The Eyehole

Scientists recover T. rex soft tissue

2007-10-07T16:42:00.001-07:00

This is remarkable.

70 million-year-old fossil yields preserved blood vessels

WASHINGTON - March 24, 2005 - For more than a century, the study of
dinosaurs has been limited to fossilized bones. Now, researchers have
recovered 70 million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood
vessels and cells, from a Tyrannosaurus rex.

The soft tissues were recovered from the
thighbone of a T. rex, known as MOR 1125, that was found in a sandstone
formation in Montana. The dinosaur was about 18 years old when it died.

The bone was
broken when it was removed from the site. Schweitzer and her colleagues
then analyzed the material inside the bone.

"The
vessels and contents are similar in all respects to blood vessels
recovered from ... ostrich bone," they reported in a paper bring
published Friday in the journal Science.

Because evidence has accumulated in recent years that modern birds
descended from dinosaurs, Schweitzer said she chose to compare the
dinosaur remains with those of an ostrich, the largest bird available.

Full article at the jump
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683/

Salt water as fuel? Erie man hopes so

2007-09-10T17:11:00.001-07:00

This has the potential to change everything.

clipped from www.youtube.com

clipped from www.post-gazette.com

For obvious reasons, scientists long have thought that salt water couldn't be burned.

So when an Erie man announced he'd ignited salt water with the radio-frequency generator he'd invented, some thought it a was a hoax.

Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, held a demonstration last week at the university's Materials Research Laboratory in State College, to confirm what he'd witnessed weeks before in an Erie lab.

It's true, it works," Dr. Roy said. "Everyone told me, 'Rustum, don't be fooled. He put electrodes in there.

But there are no electrodes and no gimmicks, he said

As such, Dr. Roy, a founding member of the Materials Research Laboratory and expert in water structure, said Mr. Kanzius' discovery represents "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years

Dr. Roy said he's scheduled to meet tomorrow with U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense officials in Washington to discuss the discovery and seek research funding.

The possible imposition of a community, train-like automobile driving concept , through the cessation of the right to "free speed."

2007-08-21T00:42:00.000-07:00

First watch this video to get an idea of what I'm talking about

What if a fleet of cars was put out by a city to do this sort of thing? It would minimize traffic by speeding up reaction times. It would force better mileage and hence better emissions. Tons of money could be saved by a constant travel speed, through minimizing the speeding up and slowing down that makes us dump so much gas. If anyone had a problem with it, they'd be perceived as a belligerent Mr. Wheeler who has no basic respect for the law; akin to someone disregarding the necessary order imposed by traffic signals. It could force certain speeds at times of high traffic. It would be like a speed limiting line made up of parts of city fleet automobiles going exactly the speed limit. Whomever could bring this about would probably be hated by many buttheads who, usually barely conscious much less remorseful of the act, break the law by speeding every day. This hate from the lack of "free speed" I think would probably anger people for generations. It could also strike another tone. So much of commerce is time dependent, that the inability to speed could hit corporate profit margins and levels of financial flexibility.
How much state money would be lost from lack of tickets?
How would it effect healthcare professions that deal with trauma and rehab?
How much would the demand for oil fall, given more efficient usage of fuel?
How would it change the overall level of driving sanity when there's nothing one can do to go past the posted speed limit?

Check out this report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project(pdf). 40000+ deaths and 3million injuries from car crashes in 2001 that might have been greatly diminished by something like this. Notice the geometric progression of the fatality rate with reference to increasing speeds. How many more fatalities and injuries would we have without traffic signals?

Imagine how many lives this could save. Without a discrepancy in common speed, people would have no motivation to run up other drivers' behinds, or switching lanes for anything but exiting. It might have the negative effect of sending more traffic through residentials, but who's to say that major residential streets couldn't eventually have these too? Roving fleets of speedkeepers...makes my mind churn. So much potential for lessening road rage and stress while driving.
When there's nothing you can do short of accosting a line of uniformly roaming police/municipal workers, or trying to drive around the line at legal consequence; the rage would mostly disappear because of the inherent acceptance of the good of the law. This is akin to how traffic lights are viewed. Sure, it would be nice to just stop and go whenever you want to while driving, but we as a society have come to accept traffic lights as a small impairment to our convenience in light of the overwhelming returns in overall safety levels. People still scowl at traffic lights, but always come to accept the value of their necessity due to the acknowledgment of it being a self imposed system that benefits virtually everyone. The idea portrayed in the video above could be viewed in exactly the same light.
This would make all of driving like participating in some huge train that one could just merely link up to when traveling in an automobile. I think it would virtually kill the concept of speeding as we know it, ushering the end of "free speed" as a god-given American right.

Dear God, man.....I am now officially going to stop asking "what's next?"

2007-08-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Nasdaq Gives High Rollers A Market Free Of Regulation

By David Cho

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 14, 2007; Page A01

Nasdaq is set to launch tomorrow what its executives are calling one of the most significant developments on Wall Street in decades -- a private stock market for super-wealthy investors.

Minimum requirement for traders: $100 million in assets.

Any private firm can list on Nasdaq's new platform, which is called the Portal Market, and raise money by selling stock to an elite group of shareholders. These companies would remain private and not have to make public their financial statements or submit to federal regulation, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability law.

For the first time last year, corporate America raised more money -- $162 billion -- from private investors than from initial public offerings, which raised $154 billion from the three major U.S. stock markets -- Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange.

Ordinary investors can only participate indirectly if their mutual fund creates an account to trade on the private markets.

These markets are creating an alternative and exclusive investment world buffeted from the turmoil that has roiled the major stock indicators in recent weeks. In the public markets, investors dumped stock during a credit crisis caused by the deteriorating mortgage industry. Private-market traders generally are sophisticated financial groups that take a long-term view of their investments.

"One of the problems that business faces in America today is what I would call 'short-termism,' " said Howard S. Marks, chairman of Oaktree Capital, an investment firm that was the first to list on the private market developed by Goldman Sachs called GSTrUE. "There's a lot of expense and complication associated with being a public company today. . . . Now it is possible to gain most of the advantages of being public while sidestepping the disadvantages."

In just a few years, Nasdaq officials predict, stock offerings on private markets will far exceed IPOs on public exchanges.

The rise of private money has created a new class of powerbrokers on Wall Street who have enriched themselves even as they have provided billions of investment dollars to companies in all kinds of industries. But the trend is causing a backlash among working-class Americans who generally are shut out from investing directly in those circles, said Colin Blaydon, director of the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship.

Analysts say the new ease-of-use is another incentive for super-wealthy investing groups to shun the public markets and focus on making money in the private sphere.

Lunar Resonant Streetlights

2007-08-10T22:37:00.001-07:00

How cool is this. Almost 40% of electricity spent on lighting goes to street lights and this could save 90% of that. that is a lot of money saved. I can think why cities wouldn't all jump at the idea, given it would pay itself off in no time flat.

clipped from www.treehugger.com

People who live in cities are rarely aware of the natural cycles in the sky; even the moon, powerful enough to read by, is barely noticed. The Civil Twilight Design Collective won the Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition with this wonderful idea: "

Lunar resonant streetlights sense and respond to ambient moonlight, dimming and brightening each month as the moon cycles through its phases. Utilizing available moonlight, rather than overwhelming it, saves energy and mitigates light pollution, while facilitating the urban experience of one of the most fundamental and beautiful cycles of nature."

They note that streetlights account for 38% of all electricity used for lighting in the US, and that 2/3 of Americans can no longer see the stars. A combination of LEDs and lunar resonance could save 90% of this electricity, and kids could see stars again. ::Lunar Resonant Streetlights via ::PSFK

Riot cop, without warning, clubs an unarmed woman in the head.

2007-08-10T20:30:00.001-07:00

This is either Spain or Mexico. I think it's Spain.

clipped from youtube.com

Dick Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire

2007-08-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

smack! <the sound of my hand hitting my forehead>

clipped from www.youtube.com

Fox "News"....second to last

2007-08-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

A recent survey put Fox News viewers second to last in level of political knowledge. Daily Show viewers did the best, and it's medium is satire for god's sake.
It is a sad day, and also very telling, when political satire offers better content and critique than the MSM.
In New Zealand they have outlawed satirical criticism of the govt, so that something like the Daily Show cannot even EXIST there.

clipped from www.canadaka.net

clipped from people-press.org

Wind-up MP3/video player

2007-08-10T09:46:00.001-07:00

Ho-lee-crap, I want one.

clipped from www.boingboing.net

The Eco-Media Player is a wind-up MP3/video player created by Trevor Baylis, inventor of the Freeplay wind-up radio. One minute of winding gives you 40 minutes of playback, and the device can also charge mobile phones and has a built-in flashlight. It plays mp3, wma, asf, wav, mp4, and has an FM radio, an analog recorder, and a photo-viewer. You can wind it for 20 hours' worth of playback.
Link
(via Shiny Shiny)

Bose Active Suspension

2007-08-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

Leave it to Bose to diversify beyond acoustics and absolutely OWN the whole industry, with their engineering might. Check the Knight Rider style turbo boost at the end. Absolutely amazing. This revolutionizes the field of car suspension technology as we have previously known it.

clipped from www.youtube.com

Gots to get me some stupid pillz....

2007-08-09T07:16:00.001-07:00

....lest I alienate myself further. Being informed these days is akin to being a leper. I find myself having to be creative about speaking on non-issues as of late, and even then I come off as a little too enthusiastic /articulate(nerdy.) Gotta not care to come off cool you know.
Quote Idiocracy, "Yep, there's that fag talk again."

This is what I call "Excellent Marketing"

2007-08-08T19:41:00.001-07:00

I don't think I've ever wanted a Mac more than right now.
K.I.S.S.- Keep it simple stupid
very elegant

clipped from images.apple.com

If ever there was a more fitting reason for the scarlet letter, I know not of it.

2007-08-08T15:14:00.001-07:00

Absolutely wonderful. People know right away if they're dealing with a member of the police's Pept. of Asshatery.

clipped from www.sfgate.com

Mark of shame: A Thai police officer models a "Hello Kitty" armband. Officers who break police rules will be forced to wear the hot pink armbands featuring the Japanese icon of cute as a mark of shame. If this idea expands to the U.S., how about using Barney?

Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp

2007-07-28T13:47:00.001-07:00

So (on a personal note as it pertains to this article) 5 years ago, my friends and I were in Deep Ellum, an ex-party district in Dallas. 4 russian girls come into the tattoo shop we worked in. They were part of a summer exchange program to the US, a camp America of sorts, in which most were trying to hitch up with an american male within the allotted time period. 2 of them wound up being successful, one of them snagging my friend for a 3 year ride of long-distance marriage. Why? Because apparently, the ratio of women to men where they were from(mostly Siberia/Northern Russia) was like 9 to 1. They told us at one point that "If a girl doesn't get married by the time she's 25, then forget it." This apparently was due to generations of war and economic collapse. I haven't much knowledge on Russian history, so if someone wants to fact check this and tell me, then be my guest. Most of this information is from the mouths of twenty-something women from various parts of Russia.
Perhaps this somehow ties into government sponsored fuck camp retreats.

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk

Remember the mammoths, say the clean-cut organisers at the youth camp's mass wedding. "They became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia".

