There are 461 dead US military personnel in Afghanistan
and 4113 dead US military personnel in Iraq.
and 4113 dead US military personnel in Iraq.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
One Liner
A department store had to call off its special summer sale in August because of a conflict -- its Christmas sale was beginning two days later.
And I Quote
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
~Theodore Roosevelt
~Theodore Roosevelt
A Poem
Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;—
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingëd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre,
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:—
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
~
Edgar Allan PoeGiant squid found off California coast
Giant squidA flock of gulls feeding on the carcass alerted the crew to the remains. Their first thought, said crew members, was that the animal was a seal but after motoring closer to it they recognized the chewed-up squid...
(Giant squid expert and Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History curator Eric) Hochberg said there's likely several squid along the California coast, but because the animal swims at depths of thousands of feet, it's almost never seen and difficult to study...
"The animal is just so big and so rare ... it's very easy for people to get a little nervous about what it is, and the stories go from there," Hochberg said.
Sampling of gun laws in other countries
Now that the high court has gutted the second amendment and perverted it to the NRA's lies in true Orwellian lie is truth fashion what about gun laws in other countries around the world?!
A sampling of gun laws in other countries:
GERMANY:
Requires license to obtain and use firearms and stipulates a check on the "reliability and suitability" of holders at least once every three years. Under-25s must undergo psychological screening. Buyers must justify why they need a gun.
Would-be buyers of recreational firearms must produce proof of regular membership in shooting club for at least one year. Legal age for owning recreational firearms is 21. That was raised from 18 in 2002, the year an alienated former pupil killed a dozen teachers and four others at a high school in Erfurt.
Hunters require a special hunting certificate to obtain arms.
SWITZERLAND:
Switzerland has strict rules for obtaining firearms, although there are hundreds of thousands of assault rifles, carbines and handguns in the homes of active and retired army members, who are on standby for national militia.
Requirements for obtaining handguns vary from one canton (state) to another. Under federal law, any person 19 or older can buy a gun, if they can obtain gun ownership certificate which is issued only to people without a police record. Gun dealers decide whether potential buyer poses threat to himself or others. Buyers must justify why they need a gun. Hunting, sports and self-defense are acceptable reasons.
ITALY:
Local authorities issue permits to bear arms. Validity periods and procedures vary depending on whether the permit is for self-defense, sport, hunting or collecting.
All requests must be accompanied by medical certificate showing the applicant is sound in mind and body. If the permit is for self-defense, the request must be based on a valid reason to bear arms.
BRITAIN:
The government bans semiautomatic rifles and handguns. These bans do not include deactivated handguns or replica handguns, but the 2006 Violent Crime Reduction Act made it illegal to buy sell or manufacture "a realistic imitation firearm." Owning guns for self-defense is not permitted.
AUSTRALIA:
In 1996 reforms led to uniform gun laws across all states of Australia that include: tougher licensing, registration of all guns, removal of guns from domestic violence offenders, and a ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
Gun ownership for self-defense is not legal. Civilian gun ownership is only valid for hunting, target sports, historical collection or occupational need.
A person must be at least 18 and undertake adequate safety training to purchase a firearm. The waiting period is not less than 28 days, and the license is issued for no more than five years.
SOUTH AFRICA:
The minimum age for gun possession is 21.
To obtain a gun, the applicant needs to obtain a competency certificate, showing they can use a firearm safely and are not a threat to the public, then they may apply for a firearms license for a specific gun they wish to obtain. That gun is registered with the police before it is transferred to the applicant based on a number of conditions.
*****
Ancient temple at center of debate in Thailand
High on a Cambodian cliff, the Preah Vihear temple has weathered war and territorial disputes. Now it's at the center of a political tug-of-war in neighboring Thailand.
As it has over the centuries, the ancient temple is fueling nationalist sentiment on both sides of the border, and opposition supporters in the Thai parliament are raising it as a reason for why the prime minister should step down.
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej last week endorsed Cambodia's bid to register the temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site - enraging opposition lawmakers who say he is yielding national sovereignty to Cambodia.
Never mind that the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it stands on to Cambodia in 1962 - it remains an issue in both countries.
"The Preah Vihear temple is part of a wounded history of Thailand and Cambodia," said Charnvit Kasetsiri, a historian at Bangkok's Thammasat University. "It was used to stir up a nationalist movement during World War II, and again during the Cold War ... and is now threatening to inflame politics again."
The crumbling stone temple, which is a few hundred feet from Thailand's eastern border with Cambodia, is the centerpiece of a no-confidence motion against Samak. The opposition accuses the prime minister of policy mistakes and of being a proxy for deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
"Preah Vihear is the knockout punch" that could bring down Samak, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva told Parliament. However, Samak's ruling coalition has an overwhelming majority, and he is expected to easily survive Friday's vote.
The dispute comes shortly before the World Heritage Committee starts its annual meeting July 2 to consider bids for special status, which helps attract funds for preservation of a site as well as raising its tourism profile.
Thai senators sent a petition to UNESCO this week asking that consideration of Cambodia's request be deferred until both countries file a joint nomination for World Heritage status. UNESCO has not responded.
Anger is simmering on both sides of the border, particularly in Thailand.
"The Temple of Gloom," ran one banner headline in The Nation newspaper, under a photo taken in March of Samak shaking hands with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Samak insists his endorsement of Cambodia's bid has no effect on Thai sovereignty, saying the temple belongs to Cambodia and the Cambodians are entitled to seek its listing as a World Heritage site. A stretch of disputed territory around the temple was not included in the request to UNESCO, Samak told lawmakers.
Thai protesters have gathered near the hilltop site since Sunday, singing patriotic songs and shouting that the temple belongs to Thailand, said Hang Soth, director-general of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Authority.
As a result, Cambodia closed the border gate that leads from Thailand to the temple.
Preah Vihear, a Hindu-themed temple that reflects the beliefs of the kings who ruled what was then the Angkorean empire, is located on the top of a 1,722-foot cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 150 miles north of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. Reaching it by road is easiest from the Thai side of the border.
"We are the owners of the temple, and it has nothing to do with Thailand," said Moeung Son, a Cambodian tour group operator and founder of the Khmer Civilization Foundation.
Last week, his group held a rally in Phnom Penh to support Cambodia's UNESCO bid and dispel what he called the "myth among some Thais who say that Preah Vihear temple is theirs."
Built between the 9th and 11th centuries, the stone temple is revered partly for having one of the most stunning locations of all the temples constructed during the Khmer empire - the most famous of which is Angkor Wat.
As the Khmer empire, which once encompassed parts of Thailand and Vietnam, shrank to the size of present-day Cambodia and the country was plunged into civil war, the temple fell into disrepair. Steps, walls and pillars have collapsed.
Hun Sen has pledged "a serious commitment" to building a road to the temple "whatever the cost."
Scholars make finds in Nazi archive
From prison brothels to slave labor camps, 15 scholars concluded a two-week probe Thursday of an untapped repository of millions of Nazi records, and hailed it as a rich vein of raw material that will deepen the study of the Holocaust.
It was the first concentrated academic sweep of the long-private archive administered by the International Tracing Service since it opened its doors last November to Holocaust survivors, victims relatives and historical researchers.
The opening of the files to scholars followed a series of stories on the archive by The Associated Press, which was the first news organization to be granted extensive access to the long-restricted files.
German historian Christel Trouve said the nameless millions of forced laborers began to take shape as individual people as she studied small labor camps - which existed in astonishing numbers.
Among the striking revelations was the identification of the man who rescued an 8-year-old boy in Buchenwald, Israel Meir Lau, who later became Israel's chief rabbi.
Lau had said his rescuer was a person called Fyodor from Rostow. Kenneth Waltzer of Michigan State University found it was Fyodor Michajlitschenko, 18, arrested by the Gestapo in 1943, who gave the small boy ear warmers and treated him like a father in Block 8 until the camp's liberation.
