INTERESTING: A legal filing as a comic

Sunday, December 30, 2012

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/53819-a-work-of-art-bob-kohn-submits-doj-amicus-brief-as-comic-strip.html

A Work of Art: Bob Kohn Submits DoJ Amicus Brief as Comic Strip

By Andrew Albanese | Sep 04, 2012

*** begin quote ***

For those in publishing who have followed the DoJ price-fixing case, it has from the start seemed at times like a cartoonish affair. Now, thanks to former music executive and RoyaltyShare founder Bob Kohn, it is a cartoon. Handcuffed by the court’s decision to re-file his argument against the DoJ’s settlement with three publishers in just five pages, Kohn filed the brief in the form of a comic strip.

***end quote ***

Not sure how this will work out for him, but I loved it.

Easy to understand and quite rational.

And, why do we allow music to be price fixed?

Or milk?

— 30 —

 

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INTERESTING: Is this the “gay gene” that everyone was seeking?uote

Monday, December 17, 2012

 

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/12/11/scientists-may-have-finally-unlocked-puzzle-of-why-people-are-gay

Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay

Lesbians get it from fathers, gay men from mothers?

By JASON KOEBLER

December 11, 2012

*** begin quote ***

Long thought to have some sort of hereditary link, a group of scientists suggested Tuesday that homosexuality is linked to epi-marks — extra layers of information that control how certain genes are expressed. These epi-marks are usually, but not always, “erased” between generations. In homosexuals, these epi-marks aren’t erased — they’re passed from father-to-daughter or mother-to-son, explains William Rice, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author of the study.

“There is compelling evidence that epi-marks contribute to both the similarity and dissimilarity of family members, and can therefore feasibly contribute to the observed familial inheritance of homosexuality and its low concordance between [identical] twins,” Rice notes.

Rice and his team created a mathematical model that explains why homosexuality is passed through epi-marks, not genetics. Evolutionarily speaking, if homosexuality was solely a genetic trait, scientists would expect the trait to eventually disappear because homosexuals wouldn’t be expected to reproduce. But because these epi-marks provide an evolutionary advantage for the parents of homosexuals: They protect fathers of homosexuals from underexposure to testosterone and mothers of homosexuals from overexposure to testosterone while they are in gestation.

*** end quote ***

Is this the big breakthrough that allows the human race to move forward?

–30–

 

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INTERESTING: What’s the “jedi religion”?

Sunday, December 16, 2012

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9737886/Jedi-religion-most-popular-alternative-faith.html

‘Jedi’ religion most popular alternative faith

Today’s Census figures show that 176,632 people in England and Wales identify themselves as Jedi Knights, making it the most popular faith in the “Other Religions” category on the Census and the seventh most popular faith overall.

***

You have to be kidding me!

I could understand a lot of the possible answers, but … this one stuns me!

–30–

 

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INTERESTING: Bitterly disappointed

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9686219/I-am-bitterly-bitterly-disappointed-retired-naval-officers-email-to-children-in-full.html

‘I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed’: retired naval officer’s email to children in full

This is the full email that retired Royal Navy officer Nick Crews sent to his son and two daughters in February expressing his and his wife’s disappointment in them.

***

When I read this, I saw a boomerang.

Were you such a bad parent that you weren’t able to steer the children correctly?

My parents made a lot mistakes. But, I would never fault them for the choices they made. I’ve made a lot of my own bad choices.

This 0 for 3 tends to make me blame the “builder”.

imho.

–30–

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interesting: Obamacare is NOT about h, hc, or hci; it’s about control

Friday, November 23, 2012

http://personalliberty.com/2012/11/19/obamacares-real-costs/

Obamacare’s Real Costs

November 19, 2012 by Bob Livingston

*** begin quote ***

“The Obama Care Health Care Reform Plan or Health Care For America Plan will cost the average American around $70.”–obamacarefacts.com

First of all, allow me to disabuse you of the notion that Obamacare has anything to do with “health” care. Obamacare is not about health. It’s not about lowering the cost of health insurance. And it’s not about ensuring that everyone is insured.

It is about locking more Americans into the clutches of the Big Pharma/Medical Industrial complex, providing more customers for Big Insurance and confiscating more wealth from individuals and businesses.

The American healthcare system should properly be called “sickcare.” It’s a subtle and esoteric system of population control with prescription drugs issued at the public expense by the drug cartel — the conglomerate of pharmaceutical houses.

