Muppet song came from porn film, ‘Re-conditioned’ food, and 3-D TV

        Good Morning Humboldt County!

C’mon in and have a cup of coffee with me. Pull up a chair and have a stare. I have three stories to get you jump-started this Monday morning:

     'Mahna Mahna' came from a porn film

It might just be the catchiest Muppet song of them all, beating out "Rubber Duckie," "It's Not Easy Being Green," "Rainbow Connection" and all the rest.

But until reading this Slate article, I had no idea "Mahna Mahna" came from a softcore porn film.

A second chance for faulty food? FDA calls it 'reconditioning'

When a school lunch supplier repackaged moldy applesauce into canned goods and fruit cups, it drew a sharp warning from federal health regulators last month -- and general disgust from almost everyone else. “I was appalled that there were actually human beings that were OK with this,” said Kantha Shelke, a food scientist and spokeswoman for the Institute of Food Technologists. “This is a case of unsafe food. They are trying to salvage that to make a buck.”

Photo - Chocolate ice cream is a frequent catch-all for botched batches of other flavors, which are doled out in small amounts and mixed with the dark, rich treat in order to avoid waste and expense. Reworking food is a common practice, industry experts say.

But even as Food and Drug Administration officials prepare to re-inspect Snokist Growers of Yakima, Wash., to ensure that the applesauce maker keeps toxin-tainted fruit off store shelves, federal officials and industry experts acknowledge that Snokist is not alone in “reworking” faulty food. Turning imperfect, mislabeled or outright contaminated foods into edible -- and profitable -- goods is so common that virtually all producers do it, at least to some extent, sources say.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I can see 3-D TV being in every home someday.

Your next TV? It better be 3-D

By now, I'm sure you've heard about 3-D HDTV. However, the poor roll-out and competing viewing formats have made 3-D one of the most confusing features ever.

This guide will help you decide which 3-D-equipped HDTV is right for you.

                  What it is:
3-D TV is more accurately described as "stereoscopic" television. You may recall View-Master slide viewers — these are an early example of 3-D TV, just minus the TV part. The underlying principle is the same: Two distinct views are made of the same object, one as the left eye sees it, and the other as the right eye sees it. To view in 3-D, the left eye must only see the left eye view and the right eye the right view.

If there is leakage between the different views (as in, the left eye sees some of the right image, or vice versa), ghost images appear when viewing. This is known as crosstalk, an obvious issue that degrades the viewing experience. Read the rest here.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Signs of hope for our struggling economy

                                                   

        By Dave Stancliff/for The Times-Standard
   Dare I say it?
   The economy is showing signs of improvement. 
   I realize suggesting such a thing might make some readers believe I’ve lost touch with reality. I realize it’s tough out there with families waiting in food lines, the homeless population growing, and jobs as scarce as real meat at Taco Bell.
    A reader recently commented that I use too much space talking about things going wrong in the world. Another reader suggested I need to write about more “important things,” which loosely defined meant issues they were interested in.
  The environment. Partisan politics. Global Warming. Homeland Security spying on American citizens. The war in Afghanistan. Wall Street versus Main Street. 
    All good subjects to write about (and I have), but I don’t want to beat one subject or issue to death. If I write about a subject more than once, you can be sure I feel strongly about it.

  I guess it comes down to expectations. I like to write about new subjects every week. The odds are that a reader will like one column and  disagree with another. That’s more than okay as I’m not a politician running a popularity contest. 
  One of the reasons people disagree with each other is pre-conceived beliefs that clash. They can see, or experience, the same event and have a different perspective on what actually happened.
  Speaking of perspectives, let’s go back to why I think there’s hope for the economy.
California employers added more than 25,700 workers to their payrolls in October, the third straight month of job growth. The state reported broad growth across seven of 11 industry sectors. Professional and business services led the way by adding 17,300 new jobs last month.
  That was followed by education and health services with 7,400 new positions and financial activities with 4,000. Even the beleaguered construction trades which 2,100 jobs in October.
   According to a widely watched private research group, the Leading Economic Index (LEI) is pointing towards modest growth and a gain in momentum by spring.
   The Conference Board LEI  rose 0.9 percent in October, up sharply from a 0.1 percent increase in September and a 0.3 percent rise in August. Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein sees a glimmer of hope for the economy if the momentum can continue.
   Here are some more signs that small advances are being made:
   Jobless claims have trended down according to the latest government data. Consider this, the total number of people receiving benefits fell to the lowest level since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis intensified.
  The jobless claims data was the latest in a string of reports showing the U.S. economy gaining some momentum this year. I don’t say put on your rose-colored glasses and start throwing “The Recession is Over” parties because of one report, but it’s a good sign.
  Then we have news that factories are running at a faster pace and inflation is almost nonexistent. Factories made more cars, electronics and business equipment in October, a sign that manufacturing is recovering. Industrial production rebounded 0.7 percent last month, according to the Federal Reserve.  This information lends credence to other leading indicators.
  More good news. The Labor Department announced that consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent last month. Americans paid less for cars and gasoline. This data, according to financial experts, suggests inflation is poised to go lower after a spike in oil prices earlier in the year.
  I like to share good news (as long as it’s true) about our economy. I know numerous challenges lie ahead before most Americans regain confidence in the economy and our government. Still, I’m hopeful we can overcome them all in time.

