Non Sequitur

The Daily Drift

Something that is absolute anathema to wingnuts - they hate when the facts prove them wrong - they said unfettered capitalism would bring prosperity to all  ..!

 

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Today in History

1666		The Great Fire of London, which devastates the city, begins.
1789		The Treasury Department, headed by Alexander Hamilton, is created in New York City.
1792		Verdun, France, surrenders to the Prussian Army.
1798		The Maltese people revolt against the French occupation, forcing the French troops to take refuge in the citadel of Valetta in Malta.
1870		Napoleon III capitulates to the Prussians at Sedan, France.
1885		In Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, 28 Chinese laborers are killed and hundreds more chased out of town by striking coal miners.
1898		Sir Herbert Kitchner leads the British to victory over the Mahdists at Omdurman and takes Khartoum.
1910		Alice Stebbins Wells is admitted to the Los Angeles Police Force as the first woman police officer to receive an appointment based on a civil service exam.
1915		Austro-German armies take Grodno, Poland.
1944		Troops of the U.S. First Army enter Belgium.
1945		Japan signs the document of surrender aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II
1945		Vietnam declares its independence and Nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaims himself its first president.
1956		Tennessee National Guardsmen halt rioters protesting the admission of 12 African-Americans to schools in Clinton.
1963		Alabama Governor George Wallace calls state troopers to Tuskegee High School to prevent integration.
1963		The US gets its first half-hour TV weeknight national news broadcast when CBS Evening News expands from 15 to 30 minutes.
1970		NASA cancels two planned missions to the moon.
1975		Joseph W. Hatcher of Tallahassee, Florida, becomes the state's first African-American supreme court justice since Reconstruction.
1992		The US and Russia agree to a joint venture to build a space station.
1996		The Philippine government and Muslim rebels sign a pact, formally ending a 26-year long insurgency.
1998		Jean Paul Akayesu, former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, found guilty of nine counts of genocide by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Meet the World's Most Dangerous Women

The real-life killers, fanatics, and spies you'd be well-advised to steer clear of

Samantha Lewthwaite  
Approximate age: 29

AKA: The White Widow

Alleged crimes: Born in Northern Ireland and raised outside of London, Lewthwaite is on Interpol's list of people it wants arrested yesterday. Not for her suspected involvement in the horrific Nairobi mall attack, which British papers have incessantly linked her to, but for planning to bomb a Kenyan resort in 2011.

Why she's scary: Lewthwaite’s a mystery. She first tasted fame in 2005 as the pregnant, clueless wife of a London tube bomber. After that she got squirrelly, disappearing for a few years before popping up in Kenya, where she started running with the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab. By 2011, she was wanted by Kenyan authorities for plotting to bomb sites in Mombasa. No one could find her. She's so good at discreetly hopping between Kenya and Somalia and using fake passports that one BBC journalist says she's become a "mythological figure." If all those links to terrorism weren't scary enough, Lewthwaite is reportedly ensuring that her children carry on her legacy of terror.

Ten Negative Messages The repugican cabal Is Sending To America’s Kids

by Randa Morris over at Addicting Info

What lessons are repugicans teaching America’s kids? Here are ten of the worst things the wingnut role models for our children. – Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

The repugicans complain about video games and Hollywood, routinely whining that the influence of the mainstream media on the next generation is ‘destroying America.’ They claim that the ‘ungodly‘ and the ‘sexually immoral’ are encouraging young people to become degenerate, god hating heathens, bound for eternal damnation.

The repugican agenda is destroying the fabric of American society.

Who is really destroying the fabric of American society? Is it the gays with their ‘homosexual agenda,‘ and Disney with their top secret plot to corrupt the minds of all children via cartoon feature films with catchy theme songs? Or is it another segment of society altogether? A segment of our population that teaches American youth that violence is the answer to all problems; one that role models disrespect for everyone, from teachers to the police, to the president; a segment of our population that pretends to be ‘Godly,’ but values wealth more than humanity and role models that truth in everything they say and do?
The repugicans are horrible role models for America’s young people. Representatives of the repugican cabal promote an agenda which is racist, classist, sexist, violent and uneducated. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Here are the top ten reasons that repugicans make horrible role models.