"A lot of us found the collections here, approached in the appropriate way, really opened up new significant scholarly lines of inquiry," said Waltzer, who is director of his university's Jewish Studies department.
Jessica Anderson Hughes of Rutgers University discovered that prostitutes servicing other prisoners in concentration camp brothels often came from ordinary backgrounds - exploding the myth that most had been prostitutes before their arrest.
Hughes said the lists in Bad Arolsen allowed her to attach names to the prisoner-prostitutes at Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps which had one of eight known brothels for prisoners.
With the names she could look up incarceration records - and she found some women were married, some single, some were mothers. The records said many were arrested for petty theft or other minor crime.
"We always portrayed them as volunteers, but I wanted to know why they volunteered," she said. She believed the prostitutes faced "a choice-less choice."
The research project was organized jointly by the tracing service and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, which brought scholars from six countries to begin assessing the significance of the archive, the largest collection of Nazi documents.
The 50 million pages stored in this central German spa town since the mid-1950s previously had been used by Red Cross staff to respond to inquiries about missing persons or the fate of family members, and later to document compensation claims.
With the population of survivors quickly shrinking, the 11 countries that govern the archive agreed in 2006 to widen access to the files. It took another 18 months for all 11 to ratify the required treaty amendments before the archive could open.
Reto Meister, the archive's director, said he still gets 1,000 inquires a month asking for personal information. Now, the archive is also getting dozens of academic inquiries or visitors every month, he said.
The gray metal shelves and cabinets contain 16 miles (25 kilometers) of transport lists, camp registries, medical records, forced labor files and death certificates of some 17.5 million people subjected to Nazi persecutions.
Taken together with written and oral testimonies and the transcripts of war crimes trials, the dry data at Bad Arolsen add texture to the known picture of the Holocaust, from the first concentration camps created within weeks of Hitler's rise to power in January 1933 to the defeat of Nazism in May 1945.
"It was much more than I expected," said Trouve.
"I've been working on concentration camps for 15 years. We know there was forced laborers in Germany - millions of them," she said. "But then you go through these lists. You see the farmer employing so many people. You see the factory employing hundreds of people. Everything was blurred, but suddenly you have a clear image."
Jean-Marc Dreyfus, of Manchester University in Britain, said the archive "won't utterly change our view of the Holocaust, but it will be very precious for researchers to complement and pursue new research."
This is serious business
They take football (soccer to Americans) a bit more seriously around the world than do we here in the United States ... for example:
Iraq disbands national soccer team after loss
It was less than a year ago that Iraqis poured into the streets in a rare show of unity and celebration after the national soccer team won the prestigious Asian Cup.
Celebratory gunfire roared across Baghdad and other cities. A beaming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki later awarded each team member a $10,000 bonus and held a homecoming celebration filled with fanfare - albeit limited to the U.S.-protected Green Zone.
But on Thursday, the Iraqi Football Association said it has dissolved the national soccer team and dismissed the Iraqi coach four days after the team's loss to Qatar ended the country's hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
"It was decided to disband the team, with all its players and coaching staff, including (head coach) Adnan Hamad," the association said in a statement.
Tareq Ahmed, a senior federation official, told The Associated Press that Hamad "is no longer useful to our team."
Ahmed said a new coach - who was not named - would choose players for a new national team. The statement did not single out any players, raising the possibility that some of the current team members could make the new roster.
"We think that the team needs new blood and that new young players will strengthen it," Ahmed said.
Officials did not rule out keeping some of the current players.
"Anyone who has skills and is deemed appropriate by the new coach can join the national team regardless of his identity," said the Iraqi Olympic Committee spokesman, Jazier al-Sahlani.
He also said the decision wasn't entirely related to the level of play.
Al-Sahlani said Hamad also was being punished for purportedly criticizing a controversial government decision to disband the previous Iraqi Olympic Committee because of corruption allegations. The International Olympic Committee had responded by suspending Iraq's national Olympic body for "political interference."
"Hamad did not stick to his technical job and he was involved in politics," al-Sahlani said.
Hamad could not immediately be reached for comment. He was appointed to coach the national team in February, taking over from Norwegian Egil Olsen after another disappointing Iraqi performance in World Cup qualifications.
The jubilation over the victorious run of the team last year gave Iraqis a welcome respite from the daily violence. Revelers of all ages danced in the streets after each win, despite fears of attacks.
Iraqi fans were poised for another round street celebrations this year. Before Sunday's match, President Jalal Talabani issued a statement encouraging the squad to win.
Instead, many were angered by the team's unconvincing and weak performance. The team needed only a draw to reach the final qualification, but instead lost to Qatar 1-0.
Saad Karim, a 24-year-old physical education student, noted that "the team and the coach were treated as heroes" in previous wins.
"When they lost against Qatar, they were crucified. I think this decision is not fair and illogical because the IFA also should shoulder some responsibly for the defeat," Karim said.
Mohammed Haider, a 30-year-old grocer store owner in Baghdad, said he agreed with the decision to disband the team.
"The team needs new blood though the IFA itself, not the team only, should bear some of the blame," Haider said.
The official reaction evoked memories of the far harsher treatment of athletes under Saddam Hussein, whose son Odai was in charge of Iraqi sports and punished poor performances with torture or incarceration. In some cases, Odai was said to have forced players who missed shots during games to kick stone balls.
Iraq has not played a game at home in years. Because of the kidnapping and killing of athletes in various sports, the squad trains and plays abroad, mostly in Persian Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
So did they kick the stewardess off?
American Eagle returns a plane to the gate to kick off a toddler and his mom. Apparently, the flight attendant kept yanking on the autistic toddler's seatbealt to make sure it as tight, touching off a temper tantrum.
My, doesn't this make you feel safer?
"She kept coming over and tugging his seatbelt to make it tighter, 'This has to stay tight'. And then he was wiggling around and trying to get out of his seatbelt. And she kept coming over and reprimanding him and yelling at him," Farrell said...Link"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.
Anti-Monkey Butt Powder
So what is this Powder all about? It’s for motorcyclers. When you are driving on a motorcycle for hundreds of miles, at a time, your butt gets sweaty and irritated from all the constant rubbing. This can be extremely painful from what I am told. The Anti Monkey Butt Powder will absorb the sweat leaving your butt nice and dry and unirritated. The following is directly from the bottle fof this uniquely named product:“Anti Monkey Butt Powder is specially formulated to absorb excess sweat and reduce frictional skin irritation."
Ideal for butt busting activities such as truck driving, motorcycling, bicycling , horse back riding, and extreme sports. May also be applied inside footwear, under sports pads, and other areas prone to chafing.”
While you're laughing ... this is a real consumer product and can be found on the shelves at RiteAid and probably other places as well.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Time in the Sun: How Much Is Needed for Vitamin D?
Coinciding with the first week of summer, a study published today underscores the importance of getting adequate amounts of sunlight for its vitamin D-boosting benefits. The research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that those with the lowest vitamin D levels have more than double the risk of dying from heart disease and other causes over an eight-year period compared with those with the highest vitamin D levels. The researchers cite “decreased outdoor activity” as one reason that people may become deficient in vitamin D. Another recent study found an increased risk of heart attacks in those with low vitamin D levels.
Read more from Time in the Sun: How Much Is Needed for Vitamin D?
Judge refuses to block Florida voter law
A federal judge has refused to block a new version of a Florida voter registration law that critics say could keep thousands of people from casting ballots this year.
And, this is Florida, remember! The state that fucked over the world in the year 2000. So, why do I feel less than confident that 'fair and honest elections' are what is on the minds of those pushing the law through despite the illegality of it.
U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle issued the ruling Tuesday in Gainesville. Last year, he granted a preliminary injunction against an earlier version of the law. He was reversed on appeal and the Legislature modified the law.
Both versions require elections officials to match Social Security, state identification or driver license numbers listed on voter registration applications with numbers in government databases.
"This ruling puts thousands of real Florida citizens at risk this November based on bureaucratic typos," lawyer Justin Levitt said Wednesday.
