also mother to an additional six children, all of whom were also conceived through in vitro fertilization. The TV special, made up of footage collected by the online magazine Radar-Online.com, included scenes of Suleman attempting to soothe several crying babies and, in a moment of self-reflection, saying, "I screwed up my life. I screwed up my kids' lives. ... What was I thinking?"
The SNITCH LIST is a collection of info about persons known to supply information to law enforcement for their own personal gain, or to avoid their own consequences.
We realize that… …sometimes people may not have said what police claim, or are threatened or tricked into giving up that information-it can happen to almost anyone. But there are others who snitch for revenge, just to make a few bucks, or perhaps avoid going to jail or prison…These are the people we wish to showcase. Our goal is not a punitive one, our goal is to take a bite out of one of West Virginia’s most abused weapons—The “Confidential Reliable” or Paid Informant.
to read more about snitchs and prison correction guards gone bad!
It looks like “Darth” Cheney is pulling out all the stops to get Obama to not name a special prosecutor. Despite his “factless” story that torture saved the US from terrorists, it looks like it’s time for some people to pay the price for breaking American laws on torture. I would love to see Cheney do some time for his part!
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney is again taking aim at President Obama, issuing a statement Monday suggesting the administration's decision to name a prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogations under President Bush fuels "doubts about this administration's ability to be responsible for our nation's security."
"The people involved deserve our gratitude," Cheney said in the statement. "They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions."
The former vice president also said documents released Monday prove enhanced interrogation techniques yieled valuable information that "provided the bulk of intelligence we gained about al Qaeda"
Click here to read the rest.
Photo via Getty Images
to read the rest.
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A New Zealand man has been dubbed the Lord of the Ring after he searched and found his wedding ring more than a year after it slipped off his finger and sank to the sea floor.
The ring was lost for 16 months in the harbor of the country's capital city, Wellington, before Aleki Taumoepeau found it shining on the sea floor, the DominionPost newspaper reported Thursday.
"The whole top surface of the ring was glowing," Taumoepeau, an ecologist, said.
Taumoepeau had been married for just three months when he lost the wedding ring while conducting an environmental sweep of the harbor.
He roughly marked the spot where the ring had flown from his finger, but was unable to find it despite returning to the area many times.
Taumoepeau's wife offered to buy another ring, but he refused, pledging to find the ring.
But, equipped with new global satellite based coordinates and offering up a quick prayer, he found the ring after an hour's search.
"I couldn't believe that I could see the ring so perfectly," Taumoepeau said.
He said those with him on the boat at the time the ring flew off his finger had likened it to a similar, slow motion shot from The Lord of the Rings, much of which was filmed in Wellington by local director Peter Jackson.
(Reporting by Michael Dickison; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
These guys are just chillin’…to see more odd parings click here to visit “Let’s Be Friends.”
Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 08/23/2009 01:30:12 AM PDT
I'd like to tell you about my 1989 Ford Aerostar cargo van.
It's the only vehicle, new or old, that ever made me money. I never in my wildest dreams thought the $800 I paid for it three years ago would turn a tidy profit of $3,700!
That old Aerostar was reliable, handy, had back doors and a sliding door on the side. It was white, but if you looked real hard at the sides you saw a discoloration that read Corona Beer. A decal was there until the company peeled it off when I bought the van. I used white spray paint to complete the disguise.
The farthest I ever drove it was in the week I bought it. My wife and I went to Napa Valley for a winery tour. Our friends there got a good laugh at my “Krispy Kreme” van, but I was pleased by the way it ran.
Click here to read the rest of this column at The Times-Standard
On Friday, Rep. Jamie Raskin pressed the White House physician for a full evaluation of Trump's cognitive abilities. Raskin asked Trum...
