Growing Trend Of Vacationing In The Buff

A trend in specialty vacations that involves nudity is growing across the country.

That's right, more and more Americans are heading out in the buff. Intimate cruises are made up of less than 200 people, beautiful scenery, crystal clear water and the option of going au natural.

"You remove the uniform, the clothes, we are all the same," Julian Marsh, a self proclaimed naturist.

Marsh described his first experience with nudity five years ago as shocking. He was just visiting a friend at a party.

"When I walked in the door and bunch of people watching TV and drinking coffee and chatting naked," said Marsh.

Julian said that gave him a sense of freedom which is now available for everyone on the high seas.

"People are hungry for a connection for something that is real and our cruises provide that," said Craig Stevens, creator of Source Events, a travel company based in Miami.

Smith is not only surviving, his business is thriving. He is taking advantage of the 400 million dollar a year nude recreation industry. Source Events, which began booking gay cruises, is now expanding their horizons.

"Women that want to create women's cruises, other people that want to do youth cruises," said Smith.

If hitting the high seas naked is something you are not comfortable with you don't have to worry because you'll have options.

"Our events are clothing optional meaning that if you are not comfortable with it, it doesn't mean you have to take your clothes off," said Marsh.

Some of the common questions include looking good naked, one's physical attributes and the average age of each passenger. The answer to all those questions is 'it doesn't matter'. As for the age question, Marsh said he's seen people in the 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's cruise nude.

"You are part of a larger group and you are accepted and it's a beautiful thing," said Marsh who can't wait for his next vacation.

*****

This trend will continue to grow and for the reasons the piece says, but also because as the economic keeps getting worse more people will not be able to afford clothes so a nude vacation will become the norm rather than the rare.

Woman's ex-friends used cold as weapon

A 19-year-old woman who thought she was going to a party was instead driven to a rural wooded area and abandoned in 8-degree weather in a long-planned attack by three friends angry with her over an insurance claim, police said.

The victim was wearing only a dress and one shoe, having lost the other in a struggle as she was dragged from the car, said Lt. Frank Cannella of the North Bergen police.
A motorist soon stopped and let the victim use a cell phone but refused to give her a lift.
The victim used the phone to call one of the women who abandoned her.

She spent more than an hour in the freezing cold before flagging down another motorist, who took her to a hospital.
The North Bergen woman, whom police did not identify, may need surgery after suffering frostbite to both feet January 16th in Alpine, a town on the Hudson River about 18 miles north of New York City.

"These actions were so profound that it leads you to believe there was a tremendous indifference to human life," Cannella said.

Maria Contreras-Luciano, 22, of Dumont, and Amber Crespo, 20, and Dyanne Velasquez, 21, both of North Bergen, face kidnapping, assault and conspiracy charges and are free on $200,000 bail.
Crespo is also charged with making terroristic threats.

The women planned the attack for more than a month.
The suspects wanted revenge after the 19-year-old sued Crespo's auto insurance carrier after a car accident, Cannella said, adding that he didn't have details about the accident or claim.

The victim arrived at Crespo's home to meet up with the three women and then drive together to a party, according to authorities.
She noted that her friends weren't dressed for a party but was reassured by their words and by an evening dress on a hanger inside the car.

The incident didn't come to the attention of police until the victim reported it January 20th.

A man identified as Contreras-Luciano's boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of hindering apprehension after he declined to turn his car over to investigators.
Police believe his car was used in the attack.

*****

These three BITCHES (and yes that is the only why to describe them) need to spend an awful lot of time behind bars for this - say, like until they are far past child bearing age!

Hot Tea

There is nothing as calming as a cup of hot tea right before bed.
If you are having difficulties in falling asleep give it a try.
If falling asleep isn't a problem then do it just for the contemplation time as I do.
You won't go wrong either way.
I would suggest an herbal variety, preferably non-caffeinated - unless you desire to get up after a couple of hours sleep to run to the toilet and disrupt that peaceful and serene feeling you had when you went to sleep.

Our Readers

Some of today's readers hail from:

Bath, England, United Kingdom
Munich, Bayern, Germany
Hales Corners, Wisconsin, United States
Abilene, Texas, United States
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:
Discuss what you've recently learned with a person who's always encouraging.

All right then ... Hey, Mom, ya got a minute?

And I Quote

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

~ Albert Einstein

Don't I know it, Al!

Man accused of drunken horse riding in snowstorm

From the "There are some idiots out there" Department:

A man has been cited for public intoxication while riding a white horse during a snowstorm in the northern Wyoming town of Cody. Police said they cited 28-year-old Benjamin Daniels, of Cody, after they received a call at 4 p.m. Sunday from a motorist who was concerned that a man was creating a road hazard by riding his horse on a street in conditions with poor visibility.

Assistant Police Chief George Menig said officers noticed that Daniels was intoxicated after they stopped him to explain that drivers were having difficulty spotting his slow-moving white horse.

Menig said Thursday that Daniels was detained Sunday and released the following day. He will go before a municipal judge later.

A friend of Daniels' picked up the horse.

*****

Riding a white horse in the snow (more so while intoxicated) ... not one of your better ideas to be sure.

Let's call him 'swifty', shall we.

Harris Teeter to cut store openings

Harris Teeter is cutting the number of store openings and renovations planned for 2009 and beyond because of the weak economy, the Matthews-based grocer's parent company said in a filing Thursday.

Charlotte-based Ruddick Corp. said in a filing last summer that it planned to spend about $245 million in 2009 to build 19 new stores and complete eight major remodeling projects. By the fall, those numbers had declined to $241 million to open 17 new stores and finish four major remodeling projects.

The company now says it plans to spend $212 million on such projects in 2009, opening 16 new stores and remodeling three. It is also building a $100 million distribution center in Fredericksburg, Va., that would open in fiscal 2012 and serve its growing roster of stores in the Washington, D.C., area. The center would help save money on transportation, the company said.

Ruddick also announced Thursday that its quarterly earnings slipped 1.7 percent, as a sales drop at textile maker American & Efird offset gains at Harris Teeter. Ruddick, the parent of both, reported net income of $22.9 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, in its first quarter that ended Dec. 29. That's compared to $23.3 million, or 48 cents per diluted share, during the same period the year before.

Growth at Harris Teeter helped Ruddick sales increase 1.9 percent, to $995 million. The Matthews-based grocer's sales rose 3.6 percent, to $928.9 million. That, however, was due to new stores; sales at stores open a year or more, a key gauge of retail health, declined 2.1 percent.

The company attributed that decrease to the recession, noting that customers are buying fewer items per shopping visit. However, the company has been spending additional money on promotions and said its data suggests Harris Teeter is gaining market share and selling more store brand products. Harris Teeter's operating profit rose slightly because of cost-control measures, the company said in a news release.

Someday Never Comes

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Peanut plant problem forces fresh recall

Worried about salmonella, the Army said it is removing some peanut butter items from warehouses in Europe, the latest in an ever-growing list of recalled peanut products linked to a national salmonella outbreak.

Already more than 430 kinds of cakes, cookies and other goods in the civilian world have been pulled off store shelves in what the Food and Drug Administration is calling one of the largest product recalls in memory. The Army's recall does not affect Meals-Ready-to-Eat, but another kind of military grub called Unitized Group Rations-A, which provide a complete 50-person meal.

