What Scares repugicans More Than Paying Workers a Living Wage?

Voting Rights!

 

During his State Of The Union Address, the President spent most of his time on ideas to improve our economy and with it our lives.
The only thing that scares Republicans more than paying workers a living wage is our right to vote. One can only imagine what they were thinking when the President said:

” Defending our freedom, though, is not just the job of our military alone.  We must all do our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home.  That includes one of the most fundamental rights of a democracy:  the right to vote.  When any American, no matter where they live or what their party, are denied that right because they can’t afford to wait for five or six or seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals.
So tonight, I’m announcing a nonpartisan commission to improve the voting experience in America.  It definitely needs improvement.  I’m asking two long-time experts in the field — who, by the way, recently served as the top attorneys for my campaign and for Governor Romney’s campaign — to lead it.  We can fix this, and we will.  The American people demand it, and so does our democracy.”

Combine that with Senator Boxer’s LINE Act (recently co-sponsored by Senator Ben Nelson) and repugicans see their efforts to destroy this most basic freedom go up in smoke. It’s enough to send repugicans into a fetal position for some time.
One can almost imagine them muttering to one another.  Bad enough the Democrats are sabotaging all our hard work to make sure only the right people vote.  But, co-opting Mitt Romney’s lawyer, it’s a communist plot I tell ya!
Rick Scott was probably trying to find another way to say that he had nothing to do with the reduced voting hours that forced 102-year-old Desiline Victor and many other Floridians to wait 5 to seven hours to vote.
Perhaps the cruelty inherent in Florida’s voter suppression policies played a role in Marco Rubio’s night of the big gulp. After all, how can you possibly look voters in the eye knowing that your party was directly responsible for attacking the freedoms that repugicans say they love, but attack when it hurts their interests?
It’s more than time to set national standards assuring that your right to vote is equally protected no matter where you live and no matter who your state government is.
One thing I’m hoping for, though not mentioned in the President’s remarks.  If we are to improve our voting experience, we need to fix the idea that dollars have voices worthy of protection under the constitution, while human voices are at the mercy of repugicans whose love for freedom, in truth, is restricted to their ever-dwindling voting base.

Virginia repugicans Destroys the Wingnut Argument Against the Voting Rights Act

Wingnuts and repugicans are waging a war on a key section of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), claiming that the South no longer has a problem with discriminating against minority voters. Ari Berman at The Nation reported on the Alabama lawsuit’s claims, “”Section 5′s federalism cost is too great” and that the statute has “accomplished [its] mission.”"
As they prepare to make this argument to the Supreme Court, Virginia Republicans just passed a new voter ID law that disenfranchises minority voters, which destroys the entire basis for their argument.
The essential part of the repugican/wingnut argument is that the Section 5 of the VRA is no longer needed because it accomplished its mission. Yes, things in the south are so great for minorities now. No problems down here, ya’ll, nothing to see!
The Civil Rights Organization debunks the myths about Section 5, in particular the argument that it unfairly targets covered jurisdictions:
“Fact: Congress approved Section 5 to prevent the implementation of new discriminatory laws or practices, not to punish for past practices. Section 5 applies to places that have a history of significant discrimination and where ongoing and persistent discrimination continues. Under the “bail-out” provision of the VRA, a jurisdiction can be removed from Section 5 coverage if it shows that it has not engaged in voting discrimination over the past ten years and has complied with the VRA. Recently, eleven jurisdictions in Virginia have done so.” 1
Notice how they use jurisdictions in Virginia as an example of areas that can be removed from Section 5 because at that time, they had not engaged in voter discrimination for ten years? Well, Virginia is about to engage in voter discrimination again (which sort of suggests that the Virginia is not to be trusted when they say all is well).
Virginia repugicans passed a new bill (Senate Bill 719 and House Bill 1337) that would change “acceptable” forms of ID required in order to vote. Things that used to be acceptable like “current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck” will no longer work, but hey, if you have a concealed weapons permit, you are good to go. If signed into law, Virginia voters will need a photo with their ID. The bill, if signed by repugican Governor Bob McDonnell, would go into effect conveniently in 2014.
Obviously this isn’t about proving that you live where you say you live, or are who you say you are. Virginia does not have a problem with voter fraud. It’s especially egregious since African Americans, Latinos, and the poor are the least likely to have a drivers’ license, and more prone to use the no-longer-acceptable forms of identification.
Sure, this is most likely illegal under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and that is exactly why repugicans and wingnuts are trying to get it overturned by the Supreme Court, which will hear their case on February 27. Section 5 is the part that changed everything, because it requires states to prove to the Justice Department that the changes to voting laws do not result in disenfranchisement of minorities. According to the Civil Rights Organization, the Voting Rights Act took aim at the deliberate disenfranchisment of African-Americans in the South and Latinos in the Southwest.
Virginia also just changed their Voter ID laws in 2012. That law was given the go-ahead by the DOJ because it did not appear to disenfranchise minority voters. Last year repugican Virginia State Senator Mark Obenshain argued on the floor that he opposed photo ID laws as he touted the “reasonable” legislation that allowed for all of the forms of ID they are now blocking.
Watch here, courtesy of Progress VA:
In January of this year, that same small government repugican introduced a bill that required pollworkers to match a photo and identifying information for each voter complied in the pollbook, and “if the voter does not appear to be the same person depicted in the photograph in the pollbook, any qualified voter may and the officer of election shall challenge the vote of such voter.” Quite the swing. Fortunately, his privacy invasion bill failed.
In 2006, the federal House and the Senate reauthorized the VRA in a bipartisan vote, which makes this new conservative argument even more absurd, especially given the number of repugican/ALEC-based voting law changes that were struck down around the country in the lead up to the 2012 election.
Wingnuts used to wail about liberals using the court to make changes that the legislative branch would not, and now here they are…. raging against the machine of justice, turning their backs on their own principles, all because they can’t win elections if minorities are allowed to vote.
1 [Sources: 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973b(a)(1), 1973b(f)(1); South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 333-34 (1966);