It’s OK to degrade women.

1. Sexism. The repugicans have consistently voted against the equal pay for equal work act. The repugicans have repeatedly stood against the Violence Against Women Act. They consistently pass legislation that attempts to take away a women’s right to determine what happens to her own body. They blame single mothers for the ills of society, almost as often as they blame gays, liberals, atheists and the devil.
What republicans role model is nothing more than arrogance and egotism. They attempt to disguise these character flaws behind terms like ‘traditional family values.’ They teach boys to disrespect their mothers, sisters and female classmates. They teach girls that it is their duty to allow others to disrespect them. They teach young men that they aren’t required to control themselves sexually. They teach young women that if boys look at or touch them in a way they don’t like, it must be their own fault.
These are not lessons that most parents hope their children will learn. They are lessons that lead to girls and women being harmed, and to boys and men doing jail time. They’re lessons that lead to lawsuits and harassment suits and personal injury suits and lost wages suits and lots of other things that aren’t good, for either boys or girls to learn.

Try violence first.

2. Violence: Whether they are demanding that the United States get involved in another war, calling for the killing of Muslims in the streets, marching around like Nazis showing off their guns or threatening to kill the president, the repugican mentality is one that teaches children that violence is the answer to all problems.
‘Negotiation is weakness.’ ‘Diplomacy is for sissies.’ ‘Just shoot and kill everyone you don’t like.’ This strategy is to be applied to people who hold different religious views, different political views, people who come from other cultures, those who have different skin colors or those who are ‘not the same‘ in any other way.
Let’s not forget that conservatives believe that the only way to deal with criminals is to kill them. Also, the only way to deal with someone who makes you uncomfortable is to kill them, under Stand Your Ground laws, another barbaric product of the repugican cabal shoot first and shoot last mentality.
Needless to say these are not lessons most parents would choose to teach their children.

Disrespect for authority is good.

3. Disrespect: The repugicans role model disrespect in everything they say and do. Disrespect for the President and members of his cabinet. They show disrespect for public workers,  fire fighters, teachers, and just about every other person of authority, namely those who most Americans try to teach their children to respect.
The repugican attitudes toward the police are conflicting. If you’re talking about paying taxes to fund them, they hate the police. On the other hand, if you’re talking about militarizing them so they can kill unarmed black or Hispanic children, they can’t praise them enough.
To repugicans, even our men and women in uniform are not worthy of respect or compassion. Instead they’re just props to be used in the latest production of the never ending repugican cabal political theater. They are the first to send US troops off to war, and the last to fulfill their promises to them, once they’ve returned back home.

You don’t have to play well with ‘others’.

4. Racism; Most parents don’t want their children to grow up full of hate. They don’t want their kids to judge others based on the color of their skin or their country of origin. But Republicans consistently resort to using the Southern Strategy, a strategy originally created by the repugican cabal to woo racist southern voters. It’s used to manipulate and divide people, by turning the races against one another.
The repugican cabal leaders cultivate a culture of fear, envy, hate and bigotry. They sell their base a distorted version of reality, full of paranoia, mistrust and suspicion. These are not traits most parents want to cultivate in their children, but the message is always there. “That guy is out to get you.” “Those people want to take stuff from you.” “Someone over there is plotting something that threatens your entire existence.”

Do not get an education.

5. Education: The repugicans are strongly opposed to learning. They generally oppose public education, and specifically oppose anyone learning anything that falls outside the established guidelines of their personal religious beliefs. The repugicans deny science, despise math, reject facts, alter history, condemn reading and even oppose teaching critical thinking in schools. Let’s not even discuss sex education.
While repugican leaders pander to religio-wingnut extremist’s demands for government enforced and funded religious indoctrination, their reasons for wanting to dumb down the populace are motivated by other factors. Promoting the idea that being educated is a bad thing, an anti-god thing, a ‘liberal elite’ thing, makes being uneducated seem appealing, especially to those who are uneducated.
Most parents hope to see their children do well in school. They want their kids to get all A’s, and that includes getting good grades in Science and math. They would like to see their kids develop critical thinking skills. Parents also want their kids to know about STD’s, where babies come from and how to keep from getting one. Ignorance just breeds more repugicans.

