2012 The Year of the Recall? Multiple state officials targeted in Wis.

Will Gov. Scott Walker be number three (state Governor recalled) in American history?

Groups seeking to recall Gov. Scott Walker submitted nearly twice as many signatures Tuesday as required to force an election.

It’s looking like the election will happen in May or June. See Group submits 1M signatures to recall Wis. governor

Besides Gray Davis in 2003, the only other successful recall of a governor in the nation's history was North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

• STORY: Recall organizers seek Walker opponent

What makes the recalls of 2011 so unique is the focused nature of multiple state officials targeted at once. Historically, recalls were aimed at one specific legislator. "Recall is usually an individual matter, rather than a group sport," said Gary Moncrief, a political science professor at Boise State University who studies state legislatures, in a recent interview.

Recall sponsors filed signatures on petitions targeting 9 state senators - 6 Republican and 3 Democratic. Challenges were filed in all 9 of those campaigns, and the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board approved the six campaigns against Republicans at meetings on May 23 and May 31, and approved the three campaigns against Democrats on June 8.

Anybody want to take bets that some legislators are going to loose their jobs this year?

Giving Blood: Despite recent American Red Cross controversy it’s still the right thing to do

                   Good Day Humboldt County!

 Donating blood is a personal decision. Some of us do and some of us don’t. In recent years I’ve averaged a half dozen annual visits to the Mobile Blood van when it comes to McKinleyville.

They seem to like my B-Positive donations and I tell myself I’m helping someone with my blood. It’s a feel-good thing that takes little effort on my part, but could be crucial to someone else. So, it’s only natural that I get concerned when I read stories that claim the American Red Cross has been fined for unsafe blood management practices. Even more troubling, this is the second time in two years they have been warned to improve their blood collection methods.

I noted that the article was talking about offices on the east coast, and in no way suggested we have any problems on the west coast in Humboldt County. I will continue to donate despite this bad press. It’s a chance I feel is worth taking. I do precious little for people other than to attempt to entertain them with my words. My social circle is mostly family, but I still like to contribute to society somehow. If my blood saves a life then I can say I’ve made a worthy contribution.

If you’ve heard about the mistakes the American Red Cross has had, please don’t let it harden your heart. Don’t cut off the whole organization because of problems in some offices. Take a moment and go here to see the great things the agency has done and continues to do.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing a few moments with me.

Time to walk on down the road…

 

A poem about taxation reflects the mood of the nation

A friend sent me this poem today from Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel. I thought you might enjoy it as much as I do:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax  the table,
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
   He works for
        Peanuts anyway!

          Tax his cow,
               Tax his goat,
                 Tax his pants,
                    Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

          Tax his cigars,
              Tax his beers,
              If he cries
              Tax his tears.

             Tax his car,
             Tax his gas,
             Find other ways
             To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That  you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he  screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid...

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Sexology Magazine: During the 1960s Sex was Tied Into Everything!

  

Some things never change eh? Here’s 3 issues that came out when I was in high school.      For more past issues go here.

Things are so tense in Iran you better not buy a Barbie Doll!

           Good day Humboldt County!

With increasing pressure coming from the U.S. and U.N. to abandon Iran’s suspected nuke aspirations, the common person in Iran is affected by the imposed sanctions.

When the government tells them what toys they can and can’t buy, some people resist. The Israel-US war drill was postponed over Iran tensions according to U.S. government sources. Iran is also waging a culture war that is ramping up everyday.

                                  Iran cracks down on moral peril of Barbie peddlers

Iran's morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday. As the West imposes the toughest ever sanctions on Iran and tensions rise over its nuclear program, inside the country the Barbie ban is part of what the government calls a "soft war" against decadent cultural influences.

"About three weeks ago they (the morality police) came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies," said a shopkeeper in a toy shop in northern Tehran. Iran's religious rulers first declared Barbie, made by U.S. company Mattel Inc, un-Islamic in 1996, citing its "destructive cultural and social consequences." Despite the ban, the doll has until recently been openly on sale in Tehran shops. The new order, issued around three weeks ago, forced shopkeepers to hide the leggy, busty blonde behind other toys as a way of meeting popular demand for the dolls while avoiding being closed down by the police.