Question and Answer

 

Yes

Calling all Wingnut ‘Patriots’ - Please Identify All the Freedoms You’ve Lost

Here was a citizen contribution to a local newspaper column recently. It was from a fellow who was “getting a little sick” from comments praising President Barack Obama. Here are his direct quotes: “This man (Obama) seems bent on destroying what little is left of the moral and spiritual foundations upon which our laws have been based. He ends with “christians, you better get active or kiss this nation as you know it goodbye.”
Sounds like arms and ammo to me.
If progressives have one thing in common, it’s a collective confusion about what the hell the wingnut “patriots” are talking about when they bemoan the loss of “moral and spiritual foundations” accompanied by repetitious ramblings of “restoring the constitution” (state nullification efforts apparently notwithstanding). They also decry the loss of all their freedoms and liberty. What exactly can’t these folks do that they so desperately want to do?
No, they can’t aim a flame-thrower at the neighbor’s house or go unpunished for rape (unless it’s a Todd Akin “legitimate rape” of course). I could be wrong since we’re 400,000 rape kits short in this country as a consequence of repugican-bullied funding cuts. Maybe a number of rapists can go unpunished.
You will have to pay some kind of taxes or all services and infrastructure collapse. But those are the only notable exceptions I can think of for the average American in what surely must be the country with more freedom and liberty than any of earth’s other 195 or so nations.
In America, as in Uganda, you’re even free to deny freedoms to others if they’re different from you in any way. The LGBT crowd comes to mind, none of who dare share in the “Freedom and Liberty” patriots hold so dear. One of those two countries are even voting as we speak to put gays to death under certain circumstances. I think it’s Uganda. And don’t even get me started on your black racists core of which I’ve written often. Fear not, patriots, you have the “Freedom and Liberty” to be as racists and homophobes as long as you desire.
As for religious freedom, you can even permanently depart from your mother cult if it dares give any rights to gays. The South Carolina Episcopal cult has told its parent denomination to go eff itself (as Clint would say). Ordaining gay clergy; accepting same-sex marriage! How dare the cult grant true freedom and liberty to homosexuals. I’m outta here!
Not to worry Palmetto Patriots, every evangelical cult in the land will welcome you with open arms (no same-sex hugging, of course). The Right Reverend Mark Lawrence, Bishop of the SC Episcopal Diocese, is the hater behind the split. He is best known for opposing every liberal policy of the national cult. This intolerant homophobic zealot is exactly where he belongs, South Carolina. So hate away. There are no religious restraints, if you’re a christian that is, that come to mind. You can roll around on the floor to your hearts content at the First cult of DC Loathing or cozy up to deadly rattlesnakes on a Sunday Pentecostal service even if you get bit and die. West Virginia Pastor Wolford met that fate last May, just as his preacher father had years earlier.
Speaking of snakes, religion and politics, how ’bout that old rattler on the “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag. “Liberals, you best watch yer step; that ole boy is fixin’ to strike.” The flag initially gained popular acclaim in 1775 as the U.S. Navy was off to its first Revolutionary War mission. A Continental Colonel named Christopher Gadsden (a South Carolinian naturally) gifted the flagship’s Captain with the bright yellow flag with its not so subtle message to George lll.
Warning! History lesson on freedom to follow.
In an uncomfortable but true historical footnote, the U.S. Navy was unsuccessful in preventing a British coastal blockade. In fact, it wasn’t until the French came along that the U.S. was able to prevail over the enemy in the Revolutionary War. And remember how much the pseudo-patriot crowd hates the French. Please goobers, read ONE, just One objective history book! Francophobes may want to start with a true account of Yorktown. Does the name de Rochambeau ring a bell, patriots? Didn’t think so. Oh, one more thing. The city of Washington that you hate so much was named after a certain American General who fought side-by-side with the French at Yorktown and went on to become our first President.
So the French were key contributors to our freedoms and liberty. Thus citizens can organize truly goofy political parties named after a popular drink from the Camellia sinensis plant. Any citizen, including dopes with limited dopamine, can run for office, even the highest ones, (see Sarah Palin).
You can get married, though 50% of you eventually flee the first attempt. In addition to churches, states can keep gays from daring to approach the altar through legislation and constitutional amendments. Politicians are free to smother the rich with love and let them destroy unions and fair wages. The repugicans, in particular, can keep the repressed, repressed and humbled by cutting programs for the poor and calling their leader the “Food Stamp” President. Is this a great country or what?
But, as free as we are, there remains enormous right-wing angst about the potential seizure of firearms. Patriotic Websites and blogs inevitably go back to the alleged gun-control eras of Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse-Tung and a handful of other genocidal monsters, killers of multiple millions right after taking their guns away. Academic and historical arguments aside, that means patriots lump President Obama in with history’s most repellent barbarians though there’s not even the tiniest hint of gun confiscation in the America.
Here’s this angst put into words at a patriotic blog. “Now, watch as our Constitution is assaulted and the Second Amendment is attacked from all sides. Most of the lib asshole mayors, governors and Senators are bouncing off the walls, right now, calling for more gun control, banning semi-auto rifles and banning guns in general.”
This is followed by a rather frightening follow-up entry. “Do it, go ahead, and you are going to have 100 million gun owners fight your asses. Be it police, FBI, ATF…I don’t give a shit…you try to disarm us and you WILL be fought and fought HARD! And blood WILL be spilled!” (Emphasis from the writer).
This is scary stuff that you’d better take seriously.