Obediently, couples move to a special section of dormitory tents arranged in a heart-shape and called the Love Oasis, where they can start procreating for the motherland.

With its relentlessly upbeat tone, bizarre ideas and tight control, it sounds like a weird indoctrination session for a phoney religious cult.

But this organisation - known as "Nashi", meaning "Ours" - is youth movement run by Vladimir Putin's Kremlin that has become a central part of Russian political life.

Sinister: Millions of young Russians at a youth camp discerningly similar to the Hitler Youth

Attendance is monitored via compulsory electronic badges and anyone who misses three events is expelled. So are drinkers; alcohol is banned. But sex is encouraged, and condoms are nowhere on sale.

74 year old man with hip and knee replacement gets arrested(first time offense) selling impeachment buttons at a farmers market.

2007-07-26T17:17:00.001-07:00

That's one cool old dude. Arrest begins at 9:30 on the video.

clipped from www.digg.com

Closed borders and immigrations issues

2007-07-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

Best. Comic. Ever.

clipped from www.caglecartoons.com

Illiteracy: The Downfall of American Society

2007-07-26T15:22:00.001-07:00

If you can read and understand my blog at all your are better off than half of America. More statistics and content at the jump.

clipped from education-portal.com

Illiteracy Statistics

In a study of 20 'high income' countries, the US ranked 12th on literacy tests. Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child. A few other shocking facts:

50 percent of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.

20 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.

Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.

How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects

3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.

20 percent of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.

50 percent of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.

Between 46 and 51 percent of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.

Countrywide CEO Cashed In $4 Million Per Week In Stock…For The Past 30 Weeks!

2007-07-25T21:18:00.001-07:00

Real estate values are now falling at rates not seen since prior to the great depression. Follow the jump for the full article.

clipped from www.ceosmack.com

The New York Post reports that profits tumbled yesterday for the nation’s largest home mortgage firm - Countrywide Financial - even as its chief Angelo Mozilo was quietly cashing out a $118.2 million options windfall ahead of its new troubles.The company reported a 33 percent drop in profits, and expects deep losses across the industry in the wake of housing’s thundering crash that’s sending cracks this summer throughout the financial services landscape.

Mozilo, the 68-year-old co-founder, told analysts the housing climate is so bad it will force the 10 giant mortgage firms like his to consolidate or perish. “I think we’ll get to five,” Mozilo said while discussing Countrywide’s second-quarter earnings bomb, its third-straight quarterly loss.

Countrywide’s stock slid 13 percent to a new low of $29.50 before recovering to close at $30.50, off $3.56, or 10.5 percent. Shares are down 28 percent this year.

Again....We're all gonna burn.

2007-07-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Never Poll the Audience on the French Millionaire Show

I think I just heard the skeletal remains of Copernicus kick open his casket and overtake France armed with nothing but a telescope. And, after this, I can't blame him.

Get humor videos at NothingToxic

It's not just the French. 1 in 5 americans polled think that the sun revolves around the earth.
See previous post pertaining to this very problem. A larger amount, similarly, have no idea what molecules are beyond the fact they they are "very small."

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

2007-07-24T20:01:00.001-07:00

You were a true prophet.

clipped from amphibia.stumbleupon.com

Congressman Denied Access To Post-Attack Continuity Plans....When is this crap going to end?

2007-07-22T23:35:00.001-07:00

By JEFF KOSSEFF

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. (Photo by Faith Cathcart)WASHINGTON— Constituents called Rep. Peter DeFazio's office, worried there was a conspiracy buried in the classified portion of a White House plan foroperating the government after a terrorist attack.

c.2007 Newhouse News Service

As a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, DeFazio, D-Ore., is permitted to enter a secure "bubbleroom'' in the
Capitol and examine classified material. So he asked the White House to see the secret documents.

On Wednesday, DeFazio got his answer: DENIED.

"I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right
of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United
States after a significant terrorist attack,'' DeFazio said.

Homeland Security Committee staffers told his office that the White House initially approved his request, but it was later quashed. DeFazio
doesn't know who did it or why.

"We're talking about the continuity of the government of the United States of America,'' DeFazio
said. "I would think that would be relevant to any member of Congress,
let alone a member of the Homeland Security Committee.''

Bush administration spokesman Trey Bohn declined to say why DeFazio was
denied access: "We do not comment through the press on the process that
this access entails. It is important to keep in mind that much of the
information related to the continuity of government is highly
sensitive.''

Norm Ornstein, a legal scholar who studies
government continuity at the conservative American Enterprise
Institute, said he ``cannot think of one good reason'' to deny access
to a member of Congress who serves on the Homeland Security Committee.

"I find it inexplicable and probably reflective of the usual knee-jerk
overextension of executive power that we see from this White House,''
Ornstein said.

This is the first time DeFazio has been denied access to documents. DeFazio has asked Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., to help him access the documents.

"Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right,'' DeFazio said.

Welcome to Richistan, USA (from the UK Guardian, a must read)...Where did all of this new money come from? It was printed by the Federal Reserve w/o l

2007-07-22T23:27:00.001-07:00

The American Dream of
riches for all is turning into a nightmare of inequality. But a
backlash is brewing, reports Paul Harris in New York

Sunday July 22, 2007
The Observer

On the surface, Mark Cain works for a time-share company. Members pay a
one-off sum to join and an annual fee. They then get to book holiday
time in various destinations around the globe.

But Solstice clients are not ordinary people. They are America's super-rich and a brief
glance at its operations reveal the vast and still widening gulf
between them and the rest of America.

Solstice has only about 80 members. Platinum membership costs them $875,000 to join and then a $42,000 annual fee. In return they get access to 10 homes from London
to California and a private yacht in the Caribbean, all fully staffed
with cooks, cleaners and 'lifestyle managers' ready to satisfy any whim
from helicopter-skiing to audiences with local celebrities. As the
firm's marketing manager, Cain knows what Solstice's clientele want.
'We are trying to feed and manage this insatiable appetite for luxury,'
Cain said with pride.

America's super-rich have returned to
the days of the Roaring Twenties. As the rest of the country struggles
to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a
parallel world. The rich now live in their own world of private
education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own
schools and their own banks. They even travel apart - creating a
booming industry of private jets and yachts. Their world now has a
name, thanks to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank
which has dubbed it 'Richistan'. There every dream can come true. But
for the American Dream itself - which promises everyone can join the
elite - the emergence of Richistan is a mixed blessing. 'We in America
are heading towards 'developing nation' levels of inequality. We would
become like Brazil. What does that say about us? What does that say
about America?' Frank said.

In 1985 there were just 13 US billionaires. Now there are more than 1,000.
In 2005 the US saw 227,000 new millionaires being created. One survey
showed that the wealth of all US millionaires was $30 trillion, more
than the GDPs of China, Japan, Brazil, Russia and the EU combined.

The rich have now created their own economy for their needs, at a time when
the average worker's wage rises will merely match inflation and where
36 million people live below the poverty line. In Richistan sums of
money are rendered almost meaningless because of their size. It also
has other names. There is the 'Platinum Triangle' used to describe the
slice of Beverly Hills where many houses go for above $10m. Then there
is the Jewel Coast, used to describe the strip of Madison Avenue in
Manhattan where boutique jewellery stories have sprung up to cater for
the new riches' needs. Or it exists in the MetCircle society, a
Manhattan club open only to those whose net worth is at least $100m.

The reason behind the sudden wealth boom is, according to some experts, the
convergence of a new technology - the internet and other computing
advances - with fluid and speculative markets. It was the same in the
late 19th century when the original Gilded Age of conspicuous wealth
and deep poverty was spawned by railways and the industrial age. At the
same time government has helped by doling out corporate tax breaks. In
the Fifties the proportion of federal income from company taxes was 33
per cent, by 2003 it was just 7.4 percent. Some 82 of America's largest
companies paid no tax at all in at least one of the first three years
of the administration of President George W Bush.

But who are the new rich? Some of the names are familiar, Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates
and savvy stock investor Warren Buffett. But most are unknown, often
springing from the secretive world of financial hedge funds. Men like
James Simons, who took home compensation of $1.7bn last year. Last year
the 25 top earning hedge fund bankers in the US earned an average of
$570m each. The average US household income is $50,000.

It is such men - and they are usually men - who feed the outlandish luxury
goods economy of Richistan. It is they who are responsible for the
rebirth of the butler industry, which was all but dead in the Seventies
and is now facing a shortage of trained staff. So keen is the demand
that many can expect to earn a six-figure salary when they graduate
from booming butler schools.

Then there is the runaway feeder-industry of luxury consumer items. The new ultra rich turn up their noses at Rolexes; the sought-after brand is Franck Muller, which
sells a high-end timepiece for $736,000. Or try a Mont Blanc pen,
encrusted in jewels, for $700,000. Louis Vuitton's most exclusive
handbag sells for $42,000. Only 24 were ever made and none ever touched
a shelf as all were pre-sold to Richistani clients.

In places such as Manhattan and Los Angeles, restaurants and bars outdo
themselves in excess. New York's Algonquin Hotel has a $10,000 'martini
on a rock' (it comes with a diamond at the bottom of the glass). City
eateries sell burgers for more than $50. One offers a $1,000 omelette.
In Los Angeles there is a craze for Bling mineral water - at $90 a
bottle.

Then there are the boats. The private yacht industry in
America has been caught in an arms race of size and luxuriousness. So
far, there has been a clear winner: Oracle-founder Larry Ellison's
450ft water palace, the Rising Sun. More than 80 rooms on five storeys
and a landing craft that carries a Jeep, a basketball court doubling as
a helipad and a fully-equipped cinema.

Now an Oregon-based company is taking things further: private submarines. An estimated 100
or so private subs are now drifting around the world's oceans. Then
there are the rockets - several notable billionaires are now leading
the way in private exploration of space. One of them is Robert Bigelow
who has ploughed $500m into trying to build an inflatable space hotel.
A miniature prototype model was successfully launched and tested last
month. In a scene that perhaps James Bond would find familiar, armed
guards now patrol the fences of Bigelow Aerospace's headquarters
wearing badges decorated with an alien as their corporate logo.

But this is not just a world of riches gone mad that the rest of America
can ignore. The growth of such a large super-rich class, coupled with a
deepening poverty in many communities, is starting to tear at the
fabric of society. Even some of the most wealthy - like Gates and
Buffett - have spoken openly of the needs to address the massive
'inequality gap' that they have come to exemplify. In effect, some of
the very richest Americans are calling for themselves to be taxed. In a
speech last month Buffett - the third richest man in the world -
pointed out that his tax rate was 17.7 per cent of his income while his
secretary was taxed at 30 per cent. 'Many of the new super-rich are
looking long term at the world and they see a collapsing US education
system and health-care system and the disappearance of the middle class
and they realise: this is bad for everybody,' said Frank.

Defenders of low tax for the very rich point to the theory of trickledown
economics - the spending power of the rich benefiting the poor. But
while the super-rich have boomed, the earning power of the average and
poor citizen has not nearly matched the performance of the elite. In
2005 the top one per cent of earners in the US gained 14 per cent in
income in real terms, while the rest of the country gained less than
one per cent. The situation is especially bad for the severely poor -
those living at half the poverty level - whose numbers are at a 32-year
high. The rich are getting richer but are not bringing everyone else
with them. 'If you look at the impact of the last 20 years it seems
pretty clear that trickledown just does not work,' said Paul Buchheit,
economics professor at Chicago's Harold Washington College.