In a twist of irony Big Pharma helping to get pot legalized

                                                                                          By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
 Marijuana won’t be legalized just because every other American smokes or eats it in some form. Think brownies, cookies, candy, or cake. 
Despite a record-high 50 percent of Americans saying they use marijuana and it should be made legal, it’s still illegal.
Because an overwhelming majority of Americans are for legalization means absolutely nothing. The federal government, with it’s Orwellian logic, is unfazed by what Americans really want.
For those who don’t know why marijuana is illegal in this country, it’s because of politics and outright lies by a crazed anti-pot crusader named Harry J. Anslinger.
Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings. Not even close. Banning pot was a political thing. For more history go to; http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/nc/nc2.htm

The first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate. Those who voted then got one side of the story based upon racism, fear, protection of corporate profits, and yellow journalism inspired by Anslinger.
We can thank incompetent, and/or corrupt legislators interested in personal career advancement and greed for the continued war on marijuana. Despite the medical findings associated with marijuana, it still hasn’t been legalized nationwide. Anslinger’s propaganda still pulls weight among many legislators.
  Politicians like to appear tough on crime and pass tougher penalties for marijuana possession. The taxpayers end up funding the pot propaganda, while their speech is stifled on the subject by the corporate media.
  Laws are passed based upon political contributions from corporations that profit from marijuana being illegal like pharmaceuticals and alcohol.
 So what makes me think that marijuana will be legal in America some day? I’ve written on this subject for two decades and I’ve always made it a point to show why Big Pharma doesn’t want marijuana legal.

 Well guess what? Big Pharma has taken a new course (perhaps they planned it this way all along) and is seriously eyeing the profitability of the medical marijuana market. It’s already using lobbyists and government connections to ensure control. That means legalization at some point.
 Last April, two drug manufacturing giants, G.W. Pharmaceuticals (a worldwide corporation based in the UK with offices in the US) and Novartis (a worldwide corporation Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with offices in the US), announced they had formed an alliance to license and market GW's Sativex, a liquid cannabis drug. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032547_medical_marijuana_Big_Pharma.html#ixzz1hJ12CvJP.
The American Independent recently observed, “…the pharmaceutical giants' strategy as regards marijuana seems to be "demonize it, prosecute it, shut it down, then grab the market."
The idea that a drug can be denounced as evil in one context but hailed as a medical miracle if sold within the pharmaceutical system is nothing new. Big Pharma's magic cure pills for ADHD bear a suspicious chemical resemblance to speed.

 Cannabis Science, Inc., a US biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis products, recently reported that two former US Attorneys, and the former head of Seattle FBI, are in favor of Washington State Initiative 502 to legalize marijuana.
So you see we are moving towards legalization. Not because you or I want it, but because Big Pharma has finally decided the time is here to profitably exploit marijuana. Look to the media this year for more reports like Cannabis Science’s (or other corporations) backing marijuana legalization in other states.
Big Pharma won’t be the only corporate giant cashing in on legal cannabis crops. The retail and food industry will probably step in with their deep pockets, providing unfair competition to small time growers. 
The dot.com industry was once the fastest way to get rich, but I suspect the future holds a new crop of instant millionaire CEOs when marijuana is legalized. It won’t be because the American people have finally convinced legislators to do the right thing. That only happens in the movies.
 As It Stands, despite the real possibility of monopolies when marijuana becomes legal, there are at least two upsides. The Feds expensive and losing war on marijuana will end, and it’ll cripple the Mexican cartels lucrative marijuana trade in the U.S.