They commit population control under the pretense of “healthcare” and make people pay for it. And this medical cartel has no legal liability. It is forced — or at least deceptive — medication. And most doctors don’t have a clue. They write prescriptions based on falsified data and kickbacks — from speaker fees and ghostwriting glowing medical reviews — without regard to whether their patients will benefit.

*** end quote ***

I too am very disillusioned with this whole discussion.

It’s NOT about “Health”, “Healthcare”, or “Healthcare Insurance”. It’s all about “control”.

“Death Panels” was a good two word summary of the Gooferment’s objective.

When we think of the drag that seniors represent in socsec, medicare, and the taxes that they don’t pay, no wonder cigarettes are legal!

The exemplar for this is the (American) Indian Healthcare, wwhere the rule is ‘don’t need anything expensive after June’. Or maybe the VA, “die”!  (Some old vets firmly believe that VA wants to kill them. And, not with kindness.)

If it was about health insurance, then it wouldn’t be tied to your employment.

Argh!

–30–

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INTERESTING: Hillary Rodham Clinton has been and is running

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/collins-hillarys-next-move.html

Op-Ed Columnist
Hillary’s Next Move
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: November 10, 2012

Times Topic: Hillary Rodham Clinton

*** begin quote ***

“Maybe I’ll get a decorating show,” said Hillary Clinton.

It was a few weeks before the election. Clinton was flying back from an overnight trip to Peru, talking — without any great enthusiasm — about the topic that would begin to obsess the American political world as soon as the presidential ballots had been counted: Will Hillary run in 2016?

*** end quote ***

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She’s the obvious candidate. 

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INTERESTING: What are the odds?

Sunday, November 11, 2012

NewImage

What are the odds?

 

 

 

 

Every house on the block, shared with my shore house has damage, but mine.

Note the water line on the outside shower and hot water heater. That’s about ¾ of the way up the black cinder block foundation.

If it reached the top of the black, storm water would have gotten in to the porch, dining room, three bedrooms, bathroom, and one BRAND NEW kitchen.

Very lucky! Very Providential.

I wish everyone hit by Sandy was this lucky. Sadly it’s not so. Some lost everything. Nothing down the shore will ever be the same. Now I have had a little taste of what the folks in Katrina have felt.

Scuttlebutt was that FEMA was going to stiff those with flood insurance if they were part-time resident. Not a lot of happy people with that assertion.

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INTERESTING: How to Bug-In

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

http://artofmanliness.com/2012/11/01/how-to-bug-in-what-you-need-to-know-to-survive-a-grid-down-disaster/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheArtOfManliness+%28The+Art+of+Manliness%29

How to Bug-In: What You Need to Know to Survive a Grid-Down Disaster
by A MANLY GUEST CONTRIBUTOR on NOVEMBER 1, 2012 · 35 COMMENTS
in MANLY SKILLS
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Creek Stewart of Willow Haven Outdoor.

As the East Coast of the United States recovers from Hurricane Sandy, aka “Frankenstorm,” the rest of us watch the unfolding aftermath from a distance – thankful Mother Nature hasn’t unleashed her fury on our doorstep today. Hurricane Sandy is yet another sober reminder that none of us are exempt from disaster. Mother Nature doesn’t discriminate. She doesn’t care where we live, what we drive, how much we make, or what we do for a living. Her antics are diverse and far-reaching. She has a recipe of devastation for all parts of the world: hurricanes, tornados, floods, wildfires, winter storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, heat waves, volcanoes, land-slides, and sometimes even a combo pack.

It is human nature to avoid potentially bad news. It is also human nature to procrastinate. Consequently, many of us avoid going to the dentist, taking our car in for routine maintenance, implementing a home security plan, getting our yearly physicals, and many other important preventative and preparative tasks. Unfortunately, avoiding the thought of potential bad news has absolutely no bearing at all on whether or not it will happen. In fact, this attitude is completely self-destructive. Avoiding preparing for or prevent a very dangerous and probable threat is irresponsible and incredibly foolish. Yet, people do it all the time when it comes to potential natural disasters. The mentality of “it’s not going to happen to me” is no longer an acceptable excuse. In the 15 years I’ve taught Survival and Preparedness courses I’ve come to the conclusion that there are no acceptable excuses and I have run thin on patience to those that offer them. Burying your head in the sand is not a strategy and depending on the government to save you is not a plan.