There are some signs of a change in attitude. Recent huge Wall Street
flotations such as the listing of private equity giants like Blackstone
have created a push in Congress for taxes on the instant billionaires
they have created. Scandals of excess such as Enron and WorldCom and
the trial of Conrad Black have been high-profile. But few politicians,
needing campaign cash from new millionaires, will get far preaching
higher tax. Calls for more equality tend to have come from men like
Buffett and Gates whose fortunes are so enormous that a little extra
tax would make no difference. Bush has pushed to phase out taxes like
the estate tax, which benefit only the rich. 'I don't see it changing.
No matter what administration is in power,' said Buchheit.

But many think it must change. To a large degree, the debate over the
booming lives of the super-rich is an argument about the American soul.
It is a country that has always worshipped wealth, where the creation
of a fortune was seen as virtuous and a source of pride.

But now that huge wealth has started to squeeze the 'middle class' out of
existence, leaving the haves and have-nots in very separate worlds. It
is possible that political will may develop to address the problem or
that the problem will correct itself. The notorious end of the Gilded
Age came in the panic of 1893 that sank America into depression.

Frank believes the signs of a coming storm are there. 'The trick is to spot
when prosperity turns to excess,' he said. 'When a large amount of
people make a lot money very quickly it's a sign you are near the top
of the market.'

In a world of mega-yachts, private submarines and space hotels, that peak might be close at hand. And it's a long way down.

Billionaire's row

·
There are 7.5 million households in America worth up to $10m. A further
two million are worth $10m-$100m and thousands are worth more than
$100m.

· There is now a two-year waiting list for 200ft
yachts. If put end to end, the boats on that list, which cost $50m
each, would be 15 miles long.

· Sebonack Golf Club in the
Hamptons, Long Island, charges $650,000 for membership. That doesn't
include the $12,000 annual dues, or tips for caddies.

· Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have a private Boeing 767.

· John D. Rockefeller was America's first billionaire. Adjusted for
inflation, he had $14bn - less than the net worth of each of Sam
Walton's five children today. There were 13 US billionaires in 1985.
Now there are more than 1,000. There are as many millionaires in North
Carolina as in India.

· 'Affluent' is Richistani for 'not really rich'. According to Frank, you need about $10m to be considered entry-level rich.

An entire filipino prison recreates Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

2007-07-20T21:17:00.001-07:00

No BS. Even includes a tranny subbing as Michael's girl!

clipped from reddit.com

A plan for a functional democracy

2007-07-20T12:10:00.001-07:00

1. one year straight of education for every American citizen on a
participatory system of law making, while in high school. Your first
session of law selection and voting could be required curriculum for
graduation in a public school.

2. technology, like voting stations, either in home and/or at public
venues whose tallies are completely transparent and traceable. the
anonymity of one's vote, in terms of public visibility, can be the
decision of the person voting.
Imagine all of the stragglers lining up at the voting booths the way people do at the post office in April.

3. like paying taxes, citizens are obligated to vote on a certain
number of issues per annum. maybe even adding a fun twist like the
higher your income, the less issues you are either allowed or required
to vote on. Less votes allowed would make a person's citizenship
inversely proportional to their income, while less required would give
incentive to those who make more income by allowing them to be lazier
and waste less time voting should they so wish.

4. line item taxation. people should have the ability to decide how
much of their taxes go to which issue with a default baseline amount
given to each governmental department...education, healthcare,
pentagon, foreign affairs, agriculture, transportation, science and
energy etc etc.

5. a constant tally kept on government officials of the number of
people who want them to stay in office vs. people who want them out,
during their term. If it reaches a certain ratio, they have a limited
time period to act before they are outed

6. this one's a bit extreme, but I don't care. should someone want to
be a public servant/official, they have to commit to wearing a camera
on them at all times on the job, to be held accountable. It would make
being a public servant/official less desirable for power reasons and
possibly attract those who ACTUALLY WANT TO SERVE THE PUBLIC AND NOT
JUST BE A SELFISH SPECIAL-INTEREST-BEHOLDEN CRONY.

This, I would consider as being a democracy with real checks and
balances. Mind you, everything I listed above excludes the current
voting system for electing officials. I think that's just fine the way
it is.

Watch this

2007-07-18T23:14:00.001-07:00

Hey baby. ;) That's a nice smellin armpit you got there.

2007-07-17T20:03:00.001-07:00

----Reading this article makes me think of how by trying to smell good for the other sex, we're quite possibly doing ourself a genetic disservice. There was a study done awhile back where researchers had men work up a sweat in a shirt and then took the sweaty shirts and placed them in bags. They then had women smell the bags and choose, based on smell, which sweaty shirt was most appealing to them. Without fail, every woman in the test chose the most genetically complimentary partner. That is to say, they chose the sweaty shirt of the men that best maximized the chance of genetic mixing goodness and that minimized the chance of genetic defects. I think there's a link below. What does this say about deodorant or perfume or drugs that alter our bodies' chemistry? Well, if your looking for a genuine mate, shower but don't use perfumed soap or anything with scents. If you're lookin to get laid and need to get past nature's mate-filter, lather up.------

Funny, I Only Like Him When He’s Upwind

Surreptitious odors may be the key to wild and sexy behavior in fruit flies, mice, and people

by Anne Holden

16 July 2007 0 Comments

Image: Katie Crabb/Anna Gosline

What if the reason you were attracted to someone wasn’t because of good looks or intelligent conversation, but smell? We’re not talking a good perfume here – just natural chemical signals that you sniff out entirely subconsciously. They draw you in, excite you, make your heart twitterpate.

It might sound a little mad, but scientists believe that subconscious behavioral responses to these communicative scents, called pheromomes, happen on a regular basis, in a variety of situations, to a multitude of species. And now, after years of debate over whether we have the right olfactory equipment to process pheromonal cues, evidence is mounting that these scents are at work in people.

Pheromones do all kinds of things: for example bees release pheromones
when attacked by a predator, triggering aggression in neighboring bees.
Ants mark trails with pheromones to lead them from food to nest. Sex
pheromones are, of course, particularly interesting. The first was
described in 1956 in the silkworm; just one sniff of a particular
protein excreted by the female worms (or butterflies, actually), sent
the males’ wings a flappin.

Even today, the best examples of sex pheromones come from insects, because their behavior is generally quite stereotypical – even if their courtship itself is quite bizarre.

Take the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. For an
insect with only four pairs of chromosomes (compared to our own 23
pair), fruit flies have a courtship ritual that outshines even the most
elaborately planned dinner date. One of the most in-depth studies of
fruit-fly courtship and mating comes from Jeffrey Hall of Brandeis
University. In 1994, in the journal Science, Hall described how
the male fruit fly notices the female and begins to “tap” her abdomen
and follow her around, showing his interest. Often, the male extends
and vibrates his wing, producing the “love song” that launches a
thousand maggots, so to speak.

If the female is receptive (i.e., she doesn’t skedaddle), the maleengages in a kind of foreplay (touching her genitalia) before attempting to copulate. If the male fruit fly does not vibrate his wing fast enough, if he is too slow overall, or if he’s an unusual color, the female will almost certainly not mate with him.

The complex nature of the dance raises many questions; how do the
males know which female to go for? And how do the females fend off the
advances of other males once they’ve already mated?

It seems that females emit a pheromone which, combined with the right pheromone receptor in males, keeps things organized during these courtship displays. The pheromone, 11-cis-vaccenyl acetate (or ‘cVA’ for short), is unique. It’s the equivalent of an “I’m taken” sign, or a wedding ring. Olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) in the males detect the pheromone prompting them to steer clear of the taken ladies and move on to the single ones.

This simple yet effective dating system was described by Aki Ejima and
his colleagues at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland in the
April 2007 issue of Current Biology.

But the tidiness of these results all but disappears when the pathwayshort-circuits, suggesting we haven’t put together all the pieces of the Drosophila love match. If male fruit flies lack ORNs, they start chasing OTHER males around and attempt to copulate with them. The normal males run for their lives.

If we haven’t got a handle on simple, well-studied creatures like
flies, what of more complex organisms, such as humans? For starters,
many physiologists doubt whether we even possess the necessary nose to
detect pheromones. In all other mammals, pheromone detection takes
place in a deep portion of the nasal cavity called the vomeronasal
organ. Studies from the 1940s found that most adult humans did not have
such an organ deep in their nose and in those that did (25% or
thereabouts), it was just a useless remnant of evolutionary history.

But there is overwhelming evidence that some smells affect our behavior profoundly. The most famous example is probably the research of Martha McClintock of the University of Chicago. In her 1971 paper in the journal Nature, she argued that women’s menstrual cycles become synchronized when they live in proximity, and that this is due to unconscious odor cues, or pheromones.

Several other studies also suggest that pheromones are at work on a daily basis in people. For example women tend to prefer the smell of sweat-drenched T-shirts from men who differ from them in an important set of immunity genes.
The theory is that such opposites-attract pairs would have kids with
particularly diverse, and hence well-armed, immune systems.

Likewise, women tend to prefer the scent of manly, dominant men during their fertile phase. Men prefer the smell of women’s sweaty T-shirts worn during their more fertile menstrual phase. Heterosexual and homosexual men and women show strikingly different patterns of body odor preferences, and even the presence of biological fathers in a young girl’s life can affect the age at which she sexually matures.

However encouraging these behavioral studies are, researchers still come up dry in the hunt for the chemical pathways involved.

But there is new hope. A 2006 study published in Nature by Stephen Liberles and (nosy Nobel Prize Winner) Linda Buck of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute seemingly found pheromone receptors in the normal part of mice noses - no vomeronasal organ required. These receptors, called trace amine-associated receptors, or TAARs respond to compounds in mouse urine. Two such chemicals are present in different concentrations in male and female urine and one has been linked to the maturation rate of females. The genes that encode TAARs are also found in the human genome.

Though it is early days, this recent study shows that humans may yet
show evidence of pheromones, perhaps even sex pheromones, and we may
finally be able to keep up with the fruit fly when it comes to
understanding sex.

Mega-rich paying top price for luxury submarines....with underwater love-shack panoramic sex windows....being hounded by voyeuristic dolphins?

2007-07-17T19:45:00.001-07:00

------------I love the part about the dolphins. To my knowledge, dolphins and bonobos are the only creatures known to have sex strictly for pleasure, other than humans. I originally saw this article framed as "Rich people fed up with dolphin voyeurs busting in on their underwater panoramic sex------

By A. Craig Copetas

Bloomberg News
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003783824_luxurysubs11.html?referrer=digg

"If you can find my submarine, it's yours," says Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich. That's all the reclusive owner of the Chelsea Football Club has to say.

The ocean floor is the final spending frontier for the world'srichest people. Journeying to see what's on the bottom aboard a personal submersible is a wretched excess guaranteed to trump the average mogul's stable of vintage Bugattis or a $38 million round-trip ticket to the international space station aboard a Russian rocket.
Luxury-sub makers and salesmen from the Pacific Ocean to the Persian
Gulf say fantasy and secrecy are the foundations of this nautical niche
industry built on madcap multibillionaires.

