Friday, March 13, 2009
Common ailment deadly
Diarrhea.
It's not a pleasant thought and it kills almost 2,000,000 children every year -- twenty percent of children's deaths worldwide.
There's been a cheap and extremely effective treatment available for more than two decades.
It costs about 30¢ per dose, but the World Health Organization hasn't been able to find funding to provide this life-saving medicine in the areas and quantities where it's needed.
More at Agence France-Presse
It's not a pleasant thought and it kills almost 2,000,000 children every year -- twenty percent of children's deaths worldwide.
There's been a cheap and extremely effective treatment available for more than two decades.
It costs about 30¢ per dose, but the World Health Organization hasn't been able to find funding to provide this life-saving medicine in the areas and quantities where it's needed.
More at Agence France-Presse
And I Quote
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
~ Thomas Paine
~ Thomas Paine
Real Unemployment Numbers
If the government used the same formula to calculate unemployment rates that was used during the Great Depression, current unemployment nationwide would be 19.1 percent.
Of course, that's why the government has tweaked the math a bit over the decades.
Of course, that's why the government has tweaked the math a bit over the decades.
More at Reuters.
Think renting is safe during this mortage crisis
Think again.
Renters are at real risk in this mortgage mess -- if the landlord goes into foreclosure, the tenants can be evicted.
Renters are at real risk in this mortgage mess -- if the landlord goes into foreclosure, the tenants can be evicted.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters make up an estimated 40% of families facing eviction because of foreclosure. The article also includes an example of such a place where renters were thrown out, and the place lost 90% of its value over many months sitting vacant, as it was gutted and looted by neighborhood vandals. So in cases like that, foreclosure is a lose-lose-lose situation for everybody involved: The owner, renters, neighborhood, city, and even the bank itself! Sheesh! How stupid can banks be?--JR Mooneyham More at dollarsandsense.org.
Un-Patriotic Abuses
The ACLU has prepared a sobering list of the abuses of power brought about by the Un-Patriotic PATRIOT Act.
More at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Shrub to be arrested
A Canadian lawyer points out, quite correctly I might add, that under his nation's laws, since the shrub has been "credibly accused" of supporting torture, he should be barred from entering Canada and arrested if he shows up north of the border.
And next Tuesday, the shrub is scheduled to give a speech in Calgary.
We can hope!
And next Tuesday, the shrub is scheduled to give a speech in Calgary.
More at ThinkProgess.
We can hope!
Andy Griffith verses the PATRIOT act
Andy Griffith from his television show as Sheriff Andy Taylor explaining the fourth amendment to Opie.
Every repugican should watch this video of a true American and learn what a true American is and what the law is as well.
Andy is a good ol'boy from Mount Airy, North Carolina ... and he is not a repugican either.
Did You know ...
... a solar flare can make your toilet stop working?
That’s the surprising conclusion of a NASA-funded study by the National Academy of Sciences entitled Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts. In the 132-page report, experts detailed what might happen to our modern, high-tech society in the event of a “super solar flare” followed by an extreme geomagnetic storm. They found that almost nothing is immune from space weather—not even the water in your bathroom.
Tabloid TV Goes After Corporate Sleazeballs
Tabloid journalism is often worse than none at all. But now, the NY Times reports, the media business' bottom feeders are going after the corporate sleazeballs who blew up the economy.
The tabloid media, of course, have always peered into the excesses of the rich and famous with a mix of puritan disapproval and voyeurism. But these outlets and other news organizations are now recording troubling uses of taxpayer money at country clubs, private airports and glamorous retreats and, in so doing, explicitly tapping into a fierce populist anger at corporate America, and even pressuring Congress to hold companies accountable.
TMZ, a Web site better known for unflattering paparazzi shots of Britney Spears and Rihanna, drove mainstream coverage and Congressional outrage with a blog post late last month that exclaimed, “Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A.” The site reported that Northern Trust, a bank that received $1.6 billion in taxpayer money, had hosted hundreds of clients and employees at a golf tournament and a series of parties in Southern California. “Your tax dollars, hard at work,” the site wrote.