Lush Dimbulb Insanely Claims Environmentalists Are Coming to Steal Your Electricity

Lush Dimbulb took his insanity to a new level the other day by claiming that environmentalists are out to take away the freedom to use electricity because they oppose the generation of electric power.
Here is the audio from Media Matters:
Dimbulb said, “Let me tell you why this happened. It’s one very simple reason. The cruise ship lost electricity. If you want to see entire cities experience what happened on that cruise ship, then you stand by idly and let the environmentalist wackos have their way and encroach very gradually on your freedom to use electricity that you pay for. They are opposed to carbon fuels, which means they are opposed to the generation of electricity.”
I am sure there are a lot of environmentalists out there who must be shocked to find out that they are opposed to electricity. In Lush Dimbulb’s tortured fantasy world being in favor of cleaner, more environmentally friendly power is the exact same thing as being opposed to electricity.
What is even more hilarious is Dimbulb’s attempt to paint environmentalists as being out to take away your right to use electricity. Stand up for freedom, turn on all the lights in your house. Hoard all of the electricity that you can because it is only a matter of time until the environmentalists come knocking on your door to tell you, no more electricity for you.
This latest paranoid Dimbulb fantasy is eerily reminiscent of his 2011 warning to his listeners that Michelle Obama was coming to confiscate their furnaces.
You, sophisticated Internet reader, may be asking yourself, “Who could possibly believe that environmentalists don’t want people to have electricity? Environmentalists use electricity too.” The answer to that question can be found in demographics. Dimbulb’s audience is 72% male, 80% wingnut, 75% of them support the NRA, 75% are religo-wingnut christians, and/or tea partiers and 100% are insane lunatics. The average Lush Dimbulb listener is 67 years old. (Dimbulb’s audience is actually two years older than the Faux News audience).
The same people who think Barack Obama is a Marxist, Socialist, Kenyan, Black Satan believe that environmentalists are coming after their “freedom” to use electricity.
Wingnuts listen to Lush Dimbulb tell them that their freedom to use electricity is in jeopardy, yet wonder why they continue to lose elections.
To those of us who aren’t in the wingnut bubble, the answer is obvious.

Anti-Piracy Website Pirates The Pirate Bay

(L) The infamous The Pirate Bay (R) Finnish anti-piracy group CIAPC's website

Grab some popcorn, it's about to get good: To show the torrent site The Pirate Bay that piracy is wrong, Finnish anti-piracy group CIAPC set up a website that pirated The Pirate Bay website's iconic look and feel.

When The Pirate Bay got mad and threatened a lawsuit, millions of irony detectors were set off and the CIAPC reveled in the attention and welcomed the lawsuit as a way to identify the people behind the torrent site:
The Pirate Bay, generally quite supportive of copy-pasting, is not happy with CIAPC’s apparent infringement and plans to take legal steps against the anti-piracy group.
“We are outraged by this behavior. People must understand what is right and wrong. Stealing material like this on the internet is a threat to economies worldwide,” a Pirate Bay spokesman told TorrentFreak.
“We feel that we must make a statement and therefore we will sue them for copyright infringement,” the spokesman adds.

TorrentFreak has the story: Here.

Malware-Industrial Complex: how the trade in software bugs is weaponizing insecurity

Here's a must-read story from Tech Review about the thriving trade in "zero-day exploits" -- critical software bugs that are sold off to military contractors to be integrated into offensive malware, rather than reported to the manufacturer for repair. The stuff built with zero-days -- network appliances that can snoop on a whole country, even supposedly secure conversations; viruses that can hijack the camera and microphone on your phone or laptop; and more -- are the modern equivalent of landmines and cluster bombs: antipersonnel weapons that end up in the hands of criminals, thugs and dictators who use them to figure out whom to arrest, torture, and murder. The US government is encouraging this market by participating actively in it, even as it makes a lot of noise about "cyber-defense."

Exploits for mobile operating systems are particularly valued, says Soghoian, because unlike desktop computers, mobile systems are rarely updated. Apple sends updates to iPhone software a few times a year, meaning that a given flaw could be exploited for a long time. Sometimes the discoverer of a zero-day vulnerability receives a monthly payment as long as a flaw remains undiscovered. “As long as Apple or Microsoft has not fixed it you get paid,” says Soghioan.
No law directly regulates the sale of zero-days in the United States or elsewhere, so some traders pursue it quite openly. A Bangkok, Thailand-based security researcher who goes by the name “the Grugq” has spoken to the press about negotiating deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with government buyers from the United States and western Europe. In a discussion on Twitter last month, in which he was called an “arms dealer,” he tweeted that “exploits are not weapons,” and said that “an exploit is a component of a toolchain … the team that produces & maintains the toolchain is the weapon.”
The Grugq contacted MIT Technology Review to state that he has made no “public statement about exploit sales since the Forbes article.”
Some small companies are similarly up-front about their involvement in the trade. The French security company VUPEN states on its website that it “provides government-grade exploits specifically designed for the Intelligence community and national security agencies to help them achieve their offensive cyber security and lawful intercept missions.” Last year, employees of the company publicly demonstrated a zero-day flaw that compromised Google’s Chrome browser, but they turned down Google’s offer of a $60,000 reward if they would share how it worked. What happened to the exploit is unknown.

Welcome to the Malware-Industrial Complex

Tennessee cops in body armor tell old woman to remove marijuana bumper sticker (was a buckeye leaf)

Police in Tennessee, in a black SUV and in full body armor, pulled over an elderly couple because they had a “suspicious” marijuana-ish (or so the cops claimed) bumper sticker on their car, that in fact was a buckeye leaf – the couple are Ohio State Buckeye fans.  The cops then ordered the couple to remove the bumper sticker.Good grief. I’m not sure what’s the most ridiculous part of this recent episode.
Was it the person who phoned in the dangerous car sticker that slightly resembles a marijuana leaf?  The cops insinuated that it was another cop who called it in.
Or perhaps the idiotic Tennessee cops that pulled over the elderly couple with armor-covered police in black vans simply because they might have had a marijuana leaf sticker on their car?  Although, perhaps the most ridiculous part is the cop, after learning that it’s a buckeye leaf common to Ohio State fans, still ordered the woman to remove the sticker.