Websites that have picked up this column:

1) http://www.discussthemarket.com/gwp-chat 

2) http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:GWP.L&display=discussion&id=9163378&action=detail

3) Medication Newswire

4) AOL News.huffpost

5) SiloBreaker

6) Shabong

7) Shop 420

8) ConSept Consulting

9) EQIP Info

10) Colorado MMJ Daily

11) FaceBook-Patients & Family

12) 420 video.com under Marijuana Articles

13. Drug Sense

14) Grow Medical 420

15) Weed Places

Cruise Ship Confession: ‘I’ll never set foot aboard a cruise ship’

         Good Day Humboldt County!

 I’ll be straightforward…when it comes to cruise ships, I’m a chicken. In 1958 (I was eight) the movie “A Night To Remember” came out. It was about the Titanic’s last hours and was based upon the novel of the same name by Walter Lord.

 The novel told the story of the ships last night in a  "you-are-there" minute-by-minute fashion. So did the movie. I was riveted to my seat as the supposedly unsinkable ship slowly sunk into the icy Atlantic. The theatre got cold. Something happened to me that day. I made a silent vow to never go on a cruise. Even when my wife went last year, I could not be persuaded to partake in such folly! I knew bad things happened on, and in, cruise ships. People get sick because they all eat from buffet style offerings and the cooties go nuts in that environment. Unpleasant odors. Poor hygiene. I could go on…

Two recent events made me recall the Titanic’s fate, and why I don’t do cruise ships. You however may not be a total coward and might even be interested in the second story. The first will give you a pause. I threw the third story in because it supports part of my contentions about cruises. I’m just saying…  

                                            Cruise ship runs aground off Italy; deaths reported

A cruise ship (above photo) with 4,200 people on board ran aground on the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, on Friday night. Three bodies were found, officials said, and there were unconfirmed news reports of a total of six or eight deaths. New reports said 69 people were still missing early Saturday.

 The Telegraph of London said some passengers jumped from the steeply listing Costa Concordia and swam a short distance to the island. 'I thought that was the end': Passengers tell of panic on wrecked cruise ship

"Have you seen 'Titanic?' That's exactly what it was," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean.

They all had dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along hallways and stairwells that were nearly vertical, trying to reach rescue boats. "We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61, said. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."

                                             Cruise ships to set sail, commemorate Titanic's sinking

With the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic fast approaching, interest is building all over the world for this historic occasion.

There are two themed Cruises with descendants of Titanic passengers, enthusiasts and cruise passengers getting the opportunity to be part of history.Both cruises go to the site where the Titanic sank on its Maiden and fateful voyage. A special Memorial Service will take place at the exact time the Titanic sank 100 years before.

Passengers sue Thomson Cruises over smelly ship

Unhappy passengers who sailed on Thomson Cruises' flagship, Thomson Dream, nearly two years ago are taking legal action against the cruise line because of unpleasant smells and poor hygiene, according to a local media report.

Staffordshire's local Web site says the claims are being made by 205 holidaymakers who sailed on the 55,000-ton, 1,506-passenger Thomson Dream between May and October 2010, immediately following its acquisition from Costa Cruises. At the time, Cruise Critic reported a number of teething problems on the ship, including faulty plumbing and dodgy air conditioning.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Taking a short trip today – see you Saturday…

   Good Day Humboldt County!

  As soon as I finish writing this I’m gone… down another path to pursue business and pleasure until Saturday.

  Please feel free to check out my past columns on the left. Leave a comment and I promise to answer it.

  Have a great day and I’ll see you on down the road…

   

Class conflict in America: the rich get richer while the poor get poorer

We’ve all heard the phrase, “The rich get richer while the poor get poorer, and a recent survey supports that contention. 

“A survey released Wednesday by Pew Social & Demographic Trends finds that 66 percent of Americans see strong or very strong conflicts between rich and poor people. That’s a 19 percentage point increase over 2009.”

No surprise there bucko. Some things never change.

“The strife between rich and poor people is now seen as a bigger issue than other social conflicts, including conflict between immigrants and native-born Americans and tension between black and white Americans, according to the Pew study.”

Are the so-called 1%ers worried that the peasants might pick up pitchforks and storm their castles? Apparently not:

“Despite the perception that there is a growing conflict, the Pew report said they did not find clear support for things like government measures to address income inequality.”