Northern Trust never sought the bailout funds, but agreed to take them last fall at the behest of the government. Regardless, the photos of Tiffany gift bags and the grainy video clips of Chicago and Sheryl Crow performing for the group angered readers —as well as Congressional Democrats, who demanded in a letter that Northern Trust repay what the company “frittered away on these lavish events.” The bank said it would do so “as quickly as prudently possible,” news that earned four exclamation points from TMZ.
*****
Who knew? That yellow journalists would be the standard bearers for actual journalism in the early twenty-first century.
Photo-essay on rotting buildings in Detroit
Time Magazine's published a photo essay on the abandoned, rotting, magnificent buildings in Detroit by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre.
These photos answer the questions : What do you do when your industry and your economy utterly collapse?
And, What happens when the numbers on the spreadsheets tell you that the bricks in the walls have no value?
Pentagon plans to build giant spy zeppelin
Described as a cross between a satellite and a spy plane, the Pentagon is going to spend $400 million to make a 450-foot dirigible "that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below."Sounds like it's 1909 all over again!
Out of the way and odd named places
We have readers in some out of the way and odd named places but the winner for the 'most' out of the way and/or odd name has to be Clam Gulch, Alaska.
Yes, it is a real place - we looked it up - it sounds like a town name in one of those old western serials back in the day, but they read Carolina Naturally so they have got to be good people.
Yes, it is a real place - we looked it up - it sounds like a town name in one of those old western serials back in the day, but they read Carolina Naturally so they have got to be good people.
It's A Blond World
Why did the blond crash her plane when landing?
Because the runway was only 25ft long, but a mile wide.
Because the runway was only 25ft long, but a mile wide.
A Budget Surplus
In a rarity these days the town of Stallings, North Carolina reports budget surplus.
(it should be noted that members of a certain 'political party' are not nor have they ever been in charge of the town of Stallings. So much for that 'tax and spend', hooey, that certain 'political party' accuses those in charge with doing.)
(it should be noted that members of a certain 'political party' are not nor have they ever been in charge of the town of Stallings. So much for that 'tax and spend', hooey, that certain 'political party' accuses those in charge with doing.)
Headlines
Headlines for today:
- Obama economic adviser says 'excess of fear' must be broken
- A warning? China 'worried' about its U.S. Treasury holdings
- Switzerland to relax bank secrecy in tax evasion cases
- Police: Gunman in deadly Ala. shootings had 'volcano inside him'
- Can marijuana help rescue California's ailing economy?
- Fire engulfs 22-story Bangladesh mall
- Secret Mormon ritual to be aired on HBO, sparking anger
- Switzerland breaks with tradition on tax evasion
- Italy: Verona sets up weddings in House of Juliet
- Fire at Bangladesh's largest mall kills 1
- Chinese premier defends Tibet policies
- Iraqi clerics call for shoe thrower's release
- German police try to determine if they were duped
- Northern Ireland unites at policeman's funeral
Great White Sharks Once Grew Slower
The most complete fossil of an ancient great white shark has been found in the dry deserts of Peru, including parts of the spinal column and a mouthful of 222 teeth.
Great whites are the undisputed king of sharks today, with bodies that can reach more than 20 feet in length. But not much is known about their evolutionary history. Seems they grew a bit slower 4 million years ago.
Great whites are the undisputed king of sharks today, with bodies that can reach more than 20 feet in length. But not much is known about their evolutionary history. Seems they grew a bit slower 4 million years ago.
Read the rest here.
Anthrax in the Americas
There's no debating that invading Europeans did introduce diseases that decimated Native American peoples, but anthrax probably wasn't one of them.
Columbus innocent over anthrax in the Americas
Using science to defeat fundamentalism
A new drive for science and engineering could help Pakistan solve many of its problems – the move should be applauded.
Pakistan to battle fundamentalism with science
Fundamentalism will lose this battle it always does.Net Neutrality gave us the Web and saved us from gopher
At Wednesday's Parliamentary roundtable on filtering and the Web, Robert Topolski of the Open Technology Initiative used a parable about the Web's birth to explain how the current generation of copyright, porn, terrorism (etc) filters equip network operators with the tools to murder the future-Web in its cradle:
Computing power has been rapidly increasing since the mid 1960s, as predicted by physicist Gordon Moore working in Silicon Valley at the time. By the 1990s, there was just about enough power to allow access to text and image-based files via the internet, and Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web was born.But network administrators at the time preferred a streamlined text-only internet service, says Topolski, using something called the Gopher protocol.
