Archive for January, 2009
I Hope You’re Beheaded On You Tube: What The Right Is Really Like
The “conservative humor blogs” are not very funny. I have gone up against them and found they are vicious, nasty people. Hope You Are Beheaded On You Tube: What The Right Is Really Like is a look into this ugly world.
Eat Less, Remember More?
Rachel Zelkowitz, ScienceNOW Daily News:
Research on the benefits of an extremely low-calorie diet stretches back to the 1930s, when scientists found that rats lived up to twice as long when they nibbled less than control animals. Since then, some studies with rodents and nonhuman primates have shown that this spare diet, known as calorie restriction, improves some markers of diabetes and heart disease, such as blood glucose and triglyceride levels, and possibly prevents neurological declines similar to those seen with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
In humans, however, the results have been mixed. Subjects on low-calorie diets generally have lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels than their chow-happy counterparts. But these studies were small, and none was designed to test how calorie restriction might affect cognitive performance.
Eat Less, Remember More?
By Rachel Zelkowitz
ScienceNOW Daily News
27 January 2009
Research on the benefits of an extremely low-calorie diet stretches back to the 1930s, when scientists found that rats lived up to twice as long when they nibbled less than control animals. Since then, some studies with rodents and nonhuman primates have shown that this spare diet, known as calorie restriction, improves some markers of diabetes and heart disease, such as blood glucose and triglyceride levels, and possibly prevents neurological declines similar to those seen with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In humans, however, the results have been mixed. Subjects on low-calorie diets generally have lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels than their chow-happy counterparts. But these studies were small, and none was designed to test how calorie restriction might affect cognitive performance.
2012: It’s Everywhere!
Yesterday it was the New York Times and New York Post. Now it’s CNN catching 2012 mania. Actually this story does approach the topic more sensibly than most mainstream publications, but for some more sober reflections don’t forget to check out 2012: Science or Superstition, now out on DVD.
Just as “Y2K” and its batch of predictions about the year 2000 have become a distant memory, here comes “Twenty-twelve.”
Fueled by a crop of books, Web sites with countdown clocks, and claims about ancient timekeepers, interest is growing in what some see as the dawn of a new era, and others as an expiration date for Earth: December 21, 2012.
The date marks the end of a 5,126-year cycle on the Long Count calendar developed by the Maya, the ancient civilization known for its advanced understanding of astronomy and for the great cities it left behind in Mexico and Central America.
(Some scholars believe…
Meet The People Who Make Your Clothes
Author Kelsey Timmerman just completed a book about the lives of garment workers around the world. In his research stages, he traveled the globe interviewing people who sew and assemble clothing at the factories of major international brands. Guest blogging on Neatorama, he introduces an assortment of people whom he met in his travels.
Nari (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) works at a factory that makes blue jeans. She shares an 8’ X 12’ apartment with seven other girls. Four of the girls sleep on a bamboo bed and the other four sleep on the concrete floor. It’s a job that she had to pay a $50 bribe – a month’s wage – to get. Fifty dollars is probably enough for one person in Cambodia to live on, but Nari, like many of the garment workers in Cambodia, supports her family of six. She is attending beauty school and hopes to open…
Get Your Counterterrorism Calendar From Uncle Sam
In need of a 2009 calendar or daily planner?
This will spice up your daily routine: the Department of Justice’s National Counterterrorism Center is offering calendars and planners chock full of terrorism-themed content.
Scattered throughout are mug shots of America’s most-wanted terror suspects, information on various terrorist groups, and hand facts on “everything from Anthrax to VBEIDs (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices).”
The calendar marks dates by both the Gregorian and Islamic systems, and contains “significant dates in terrorism history” as well as holidays and other dates that terrorists may see as symbolic when planning attacks (so you’ll know on which days to be especially scared).
You can purchase a physical copy or download it for free on Department of Justice’s website.
Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade
Anya Kamenetz: Massive investments in clean energy promise to keep farmers, urban planners, and green-tech entrepreneurs in business for the next decade. This guide to sustainability focused career paths will help solar-charge your work life.
