The cushiest prison in the world, lucky family wins multiple lotteries, and a glowing dog that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffee sure smells good this morning. Glad you could join me. Let’s see what’s happening in this crazy world we live in. Pull up a chair and have a stare:

Luxury digs in store for Norwegian mass killer

Norway's unrepentant mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is now under arrest. And he should count himself lucky for -- if entirely undeserving of -- a penal system in that country that is among the cushiest in the world. There's no capital punishment, and the longest jail term allowed is 21 years (a caveat: if a prisoner is deemed to still be a threat, his sentence can be extended in five-year blocks indefinitely, though it's highly unlikely, according to Norwegian officials). In Norway, rehabilitation is the guiding principle, not punishment -- a somewhat difficult notion to swallow given the gravity and callousness of his crimes.

Norway's newest jail may hold rapists and murderers, but Halden Prison -- the country's second largest and most secure facility -- looks more like a posh sleepaway camp. In fact, architects say they purposely tried to avoid an "institutional feel." When it opened in 2010, some news accounts called it the "most humane" prison in the world.

Indeed, one of the many perks at Halden is flat-screen televisions in inmates' rooms. There's no HBO, though, so reruns of Oz and The Wire are contraband. Still, prisoners get private cells with mini-fridges and large windows to let in more sunlight. Here, then, is a quick tour of what luxuries may await Breivik behind bars. (That's a figure of speech, of course: There are no iron bars at Halden.) GO HERE and be prepared to be surprised.

Haul in the family: one lucky clan wins its third lottery

Wondering where all your good luck has gone? Maybe the McCauleys of Charlotte, N.C., have it. For the third time in 20 years, a member of the family has won the lottery. A buzzy article from the AP delves into the details. Back in 1991, the family won $15.5 million from the New York Lotto.

This was their biggest haul, but not their last. Sixteen years later, Amy McCauley held the ticket to $160,000 in the North Carolina Education Lottery. Then, in 2009, Amy picked up two more prizes, each worth $1,000.And now, in 2011, Kimberly McCauley (daughter of Amy) won $100,000 on a scratcher card.  image source

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South Korean scientists create glowing dog – report

South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.

Time to walk on down the road…

A Ballad of Blood and Iron by Chris Floyd

A Ballad of Blood and Iron: Will You Be Free?
Will You Be Free by Chris Floyd

When the guns no longer sound
When the dead are in the ground
When the foe hangs from the tree
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When blood and iron rule the day
When ash and bone mix with the clay
And choke the fruits of victory
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When the children of the slain
Cry for revenge to ease their pain
Lost in shadows you’ll never see
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

When the fear comes round again
And they call for troops to send
To some new war across the sea
Will you be free?
Will you be free?

Lyrics and music © Chris Floyd
This was recorded with the remarkable multi-instrumentalist Nick Kulukundis, who also produced the track. This is a slight reworking of a song that originally appeared on the album Wheel of Heaven. Final photo,"Taxpayer," © Lee Mayr.

Slaughtered sparrows simile wins 2011 bad writing contest

Rats! I forgot to enter again. I’m sure I could write a pretty awful opening to an imaginary novel. A sentence in which tiny birds and the English language are both slaughtered took top honors Monday in an annual bad writing contest:

Sue Fondrie of Oshkosh, Wis., won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for her sentence comparing forgotten memories to dead sparrows, said San Jose State University Prof. Scott Rice. The contestant asks writers to submit the worst possible opening sentences to imaginary novels.

Fondrie wrote: "Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories." Story - graphic

FAAs operating authority expired, U.S. losing cyber war? Two societies, separate and unequal

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s that time again. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and we’ll see what’s happening around this country. The effects of the Congressional pissing match are already being felt:

No end in sight for FAA shutdown

The legislative stalemate between Republicans and Democrats in Congress forced the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, the furlough of nearly 4,000 federal workers and the issuance of stop-work orders for dozens of airport construction projects across the country.

Prospects for quickly ending the legislative dispute between the House and Senate appear grim, with neither side signaling willingness to compromise. The FAA's operating authority expired last week. Air traffic controllers have continued to work, as well as FAA employees who inspect the safety of planes and test pilots.Transportation officials have said safety won't be compromised. But it was unclear how long the FAA can continue day-to-day operations before travelers begin to feel the effects of the shutdown. Photo

Head of U.S. cyber agency resigns suddenly

The head of a U.S. agency that helps respond to cyber attacks resigned suddenly after several high-profile attacks on government computer systems but the Department of Homeland Security declined Monday to comment on the reason.

Vickers' resignation follows several high-profile hacker attacks against the Pentagon and public websites of the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Senate.         graphic

 The question is why? Are we losing the Cyber War? 