More than 500 people have gotten sick in the U.S. outbreak, and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection.

At the center of the investigation is a Georgia peanut processing plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitary problems.

Managers at the Blakely, Ga., plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella, the FDA said. The company shipped the food items after retesting them and getting negative results.

Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Wednesday to all peanut goods produced at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007. The company makes just 1 percent of the peanut products sold in the United States, but those products are ingredients in hundreds of other foods, from ice cream, to Asian-style sauces, to dog biscuits. Major national brands of peanut butter are not affected.

A senior lawmaker in Congress and Georgia's agriculture commissioner called for a criminal probe of the company, but the FDA said that would be premature while its own food safety investigation continues.

The company says it is fully cooperating with the government and has stopped all production at the plant. Peanut Corp. said in a statement it "categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products."

Stewart Parnell, the firm's president, said that the recall was expanded out of an abundance of caution.

"We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market immediately," Parnell said.

Most of the older products in the expanded recall have probably been eaten already. Officials said they see no signs of any earlier outbreaks from those goods.

The recall covers peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal and granulated products, as well as all peanuts - dry and oil roasted - shipped from the factory. FDA officials could not quantify the amount of products being recalled.

Officials recommend that consumers check the FDA web site, which lists all the products being recalled, and toss out any that are named.

Salmonella had been found previously at least 12 times in products made at the plant, but production lines were never cleaned after internal tests indicated contamination, FDA inspectors said in a report. Products that initially tested positive were retested. When the company got a negative reading, it shipped the products out.

That happened as recently as September. A month later, health officials started picking up signals of the salmonella outbreak.

Michael Rogers, a senior FDA investigator, said it's possible for salmonella to hide in small pockets of a large batch of peanut butter. That means the same batch can yield both positive and negative results, he said. The products should have been discarded after they first tested positive.

Separately, senior congressional and state officials on Wednesday called for a federal probe of possible criminal violations at the plant.

The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees FDA funding. "This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system."

In Georgia, the state's top agriculture official joined DeLauro in asking the Justice Department to determine whether the case warrants criminal prosecution.

"They tried to hide it so they could sell it," said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. "Now they've caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company - and it could destroy the peanut industry."

*****

Whether the case warrants criminal prosecution?

Without a question it does!

*****

More Information

• Video
  
• Video
  
• FDA's recall page
  
• FDA's outbreak page

Scientists Teleport Matter More Than Three Feet

From the "Remember today's Science Fiction is tomorrow's Science Fact" Department:

Scientists have come a bit closer to achieving the “Star Trek” feat of teleportation.

No one is galaxy-hopping, or even beaming people around, but for the first time, information has been teleported between two separate atoms across a distance of a meter — about a yard.

This is a significant milestone in a field known as quantum information processing, said Christopher Monroe of the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, who led the effort.

Teleportation is one of nature’s most mysterious forms of transport: Quantum information, such as the spin of a particle or the polarization of a photon, is transferred from one place to another, without traveling through any physical medium.

It has previously been achieved between photons (a unit, or quantum, of electromagnetic radiation, such as light) over very large distances, between photons and ensembles of atoms, and between two nearby atoms through the intermediary action of a third.

Wind jobs outstrip the coal industry

Here’s a talking point in the green jobs debate:

The wind industry now employs more people than coal mining in the United States.

Wind industry jobs jumped to 85,000 in 2008, a 70% increase from the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday from the American Wind Energy Association. In contrast, the coal industry employs about 81,000 workers. (Those figures are from a 2007 U.S. Department of Energy report but coal employment has remained steady in recent years though it’s down by nearly 50% since 1986.) Wind industry employment includes 13,000 manufacturing jobs concentrated in regions of the country hard hit by the deindustrialization of the past two decades.

Full Story in Fortune

Statue Unveiled In Honor of Bush Shoe Throw

A sculpture of an enormous bronze-coloured shoe has been erected in Iraq to honour the journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush.

The sofa-sized artwork was formally unveiled in Tikrit, hometown of late Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein.

Read the report from BBC News here.

According to Forbes Magazine, the incident has been a gold-mine for the Turkish shoemaker, Ramazan Baydan, who claims to have made the shoe thrown at the now ex-President, now renamed the Bush Shoe.

”People are calling from all over the world to order this shoe I designed a decade ago. We have so far 370,000 new orders from Europe, the Middle East and the United States compared to only 40,000 orders of this particular model in December last year,” Baydan told Forbes.com during a phone interview through an interpreter.

At least Bush sparked an economic recovery for somebody.

Read the full article in Forbes here.

UK fingerprints foreign six-year-old children at the border

If you bring a child to Britain from outside the EU, be prepared to have her fingerprinted, even if she's only six years old. That's because the British government now leads the world in undermining the civil liberties of children, beating the US-VISIT program by eight years (visitors to America are only fingerprinted if they're over 14). Most of the British government seems not to have realized that this was going on -- even though the UK's Members of European Parliament have been pushing to make this a requirement across the EU.

Remember when the head of Scotland Yard proposed taking DNA samples from five-year-olds who displayed criminal tendencies so that they could be rounded up for arrest later in life? Here again, we see the British government mistaking Nineteen Eighty-Four as a manual for statecraft.

In fact, no one has called the Borders Agency to account. Home Office officials I have talked to outside the agency were shocked that official government policy is now to fingerprint children.

When asked why (question 226407), the Home Office itself offers a much more solid defence: that the EU requires it. What it does not admit is that the British government is almost alone in pushing the EU to ensure that the age when fingerprinting can start is so low. Home Office officials pushed the EU to establish a standard age of six, despite opposition within other European governments. The next time you hear a government official support the EU, it is not just because it is a vehicle for "peace, prosperity and freedom", but also because it is a vehicle to push through policies that the UK government would prefer not to pursue through the legislature at home.

The Bush administration rejected the contemplation of fingerprinting children, even within the controversial US-VISIT program that fingerprints visitors to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security is prohibited from fingerprinting children under 14, though it may well consider lowering it.

Six-year-olds fingerprinted by Britain

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu creator dies

Helio Gracie, one of the main creators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that gained worldwide popularity, has died.
He was 95.

Gracie died this morning and was buried in this afternoon near his home in the mountain resort town of Petropolis near Rio de Janeiro, according to a short statement posted on the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy Web site.

The Agencia Estado news service said he died of pneumonia.

Gracie introduced a series of adaptations to traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu that emphasized leverage and position as a way to compensate for size differences among opponents.

Illinois governor unanimously convicted and tossed from office

Governor Rod Blagojevich was thrown out of office today without a single lawmaker coming to his defense.

He was brought down by a government-for-sale scandal that stretched from Chicago to Capitol Hill and turned the foul-mouthed politician into a national punchline.

Blagojevich, accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, becomes the first U.S. governor in more than 20 years to be removed by impeachment.

After a four-day trial, the Illinois Senate voted 59-0 to convict him of abuse of power, automatically ousting the second-term governor.

In a second, identical vote, lawmakers further barred Blagojevich from ever holding public office in the state again.

*****

It should be noted that the accusation that garnered the lionshare of the attention - that of 'trying' to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat - did not play a role in the trial or conviction in that trail ... it was all the other 'abuses' of power he had committed over the years as governor (just as had his predecessor - it is an Illinois thing).