"Spending $80 million for a boat that goes underwater in a market
where one that doesn't costs $150 million is a deal," Jones says. "Our
Phoenix 1000 is four stories tall, a 65-meter-long blend of a tourist
and military sub."

The ultimate war submarine, the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class New Attack Submarine, costs $2.4 billion and carries 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Jones says the most dangerous projectile on the Phoenix 1000 is a Champagne cork.

"Navies want weapon-delivery systems," Jones says, walking in a forest near Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille, original site of the U.S. Navy's Farragut Naval Training Station. "I build luxury-delivery systems for people who have more money than they know what to do with."

As for marine life, the local dolphin population can be a problem for some submariners.

Jaubert says he has clients who wrestle with how to conduct a deep-sea love affair in front of an observation window without creating underwater paparazzi.

"Dolphins are easily excited when they sense people making love,"Jones says. "They get jealous and bang their noses against the window."

The best solution? Curtains, says Jones.

Because the japanese just aren't fat enough.....yet.

2007-07-17T19:15:00.001-07:00

I give you..... the pizza hut "Double Roll!"
Medium-$20.50
Large-$29.00
A coronary at 40 years old- priceless.
For everyone else there's sushi and the highest longevity rates in the world....
For now.

Follow-up to previous post.

2007-07-17T19:03:00.001-07:00

And this is how it's done.

clipped from reddit.com

Aha! No wonder....

2007-07-17T19:00:00.001-07:00

... girls have fucked up image problems. They're being hustled by shit that doesn't even exist! This is a singer or actress by the name of Faith Hill. I don't keep up well enough to know and I didn't even read the article where I got the pic. I haven't got brain space enough for "star" facts. I'd rather know, say...stuff about my family or friends.
Before...after....before....after......Darker....lighter...normal...anorexic....wrinkles....smoothness....before...after....before...after.
Mesmerizing isn't it. Look at the change in her elbow, for god's sake! Welcome to the glory Photoshop(TM), ladies and gents.

Brazilian fishermen caught on video killing 83 dolphins protected by law

2007-07-17T18:53:00.001-07:00

We're having fun now....Jesus man. Sometimes it's really hard having access to this much knowledge.

clipped from ca.news.yahoo.com

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - A crew of Brazilian fishermen was captured on video killing 83 dolphins and joking about their illegal haul, Brazil's Ibama environmental protection agency said Tuesday.

The video obtained by an Ibama researcher and broadcast by Globo TV showed the fishermen netting the dolphins, which suffocated because they could not surface to breathe.

The researcher was contracted by the agency and sent undercover aboard the fishing boat to monitor hauls of other fish. The dolphin kill was filmed while the boat was off the coast of Amapa state, near the point where the Amazon River flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

"Brazil has strict laws to protect whales and dolphins in their waters, and they are very clearly being abused," said Claire Bass, program manager for marine mammals with the London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals. "Using nets to kill these extremely sociable and intelligent animals by drowning them is completely diabolical."

What if you held a debate and almost no one came?

2007-07-14T05:31:00.001-07:00

NeoCons care nothing about civil rights. Giuliani was recently quoted as calling the NAACP the "national association of retarded people."

clipped from www.crooksandliars.com

The one photo the GOP does not want anyone to see was snapped at yesterday’s NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum. The NAACP invited all 9 Republican candidates to the forum, but only one showed up: Tom Tancredo. All the Democratic Presidential hopefuls showed up for their forum.

A Picture of the GOP on Civil Rights

Watch an ignorant ASSHAT chickenhawk in action.

2007-07-14T05:27:00.001-07:00

The mentality of folks like this is to ask questions and then talk over answers because they aren't really interested in them in the first place. They consider talking over someone a legitimate argument/debate....just like Bill O'Reilly. Watch how he squirms when he's cornered. Also note his fight-like stance and posture.

clipped from www.youtube.com

Time to wake up folks.

2007-07-14T05:06:00.001-07:00

I am pretty tired of all the bullshit and lies. It's so deep now that, as an individual and as a citizen, I feel I can hardly breathe. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. The evidence is so overwhelming right now that we should go beyond impeachment. To hell with just impeachment. I'm talking indictment, because these folks are criminals. This has finally become a bi-partisan issue against a non-partisan president/administration. When are people going to start being citizens again? How did %90+ of the population fall asleep at the wheel? When did this happen? How did they lull us to sleep? Why does my family look at me and shake their heads and look the other way when I raise these questions, when all you need to do to begin to try, is email/call your congressman? It's so freaking easy but nobody does it! We deserve to be stripped of our rights because of our laziness. Garbage in, garbage out.
Why are we not taught how to pay taxes in school? Why are we not taught about credit in school? Why are we really only required to take one government class? Because if we knew how badly we were being hustled we might get mad enough to do something about it. Then we might realize that lobbyists have stolen our politicians attention not to mention our democracy. Many, many people know this. People even candidly joke about how our politicians are beholden to these special interest groups like "it's funny...haha...well, whatcha gonna do about it?" It isn't funny to me. It's not funny to me that this is the only country where a person can go bankrupt because of their medical bills. Instead we ignore it and do our best to pretend/believe it will work itself out. Wake up folks! Common statements might include "Oh I just don't have time", "I have to feed my kids", or "I need to watch 8 hours of TV(average american viewing time) a day", "I need to spend an hour putting petroleum products on my face and making sure I don't smell like myself", "I have to take my kids to sports" blahblahblah. It's all the same. What you really mean to say is "I don't care about my future or my kid's future or my grandkids' future because I'm too lazy, and I only care about maximizing my own wealth."
As a government of people we need to
1. realize that democracy is not just about showing up to 'pull a lever' on machine for an official you think has your best interests in mind. People vote in communists societies for god's sake. I've already mentioned how everyone knows politicians are first and foremost beholden to those who contribute financially to their rise. Everyone knows this and we all seem to have the nerve to think that it's something laughable and static. Even the most intelligent people I know never call their congressman to hold their feet to the fire. Make a small experiment of asking your friends and yourself how many times they've ventured to do more than vote.
2. Stop selling out our country and our people by buying so many products from COMMUNIST China. You can't have a Cuban cigar because we don't want to support "evil communist Castro Cuba," but shopping at Wal-Mart is fine and dandy! Bollocks. Don't be a hypocrite. Realize the importance of domestic investment and the detriment of thoughtless foreign investment.
3. READ A BOOK, AN ARTICLE, SOMETHING! Inform yourself for God's sake! How can you make an informed decision if you're not informed?!? And not just mainstream media because they are just as owned as the politicians. 60% of newspapers are ads. Roughly 26% of TV is ads. Ads are just fine, because they aid growth of business, but they've come to leverage to much control against the spectrum of available opinion. How can you know what to defend if you don't know what is at stake? Nobody reads anymore, so get on it!
4. Talk politics with people. This is highly frowned upon in our society. Why? Because it empowers you as a citizen and a consumer which makes you harder to sell to, whether it be a political concept or a product. It's better for them to have you indiscriminantly take stuff in. Filters/good judgment are bad for pushing product.
5. Learn the issues that personally affect you the most and concentrate on those....then call your congressman/woman. There are too many issues now to confront them all by yourself. We've let it get too far out of hand for us all to be able act on everything. One 2-3 minute call every week and I bet eventually we'd be tying up the lines.
6. Guard the oracle at all costs. You can now learn instantly about almost anything your mind is curious about. I am speaking of the internet. It is the great equalizer brought forth, from half of our tax dollars being spent by the pentagon mind you, to give us all a voice. We must have unfettered access to it to make this monumental shift possible. It is already happening. We MUST guard it to insure that it is not limited to use by the same folks who stole the newspapers, the radio-waves, and the TV-waves. The issue is called Net Neutrality, so learn about it.
7. Start a blog, if for no other reason than so your progeny or fellow citizens can go back and see your corner of history. Almost all blogs are free, so speak your mind. Become the newspaper.

That's all for now. This vitriolic rant was inspired by the article below about Clinton from the Washington Post in 1998. It shows how President Clinton was denied Executive Privilege for a blowjob. This is in stark contrast to President Bush's use of executive privilege to keep his administration from being investigated currently. Mind you, I'm by no means saying that Clinton should have been able to use EP for the Lewinsky scandal. Quite the contrary in fact. I'm asking why we can't deny Bush the same privilege. Why does there have to be executive privilege at all if it is capable of such gross misuse?

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com

President Is Denied Executive Privilege

A federal judge has ruled that President Clinton cannot use the power of his office to block prosecutors from questioning his senior aides, rejecting Clinton's assertion of executive privilege in the Monica S. Lewinsky investigation, lawyers familiar with the decision said yesterday.

In a ruling issued under court seal Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson concluded that independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's need to collect evidence in his obstruction of justice probe outweighs Clinton's interest in preserving the confidentiality of White House discussions, the lawyers said.

First it was Reefer Madness, now it's Reefer Blindness

2007-07-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

---------5 years ago I postulated that we were gonna be in deep shit once they merged the war on drugs with the war on terror. Now it's happening. Right now you're a terrorist for growing, and pretty soon you'll be a terrorist for possession.
Nevermind that the poppy trade(heroin/opium) has gone up an estimated 239%, by conservative estimates, in Afghanistan following our invasion. The Taliban, all be they an oppressive misogynistic regime, had it almost completely eradicated. Now we have a re-emergence of heroin problems in America that rival even the Plano, TX scares of the late 90's, with the advent of "cheese".
Remember the trouble with central America in the 80's with Iran Contra? That's essentially what helped lead to the cocaine distribution problem, that in turn led to everyone who was 18 or older in the 80's trying cocaine, which in turn became crack for the ghettos. -----------

California -- The nation's top anti-drug official said people need to overcome their "reefer blindness" and see that illicit marijuana gardens are a terrorist threat to the public's health and safety, as well as to the environment.

John P. Walters, President Bush's drug czar, said the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn't hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties. Walters made the comments at a Thursday press conference that provided an update on the "Operation Alesia" marijuana-eradication effort.

"Don't buy drugs. They fund violence and terror," he said.

After touring gardens raided this week in Shasta County, Walters said the officers who are destroying the gardens are performing hard, dangerous work in rough terrain. He said growers have been known to have weapons, including assault rifles.

"These people are armed; they're dangerous," he said. He called them "violent criminal terrorists."

Walters, whose official title is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said too many people write off marijuana as harmless. "We have kind of a reefer blindness,' " he said.

No arrests have been made so far in the four days of raids, the opening leg of what Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko has promised will be at least two straight weeks of daily raids.

He said suspects have been hard to find because their familiarity with their terrain makes it easy for them to flee quickly.

Although crews doing the raids are using Black Hawk and other helicopters to drop in on some of the gardens, Bosenko said they don't want to give the growers any warning of a raid.

"We try to move in under stealth," he said.

As of Thursday morning, Operation Alesia raids had resulted in the yanking of 68,237 young marijuana plants from public lands in Shasta County. Raids already have been conducted in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, as well as on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service north of Lake Shasta and other public land near Manton.

