A nostaligic look at some of the weirdest collectibles of the 1970s

Every generation has its own cultural icons that grow into collectibles over time. Yet the 1970s were a stranger time than most, and some of the artifacts of that decade are indeed bizarre.

There are, of course, the legions of Star Wars-related items that remain in demand. ... More

If you happen to have one of those Boba Fett dolls that came free with UPC symbols, you may be able to add an extra $2,000 to your bank account (especially if it's the version with a spring-loaded missile).

There were also fads a-plenty, such as the mood ring, a plastic, heat-activated bauble that would change colors, allegedly in sync with the wearer's emotions. The rings are still sold by various makers, but cognoscenti, we are told, have ways of telling an authentic '70s artifact.

Taste wasn't always an issue when it came to flash-in-the-pan fads of that decade. Amid the sexual revolution and a growing gay rights movement, advertising executive Harvey Rosenberg brought America Gay Bob, a doll that hit stores in 1977 and created buzz -- and denouncements -- as "the world's first openly gay doll."

Dressed in tight jeans and a flannel shirt, Bob differed from Barbie's pal Ken in one striking way: The doll was anatomically correct. Today, the dolls appear regularly on auction sites such as eBay. Remember Cowmumble? 

How about Trolls before they were associated with the internet!

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Obama Invokes Cold-War Law to Unmask Chinese Telecom Spyware

The U.S. is invoking Cold War-era national-security powers to force telecommunication companies including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to divulge confidential information about their networks in a hunt for Chinese cyber-spying.

In a survey distributed in April, the U.S. Commerce Department asked for a detailed accounting of foreign-made hardware and software on the companies’ networks. It also asked about security-related incidents such as the discovery of “unauthorized electronic hardware” or suspicious equipment that can duplicate or redirect data, according to a copy of the survey reviewed by Bloomberg News.

The survey represents “very high-level” concern that China and other countries may be using their growing export sectors to develop built-in spying capabilities in U.S. networks, said a senior U.S. intelligence official who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter.

“This is beyond vague suspicions,” said Richard Falkenrath, a senior fellow in the Council on Foreign Relations Cyberconflict and Cybersecurity Initiative. “Congress is now looking at this as well, and they’re doing so based on very specific material provided them in a classified setting” by the National Security Agency, he said.

The survey went to dozens of telecommunications companies, software makers and information-security companies, including some foreign firms, according to James Lewis, a cyber-security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, in Washington. Lewis said AT&T and Verizon Communications were among the companies that received it.

Several of the companies were hesitant to cooperate because they had learned the Commerce Department unit handling the survey had itself been hacked by the Chinese in 2006, creating the possibility that company data provided might become known to the Chinese, according to a former government official familiar with the discussions.

The Commerce Department refused a request by the companies for specific protocols to protect the data, according to the former official, who declined to be identified because the discussions were confidential.

In July, Greg Schaffer of the Department of Homeland Security testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the department knew of instances of foreign-made components seeded with cyber-spying technology. He declined to provide further details.

The Commerce Department survey also reflected U.S. intelligence community concerns over discounting and loan packages offered by foreign manufacturers.

It asks companies to list makers of telecommunications equipment that offer the steepest discounts. Other questions ask what information or other conditions manufacturers require in exchange for sales or leasing, including knowledge of physical access procedures for entering buildings.

Lewis of the CSIS said U.S. officials suspect the Chinese government is subsidizing the discounts to give U.S. companies incentives to buy Chinese-made network equipment.

“Huawei says they’re doing this and it’s completely legitimate, and it’s just us competing in the market,” Lewis said. “The other possibility is that they are doing it because they have an intelligence motive.”

--Editors: Andrew Dunn, Mary Romano

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Riley in Washington at michaelriley@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Couple on welfare living the high life, Mom denied food stamps shoots children, and freeloading at hotel breakfast buffets

         Good Morning Humboldt County!

Welcome to this mornings hard times post. The recession has affected most Americans in one way or the other. The results range from welfare cheaters to desperate mothers killing their children and themselves, to simple freeloading.

Grab a cup of hot coffee, take a seat, and make yourself comfortable. It’s a tough world out there. 

Feds: Couple claimed welfare, lived in $1.2M home

A Seattle chiropractor and his wife live in a $1.2 million waterfront home and have spent the past eight years flying to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. All the while, federal authorities say, the couple was collecting more than $100,000 in welfare.