In other words they don’t give a damn!

“More than 4 in 10 respondents said they think people are wealthy because they were born into wealthy families or know the right people.”

As millions of Americans have struggled with high unemployment and other lingering effects of the recession, the nation’s median household income has actually fallen slightly.

Meanwhile, the wealth gap between the richest Americans and the rest of the country widened during the recession, which officially ended in 2009.

“The Occupy Wall Street movement has been perhaps the most visible sign of people’s frustrations over the gap between rich and poor, prompting national attention and similar protests throughout the country.”

With all of our wealthy politicians thriving like thieves in Congress, don’t expect things to really change. History has a way of repeating itself when it comes to corrupt legislators calling the shots.

Surviving Stress: studies says it shrinks you brain and young people are more stressed out today than ever before

Good Day World!
Stress is something we all live with in this hectic society.
It’s how we cope with the constant stress that makes the difference between being happy and miserable.
Scientists have been saying for years it affects the brain and PTSD is one of the many byproducts from it.
But this is the first I've heard about brains shrinking. I’m afraid if that’s true my brain is the size of a pea!


                      All that stress is shrinking your brain, new study finds
Everyone knows stress can cause headaches and sleepless nights. But a new study suggests it can actually shrink your brain. We’re not talking run-of-the-mill stressors here, like a looming deadline or a missed bus.

“These are bad things happening, like a relationship breakup, loss of a loved one, being held at gunpoint,” says Yale neurobiologist Rajita Sinha, senior author of the new report. Simply feeling stressed-out was not linked to gray matter shrinkage.
 But feeling stressed-out combined with a history of stressful life events was.  In particular, stress was linked to markedly less gray matter than expected in a part of the prefrontal cortex that regulates emotion and self-control, not to mention blood pressure and blood sugar.


And maybe it’s already affecting brain function in the healthy individuals she studied, Sinha says.
In other words, the stresses of modern life are far more complicated than what our ancestors experienced. “You can say stresses are a part of life, so what’s the big deal?”

But it is a big deal, she adds, because there’s extensive evidence that stress has contributed to the rise in chronic diseases.
Most human research about the impact of stress on brain structure has focused on patients with stress-related psychiatric disorders such as addiction and anxiety, according to the authors. Those studies have found decreased volume in the frontal lobe, considered the center of emotion control and personality.Whose brains shrunk more, men’s or women’s?
You might think you know the answer, but the researchers don’t, because they didn’t have enough women to compare the sexes.The take-home message, Sinha says, is that the better you cope with stress -- take a walk, call a friend -- the better off your brain will be.

Young People Today More Stressed Out, High-Strung

A San Diego State University researcher says high school and college students today are more stressed-out and high-strung than ever before.
SDSU Professor Jean Twenge is known for her extensive research about how today's young generation differs from previous generations. In fact, she’s written two books on the subject – Generation Me and The Narcissism Epidemic.
Her latest research indicates today's high school and college students have higher levels of anxiety and mental health problems compared to young people who lived during the past seven decades.
 In fact, five to eight times as many young people in 2007 are having problems compared to those in 1938.
Twenge says the increase is linked to cultural shifts which she says place a greater emphasis on shallow values such as money and materialism versus people and relationships.
"Since the 1930s, American culture has placed a lot more emphasis on materialism. Young people are much more likely to say, 'I'm really interested in making a lot of money,'" Twenge said.
"That (cultural shift) has happened at the same time of this increase in anxiety and depression. We can't say for sure that one causes the other, but we can say they have happened at the same time."
Twenge says typical symptoms of anxiety include excessive worrying, insomnia and nausea.
 Depression, anti-social behavior and narcissism are also on the rise based on the findings. Twenge says this research is important for helping everyone to understand the world in which young people live.
"It's tempting to say (young people) have it easy. Well, that doesn't seem to be the case. This shift in our culture toward emphasizing materialism and fame has not served us very well.
It's not a good recipe for mental health at any age."
Time for me to walk on down the road…