The operation is being led by the sheriff's office and has involved 17 agencies, including the California National Guard and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It's believed to be the largest campaign of its kind in the state, Bosenko said.

The operation is named after the last major battle between the Roman Empire and the Gauls in 52 B.C. That battle was won by the Romans.

With the blitz of marijuana gardens around Shasta County, Bosenko said officials hope to not only get rid of the pot, but also win back the land for the public that owns it.

"These organizations are destroying our lands and wildlife," he said.

Bernie Weingardt, regional forester for the Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region, said the 28,000 acres believed to house illegal marijuana grows on national forest land throughout the state would cost more than $300 million to revive.

"These lands must be cleaned and restored," he said.

His estimate is based on a National Park Service study that found it costs $11,000 per acre to pull the plants, clear irrigation systems, reshape any terracing and replant native vegetation, said Mike Odle, Forest Service spokesman.

While Walters didn't give specific goals for Operation Alesia, he said anti-drug agencies aim to cripple the organized crime groups that he said are behind the marijuana cultivation.

"This business we intend to put into recession, depression and put its leaders into jail," Walters said.

Note: Federal official calls marijuana growers dangerous terrorists.

Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA)
Author: Dylan Darling
Published: July 13, 2007
Copyright: 2007 Record Searchlight
Contact: letters@redding.com
Website: http://www.redding.com/

Shasta County Pot Eradication Operation Begins
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23173.shtml

White House Drug Czar Highlights MJ Cultivation
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23166.shtml

Environmental Collapse of Solomon Islands Imminent

2007-07-13T15:47:00.001-07:00

In Jared Diamond's book "Collapse," he questioned what was going through the minds of the Easter Island natives when they cut down their last tree. Mind you, this happened amidst constant warfare between tribes who were more concerned with building their famed effigies to gods than caring for their battery. Jared Diamond is the same guy who authored "Guns, Germs, and Steel."
Well, apparently this is about to happen in the Solomon Islands. In case you were wondering, the islands are located just east of the Indonesia/Papua New Guinea region. Check here for the wiki.

clipped from www.nzherald.co.nz

As it enters its 30th year of independence this month, the Solomon Islands finds itself on the brink of a twin disaster. In those three decades, its economy has overwhelmingly depended on just one rapidly disappearing natural resource - timber - which successive governments have failed to manage well, jeopardising the country's environmental health and economic wealth.

Despite these loud alarm bells, the country's logging industry is growing at a rate of as much as 12 per cent, according to some estimates. Against a computed sustainable rate of a quarter-million tons a year, more than four times that volume - more than a million tons - was felled last year.

Perversely, that growth rate makes the Solomon Islands the fastest-growing economy in the Pacific Islands region at an impressive 6 per cent. But it is fated to be shortlived, as the main resource propelling it disappears in the next few years.

I feel like this a lot of the time. Don't kill/denegrate the messenger just because you don't like what he has to say.

2007-07-13T14:07:00.001-07:00

If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't be developing an understanding and appreciation of art.....or the importance of knowledge in general for that matter. Personally, I think we ought to nix funding that goes towards public libraries and put the cash towards free Wi-Fi instead. Scan all of the books, archive them, and shut the place down. I know that people have concerns towards copyright, but there are already copious amounts of copy machines in libraries that, in principle, violate the same standards. The libraries just turn a blind eye because, hey, who gives a crap anyway. If someone wants to take the time to become more knowledgeable using a book by a long-since-dead author, more power to them. If we had universal internet access with public training programs to show people how to use the tools of the digital age, we would probably have a more learned society.

clipped from mmelissa.stumbleupon.com

Another remnant of the good ole Eisenhower era...

2007-07-13T08:43:00.001-07:00

This game was distributed only 35 years or so after women gained the right to vote, roughly the same time we're at right now from when Jim Crow laws were revoked by civil rights legislature. Progress is so damn slow. I can't wait until all of the old white dudes from this era are dead and gone.

clipped from www.funnyhub.com

There was a time when MTV played music....

2007-07-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

Now it is reserved for fluffy, willfully ignorant narcissism.

Religious Book Seller Struck By Lightning

2007-07-09T16:52:00.001-07:00

Moneychangers, beware of St. Elmo's Fire.

clipped from cbs4.com

Hailu Kidane Marian was working with members of his religious group, selling religious materials door-to-door in a Northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood, when the bolt from the blue struck him down.

Paramedics say Marian was not breathing and his heart was not beating when they arrived, but they were able to revive him and rushed him to Jackson Memorial hospital, where he was in critical condition Sunday night.

"He's unconscious, he's in a coma," said Francisco Perez, leader of the Puerto Rico-based group. "It's difficult what happened, you know, but what can we do? Things happen in life, but we still believe in God."

CBS4 Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli said 'dry lightning', which can strike even when the sky is clear, can be very dangerous because victims are not expecting it and don't prepare as they might with a storm threatening.

Airport Security!

2007-07-08T21:42:00.001-07:00

Nice.

clipped from www.flickr.com

Lawn Surface Area in the United States

2007-07-08T21:16:00.001-07:00

Yep, I tell you what. DFW has got itself one helluvuh lawn space.

clipped from earthobservatory.nasa.gov

As people convert natural landscapes to human-tailored ones, we change the cycling of water and carbon dramatically. Across the United States, water supplies are under increasing pressure as populations grow. Forests and soils that were once a sink for atmospheric carbon can become sources as the natural landscapes are disturbed.

Among the human-tailored landscapes that influence carbon and water cycles in America are lawns. This color-coded map shows satellite-derived estimates of the fractional turf grass (lawn) area across the United States in shades of green. Areas where a large fraction of the land surface is lawn-covered are deepest green, while locations where the lawns cover a very small (or no) fraction of the land surface are lightest green or white.

No Respite from Heat for Western States

2007-07-08T14:11:00.001-07:00

How many years you reckon it'll take before we're water-hoarding nation-states again?

clipped from www.treehugger.com

Things are really heating up this summer in some parts of the West. Temperature records are being set left and right with several cities having already attained the triple digit mark early on: Boise, ID (104º F), Phoenix, AZ (115ºF) and Baker, CA (125ºF). It's getting so hot that authorities in several states are warning that outdoor activities could be dangerous except during the cooler period of the early morning hours.

Stanley, ID, which often ranks as the coldest place in the lower 48 states (at a 6,000 feet elevation), saw a record high of 92 degrees last week. While meteorologists are expecting temperatures to cool a bit in Southern California within the next few weeks, the other western states won't be as fortunate. "To be honest, as far as temperatures, for as far out as we can see there's no relief," said Brandon Smith, who is expecting temperatures all across Utah to surpass the state's all-time highs this summer.

this post continues »

Seabirds' die-off puzzles scientists. Tides carry waves of carcasses after harsh migration

2007-07-08T00:59:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.myrtlebeachonline.com

HILTON HEAD ISLAND --
State and federal wildlife officials are investigating the deaths of hundreds of seabirds turning up on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Wildlife biologists say more than 1,000 shearwaters - large, gull-like water birds that spend most of their lives far offshore until they nest - have been found dead over the past two weeks on Southeastern beaches. Since last week, more than 160 of the dead birds have been found in South Carolina, including at least 22 on Hilton Head Island.

"For some reason, these birds are dying, and most think it's due to starvation," he said. "Whatever the reason, this appears to be pretty significant; we just don't know how significant yet."

The only common factor is that most of the birds are emaciated, said Dr. Al Segars, a S.C. Department of Natural Resources veterinarian who's helping to coordinate efforts to collect carcasses.

Radical Anarcho-Christian Fight Clubs in Burleson,TX

2007-07-07T23:48:00.001-07:00

oh my goodness gracious. what weirdness do we have here?

clipped from www.star-telegram.com

Three Burleson men who belong to a "radical Christian activist group" were in the Johnson County Jail on Friday night after a church deacon caught two of them attempting to ignite an explosive device on Independence Day at a church under construction in north Burleson, authorities said Friday.

Cmdr. Chris Havens, the Police Department spokesman, said the suspects boasted about belonging to a leaderless group of 10 or 15 who share a belief that society has become too focused on self-improvement and self-gratification and has lost focus on the glorification of God.

"They admit to being Christian and being brought up Christian, but they believe there should be one denomination and one church, not multiple denominations," Havens said.

The suspects said the group has three levels of involvement: Bible study, consensual fighting and destructive acts. Because one of their beliefs is free thought, however, participation in all three levels is not mandatory, they told police.

Huh, I guess American gas prices aren't that high.

2007-07-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.autobloggreen.com

In the name of Jesus.....and gastric bypass.

2007-07-06T19:19:00.001-07:00

This is the tail end of a reality show, where mothers switch families. Watch. Self-explanatory.

clipped from reddit.com

It's not fascism when we do it!

2007-07-06T13:09:00.001-07:00

Gladhand, crony-fy, money before principles, profits before people, creatively fleece shareholders, and actively/openly manipulate the public under the guise of patriotism....and subvert the " just a goddamn piece of paper (quote GWB)" constitution at all costs. It just gets in the way anyway.

clipped from www.oldamericancentury.org

Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much.....Please, say it aint so.

2007-07-05T23:29:00.001-07:00

Dr. Miller, 63, a political scientist who directs the Center for Biomedical Communications at the medical school, studies how
much Americans know about science and what they think about it. His findings are not encouraging.
While scientific literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are "scientifically savvy and alert," he said in an interview. Most of the rest "don't have a clue." At a time when science permeates debates on everything from global warming to stem cell research, he said, people's inability to understand basic scientific concepts undermines their ability to take part in the democratic process.
Dr. Miller's data reveal some yawning gaps in basic knowledge. American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century.
At one time, this kind of ignorance may not have meant much for the nation's public life. Dr. Miller, who has delved into 18th-century records of New England town meetings, said that back then, it was enough "if you knew where the bridge should be built, if you knew where the fence should be built."
"Even if you could not read and write, and most New England residents could not read or write," he went on, "you could still be a pretty effective citizen."
For example, he said, in the era of nuclear tests he asked people whether they knew about strontium 90, a component of fallout. Today, he asks about topics like the workings of DNA in the cell because "if you don't know what a cell is, you can't make sense of stem cell research."

Full article at the jump.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Dr. Jon D. Miller of Northwestern says scientific illiteracy undermines citizens' ability to take part in the democratic process.

the year? 1955.....

2007-07-05T13:52:00.001-07:00

A true sign of the times. Mind you, this is only 35 years after women got the right to vote.

clipped from i89.photobucket.com

Adding and Subtracting....Extreme Body Modification

2007-07-04T21:00:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.bmezine.com

Ryan and Dave are the most unique identical twins you'll ever meet. After tiring of piercing, tattoos, and implants about three years ago, they began exploring much heavier surgical modifications. Dave had spent two and a half years in pre-med at Queens University in Kingston, and using contacts made both there and online he and his twin brother have changed themselves in ways far beyond anything anyone else has ever attempted.

RYAN: At the same time as Dave was being worked on, the other
practitioner and his assistant prepared the attachment site on my chest.
Veins and arteries were spliced to supply blood to Dave's arm and the skin
and some
of the subcutaneous tissue was peeled up to merge as smoothly as possible.
Luckily the healing went smoothly. The transplant healed up in about a
month, as did Dave's stump.