Now, the U.S. attorney's office is suing David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova, accusing them of filing false claims and demanding that the couple pay back more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance since 2003. Prosecutors are also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

Officials: Mom who shot her 2 kids was denied food stamps

A mother who shot and critically injured her two children and then killed herself had for months tried unsuccessfully to qualify for food stamps, Texas welfare officials said.

The woman, identified as Rachelle Grimmer, 38, first applied for food stamps in July but was denied because she didn't turn in enough information, Texas Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman told The Associated Press Tuesday.            

Photo - Officials say Rachelle Grimmer, 38, pulled a gun and staged a seven-hour standoff with police that ended with her shooting her two children in the Texas Health and Human Services building in Laredo, above.

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Freeloading at the hotel breakfast buffet

Most people have heard the adage “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But apparently it is not true for breakfast – at some hotels at least.

What started out as a simple complimentary cup of coffee and a doughnut has transformed into a kind of one-upmanship, said Chris Quilty, director of hotel operations for Hersha Hospitality Management, which owns and operates about 80 properties nationwide, representing all the major U.S. brands. About 70 of them offer free breakfast. There's anecdotal evidence to suggest that it's not just paying guests who enjoy this perk; it's not uncommon, say hotel experts and staff, to see people walk in from the street and serve themselves at the buffet.

“If you are savvy and need something to eat, it’s an easy thing to do,” said Bobby Bowers, senior vice president of operations for STR, a hotel research company. STR does not track how many non-guests take advantage of free breakfasts, but “I don’t doubt that it occurs,” Bowers said. “I would say it’s probably more of a problem now because economic times are tough.” But nine out of 10 times staff won’t say anything unless the person is a regular offender or “looks tough and dirty,” he said.

Time to walk on down the road…

iPAD addiction gets Alec Baldwin booted off American Airlines flight

I guess it’s just a matter of priorities for one TV star. Play game on iPAD or get kicked off airplane – No brainer! Winning! 

In a statement to NBC News, Alec Baldwin's rep Matthew Hiltzik explained what went down:

"Alec was asked to leave the flight for playing 'Words with Friends' on his iPad, while parked at the gate. Alec is so in love with 'Words with Friends' that he would risk getting thrown off a flight to play. He's already been re-booked on another American Airlines flight."

Halliburton accused of destroying evidence after Gulf spill, Earth’s twin discovered? Mugger gets beat up by victim

      Good Morning Humboldt County!

 Nice to see you could stop by today. C’mon in and grab a cup of hot coffee and check out the following stories I’ve gathered for your entertainment and education. Enjoy:

BP accuses Halliburton of destroying evidence following Gulf spill

BP has accused Halliburton of destroying damaging evidence about the quality of its cement slurry that went into drilling the oil well that blew out last year and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

In a court filing, the oil company alleged that Halliburton did inadequate cement work. BP also asked a federal judge to punish the oilfield services company. The accusation raises the stakes ahead of a trial, expected in late February, to assign blame and damages for the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well, which triggered the spill. Citing recent depositions and Halliburton's own documents, BP said Halliburton "intentionally" destroyed the results of slurry testing for the well, in part to "eliminate any risk that this evidence would be used against it at trial."

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

Could there be a race of aliens living on this planet?

A 'major milestone' in search for Earth's twin

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new exoplanet candidates, researchers announced Monday.

The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation. These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.

  Mugger left bloodied after attempt on MMA fighter

A convicted felon decided to mug an MMA fighter on the Southwest Side of Chicago, police say, and ended up paying a steep price. Police did not release the victim's name but said he was able to ward off Anthony Miranda, 24, who ended up with two black eyes and a gunshot wound to the ankle after a tussle.

The victim was sitting in his parked car near 55th St. and Kenneth when Anthony Miranda, 24, walked up to the car asking for a lighter, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.When the victim did not have one, Miranda pulled out a handgun and demanded money, police officials said. He then demanded the victim get out of the car. At some point, the victim was able to grab control of the gun while Miranda's attention was diverted. The two men wrestled on the ground and during the fight, Miranda accidentally discharged his gun, shooting himself in the ankle, police said. The victim was able to pin down Miranda until police arrived and later told officials he was a martial arts expert and ultimate fighting champion.