The new governor will be just the same - Illinoians won't have it any other way.

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

Hope you have enjoyed
"Freethinkers Day"
so far today!

Six Months in A Leaky Boat

Split Enz

White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

Read the rest of the NY Times piece here.

It's a Blond thing ...

At a pharmacy, a blond asked to use the infant scale to weigh the baby she held in her arms.
The clerk explained that the device was out for repairs, but said that she would figure the infant's weight by weighing the blond and baby together on the adult scale, then weighing the mother alone and subtracting the second amount from the first.

"That won't work, I'm the aunt."

*****

In Vegas, a blond walks up to a Coke machine and puts in a coin.
Out pops a coke.
The blond looks amazed and runs away to get some more coins.

She returns and starts feeding the machine madly, and of course the machine keeps popping out the drinks.

Another person walks up behind the blond and watches her antics for a few minutes before stopping her and asking if someone else could get a drink. The blond spins around and shouts in her face: "Can't you see I'm winning!?"

*****

A blond and a redhead met in a bar after work for a drink and were watching the 6 o'clock news. A man was shown threatening to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge.
The blond bet the redhead $50 that he wouldn't jump, and the redhead replied, "I'll take that bet!"

Anyway, sure enough, he jumped, so the blond gave the redhead the $50.
The redhead said, "I can't take this, you're my friend."
The blond said, "No. A bet's a bet".

So the redhead said, "Listen, I have to admit, I saw this on the 5 o'clock news, so I can't take your money."

To which the blond replied, "Well, so did I, but I never thought he'd jump again!"

South American leaders head to anti-Davos gathering

Five South American leaders are headed to the steamy Amazon city of Belem, today to join 100,000 activists demanding an overhaul of capitalism they say is long overdue.

The presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela were expected to join activists of all stripes at an annual protest against the World Economic Forum held for the planet's rich and powerful at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said ahead of his arrival in Brazil that the World Social Forum will show the planet how to make "a better world, distinct from capitalism."

And Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make his first social forum appearance in three years, bringing 13 government ministers with him instead of going to Switzerland.
Activists said they weren't angry at Silva for shunning the social forum in previous years, predicting he will receive a warm welcome.

Gladys Cisneros, a program officer for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity based in Washington, was encouraged by the VIP lineup - but hoped leaders want to do more than boost their popularity amid the world financial crisis."I would hope their coming here is a genuine reflection of their interest in engaging in civil society and not just a photo op," she said.

Tuscan city says 'basta' to ethnic food

It's the small things like this that ruin the world ...

If you are craving a kebab, tandoori chicken or Peking duck you may go hungry in the small Tuscan city of Lucca, which has just barred new ethnic restaurants from opening in its historic medieval center.

Officials say new rules passed last week by Lucca's conservative administration aim to protect local specialties from the rising popularity of "different" cuisines.
The measure also bans fast food restaurants and hopes to reduce littering within the city's ancient walls, a magnet for tourists.

"By ethnic cuisine we mean a different cuisine," city spokesman Massimo Di Grazia said.
"That means no new kebabs, Thai or Lebanese restaurants."
Di Grazia said ethnic restaurants opened before the measure was passed could stay in business.

The move has sparked accusations of gastronomic racism from opposition politicians and criticism from Italian chefs, who say modern cuisine relies on fusion, the combination of ingredients used in different food traditions.
"It's a discriminatory ban," councilman Alessandro Tambellini said. "It's a sign of closure toward different cultures."

"There is no dish on the face of the Earth that doesn't come from mixing techniques, products and tastes from cultures that have met and mingled over time," said Vittorio Castellani, a TV chef and cookbook author.
Castellani said the ban was also a blow to immigrant communities, whose members often make a living by selling ethnic food.

Downtown Lucca, 40 miles west of Florence, is a popular destination for thousands of visitors, who roam its intact walls, medieval churches and Renaissance palaces.

Di Grazia, noting that other nearby towns had passed similar rules, said, the measure was not discriminatory.
He said it aimed to improve the city's image and protect Tuscan products, like wine and oil, as well as Lucca's cuisine, rich in soups, meat and pasta dishes.

It remains unclear how "different" a restaurant's menu would have to be to fall under the culinary ban.
Di Grazia said a French restaurant would be allowed to open, but he was not sure about a restaurant offering Sicilian dishes, which often include Middle Eastern ingredients.

*****

This is one town who will be loosing quite a bit of its tourist trade just as have other town that have gone down this road. I know I won't be visiting Lucca.

In environmental friendly news

In environmental friendly news ...

The Co-Op today became the first UK supermarket to ban the use of a group of pesticides implicated in billions of honeybee deaths worldwide.

It is prohibiting suppliers of its own-brand fresh produce from using eight pesticides that have been connected to honeybee colony collapse disorder and are already restricted in some parts of Europe.

Read the rest in The Guardian

Being Green: The Boy Scouts Aren't

In proof that 'image' isn't all it's cracked up to be ...

For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts have worn a self-adorned badge as campsite conservationists and good stewards of the land. makes

"The Boy Scouts were green before it was cool to be green," said the organization's national spokesman, Deron Smith.

But for decades, local Boy Scouts of America administrations across the country have clearcut or otherwise conducted high-impact logging on tens of thousands of acres of forestland, often for the love of a different kind of green: cash.

An investigation has found dozens of cases over the past 20 years of local Boy Scout councils logging or selling prime woodlands to big timber interests, developers or others, turning quick money and often doing so instead of seeking ways to preserve such lands.

Read more here

Your brain on fiction

In an upcoming journal article in Psychological Science reports on the research of scientists from the Dynamic Cognition Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis into what brain activity takes place while we read narrative stories.
The study concludes that our brains simulate the action in the story, echoing it as we read.

Nicole Speer, lead author of this study, says findings demonstrate that reading is by no means a passive exercise. Rather, readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative. Details about actions and sensation are captured from the text and integrated with personal knowledge from past experiences. These data are then run through mental simulations using brain regions that closely mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities.

"These results suggest that readers use perceptual and motor representations in the process of comprehending narrated activity, and these representations are dynamically updated at points where relevant aspects of the situation are changing," says Speer, now a research associate with The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program in Boulder, Colo. "Readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change."

Readers build vivid mental simulations of narrative situations, brain scans suggest

Aerial shots of London by night

Here is a gallery of magnificent aerial night-photos of London from Jason Hawkes, who notes, "I often shoot tethered to my MacBook Pro to check the sharpness of the images whilst I shoot."

More of London from above, at night

You Got It

Roy Orbison

New Zealand inmate's leisurely stroll stopped by pole

Don't you just love it when real life imitates a slapstick comedy gag!

It was less than a Great Escape.

Two New Zealand prisoners who were handcuffed together as they fled a courthouse foiled their own getaway when they ran to opposite sides of a light pole, slammed into each other and fell to the ground.

Jailers nabbed them as they struggled to their feet.
(laughing their arses off, I'm sure - the jailers that is)

Their escapade on Wednesday was captured by a CCTV camera at Hastings District Court on New Zealand's North Island.

The footage shows the two men trying to make a break for it - but apparently forgetting they were joined at the wrist.

