The rich really are different from the rest of us – at least when it comes to skin cancer.
That’s the conclusion of a new study from Archives of Dermatology that examined the incidence of melanoma among younger women of various income levels. Not only were melanoma rates highest among those with the highest incomes, the number of new diagnoses also grew fastest in that group too. Full Story
“While the world has been focused on airstrikes and dramatic developments on the ground in Libya, a string of Middle East uprisings and twin natural disasters and the fear of a nuclear meltdown in Japan, another serious crisis has been quietly brewing: a potential civil war in the Ivory Coast.” Full Story
PHOTO - Charles Ble Goude, center, Ivory Coast's Minister of Youth and leader of the "Young Patriots" speaks as commander in chief of the army Phillipe Mangou, right, looks on in front of thousands of young supporters of Ivorian strongman Laurent Gbagbo on March 21 in Abidjan
Another Republican governor attacking the middle class – this time seniors. Have they no shame at all?
I realize they have to answer to the tea baggers who put them there, but this is an all-out war on the middle class by special interests and corporations.
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder is drawing recall threats and angry protests over his attempt to tax the pension and 401(k) incomes of millions of retirees. He also wants to eliminate a $2,300-per-person tax break for those 65 and over and reduce the credit seniors get for property tax payments.
Just another example of efforts by Republican governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker to attack the middle class and help the businesses that donated to their campaigns. And like many in that state, people are ready to rise up and demand that Michigan's governor back down.
Story “Michigan wants to end tax break for seniors”
Dorothy Young, the last surviving stage assistant of illusionist Harry Houdini and also an accomplished dancer, died Sunday at her home in a retirement community in Tinton Falls, N.J. She was 103.
Young's death was announced by Drew University, where she was a prominent donor and patron of the arts.
Young joined Houdini's company as a teenager after attending an open casting call during a family trip to New York.
During her year with Houdini's stage show in the mid-1920s, she played the role of "Radio Girl of 1950," (photo right) emerging from a large mock-up of a radio and performing a dance routine.
Young went on to become a professional dancer, performing in several movies. She also published a novel inspired by her career.
Story Source
By Garret Keizer
For anyone who believes that the hard-won rights of organized labor constitute an American birthright, who would as soon see the flag burned as a picket line crossed (both acts disrespectful of blood shed in our "country's cause"), the decision of the Wisconsin Legislature to end most collective bargaining rights for public employees amounts to sacrilege. In effect, Wisconsin has become a pariah state. It ought to be treated as such.
The battle in Wisconsin, symbolically and in fact, is not a fight against a political party or a governor, much less against good people who made a horrendous electoral goof. It is a fight against what increasingly has come to feel like an American death wish, a mad potlatch of relinquishing every progressive gain of the last 100 years. We talk about "making cuts" in the tone of teenagers who cut themselves. A few billionaires and their proxies yell "jump," and we call it a sacrifice whose time has come. We need to start talking ourselves in from the ledge.”
The rest of the article is here
Annual sales near $2 billion and rising in states with tolerant laws
There is a noticeable aroma wafting around the medical marijuana industry. It’s the smell of money — with a strong hint of entrepreneurial opportunity.
“Medical marijuana is now a $1.7 billion market, according to a report released Wednesday by See Change Strategy, an independent financial analysis firm that specializes in new and unique markets. The figure represents estimated sales of marijuana through dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws. It is the first time a definitive dollar figure has been given to the emerging medical cannabis industry.
To put that number in perspective, sales of medical marijuana rival annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9 billion business for Pfizer.” Full story here.
#9 ARGUMENTUM AD METUM
The human brain is wired all wrong. Those not versed in logic are blissfully unaware of how much our brain messes up the most basic of arguments, leading to the mess of random thoughts, non-sequiturs, cognitive dissonance, white lies, misinformation, and syntax errors that we call consciousness. Luckily, there is one place where all of these logical missteps can be exemplified: politics. What follows is a crash course in some of the most prevalent fallacies we all make, as they appear in modern American politics. And though I consider these the "top 10" logical fallacies in politics, they are not in order, for reasons that should become clear rather quickly.
You aren't a communist, are you?
“Whenever a politician appeals to your fears, insecurities, or paranoia, he or she is demonstrating the logical fallacy of the Argumentum ad Metum. This one is a combination of a bunch of the above fallacies, as it can be an irrelevant thesis, an falsifiable hypothesis, an appeal to motive, and a slippery slope straw man argument, as in the example, "If we don't do X, the terrorists win."
This is a common tactic throughout politics. Republicans want you to be afraid of socialism, terrorism, and a world on the verge of World War III. Democrats want you to be afraid of a global warming apocalypse, racism run amok, and Republicans. While all of these fears can in one way or another be justified, there shouldn't be any need to appeal to them when making an argument. President Bush didn't have to invoke the image of a mushroom cloud on American soil to explain the invasion of Iraq, and President Obama didn't have to invoke the image of poor mothers dying of starvation in the streets to sell his healthcare initiative.
It's a particularly sleazy way to make a point, and it is fallacious in multiple ways. Still, it is dramatic and effective, and thus all politicians and pundits use the Argumentum ad Metum on a regular basis. It works because it is an "us vs. them" form of argument, and it bypasses a certain degree of critical thinking by playing to people's emotions. Whenever you allow an argument like this to work on you, you bring the country one step closer to a bloody civil war.
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I guess I would have been suspicious too if I saw ALL of their name tags said “Perez.”
The odds of one entire family of Perez’s in military uniforms are astronomical. I wonder if it was this little slip-up that got them caught?
“Thirteen illegal immigrants disguised themselves as U.S. Marines –- donning battle dress uniforms and caps -- in a failed attempt to get through a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint last week east of San Diego, authorities said.
The driver of the white van carrying the immigrants and another man, both U.S. citizens, were arrested March 14 at the I-8 checkpoint near Campo and charged with alien smuggling, according to U.S. Border Patrol officials.”
Animals doing people things equals comedy. This pug who really, really wants a slice of pizza proves the rule.
Apple finally pulled that "Gay Cure" app after 146,000 signed a petition protesting it.
Senators want Apple to pull DUI checkpoint alert apps, for the obvious reasons.
And Apple is threatening a legal smackdown on "adult" app store MiKandi for using the term "app store."
Meanwhile, radar detection is coming to Android.
Amazon is now OK with the Kindle-lending startup it stomped on yesterday.
The 2010 elections made your parents join Twitter and Facebook, apparently.
Still, Mom and Dad are no doubt psyched to hear that Zynga's rolling out the "English Countryside" FarmVille expansion.
Lady Gaga told Google about how she's always longed to be "searchable."
An Etsy artist so pleased to be included in Urlesque's awesome gallery of "Sad Etsy Boyfriends," showed her appreciation via a "LULZ" beanie.
Congress raises and supports the military, but the president is the commander. Declaring war and making war are two different functions. There's no question President Obama has the authority to do what he did (via First Read):
Because…
“Mr. Obama's actions are consistent with the way every president since Richard Nixon has treated the War Powers Act, choosing to notify Congress only after a decision has been made to sign orders authorizing military operations.”
A point to consider…
“His actions do, however, appear to contradict the view he expressed as a candidate. In December 2007, he told Charlie Savage, then of the Boston Globe that a president "does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."
What next?
“So who's right? Constitutional questions, and legal battles over violations of federal laws, are normally resolved by judges. But this is an area where the courts have been reluctant to tread, unwilling to referee what they see as disputes between the political branches of the government.”
So where does that leave us?
Lies and unverified rumors course through the right-wing narrative universe daily. Reality is constantly trying to catch up to the poisonous...