The value of a person is based on the amount of wealth and possessions they own.

6: Materialism: Stuff matters. What you need is more stuff. The more stuff you have the more important you are. People who don’t have stuff are worthless. The repugican model for American children is superficial, materialistic and centers on the accumulation of money and things, always at the expense of other people.
Parents have a hard enough time trying to teach their children that they don’t have to get stuff all the time. Thankfully, the “stuff phase” is one kids usually outgrow with age. The repugicans, on the other hand, really believe whoever has the most toys in the end wins. They never got the message, “you can’t take it with you.”
Most parents don’t want their child’s identity and sense of self worth tied up in how much stuff they do or don’t have. They hope for something better, like that their kids will turn out to be compassionate, generous, honest, kind, well mannered, that they will do well in school (see number five), become a valuable member of a community, and most hope that their kids will aspire to make the world a better place. To put it another way, greed and selfishness are not character traits that most parents hope to see flourish in their kids.

Don’t give a hoot, go ahead and pollute.

7: Environment: Just throw your trash wherever you want. (god will clean it up?) While many parents strive to teach their children to appreciate nature and respect the earth, water and wildlife, the message repugicans send is quite different. The repugican cabal philosophy is that there’s nothing about the earth in and of itself, that is valuable. If you can’t rip it up, siphon it off, drill it, frack it, mine it or exploit it in some other way, it’s worthless. Everything on earth is meant for monetary gain. If it can’t be bought and sold it has no value. 

Name calling is a good substitute for reasonable debate.

8: Less Than Civil Discourse: This is a constant. While most people would prefer that their children not call names or hurl insults at other people, repugicans have made this standard procedure for the adults in government. Debating facts and statistics or engaging in civil discourse are things of the past. If you disagree with someone, spew all sorts of verbal insults, scream over them, cut them off when they are speaking or just dismiss what they are saying as ‘lies and propaganda‘. If that doesn’t work, shout Benghazi and run.
Never listen to the other person. Instead of thoughtfully considering other views, do whatever it takes to silence them. If someone attempts to express a point of view that falls outside the one you espouse, just shout words like traitor, commie, Nazi, feminazi, fascist, un-American, liar, anti-God, Obamabot, etc… If it’s a woman, call her a whore. If it’s a man, call him a lazy moocher, feminine and weak or just go with whatever else comes to mind. If it’s the president, you can always fall back on the n-word.
The repugican role models include the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Lush Dimbulb, Chris Christie, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Louie Gohmert and many others, all cut from the same cloth. The message is you don’t have to respect others who disagree with you. The loudest, rudest, most obnoxious person wins, not on the merits of the argument, but because they successfully shouted over opposing voices.

Honesty is not the best policy.

9: Lying: One thing almost every parent wants is for their children to grow up to be honest. The repugicans are notorious for lying. Whether they’re lying about Obamacare, fictional death panels and guillotines, or inventing scary stories about FEMA camps and lizard people, honesty is not something Republicans have developed a reputation for.
The repugicans lie as a matter of policy. From lying to kids about sex to lying to their followers about ‘Benghazi,’ distorting the truth is a way of life for the wingnuts. It’s hard to keep track of all the things that repglicans lie about, from trickle down economics to President Obama’s record, not even the fact checkers can’t keep up.
Here’s a newsflash, even though repugicans claim to be the ‘family values party’ (the biggest lie of all?) dishonesty is not a trait that most families value.

Say one thing, do another.