Marijuana

Buckeye leaf 

This is just crazy.
It takes a special kind of stupid to think a major drug-running gang trafficking in marijuana would be so stupid as to put marijuana stickers on their car, just so everyone knows they’re doing it.
But then again, Tennesse is the same state where:

• the lieutenant governor called Islam a cult (OK, technically that is scientifically correct although the scientific meaning was not what the moron intended.)
• the repugican cabal called for jailing anyone that followed Shariah law
• the state wanted to let science teachers offer alternatives (i.e. a pack of lies) to teaching about climate change
• a repugican legislator claimed that AIDS came about “from one guy screwing a monkey”
• a local gun nut made a video saying he was “gonna start killing people” if President Obama issued any executive orders on guns
• a school principal told kids ”If you’re gay you’re going to hell”
• the state tea party said on Barney Frank’s retirement “good riddance you perverted sodomite“
• a repugican congressman suggested secession from the Union over health care reform (do you promise?)
• the state legislature and governor bash gays pretty much every chance they get (along with the help of the US Chamber of Commerce)
• where only 33% of repugican primary voters think President Obama was born in the US.

It’s bad enough that far too many states still spend far too much time focusing on marijuana, but this is too much. Are these people really responsible for maintaining law and order? If only the Tennessee police weren’t serious when they did this.

Two officers approached, one on each side of the car.
“They were very serious,” she said. “They had the body armor and the guns.”….
“What are you doing with a marijuana sticker on your bumper?” he asked her.
She explained that it is actually a Buckeye leaf decal, just like the ones that Ohio State players are given to put on their helmets to mark good plays.
“He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language,” she said.

And to make matters worse, the police who can’t tell the difference between a marijuana leaf and a buckeye leaf, told the elderly woman that she should remove the sticker from her window.  This was AFTER she explained that it was a buckeye leaf.
I love the woman’s comment:

“It’s just amazing they would be that dumb,” Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni said.

It’s not amazing.  It’s Tennessee.

Girl Kicked Out of School for Red(ish) Hair

Sporting hair that looks completely natural to the untrained eye, a ninth grade student was nonetheless sent home from class by the vice principal of Hurricane Middle School in Utah for violating the school’s dress code, which bans “extreme hairstyles and colors.” She was later permitted to return, although she did nothing to change the deep auburn color of her hair.
The report is another addition to these gems from the past few weeks:

• The high school student in Arizona that was suspended for having a picture of a gun on his computer.
• The 2nd grader who was suspended for playing with an imaginary grenade and “trying to save the world.”
• The five-year-old girl suspended for ten days for making “terroristic threats” with a Hello Kitty gun that shoots bubbles.

If school is supposed to prepare you for the real world, what lessons are we teaching children by acting like this? Clearly, that obeying the letter of the law is far more important than getting an education or (God forbid!) expressing yourself.
By contrast, suspending Brandon Guzda, a high school student from New York who posted an insulting comment about a teacher on Twitter, may seem like overkill—but at least has sound justification.

"I thought I could say what I want on Twitter in the luxury of my own home,” Guzda said.

Sure, you can say it, but you will have to face the consequences. Word travels fast online, and once you say something it’s impossible to unsay it. Employees have lost jobs for venting about their bosses via social media. Better to learn this lesson now than later.
There will always be debate over what constitutes a sufficient punishment for breaking a rule. However, most of these students weren’t doing anything wrong.

Scantily-clad professional stunt driver left path of destruction during DUI rampage

Investigators say a professional stunt driver clad in extremely short white shorts and a cut-off vest left a path of destruction while driving under the influence of alcohol through downtown Orlando, Florida, early on Wednesday morning.

Grady Allen Bishop was questioned by police after his car broke down. Officers said the Winter Springs resident also crashed into several street lights. Bishop, 51, was given a field sobriety test and officials said his blood-alcohol level was over twice the legal limit. Bishop was charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

Dressed in the same short shorts and vest he was booked into jail before posting $1,300 bond. When asked what happened, Bishop said, “I don't know. I really don't.” No one was inside the three damaged vehicles at the time of the crash. The crash caused about $10,000 in damage.


Video link.

Bishop owns Extreme Stunts, a company that's done extensive work with motion pictures. His impressive movie resume includes "Fast and The Furious" and work for Disney's “Lights, Motors, Action.” Bishop’s colleagues said: “Mr. Bishop is highly respected and admired as one of the best stunt drivers in the industry."

The World's Wealthiest Royal Families

Ever wonder what royal life is like? Unlike entrepreneurs, these are individuals who owe their wealth to circumstances of birth and the privileges of their position, not to actual talent or effort. Nevertheless, many of them command resources that cannot be ignored.

The world of the royal elite is beyond comprehension for most. Here's a look at the palaces and wealth of the world's richest royal families.

Ten Of The World's Greatest Hotels Inspired By Literature

Book nerds need someplace cool to stay as much as art nerds do.

Check out ten literary hotels where you can spend the night with a book.

Ten Famous Tree Tunnels

A tree tunnel is a road, lane or track where the trees on each side form a more or less continuous canopy overhead, giving the effect of a tunnel. The effect may be achieved in a formal avenue lined with trees or in a more rural setting with randomly placed trees on each side of the route. It can create a beautiful setting

How The Egyptian Pyramids Were Built

A New Theory In 3D Animation

Jean-Pierre Houdin spent a couple of decades working as an independent architect around Paris. Then, his career took a big turn. Working with his father, Houdin tried to crack an ancient mystery - how were the great pyramids of Egypt built? Throughout the centuries, various theories have been put forth.