Levitt represents the Florida Conference of the National Association of Colored People and other groups challenging the law.
Under the new version, if the state is unable to match a number, an applicant can still register by providing verification of either his or her driver license, identity card or Social Security number regardless of which one was entered on the application.
The old version required that the number on the application had to be verified - no substitutes allowed.
The lawsuit alleges both versions of the law violate citizens' constitutional rights to vote and equal protection under the law.
In rejecting a preliminary injunction against the new law, Mickle wrote that challengers failed to establish a likelihood of prevailing on the constitutional issues that will be decided later. The judge also found that matching up identification is justified "by the state's compelling interest in fair and honest elections."
*****
The judge also found that matching up identification is justified "by the state's compelling interest in fair and honest elections".And, this is Florida, remember! The state that fucked over the world in the year 2000. So, why do I feel less than confident that 'fair and honest elections' are what is on the minds of those pushing the law through despite the illegality of it.
So, it isn't just me
Some lawmakers angered by death penalty ruling
The efforts of nearly a dozen states to execute child rapists were derailed Wednesday by a Supreme Court decision that incensed supporters of such punishment. Officials in at least two states said they weren't ready to give up.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called the ruling "a clear abuse of judicial authority" and vowed state officials will "evaluate ways to amend our statute to maintain death as a penalty for this horrific crime." In Oklahoma, state senator Jay Paul Gumm promised similar efforts. "We will certainly look at what options we have," Gumm said. "I think the people of Oklahoma have spoken loudly that this is one of the most heinous of crimes."
Five states have laws that explicitly permit such executions. At issue before the high court was a Louisiana case involving Patrick Kennedy, sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in her bed in 1998, an assault so severe she required surgery.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled the death penalty a disproportionate punishment for raping children under the age of 12, despite the horrendous nature of such acts.
Justices made a similar ruling in 1977, when they said the death penalty was unconstitutional punishment for a Georgia man convicted of raping a teenager who was an adult under the law.
Louisiana's law, passed in 1995, is the broadest in the country. It also makes first-time offenders eligible for the death penalty, unlike Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Montana - which required at least one previous conviction for child rape. Following Wednesday's ruling, all become unconstitutional.
Nationwide, only two men have been sentenced to death for sexually abusing children - both in Louisiana. The second case involves a man convicted of repeatedly raping a 5-year-old girl.
Several states, including Missouri, Alabama and Colorado had been considering similar laws. Supporters there were incensed by Wednesday's ruling.
"Anybody in the country who cares about children should be outraged that we have a Supreme Court that would issue a decision like this," said Alabama Attorney General Troy King, who represented one of nine states that filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Louisiana on the grounds that child rape represented "manifest evil."
Justices are "creating a situation where the country is a less safe place to grow up," King said.
Republican Louisiana governor Jindal said he, too, was outraged. "The opinion reflects a clear abuse of judicial authority, trampling the constitutional authority of states to act through the legislative process," Jindal said.
In South Carolina, Attorney General Henry McMaster, who pushed hard in 2006 to get lawmakers to approve such punishment, said states could ultimately fight Wednesday's ruling by waiting for a change in the makeup of the Supreme Court, or by getting legislatures to redo death penalty laws.
Legal experts were divided on the potential success of such tactics.
According to Douglas Berman, a professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, the justices' ruling appears ironclad. "In the absence of death, the death penalty is off the table," he said. "Instead of a highly contextual and nuanced discussion ... the court asserted that states can only use the death penalty against rapists in the case of death.
"It could have left open the possibility of revamping child rape laws, by age for example, but it did not."
Law professor Deborah Denno of Fordham University wasn't so sure.
"No case is necessarily definitive when you're looking at specific language," she said. "I don't think this is airtight." It could be possible to argue applying the death penalty against attackers who "intended to kill" their victims, but didn't, she said. Or those who assault especially young children, such as toddlers, she said.
(from the AP)
Three LA women plead not guilty to boy's torture
I guess it's not just a Texas thing after all!
Three Los Angeles women have pleaded not guilty to burning, starving and beating the 5-year-old son of one of the women.
A Compton court commissioner accepted the pleas Wednesday in an abuse and torture case against the boy's mother, 24-year-old Starkeisha Brown; her live-in girlfriend and a baby sitter. The mother could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The boy was hospitalized June 9 after being found ill and in the care of a homeless stranger outside a Los Angeles County child services office in Compton.
Prosecutors claim the women beat Brown's son, starved him, burned his genitals with cigarettes and forced him to place his hands on a hot stove.
Typical of the Haters ...
Blackwater owner requests Shari's law to avoid lawsuit damages
Presidential Airways, a division of the private military company Blackwater Worldwide, is being sued for wrongful death by the families of three soldiers killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan.
The company has asked the court to use Shari’a Islamic law to make a ruling on the lawsuit. Why would a right-wing Christian company like Blackwater want to do that?
If the judge agrees, it would essentially end the lawsuit over a botched flight supporting the U.S. military. Shari’a law does not hold a company responsible for the actions of employees performed within the course of their work.According to NPR, Blackwater has over $800 million in government contracts.Erik Prince, who owns Blackwater and Presidential Airways, briefly discussed the lawsuit in a meeting today with editors and reporters at The News & Observer. Prince was asked to justify having a case involving an American company working for the U.S. government decided by Afghan law.
“Where did the crash occur?” Prince said. “Afghanistan.”
Blackwater says crash lawsuit governed by Islamic law (via Reason)
Good News for all the heads out there
New research shows that one of the cannabinoid found in marijuana is an anti-inflammatory that doesn't have the side effect of getting you high. THC also combats inflammation, but that's the stuff that gets you high. However, experiments at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology showed that another cannabis compound, (E)-BCP (beta-caryophyllene), is also an anti-inflammatory but doesn't affect the molecular receptor that makes you feel stoned. Instead it activates only the CB2 receptor which plays a key role in alleviating inflammation. From National Geographic:
Pot as anti-inflammatoryEssential oils from cannabis plants — whose leaves and flowers are used to make the marijuana drug — contain up to 35 percent (E)-BCP...
"Our interest is to exploit the pharmacological nature of the CB2 receptor," because it does not have psychotropic side effects, (study author Jürg) Gertsch explained in an email.
Mystery bone photos at Treehugger
Alan says: "So my wife and I were hiking at Multnomah Falls on the AK-Wanee trail...it is a 2 mile hike that is definitely the "less travelled." During the hike we came across this set of bones that looks like it was laid out. Couldn't find a skull. I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what type of animal this might be? This area of the hike is pretty steep either direction off the path, so wondering what animal might inhabit or wander these hills?" Photos of mystery bones
What were they Smoking?
Dumb Laws - North Carolina
Dumb Laws - South Carolina
The mere possession of a lottery ticket is illegal in North Carolina and may result in a $2,000 fine.
No one may be a professional fortune-teller, and if one wishes to pursue the practice as an amateur, it must be practiced in a school or church.
It’s against the law to sing off key.
Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields.
While having sex, you must stay in the missionary position and have the shades pulled.
If a man and a woman who aren’t married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.
All couples staying overnight in a hotel must have a room with double beds that are at least two feet apart.
It is illegal to have sex in a churchyard.
Oral sex is considered a crime against nature.
A marriage can be declared void if either of the two persons is physically impotent.
Persons in possession of illegal substances must pay taxes on them.
A three dollar tax must be paid on all white goods sold.
Organizations may not hold their meetings while the members present are in costume.
Bingo games may not last over 5 hours unless it is held at a fair.
Serving alcohol at a bingo game is not allowed.
Dumb Laws - South Carolina
It is illegal to display a confederate flag on a courthouse.
By law, if a man promises to marry an unmarried woman, the marriage must take place.
Railroad companies may be held liable in some instances for scaring horses.
A railroad may not remove itself from a town of more than five hundred people.
Fortune tellers are required to obtain a special permit from the state.
Dance halls may not operate on Sundays.
An exception to the above law is that light bulbs may be sold.
No work may be done on Sunday.