Scientists solve puzzle of Chile's missing lake

2007-07-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

A follow-up post to the drained lake in Chile previously blogged about.

clipped from www.reuters.com

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Scientists said that a lake in southern Chile that mysteriously disappeared last month developed a crack which allowed the water to drain away.

A buildup of water opened a crack in an ice wall along one side of the lake. Water flowed through the crack into a nearby fjord and from there into the sea, leaving behind a dry lake-bed littered with icebergs, scientists told Chilean state television on Tuesday.

"It looks like it's slowly filling up with water again," said Andres Rivera, a glacier expert who headed a team which recently flew over the lake in a bid to solve the mystery.

The lake is situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and is fed by melt-water from glaciers. Earlier this year it had a surface area of 4 to 5 hectares (10-12 acres) -- about the size of 10 soccer fields.

Scientists noticed it had disappeared during a routine patrol of the area in May.

Rivera said the incident was evidence of the effects of global warming.

I got my buddy out of jail and there's nothing you petty citizens can do about it. :p'''

2007-07-04T13:16:00.001-07:00

Effin cronies.

clipped from www.correntewire.com

Screw the News....Screw the Police....Help Fight World Hunger

2007-07-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

This guy is giving out buttons to alert people to world hunger. I think this is New York, where recently noise is being made towards a required permit to photograph anything in public; whereby you must have 1million dollars liability coverage to do so. This is most likely an attempt by city officials to quell the surge of citizen driven internet video muckraking that's been happening lately.
My country tis of thee.....Sweet land of liberty......

EPA: We Report, You Decide

2007-07-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

If there is one thing that this administration has been keen on more than anything else, it is cronyism.
cronyism- partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy.
Confict of interest a-go-go!

clipped from www.treehugger.com

Now we don't mean to come off as cynics here at TreeHugger, but given the EPA's "commendable" record in the past few years, we couldn't exactly let this little nugget slide:

"The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to provide adequate information for the public to discern whether conflicts of interest exist for more than half of its recently unveiled short list of 55 experts for a special panel that will reevaluate the health risks of particulate matter air pollution."

OPEC Threatens To Reduce Investment In Oil Field Development If Customers Become More Efficient

2007-07-03T09:30:00.001-07:00

Just how beholden are we to these asshats?

clipped from www.treehugger.com

"The president of OPEC said Wednesday that repeated calls by industrialized countries to reduce dependence on oil could lead to a reduction in supplies from the cartel. ‘‘Today’s policy announcements could translate into scarcity of supplies in the future,’’ Mohamed Al Hamli, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said at an energy conference. He noted that OPEC is made up of developing nations with limited resources, and it would be a ‘‘waste of badly needed funds’’ to invest heavily in oil production if demand is unclear." What a clever man. He's figured out the general idea behind OPEC customers seeking more efficient vehicles and increased reliance on renewable power. Must be why they made him OPEC President.

Pirates of the Constitution

2007-06-30T16:53:00.001-07:00

clipped from robyn941.stumbleupon.com

USDA Waters Down Organic Standards

2007-06-28T20:46:00.001-07:00

I want to make my own standard for clean food and call it organik with a 'k.' You could make no official claims and stock the operations with folks who will keep it real for moral/ethical reasons rather than strictly economic reasons. Then we can keep BS like this from happening. As long as it was completely transparent to the public( to the point of creepy orwellianesque realtime willful monitoring of all of the organization's activity), I think you could pull it off.

clipped from www.treehugger.com

Organic food is organically grown, except when it isn't. Confused? So are we. (Man, are we ever.) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) greenlighted a proposal late last Friday allowing 38 new non-organic ingredients in products bearing the "USDA Organic" seal, despite more than 10,000 e-mails and letters from concerned consumers and farmers, according to the Organic Consumer's Association.

The USDA's proposal will mean that Anheuser Bush will be allowed to sell its Organic Wild Hops Beer without using any organic hops at all. USDA Organic-certified sausages, brats, and breakfast links will be allowed contain intestines from factory-farmed animals raised on chemically grown feed, synthetic hormones, slaugterhouse waste, and antibiotics. Fish oil with the USDA seal of approval may also contain toxins such as PCBs and mercury for that extra flavor. Cats and dogs will be forced to live together. (Okay, we made that last one up.)

Shhhh, We've Got a Secret: Soil Solves Global Warming, Part 1

2007-06-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

Jump to the site above the picture for a killer video.

clipped from www.treehugger.com

In the seven-minute video after the jump, QuantumShift.tv turns its lens to the carbon emissions caused by large-scale farming practices used in growing much of the food in the United States, Canada and the UK. According to the video Soil: The Secret Solution to Global Warming, land farmed organically, using such methods as "no-till" and the planting of winter cover crops, absorbs and holds up to 30% more carbon than conventional agriculture. Converting all US farmland to organic would reduce CO2 emissions by 10%. The UK version of the video states that such a conversion would result in a 20% per year reduction in CO2 emissions (although the on-screen graphic still reads 10%, ostensibly because only the voice-over has been changed from the US version). The extra carbon in the soil also increases food nutrients, which could greatly reduce health care costs. Dig a little deeper after the jump.

VIDEO: Yet another possible alternative fuel - this one with about 60 percent water

2007-06-24T23:23:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.autobloggreen.com

The ten-minute video above is pretty self-explanatory, except for exactly who Mark Joyner is. He is apparently a well-accomplished marketer who has written at least one best-seller on the subject, and according to his website, is the personal savior of a good handful of people out there who have used his advice and made 'a whole heap.' According to his blog, he seems to be pretty interested in the environment and in saving it, with an emphasis on alternative fuels for transportation. He seems a little naive comparing the hydrogen-powered toy car experiment kit to reality, but his heart seems to be in the right place.

I hope in the controlled test here in the States, they measure emissions and efficiency. Whatever the metals are that are being mixed, I doubt are good for the environment, even if they're in the minority of the mixture. And how much cheaper can these metals be than regular fuel, especially since you have to mix real oil of some sort with it? I suppose we'll find out soon

Antarctic Icebergs Creating New Ecosystems

2007-06-24T21:59:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.treehugger.com

Scientists have discovered that the recent surge in the number of Antarctic icebergs, prompted by rising temperatures, has resulted in the creation of vast new ecosystems of plankton, seabirds and krill. They believe they could play a key role in absorbing the excess carbon dioxide emissions driving global warming.

By using photosynthesis, the species in these ecosystems are able to take carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into carbohydrates and, thus, new life. "I think it can be a substantial contribution" to reducing carbon dioxide levels, Kenneth Smith Jr.

The icebergs form when glaciers moving across Antarctica are broken up through the accumulation of dust and nutrient-rich dirt. This nutrient-rich dirt provides a key source of nutrients to support the proliferation of plankton and algae. Krill feed on the plankton and seabirds, such as Cape petrels and Antarctic fulmars, in turn feed on the krill.

Giant Magnetocaloric Materials Could Have Large Impact On The Environment

2007-06-24T20:34:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.terradaily.com

Materials that change temperature in magnetic fields could lead to new refrigeration technologies that reduce the use of greenhouse gases, thanks to new research at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and Ames National Laboratory.

Magnetic refrigeration is a clean technology that uses magnetic fields to manipulate the degree of ordering (or entropy) of electronic or nuclear magnetic dipoles in order to reduce a material's temperature and allow the material to serve as a refrigerant. New materials for refrigeration based on gadolinium-germanium-silicon alloys display a giant magnetocaloric effect due to unusual coupling between the material's magnetism and chemical structure.

"This discovery is counterintuitive, yet it opens up a range of exciting new opportunities towards the engineering of novel magnetic materials with predictable properties."

35,000-Year-Old Mammoth Sculpture Found in Germany

2007-06-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

Double Wow...

clipped from www.spiegel.de

Archaeologists at the University of Tübingen have recovered the first entirely intact woolly mammoth figurine from the Swabian Jura, a plateau in the state of Baden-Württemberg, thought to have been made by the first modern humans some 35,000 years ago. It is believed to be the oldest ivory carving ever found. "You can be sure," Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas J. Conard told SPIEGEL ONLINE, "that there has been art in Swabia for over 35,000 years."

PHOTO GALLERY:
MAMMOTHS IN THE VOGELHERD CAVE

(5 Photos)

The geological context of the discoveries and radiocarbon dating indicate that the figurines belong to the Aurignacian culture, which refers to an area of southern France and is associated with the arrival of the first modern humans in Europe. Multiple radiocarbon dates from sediment in the Vogelherd Cave yielded ages between 30,000 and 36,000 years ago, the University of Tübingen reports.

Blown Bubble Method Disperses Nanostructures Over Large Areas

2007-06-24T20:10:00.001-07:00

So....what nanotechnology involves is allowing us the ability to control the structure of a substance at the molecular level. when we alter the shape/arrangement of matter at this level, it takes on different electromagnetic properties as well as reacting differently, both chemically and electrically, with other substances.

An Example

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secret's out for Saracen sabres

DURING the middle ages, the Muslims who fought crusaders with swords of Damascus steel had an edge - a very high-tech one. Their sabres contained carbon nanotubes.

From about AD 900 to AD 1750, Damascus sabres were forged from Indian steel called wootz. Peter Paufler of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, and colleagues studied samples of a 17th-century sword under an electron microscope and found clear evidence of carbon nanotubes and even nanowires.

The researchers think that the sophisticated process of forging and annealing the steel formed the nanotubes and the nanowires, and could explain the amazing mechanical properties of the swords (Nature, vol 444, p 286).

From issue 2578 of New Scientist magazine, 15 November 2006, page 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A good analogy is the difference between diamonds and coal. What differentiates the two is their molecular structure. The former is aligned very precisely, via crystallization, while the latter is just an unstable clumpy mess. This in turn gives them different properties e.g. one burns and crumbles easily while the other is one of nature's most all around durable substances(hence the source of its value as a commodity)

clipped from www.physorg.com

Bubble blowing, or blown-film extrusion, is a well developed technique used in industry, such as in plastic-film manufacturing, where polymers are melted and inflated into balloons that can be collapsed and cut. However, this is the first time that this approach has been used in nanoscience research.

The scientists suspended each type of nanostructure in a polymer-based liquid and created large bubbles using a circular die and controlled pressure. The very thin wall of each bubble (a few hundred nanometers thick) contains an even, well organized and aligned distribution of nanostructures. When an expanding bubble is placed against a surface, the bubble wall is transferred to it. This allows a thin film with a controllable nanostructure density and pattern to be deposited onto relatively large wafers, plastic sheets, and curved surfaces.

Versatile New Laser May Change Surgery, Metallurgy and More

2007-06-24T19:48:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.wired.com

PETALUMA, California -- Barry Schuler, the former CEO of AOL, has a laser he says can do it all. It can cut metal, heal burns and kill cancer tumors -- all without damaging heat.

"Bits and blades are all going to be replaced by light," says Schuler, who ran AOL after the Time-Warner merger. In 10 years, he said, the technology will lead to a "smart" power tool that won't need sharpening and won't cause injuries.

clipped from www.wired.com

When USP lasers hit skin or any other material, the material releases a vapor. Each vapor has a unique spectrographic signature, which can serve as a marker for doctors to precisely pinpoint what type of tissue they're aiming at, whether it be burned skin or a cornea.