 

Wealth gap widens between whites, minorities

The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data.

The analysis shows the racial and ethnic impact of the economic meltdown, which ravaged housing values and sent unemployment soaring. It offers the most direct government evidence yet of the disparity between predominantly younger minorities whose main asset is their home and older whites who are more likely to have retirement accounts or other stock holdings.

"I am afraid that this pushes us back to what the Kerner Commission characterized as 'two societies, separate and unequal,'" said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, referring to the 1960s presidential commission that examined U.S. race relations. "The great difference is that the second society has now become both black and Hispanic."

‘We’re having a massive circus’ says Wall Street investment officer

As middle America holds it’s breath to see if the government is going to default on it’s bills, and plunge us into a depression that will make the one in the late 20s and 30s look like the “Good old days,” our politicians are posturing like a pack of clowns in the main ring!

“As Congress and the White House drive the country’s budget and debt rating closer to the edge of a cliff, global financial markets have greeted the impending calamity with a collective yawn.

Something doesn’t quite add up here. Either fears of an economic Armageddon are vastly overblown, or investors are setting themselves up for a nasty surprise.

For now, Wall Street seems convinced that Washington won’t drive the country into a financial abyss.

“We're having a massive circus,” said Robert Doll, chief investment officer at BlackRock Advisors. “It's not going to be fun. In the 12th, maybe 13th hour, we'll get something done. And we move on."

Washington and Wall Street have played this game of chicken before. Following the financial collapse of 2008, Congress balked at approving a $700 billion bank bailout package. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled hundreds of points, including its biggest one-day point drop ever.” Full Story

Would you give up the internet for $1 million? Check out Big Fat Whale site, and NFL lockout over

Informal study says most people wouldn’t give up the internet for just $1 million…

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s time to get comfortable, sip some virtual coffee, and see what what the world is up to. A big week lies ahead as our dysfunctional government tries to balance the budget.

Would you give up the Internet for $1 million?

A not-very-scientific poll by the Fund for American Studies finds the answer to be "no" for two reasons: One, the dollar payoff isn't big enough (!) and two, the Internet has become so key that no amount of money would cover the loss of its place in our lives.

Big Fat Whale Site Profile

Big Fat Whale is a subversive comic by Brian McFadden. McFadden's weekly strips usually deal with politics, commercialization run amuck, and stupidity. The style is non-narrative, usually favoring single-panel gags dealing with a subject like "fatty foods of the future" or "how to opt in to your rights".

Best of "Big Fat Whale":The Metric Resistance -The World's Worst Web Ads -Future Stars of the GOP - Crap-ass Valentines - Internet Anti-Memes and Non-Sensations - 25 Cent Book Bin - Ineffective Public Service Announcements

NFL, players set on terms of deal

NFL owners and players agreed early Monday to the terms of a deal to end the lockout, and players were expected to begin their voting process later in the day, two people familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the process was supposed to remain secret and no formal announcement had been made.

The NFL Players Association's executive committee was to meet at its headquarters in Washington on Monday so it could be presented with the finalized agreement. NFLPA president Kevin Mawae arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Real-life drama unfolds as Justice Department tries to cover up scandal

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 07/24/2011 02:30:24 AM PDT

OPENING SCENE: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) acting director, Kenneth Melson, tells Congressional investigators he didn't know about specific orders to let straw buyers walk off with guns purchased in the United States until the “Fast and Furious” scandal surfaced in the press. In the jargon of B films, “he's singing like a canary.”

Melson spills the beans about a Department of Justice/ BATFE operation called “Fast and Furious” that went horribly wrong. He's fighting for his life and is determined not to be the fall guy for something that involves his agency and numerous others.

In a desperate act of survival, Melson admits the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and possibly the Homeland Security Department are also involved in the growing Fast and Furious scandal.

NARRATOR: Thousands of U.S. operatives -- with virtually no principles -- will do whatever the government tells them to do. A few, like BATFE director Ken Melson, may be taken down, but the really big shot-callers will probably never answer for their crimes.

BACKROUND: “Allegations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) allowed U.S. arms to flow to murderous Mexican cartels now face Congressional scrutiny in Washington,” according to a story by the Christian Science Monitor on July 16.

Also on the table is the involvement of a covert operation (Fast and Furious) that may have partially contributed to the deaths of a U.S. law enforcement officer and numerous Mexicans.

Operation Fast and Furious went bad after the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent, and the Justice Department tried to cover up the connections. The gun used to kill Agent Brian Terry was traced, not to Mexico, but to a gun store in Phoenix. It turned out the store was cooperating with a federal investigation into arms trafficking, according to news reports.