Herodotus speculated that some 'machines' were involved. Others thought that mounds serving as ramps played a central role in the construction. And still others have guessed that extraterrestrials were the real builders. Now, using state-of-the-art 3-D software, Houdin has concluded that the bottom portion of the pyramids were built with an external ramp, and the upper portions with internal ramps.

Random Photo

Meteorite Hits Russian Urals:

Fireball Explosion Wreaks Havoc

Around 700 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky in central Russia Friday morning sending fireballs crashing to Earth, smashing windows and setting off car alarms. Residents on their way to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave.

The meteorite raced across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phones worked only intermittently. Chelyabinsk city authorities said people sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass.
source

YouTube link

You can see videos of the impact and the damage here.

'It was no meteor, it was U.S. weapons'

In a Cold War throw back, a member of the Russian government said the Urals crash was American weapons testing

While the crash of a meteor in Russia has left American Congress members concerned enough to call a House Science committee hearing on asteroids, some in Russia are keeping concerns terrestrial.
According to the Washington Post, citing Moscow-sponsored outlet Voice of Russia, controversial parliament member Vladimir Zhirinovsky “has blamed Americans for today’s meteorite scare.” Reportedly, Zhirinovsky told reporters, “Those were not meteorites; it was Americans testing their new weapons.”
WaPo notes that “Zhirinovsky is known for his nationalist, anti-Western, sometimes outlandish rhetoric” and has been called a “political clown” by German newspaper Der Spiegel.
Although outlandish and not widely shared in the Kremlin, Zhirinovsky’s meteor comments come at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia. The Economist noted Friday that “to Kremlin ideologists, the very concept of Russia’s sovereignty depends on being free of America’s influence.” The Economist notes a series of antagonist measures Russia and America recently introduced against the other:

The Kremlin has banned American couples from adopting Russian orphans, depriving many children with severe disabilities of the chance of a decent life. This was Russia’s first response to America’s Magnitsky act…[which] threatens sanctions against Russian officials directly involved in human-rights abuses. Russia’s second response was a law introduced by Mr Putin prohibiting Russian officials or their immediate family members from holding foreign bank accounts or foreign assets, because such things pose a threat to national security.

The Surface Of The Sun As You've Never Seen It

This extraordinary video looks back on the 3rd year of operation of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The observatory has continued to return breathtaking pictures and movies of eruptive events on the sun. By highlighting different wavelengths of light, scientists can track how material on the sun moves. Such movement, in turn, holds clues as to what causes these giant explosions.

YouTube link

Most Impressive Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Coral reefs cover less than one per cent of the world's oceans but support incredible biodiversity. Check out some of the most impressive coral reefs.

Rare albino wallaby born at zoo

A rare albino wallaby has been born at a zoo in Cambridgeshire. The bald joey, with pink eyes, was spotted by a member of the public after emerging from its mother's pouch at Linton Zoo, near Saffron Walden.

The zoo believes the albino red-necked wallaby, which will grow white fur, is a descendant of one given to the Queen. Zoo director Kim Simmons said staff initially got "a bit of a shock", but the joey was now being well looked after by its parents Kylie and Jason.

"It's been in the pouch for a little while now and we've been able to see it wriggling around, but when it popped its head out for the first time we got a bit of a shock - we didn't really expect it to be an albino," said Ms Simmons.

YouTube link.

"[Our wallabies] are probably descended from albinos that were donated to the Queen on a state visit to Australia in 1962. On the very odd occasion an albino will be born and we've got that very odd occasion."

Freaky cute frog is angry

This here is a Namaqua Rain Frog (Breviceps namaquensis) in Port Nolloth on the northwestern coast of South Africa.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

Just asking ...

Some of our readers today have been in:

Cape Town, South Africa

Doha, Qatar

Tawau, Malaysia

Khartoum, Sudan

Bangkok, Thailand

Jakarta, Indonesia

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Nairobi, Kenya

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Kaunas, Lithuania

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Dubrovnik. Croatia

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Panevezys, Lithuania

Cairo, Egypt

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Today in History

1798		The first serious fist fight occurs in Congress.
1804		New Jersey becomes the last northern state to abolish slavery.
1862		Union General Ulysses S. Grant launches a major assault on Fort Donelson, Tenn.
1869		Charges of treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped.
1898		The U.S. battleship Maine blows up in Havana Harbor, killing 268 sailors and bringing hordes of Western cowboys and gunfighters rushing to enlist in the Spanish-American.
1900		The British threaten to use natives in the Boer War fight.
1925		The London Zoo announces it will install lights to cheer up fogged-in animals.
1934		U.S. Congress passes the Civil Works Emergency Relief Act, allotting new funds for Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
1940		Hitler orders that all British merchant ships will be considered warships.
1942		British forces in Singapore surrender to Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
1943		The Germans break the American Army's lines at the Fanid-Sened Sector in Tunisia, North Africa.
1944		American bombers attack the Abbey of Monte Cassino in an effort to neutralize it as a German observation post in central Italy.
1946		Royal Canadian mounted police arrest 22 as Soviet spies.
1950		Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung sign a mutual defense treaty in Moscow.
1957		Andrei Gromyko replaces Dmitri T. Shepilov as the Soviet Foreign Minister.
1961		Eighteen members of the U.S. figure skating team are lost in an airplane crash in Belgium.
1965		Canada's maple leaf flag is raised for the first time.
1967		Thirteen U.S. helicopters are shot down in one day in Vietnam
1974		U.S. gas stations threaten to close because of federal fuel policies.