“It’s time to bail out the people and the planet,” says Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.
Farmer: America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers — up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.
…
Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade
By: Anya Kamenetz
Massive investments in clean energy promise to keep farmers, urban planners, and green-tech entrepreneurs in business for the next decade. This guide to sustainability focused career paths will help solar-charge your work life.
“It’s time to bail out the people and the planet,” says Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.
Farmer
America has only two million farmers, and their average age is 55. Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers — up to tens of millions of them, according to food guru Michael Pollan. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.
…
Oh No! More Madoffs! Troubled Times Bring Mini-Madoffs to Light
Their names lack the Dickensian flair of Bernie Madoff, and the money they apparently stole from investors was a small fraction of the $50 billion that Mr. Madoff allegedly lost of his clients’ savings.
But the number of other people who have been caught running Ponzi schemes in recent weeks is adding up quickly, so much so that they have earned themselves a nickname: mini-Madoffs.
Some of these schemes have been operating for years, and others are of more recent vintage. But what is causing them to surface now appears to be a combination of a deteriorating economy and heightened skepticism about outsize returns after the revelations about Mr. Madoff. That can scare off new clients and cause longtime investors to demand their money back, which brings the charade tumbling down.
Many Nations Banning or Limiting Cell Phone Use by Children
L.L. Woodard: While nations around the world are either banning or limiting cell phone use by children, and some by those under the age of 12 years-old, Health Canada has remained mum on the subject.
France is nearing the point where it will make it illegal to market cell phones to children. Russian officials have recommended that children under the age of 18 years not use cell phones at all.
Similarly, the United Kingdom, Israel, Belgium, Germany and India have discouraged use of cell phones by children. In Finland, the Radiation and Nuclear Power Authority has urged parents to err on the side of caution, because despite there being no definitive research indicating health risks related to the use of cell phones, there is also no definitive research indicating the absence of health risks from cell phone use. The truth is, cell phone use, and especially its wide use among children, is…
Financial Crisis May Give Rise To The Amero – No Longer Just A Conspiracy Theory
Thomas Jefferson once said: “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” As the global financial system pushes on a string, investors are desperately trying to hold tight.
The New World Order is upon us, full of hope, promise and a fair amount of fear. In our recent discussion regarding the direction of our country, we noted the risks of catering to conventional wisdom and the implications for the U.S. dollar.
…In 2006, it seemed counterintuitive to forecast a “prolonged socioeconomic malaise entirely more depressing than a recession.”
For years, the notion of an “invisible hand” was conspiracy theory until we learned that the Working Group on Financial Markets was a central policy tool. And now, as we gaze across our historically significant horizon, we must open our minds to thoughts and ideas that may seem foreign to folks conditioned by the past and stunned…
High Fructose Corn Syrup Contaminated with Toxic Mercury, Says Research
Mike Adams (NaturalNews): New research published in Environmental Health and conducted in part by a scientist at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy has revealed that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is contaminated with the toxic heavy metal mercury.
That means that many of the products using HFCS may also be contaminated with mercury. Carbonated sodas are sweetened with HFCS, as are candy bars, bread, salad dressings, pizza sauce, fruit drinks and thousands of other grocery items.
Mercury is so highly toxic that it causes severe neurological disorders. It can also result in the loss of hair, teeth and nails as well as muscle weakness, loss of kidney function, emotional mood swings and memory impairment. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercur…) (P.S. Somebody please update this Wikipedia page with this latest research about HFCS being a source for mercury exposure, too.)
Will Rove Be Forced To Testify?
Rep. John Conyers Jr.’s decision to subpoena Karl Rove to testify about the “politicization” of the Bush Justice Department has dumped a thorny legal question in the laps of President Barack Obama’s White House lawyers before they’ve even had time to settle into their new jobs.
Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had a subpoena served on Rove on Tuesday. Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, immediately forwarded the subpoena to White House counsel Greg Craig for guidance on how the Obama administration wants Rove to respond.