He suggested that if those administrators had had access to data filtering technology, like that becoming popular with companies and governments today, they would have used it to exclude Berners-Lee's invention, and kill off the World Wide Web.
Liars and Fools
Today's Liars and Fools are:
Democrats in Congress introduce vital protections for workers; corporate America responds with a Big Lie
Are we surprised by any of this?!
Former Congressman Santorum (r-Pennsylvania) says he believes "the fundamentals of American economy is still strong"
This is why that term 'former' is being used here.
In 2006 interview, CNBC's Cramer admitted illegal market manipulations
Again, are we surprised?!
shrub White House voicebox Fleischer is still lying that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11
Nine and/or eleven what? Dancing girls!
Fleischer: How dare you say9/11 happened on the shrub's watch!
Typical, the truth hurts'em.
Dimbulb's website claims of Obama: "His education plan is Maoist ... and he is otherwise a Bolshevik. ... [H]e would be a Stalinist if he thought he could get away with it"
Hasn't this extremely large waste of humanity had his 5 seconds, yet?
Washington Post's Marcus blithely roots against due process, Constitutional protections
Feudal as ever.
Washington Post's Ignatius makes stuff up stuff out of his ass
Dman how much space is up this guy's ass anyway?
Alaska Governor Palin campaigned as an anti-earmark crusader, but the just-passed omnibus spending bill contains several earmarks she sought
Of course there is, did we expect anything different?
Faux's Handjob misquotes Obama to falsely accuse him of breaking promise
Him speak with forked tongue as always.
Faux's Brick says people 'pushed to the wall' by 'political correctness' may turn into psycho killers
Foretelling his near future actions, I see.
Faux's Handjob suggests christianity compatible with torture
Got to give him points here the most and the most deviant torture the world has ever seen has been under the name of christianity.
Faux's Handjob misrepresents source of editorial to claim that "liberal media" outlet claimed Obama has "embarrassed America"
Him speak out of hole in head.
Democrats in Congress introduce vital protections for workers; corporate America responds with a Big Lie
Are we surprised by any of this?!
Former Congressman Santorum (r-Pennsylvania) says he believes "the fundamentals of American economy is still strong"
This is why that term 'former' is being used here.
In 2006 interview, CNBC's Cramer admitted illegal market manipulations
Again, are we surprised?!
shrub White House voicebox Fleischer is still lying that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11
Nine and/or eleven what? Dancing girls!
Fleischer: How dare you say
Typical, the truth hurts'em.
Dimbulb's website claims of Obama: "His education plan is Maoist ... and he is otherwise a Bolshevik. ... [H]e would be a Stalinist if he thought he could get away with it"
Hasn't this extremely large waste of humanity had his 5 seconds, yet?
Washington Post's Marcus blithely roots against due process, Constitutional protections
Feudal as ever.
Washington Post's Ignatius makes stuff up stuff out of his ass
Dman how much space is up this guy's ass anyway?
Alaska Governor Palin campaigned as an anti-earmark crusader, but the just-passed omnibus spending bill contains several earmarks she sought
Of course there is, did we expect anything different?
Faux's Handjob misquotes Obama to falsely accuse him of breaking promise
Him speak with forked tongue as always.
Faux's Brick says people 'pushed to the wall' by 'political correctness' may turn into psycho killers
Foretelling his near future actions, I see.
Faux's Handjob suggests christianity compatible with torture
Got to give him points here the most and the most deviant torture the world has ever seen has been under the name of christianity.
Faux's Handjob misrepresents source of editorial to claim that "liberal media" outlet claimed Obama has "embarrassed America"
Him speak out of hole in head.
Our Readers
Some of our readers today have been in:
Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Beijing, Beijing, China
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Santa Fe De Bogota, Distrito Especial, Colombia
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
as well as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Russia and Finland
Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Beijing, Beijing, China
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Santa Fe De Bogota, Distrito Especial, Colombia
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Bochum, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
as well as Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Russia and Finland
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
You have mastered the art of finding balance between your humility and your pride. So when compliments make you smile, you're filled with a sense of accomplishment, not a sense of superiority.
So true.
You have mastered the art of finding balance between your humility and your pride. So when compliments make you smile, you're filled with a sense of accomplishment, not a sense of superiority.
So true.
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