*****

I can't wait for that footage to make it to the net ... it'll be better than any Keystone Kops or Three Stooges skit ever was, I just know it!

Our Readers

Today's readers hail from:

Sylacauga Alabama, Unites States
Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
Florence, South Carolina, United States
Luqa, Malta, Malta

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Although things are going pretty well, you still need to be careful.

I am always.

The Internet

In a look at the Internet we debut a new series with that little padlock symbol you see on the bottom right-hand corner of those 'secure' pages you use ...

That little padlock symbol that means you're shopping or banking at a secure site?
It might not be the symbol of security you've been told it is.

Read more in the Washington Post.

'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world

An 'immortal' jellyfish is swarming through the world's oceans, according to scientists.

The Turritopsis Nutricula is able to revert back to a juvenile form once it mates after becoming sexually mature.

Marine biologists say the jellyfish numbers are rocketing because they need not die.

Dr Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute said: "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion."

The jellyfish are originally from the Caribbean but have spread all over the world.

Turritopsis Nutricula is technically known as a hydrozoan and is the only known animal that is capable of reverting completely to its younger self.

It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation.

Scientists believe the cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it potentially immortal.

While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the unique ability to return to a polyp state.

Having stumbled upon the font of eternal youth, this tiny creature which is just 5mm long is the focus of many intricate studies by marine biologists and geneticists to see exactly how it manages to literally reverse its aging process.

Science News

A couple of stories from the world of Science:

Many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible

Climate change leaves emperor penguins 'facing extinction'

Health News

In a round up of Health related stories:

Study finds that aspirin may prevent liver damage that afflicts millions

Fast-food diet cancels out benefits of breastfeeding in preventing asthma

Cutting salt isn't the only way to reduce blood pressure; study suggests boosting potassium is also effective

Ailing economy leads to rise in stress, drop in healthy habits

Common medication associated with cognitive decline in elderly

New survey results show huge burden of diabetes

Unmet medical needs are most common among vulnerable children

Study finds MRSA in Midwestern swine, workers

Also in a related piece to a previous post on Carolina Naturally ...

If you've been paying attention you already know that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, but it's worse than you thought - it's loaded with mercury

Did you know ...

Banks that got the ongoing bailout billions have reduced their lending more than banks that didn't get diddley-squat.

Read more at Reuters.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Concert for George

Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and other musicians, including George Harrison's son Dhani, perform Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"at the "Concert For George" - a memorial to the ex-Beatle George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death - at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002.

Unemployment is now at 17%

If it's calculated the way they used to do math before political tinkering.

C-Span

Liars and Fools

For today's edition of Liars and Fools we have the following.

Wingnut heads explode because President Obama gives his first TV interview to Al-Arabiya
Maybe if enough of them explode we can be shed of the lot of them. We can hope.

Robert Reich calls Dimbulb, Handjob, 'Male'kin on their lies
But do you think they noticed?

Wing-nut fact-fudger William Kristol jumps from New York Times to Washington Post
Yeah, like that is going to make him a writer.

Lush Dimbulb is hot under the collar
And this is a bad thing, how?

King (r-Michigan) believes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed wants asylum and American citizenship
He also 'believes' in little green men and the moon is made of cheese - so this is news?

Faux News promotes anti-Obama book filled with "falsehoods and red herrings"
All right, is anyone surprised at this?

Wing-nuts run with absolute nonsense on Guantanamo issue
As if it would be any other way.

Parroting repugican talking points, Dimbulb resumes lying about ACORN
Telling the truth would literally kill the fat bastard ... his body couldn't take the traumatic shock!

Dick(head) Morris reiterates: Obama stimulus plan is a trojan horse filled with socialists
He sees a socialist every time he looks in a mirror, oh, wait vampires can't see their reflection, sorry -forgot there for a moment.

Handjob repeats false calculation of job creation cost
One added to one equals two or at least it does in the real world ... in Handjob's world, who knows?

On Meet the Press, Gregory lets Boehner (r-Ohio) lie repeatedly about terror linked to former Guantanamo prisoners
Boner (excuse me, Boehner) does know how to tie his shoes without a map drawn out for him to follow so why should anyone listen to the blowhard anyway?

Juan Williams: Michelle Obama is 'Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress'
And Juan is such a prize?

And I Quote

"So far so good for the Obamas. The family is settled in. Their only complaint
is they can still hear creepy organ music coming from Dick Cheney's dungeon."

~ David Letterman

Economic Meltdown Continues

You want more proof the shrub and the cabal screwed this country over.

Then read this:

The FBI was aware for years of "pervasive and growing" fraud in the mortgage industry that eventually contributed to America's financial meltdown, but did not take definitive action to stop it.

"It is clear that we had good intelligence on the mortgage-fraud schemes, the corrupt attorneys, the corrupt appraisers, the insider schemes," said a recently retired, high FBI official.

Another retired top FBI official confirmed that such intelligence went back to 2002.

Read more here

Better be thankful they're not in China

Peanut processor knowingly sold tainted products.

The Georgia peanut plant linked to a salmonella outbreak that has killed eight people and sickened 500 more across the country knowingly shipped out contaminated peanut butter 12 times in the past two years, federal officials said yesterday.

Read more in the Washington Post

The recent spat of such things in China resulted in the ones responsible attending a necktie party in their honor ... it was the last party they ever went to.
Hemp neckties tend to make lasting impressions on the honoree, you know.

Attenborough's response to creationists' hate mail

Sir David Attenborough gets a lot of hate mail because he doesn't give credit to God in his documentaries.

In an interview with this week's Radio Times about his latest documentary, on Charles Darwin and natural selection, the broadcaster said: "They tell me to burn in hell and good riddance."

Telling the magazine that he was asked why he did not give "credit" to God, Attenborough added: "They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

Attenborough's response to creationists' hate mail

You and me David, you and me.

Canada opposition reconsiders toppling government

Canada's main opposition party backed away from plans to topple the Conservative government, saying Wednesday the prime minister is "on probation" and must give periodic economic updates to Parliament.

The opposition Liberals had vowed to use a parliamentary confidence vote to take down Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government if his stimulus plan fell short.

But Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said he would support Harper's $32 billion plan if he agrees to give regular status reports on the economy to lawmakers.

"We are putting this government on probation," Ignatieff said.

"Should Mr. Harper fail to satisfy the expectations of Canadians we will be ready to defeat him."

*****

This is a huge mistake! You should oust the Harper n'er-do-wells' post haste and not let them further ruin your country.

Idaho's poor get donated fish, but not warning

An Idaho food bank last year gave away thousands of pounds of donated local fish without being aware of a state health department warning that eating too much of the mercury-contaminated fish could be dangerous for pregnant women and children.

The Bonner Community Food Bank in Sandpoint, along with as many as eight other groups around the region, received lake trout and whitefish caught from Lake Pend Oreille through an Idaho Department of Fish and Game program.

But since at least 2007, the Department of Health and Welfare has advised pregnant women and children to eat just one monthly meal of lake trout and four meals of whitefish caught from Lake Pend Oreille.

Food bank director Alice Wallace said she gave out 4,700 pounds of fish to the region's low-income people last year but was never told of the health advisory.

*****

Not being told is no excuse. It is part of your job to know and post these warnings, period!