  I don’t expect you’ll skip away after reading this column and tell people the recession is almost over. Actually, I expect you won’t give this column a second thought.
   As It Stands, for those of you who do however, I look forward to hearing your opinions. A waste of space, or was it nice to hear we don’t have to prepare for Armageddon quite yet?

Two skillfully rendered illusions by artist Oleg Shuplyak

 

                                             To see some more great illusions go here.

Ukrainian artist Oleg writes Shuplyak oil paintings with optical illusions.
Oleg Shuplyak 44 years and he is an architect by training. But he devoted his life to not designing buildings and structures, painting and teaching. He worked as a teacher of drawing in his native village, now teaches drawing and painting at a children’s art school in a small Ukrainian town Berezhany. A parallel Shuplyak is a member of Artists Union of Ukraine, works in the genres of associative symbolism, surrealism and abstract art, and participates in group and solo exhibitions suits in Ukraine and Europe.
His paintings – it’s artistic optical illusions, which is found when considering the implication: a figure of reading Girl hides head of Salvador Dali, for autumn leaves – a bird, and for bathing naked couple – the silhouette of Freud.                                                           Go here for even more illusions by Shuplyak.

Montana PBS: Clearing the Smoke – the Science of Cannabis

Watch Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis on PBS. See more from KUSM.

Another reason for legalization of marijuana…

You’d think the policies in our country were based on science, but they’re not when it comes to pot.

Listen to what doctors and researchers have to say about pot’s medical usages.

In 2004, Medical marijuana was legalized in Montana.

Listen to riveting testimony of one man suffering with cancer, and the ill effects of his chemo treatments. After trying all conventional options to help him his doctor prescribed pot. It worked wonderfully for him.

This is a one-hour video. Try watching the first few minutes and see what you think. I thought it was well-done and made a strong case for the merits of medical marijuana. I’d really like to hear what you think.

Few Facts on FOX: another study shines spotlight on misinformation

The release this week of yet another survey indicating the more you watch Fox News the less they know, has once again shone a spotlight on one of the unique features that defines Rupert Murdoch's cable news outlet - it is very, very good at misinforming people. And it's very bad at reporting the news. In other words: Propaganda? Yes. News? Not so much.

It's true that the most recent survey, conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University, only polled adults in New Jersey and doesn't represent national indictment against Fox. Nonetheless, the findings created a media stir because they reinforce what pollsters and academics previously discovered; that one of the country's all-news channels consistently leaves viewers less informed.

What's stunning is how many different areas of the news and public policy Fox viewers are misinformed about. For instance, the Fairleigh Dickinson survey asked viewers about recent grassroots uprisings in Arab nations [emphasis added]:

For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all..... Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news.

That just means we can add the Arab Spring to the laundry list of issues Fox fans are less knowledgeable about. Here are some previously documented examples.

--2010, the proposed New York City mosque. Two Ohio State University researchers released their study, "Fox News Contributes to Spread of Rumors About Proposed NYC Mosque."

The take-away:

In this study, the results are very clear: the more people use Fox News, the more rumors they have heard the more they believe.

2010, mid-term elections. A "Misinformation and the 2010 Election" survey conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, and showed that regular Fox News viewers "were significantly more likely" to hold misinformed views.

--2011, health care reform. The Kaiser Foundation released the findings of its health care reform "pop quiz." It asked respondents ten questions about the topic and graded the responses. The Foundation found loyal Fox News viewers knew less about health care reform than did CNN and MSBNC viewers.