"That's important because we think that instantaneous analysis can be used to drive the laser with a computer," Idris said. Aimed at a tumor, software would use the spectrograph to zap the cancer but leave healthy tissue intact.

Some chinese cars getting a 1 of 5 on their crash test ratings in Germany

2007-06-22T13:00:00.001-07:00

I give you the Chinese car known as "Brilliance", and the SUV known as the "LandWind, an SUV for half the money." If I remember right, these are Chinese knock-offs of other famous cars. Here's a list of 10 or so others like them.
Just in case you didn't know, when you manufacture stuff in China you pretty much lose most of your intellectual property rights. That is to say, they can copy your stuff in exchange for being super cheap with production and distribution. Check out the Apple iPhone rip-off the "tPhone" for a better idea.
Gotta be careful when you reverse engineer stuff though. Otherwise, you get crap like the buckling of the driverside windshield post (visible in BOTH models below.) If you'll recall, the earlier post with the golf cart looking car( the "Smart Car" Tuesday June 17th). Click for the link to its crash tests. Check them out after you check out these and see the difference good design makes.
Oh, and all of these auto standards/tests are pretty much due to the work of one individual, Ralph Nader.

clipped from carbl.com

The German Automobile Association ADAC was released results of a new tests for the China import. The result is catastrophic: the Brilliance BS6 sedan was completely destroyed. Only there were one of five stars with the crash according to the strict EuroNCAP rules. “Only the LandWind was worse”, says General German Automobile Association speaker Maximilian bricklayer

Chinese carmaker want to hit the Chinese lable Brilliance on the German market. “The BS6 is a Premium sedan at the savings price”, promised the chinese importer. It actually cracks now enormously - however not completely in such a way, as the Chinese introduced themselves.

clipped from www.youtube.com

Ionic liquid offers greener recycling of plastics

2007-06-22T06:53:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.newscientisttech.com

A way of dissolving hard-to-recycle plastics like nylon and Kevlar back to their chemical building blocks has been demonstrated by Japanese researchers.

The team thinks refinements to the process could provide a new way to completely recycle such thermosetting plastics. Other experts, however, warn that the economic and practical hurdles will be substantial.

Plastics are already recycled less often than materials like cardboard and glass, because of these difficulties. And thermosetting plastics, which cannot be heated and remoulded, are hardly ever recycled.

Tough chemical or physical treatment involving high temperatures and pressure is normally needed to break them down into reusable substances.

But chemists Akio Kamimura and Shigehiro Yamamoto at Yamaguchi University in Ube, Japan, have shown in laboratory experiments that liquid salts or "ionic liquids" can dissolve nylon back into its basic chemical units.

BREAKING: Senators reach compromise on 35 mpg standard, but not everything is gravy

2007-06-21T21:48:00.001-07:00

My first car was a Honda civic VX hatchback. It had a Gasoline engine and got 45-50 mpg. It was built in 1992. My girlfriend's grandfather's 1914 model T gets between 17 and 22 mpg. That's better than my dad's truck and it was built almost a century ago. We have been bamboozled folks. Hopefully times are a changin'.

clipped from www.autobloggreen.com

With all the compromise and hints coming out of Washington this week, it's been a challenge just keeping up with who's for what and what's good for whom. But, it looks like this afternoon our illustrious Senators have found one more compromise in their bones and have agreed to raise the CAFE standard for passenger vehicles to 35 mpg by 2020.

Scrapped into dust as debate over the energy bill moved forward were a continued four percent annual increase from 35 mpg after 2020 and $29 billion in new taxes on oil companies to fund renewable energy research and development. The compromise does require automakers to make half their vehicles E85-capable by 2015. Many have already agreed to do this by 2012, so that's not a big deal.

Now we'll see what the House will do.

CNN and the AP have more. What do you think of this? Will it survive into the final bill? What about the President's veto pen (he said he was against specific mileage numbers)? Is 35 mpg a good number for CAFE standards in 2020?

Crapitalism...

2007-06-21T21:37:00.003-07:00

Everything Poops + Business Sees The Changing Climate = Crapitalism

clipped from www.treehugger.com

"Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, AgCert was founded to generate emission reductions from livestock farms to reduce the adverse impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to global warming and climate change. AgCert is now the worldwide leader in agriculturally derived emission reductions, and we are applying our expertise to create industrial based emission reductions as well. The GHG emission reductions are pooled and sold to industrial emitters, governments, funds and energy traders."

covering and capturing all manner of poop gas is headed toward the realm of big business. Raw material in excess. Cows do it. Pigs do it. Even billions of crowded miserable little chickens do it. We think capturing the methane wafting from their piles of excrement and selling the credits for this effort is soon to be a global love story for investors.

Missing: Large lake in southern Chile

2007-06-20T19:53:00.001-07:00

A 12 acre lake is swallowed by the earth in South Chile.

clipped from africa.reuters.com

[-]
Text [+]

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.

The lake was situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and was fed by water, mostly from melting glaciers.

It had a surface area of between 4 and 5 hectares (10-12 acres) -- about the size of 10 soccer pitches.

"In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal ... we went again in May and to our surprise we found the lake had completely disappeared," said Juan Jose Romero, regional director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation CONAF.

"The only things left were chunks of ice on the dry lake-bed and an enormous fissure," he told Reuters.

CONAF is investigating the disappearance.

One theory is that the area was hit by an earth tremor that opened a crack in the ground which acted like a drain.

Southern Chile has been shaken by thousands of minor earth tremors this year.

Nanotube adhesive sticks better than a gecko's foot

2007-06-20T09:04:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned this to friends in conversation before. Here is the reference.

clipped from www.physorg.com

In a paper published in the June 18–22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers describe a process for making polymer surfaces covered with carbon nanotube hairs. The nanotubes imitate the thousands of microscopic hairs on a gecko’s footpad, which form weak bonds with whatever surface the creature touches, allowing it to “unstick” itself simply by shifting its foot.

For the first time, the team has developed a prototype flexible patch that can stick and unstick repeatedly with properties better than the natural gecko foot. They fashioned their material into an adhesive tape that can be used on a wide variety of surfaces, including Teflon.

“Geckos inspired us to develop a synthetic gecko tape unlike any you’ll find in a hardware store,” Dhinojwala says. “Synthetic gecko tape uses ‘van der Waals interactions’ — the same interactions that hold liquids and solids together — to stick to a variety of surfaces without using sticky glues.”

Bayer Knowingly Sold AID’s Laced Drugs

2007-06-20T07:52:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.youtube.com

Paper Bowl

2007-06-19T18:17:00.001-07:00

Learn how to turn a peice of paper into a bowl. This is a very handy and useful origami trick to know.

clipped from www.digg.com

Smart Car Coming To the US In Jan. 2008

2007-06-19T16:37:00.001-07:00

These new rollcage designs are really cool. If interested in another rollcage car check out http://www.flytheroad.com .... for 100 mpg and cooler steering.

clipped from slashdot.org

"After many delays and missed promises, the Smart Car is finally coming to the US in January 2008. Smart Car uses a specially designed crash cage to protect the driver and gets upwards of 40 miles per gallon. Crash tests

are very positive. The car is deceptively large inside, as showcased by this great ad from the Smart USA site. The second-generation Fortwo will be offered first, starting around $14,000. Unfortunately the slick roadster isn't coming any time soon."

The Drug War Enables Roundups of African-American Citizens in Texas

2007-06-18T20:16:00.001-07:00

In the center of the trifecta o' texas, in the middle of the triangle that is waco, austin, and houston......there lies a city called Hearne. It's only 10-20 miles NW of Aggie Land.

clipped from reddit.com

Google To Spend Millions To Support Plug-In Hybrid Cars

2007-06-18T19:58:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.blog.thesietch.org

Google has unveiled a series of new environmentally-friendly initiatives including the installation of solar panels on the roof of its Mountain View, CA headquarters. This solar installation, will generate an electrical output that is enough to supply an estimated 1,000 average California homes. The Internet behemoth’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, also announced its “RechargeIT” initiative. By accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, Google hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the alternative-energy program, Google.org is awarding $1 million in grants and has announced plans for a $10 million request for proposals (RFP) to fund plug-in research and education.

So far the plug-in hybrid models are getting a whopping 73.6 MPG, compared to 40.9 MPG for the hybrid models (both numbers are averages).

Stretchable Silicon May Inspire a New Wave of Electronics

2007-06-17T10:01:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.physorg.com

Images of the stretchable silicon membrane (a,b,c) The membrane in the relaxed state before stretching in the horizontal, diagonal, and vertical directions, respectively (d,e,f) The membrane during stretching in these directions (g,h,i) The membrane at full stretch. Credit: John Rogers

Scientists have created a form of nanoscale silicon that is stretchable. The new material may help pave the way for a class of stretchable electronic devices, such as “smart” surgical gloves and personal health monitors, that are not possible to create using current technology and materials.

1984 folks.....yeah that was a typo!

2007-06-15T17:34:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.signs-of-the-times.org

clipped from www.thisislondon.co.uk

George Orwell, Big Brother is watching your house

The Big Brother nightmare of George Orwell's 1984 has become a reality - in the shadow of the author's former London home.

It may have taken a little longer than he predicted, but Orwell's vision of a society where cameras and computers spy on every person's movements is now here.

Foresight: The cameras crowd George Orwell's former London home

According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.

On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.

The Army now admits...

2007-06-12T21:11:00.001-07:00

I'm gonna fact check this.....but damn.

clipped from thinkprogress.org

that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels.”

50,000 Years of Resilience May Not Save Tribe

2007-06-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE.
These are some clips.

The Hadzabe are believed to be the second-oldest people on Earth, and they still hunt and gather as a way of life, if occasionally before audiences of khaki-covered tourists, who flock to northern Tanzania by the thousands.

Even if the tribe came up with a solution, it remains unclear whether the Tanzanian government or the UAE company would be willing to compromise. Marmo said the Hadzabe -- who until recently had no use for money, organized religion or standard time -- are "the one backwards group in the country."
Government efforts over 40 years to forcibly integrate the Hadzabe into modern society have mostly failed. Instead, the Hadzabe seem to have preferred changing at their own pace, adopting bits of modern life over centuries.

The introduction of standard time has also come slowly. "What is the need for time?" Kaunda asked. "You wake up, you get honey. What do you need time for?"

clipped from www.washingtonpost.com

Gonga Petro perches on a rock in the Yaeda Valley, where the Hadzabe still hunt with hand-hewn arrows. (By Stephanie Mccrummen -- The Washington Post)

131 - US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs

2007-06-11T18:56:00.001-07:00

clipped from strangemaps.wordpress.com

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. Put differently:

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)

Potatoes Could Be Used for Bioplastics

2007-06-07T14:56:00.001-07:00

mixing the food and packaging supply chains......I dunno. Guess it's better than oil based plastics

clipped from www.physorg.com

A report by the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center says the state's potato industry could benefit by becoming a producer of bioplastics, which are made from plant starch rather than crude oil and petroleum products.