Things in the News

Things in the news:

House Votes Today To Protect the Internet

Drum Major Suspended For Waving At Obama

Daily Reminder

A man dies and goes to Heaven.
After a couple days, St Peter asks the man what he thinks.
"I don't see any of my Christian friends", said the man.
St Peter responds, "They're on the other side of that big wall. They think that they're the only ones here".

Unusual Celebrations and Holidays

Today is one of the rare 'no celebration or holiday' days of the year (at least none that I can find).

Maybe we should designate it 'International No Celebration and Holiday Day'.

It's an idea.

And I Quote

All television is children's television.

~ Richard P. Adler

Burma faces food crisis because of cyclone

Burma faces food shortages in many parts of the country, largely because of last year's cyclone and a rat infestation that destroyed crops, according to a U.N. report released today.

About 185,000 tons of emergency food aid will be needed this year throughout the impoverished country, said the report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.

Cyclone Nargis, which left more than 130,000 people dead or missing in May last year, exacerbated the country's economic difficulties and raised the prospect of a humanitarian crisis.
"Access to food remains the critical challenge for the poorest people and for vulnerable populations in remote areas of Burma," said Chris Kaye, WFP's representative for Burma.
"For many of those affected by Cyclone Nargis, who are engaged in rebuilding their lives and livelihoods, the limited delta harvest means they will continue to rely on assistance to meet their food needs."

About 2 million acres of rice paddies were submerged by massive waves and 85 percent of seed stocks was destroyed.
Cheng Feng, an economist for the FAO, said rice production in the delta during the second half of 2008 fell 32.5 percent to 1.93 million tons from a year earlier.
A shortage of labor, higher fertilizer prices and lower rice prices may also have dissuaded some delta farmers from planting, according to the U.N. report.

"There are still problems that need to be fixed," Feng said.
"The farmers said they had to plant several times because the seeds they were given were not right for that area."
Rats - which multiplied because of the rare flowering of bamboo in 2007 - have damaged 1,693 acres of rice and 988 acres of maize in 121 villages in Chin state, the U.N. report said.

Citizens in Chin, Rakhine and other poor states are suffering "critical food insecurities" and "high levels" of malnutrition in children, the WFP said.
People have resorted to foraging the forest for food, it said.

Our Readers

Today's readers hail from:

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Zaporizhzhya, Zaporizka, Ukraine
Old Bridge, New Jersey, United States
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Maia, Porto, Portugal

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

You are, or are about to be, involved in a new endeavor.

Oh, Really?! That's nice.

Wing-Nut Yammering and Flap-Doodle

Yet, more nonsense from our resident troll Ted:

Ted said...

With the mounting job casualties, here's hoping SCOTUS either finds someone, somewhere, has standing to require BHO's birth certificate or fixes attention on a criminal indictment before he wins his War on Prosperity.

The moron posted this comment on a post from four days ago just three hours ago.

The wing-nuts just cannot get a grip on reality now can they. Still yammering on about birth certificates and such despite several authentic copies and certifications as well as certified birth announcements available for anyone who wishes to see them - they just don't want to see them.

Give it a rest ... you are incorrect on this just as you are incorrect on every single item you put forth and you will never be correct - so get over it, accept it.

Obama tells GOP no compromise on tax rebates

President Obama told Republican House leaders Tuesday he plans to stand firm on the part of his $825 billion economic recovery plan that calls for tax rebates for nearly all working Americans -- including those who make too little to owe income taxes.

According to two Republican aides familiar with Obama's Capitol Hill meeting, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, the ranking member on the Ways and Means committee, asked Obama if there was room for negotiation on the structure of the biggest tax cut in the bill.

"Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part," the president replied, according to one of the aides, who requested anonymity because the member of Congress relaying information to the aide from inside the meeting wished to remain anonymous.

Obama supports the tax rebates for those who don't pay income taxes because they do pay payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.

One for the books

Baby born in Denver library

There wasn't time to look up any books on obstetrics before a woman gave birth in the Denver Public Library.

Library spokeswoman Celeste Jackson said the woman walked into the library, said she had been riding a city bus and was in labor.

She gave birth just inside the library entrance.

Staffers and security guards helped until paramedics arrived and took the mother and newborn girl to Denver Health Medical Center.

Jackson said staffers didn't yet know their names but they want to send flowers. She says, "It's never happened before."

Hospital spokeswoman Betty Rueda said the mother was in good condition Tuesday evening. She declined to release information on the baby, citing privacy rules.

Woman arrested after teaching kids how to shoplift

Lee County, Florida, authorities say a 24-year-old Lehigh Acres woman taught children how shoplift then abandoned them when the group was stopped. The woman was jailed on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child cruelty and larceny petit theft.

An investigator said the woman walked into a Lehigh Acres store with four children and showed a 12-year-old how to hide clothes underneath the other youngsters. The woman fled the scene when the investigator confronted the children. She was later arrested.

A Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said her agency will also investigate.

Atlantis

Donovan

Police find over 100 feral animals at mobile home

More than 100 feral cats and dogs were euthanized after authorities found them living among the remains of hundreds of other dead animals that had been dumped in trash bags at a man's rented property.

Temecula police on Friday arrested a 67-year-old man on suspicion of animal cruelty after officers responded to a call that two vicious dogs were running loose at his address, Riverside County sheriff's spokesman Javier Rodriguez said.

The man had let animals breed and roam freely on his property, Rodriguez said, and the creatures had completely taken over his mobile home. Officers even found animals hiding in cupboards.

"The smell, I can't tell you how bad the smell was," said Willa Bagwell, executive director of Animal Friends of the Valleys, which provides animal control services for Temecula.

When animal control officers arrived, packs of dogs were attacking each other and killing one of their own, Bagwell said. About 70 dogs circled officers and threatened to attack, forcing authorities to euthanize them.

"They were just wild animals. They had never been touched," she told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside. "I've never seen this many animals and animals this feral."

Nine puppies and one dog were saved but authorities had to remove the bodies of 318 cats and dogs, Bagwell said. Outside the mobile home, more than 100 plastic trash bags were filled with animal feces and animal corpses.

Margaret Sturgeon, 82, said she sometimes talked briefly to the man and he seemed normal.

"He said he had three dogs," she said. "He never acted as if anything was wrong."

Suspect gets 3 bites from police dog, 2 Taser zaps

A 19-year-old suspect in northeast Nevada may not be a very good prowler but there's no denying he's one tough cookie. Elko County sheriff's deputies said the man had to be zapped with a Taser twice and bitten by a police dog three times before he stopped struggling with officers during a recent arrest.

Lt. Doug Gailey said officers were responding to a report of a prowler at 3 a.m. on Sunday when they spotted some footprints in the snow by the home's doors, windows and even on the top of an air conditioning unit.

He said they called in the police dog named "Besmo," which caught a scent and led them to the man who was sitting in his vehicle on a neighboring parkway and appeared to be intoxicated.

He said the man refused to remove his hands from his sweat shirt pocket and exit the vehicle, so the dog was ordered to jump through an open window and help extract him.

Deputies pulled him to the ground but he still wouldn't comply so the dog was ordered to bite him again.

Still unfazed, Gailey said the suspect was zapped with a Taser but still wouldn't give in. A third attack by the dog and another blast from the stun gun finally did the trick.