10: Lack of Integrity. The level of hypocrisy in the repugican cabal is totally astounding. Whenever a repugican cabal politician is caught doing the exact same thing they campaigned against, the standard excuse from the repugican cabal is ‘Dems do it too.’
Admittedly, Democrats aren’t perfect, but it’s rare to find one who ran on a platform of “vote for me, and I’ll outlaw stuff based on my righteous wingnutted feign devotion to god and the bible.” It’s also rare to hear Democrats campaigning against other people’s supposed sins, homosexuality, drug use, their religious beliefs or some other perceived evil.
Once you’ve gone around trying to convince everyone that you’re a devoted religious fanatic who will save America from its sins, it’s a totally different ball game when you are caught doing drugs, cheating on your wife, having a same sex fling, ripping off your own supporters or doing a host of other things that are supposed to be against your own religious beliefs (the ones you tried to shove down everyone else’s throats). That’s the definition of hypocrisy.
Integrity is doing what you say. It’s living by the same standards you seek to impose on others. Most parents hope to instill some sense of integrity in their children. A good way to avoid raising children who lack integrity is to keep them away from repugicans.

It’s time to clean house.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the ways that repugicans are negatively influencing the youth of America. While I’ve tried to include as many links as possible to illustrate the points, there’s no doubt that there are thousands of other examples that can easily be found, just by doing a casual Google search of any of the topics touched upon here.
There’s no doubt there will always be political figures who set a bad example for the next generation. Yet we can start to fix this problem by demanding better than the average republican mentality, when it comes to electing our country’s leaders.

Texas Judge Warns Rick Perry Not To Threaten Grand Jury

A Democratic state judge in Texas is suggesting that repuhican Rick Perry's strong denunciations of his indictment could be seen as a threat to the grand jurors, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Julie Kocurek, an elected judge, said "no one is above the law."

"I have a duty to make sure that our members of the grand jury are protected," she's quoted as saying. "I am defending the integrity of our grand jury system."

It's far from clear (who are we kidding - he WAS threatening them) that Perry was threatening the grand jury. The statement he made, to which Kocurek was reportedly referring, was this: "I am confident we will ultimately prevail, that this farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is, and that those responsible will be held to account."

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Faux News Blatantly Distorted New Statistics on Government Programs to Fear Monger Against the Poor

Faux News’ incessant fear mongering against the poor never ceases to amaze me. The repugican cabal as a whole displays such obvious disdain toward those living in poverty that it absolutely blows my mind that tens of millions of impoverished Americans actually vote for repugicans.
So knowing how Faux News seems to enjoy slandering the poor, my curiosity was obviously peaked when I recently ran across an article on their website with the headline Census figures show more than one-third of Americans receiving welfare benefits. 
Shocking, right?
Well, that is until you actually look at the census information. Which, of course, they didn’t link back to in their story. I guess we wouldn’t want people reading it to be able to look at the numbers for themselves to see how blatantly misleading the headline of this article is.
In fact, the only data from this census information this joke of an article even mentions is the number of people on Medicaid (82 million) and food stamps (51 million).
The article goes on to say:

Though the programs were created to help those in need, some analysts worry that the way they’re designed is, increasingly, incentivizing people not to work.

Though they failed to mention that this information shows that many of the people counted in these numbers are children, the disabled and the elderly. Not exactly individuals I would call “moochers of our government programs.”
And let’s not forget how many of our veterans (and even families of active service members) rely on some of these programs as well.
In fact, when you look at the entire scope of these numbers from the census, food stamp recipients only account for 16 percent and Medicare 26 percent of the 153 million total.
By comparison Social Security accounts for 17 percent, Medicare 16 percent, WIC (Women, Infants and Children) 7 percent, and SSI at 6 percent.
So in the grand scheme of Americans relying government programs, 46 percent are senior citizens, children and the disabled.
And again, many of those same people (senior citizens, the disabled and children) are also included in the food stamp and Medicaid numbers this Faux News article clearly tried to use to perpetuate their common talking point of “poor people are just lazy moochers looking for a handout from hardworking Americans.”
Though I don’t think you’ll find many sane people who would categorize children, the disabled or the elderly as people who are being “incentivized” from looking for work.
But what this article was clearly trying to do was ratchet up the usual Faux News fear mongering against Americans living in poverty by blatantly distorting these census numbers.

