Saturday, February 12, 2011

You can bet Clarence Thomas will be there…

Ed Stein

More from Cartoon Saturday

New Study: Everything you know about beating stress is wrong

Image: Dark chocolate

But these 6 tried-and-true anxiety-busters can relieve your chronically fried nerves

“If deep breaths, weekly yoga classes, and venting to your friends aren't helping you relax, you have plenty of company—and it's not your fault. New studies show that these supposedly tried-and-true anxiety busters are often just... well, a bust. Read on for the surprising truth about what really helps—and what doesn't—when it comes to relieving chronically fried nerves.”

Eating a few pieces of dark chocolate can calm your nerves, a study has found. STORY HERE

Friday, February 11, 2011

Domestic Alert: Alaska oil pipeline 'integrity' at risk, U.S. warns

Image: Marine terminal for pipeline

A U.S. government investigation of the Trans Alaska Pipeline has found potentially major safety issues on the line that ships 12 percent of domestic oil supply, making its operation risky until repairs are made, according to a letter sent by regulators to the operator and viewed by Reuters on Friday.

The 800-mile line known as TAPS appears to have "multiple conditions" that "pose a pipeline integrity risk to public safety, property or the environment," according to the Feb. 1 letter to operator Alyeska from the U.S. Department of Transportation's pipeline safety division.         The Trans Alaska Pipeline ends at this mooring station for oil tankers in Valdez, Alaska

The DOT investigation follows a Jan. 8 leak on the line that forced it to shut down for several days in precarious winter conditions. The closure shut in millions of barrels in production and caused U.S. oil futures to rise for days.” Story here

With Valentine’s Day coming up you may want to check into these Aphrodisiacs from around the globe

Durian: Why It's Provocative                Beware: the smell will gag you!

Famous for its odiferous smell, durian is nonetheless popular throughout Asian cultures because of its creamy texture and flavor. "Though the smell is putrid and you would think it's a turn-off," explains Rosofsky, it's often thought that eating the fruit promotes estrogen and increases fertility. Adventurous? You can find these at most Chinese grocers.

 FROM DELISH:Oysters. Truffles. Chocolate. Whipped cream. Sounds like a night of passion! While those foods might set the mood, do they actually make your heart go a flutter? We talked to Dr. Meryl Rosofsky, noted aphrodisiac expert and leader of the of the popular culinary aphrodisiac walking tour at New York City's Institute of Culinary Education, to find out which foods increase attraction, fertility, and — let's just say — promote blood flow to all the right places”

Let’s look at a contoversial issue and come to a consensus…

I was visiting Tom Seaborn’s blog this morning and thought this post – 

"Why Does Clarence Thomas Get Away With Breaking the Law, As His Wife Shills for Wealthy Right-Wingers?"

was interesting and poised a lot of questions. Because I’m not up on all of this controversy, and don’t know much about the principals involved, I thought I’d throw this item out to my Conservative readers. Like Rose for example. I want to hear any rebuttals to all of the accusations in this article. By now, I know there’s ALWAYS two sides to any story. I suspect this account is slanted left (aren’t I a genius?).

 Journalist Brad Friedman, whose Brad Blog offers a detailed account of the Thomas fiasco, notes that this same set of circumstances would play out completely differently if the shoe were on the other foot. As Friedman told me, "If it were Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg not reporting a million dollars from working for ACORN, the right wing would be all over it and so would the press -- until someone from the Department of Justice agreed to prosecute. The right wing, and eventually the media, would say that Ginsburg should have known the rule of law; they'd be all over her for receiving 'special treatment,' and she'd be gone in a week."

So help me get a full picture and contribute whatever facts you’re aware of to counterpoint the accusations against Clarence Thomas and his wife. I look forward to hearing your comments.

Live video from Cario’s Tahrir Square: Mubarak steps down

Suleiman came out for a few seconds and announced that Marbarak is resigning.

Raucous celebration greets news that Mubarak has resigned

“As word of Mubarak’s resignation spread through Cairo’s Tahrir Square, a raucous celebration erupted among the protesters who have made his departure from power their no. 1 goal.  Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who returned to Egypt to join the protests, said, "This is the greatest day of my life. The country has been liberated."

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Crocodile tears don’t work: Study shows how to spot a fake apology

Canadian scientists have discovered that there are ways to tell the difference between people who are sincerely remorseful and those who are just faking it -- but you have to be able to watch them while they’re saying they’re sorry.

The researchers, led by Leanne ten Brinke of the University of British Columbia, rounded up 31 college students who were videotaped while making sincere or insincere apologies, according to a new study published in the journal Law and Human Behavior.

The study volunteers were first asked to describe, while being videotaped, a non-criminal event that they felt intensely and genuinely remorseful about. They were then asked to describe an episode of cheating for which they felt no remorse, but to act as if they did.

When researchers compared the two sets of recordings, they saw major differences between the people who were truly sorry and those who were just faking it.”                           Read the rest here.

Noam Chomsky on ‘Why America can’t tackle Climate Change’

noam-chomsky-climate-change.jpg

Noam Chomsky has a big ol' brain, and over the years, he's devoted it to revolutionizing linguistics, pushing the boundaries of analytic philosophy, formulating trenchant political theory, and pissing off establishment figures. Whether or not you agree with his politics, there's no denying that he's a sharp fella. Which is why it's well worth watching his take on why the United States has thus far failed to tackle climate change: (Video below)

Image: cloud2013, Flickr, CC

Yes, I know YouTube lists the running time as 20+ minutes, but to get the climate-related part, you only need to listen to the first few.

Much of this has been said before -- that vested interests have been successful in confusing the American public by bombarding them with misinformation from various sources, that the media's failure in covering the climate story is twofold, and that the interests that combat climate action have institutional prerogatives to do so -- but Chomsky pulls it together so well, it could serve as a crash course on the roots of climate denial.

There's a bunch of interesting commentary on labor, health care, and the outsourcing of jobs -- even green ones -- that fills the second chapter of the vid, so if you have some time, it's worth a peek as well.

Story, video, photo source 

More on America and Climate Change
33 US Generals & Admirals Say " Climate Change is Threatening National Security"
How Climate Change Could Destroy America

Sculpture on display in Milan: Imaginative portrait head by American filmmaker

A 15-feet-tall fiberglass sculpture by U.S. artist and filmmaker Philip Haas is on display in downtown Milan, Italy on February 10.

The sculpture is inspired by Italian Giuseppe Arcimboldo's painting. Source

Puppies for Parole: deaf dog gets sign language training

A dog who couldn't hear has learned some sign language thanks to inmates at a U.S. prison and children at a school for the deaf.

Inmates at a Missouri prison trained the deaf dachshund named Sparky in sign language and then asked the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton to take him in. Today, Sparky is right at home with the school's youngsters, who have taught him additional sign language. And a second deaf dog, a Boston Terrier named Petie, may be on his way to the school soon. STORY HERE

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...