U.S. agents didn't stop the sale or the transfer of the gun that the cartels used to kill Terry, despite internal information that was available about the shooter/buyer.

 A Reuters report stated, “Two semi-automatic Kalashnikov-pattern rifles were found at the scene.” When traced, they were discovered to have been purchased from an American gun shop cooperating with agents of the Phoenix office of the ATF in an investigation of gun smuggling known as “Project Gunrunner.”

Before Melson decided to come clean, five separate but connected accusations were leveled by current or former employees of the ATF against ATF and DOJ officials.

THE PLOT THICKENS: Word about agent whistleblowers reached U.S. Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Chuck Grassley of Iowa through news sources, who learned of their existence from their own sources within the ATF.

There has been a series of meetings between the senators and the whistleblowers. Protection is promised to the whistleblowers for sharing the true circumstances of Terry's death.

As the story gets wider coverage, more whistleblowers are coming out. A story recently surfaced in Florida in the Examiner (Special Report by David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh): “Breaking News: Source claims ATF's Tampa SAC walked guns to Honduras. Part of Operation Castaway?”

According to the article, “Virginia O'Brien, Special Agent in Charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Tampa Field Division, ran a gun-running investigation that walked guns to Honduras using techniques and tactics identical to Fast and Furious.”

In a letter recently released by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Daryl Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley accused the Justice Department of blocking their investigation into the burgeoning scandal. They said the Justice Department had muzzled the ATF and was involving other federal agencies, including the FBI and the DEA, in funding for flawed operations that stemmed from Project Gunrunner.

Both Obama and Holder have said they learned of Operation Fast and Furious only after the scandal broke in January. Despite Holder's claim, The Christian Science Monitor reported this month that he played up BATFE's Project Gunrunner, under which Fast and Furious was spawned, in a speech in Mexico in 2009, saying that $10 million of the 2009 stimulus bill would go to fund new arms interdiction measures.

There's evidence not only that the Justice Department allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities.

As It Stands, stay tuned to see if this is another dramatic reality show starring corrupt officials who get off the hook.

Websites carrying this column:

#1 Interceder – #2 CIPFA/Better Governance Forum #3 Star Pulse Online –#4 Broken Controllers

#5 Cen Sec Center for Defense, Space, Security (Global News-English) – #5 Scheme Root – an encyclopedia of current events #6 Misc. Legal Groups 

 

Parting Shots: Neanderthals had sex with humans, says DNA

At last, a scientific explanation for the existence of Creationists, Tea Baggers and Rush Limbaugh!

“Many modern-day humans may be carrying around a fragment of Neanderthal DNA on one of their sex chromosomes, a new study finds.”                             

The funniest part is that Neanderthal blood apparently isn't in Africans. I'm sure that will irk the northern Idaho types... Kinda screws their whole racial superiority thing.

“The research adds a piece of corroborating evidence to the theory that Neanderthals and humans interbred sometime after humans migrated out of Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago.”

Welcome folks: step right in, the Theatre of the Absurd is in progress

“The Theatre of the Absurd” is a term first used by the literary critic Martin Esslin for the work of a number of playwrights, mostly written in the 1950s and 1960s. The term is derived from an essay by the French philosopher Albert Camus. In his 'Myth of Sisyphus', written in 1942, he first defined the human situation as basically meaningless and absurd.

What we are witnessing in politics these days, is a politic Theatre of the Absurd, and the center stage is in Washington DC as both parties take the country to the brink of financial disaster.

The origins of the Theatre of the Absurd are rooted in the avant-garde experiments in art of the 1920s and 1930s. At the same time, it was undoubtedly strongly influenced by the traumatic experience of the horrors of the Second World War, which showed the total impermanence of any values, shook the validity of any conventions and highlighted the precariousness of human life and its fundamental meaninglessness and arbitrariness.

Our current Theatre of the Absurd has proved traumatic for hundreds of thousands military personnel who have come home from warrantless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fundamental flaws in their missions came from arbitrary politics.   

As a result, absurd plays assumed a highly unusual, innovative form, directly aiming to startle the viewer, shaking him out of this comfortable, conventional life of everyday concerns. The Theatre of the Absurd openly rebelled against conventional theatre. Indeed, it was anti-theatre. It was surreal, illogical, with no conflicts or plots. The dialogue seemed total gobbledygook.

In the 21st century version of the Theatre of the Absurd our polarized politicians seek to scare the public into accepting their surreal and illogical arguments. Bits and pieces of the Constitution are thrown around like alms for the poor, but little seems to apply to today’s reality. 

One of the most important aspects of absurd drama was its distrust of language as a means of communication. Language had become a vehicle of conventionalized, stereotyped, meaningless exchanges. Absurd drama uses conventionalized speech, clichés, slogans and technical jargon, which it distorts, parodies and breaks down.