He's been charged with attempted burglary, obstructing an officer and destruction of private property.

Mexicans turn to voodoo to help team beat the US

Superstitions in the sports world:

A Mexican sports daily is pinning its hopes of beating the United States in a World Cup qualifying match on voodoo - with help from a U.S-based electronics chain. An advertisement in the sports daily Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip coupons and redeem them at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break a decade of futility on the road versus its northern neighbor.

"Help end the losing streak so Mexico advances," the ad read.

An illustration showed a pair of scissors slicing off the leg of a doll in a U.S. jersey that was bruised, crying out in pain, leaking stuffing, and stuck with pushpins.

"We imagine a group of young people gathered around the TV supporting Mexico and applying punishments to our rivals so that the team can qualify," Record said in a statement.

Daniel Paz, marketing manager for the newspaper, told The Associated Press the promotion was a lighthearted attempt to make next month's rivalry game more enjoyable for fans.

"It's a toy," Paz said. "There's no intention of being anything serious."

The press office of Radio Shack in Fort Worth, Texas, did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment, but the company's Mexico office confirmed its participation.

Mexico plays the United States on Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, in the first match of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The "Tri" has not won in the U.S. for 10 years.

Record said it has created 10,000 dolls and plans to expand the promotion to include effigies representing the other CONCACAF finalists: Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago.

Employees and patron subdue robber with serving spoon

Two supper club employees and a patron subdued a robber with their might - and a spoon.

Joey Geraci, 39, was charged Monday with felony armed robbery.
Geraci was accused of entering Williams Supper Club through a kitchen door, grabbing a teenage female employee and demanding money at about 10 p.m. Friday.

Lt. Andrew Kraus said Geraci wore a motorcycle helmet and claimed he had a weapon.

Kraus said the chef then hit Geraci in the helmet with a large serving spoon and put him in a headlock. The three held the man on the ground. Police eventually had to shock him with a Taser.

Geraci is also charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.

Schpiel-Borg 2000

Pinky and the Brain

There’s Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup, and the FDA Has Known for Years

Another thing the shrub and cabal tried to hide because it adversely effects their buddies profits

But as it turns out, the HFCS industry has been hiding some major skeletons in its closet — according to the IATP study (pdf), over 30% of products containing the substance tested positive for mercury.

What makes this news truly shocking is not just that the manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup would put consumers’ health at risk, but that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew about the mercury in the syrup, and has been sitting on this information since 2005.

Here’s the connection, according to the IATP press release (pdf): The IATP study comes on the heels of another study, conducted in 2005 but only recently published by the scientific journal, Environmental Health, which revealed that nearly 50 percent of commercial HFCS samples tested positive for the heavy metal. Renee Dufault, who was working for the FDA at the time, was among the 2005 study’s authors. In spite of Dufault’s involvement in the study, the FDA sat silent on this one for three years, and in fact last August, allowed manufacturers to call the sweetener “natural.”

Full Story

America's foundations step up aid in downturn

America's biggest charitable foundations are stepping up their giving to help the homeless and the hungry during the recession, according to a group that studies institutional giving.

As of mid-January, 50 of the nation's largest foundations had committed more than $100 million in grants aimed at reducing foreclosures, keeping food bank shelves stocked and providing services to the homeless and financial counseling for others.

The donations announced so far are just the beginning, said Steven Lawrence, the Foundation Center's senior director of research and author of a report on emergency giving in response to the economic downturn.
And they are also just one aspect of the way foundations are responding to the economic downturn, Lawrence said.

Foundations have seen their assets drop dramatically during the past year, just like everyone else, but many are committing to keeping their giving steady.

The nation's largest foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced this week it would increase its giving from 5 percent to 7 percent of its assets in 2009, despite a 20 percent drop in the value of its assets.

"The vast majority of foundations are trying to hold their giving level," Lawrence said.
That means many foundations are increasing their giving beyond the 5 percent of assets required by the Internal Revenue Service, to keep their promises to the causes they support.

Lawrence said he was not sure what will happen next year if the stock market does not recover: "2010 may be really challenging."

The Evolution of Dance

Now, That's funny!

Daily Funny

"Tell me," said the personnel director of a large corporation, "are you an honest attorney?"
"Honest?" the lawyer replied. "Let me tell you something. My father lent me ten thousand dollars for my education, and I paid him back in full after my first case."
"I'm impressed," he said. "And what case was that?"
The attorney squirmed slightly. "He sued me for the money."

Saying Hello

We would like to say hello to our readers at Malaysia Topic.
Thanks for stopping by.

Activists gather for World Social Forum

Some 100,000 activists of all stripes converged on the steamy Amazon city Belem, Brazil today, opening the ninth World Social Forum with a rambunctious march to the beat of samba drums.

An afternoon jungle downpour could not drown the spirits of those who came from all corners of the globe to participate: Socialists, environmentalists, anarchists, Indians, communists and even a fellow dressed as a pirate.

The massive meeting - coming amid the worst global economic crisis in decades - was being held for the first time in the Amazon region, an especially poignant fact for attendees.

"During a financial crisis, the environment is the first thing to be pushed off the agenda of most governments," said Andrew Riplinger, 22, of Chicago.
"I think having the social forum here in Belem, surrounded by the rain forest - it's keeping environmentalism on the table."

The streets of Belem were overflowed - by both water and the activists, who came wearing homemade shirts extolling every social cause under the sun.
Massive banners were unfurled, trumpets blared a chaotic chorus as Indians from across the Amazon performed traditional dances, barefoot, bodies ornately painted and heads adorned with the feathers of exotic birds.
"I'm here to fight for land, health and education," said one parading Indian, an older man who gave his name only as Miguel.

Attendees see this year's forum as more vital than ever, with participants saying the world's economic crisis gave legitimacy to their demands for alternative development models.

The celebration in the Amazon was geographically half a world away - and ideologically on another planet - from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where a dour mood and a decidedly slimmer list of global luminaries prevailed.
The social was forum first held in 2001 in southern Brazil as a direct response to that economic meeting in Europe.

Standing on the deck of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, docked in Belem, the environmental group's top Amazon campaigner Paulo Adairo said this year's social forum was being held in the perfect locale.
"The destruction of the Amazon is being propelled by the globalization of the Brazilian economy - cattle and soy for export," he said.
"Socio-economic problems and the environment are interconnected. That is why it is very important to have the forum here, so we can highlight both issues."

Authorities find driver two days after crash

Authorities say a North Carolina man who spent two nights in his vehicle after crashing down a steep embankment along Interstate 77 has been found.

Jonesville Police Chief Roger Reece said 84-year-old Miles Grady Brooks was alive but unresponsive when crews reached his white Cadillac today.

Motorists reported on Sunday night that a white Cadillac was traveling the wrong direction on I-77.

Officers searched along the highway but couldn't find any sign of the car, and they issued a public alert for help.

Reece said a farmer feeding his cows saw the car early this morning.

Cold Hearted Bastard

Over at MojoBlog I found this shocking post.

And the Award for the Biggest Cold-Hearted Bastard in America Goes To...

