Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I was looking for some positive news items this morning and found this story.
If you’re an animal lover, these dogs stories will warm your heart on this rainy day.
I shared this video with my Pug Millie, who approved of it.
Stacy Lipson writes: Todd Shaeffer of Philadelphia can bend his fingers completely backward, fold his ears forward so they stay that way and perform other cringe-worthy feats that would be impossible for most of us.
“I see it as a blessing,” says Shaeffer, 27. “I used to think I was a superhero.”
As a kid, Shaeffer impressed his friends with stunts like spinning his head around 180 degrees to look over his back and wrapping his arms around his entire waist and touching his fingers together. While it sounds like something out of a circus show, Shaeffer suffers from Type 1 Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder also called Rubber Man Syndrome that affects the connective tissue. .
“Florida officials filed an obscenity charge Monday against the author of a self-published how-to guide for pedophiles that was yanked from Amazon.com last month.
Polk County sheriff's deputies arrested Philip Ray Greaves II hundreds of miles away from Florida at his home in Pueblo, Colorado, and charged him with violating Florida's obscenity law.”
I know some people who ought to apply to appear on this new series about strange addictions. How about you? Do you know some likely candidates who could tell their stories?
Joan Raymond writes: “Most of us use our hair dryers to, well, dry our hair. But Lori Broady, 31, turns the dryer on, sticks it in her bed, and falls asleep to the soothing sound of hot air. She’s been doing this every night since she was 8 years old, despite knowing she may burn herself or start a fire. This, of course, raises the question: Why doesn’t she just buy a fan if she needs a little noise to fall asleep? Turns out, it's not that simple.”
Broady appears on the new TLC 12-part series, "My Strange Addiction," which premieres Dec. 29 at 9 p.m. Also featured are folks with other extreme behaviors like thumb sucking, toilet paper eating, "tanorexia" and even a guy in a relationship with a silicone doll.
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 12/19/2010 01:28:25 AM PST
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange opened the 21st century version of Pandora's Box. He spread illegally obtained raw classified information on his website for the world to view. As a result, the journalism world may never be the same again.
WikiLeaks has exposed secrets about corruption in governments and corporations; embarrassing stuff that makes a good read, and some humanitarian issues that call for action.
So, who is this crusader for justice, this Robin Hood who leads his merry band of hackers and other followers on behalf of humanity? Should we trust the motives of this convicted computer hacker and alleged sex offender? If so, why? Because he's been the darling of hackers, anarchists, and international journalists since 2007, when he started WikiLeaks?
Assange recently turned himself in to British authorities and is currently out on bail awaiting extradition to Sweden for questioning about sexual misconduct with two Swedish women. Hardly a ringing endorsement for his character.
The question is, “How much good and bad has come of releasing those secret documents?” Assange claims he's a champion for truth. Whose truth would that be?
I question why he didn't hide the identities of Afghan informants in his revelation revolution. The Taliban picked right up on their names and promised to “punish them.” Make that murder them. Collateral damage? OK. At what point do these lives start counting?
Still, Assange has supporters. Recently, a loose-knit group of hackers who gather on the website 4Chan.org under the name Anonymous called for cyber attacks against those who worked against him. They successfully attacked Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, the Swiss bank PostFinance, the Swedish government website and others who criticized or tried to shut down WikiLeaks.
These cyber attacks were called “Operation Payback” and “Operation Avenge Assange.” So far, the damage has been temporary. Innocent consumers have suffered financially from these retaliatory actions. More collateral damage.
Which leads me to wonder, what's next if the British send Assange to Sweden an
He and two other hackers called themselves the “International Subversives” and regularly broke into the computer systems of some of America's most sensitive government installations, including nuclear weapon labs, before forming WikiLeaks. He's never made a secret of his hatred for the United States.
This is where it gets scary. Unknown, unorganized hackers have flexed their digital muscles in the name of Assange. Authorities can expect more trouble if things go bad for him. His followers threaten governments and corporations with impunity.
It's hard for me to believe that a so-called whistleblower organization involved in international espionage may change journalism for the better. In a recent MSNBC interview, Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at American University, said, “It's quite clear that the Espionage Act applies on its face regardless of whether the individual who is distributing classified information is the initial thief or an intermediary.”
That initial thief, Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, is no hero. He's been arrested and charged with the unauthorized use and disclosure of U.S. classified information. Spreading that information on WikiLeaks makes Assange a co-conspirator in the theft.
I'm having a hard time joining some of my peers who still support Assange. Someone who provides a website for the dissemination of raw data is not an editor or reporter in my book. Even calling him a whistleblower is misleading, because he's pursuing a personal agenda against the United States.
According to numerous media reports, Assange is leading a troubled life. His wife and child left him. He lost his main supporter and confidant, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who is launching a rival website called “OpenLinks” which promises to be more transparent than WikiLeaks.
Is WikiLeaks a real journalistic organization devoted to truth and the betterment of mankind? Is Assange a modern-day Robin Hood stealing information for the masses? Or is WikiLeaks just a gathering of computer hackers, self-avowed humanitarians and assorted disgruntled individuals all pursuing personal agendas against the established governments of the world?
As It Stands, before people try to make Assange a legend, it might be a better idea to see how his story plays out.
'The consequences of (Assange's) behavior for the American press could be stark and painful'
“WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange's crusade for greater official transparency could backfire by provoking a U.S. government crackdown on leaks that might entangle even journalists, legal experts warn.”
‘As It Stands’ will take a look at Julian Assange Sunday, and will ask the question “Is he Robin Hood feeding the masses information?”
Bank of America cuts off WikiLeaks payments
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Bank of America Corp said on Saturday it will not process payments intended for WikiLeaks, which has angered U.S. authorities with the mass release of U.S. diplomatic cables.
The largest U.S. bank by assets joins a growing group of financial services companies, including MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Europe, that are restricting payments to the global organization which has said its next large document release will be bank information.”
So there I was…
Stumbling through cyber space when I found out about this interesting legislation. I never heard of it. Okay, big deal, I know. But don’t you think it’s strange? What prompted this Bill? Did someone with a warped sense of humor play modern day Frankenstein and get caught? If so, I sure would like to read about it. Meanwhile, here’s S.1435:
111th CONGRESS - 1st Session - S. 1435
July 9, 2009
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit human-animal hybrids.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Want to make somebody lose his belief that harming somebody else is wrong? All you have to do is hold a special magnet up to his head in the right place.
Using a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation - in which magnets are used to disrupt neural activity in specific parts of the brain - scientists managed to "turn off" people's moral centers. According to a recent release from PNAS, which published the results of the study:
“Liane Young and colleagues applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to disrupt neural activity in an area of the brain known to process information about beliefs and then asked twenty subjects to rate actions on a scale from one (morally forbidden) to seven (morally permissible). The researchers report that study participants judged actions in which a person believes he or she will cause harm to another person-but fails to do so-were more morally permissible during TMS application to the brain region responsible for processing beliefs, compared to when TMS was not applied, or applied to other brain regions.”
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Shoppers who are looking for something sparkly to put under the Christmas tree can skip the jewelry and go straight to the source: an ATM that dispenses shiny 24-carat gold bars and coins.
There’s more Pugs sitting with Santa Clauses right here.
It's time for a laugh break. With all the chaos and hatred engulfing our country we need to divert our attention toward something positi...