The way our government functions (?) politicians speak in cliches, spout slogans, and spew technical tidbits to the public about arcane laws few are interested in. All talk no substance. Our political system a parody of a democracy. A country in decline. 

In the realm of traditional verbal nonsense we have: François Rabelais, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Many serious poets occasionally wrote nonsense poetry (Johnson, Charles Lamb, Keats, Hugo, Byron, Thomas Hood).

In the world we live in, all the verbal nonsense that comes from our politicians could fill encyclopedias and instructional manuals on the absurd. The players are all clowns. The current act: GOP presidential hopefuls are preparing for a beauty contest in Iowa where verbal nonsense is a must!

Saturday stuff: Hackers ‘not scared anymore’, Great White jumps in boat, and a motorcyclist ends up in the back seat of a van

Good Afternoon Humboldt County!

Seeing as it’s after 11:43 a.m. I can’t say good morning. For those of you who slept in (like me) let’s have a cup of coffee and see what’s interesting in the news today. Oh yeah, for whatever reason a column I wrote on January 23rd ( Meth Kills: So Why is it Still Scourging Our Society?) has been the Most Viewed on the T-S List since 6:00 a.m. I just checked and it’s still #2 on the list. What brought it up? I suspect some well-read Blog somewhere found it and gave a link to their readers. Onward:

Hacker arrests: Some were on Facebook, some blogged

Related stories:

• Hackers to FBI: 'We are not scared anymore'
• Hackers claim to breach NATO security
• U.S. sees cyber arrests leading to more hackers
• U.S. arrests 16 in probe of Anonymous hackers

image source

Going to need a bigger boat: Great white shark leaps aboard

In the words of "Jaws" scientist Matt Hooper, "This is not a boat accident!"

According to the Cape Times, six researchers from South Africa are reflecting on what they describe as the fright of their lives after their own close encounter with a great white shark. The research team from Oceans Research was working off Seal Island, near Mossel Bay, on South Africa's Cape coast, when the nearly 10-foot-long creature reportedly made its move. image source

Motorcyclist hurls through van window, lands in rear seat

A Southern California motorcyclist rear-ended a minivan and was thrown through a window into the back seat but escaped unscathed, police said.

After the incident on Thursday, the driver of the minivan continued driving and pulled into his own driveway nearby, unaware that he had a new backseat passenger, the Victorville Daily Press reported.

"We're calling this one a non-injury collision with a twist," Karen Hunt, spokeswoman for the Victorville Police Department, told the newspaper. Victorville is a town of 115,000 people on the southwestern edge of the Mojave Desert.

The incident occurred when the motorcyclist failed to stop in time as the minivan slowed to make a turn, the newspaper reported. The motorcycle then crashed into the van, with the rider hurling through the minivan’s rear window and the motorcycle itself skidding beneath the larger vehicle.

The minivan driver then turned into his driveway, less than half a block away, and was preparing to return to the scene when he realized the stunned motorcyclist was in his backseat, the paper reported.

image source

Random thought: Stop calling Social Security an entitlement …

I don’t know about you, but I paid into Social Security throughout my career. I invested in a program that promised to help me out when I needed it in my “Golden” years.

So, I’m sick and tired of those asshats, on either side of the aisle, who call Social Security an entitlement program (like it’s somehow a tax payer giveaway).

The morons currently steering the Good Ship America are about to run it aground because they think Social Security is a give-away program for bums and old people. It’s one of many reasons they cite. Calling it an entitlement is a slap in the face of every American who has ever paid into the program. It’s been automatic all of our working years. The administration gathers up those revenues for future payouts to retirees, and the disabled.

Holding the nation hostage (debt crisis) to fill an agenda meant to strip away parts of something all Americans earned is an act of domestic terrorism!

Social Security does need reforms like any government entity that becomes stagnant and doesn’t pursue people who scam the system. I’ve heard the old refrain again and again : “There’s not enough money to chase the culprits who rip the system off.” It’s the same thing other government agencies say, such as the FDA. There’s something to that argument. But it’s still a situation that can be solved. And the billions recovered will help keep it solvent for the future.

My main gripe, is politicians who portray Social Security as something akin to a handout! That’s bullshit and the result of extreme conservatives trying to demonize the whole program. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out – are you ready for some prime irony? – wealthy elderly tea baggers are leading the charge!

As It Stands, the tea bag party negative influence in the House of Representatives is one reason the nation is on the brink of financial disaster right now…and their response? Let America default on loans and obligations to the American people – to them it’s all about ideology not reality.

top graphic source – bottom graphic source