Non Sequitur

Alan Friedman takes mind-blowing photos of the sun from home

 

Colossal has a gallery of Alan Friedman's stunning sun photography. 

(Here's Friedman's TEDx Talk from December).

[Alan Friedman] points a telescope skyward from his backyard in downtown Buffalo, directly into the light of the sun. Using special filters attached to his camera Friedman captures some of the most lovely details of the Sun’s roiling surface. The raw images are colorless and often blurry requiring numerous hours of coloring, adjusting and finessing to tease out the finest details, the results of which hardly resemble what I imagine the 10-million degree surface of Sun might look like. Instead Friedman’s photos appear almost calm and serene, perhaps an entire planet of fluffy clouds or cotton candy.

Alan Friedman’s Astonishing HD Photographs of the Sun Shot from his Own Backyard

Did you know ...

About the good intentions that pave the road to war

That a new bill would let states legalize marijuana

The the repugican cabal's obsession with guns might drive women to the polls in 2014

Do religio-wingnuts make lousy tippers?

President Obama’s Attack on Medicare Fraud Reaps Record Results for Second Year in a Row

We’re about to shoot down two repugican myths with a single post. First, the Obama Administration cut Medicare costs by attacking Medicare Fraud instead of attacking benefits.  Second, Government can do things, and do them well.
For years, the repugican cabal claimed that benefits are the problem.  They tried to sell us several versions of coupon care and privatization while claiming that eliminating Medicare was the best way to protect it for future generations.
The Justice Department and Department of Human Services found a way to reduce Medicare costs without reducing benefits, without coupons and without privatizing it. Instead of attacking seniors access to healthcare, they attacked Medicare fraud, otherwise known as the means by which Florida’s Governor, Rick Scott became “a maker” in repugican speak.
According to a report on The Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Act Team’s (HEAT) performance released Monday,  for the second year in a row, Obama’s plan to attack Medicare Fraud reaped recording breaking results.
The Feds recovered $4.2 billion of taxpayers’ money last year from legal proceedings, settlements and penalties. In 2011, joint efforts to attack Medicare fraud resulted in a record of $4.1 billion dollars. That is compared to the $2.86 billion recovered in 2010 before Obama’s policies to attack Medicare Fraud existed.
In May 2012, Medicare Strike Force teams charged 107 people, including licensed health care professionals in seven cities, who were allegedly involved in schemes involving over $452 million in false billing.
In 2011, the same teams charged 115 people, including health care professionals, companies and executives for suspected participation in Medicare fraud schemes that involved over $240 million in false billing.  In another case, 91 suspects were charged for their alleged involvement in a Medicare fraud scheme that involved $290 million + in false billings.
According to the HHS’s press release :

“A key component of HEAT is the Medicare Strike Force – interagency teams of analysts, investigators, and prosecutors who can target emerging or migrating fraud schemes, including fraud by criminals masquerading as healthcare providers or suppliers.”

The Department of HHS attributes success to HEAT and several additional steps President Obama’s Administration took to combat Medicare Fraud – including provisions in Obamacare.  That’s the law that repugicans spend almost as much time trying to destroy as they spend on trying to shield the rich from paying taxes.
Aside from establishing tougher sentencing and more jail time for Medicare fraudsters, recovering funds obtained by Medicare fraud is easier. In other words, it reduces Medicare costs without reducing benefits.
When the President told us that Obamacare reduces Medicare costs without touching benefits, he was honest.  Thanks to Obamacare, Medicare fraudsters will receive 20 to 50 percent longer sentences for crimes involving more than $1million dollars in lost taxpayer money. It also makes it more difficult for Medicare fraudsters to transfer their scams to another state or between Medicare and Medicaid.  Under Obamacare, if Medicare, Medicaid or a State terminates a scammer’s billing privileges, all other states must terminate their billing privileges.
Once again, the repugican cabal is on the wrong side of policy.  Not only does their policy seek to deny Americans access to healthcare, it also makes the repugican cabal soft on crime, namely Medicare Fraud.
If they really want to get rid of their image as the cabal of Stupid, defending criminals over seniors isn’t the way to go.  Just sayin’.
Ironically, the HEAT report also shows once again that the repugican cabal’s fiscal responsibility begins and ends with its rhetoric.

Australia Proves repugicans Wrong With a Growing Economy and a High Minimum Wage

After President Obama called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour, the repugicans have been insisting that this would hurt the economy. The issue is the fact that more people would be getting a raise, and that means more money flowing in the economy, which would go back into businesses.
Here is a fact. Australia has a minimum wage of almost $16.00 an hour. Since 1994, they have averaged about 1.75% GDP growth per year.
Here is another great data point. According to trading economics, the unemployment rate never exceeded 6%. These two data points that the GOP has been selling the American people are proven false, at least by the Australian economy. The fact that Australia is the “extreme” of examples, but I am sure this is the norm.
To top this all off, the ultra wingnut Heritage Foundation ranked Australia as the third most freest country regarding their economy. “Australia is ranked 3rd out of 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and its score is well above the regional and world averages.”
Amazing that once you dig a little and look into news and numbers you find that the repugicans know very little about reality. They just survive by fallacious talking points and erroneous theories.

Economic recovery in the US actually made 99% of Americans poorer, top 1% captured 121% of gains

"Striking it Richer," a paper by Emmanuel Saez (an economist at UC Berkeley) looks at the way that the dividends of the slow US "economic recovery" have been distributed. Saez finds that 121% of the economic gains since 2009 have been captured by the richest 1% of Americans -- in other words, despite economic growth, the poorest 99% of Americans actually got poorer through the "recovery."