Musical instruments may not be sold on Sunday.
Performing a U-turn within 1,000 feet of an intersection is illegal.
It is considered an offense to get a tattoo.
Horses may not be kept in bathtubs.
It is illegal to sell any alcoholic beverages on Sunday, unless you own a private club.
A permit must be obtained to fire a missile.
It is illegal to give or receive oral sex in South Carolina.
When approaching a four way or blind intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle you must stop 100 ft from the intersection and discharge a firearm into the air to warn horse traffic.
It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays.
Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks.
It is a capital offense to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide.
A person must be eighteen years old to play a pinball machine.
Check out the Dumb Laws in your area.
Bachelorhood Dreaming
Got the Mrs., home from the hospital today so no more "Bachelorhood" for me.
Now, it is 'nursemaid' for the next two weeks.
Glad the farm can run itself with all the help I've hired over the last year.
And of course her dog is totally ignoring the fact I exist, now that she is home.
Now, it is 'nursemaid' for the next two weeks.
Glad the farm can run itself with all the help I've hired over the last year.
And of course her dog is totally ignoring the fact I exist, now that she is home.
It ought to be interesting to say the least ...
Former tough-guy actor sets sights on US Senate
Sonny Landham carved out a tough-guy reputation in a series of big-screen roles, from roughing up Sylvester Stallone to getting tossed out a window by Carl Weathers. He pulls no punches in his newest role: Libertarian challenger to a man known for political toughness, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Now 67 and living in northeastern Kentucky, the man who played Billy Bear in "48 Hours" and was killed by an alien in "Predator" admits his action-movie days are behind him. "I think I'm having wild action when I take two aspirin with my hot chocolate at night," he quipped.
The actor known for his powerful physique, booming voice and his American Indian heritage says he's serious about his longshot bid, because too many politicians are indifferent to voters' problems.
"I am running to win," Landham said at a news conference Wednesday at the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort.
He promised to keep his campaign simple and direct: "It's about the economy, which nobody in this whole election year is truly speaking about."
Landham refers to McConnell, a four-term Republican, as "Boss Hogg" after the corrupt politician from "The Dukes of Hazzard" TV show. He bluntly called Democratic candidate and millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford an "elitist."
Even President Bush is a target: "He took us into a war on lies," Landham said in an earlier interview, claiming the actual intent was "to put 'Big Oil' back into Iraq."
To qualify for the November ballot, Landham must collect at least 5,000 valid petition signatures by Aug. 12. State Libertarian Party Chairman Ken Moellman said the petition drive began recently and he believes Landham will make it.
But the bid includes some campaign baggage that seems scripted for Hollywood, instead of socially conservative Kentucky. Early in his acting career in the 1970s, Landham bared it all in adult films.
Asked whether that could hurt him politically, Landham replied, "What can I do? That was a part of my life you cannot call back."
But he does express regrets.
"If I was going to do it now - knowing that I'm going to have four children, knowing that I was going to run for office - no, I wouldn't make that choice," he told The Associated Press in an interview. "But at the time I made the choice of getting a paycheck, staying alive for your big break."
Landham also served more than 2 1/2 years in federal prison after being convicted of making threatening and obscene phone calls to his ex-wife. The conviction was thrown out by a federal appeals court that found he committed no crime.
Libertarians, with their "live and let live" philosophy, look past his history.
"We look at the character of the man today, not what he did 30 years ago," Moellman said, noting the actor "asked his Maker for forgiveness, and that's all you can ask a man to do."
He said Landham lives "a better lifestyle" today, residing in Ashland with his fifth wife and three of his children.
Landham's family joined him for his campaign launch Wednesday, including an infant son he toted from the parking lot to the Kentucky Capitol in a car seat.
The cast of 1987's "Predator" featured two future state governors: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura. But the prospects of winning office seem far more remote for Landham.
Political scientist Michael Baranowski, of Northern Kentucky University, predicted minimal impact on the Senate race, though Landham could take some votes from McConnell.
"I'm not sure which is more of a hurdle for Landham, being a former porn actor or being a Libertarian Party candidate," he said. "But if the race between McConnell and Lunsford is tight enough, the votes Landham pulls from McConnell might be critical."
McConnell campaign adviser Scott Jennings said Landham won't push the Republican incumbent off his message of how he has "delivered for the commonwealth time and again."
This isn't the first dabbling in politics for Landham, who struggled to get odd jobs after being released from prison. Now he still dabbles in acting, but Social Security checks and an acting pension are his main income.
He flirted with running for governor as a Republican in 2003, left the GOP and promised an independent run. He ultimately stayed out and backed Republican Ernie Fletcher, who won.
Landham is as blunt on issues as he is skewering rivals. He equates abortion with murder. He supports scrapping the North American Free Trade Agreement. As for political correctness, he said, "PC is BS. Say what you mean, mean what you say."
Moellman said such unscripted frankness will grab voter attention.
"Sonny is very upfront," he said. "You ask Sonny a question, he'll tell you the answer. He isn't going to pull any punches, which is why I know this race is going to be a lot of fun."
Daily Funny
Who says men don't remember anniversaries!
A wife awakened one night to find her husband missing from the bed Throwing on her robe she went downstairs looking for him.
Seeing him alone, in the dark, sitting at the kitchen table she flipped on the light to see he was staring at the wall with a tear running down his eye.
She went to him, touched his shoulder tenderly and asked, "Honey, what's wrong?"
He replied, "Do you remember that night, exactly twenty-years ago, you were sixteen, and we were in the back seat of my car, and..."
Reaching out she grasped his hand with her heart fluttering that he remembered the exact date she interrupted, "Oh yes, my love, I remem..."
Without pause, he continued, "And your dad came out and caught us, and shoved a shotgun in my face and said I'd have to marry you or he'd have me put in jail."
With tears running down her face and all choked up she looked at him silently with utter love and devotion.
He said, "I'd be getting out today!"
They're Back!
Beaver dam built in England after long absence
Beavers are back, doing what they do best.
The native beaver population in England was hunted into extinction in the 13th century, but a pair of 2-year-old beavers brought over from Germany have in the last 10 days built a dam in southwest England. It is believed to be the first time in centuries that has happened.
Conservationist John-Michael Kennaway, from the Escot Estate in Devon, said the construction of the dam is a welcome milestone in the plan to reintroduce beavers to England.
He said the dam is now about seven feet wide and three feet deep, made of dead wood, branches, mud and stones.
Beavers have been reintroduced over the past few years to Britain, but the other 15 pairs live on lakes where they do not build dams.
The two beavers live in a 2-acre enclosure that includes ponds, where the beavers have built their lodges, and part of a stream, where they are building their dam. Because it is illegal to release them into the wild in Britain, the beavers must be kept in the enclosure, Kennaway said.
"The hope is to have British stock born in Devon that could then be relocated if that was appropriate," he said.
Kennaway is confident the beavers are already doing their part to make this happen. He's seen the two beavers carrying what he called "maternity materials," softer rushes than would normally be used for construction. A maternity lodge has been built to accompany the larger family lodge and sparse "bachelor lodge" that already existed.
"We're fairly hopeful they actually have young in the lodge," Kennaway said, explaining they will know for sure if young beavers, or kits, emerge from the underwater lodge entrance later this summer, possibly in mid-July.
The two beavers were brought over from Bavaria. They were caught in the wild as part of ongoing maintenance of the beaver population in Germany, Kennaway said.
*****
Just a little fluff piece that if you think about it really isn't fluff at all but actually a stern commentary on the world condition and what we humans have done to it. Then again on the lighter side ... a beaver dam makes a wonderful 'swimmin' hole'!
Child rapists can't be executed, Supreme Court rules
Not that I ever going to 'side' with the stacked court we suffer under today - with this decision I say ... Why Not!?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment can be applied only against murderers.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that child rapists cannot be executed, concluding that capital punishment can be applied only against murderers.