The Chicago Cubs Cut Workers' Hours To Avoid O-Care Mandate, Then Disaster Struck

Earlier this past week, the Chicago Cubs grounds crew experienced a disaster. As rain poured onto Wrigley Field, they were unable to cover the playing surface with a tarp in time. They were booed. The game was called. Because of the mismanagement, their opponents, the San Francisco Giants, protested the game after it had been called as a win for the Cubs. They succeeded. It was the first successful protest in Major League Baseball in 28 years, according to Deadspin.

But the whole bizarre episode was cast in a new light Thursday when the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Cubs had slashed worker hours to keep them under 30 hours a week to avoid paying health benefits under Obamacare.

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Judge: SWAT team can't claim immunity after using excessive force

Police might be able to bash your home's door down and summarily execute you, but that doesn't mean they can use their qualified immunity to escape even the possibility of legal redress.On May 18, 2008, a heavily armed SWAT - or special weapons and tactics - team unit knocked down Terebesi's door, threw stun flash grenades into his Easton home and fatally shot 33-year-old Gonzalo Guizan of Norfolk as the two men watched television. ...
In a 51-page ruling that upholds a lower court decision, the appeals court said the police responded with unnecessary and inappropriate force and under the circumstances, are not protected by "qualified immunity" from the lawsuits.

"The plaintiffs presented evidence indicating that all of the defendants understood that the warrant was for a small amount of drugs meant only for personal use. The basis for the officers' entry, in other words, was related to an offense that was neither grave nor violent," the appeals court wrote in a decision released late Monday.

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Racial Profiling At Its Best?

Black Producer Wrongfully Arrested.

“Producer Charles Belk was held by Beverly Hills police for nearly six hours last Friday after police mistook him for another bald, black man—one who robbed a Citibank. Belk, visiting for Emmys, was on his way to put money in his parking meter when he was detained and hauled off to a police station.
Belk recounts his long evening with police in a post on his Facebook page:
Within an evening, I was wrongly arrested, locked up, denied a phone call, denied explanation of charges against me, denied ever being read my rights, denied being able to speak to my lawyer for a lengthy time, and denied being told that my car had been impounded…..All because I was mis-indentified as the wrong ‘tall, bald head, black male,’ … ‘fitting the description.’
I get that the Beverly Hills Police Department didn’t know at the time that I was a law abiding citizen of the community and that in my 51 years of existence, had never been handcuffed or arrested for any reason. All they saw, was someone fitting the description. Doesn’t matter if he’s a ‘Taye Diggs BLACK’, a ‘LL Cool J BLACK’, or ‘a Drake BLACK’” *
*Read more here from http://defamer.gawker.com/police-mistake-black-producer-in-town-for-emmys-for-ban-1627406488/+laceydonohue

Omaha Police Fatally Shoot 'COPS' TV Crew Member During Standoff

Police officers killed a "COPS" crew member as well as a robbery suspect, who was armed with a pellet gun they thought was a real handgun. 

The filming of the reality show “Cops” turned deadly when U.S. police firing on a man suspected of robbing a restaurant hit a TV sound man and killed him, police said.
The suspect, later found to have a pistol that fired pellets, was also killed in the incident in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday night.
The audio technician was named as Bryce Dion, 38, and his death is believed to be the first in the 25-year history of the show, one of the first American reality programs, U.S. media said.
In “Cops,” TV crews embed with the police and film them in action.
Omaha police chief Todd Schmaderer said Dion was in the vestibule of a Wendy’s fast food restaurant as the suspect, identified as Cortez Washington, came out firing his pellet gun.
“He’s on his way out. Officers are returning fire. Bryce is in that vestibule and gets struck by a round,” Schmaderer told a news conference.
The police chief said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to suggest that officers might have been showing off for the TV cameras, according to CNN.
The production company that makes “Cops,” Langley Productions, said it was “deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy and our main concern is helping his family in any way we can.”

Police sketch of serial killer unlike him

Derrick Todd Lee didn't look much like the police artist's photo-composite

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Hey, they almost got the hairline correct! 