Bay City (Michigan) Electric Light & Power manager Robert Belleman. Upon learning that 93-year-old Marvin Schur froze to death—"a slow, painful death" according to the medical examiner—in his home, Belleman defended the utility's decision to cut off the man's power, without warning, during last week's subzero cold snap. Installing "limiters" which put a cap on power usage and shuts off the juice altogether if an owner exceeds the limit, is company policy, noted Belleman, and he saw no reason to change it in the light of Schur's death. As for the utility's failure to inform Schur?

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."

Schur, who was $1,000 behind on his utility bill, was indeed found by his neighbor—four days after the limiter was switched on, in a sub-freezing room that had icicles on the insides of its windows.

Update: Wow, this is worse than I thought. Bay City Electric Light & Power is a community-owned utility (one of the nation's 2,000 such utilities). And Robert Belleman is not just the manager of the utility, he's the manager of Bay City itself. So I guess when he meant that citizens had a duty to report that their neighbors were freezing to death due to the reckless disregard of utilities to the proper government officials, he meant himself!

*****

For this Belleman should have his testicles moistened with ice cold water and then placed against a flagpole in those same sub-freezing conditions to where his only hope for relief from the cold is to rip his own balls off and leave them attached to the pole (frozen to it actually) to get into the warmth of any shelter he could find with all access to any such shelter denied him.

Bush Was a Big-Government Disaster

He expanded the state, and the idea that the state is incompetent

Now that George W. Bush has finally left office, here's a challenge to a nation famous for its proud tradition of invention: Can somebody invent a machine capable of fully measuring the disaster that was the Bush presidency?

Read the rest of Nick Gillespie's article at ReasonOnline.

'The day the music died'

It's been 50 years since a single-engine plane crashed into a snow-covered Iowa field, instantly killing three men whose names would become enshrined in the history of rock 'n' roll.

The passing decades haven't diminished fascination with that night on February 2, 1959, when 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens performed in Clear Lake and then boarded the plane for a planned 300-mile flight that lasted only minutes.

All three musicians influenced rock and roll in their own way.

Holly's career was short, but his hiccup-vocal style, guitar play and songwriting talents had tremendous influence on later performers.
The Beatles, who formed about the time of the crash, were among his early fans and fashioned their name after Holly's band, The Crickets.
Holly's hit songs include "That'll Be The Day," "Peggy Sue" and "Maybe Baby."

Richardson, "The Big Bopper," is often credited with creating the first music video with his recorded performance of "Chantilly Lace" in 1958, decades before MTV.

And Valens was one of the first musicians to apply a Mexican influence to rock 'n' roll.
He recorded his huge hit "La Bamba" only months before the accident.

The plane left the airport in nearby Mason City about 1 a.m., headed for Moorhead, Minnesota, with the musicians looking for a break from a tiring, cold bus trip through the Upper Midwest.
It wasn't until hours later that the demolished plane was found, crumpled against a wire fence. Investigators believe the pilot, who also died, became confused amid the dark, snowy conditions and rammed the plane into the ground.

The crash set off a wave of mourning among their passionate, mostly young fans across the country.
Then 12 years later the crash was immortalized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's 1971 song, "American Pie."

This year a huge gathering is expected for a series of concerts and seminars and the designation of the hall where the three last played as a historic building in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on this fiftieth anniversary weekend.

Economic Meltdown Continues

From the "Bend over and spread'em" Department:

The nation's current recession is likely to be the longest since World War II, and by some measures could be the worst since the Great Depression, a new congressional budget office forecast said Tuesday.

Read more in the McClatchy Newspapers

The "Southern Resident" Orcas.

The most contaminated wildlife on earth

Three pods of Killer Whales in the Pacific Northwest have now earned the most unfortunate title of being the most contaminated wildlife on earth, according to a new study.

These Killer Whales, known as Southern Residents, live in the coastal waters near the U.S. /Canadian border and survive almost exclusively on contaminated Chinook salmon.

The salmon contain high levels of polychlorinated biphenols (pcbs) and other industrial chemicals, which accumulate in even higher levels in the killer whales.

More at Discover

Interesting Open Courseware Classes That Anyone Can Take

The web site actually says “weirdest” but they’re really aren’t that weird. Granted I have a much more sophisticated sense of what is weird and what is not than some.

They include:

Magic, Witchcraft, and the Spirit World: You’ll learn all about the spiritual, magical, and “occult” aspects of human behavior in this course. [MIT]

Street-Fighting Mathematics: This course will teach you the art of guessing and solving problems without doing proofs or exact calculations. [MIT]

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil: This course examines the roots of depravity and cruelty. [MIT]

Democratizing Innovation: This resource examines the trend of user-centered innovation and what that means for the future. [MIT]

Online Best Colleges

Brutal damage to football players' brains

Upper Left is an image of healthy brain tissue. Lower Left is brain tissue of a middle-aged football player. It reveals the intense damage from repeated concussions received on the field. According to Dr. Ann McKee, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE), the damage looks similar to that of an 80-year-old with dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. The CSTE have found the condition, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in the donated brains of dead NFL players John Grimsley, Mike Webster, Andre Waters, Justin Strzelczyk and Terry Long.

From CNN:

"What's been surprising is that (the damage is) so extensive," said Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, and co-director of the CSTE. "It's throughout the brain, not just on the superficial aspects of the brain, but it's deep inside."

The damage affects the parts of the brain that control emotion, rage, hypersexuality, even breathing, and recent studies find that CTE is a progressive disease that eventually kills brain cells.

"Dead athletes' brains show damage from concussions"

Auschwitz survivors mark camp's liberation

Dozens of Nazi death camp survivors gathered today in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim - which the German occupiers called Auschwitz - to remember the horrors they lived through and celebrate the acts of humanity or randomness of fate that kept them alive.

Survivors and government officials marked the 64th anniversary of the day the advancing Soviet army liberated the camp in 1945.
The anniversary has been established as an annual Holocaust remembrance day by the United Nations.

Bronislawa Horowitz-Karakulska, 78, credited her survival to destiny - and to Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist whose story was told in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
He shielded more than 1,000 Jews from Nazi death camps by hiring them to work in his factories.

"The fact that I am alive - for this I thank Oskar Schindler and the fact that he was able to get me and 300 women out of here and get us to the camp in Brunnlitz,"
Horowitz-Karakulska said, speaking in a school gymnasium to a group of local high-school students.

Thailand detains 78 more migrants caught at sea

The Thai navy has detained a boat filled with 78 illegal migrants, many of whom had lacerations and burns they said were inflicted by Burmese soldiers, authorities said.

A navy patrol spotted the ethnic Rohingya migrants Monday in the Andaman sea off the country's southwest coast in a rickety boat with a broken engine, said navy Capt. Manat Kongpan.

They were put in police custody, but a senior Thai navy official said the migrants would be expelled once their boat was fixed.

The plight of the Rohingyas - a Muslim ethnic group who fled persecution in Burma - was highlighted earlier this month following accusations some of them have been abused by Thai authorities.

Human rights groups say that the Thai navy has twice intercepted boats filled with hundreds of Rohingyas and sent them back into the high seas, where hundreds later died.

Blowfish poisoning sends seven to hospital in Japan

Blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorized chef sickened seven diners in northern Japan and three remained hospitalized after eating the poisonous delicacy.

The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence.

Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.
The seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant Monday night.

Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness - typical signs of blowfish poisoning - and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

A 68-year-old diner remained hospitalized in critical condition with respiratory failure and two others, aged 55 and 69, were in serious condition.

Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association.
It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.

Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 - most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home - according to the Health Ministry.

Winds topple Marie Antoinette's tree at Versailles

It survived the French Revolution and a devastating 1999 storm, but high winds have finally toppled a towering beech tree planted for Marie Antoinette more than two centuries ago at Versailles Palace.

The 82-foot (25-meter) high purple beech, one of the last trees in a hamlet dedicated to the former queen in the vast palace park, was felled Friday by an unusually fierce winter gust, the park's head gardener said.

The 223-year-old tree's collapse, which also exhumed a jumble of roots, earth and grass, was the latest blow to the ex-queen's Versailles vegetation after her most cherished oak tree died in a 2003 heat wave.

The beech, a facus sylvatica purpura, featured its own plaque showing that it was planted in 1786.

A decade ago, it had been damaged but survived an even more destructive storm that knocked down thousands of trees at Versailles.
Following that tempest, the beech's roots had grown moldy and shrunk so much that they could no longer counterbalance the weight of its 22-meter (72-foot) span of branches, Baraton said.

The beech will get an unceremonious finish: It will be cut up and sold to paper makers. Sort of like what happened to Marie Antoinette herself when she was guillotined and dumped into a wagon to be carted off.

Medvedev orders precise Soviet WWII death toll

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered officials to determine the precise Soviet death toll in World War II as the nation marked the 65th anniversary of the battle that broke the Nazi siege of Leningrad.

Russia, which suffered hugely in the conflict it calls the Great Patriotic War, places substantial importance on commemorating its sacrifices.
An estimated 27 million Soviet civilians and soldiers died in the war.
Much of the western part of the country was ravaged during four years of epic battles.

"Data about our losses haven't been revealed yet," Medvedev said at a meeting with officials and veterans in the Konstantin Palace near St. Petersburg.
"We must determine the historical truth."Medvedev said that a special panel involving officials from various government agencies will be created for the purpose.

He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action.
Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified, he said.
The meeting marked the anniversary of the battle that broke the siege of Leningrad on January 27, 1944.
The siege killed an estimated 1.5 million people.

Medvedev also used the occasion to condemn what he described as efforts to rehabilitate Nazis in some neighboring nations.
He didn't identify any specific nation, but Russia in the past has harshly criticized authorities in the ex-Soviet Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia for allowing gatherings of local veterans of Nazi SS units.
"We must toughen our stance on the issue," Medvedev said.
"There is no room here for delicate diplomatic wording. Our stance must be more combative."

He also urged the government to provide free apartments to some 50,000 war veterans before Russia marks the 65th anniversary of the end of the fighting in Europe next year.

Obama tells Arabic network US is 'not your enemy'

President Obama chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message today to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy."

The interview taped yesterday underscored Obama's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.

The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel

Sicilian Pasta

You Need:

1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped almonds
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
1/4 cup grated firm cheese: Pecorino or Parmesan
1-1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
8 ounces dried pasta: Mostaccioli or Penne

How To:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a food processor bowl combine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Cover and process until chopped. Add about half the basil and all of the oil; process until basil is chopped, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape the sides. Add remaining basil and repeat. Add tomatoes; process with several on/off turns; the tomatoes should remain chunky. (If the mixture is too smooth, add some fresh chopped tomato.) Season to taste with pepper.

3. If you prefer warm sauce, pour the sauce into a saucepan; heat through. Serve sauce over pasta. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

4. Make-Ahead Tip: Store sauce, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Heat or bring to room temperature to serve.

Senate OKs 4-month delay to digital TV changeover

The Senate voted unanimously yesterday to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 - setting the stage for Congress to pass the proposal as early as Tuesday.

Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled February 17, 2009 changeover.

The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.

"Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline.
"I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time."

Unusual Holidays and Celebrations

For those who don't know ... today is Thomas Crapper Day.

Just what is Thomas Crapper Day and who is Thomas Crapper that he should have a day?!

Glad you asked.

Every time you flush the toilet you can thank Mr. (actually Sir) Thomas Crapper that you didn't have to make that long walk to the little building at the edge of the woods in sub-freezing or asphalt melting weather to get splinters in your posterior while hoping the Sears and Roebuck catalog wasn't all used up, yet.

Thomas Crapper is the man who invented the flushing toilet.
And his day is in celebration of the fact splinters are a thing of the past or at least those long walks are, that is.

That is what Thomas Crapper day is and who Thomas Crapper was.

Rabbit Hole Day

Being as today is Rabbit Hole Day let's see what we can find to post that isn't want we normally post, shall we!?

Man's MP3 player holds US military files

In another case in point on why ridding ourselves of the shrub and the cabal was a good thing ... their incompetence is showing again.

A New Zealand man who bought an MP3 player from a thrift shop in Oklahoma found it held 60 U.S. military files, including names and telephone numbers for American soldiers.
TV One News said the 60 files contained personal details of U.S. soldiers, including some who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A New Zealand security expert said the information should not be in the public domain, but that it did not appear likely to affect U.S. national security.

The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on the incident.

Similar breaches occurred in Afghanistan in 2006, when U.S. investigators reportedly bought back stolen flash drives that contained sensitive military data from shops outside a main U.S. base in the Afghan city of Bagram.

Chris Ogle, 29, from the northern New Zealand city of Whangarei, said he bought the music player at a thrift shop in Oklahoma, and that he found the files when he linked the $18 device to his computer.

The private information about troops included U.S. Social Security numbers and even which female troops were pregnant.
Details of equipment deployed to bases in Afghanistan and a mission briefing were also found on some files, displaying names like "Bagram," a main U.S. base in Afghanistan, from the files on screen.

A TV One News reporter called some of the phone numbers listed in the files and found that some of them were still active.
Some of the files included a warning that the release of its contents is "prohibited by federal law."

Most of the files are dated 2005 so are unlikely to compromise U.S. national security, said Peter Cozens, director of Victoria University of Wellington's Strategic Studies Department.
"This is just slack administrative procedures which are indeed a cause of embarrassment," Cozens said.
"It's the sort of thing which ought not really to be in the public domain."

Ogle told TV One News he would hand the files to U.S. officials if asked.
"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be" looking, Ogle said.

Janine Burns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Wellington said, "We have nothing to add at this time."
She had no response to Ogle's offer to hand over the electronic files.

It's not the first time such data files have surfaced in public.
n 2006, shopkeepers outside the Bagram base said they were selling flash drives with U.S. military information that had been stolen by some of the 2,000 Afghans employed as cleaners, office staff and laborers at Bagram.
Included on some memory drives at the time were the Social Security numbers of hundreds of soldiers, including four generals, and lists of troops who had completed nuclear, chemical and biological warfare training.

The Los Angeles Times also reported that some drives had classified military secrets, including maps, charts and intelligence reports that appeared to detail how Taliban and al-Qaida leaders had been using southwestern Pakistan as a planning and training base for attacks in Afghanistan.

*****

And remember folks these were the people who claimed they 'were keeping us safe' ... hell, my granddaughter has better 'security' on her MP3 player than these bozos had on sensitive military information ... then again you can't be too careful with your Hannah Montana songs you know!