The ruling stemmed from the case of Patrick Kennedy, who appealed the 2003 death sentence he received in Louisiana after being convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that execution in this case would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, citing "evolving standards of decency" in the United States.
Such standards, the justice wrote, forbid capital punishment for any crime other than those that take a life.
"We conclude that, in determining whether the death penalty is excessive, there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder on the one hand and nonhomicide crimes against individual persons, even including child rape, on the other," wrote Kennedy, who is not related to the convicted rapist.
Patrick Kennedy, 43, would have been the U.S.'s first convicted rapist since 1964 to be executed in a case in which the victim was not killed.
Kennedy was convicted of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter in her bed. The attack caused severe emotional trauma, internal injuries and bleeding to the child, requiring extensive surgery, Louisiana prosecutors said.
In the majority opinion, Anthony Kennedy acknowledged "the victim's fright, the sense of betrayal, and the nature of her injuries caused more prolonged physical and mental suffering than, say, a sudden killing by an unseen assassin."
But the justice -- supported by Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- wrote that when determining what punishment the Eighth Amendment prohibits, "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" must be taken into account.
After a review of the "history of the death penalty for this and other nonhomicide crimes, current state statutes and new enactments ... we conclude there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape," Anthony Kennedy wrote.
Attorneys at the Capital Appeals Project who represent Patrick Kennedy issued a statement applauding the ruling.
"We can only hope that the money that Louisiana has been spending drafting and defending this anomalous and unconstitutional statute will be reallocated to efforts at treatment for victims of sexual abuse and for measures that actually reduce the risk of such abuse in our communities," attorney Ben Cohen said in the statement.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the dissent, saying, "the harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapist is grave." He was supported by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Alito also wrote that the majority ruled against the death penalty "no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted and no matter how heinous the perpetrator's criminal record may be."
Wednesday's ruling will affect six states that allow the death penalty for rape, including Louisiana, where Patrick Kennedy was recently joined on death row by another convicted child rapist, Richard Davis.
Because of the ruling, the sentences of Davis and Kennedy will automatically be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Capital Appeals Project said.
"Mr. Kennedy, who has consistently maintained his innocence, plans to continue to pursue his appeals in state and federal court," the appeals project said.
Florida, Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have death-penalty laws for rape but have not applied them in decades. Texas enacted a version a year ago, but no defendant has been designated death-eligible for child rape in any state but Louisiana.
U.S. Supreme Court rulings in 1976 and 1977 barred capital punishment for rape and, by implication, any other crime except murder. But in 1995, Louisiana passed a law allowing execution for the sexual violation of a child under 12. State lawmakers argued that the earlier high court cases pertained only to "adult women."
Supporters of Louisiana's law say that besides murder, no crime is more deserving of the death penalty than child rape and that the punishment would be used only in the most heinous of circumstances.
"A lot of people think there should not be a death penalty because the child survives," sex crimes prosecutor Kat Bartholomew said. "In my opinion, the rape of a child is more heinous and more hideous than a homicide."
She said a sexual assault on a child "takes away their innocence. It takes away their childhood. It mutilates their spirit. It kills their soul."
Death penalty opponents contend, among other things, that it could give attackers a reason to murder their victims. In Wednesday's ruling, Anthony Kennedy agreed, writing, "A state that punishes child rape by death may remove a strong incentive for the rapist not to kill the victim."
After the ruling, Lynn, a cousin of the victim's, said, "Just knowing the kind of man [Patrick Kennedy] is, we'll never be comfortable."
The high court has in recent years banned execution for the mentally retarded, underage killers and those deemed to have had an inadequate defense at trial.
Other state and federal crimes theoretically eligible for execution include treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, aircraft hijacking and espionage. None of these crimes has been prosecuted as a capital offense in decades, if ever.
*****
Nothing is more heinous than a crime against a child ... any crime, let alone rape ... I see no problem with the cessation of the perpetrator's life in such cases as the one lain out in the piece above.
Faster than a fart dissipates in a wind storm.
The Haters are deniers about everything pure and simple.
Their ranting that Global Warming doesn't even exist and human haven't had any impact on it are disjointed to say the least.
They are wrong on both counts: Global warming is a fact and is occurring. Humans have had an impact on it.
This is not a "Liberal Agenda", this is a hard fact and since when is a clean environment to live in a bad thing?!
Luckily for the world the haters are losing what little influence they have left faster than a fart dissipates in a wind storm.
Their ranting that Global Warming doesn't even exist and human haven't had any impact on it are disjointed to say the least.
They are wrong on both counts: Global warming is a fact and is occurring. Humans have had an impact on it.
This is not a "Liberal Agenda", this is a hard fact and since when is a clean environment to live in a bad thing?!
Luckily for the world the haters are losing what little influence they have left faster than a fart dissipates in a wind storm.
And I Quote
"... I have a very low tolerance for idiotic bullshit!"
~ George Carlin
~ George Carlin
You and me both, George, you and me both - except I think mine is actually lower.
Queen Elizabeth confers knighthood on Salman Rushdie
Author Salman Rushdie slipped into Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II that had angered many parts of the Muslim world when the honor was announced last year.
In a break with normal procedure, the palace did not announce ahead of time that Rushdie would be honored Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the queen, who asked not to be identified because of the monarch's policy, said Rushdie was not listed among those to be honored because he was a late addition to the investiture. She refused to comment on whether his name had been withheld because of security concerns.
Security has been a major concern for Rushdie since 1989, when Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on the author, accusing him of blasphemy against the Muslim world in his novel "The Satanic Verses." The edict forced Rushdie to live underground with constant protection for many years until it was finally withdrawn in 1998.
Rushdie, dressed in a formal morning suit and obviously pleased with the honor, told reporters after the ceremony that he was not sorry about writing "The Satanic Verses."
"I really have no regrets about any of my work," he said when asked about his most inflammatory novel.
"This is, as I say, an honor not for any specific book but for a very long career in writing, and I'm happy to see that recognized."
Rushdie, 61, published his first novel, "Grimus," in 1975, but it drew little attention and few readers.
Success came with his next book, "Midnight's Children," which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1981.
"The Satanic Verses," published in 1988, created a firestorm of controversy, first in Britain and then in Iran, where Khomeini, who had recently come to power after the overthrow of the Shah, pronounced his death sentence on the writer.
The Indian-British writer was forced to accept round-the-clock protection from British special agents and to stay completely out of the public eye. He moved many times and constantly changed his routine in an attempt to throw pursuers off the track.
The Iranian government withdrew the death sentence in 1998, and Rushdie has gradually returned to public life. Recently he has divided his time between New York and London.
"It's been a long time. My first novel was published 33 years ago, but I think the thing you hope to do as a writer is leave behind a shelf of interesting books, and it's great just to have that work recognized," Rushdie said outside the palace as he posed for photos with his medal. "At this stage, you know, it's certainly not a day to talk about controversy. It's a day for myself and my family to celebrate this."
Pressed about which of his books was his favorite, Rushdie said he could not pick one over the others.
"It's difficult to choose between your books," he said. "You wouldn't choose between your children would you?"
Normally cool and composed, Rushdie said he was nervous before the ceremony and appreciated the help with etiquette and protocol provided by palace staff before the ceremony.
"We all get coached in the green room beforehand, and I was very grateful for the coaching because, even though it's a relatively simple set of procedures, it's really easy under the nervousness of the moment to mess them up and I almost did," Rushdie said.
Veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen, best known for his role as Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, also was honored by the queen. McKellen, a longtime gay rights activist who was knighted in 1990, was made a Companion of Honor at the investiture for services to drama and equality.
And you thought they actually worked?!
Have you ever wondered why nothing gets done in Congress?!
This video clip explains it quite nicely:
And you know it's a republican without looking at the bottom of the screen. It's that obvious.
This video clip explains it quite nicely:
And you know it's a republican without looking at the bottom of the screen. It's that obvious.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Question of the Day
If as they say ... 'the cream rises to the top'... why is it that the curds and the whey are floating there?
