AS IT STANDS UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS: Part 2: 'Goat man' spotted in Utah mountains

 

I’ve been on the lookout lately for unique individuals and a man dressed like a goat, living with goats, definitely qualifies a s a unique individual.

“The sighting of a man dressed in a goat suit on a Utah mountain is causing concern among state wildlife officials, The Associated Press reported. Officials are worried about him getting shot when hunting season opens soon. The man, who remains unidentified, was spotted by photographer Coty Creighton on July 15 during a hike on Ben Lomond peak just north of Ogden in northern Utah.” (source)

PHOTO:The "goat man," in white, traverses an incline near Ogden, Utah, on July 15

                                                                  Coty Creighton / AP file

Why does the NRA get away with bullying Congress?

          Good Day Humboldt County!

Every time there’s a sensational shooting event in this country, like what recently happened in a movie theatre in Colorado, the NRA gears up and goes on the offensive by looking for anyone who dares to call for stricter gun laws.

They need not look far as articles like the following are popping up already:

 When is enough, enough? Will Movie Massacre finally spur sensible gun control?

“When is enough, enough? Will the Movie Massacre finally spur sensible gun control? Not likely Certainly not in an election year.”

 

                                    The question is; WHY IS THE NRA SO POWERFUL?

“The House of Representatives recently voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, for withholding documents pertaining to the “Fast and Furious” program that allegedly put guns in the hands of Mexican drug gangs.

Seventeen Democrats voted for the measure after the National Rifle Association indicated future endorsements could ride on the vote. The NRA is considered by many the most powerful lobbying group in the country, despite relatively modest financial resources and just 4 million members.

                                              What makes the NRA so influential?

Focus and emotion. Groups with large constituencies often address a wide variety of issues. The AARP, for example, attempts to influence such diverse issues as Social Security, health care, energy, and ballot access laws.

The NRA focuses almost exclusively on gun control, which enables its leaders to doggedly pursue their legislative ends. Perhaps more important, many NRA members are as single-minded as the organization itself. Polls often show that more Americans favor tightening gun control laws than relaxing them, but gun rights advocates are much more likely to be single-issue voters than those on the other side of the question. As a result, the NRA can reliably deliver votes. Politicians also fear the activism of NRA members. They’re widely believed to be more likely to attend campaign events, ring doorbells, and make phone calls to help their favored candidates—or defeat their opponents—than senior citizens, members of labor unions, or public school teachers.” (Read more here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: Presidential Candidates Should Wear Sponsorship Logos

                                 

                       By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
We live in the Age of Sponsorship, where everything is brought to you by someone trying to make a buck or a point.
Traditionally, NASCAR racing has been the standard for mixing advertiser sponsorship with the sport so the two are almost always mentioned in the same breath. For beer companies and auto related products like Edelbrock headers, it was always the best way to target advertising for maximum results.
Lately the beer companies and auto part sponsors have had to shift over and share sponsorships for NASCAR advertising. Companies like Tide Soap, Microsoft, Red Bull, M & Ms, and Oreo Cookies proudly sport their logos on the hoods and of top race cars, too.
Over the years, the practice has been so common, people accepted it and moved on. Sponsorship for sports teams and scholarships are ingrained into our society. Corporate sponsorship has been the trend in the last decade, as we see football stadiums and baseball fields nationwide re-named.
Some examples: Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts (NFL); Coors Field, home of the Denver Broncos (NFL); Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburg Steelers (NFL); and Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, which hosts indoor events from professional basketball to circus legends like Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.
The deal goes like this; sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically sports, but also arts, entertainment and causes), in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.

Let’s keep in mind the driving force of sponsorship is the expectation of a profitable return. In the simplest terms, it’s an investment that keeps on paying. Commercial sponsorship of stadiums, etc., are often limited in years (20 years is common), but contracts can be renewed.

The American public, having been slowly numbed over the years to commercial sponsorship, doesn’t even object to the idea anymore. There was a time when people shook their head sadly as the Los Angeles Lakers left The Great Western Forum and moved into the new mega arena called Staples Center.
Now, it’s time to discuss another aspect of sponsorship. One that has steadily slipped into our political system since Big Oil was in its infancy. It’s no secret our politicians often represent commercial interests.
If this news comes as a surprise, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. The fact is, there’s not a Congressman or State Governor in this nation who doesn’t get sponsorship support from special interests.

Most try to hide their illicit relationships with rhetoric and party lines. If you follow the money in any election, like our current Presidential election, you’ll see that the big players get donations from people who expect big returns.
  I’ve been thinking about this for some time. The solution is to level the playing field for voters by making candidates wear the logos of the corporations, groups, and companies, that support them.
I saw a funny photo-shopped picture on the internet a while back that gave me the idea. It showed the Supreme Court judges with logos (Shell Oil, etc.) stitched onto their black robes. That was pretty clever, and it made sense when I thought about it.