--2003, the Iraq War. the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) study found widespread public misperceptions about the Iraq war, but some media consumers were more misinformed than others:

Those who primarily watch Fox News are significantly more likely than average to have misperceptions.

--2009, health care reform. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found Fox fans were overwhelmingly misinformed about health care reform: 

In our poll, 72% of self-identified FOX News viewers believe the health-care plan will give coverage to illegal immigrants, 79% of them say it will lead to a government takeover, 69% think that it will use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and 75% believe that it will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing care for the elderly.

2010, global warming. Stanford University, in conjunction with the National Science Foundation, released a report titled "Frequent Viewers of Fox News Are Less Like to Accept Scientists' Views of Global Warming."

It concluded:

More exposure to Fox News was associated with more rejection of many mainstream scientists' claims about global warming, with less trust in scientists, and with more belief that ameliorating global warming would hurt the U.S. economy.

Marines ordered to stop farting in front of civilians, union leaders game pension system, and city builds wheelchair ramps to nowhere

                    Good Morning Humboldt County!

C’mon in…you’re here in time for coffee and a look at some entertaining stories to start the day. Truth is often stranger than fiction as demonstrated in a couple of these stories. Pull up a seat and relax. The coffee’s especially good today. 

       Marines ordered to stop farting around civilians

The Military Times news service, reporting from Afghanistan in August, disclosed a U.S. Marines command directive ordering troops to restrain their audible flatus because, apparently, Afghan soldiers and civilians complained of being offended. The reporter doubted the directive could be effective, in that passing gas by front-line troops is "practically a sport." [Military Times)

    

   Union leaders gaming the retirement system

A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV investigation revealed in September and October the astonishing result that Illinois laws passed in 1997 and 2007 at the behest of organized labor have given at least three former union leaders lifetime government pensions as if they had been city or state employees, totaling an estimated drain on public budgets of about $7 million. Two teachers' union officials were allowed to teach exactly one day to qualify, and an engineers' union official was hired for exactly one day, with the remainder of the service of the three having been on the payroll of the respective unions. A September Tribune report estimated that perhaps 20 other union officials might have been eligible under similar provisions. [Chicago Tribune

   City builds wheel chair ramps to nowhere

In what a cement company executive said is "one of those bureaucratic things that doesn't make any sense," the city of Detroit recently built wheelchair ramps at 13 intersections along Grandy Street, despite knowing that those ramps are either not connected to sidewalks or connected to seldom-used, badly crumbling sidewalks. The ramps were required by a 2006 lawsuit settlement in which Detroit pledged to build ramps on any street that gets re-paved, as Grandy was. (No one in city government thought, apparently, to attempt a trade of these 13 intersections for paving 13 more-widely used ones in the city.) [Detroit News

Time to walk on down the road…

Pug who ate, pooped 100 rocks is contest front-runner

If pooping out rocks was a skill, a pug from Rhode Island would be the most talented dog in the country.

Instead, Harley the pug will have to settle for a potential “Hambone Award,’’ given out annually by Veterinary Pet Insurance. Each year since 2009, the company has nominated the 12 most unusual and outrageous pet insurance claims that it receives out of tens of thousands. The award is named after a dog that was stuck in a refrigerator and chowed through an entire Thanksgiving ham before being found.

The good news is, all nominees made full recoveries and received their insurance money for eligible expenses. The clubhouse leader this year is Harley (pictured), who ate more than 100 rocks and then pooped them out to the horror and astonishment of his owner, Lori Laverdiere of Manville, Rhode Island. Harley’s competition includes a terrier that bit a chainsaw while it was running, a Chihuahua that was snatched by a great horned owl in the middle of the night, and an English mastiff that was kicked by a mule. (Read more here)

It’s that time of the year again: Black Friday violence erupts

     Good Morning Humboldt County!

Welcome to this special Black Friday posting. You’re about to read how crazy people can  get when it comes to saving money. It seems to get worse every year, but retailers say the day brings in from 30% to 40% of their annual sales.

I can’t help noticing most of the trouble happens at Wal Mart stores. Is there a social comment there? Have a cup of coffee with me, pull up a chair, and see what you think. 

Violence erupted at Black Friday sales across the U.S. with one bargain-hunter left critically injured after being shot during a robbery and 15 other people injured when an angry shopper used pepper spray.