We need to demand far better accuracy and accountability from police departments. Such shoddy work would never be tolerated in the corporate world (at least not for long - as such work would lead to a failure and be stopped either by that said failure or before to attempt to prevent said failure from occurring). 

Why is it that police departments across the country continue to operate so shoddily? 

Nuclear 'Command And Control'

A History Of False Alarms And Near Catastrophe

Globally, there are thousands of nuclear weapons hidden away and ready to go, just awaiting the right electrical signal. American journalist and author Eric Schlosser's new book 'Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety,' is a critical look at the history of the nation's nuclear weapons systems.
It's also a terrifying account of the fires, explosions, false attack alerts and accidentally dropped bombs that plagued America's military throughout the Cold War.

Russian soldiers captured in Ukraine as Putin embraces the shrub legacy of foreign failure

by Myrddin

Kiev has captured ten Russian paratroopers who admit crossing int Ukraine. And Russia has finally admitted what has been obvious since the start of the Ukraine crisis: Russian soldiers have been fighting Ukrainian forces in Ukraine.
Putin looks more like the Russian George W. Bush every day. Putin has whipped his country up into a war fever with fraudulent claims of atrocities being committed by the Ukraine government. Putin is fighting a covert war in the hope of provoking an excuse for an invasion. And every use of force by Putin has only made his political and military situation weaker.
Lets recap what has happened in Ukraine in the past twelve months.
This time last year, Ukraine was a close Russian ally, and the Russian lease on the Sevastopol naval base was completely secure.
Ukraine was considering closer ties to the EU, with a tariff agreement but that would benefit Russia almost as much as Ukraine.
Putin’s heavy-handed attempt to block the deal with the EU led to protests in the Ukrainian streets. And what the protestors were most insistent on rejecting was Putin himself. The Ukrainian opposition are not anti-Russian, they are anti-Putin.
By February, President Yanukovych of Ukraine was on the run as he faced impeachment proceedings and prosecution for embezzlement on a massive scale. Panicking, Putin ordered his forces already stationed in Crimea to commence an occupation leading to annexation in March.
The historical joke here is that the glorious Russian victory in capturing the Crimea was never much of a gain. The Crimea is a desert; the only strategic asset being the port of Sevastopol. And that is strategically worthless without control of the Bosphorus strait.
Annexing Crimea actually makes Russia’s long term position considerably weaker. It is a question of when, not whether, Russia relinquishes control yet again. It may take decades, a century even, but Russia will eventually leave. And Ukraine isn’t going to be at all friendly to Moscow until it does.
There is a large Russian speaking minority in eastern Ukraine. But speaking Russian is not the same as wanting Putin to rule your country. Americans, for example, speak English. That does not, however, mean that they miss the Queen.
Putin appears to be adamant that he will not allow Ukraine to leave Russia’s sphere of influence. But everything Putin does only deepens the divide. The only way that Putin can prevent the total collapse of his proxy forces in Ukraine is to mount an invasion, an enterprise that is surely doomed to defeat. The Soviet Union had a population of almost 300 million, but went down to ignominious defeat attempting to occupy Afghanistan with a population of a mere 10 million at the time.
The population of Russia is 145 million; off Ukraine, 45 million. Imagine for the sake of argument that a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine succeeds, and Putin declares Mission Accomplished from the deck of a Russian battleship. Where does Russia find the troops to occupy Ukraine? And how does Putin prevent other parts of the decrepit Russian empire from breaking away while the majority of his armed forces are tied down in the southwest?
Unlike the US in Iraq, Russia does not enjoy an overwhelming military advantage over Ukraine. (And Iraq remains a thorn in America’s side.) What’s more, we are now in late August and winter is coming. It’s not exactly the optimal time to take over your neighbor.
Putin’s head is now in a noose of his own making. He can’t withdraw without a loss of face that would completely destroy the brutish self-image he has striven to create. But invading Ukraine might trigger the breakup of what remains of the Russian empire.
And then, Russia’s geopolitical foes, internal and external, will all be singing “Mission Accomplished.”