North Carolina police are investigating another pregnant soldier's death
Authorities are investigating the death of a soldier who was seven months pregnant after her body was found at a Fayetteville, N.C., motel.
Spc. Megan Lynn Touma was identified Tuesday, two days after her body was found. The 23-year-old dental specialist with the 19th Replacement Company was from Cold Spring, Ky.
The Fayetteville Police Department called the death suspicious in a release but didn't say why or immediately return a phone message. The release said the cause of death isn't known.
She had arrived at Fort Bragg from a base Germany less than two weeks ago.
Touma is the second pregnant service member to die in North Carolina this year. A fellow Marine has been charged in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and is awaiting extradition from Mexico.
*****
I know we called Fayetteville, Fayette-Nam back in my day (and with good reason) but this trend of dead pregnant soldiers is a little creepy even for an old war horse like me.
Aww, just when it was going good ...
Judge issues gag order in Texas swingers club case
or if you prefer
Judge issues gag order in Texas swingers club case
A judge has issued a gag order leading up to the next trial involving an East Texas swingers club that allegedly forced children into sex shows.State District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. in Tyler issued the ruling Tuesday after lawyers for defendant Patrick Kelly subpoenaed two local reporters who have covered the case.
Attorney Thad Davidson has said he plans to ask a Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter and a KLTV reporter about alleged personal relationships with the lead prosecutor in the case. Davidson wants the trial moved outside of Smith County.
The paper will seek to quash the subpoena at a hearing Friday.
Kelly faces life in prison on charges that he helped run the swinger's club, where children as young as 5 allegedly performed sex acts.
In addendum:
An East Texas newspaper acknowledged Tuesday that a reporter covering a trial of a child sex club dated the prosecutor until five months ago, an allegation the defense team is using to seek a change of venue.A reporter from television station KLTV is also accused of having a personal relationship with Smith County Assistant District Attorney Joe Murphy. But the station's news director called the allegation "pure slander."
State District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. issued a gag order Tuesday in the trial of Patrick Kelly, who is accused of helping run an East Texas swinger's group that forced children as young as 5 to perform sex shows.
Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, wants Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter Casey Knaupp and KLTV reporter Danielle Capper to testify Monday when he seeks to get the trial moved from Smith County.
Davidson contends that coverage by Knaupp and Capper has been biased because of their personal relationships with Murphy, and that their stories in turn biased the prospective jury pool.
The newspaper and television station said they will seek to quash the subpoenas at a Friday hearing.
In a story on the Tyler Morning Telegraph's Web site Tuesday, the newspaper acknowledged that Knaupp had dated Murphy and the relationship ended more than five months ago. The first trials in the case were in March.
Knaupp told her paper she keeps her "personal and professional lives separate."
"The allegations by Thad Davidson that my coverage of this case are biased are wholly unfounded," Knaupp said in the paper's story. "I believe anyone who reads my articles will see that."
Kenny Boles, news director of KLTV, said the station's coverage has been "groundbreaking, responsible and balanced."
"I stand by our reporting of both the investigation and criminal trials related to the tragic abuse of the East Texas children in these cases," Boles said.
He called the allegations made of the relationship between his reporter and the prosecutor "pure slander," but wouldn't comment further.
Dave Berry, managing editor of the Tyler Morning Telegraph, has said the paper wasn't of aware of Knaupp's relationship with Murphy but stood by his reporter. He declined further comment Tuesday, and messages left for Knaupp at the paper were not immediately returned.
Phone calls to reach Murphy at his office after business hours Tuesday rang unanswered.
Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham told The Associated Press this week that he was aware Murphy and Knaupp dated, but said he did not see how it is relevant to the trial. He said Knaupp, the paper's courts reporter, has written stories that were not always favorable to his office.
"Yeah, (Murphy has) been out with her," Bingham said. "I don't know how that affects whether or not his defendant is guilty of sexual assault of a child."
Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity. Davidson has said his client passed a lie-detector test and is innocent.
Tomato Update
Salmonella can ride water into tomatoes
Pick a tomato in the blazing sun and plunge it straight into cold water. If that happened on the way to market, it might be contaminated. Too big of a temperature difference can make a tomato literally suck water inside the fruit through the scar where its stem used to be. If salmonella happens to be lurking on the skin, that's one way it can penetrate and, if the tomato isn't eaten right away, have time to multiply.That doesn't mean people shouldn't wash their tomatoes - they should, just probably not in cold water.
But as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the nation's outbreak of salmonella from tomatoes, the example shows the farm isn't the only place contamination can occur - and checking things like water quality and temperature control in packing houses and other supply stops is one key to safety.
Raw fruits and vegetables are crucial to a healthy diet. But they're also the culprits in a growing list of nasty outbreaks: E. coli in spinach and lettuce. Hepatitis A in green onions. Cyclospora in raspberries. Salmonella in cantaloupe. Shigella in parsley.
This newest salmonella outbreak is the 14th blamed on tomatoes since 1990.
Preventing future illnesses depends on learning how salmonella sneaks onto and inside tomatoes, which might seem to be pretty well protected by their smooth waxy skin. Yet scientists have few answers, prompting the FDA last year to begin a Tomato Safety Initiative that is studying industry practices in Virginia and Florida, origin of several previous outbreaks.
Florida's agriculture department on July 1 begins enforcing so-called "tomato best practices," farming and handling guidelines that leading growers pushed the state to formally adopt, and that many farms voluntarily began following in the past year.
The FDA likewise wants the authority to set mandatory safe-handling rules, what it calls "preventive controls," for growers and suppliers of foods linked to repeated outbreaks of serious illness, such as tomatoes and leafy greens. Congress hasn't yet acted on that request.
"We need them, we've asked for them, and we don't yet have them," says Dr. David Acheson, the agency's food safety chief, who is directing the CSI-like hunt for the tainted tomatoes.
Further complicating the picture, budget woes mean the FDA's inspections of food-producing facilities have plummeted by 56 percent between 2003 and last year. Acheson says the drop has continued this year, and the FDA plans to hire more inspectors with a pending budget boost from Congress.
But inspections aren't the solution to food poisoning, insists Acheson, who also hopes to double or triple the 10 percent of FDA's budget historically devoted to prevention.
FDA "is not arguing that you can inspect your way out of these problems," he says. "The critical point is to build safety upfront, not load up inspection at the end."
There are some common themes when fresh produce sickens, either from salmonella - bacteria that live in the intestinal tracts of humans and numerous animals - or other microbes: Water sources, worker hygiene and wildlife or domestic animals near fields are frequent culprits because they involve points where safety systems can easily break down.
Washing fresh produce under running water is a commonsense consumer defense.
"We know you can wash off some salmonella," says Virginia Tech food microbiologist Robert Williams, who accompanied FDA scientists to Virginia farms as part of the tomato initiative. But, "nobody's ever shown it washes off all salmonella."
Water is an automatic first suspect. Was clean water used to irrigate, mix pesticides sprayed on crops, wash down harvest and processing equipment, and wash field workers' hands?
Then in packing houses, tomatoes often go straight into a dump tank, flumes of chlorinated water for a first wash. To guard against salmonella washed into the water in turn being sucked into the tomatoes, producers often keep wash-water 10 degrees warmer than the incoming crop, says food-safety scientist Keith Schneider of the University of Florida, also part of FDA's tomato initiative.
Beyond packing houses, the industry points to cases where suppliers were shipped unwashed, warm tomatoes and dunked them in ice-water baths to firm them for further processing.
Another question: How often does the water have to be changed? Dirt, leaves and other sediment reduce the chlorine's effectiveness.
Studies never have shown that plant roots can suck salmonella up and inside the tomato, where it can't be washed out, says Virginia Tech's Williams, whose lab is working to confirm that. Still, if contaminated water is sprayed onto the leaves or blooms, or bird droppings fall directly onto the foliage, salmonella might be absorbed internally, he says.