This confirms a pattern that Matt Stoller highlighted: that income inequality increased more under Obama than under Bush. And the new Saez paper also describes how it came about. In short form, income to the top 1% is significantly influenced by capital gains. Remember, the tax reporting is not clean here: rising equity and bond markets help all those private equity and hedge fund professionals, who are able to get capital gains treatment for what ought to be labor income. But the paper also stresses that the lower orders were hit hard in the aftermath of the global financial crisis than in the dot-bomb era, which also saw a big drop in capital gains. That isn’t as hard to understand. The collapse of the dot-com mania didn’t impair the real economy overmuch because it was not fueled in a meaningful way by borrowings. By contrast, the housing bubble, and more important (in terms of damage to the financial system) the much housing exposure created synthetically by CDOs that consisted entirely or mainly of credit default swaps was highly geared, hence when it collapsed, it took credit providers down with it.

Yes, Virginia, the Rich Continue to Get Richer: the Top 1% Got 121% of Income Gains Since 2009

Six-strikes US copyright punishments will harm open WiFi

You may have heard Jill Lesser, Executive Director of the Center for Copyright Information, explain that America's six-strikes copyright punishment system would not harm open WiFi. Adi Kamdar explains why Ms Lesser's totally mistaken:

Termination may not be part of the CAS, but that's not the point—the program still uses "protecting copyright" as an excuse to seriously hinder a user's online experience. For example, CAS involves not just "education" but also "Mitigation Measures," such as slowing down Internet speeds to 256 kbps for days—rendering your connection all but unusable in today's era of videochats and Netflix.
Lesser doesn't think that's a problem. As she told the radio show On The Media: "The reduction of speed, which one or more of the ISPs will be using as a mitigation measure, is first of all only 48 hours, which is far from termination."
But that's 48 hours of lower productivity and limited communication across the globe, based on nothing more than a mere allegation of copyright infringement.

Don't Be Fooled: "Six Strikes" Will Undoubtedly Harm Open Wireless

Rotted frame in sunken ship not fixed

A Maine shipyard official says the frame of a replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank during Hurricane Sandy was rotted.

Todd Kosakowski told federal investigators Wednesday he discovered the rot when the HMS Bounty underwent repairs at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard in Maine.

The ship was having several planks replaced before heading to Florida. He says he showed the ship's captain what he found, but the captain chose not to have it fixed before departing because of the expense and time it would have taken.
The ship later sank 90 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C., during the October storm.
One member of the HMS Bounty's 16-person-crew died and the captain was never found. The ship was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and appeared in other seafaring dramas.

Soup Making May Be Older Than We'd Thought

Soup comes in many variations - chicken noodle, creamy tomato, potato and leek, to name a few. But through much of human history, soup was much simpler, requiring nothing more than boiling a haunch of meat or other chunk of food in water to create a warm, nourishing broth.

Most sources state that soup making did not become commonplace until somewhere between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago. That's probably wrong - by at least 15,000 years. So who concocted that first bowl of soup?

This 9-Patty Burger Tops 2,000 Calories

9-Patty Burger Tops 2,000 Calories

The 'Triple-Triple' burger becomes a permanent menu item at an East Coast chain. ->

Cops Chase Doughnut Truck

A Krispy Kreme delivery truck stopped at the Quick Shop on Dacula Road in Gwinnet County, Georgia. While the driver was inside unloading doughnuts, security camera footage shows how another man, later identified as James Freddy Major, jumped into the truck and drove off!

The store clerk immediately called police.

Police said Major led them on a nearly 15-mile chase. He went from Dacula Road, down Highway 316, to Interstate 85.

"Could you imagine going down the interstate and seeing the Krispy Kreme donut truck with the cops chasing behind it?; Flashing lights? What would you think,” said store worker Susan Patterson.

He eventually came to a dead end in a residential neighborhood. Police said he tried to run but a police dog tracked him down.

Police arrested Major on several charges, including theft and driving under the influence. More

Stuck at 125mph for an Hour

In a real-life version of the movie Speed, Frank Lecerf was forced to drive at top speed when his Renault Laguna, which was adapted for disabled drivers, went out of control. While running an errand in his home of in Pont-de-Metz, France, Lecerf found that any tap on his brakes made the car speed up -up to 125 mph!

While uncontrollably speeding through the fast lane as other cars swerved out of his way, he managed to call emergency services who immediately dispatched a platoon of police cars.

Realising Lecerf had no choice but to keep racing along until his petrol ran out, they escorted him at high speed across almost 125 miles of French motorway, past Calais and Dunkirk, and over the Belgian border.

Puzzled motorists gave way as the high-speed convoy approached. Three toll stations were warned to raise their barriers as Lecerf ploughed through. After about an hour, his petrol tank spluttered empty and he managed to swerve into a ditch in Alveringem in Belgium, about 125 miles from his home, in Pont-de-Metz, near the northern French city of Amiens.

"My life flashed before me," he told Le Courrier picard. "I just wanted it to stop." He was unhurt but had two epileptic seizures.

Lecerf was connected to a Renault engineer during the ordeal, but nothing they tried slowed the vehicle. There is no word yet on why the car accelerated out of control. More

Husband fatally shot wife because she wouldn't stop talking

Joseph Hilton, 62, known as Danny, told a 911 operator his wife, Deborah Faile Hilton, 59, wouldn't stop talking, so he shot and killed her. "She just kept on and on and on and I just couldn't talk to her," Hilton said during a 911 call on Monday night.

When the 911 operator asked him why he shot her, Hilton replied, "We were in a domestic argument, and we just could not come to a conclusion." The arrest warrant says Hilton shot his wife once in the chest with a .45-calibre handgun.

After sheriff's deputies arrived and talked Hilton out of the mobile home in Kershaw, Lancaster County, South Carolina, they discovered her body about three feet from the front door.