Problems of the Heart

Energy drinks cause heart problems

Energy drinks can cause heart problems according to research presented […]

Ziggy

Misinformation in televised medical dramas

From the "No Shit, Sherlock" Department:

"It turns out that popular medical dramas don't always portray medical treatment accurately. A new study found that seizure care in particular was depicted appropriately less than half the time on major fictional medical shows...
The study looked at the depiction of seizure care for all episodes of "Grey's Anatomy," House, M.D.," and "Private Practice," and the last five seasons of "ER." The research will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario, in April.
In nearly 46 percent of seizure cases, characters on these shows delivered inappropriate treatments such as holding the person down, trying to stop involuntary movements or putting something in the person's mouth, the study said. The shows did show proper treatment about 29 percent of the time, and in the remaining 25 percent of the time, the accuracy of the portrayal couldn't be determined...
There have been other studies showing that television medical shows do a poor job of portraying procedures appropriately and accurately. Of concern is one about cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, Sanders said. A 1996 New England Journal of Medicine study of "ER," "Chicago Hope" and "Rescue 911" found that in the episodes viewed, 75 percent of patients survived cardiac arrest immediately, and 67 percent appeared to be well enough to leave the hospital. In real life, long-term survival rates vary from 2 to 30 percent for cardiac arrest outside a hospital and 6.5 to 15 percent for arrests inside a hospital, the study said.
False depictions of CPR are probably more alarming than misrepresented seizure care, Sanders said. Normally, seizure care is left to doctors, who don't get their information on treatments from television. But CPR is a procedure that lay people do learn how to do, and they might get false impressions from watching dramas, she said."

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If anyone believes the accuracy of any televised 'medical drama' is even close to being actually accurate we have some land about ten miles east of Miami with a full 360 degree ocean view we could sell you cheep.

Japanese government urges the public to be prepared and stockpile toilet paper

The Japanese government is calling on its citizens to be prepared for the worst-case scenario should a major disaster hit the quake-prone archipelago by stockpiling toilet paper. The industry ministry has launched a public awareness campaign ahead of the September 1 national Disaster Prevention Day, reminding citizens to have enough emergency supplies of food and sanitary products to survive the aftermath of a major earthquake.

"Be prepared and have no regrets," the ministry said in a statement, as it advertised a special exhibit on disaster preparedness to be held in its downtown Tokyo building. "At times of major disasters, like huge earthquake, an insufficient number of useable toilets always becomes a problem," it said, adding that a toilet paper shortage compounds the issue.
In the wake of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and killer tsunami disaster of March 2011, Japan experienced a shortage of many things including toilet paper, as families hoarded everything from water to gasoline, emptying store shelves even in areas relatively unharmed by the natural disaster. The industry ministry has highlighted the vulnerability of Japan's toilet paper production capacity, which is 40 percent concentrated in Shizuoka prefecture, in a region where experts say a disastrous quake and tsunami could strike in the future.
The ministry is urging the public to keep enough rolls of toilet paper to last for at least one month, the period the government believes is needed for the toilet tissue market to return to normal after a major disaster. "Using Disaster Prevention Day as an opportunity, please start stockpiling toilet paper at home," the ministry said, referring to the September 1 anniversary of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed more than 100,000 people. The anniversary is used as a national training and awareness day to encourage people to plan ahead for disasters. Toilet paper was the object of nationwide consumer hoarding during the oil shock of 1973.

Racing cyclists hospitalized after mistaking washing detergent for sports drink

Six cyclists in Norway were sent to hospital on Friday after drinking a soap detergent they thought was a sports drink. The makers of "Omo", a clothes washing detergent, are now considering changing their labeling after accidentally poisoning the unsuspecting riders participating in the “Fredagsbirken” race in Rena, near Oslo . The product was available as part of a sampling campaign by Lilleborg, sponsors of the event.