In fact, salmonella may be particularly hard to prevent in a variety of crops because birds, reptiles and amphibians carry it - the same reason children should wash their hands after handling a turtle, iguana or frog. The tomato industry's guidelines already advise surrounding fields with bare soil "buffer zones" to discourage reptiles.
"You're not going to stop a bird going through a field. You're not going to stop a frog," Schneider says.
Soap Opera: episode 9 million and one
Key teen witness in sect case denies Texas' claims
A 16-year-old girl is a key witness in the state's effort to pursue criminal charges against members of her polygamist sect, even though she denies investigators' claims that she was abused.The girl, a daughter of the sect's jailed prophet, says she's never been married and doesn't have a baby. She denies church elders are influencing her and wants to fire her lawyer. The state can't even prove her alleged abuse happened in Texas.
A court filing shows that the girl has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury Wednesday, the day the panel convenes in Schleicher County, home of a west Texas ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sex abuse.
Her attorney, Natalie Malonis, was also subpoenaed, according to Tim Edwards, an attorney for the girl's mother who is trying to have Malonis removed from the case.
It's unclear who else will testify. Grand jury proceedings are secret and the Attorney General's office, which is handling the prosecution, has declined to comment.
The criminal case follows state child welfare officials' ill-fated April seizure of more than 400 children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado.
The state accused the sect of widespread sexual abuse of teen girls, but the Texas Supreme Court forced the state to return the children from foster care in June. The high court said the state overreached in taking all the children from the ranch when only a handful of girls may have been abused.
It's not clear what, or whether, criminal indictments of FLDS members may result. But the girl scheduled to testify Wednesday illustrates that to win indictments, prosecutors may have to overcome the denials of the teens they allege were abused.
The girl initially fought attempts by Malonis to finalize an emergency restraining order issued Friday to force her mother to keep church elder Willie Jessop away from the girl.
Malonis said Jessop was influencing the teen and encouraging her to be uncooperative. The girl denies that and accused her lawyer in a letter to the judge of falsely claiming the girl was spiritually married at 15 and had a child.
The girl wants a new lawyer but agreed Tuesday to allow the restraining order to stay in place another 90 days.
Asked whether she had any comment as she left the courthouse on Tuesday, the teen said, "What do I say, except that I'm sick of everything?"
Malonis has said she would not fight with her client through the media. She has said state investigators have given her the information that leads her to believe her client has been abused.
Jim Bradshaw, an FLDS attorney, said Jessop denies any wrongdoing. Jessop has done "nothing that is in the realm of threatening witnesses," he said.
FLDS leaders have consistently denied there was any abuse at the ranch and vowed earlier this month not to sanction underage marriages.
FLDS spokesman Rod Parker said he's not sure whether the girl will be cooperative in her grand jury testimony or whether other FLDS children have been subpoenaed to appear.
"If they're going to be asked to testify against their parents, that's a real dilemma," he said. "I don't know if they're going to be that cooperative."
Under Texas law, a girl younger than 17 cannot generally consent to sex with an adult. Bigamy, which is generally considered a crime of fraud, is also illegal in Texas, although FLDS plural marriages were not sanctioned by the state.
Any criminal prosecution on sex charges is likely to be difficult. The state does have DNA material collected from most YFZ ranch residents to help them sort out family groups after the April 3 raid, and FLDS officials fear the evidence could be used against them in a criminal case.
"I thought from the beginning there was a secondary reason they wanted it," Parker said.
Texas Child Protective Services said it would turn over the DNA test results to criminal prosecutors if it were subpoeanaed by a grand jury or ordered by a court to do so.
Even if they had DNA evidence of abuse, prosecutors would have jurisdictional problems. Without the cooperation of the sect's teen girls, prosecutors will be unable to determine what state any alleged abuse occurred in. The sect has homes in Texas, Arizona and Utah and elsewhere.
The FLDS is a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago. Historically, church members lived along the Arizona-Utah line, where authorities had not sought criminal charges in decades until allegations of underage marriages - and willing witnesses - surfaced several years ago.
Still, just a handful of criminal cases have been prosecuted in the sect, estimated to have 6,000 members. Warren Jeffs, the girl's father and the leader who is revered as a prophet, was convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice for his role in the marriage of a 14-year-old and her 19-year-old cousin. He is jailed awaiting trial on Arizona charges related to marriages involving young girls.
*****
OK, you folks in Texas - the laughs are getting shallower and fewer ... it's time to move on to another 'story'.
I know ... what about live sex shows with children? Oh, wait they've already done that story, too!
CDC: About 8 percent of Americans have diabetes
The number of Americans with diabetes has grown to about 24 million people, or roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population, the government said Tuesday.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2007, said the number represents an increase of about 3 million over two years. The CDC estimates another 57 million people have blood sugar abnormalities called pre-diabetes, which puts people at increased risk for the disease.
The percentage of people unaware that they have diabetes fell from 30 percent to 25 percent, according to the study.
Dr. Ann Albright, director of the CDC Division of Diabetes Translation, said the report has "both good news and bad news."
"It is concerning to know that we have more people developing diabetes, and these data are a reminder of the importance of increasing awareness of this condition, especially among people who are at high risk," Albright said in a statement.
"On the other hand, it is good to see that more people are aware that they have diabetes."
A message left Tuesday night seeking further comment from the CDC wasn't immediately returned.
The disease results from defects in insulin production that cause sugar to build up in the body. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the country and can cause serious health problems including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and amputations.
Among adults, diabetes increased in both men and women and in all age groups, but still disproportionately affects the elderly. Almost 25 percent of the population 60 years and older had diabetes in 2007.
After adjusting for population age differences between various groups, the rate of diagnosed diabetes was highest among American Indians and Alaska Natives (16.5 percent). This was followed by blacks (11.8 percent) and Hispanics (10.4 percent), which includes rates for Puerto Ricans (12.6 percent), Mexican Americans (11.9 percent), and Cubans (8.2 percent).
By comparison, the rate for Asian Americans was 7.5 percent, with whites at 6.6 percent.
*****
Not the rosiest report the CDC has ever made, now is it. Eight percent is eight percent too much. We need to find a cure and work on prevention as well. Find out all you can about Diabetes ... it is true that knowledge is power and the more you know about Diabetes the better you can handle it.
A Life 4 Sale
What is 'A Life 4 Sale' ?
Hi there, my name is Ian Usher, and I have had enough of my life! I don't want it any more! You can have it if you like!
No, I'm not contemplating suicide, I am going to sell my life!! I have my reasons, for further details click the "Why" tab below. However, I am still not sure whether this is inspired madness, complete foolishness, or just some sort of mid-life crisis.
Whatever it is, it's all going up for sale in one big auction. Everything I have and everything I am.
On the day it is all sold and settled I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all, and get on the train, with no idea where I am going or what the future holds for me.
*****
Not quite sure what to make of this story I found on the net. I know we all have entertained such notions as just chucking it all away and going 'walkabout', but this fellow seems to be planning on just that in reality. We'll see how he does.
Potty Humor
Beijing enlists army of toilet trained staff
Beijing has dispatched 8,000 toilet maintenance staff, each responsible for a specific public restroom in the city and trained in hygiene standards and techniques, Olympic knowledge and practical English expressions, Xinhua said Friday.
There will be selective inspections every week and the results will be posted on the website of the Municipal Utilities Administration Commission, said the news agency.
The city was also struggling with which style of commode would be best, noting Westerners prefer seated toilets, which are more comfortable and convenient for the elderly or infirm.Told you So!
Last month, this photo was released of an "uncontacted" tribe in the Amazon rain forest. It's an amazing photo, but it's now come out that the tribe had actually been known since 1910. The photographer, José Carlos Meirelles, went to where they were thought to live specifically to take their pictures. Meirelles works for Funai, the Brazillian Indian Protection Agency, and apparently was trying to attract publicity to help protect indigenous people in the area. Meanwhile, a post on the blog of Survival International, the indigenous rights group which works with Funai, denies that there's been any wrongdoing on their part at all. From The Observer:
From Survival International:Survival International, the organisation that released the pictures along with Funai, conceded yesterday that Funai had known about this nomadic tribe for around two decades. It defended the disturbance of the tribe saying that, since the images had been released, it had forced neighbouring Peru to re-examine its logging policy in the border area where the tribe lives, as a result of the international media attention. Activist and former Funai president Sydney Possuelo agreed that – amid threats to their environment and doubt over the existence of such tribes – it was necessary to publish them.