Former President George W. Bush maintained that senior White House aides had enjoyed “absolute immunity” from congressional subpoenas. As a result, the Bush Justice Department refused to seek criminal contempt charges for executive branch officials who failed to answer demands from Congress.
Is California the State Closest to Economic Ruin?
Arnold Schwarzenegger may believe that he would be sitting in Barack Obama’s chair in the Oval Office if only he had been born a U.S. citizen. Instead he runs California, which may be the nation’s most populous state while being at the same time the one closest to economic ruin.
California had an unemployment rate of 9.3% as of December. That news is days old now so it has very little value on its own.
What may end up being novel about the California jobless rate is how quickly it might be reversed by the capital, which will be injected into the economy by the new federal stimulus package. This state may end up being a sign of things to come. The foreclosure rate in California is one of the highest in the nation. More than 236,000 homes or 2.8% of California’s housing stock foreclosed in 2008, helping to drive down home…
Skateistan: A Skateboarding School in Afghanistan
In Kabul, Oliver Percovich, a 34-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, is planning to open a skateboarding school for poor kids.
For the moment, he brings skateboards round to a decrepit Soviet era fountain for the children. He has already raised the money needed to build an 8,600-square-foot bubble to house the nonprofit Skateistan complex, and the Kabul Parks Authority has donated land. He is still waiting for official permission to begin the project. And since a spate of kidnappings and the car bombing in late November, he has reduced his daily sessions at the fountain to once or twice a week.
Original story: New York Times.
Brown Sees ‘New World Order’ After Crisis
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday the financial crisis must not be an excuse to retreat into protectionism and instead be viewed as the “difficult birth-pangs of a new global order”.
In a speech, he will urge countries to avoid “muddling through as pessimists” and “make the necessary adjustment to a better future and setting the new rules for this new global order”, according to his office.
Official data confirmed Friday that Britain is in recession. Days earlier, the government unveiled a new package of measures to help the flow of credit in the economy, but Brown has argued global action is needed for a quick recovery.
He will warn Monday that the crisis has given the world a choice: “We could allow this crisis to start a retreat from globalisation. “As some want, we could close our markets — for capital, financial services, trade and for labour — and therefore reduce the…
The Talented Mr. Madoff, Or Rather, Mr. ‘Made-Off’
This asshole’s home in Palm Beach, FL recently got TP-ed by teenagers who “had lost their trust funds, but with their parents’ permission…” which I personally find hilarious, because I have always wondered what would give trust fund kids some balls…
It’s not hard to know where this fuck is under house-arrest in Manhattan, how about we start a “fund” where people will invest in anyone who can give this asshole a good punch in the stomach…
NY Times: TO some, Bernard L. Madoff was an affable, charismatic man who moved comfortably among power brokers on Wall Street and in Washington, a winning financier who had all the toys: the penthouse apartment in Manhattan, the shares in two private jets, the yacht moored off the French Riviera.
Although hardly a household name, he secured a longstanding role as an elder statesman on Wall Street, allowing him to land on important boards and commissions…
F@CK Multi-Generational Wealth in America
If you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you ARE part of the current economic problems facing America. Here’s Thom Hartmann’s convincing argument from Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
2012: The End Is Nigh. Or Not.
I guess it shows our timing is good, but stories like the one below from The New York Post are really scaring me – not because of their apocalyptic or sarcastic approach, but because it’s a glimpse of the hype that we’ll be seeing around this fall’s mega-disaster movie “2012,” from Roland Emmerich. Oh well, the DVD of our film 2012: Science or Superstition went on sale today. If you’re interested in the things that the NY Post wasn’t, you might want to check it out…
The end of the world is nearly upon us, but there’s a silver lining: At least you know when your 401(k) will finally hit bottom. Mark Dec. 21, 2012 on your calendar. That’s the exact day that lots of normally sane people believe some disaster will befall our planet – and not the kind of annoying everyday disaster like your cable going out or Ethan Hawke…