The names of big campaign donors - like the Koch brothers - could be listed on the back of the candidate’s shirt. The corporate logos could be fashionably arranged on the sleeves and fronts of shirts and jackets.
Meanwhile, I found an interesting blog called, What if politicians had to wear sponsorship logos? The creators of this website are keeping tabs on the cost of campaigning during the presidential election.
  If we could just get President Obama and soon-to-be Republican nominee, Mitt Romney to agree to wearing their sponsorship logos on their clothing, it would make the voters’ job a lot easier. We could draw up a pro and con list, compare logos, and make an informed decision on which one will screw us the least!
As It Stands, I know it’s a far cry from a major voting reform, but don’t you think this would be a step in the right direction?

Shameful Milestones in Research: When Psychological Experiments Go Terribly Wrong

                                   Good Day Humboldt County!

Psychology as we know it is a relatively young science, but since its inception it has helped us to gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our interactions with the world.

Many psychological experiments have been valid and ethical, allowing researchers to make new treatments and therapies available, and giving other insights into our motivations and actions. Sadly, others have ended up backfiring horribly — ruining lives and shaming the profession.

                         The Third Wave

Running along a similar theme similar to the Milgram experiment (see diagram above), The Third Wave, carried out in 1967, was an experiment that set out to explore the ways in which even democratic societies can become infiltrated by the appeal of fascism.

Using a class of high school students, the experimenter created a system whereby some students were considered members of a prestigious order. The students showed increased motivation to learn, yet, more worryingly, became eager to get on board with malevolent practices, such as excluding and ostracizing non-members from the class. Even more scarily, this behavior was gleefully continued outside of the classroom. After just four days, the experiment was considered to be slipping out of control and was ceased. (Read about more examples here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Massacre at a Movie House – Gunman opens fire on audience at premier of ‘Dark Knight Rises’

Update below

It was a dark night for movie-goer’s at the Century 16 Movie Theater #8, in Aurora Town Center, Colorado.

  Twelve people were killed and at least 50 others were wounded early Friday when a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire during a midnight premiere screening of the latest Batman movie near Denver, authorities and witnesses said.

  The question is, why would a former graduate student in the neuroscience program at University of Colorado medical school, want to murder all of those people? Is there some tie-in to the movie that’s not apparent yet? Did James Holmes relate to the villains Batman has faced?

  We may never really know why Holmes did what he did. You can bet in the coming days there’s going to be a lot of autobiographical information on him, and the progress of those who were wounded in the attack.

  Life is full of surprises, ironies, and mysteries. How could a person so wantonly murder innocent strangers? In the end, only one person knows why this happened; James Holmes. The rest of us will never fully understand his actions.   (Go here for the full story, and updates).

Related: Witnesses react online to 'Dark Knight' theater shooting

Update: Very deranged' gunman shoots 71, killing 12, at 'Dark Knight Rises' screening in Aurora, Colorado

                                  5:15 ET

James Holmes, sporting dyed red or orange hair told police he was the Joker after opening fire in a theater showing the premiere of the latest Batman movie.Twelve people have been confirmed dead and 59 others, many of them seriously, were in hospitals. 

2:30 p.m. PST 

It’s what I feared; the killer related to a Batman foe, the Joker. It’s one of the first thoughts that hit me this morning. His rampage just underscores the fact that no one is really safe anywhere in these violent times. You can NOT prepare for a lone crazy.

How to Fight Excessive Doubt: Should you really question everything?

           Good Day Humboldt County!

 I think we’ve all experienced self doubt at one time or other in our lives. It’s perfectly normal.

I ran across this essay on the subject and thought you might find it interesting, and perhaps even helpful:

“A little critical, analytical thinking is a good thing. Without doubting ourselves sometimes we'd find it difficult to make good decisions.

Too much doubt, though, can stop us living our lives to the full. Some people can never make up their minds about their careers, their love lives or much else. Unfortunately that sense that you're not quite sure can leave you living in permanent limbo, never taking that final decisive step.

The problem is that we can we never really know what the outcome of our decisions will be, that's the nature of life. But the person who never takes a risk, however small, never gets anywhere. At some point, after a little looking, you've got to leap.

Psychologists have found that people who doubt themselves too much end up engaging in excessive information processing which leads to procrastination and self-handicapping. Self-doubters are also more likely to suffer from depression and social anxiety. Some soul-searching and self-analysis can be useful, but too much is a recipe for stagnation.

A recent study, though, points to a possible path for escaping the doubt habit. For their research Wichman et al. (2010) recruited people who were chronically uncertain. They were then given a test which unconsciously encouraged them to be uncertain about their uncertainty. This was done by getting them to unscramble sentences which were related to uncertainty, like: "her speaker doubt I explanations" (you're allowed to drop one word, in this case 'speaker').