Time to walk on down the road…

Once upon a time no one wanted to be skinny in America

  

More Vintage photos like this here.

Kids digging for gold, Post Office woes, and smelling neuroticism

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

12% of the world’s gold comes from Mali, and 20% of the workers are children.

     Good Morning Humboldt County!

Welcome to my little corner of the world. Step right in and find a confortable seat. I have hot coffee on so don’t hesitate to grab a cup. Here’s some stories to start your day:

 

Digging for gold, children work in harsh conditions, paid with bags of dirt

Mali is Africa’s third largest gold producer. Artisanal mines rely on heavy human labor and little mechanization.  People throughout West Africa are flocking to work in the primitive pits.“Globally, we’ve seen an increase with the number of artisanal gold miners because of the rise of gold prices, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to better living conditions,” said Juliane Kippenberg who helped author a forthcoming Human Rights Watch report on Mali’s mines. The skyrocketing price of gold has led to a rush on the precious metal in the United States and throughout the world, but some of the mining that’s helping feed the world’s craving involves child labor and a dangerous process involving mercury.

Cash-strapped US Post Office to slow first-class delivery service

Unprecedented cuts by the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service will slow first-class delivery next spring and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

The cuts would close roughly 250 of the nearly 500 mail processing centers across the country (Eureka, California is one of those facilities that will be closed) as early as next March. Because the consolidations would typically lengthen the distance mail travels from post office to processing center, the agency would also lower delivery standards for first-class mail that have been in place since 1971.

          People can smell your neuroticism

Getting to know someone usually requires at least a little conversation. But a new study suggests you can get a hint of an individual's personality through his or her scent alone.

Participants in the study assessed, with some degree of accuracy, how outgoing, anxious or dominant people were after only taking a whiff of their clothes. The study is the first to test whether personality traits can be discerned through body odor.

Time to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Watch out for the Grinches when you shop for the holidays

                                                   

             By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
 It’s shopping time. Oh, excuse me. It’s holiday shopping time.
Christmas is around the corner, and just about everyone is shopping for something other than bare necessities. Including thieves.
 Shoplifting means higher prices for American consumers and less sales tax revenue for state and local governments. That doesn’t add up to Ho! Ho! Ho! Happy Holidays for the economy.
In California, where there are 620,000 retailers, it’s estimated that shoplifting occurs 330-440 million times per year at a loss of $10-$13 billion dollars. Nationwide, that equates to 1.0-1.2 million shoplift incidents everyday at a loss rate of $19,000-$25,300 dollars stolen per minute, according to the FBI website.
 When you factor in employee and vendor theft, this sum skyrockets to an estimate of over $33 billion dollars stolen per year. The end result is the consumer has to pay higher prices as the retailer tries to recoup the loss.
  It’s important to note that I’m not just talking about amateurs when citing these astounding statistics. A growing problem, according to the FBI, is the increase in organized theft rings and people who make their living by stealing from retail stores.

 Fences send out teams of shoplifters in exchange for room, board, and training on how to steal and overcome technology designed to stop them. They pay these recruits 10-20 cents on the dollar. They have been known to bail workers out of jail and get them legal representation.
 What happens is a strange street loyalty much like the story of Olive Twist.
There was a big case in California a few years ago that illustrates my point. Two criminal organizations were charged for their role in a large-scale fencing operation to buy and sell over-the-counter health and beauty products—as well as other items like camera film, batteries, and infant formula—that had been stolen from major retail chain stores.
 The merchandise was passed off to crooked out-of-state wholesale distributors, who  sold it back to unsuspecting retailers.
 Most shoplifters, according to FBI statistics, are amateurs. Amateurs can be highly skilled and steal daily without getting caught. Law enforcement officials say most are opportunistic and even crude in their methods. 
   If you’re like me, you seldom see a shoplifter in the act. They come in all shapes and sizes, ages and sexes, and vary in ethnic background, education, and economic status. In other words, you could stand right next to one and not know it.  
  I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention employee theft. Less than honest employees contribute to the monstrous amount of money lost every year by the stores. Employee theft is an insidious crime because the merchant is pays a wage and benefits to the thief on top of the cost of their dishonesty.
 Studies have shown that employees can do a lot more damage than amateur shoplifters because they are trusted and have an insider’s knowledge of store security measures. According to the University of Florida 2005 National Retail Security Survey, employee theft was estimated to be responsible for 47% of store inventory shrinkage.