All competitors were given a free sample of “Omo Aktiv & Sport”, together with their starting numbers before the race. The race was interrupted several times as six cyclists had to be sent to the emergency ward of the nearby hospital after having drunk what they believed to be a sports drink. It was in fact the detergent. Anne Gjemdal, head of information at Lilleborg, said: “We thought it was obvious from the label that it is a detergent, but considering what has happened, we will re-evaluate if the labeling is good enough. The product is labelled according to strict regulations.”
Gjemdal added: “We are deeply sorry that people have mistakenly thought "Omo" was a sports drink. We hope those affected [by the misunderstanding] are well taken care of.” Race organizers said the "Omo" samples were clearly labelled as detergents and cyclists were told not to mix the liquid with their drinking water. After the incident, they put up large posters to avoid the same mistake being made by others. Ingunn Rønningen Kleven of the “Birkebeiner” bicycle ride said:; “Since this clothes washing detergent is especially developed for training clothes, we thought it would be relevant to give it to our contestants.
“They could use it to wash their training clothes after the event.” Jo Gunnar Ellevold, head of “Birken”, said that the organizers called the Poisoning Information Center on learning some of the contestants had drunk detergent. Ellevold said: “We were informed that it is not dangerous to one’s health to drink around a deciliter of detergent. It produces some foam and it is natural that one will experience some discomfort for a time after drinking it.” According to the user instructions, one should drink two to three glasses of water or milk, then contact a doctor if the detergent is drunk.

Constipated drunk-driver crashed into car full of elderly people

A constipated drunk-driver crashed into a car full of pensioners during a police chase after he became desperate to use the toilet, a court heard. Philip Breeze, who had drunk six pints before getting behind the wheel, led police on a chase through the Kirkstall and Horsforth areas of Leeds before the officers deemed chasing him too dangerous.

They arrested Breeze at his home later that day – where he was still two times over the limit. Breeze plowed into the side of a vehicle in which four people in their 80s and 90s were traveling. The car hit by Breeze’s vehicle was forced on to its side and skidded along for 20 meters. Leeds Crown Court heard Breeze, 54, had been to a pub with a friend on July 27 before driving him to a railway station.
Breeze’s vehicle was spotted swerving across the road by a member of the public who contacted the police after it struck a parked car. Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said the witness dialed 911 and gave a running commentary of Breeze’s bad driving to police. Breeze drove through a junction and struck a Ford Fusion. Breeze, of Horsforth, then drove over a verge to get away from police. He was arrested three hours later and found to be twice the drunk-drive limit.
Breeze pleaded guilty to drunk-driving, failing to stop after an accident and dangerous driving. The court heard he had previously been jailed for drink- driving. Deborah Smithies, mitigating, said Breeze had been suffering from severe constipation for several days but suddenly felt the urge to use the lavatory while he was driving. She added: “It caused him to panic.” She said Breeze was full of remorse for what he had done. The judge said: “I take the view that there is no alternative to immediate custody.” He jailed Breeze for 24 weeks and also banned him from driving for two years.

Man claims unusual compulsion causes him to break into homes to take hot showers

An accused burglar in Kentucky said he wasn't looking to steal anything, he just wanted a hot shower.

Ryan Carpenter, 32, was caught in a Lexington home by the homeowner.
Carpenter allegedly broke into the home through a window then took a shower.
Carpenter told police he has mental problems that compels him to break into homes to take hot showers after his hot water runs out. He was charged with burglary.

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America, in the Beginning

Archaeologists continue their search for evidence of how the vast, once-uninhabited regions of the New World came to be populated

Nearly one billion people today call the Americas home, inhabiting territories that stretch from the wide expanses of Canada and the United States, down through Mexico and Central America, and south through the varied landscapes of South America to Chile—from sparsely populated regions to some of the most crowded cities on the planet. And yet, as recently as 16,000 years ago, there may not have been anyone in these lands at all. Who were the earliest Americans, and how and when did they get here? These are questions that have long fascinated archaeologists and the public alike. As with all scientific endeavors, uncovering the story of how and when people arrived in the Americas will require an accumulation of evidence and data, and will long continue to be subject to revision. Here, then, is where the research has led so far:

Destination: The Americas

Monte Verde

Meadowcroft Rockshelter

Debra L. Friedkin Site

Schaefer and Hebior Kill Sites

Manis Mastodon Kill Site

Check out these sites @ Archaeology
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