Joseph Hilton has been charged with murder. He is being held in the Lancaster County Detention Center.

Video.

Heart Bike Route

You've probably seen the Verizon ad of a guy riding his bike in San Francisco along a route that looks like a big heart. The guy was actually real and he did actually ride his bike all over the city like that.
Robert Krulwich of NPR tells the story of Payam Rajabi and how he landed a spot in the ad:

Last year, Payam Rajabi got a new job and had to leave Toronto and his girlfriend Clare and move to San Francisco. All that left him feeling a little down — until he came up with his upsy, downsy Valentine idea.
He jumped on his bike, opened his iPhone to a map of San Francisco, and tracking himself with a GPS, he rode 27 miles around the city, taking two and a half hours, burning 1,135 calories and carefully etching a heart shape onto a city map ...
[...] Payam's map got picked up by Cyclelicious, a geeky bike equipment site, by Uptown Almanac, a local blog, by Health 2.0, a health news site, by Iranian.com, a Persian-American site. Payam was named "Iranian of the Day," and within the year, ka-ching! An ad agency called.
It was Verizon. They asked Payam if he would get back on the bike and do the whole thing over again, this time tracked by a rigged out truck with a giraffe-like hi-cam

But there's a twist at the end ... Read the rest over at Krulwich Wonders: Here.

Lovers’ hearts beat in sync

When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, “Cause girl, my heart beats for you,” in his romantic ballad, “Flatline,” his lyrics could be telling a tale that’s as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a University of California, Davis, study that found lovers’ hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the [...]

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Kissing's Long History

Kissing's Long History: A Timeline

Some researchers believe that kissing began millions of years ago as a result of mouth-to-mouth feeding.

Random Photo

Space Invaders Unlikely

Space Invaders Unlikely -- For Now

Research suggests that it is unlikely we'll be attacked by renegade aliens. That's a relief.

Could We Lasso the Next Asteroid?

Could We Lasso the Next Asteroid?

Rather than sending astronauts out to an asteroid a group of scientists wants to instead bring an asteroid back to Earth.

The 10 Richest People Of All Time And How They Made Their Fortunes

Who is the richest man of all time? Bill Gates? Warren Buffet? Not even close, though there's no denying they're very, very rich. The richest man of all time, when wealth is measured as a percentage of the national economy, was John D. Rockefeller, whose fortunes made Gates' and Buffet's look downright puny.

The richest people ever belong in their own special club. These people (all men) have built fortunes of legendary proportions when calculated at the peak of their wealth.
Here's a list of the 10 richest people of all time.

Julia Pastrana Buried 153 Years After Her Death

Julia Pastrana, once known as "the ugliest woman in the world," was born in 1834 with hypertrichosis terminalis, meaning her entire body was covered with hair several inches long. She also had a deformed mouth with huge teeth, leading one doctor of the day to declare that she was "a hybrid between human and orangutan." However, Pastrana sang with a beautiful voice and could speak several languages. She was exhibited by Theodor Lent, who eventually married her. In 1860, Pastrana gave birth in Moscow to a son who was also covered with hair, and who died within two days. Pastrana herself died five days later. Her body was preserved and exhibited by various owners for the next few decades, eventually ending up in storage in Oslo. Now, thanks to the efforts of Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata, Pastrana's body was returned to her native Mexico, where she was buried February 13, 2013.

People flocked to the town of Sinaloa de Leyva on Tuesday where Julia Pastrana was laid to rest in a white coffin adorned with white roses.

"Imagine the aggression and cruelty of humankind she had to face, and how she overcame it. It's a very dignified story," said Sinaloa Governor Mario Lopez.

"A human being should not be the object of anyone," Father Jaime Reyes Retana told mourners.

More

Man accused of stealing ring-tailed lemur and holding it for ransom

A Lucedale man accused of stealing a pet lemur and holding it for ransom is under arrest in Mobile, Alabama. Authorities have charged James Edward Welborn, Jr., 32, with possession of stolen property. He's awaiting extradition back to Mississippi where he could face more charges.
George County Sheriff Dean Howell said the ring-tailed lemur is a family pet named Gizmo, valued at $1,500. The two-year-old lemur was taken along with a flat-screen television from a home in Mobile during a burglary in January.

After Gizmo's owner offered a cash reward for the stolen lemur, investigators got a tip from someone who had seen the lemur in Welborn's possession. Investigators say Welborn thought he could ransom the animal, sending pictures of Gizmo, asking for $1,000 to return him.

But before Welborn's plan could pay off, authorities moved in and made an arrest. Gizmo has since been reunited with his owner, and is reportedly doing fine. According to Sheriff Howell, this case should cause other criminals to think twice because, "We don't put up with any monkey business in George County."

Anti-depressants help lab chimps

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A study shows that chimps formerly used in research labs can be treated with anti-depressants to help them overcome their trauma. 

Newly Found Owl Sings One Note

Newly Found Owl Sings One Note

The owl whistles a one-note song that rhymes with the name of its island home. 

Are Fish Getting High From Drug Waste?

Are Fish Getting High From Drug Waste?

Fish are becoming bolder and hungrier from human drugs flushed down the drain.

The Pinocchio Frog

Okay, he may have been fibbing. Just a bit. But only a little white lie. What's the worst that could happen to the Pinocchio frog? Paul Oliver of the University of Adelaide discovered our deceptive friend in the Foja Mountains of Indonesia. The male frog has a long nose that extends when he calls out--truthfully or not.

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The Wattle Cup Caterpillar

The Wattle Cup caterpillar. What a beauty. The caterpillar is the larva of the Wattle Cup Moth, which can be found in northern Australia, south to Geraldton, Alice Springs and Brisbane.

Animal Pictures