 That represents an estimated employee theft of about 17.6-billion dollars per year. This astounding figure makes employee dishonesty the greatest single threat to profitability for the store. There is also a health and safety aspect—in many cases, stolen food products, pharmaceuticals, and other consumables aren’t maintained under proper conditions or labeled properly, so when they finally make their way back to unsuspecting consumers, they may be ineffective or may even make people sick, according to the FBI.
 From everything I’ve read, and throwing in some common sense, the best thing to do if you see someone shoplifting is to report it to a store employee. Do not, I repeat, do not try to apprehend the thief. In this day and age it’s not worth being hurt or even killed by someone who may be mentally unbalanced, or determined not to be captured.

 This is the time of the year when most America’s retailers expect to make a big profit. This year consumers are showing signs of buying, even if it’s on credit they can‘t afford.

The spirit of the holidays is upon us and we’re all looking for a gift to give.

  As It Stands, happy hunting and watch out for the Grinches/shoplifters.

The Call To Release Nikola Tesla's Research-January 7th 2012

If a civilization truly wishes to consider itself civilized, it must embrace all technological and scientific advances. The suppression of any technological advance, can not be tolerated if we wish to be a 'civilization. we must ask ourselves if we are working for the benefit of all mankind, or working for the benefit of a few businessman and politicians. The fact that we are unnecessarily poisoning our planet, our home, when their are numerous solutions, raises several questions as to why these technologies are being suppressed. The root of the problem is almost entirely one thing, greed. We as a society can no longer focus our entire efforts into what is profitable, because what is profitable is not always right, and what is right is not always profitable.

In part one of "The Energy Lie", clips from various news organizations are brought together to show that there are inventions that are capable of producing more electricity then they use.

 To see the rest of this series click here.

Pistol purse airport controversery, teen arrested trying to apply for a job, and therapy for military dogs with PTSD

          Good Morning Humboldt County!

C’mon in. The coffees hot and it’s a beautiful morning. Have a seat, relax, and see what stories I’ve selected for you today:

Florida teen detained by TSA for design on her purse

Vanessa Gibbs (shown here) holds her infamous "purse gun" It's not unusual for 17-year-old to find themselves in hot water with the fashion police. But on a flight from Virginia to Florida, Vanessa Gibbs found herself detained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over the appearance of her purse. And just to be clear, it wasn't the content inside the purse that the TSA objected to. No, agency officials took exception with the design of a gun on Gibbs' handbag. "It's my style, it's camouflage, it has an old western gun on it," Gibbs told News4Jax.com. Gibbs didn't run into any trouble while traveling north from Jacksonville International Airport. But on her way back home, TSA officials at Norfolk International Airport pulled her aside. "She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun,'" Gibbs said. "I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'"

Teen arrested trying to apply for job by knocking on armored car window

Charleston, S.C., teen Kieon Sharp, 18, tried taking the direct approach to landing a new job. Instead, it landed him in jail, on suspicion of armed robbery.

Sharp was hoping to find a job with Brinks security. He had already applied for a job with the company but decided he wanted more information about the day-to-day details of driving one of the company's armed trucks. And what better way to gather information than going straight to the source? So he went up to a driver inside one of the company's vehicles and knocked on the window. The driver mistakenly thought Sharp was holding a gun and called the police. Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton described the situation as "more than just a misunderstanding." In the aftermath of Sharp's failed informational interview, police held him behind bars for several hours before releasing him.

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Military dogs taking Xanax, receiving therapy, for canine PTSD

Even the most hardened soldier can escape grievous wounds on the battlefield only to suffer deeply painful psychological traumas after returning home. And unfortunately, the same pattern of psychic trauma seems to apply for the dogs that help provide essential services for military men and women.

New York Times reporter James Dao has a heartbreaking story today, which reports that among the present corps of 650 military dogs, more than 5 percent deployed with American combat forces are suffering from canine Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). And of that group, about half are forced into retirement from service. The relationship between military dogs and the service members who own them is a complex one. In fact, as recently as March, the military was highlighting the use of dogs to help treat human soldiers suffering from PTSD.

Time to walk on down the road…