But the revelation that the existence of the tribe was already established will provoke awkward questions over why a decision was made to try to photograph them – a form of contact in itself – in order to make a political point. Link
The only people who ever claimed that the Indians photographed were ‘lost’ or ‘undiscovered’ were…. the press, despite the fact that Survival has been campaigning for the protection of the many isolated Indian tribes on the Peru-Brazil border for more than twenty years.
Indeed, you might have thought that the fact that the Indians are living in a government reserve set aside for isolated Indian groups would tend to indicate that they weren’t exactly ‘unknown’.
For the avoidance of doubt, let’s just make it clear – yes, the tribe is uncontacted, that is to say, has no peaceful contact with outsiders. But no, they’re not ‘lost’ – they know where they are, and anthropologists, Survival, other NGOs and the Brazilian government have known that there are many isolated Indian tribes living in that region for decades. Link
Shipping children by postal mail: illegal since 1913
From the Smithsonian's Flickr stream of historic, public domain photos, a shot commemorating the end of being able to ship your children by postal mail:
LinkThis city letter carrier posed for a humorous photograph with a young boy in his mailbag. After parcel post service was introduced in 1913, at least two children were sent by the service. With stamps attached to their clothing, the children rode with railway and city carriers to their destination. The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail after hearing of those examples.
Thanks to the folks over at Boing Boing for this gem.
Mission Accomplished
If you have made one person smile in your life then you have lived a life worth living.
This is a message left for me (cited in part) telling me that I have accomplished my mission in life for I have brought a smile to at least one person's face:
This is a message left for me (cited in part) telling me that I have accomplished my mission in life for I have brought a smile to at least one person's face:
... just wanted to let you know that I also joined both of your communities. You're a very interesting, creative person. After leaving you a thank you message, I looked at your communities. In a manner of minutes, you brought "Sunshine Into my Foggy Day".
Enjoyed watching Mr. Carlin's video. I've been going through some horrific, storms of life; thank you for brightening my day. . You had one more joke that made me smile about "7 ... Women ... Shopping". Did you ever think of being a comedian? Maybe where you live they have comedy clubs? I believe that "knowledge is power".
Besides being a comedian, I read somewhere in your tags or blogs, that you love poetry and quotations. Now I owe you a second thank you; I've been moving around so much since college day; fav quotation book got lost along the way. After I joined your community, "lo & behold", the book that I've been missing was found. You use great quotes, but you also provide your community with info on where to go and find more info. "Seek and ye shall find." Never had chance to finish college, but they say it's never to late.
Not only Walt Disney has the power to create magic & fantasy come to life, but also each person holds the key(s) to reach their dreams. So many people wish they did this or that, why wish? It took me a long time to figure it all out. It's too late for me, but if I can help man, woman or child reach their goals or dreams, then I do.
Take care, may you and your family & friends have a great summer vacation!!!! When all is lost, but not forgotten; when life seems to fall apart; remember that after every hurricane comes sunshine. No matter what life brings us; we have to be strong; take the good, bad, ugly and sad. I think that my writer's block has disappeared.
Before you change you mind about my membership to your community, it would be an honor to be a part of either one. Are there any prerequisites for being a member? I'm new to the world of blogs. Have a "GRRRRReat" day!
Enjoyed watching Mr. Carlin's video. I've been going through some horrific, storms of life; thank you for brightening my day. . You had one more joke that made me smile about "7 ... Women ... Shopping". Did you ever think of being a comedian? Maybe where you live they have comedy clubs? I believe that "knowledge is power".
Besides being a comedian, I read somewhere in your tags or blogs, that you love poetry and quotations. Now I owe you a second thank you; I've been moving around so much since college day; fav quotation book got lost along the way. After I joined your community, "lo & behold", the book that I've been missing was found. You use great quotes, but you also provide your community with info on where to go and find more info. "Seek and ye shall find." Never had chance to finish college, but they say it's never to late.
Not only Walt Disney has the power to create magic & fantasy come to life, but also each person holds the key(s) to reach their dreams. So many people wish they did this or that, why wish? It took me a long time to figure it all out. It's too late for me, but if I can help man, woman or child reach their goals or dreams, then I do.
Take care, may you and your family & friends have a great summer vacation!!!! When all is lost, but not forgotten; when life seems to fall apart; remember that after every hurricane comes sunshine. No matter what life brings us; we have to be strong; take the good, bad, ugly and sad. I think that my writer's block has disappeared.
Before you change you mind about my membership to your community, it would be an honor to be a part of either one. Are there any prerequisites for being a member? I'm new to the world of blogs. Have a "GRRRRReat" day!
In response to the last two questions: Why would I change my mind about membership in my communities ... only Haters are looked at askew? Alas, there is a prerequisite for membership ... being a human (sorry, but other species will be considered on a case by case basis only).
*****
Thank you for allowing me to fulfill my mission.
I am glad.
I am also, glad I am checking my in-box more regularly as well.
I am glad.
I am also, glad I am checking my in-box more regularly as well.
The Haters and the Second Amendment
The haters don't have a clue about anything and the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is no exception.
There is one particular verbose hater on another forum who keeps trying to dance semantic with ones who are equipped and well versed and in true fashion is failing miserably. Quoting the NRA's misinterpretation of the Amendment as holy gospel is not correct, yet he continues to blather with his blinders on full steam ahead.
No comprehension of 18th century grammar and syntax is no excuse for trying to foist what is an out-and-out lie as truth is nothing but a hater agenda ploy. The Second Amendment does not say 'every citizen has the right to own a gun' what it says (and means) is the each state has the right (and the obligation) to form and maintain a "well regulated militia". In fact the federal government does not have the right to form or maintain a military or militia under the Constitution and does so at the benevolence of the individual States - not something the haters understand either.
There is one particular verbose hater on another forum who keeps trying to dance semantic with ones who are equipped and well versed and in true fashion is failing miserably. Quoting the NRA's misinterpretation of the Amendment as holy gospel is not correct, yet he continues to blather with his blinders on full steam ahead.
No comprehension of 18th century grammar and syntax is no excuse for trying to foist what is an out-and-out lie as truth is nothing but a hater agenda ploy. The Second Amendment does not say 'every citizen has the right to own a gun' what it says (and means) is the each state has the right (and the obligation) to form and maintain a "well regulated militia". In fact the federal government does not have the right to form or maintain a military or militia under the Constitution and does so at the benevolence of the individual States - not something the haters understand either.
Some people don't deserve to be a mother
Police say DUI suspect went to bar instead of jail
A woman charged in the drunken-driving death of her son went to a bar after his funeral instead of reporting back to jail, state police said.
A judge had given Erin Howard, 26, of Corry, permission to leave the Erie County Prison for 24 hours to attend her son's funeral in Ohio, with orders to return to the lockup by 3 p.m. Saturday.
Instead, Howard went to a bar in Hamilton, Ohio, about a mile from the church where the funeral for 6-year-old Samuel Carpenter was held, police said.
Calls to Howard's public defender went unanswered after business hours Monday.
Howard had been in prison in lieu of $75,000 bail on charges that she was driving drunk when she crashed into a creek bank near Corry, killing Samuel on June 14 - her 26th birthday.
Pennsylvania police found out Sunday morning that Howard had been arrested in Ohio after her son's father allegedly tipped off authorities to her whereabouts. She was being held in Ohio awaiting extradition to Erie.
Howard has now been charged with escape in addition to involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving, child endangerment and other charges related to the crash.
*****
Let's hope they throw this bitch (pardon me, ladies, but that is the nicest way to say it) under the jail house and forget she is there!
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