Several of the incidents took place at Wal-Mart stores as millions of Americans loaded up on holiday purchases.

Updated 10:39 a.m. ET: Police said they were investigating a possible shooting in the parking lot of Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa, NBC station WHO reported. There was no immediate report that anyone was injured.

Police got a call of shots fired shortly before 4 a.m., when the mall opened. They wouldn't say whether they had a suspect, and they reassured shoppers that the mall is safe..

Updated 9:50 a.m. ET: A 55-year-old shopper was shot and wounded during a robbery near a Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach, S.C., NBC station WMBF reported.

Tonia Robbins, 55, was shot in the foot after two men demanded her purse shortly after 1 a.m. ET Friday as she stood by the trunk of her car with friends.

Updated 9:45 a.m. ET: An explosive device was found at a break room at a Wal-Mart in Cave Creek, Ariz., according to reports Friday. 

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said a suspicious package was found inside a refrigerator in the store break room on Thursday. The store was evacuated as a precaution while deputies investigated the package.

---

Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: A Black Friday shopper was shot and critically injured during a robbery outisde a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, Calif., early Friday, police said.

Police patrolling the parking lot found a victim suffering a gunshot wound and a possible suspect being detained by family members of the victim.

Police said the victims were walking to their car with their purchases and were approached by multiple suspects who demanded the merchandise.

A fight ensued and one suspect pulled out a gun and shot one of the victims. Some of the victims wrestled down one suspect as the other suspect fled the scene.

The victim who was shot is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. The suspect in custody is an adult male in his mid '20s, but it is not known if he was the shooter.

Updated at 7.30 a.m. ET: An angry woman used pepper spray when Black Friday bargain-hunters tried to cut in line at a crowded Wal-Mart store in Los Angeles late Thursday, leaving 15 people with minor injuries. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. PT (1:20 a.m. ET Friday) in the San Fernando Valley as shoppers looking for deals were let inside the outlet.

NBC News reported police said no more than 15 were hurt, 10 of them for the effects of inhalation of pepper spray.

Police Lt. Abel Parga said a woman used pepper spray, then left. Parga said police were looking for the woman and no arrests have been made. "It was an unhappy customer,'' he said.

A witness told Los Angeles' NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360.

The witness said a woman with two children in tow became upset with the way people were pushing in line. The witness said the woman pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the other people.

NBC News quoted a police officer as saying the flare-up was triggered when a crowd rushed toward merchandise following a "big reveal" of items that had been hidden by draping.

Update at 5:45 a.m. ET: Authorities say gunfire erupted at a North Carolina mall as holiday shoppers gathered, the Associated Press reported.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said detectives were looking for two suspects after gunfire rang out at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville early Friday. No injuries were reported.

The first shots were fired around 2 a.m. outside the mall near a food court entrance. Investigators say several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall. (article source)

Happy Thankgiving to my friends, family, and fellow bloggers!

 

 We all have something to be thankful for.

 Sometimes it isn’t easy to remember what is good in your life.But if you think about it…

long enough…

You’ll come up with the answer.

Have a thoughtful Turkey Day!                    - - Dave

How White Supremacists Are Trying to Make an American Town a Model for Right-Wing Extremism

I still remember what a peaceful and nice town Kalispell was in 1995 when my wife and I visited there. We stayed in a nice motel overlooking Big Mountain, a ski resort. We didn’t see any signs of neo-Nazis back then. It’s with regret, that I share this article with you. Extremists are getting more militant every year. Hate has found a foothold in the Flathead Valley: 

“The Pioneer Little Europe (PLE) movement has brought dozens of white supremacists to the Flathead Valley. They are increasingly making their presence known by staging public events, openly recruiting and distributing racist literature, stocking up on firearms at area gun shows while dressed in neo-Nazi clothing, working for local anti-gun control and anti-abortion campaigns (according to Gaede), and issuing violent threats to perceived enemies.

The growing numbers of PLE white supremacists in the Flathead Valley parallels a recent influx to the area of ultra right-wing "Patriot" movement leaders and their followers. Their combined forces are rapidly transforming the region into the hottest flash point of right-wing extremism in the country.

Nationwide the anti-government Patriot movement is surging, and the number of racist hate groups has surpassed 1,000 for the first time since the Southern Poverty Law Center, a leading authority on extremism, began tracking white supremacist activity.” (Read the rest of the story here)