Ironically it didn't increase their uncertainty further but reduced it. This suggests that doubting your doubt can be useful. Of course this wasn't a permanent solution, but it did momentarily reduce their levels of uncertainty.

Just the same effect could be seen when participants in a second study shook, rather than nodded their heads. The physical action of shaking their head while thinking about their uncertainty caused one to cancel out the other. Through this they temporarily reduced  their doubts.

This is a fascinating counter-intuitive case when lack of confidence in your own thoughts is beneficial. For some people having confidence in their doubts just leads to more procrastination, self-handicapping and worse.

Perhaps learning to doubt the doubt more will offer one way of helping to escape from some of the crippling effects of excessive self-doubt. While shaking your head can't be considered a miracle cure, it is interesting that doubting your doubt can work to dispel the original doubt.” (Source) Image credit: paurian

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Can some techie help me? I have unwanted ads on my blog and can’t seem to get rid of them!

I’ve always resisted putting ads on my blog. I’ve had offers, but have turned them all down. So you might understand why I’m upset to find I have been suddenly invaded with AdSense ads (word links that lead to an advertiser). It can be any word with an underline beneath it. I have to admit it’s driving me crazy and I want to get rid of them! The ads are even in my header! Talk about being infected.

I’ve spent hours on the internet, attempting every combination of search words, and have not come up with an answer. If you’re the techie type, or just a sharp individual that could figure this out, I’d so appreciate your help!

I have one intriguing clue however: the ads don’t appear on my Internet Explorer browser, but they do on my FireFox browser!

 

TARGETTING AN AUDIENCE: Zimmerman interview on Fox was a fundraiser for the defense

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

FOX News puts on a fund raiser for George Zimmerman who has “no regrets.”

               Good Day Humboldt County!

 Once again FOX News has hit a new low with  Sean Hannity’s interview of George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin.

 Last night’s show was nothing more than a fundraiser for Zimmerman who has set up a website to collect money from crazies around the country.

 Hannity walked him through the interview like a circus master, prompting Zimmerman on what to say. His dull responses, “Yes, Sir,” and “No, sir,” were practice runs for his upcoming murder trial. Why didn’t they just let Zimmerman’s attorney conduct the “exclusive” interview? It amounted to the same thing with Hannity’s soft ball delivery of pre-planned questions.

  One thing did catch my interest; it was Zimmerman’s attitude. He said he has no regrets, nor does he regret his actions. Yet, he also said he told Travyon’s parents he was sorry for what he did afterwards. He couldn’t even keep his own story straight. The prosecution probably taped the interview to compare how many times he changed his story since being arrested.

The bottom line: Zimmerman’s attorney picked Fox News to talk with because of it’s core audience of racist gun nuts who would be more likely to send him financial help.

Time for me to walk on down the road…  

   

AS IT STANDS Presents the Dangers of Eating Fast Food – Part 1

Lately, I’ve been increasingly wary of eating at fast food chains.

I think my concern about the subject was amplified by some research I did for a recent column:

Why I'm nice to people who serve me food

When I saw the following story, I realized this is an ongoing situation and it’s time to start posting a series of reports – about employees acting badly at Fast Food chains - based upon current news stories.

I know one thing; when you read enough of these reports you’re going to rethink about where you eat!

Feet-in-lettuce photo hits Internet, gets Burger King employees fired

Screen grab source

 

This News Just In: Iraq War Reconstruction: $6 billion to $8 billion wasted

        Good Day Humboldt County!

It seems like the numbers keep getting worse. Report after report, detailing the corruption in Iraq, is coming out.

The American taxpayer got screwed. I’m talking an epic rip-off. When are we going to hold investigations on all the dirty bastards who we know cheated?

What’s grim about these tales of waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayers monies, is that most of the culprits involved are still in business, and doing just fine…thank you. Moving on: 

“The official in charge of monitoring America’s $51 billion effort to reconstruct Iraq has estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion of that amount was lost to waste, fraud and abuse.

Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR) for the past eight years, gave that estimate in an interview with the Center for Public Integrity on Monday, shortly after releasing a new summary of his office’s many grim discoveries since it began work in in 2004.

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                    Related: As It Stands: How 3 big lies have crippled America's economy

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In Friday’s report, Bowen said the exact funds lost to fraud and waste “can never be known,” largely because of poor record-keeping by the U.S. agencies involved in the effort. These include the Departments of State and Defense, along with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

According to the report, auditors repeatedly found that the State Department and Defense Department failed to properly review invoices from government contractors, often approving billions of dollars in services without checking if costs were accurate or efficient. “I think the consistent theme throughout our eight years of oversight work has been the inconsistent availability of records and information on contracts and costs,” said Bowen, a former Texas lawyer.” (Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…