Bioplastics can be used to produce carpeting, upholstery fabric and recyclable plastic bottles, the report said. Countries including the United Kingdom and Japan have turned to potato-based plastics technology to turn out such items as "spudware," or plastic silverware made from potatoes.

Researchers, environmentalists and industry representatives agreed Tuesday that turning potatoes into plastics makes technological and economic sense for manufacturers and Maine potato growers.

I think this is a first step for agriculture to look at new avenues and develop new markets," said Don Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board. He said there is plenty of additional acreage that could be planted for bioplastics without reducing the current food crop

Harassed for tattered jeans......

2007-06-06T08:15:00.001-07:00

To hell with SAS airlines.

clipped from www.aftenposten.no

SAS insists that there is no dress code on their flights.

Tom Sogheim, 26, from Bodø, was targeted for abuse for his bearded, somewhat scruffy look on a flight from Oslo to Bodø last Sunday.

The flight was full when the steward suddenly made it clear to Sogheim that he had no business on an airplane with tattered jeans and dreadlocks.

"I didn't know that there was a dress code for SAS passengers. But the cabin crew made it very clear there was one," Sogheim told newspaper Dagbladet.

Passengers shocked by the harassment tipped off the newspaper. SAS management have now issued their regret for the incident and emphasized that there is no dress code on the airline's flights.

Sogheim said that the incident has put him off air travel.

"Unfortunately I don't have a suit or a gold business class card, so next time I will take the train. I got the clear impression that the cabin crew believe that people who dress like backpackers belong on trains, not planes," Sogheim said.

We're all gonna burn.....

2007-06-06T07:22:00.001-07:00

Is this the world's most polluted river?

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk

t was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound.

Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels.

Today, the Citarum is a river in crisis, choked by the domestic waste of nine million people and thick with the cast-off from hundreds of factories.

So dense is the carpet of refuse that the tiny wooden fishing craft which float through it are the only clue to the presence of water.

Their occupants no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade - plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves - risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky.

On what was United Nations World Environment Day, the Citarum, near the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, displayed the shocking abuse that mankind has subjected it to.

Arifin, recalled: "Our wives did their washing there and our children swam."

We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot

2007-06-05T21:02:00.001-07:00

clipped from palebluefilms.com

Poison Ivy strikes me again....

2007-06-05T17:35:00.001-07:00

A good reason to stay on the trail in central Texas. Native land of poison ivy, oak, and sumac. I tried to escape from the getgo, but said screw it.....now I'm paying the consequences.

clipped from www.flickr.com

7,148 miles per gallon

2007-06-05T09:41:00.001-07:00

Check out the fat shell stickers. Wanna guess who funded and owns all of the intellectual property rights to this badboy?

clipped from www.tfot.info

Energy giant Shell's eco-marathon 2007 which took place in France produced an amazing record when the winner in the prototype category was able to achieve an unbelievable traveling distance of 3,039km using only one liter of fuel.

In the eco-marathon 2007 which took place in Nagoro racetrack France, participated 257 teams from 20 countries. The winner in the prototypes category was the team from St. Joseph La Joliverie triumphed, which won the prize for the second year in a row for cars with petrol fuelled internal combustion engine. The best result achieved by a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle was by the Ecole Polytechnique Nantes. This French team produced a result of 2797 km to narrowly beat its nearest German rivals, the Hochschule Offenburg, University of Applied Sciences, (2716 km) and the Chemitz University of Technology (2552 km).

New 125 Miles per Gallon Toyota Prius

2007-06-05T09:38:00.001-07:00

but wait, there's more.

clipped from www.tfot.info

The Pennsylvania based Lithium Technology Corporation recently demonstrated a new type of "plug-in" Toyota Prius hybrid car. The new model is based on advanced lithium iron phosphate battery which allows the hybrid car to travel up to a distance of 125 miles per gallon of fuel – making it possibly the most efficient mass-produced car in the world.

Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC) announced that its' new lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) technology might be incoporated in hybrid cars expected to arrive in the market in 2008-2009. The Toyota Prius demonstrated by LTC was also equipped with a "plug-in" capability which allows it to recharge using conventional power sources (such as a power outlet in the owner's garage). Currently there are no "plug-in" capable cars on the market but special conversion kits are available and a small number of people are already using them to recharge their hybrid vehicles.

Never Piss off a Redneck That Owns a Backhoe!

2007-06-05T09:01:00.001-07:00

self explanatory.

clipped from www.keithwhite.us

Git back....

2007-06-04T07:54:00.001-07:00

clipped from i73.photobucket.com

Ancient Plant May Become New Source of Biofuel

2007-05-29T12:30:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.treehugger.com

Researchers are all abuzz over a promising new source of biofuel that flourished almost 3,500 years ago in Europe. Camelina, if planted on a large scale on marginal farmland from eastern Washington to North Dakota, could provide a significant source of clean energy.

"This is the most exciting crop I have seen in my 30 some years in this field," said Steven Guy, a crop-management specialist and professor at the University of Idaho. While early results from test plantings have been encouraging, the only farmers who have shown interest in it are from Montana, where over 50,000 acres of camelina have already been planted.

Unlike other potential biofuel feedstocks like canola, camelina can grow in arid conditions, can produce more oil from its seeds for a lower price and doesn't require the excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. "We actually think it might be the next wonder crop," said Tom Todaro, the chief executive of Targeted Growth

New American Schoolhouse

2007-05-29T02:11:00.001-07:00

innovative schooling. Listen close for the student run disciplinary committee referred to in the piece as JC. Judicial Council, if I remember correctly.

clipped from digg.com

A Spherical Solar Cell From Japan: The Sphelar

2007-05-29T00:14:00.001-07:00

close to 20% efficiency, ehhh? now we're talkin....Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, just shortly after the formation of OPEC, was asked by a reporter when we would see the end of the age of oil. He replied, "the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones."

clipped from www.metaefficient.com

A Kyoto-based company, Kyosemi, has created a spherical solar cell design. The "Sphelar" is a matrix of tiny, spherical-shaped solar cells, about 1mm in diameter. The spheres are designed to absorb sunlight at any angle, and therefore do not require motorization for tracking the sun. Because of their geometry, Sphelar cells even optimize the use of reflected and indirect light, and have been shown to convert energy with close to 20% efficiency — beyond most flat photovoltaic technologies.

Sphelar is produced using a unique process whereby melted silicon is subjected to free fall, and spheres are formed naturally by the microgravity conditions, so there is hardly any waste of raw materials at all.

Its flexible disposition also makes Sphelar appropriate for applications at a variety of scales, including mobile electronic devices.

Sphelar Web Site

Via Worldchanging

Mars bars get veggie status back

2007-05-27T21:10:00.001-07:00

go consumer power. an update to previous blog post.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Mars has abandoned plans to use animal products in its chocolate, and has apologised to "upset" vegetarians.

The firm had said it would change the whey used in some of its products from a vegetarian source to one with traces of the animal enzyme, rennet.

The Vegetarian Society organised a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to parent company Masterfoods.

Mars said it became "very clear, very quickly" that it had made a mistake.

In just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands, with phone and e-mail complaints.

Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition.

Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars UK, said the company had listened to customers and decided to reverse its decision.

"It became very clear, very quickly that we had made a mistake, for which I am sorry.

The Eyehole

Scientists recover T. rex soft tissue

70 million-year-old fossil yields preserved blood vessels

Salt water as fuel? Erie man hopes so

The possible imposition of a community, train-like automobile driving concept , through the cessation of the right to "free speed."

Dear God, man.....I am now officially going to stop asking "what's next?"

Lunar Resonant Streetlights

Riot cop, without warning, clubs an unarmed woman in the head.

Dick Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire

Fox "News"....second to last

Wind-up MP3/video player

Bose Active Suspension

Gots to get me some stupid pillz....

This is what I call "Excellent Marketing"

If ever there was a more fitting reason for the scarlet letter, I know not of it.

Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp

74 year old man with hip and knee replacement gets arrested(first time offense) selling impeachment buttons at a farmers market.

Closed borders and immigrations issues

Illiteracy: The Downfall of American Society

Illiteracy Statistics

How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects

Countrywide CEO Cashed In $4 Million Per Week In Stock…For The Past 30 Weeks!

Again....We're all gonna burn.

R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut

Congressman Denied Access To Post-Attack Continuity Plans....When is this crap going to end?

Welcome to Richistan, USA (from the UK Guardian, a must read)...Where did all of this new money come from? It was printed by the Federal Reserve w/o l

An entire filipino prison recreates Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

A plan for a functional democracy

Watch this

Hey baby. ;) That's a nice smellin armpit you got there.

Funny, I Only Like Him When He’s Upwind

Mega-rich paying top price for luxury submarines....with underwater love-shack panoramic sex windows....being hounded by voyeuristic dolphins?

Because the japanese just aren't fat enough.....yet.

Follow-up to previous post.

Aha! No wonder....

Brazilian fishermen caught on video killing 83 dolphins protected by law

What if you held a debate and *almost* no one came?

Watch an ignorant ASSHAT chickenhawk in action.

Time to wake up folks.

First it was Reefer Madness, now it's Reefer Blindness

Environmental Collapse of Solomon Islands Imminent

I feel like this a lot of the time. Don't kill/denegrate the messenger just because you don't like what he has to say.

Another remnant of the good ole Eisenhower era...

There was a time when MTV played music....

Religious Book Seller Struck By Lightning

Airport Security!

Lawn Surface Area in the United States

No Respite from Heat for Western States

Seabirds' die-off puzzles scientists. Tides carry waves of carcasses after harsh migration

HILTON HEAD ISLAND --

Radical Anarcho-Christian Fight Clubs in Burleson,TX

Huh, I guess American gas prices aren't that high.

In the name of Jesus.....and gastric bypass.

It's not fascism when we do it!

Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much.....Please, say it aint so.

the year? 1955.....

Adding and Subtracting....Extreme Body Modification

Scientists solve puzzle of Chile's missing lake

I got my buddy out of jail and there's nothing you petty citizens can do about it. :p'''

Screw the News....Screw the Police....Help Fight World Hunger

EPA: We Report, You Decide

OPEC Threatens To Reduce Investment In Oil Field Development If Customers Become More Efficient

Pirates of the Constitution

USDA Waters Down Organic Standards

Shhhh, We've Got a Secret: Soil Solves Global Warming, Part 1

VIDEO: Yet another possible alternative fuel - this one with about 60 percent water

Antarctic Icebergs Creating New Ecosystems

Giant Magnetocaloric Materials Could Have Large Impact On The Environment

35,000-Year-Old Mammoth Sculpture Found in Germany

MAMMOTHS IN THE VOGELHERD CAVE

Blown Bubble Method Disperses Nanostructures Over Large Areas

Versatile New Laser May Change Surgery, Metallurgy and More

Some chinese cars getting a 1 of 5 on their crash test ratings in Germany

Ionic liquid offers greener recycling of plastics

BREAKING: Senators reach compromise on 35 mpg standard, but not everything is gravy

Crapitalism...

Missing: Large lake in southern Chile

Nanotube adhesive sticks better than a gecko's foot

Bayer Knowingly Sold AID’s Laced Drugs

Paper Bowl

What if you held a debate and almost no one came?