Many of you remember the article I wrote a while back titled How to Make a Bug Out Bag. “Bugging Out” is the decision to abandon your home in search of a safer destination in the event of a large-scale disaster. Sometimes, Bugging Out is not necessary nor is it the best decision. A disaster may, in fact, make it impossible to Bug Out. The alternative is called “Bugging In.” Bugging In or hunkering down during a large-scale disaster can present many challenges to a survivor. Oftentimes, the utilities we depend on are ripped off-line – known as “Grid-Down.”

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[JR: I have my kits. Do you?]

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INTERESTING: Poor project management could put weather forecasters in the dark

Saturday, November 3, 2012

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/10/27/1537204/our-weather-satellites-are-dying?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+slashdot%2FeqWf+%28Slashdot%3A+Slashdot%29

Our Weather Satellites Are Dying
by Soulskill

*** begin quote ***

Hugh Pickens writes “The NY Times reports that some experts say it is almost certain that the U.S. will soon face a year or more without crucial weather satellites that provide invaluable data for predicting storm tracks. This is because the existing polar satellites are nearing or beyond their life expectancies, and the launching of the next replacement, known as JPSS-1, has slipped until early 2017. Polar satellites provide 84 percent of the data used in the main American computer model tracking the course of Hurricane Sandy, which at first was expected to amble away harmlessly, but now appears poised to strike the mid-Atlantic states. The mismanagement of the $13 billion program to build the next generation weather satellites was recently described as a ‘national embarrassment’ by a top official of the Commerce Department. 

*** end quote ***

Hard to imagine the ineptitude and stupidity of the Gooferment.

I’m sure there’s a lot of blame to go around.

It’s all about relying on Gooferment!

And time after time, it lets us down.

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INTERESTING: Poll question assumes facts not in evidence

Thursday, November 1, 2012

What do you think?
Do you believe that the economic benefits of legalized gambling outweigh its societal impact?
Yes, the economic benefits strongly outweigh its societal impact
Yes, the economic benefits somewhat outweigh its societal impact
No, the societal impact somewhat outweighs the economic benefits
No, the societal impact strongly outweighs the economic benefits
No strong opinion

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The questions presumes several things.

(1) That we think.

(2) That there are things such as “economic benefits”, “legalized gambling”, and “societal impact”?

(3) And that there can be a trade off.

Don’t forget our old friend Bastiat! “The broken window fallacy” — Frédéric Bastiat Ce qu’on voit et ce qu’on ne voit pas (That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Unseen) 1850 

We can’t see what the other side of the choice is!

Argh!

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INTERESTING: Why do I need Halloween when I have night terrors?

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

http://mynightterrors.blogspot.com/

Why do I need scary movies when I have night terrors?

Thursday, October 25, 2012
Problem statement
I never liked scary movies. And, I don’t see what is the big deal about Halloween. I get scared almost every night.

Ever hear about “night terrors”?

Discussed them with my new doc. He says no big deal. If they bother you, “we can try drugs”.

That didn’t inspire confidence.

I believe that both of my parents suffered with same problem.

Not that we ever talked about it. But, I think it drove both of them crazy and into alcoholism.

In college, I was an injineer. Drinking was part of the “fun”. And, I noticed a correlation between more than a modest intake and a good night’s sleep.

So I started this blog to capture my experiences and see if I can find either a cause or cure.

Nothing like being a “lab rat”.

Lest you think I’m nuts, which I may well be, here’s Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror

I guess I’m fortunate. I have two symptoms with different degrees of intensity. Symptom #1 is sweating from the waist up. Symptom #2 is the resultant waking up — either with the ability to get back to sleep or not — after some duration.

I’ll catalogue the symptoms. And maybe a pattern will emerge.

–30–

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Why do I need Halloween when I have night terrors?

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INTERESTING: Big deal!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

amazon.com

Dear Kindle Customer,

We have good news. You are entitled to a credit for some of your past e-book purchases as a result of legal settlements between several major e-book publishers and the Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories, including yours. You do not need to do anything to receive this credit. We will contact you when the credit is applied to your Amazon.com account if the Court approves the settlements in February 2013.

Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, the publishers will provide funds for a credit that will be applied directly to your Amazon.com account. If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books. While we will not know the amount of your credit until the Court approves the settlements, the Attorneys General estimate that it will range from $0.30 to $1.32 for every eligible Kindle book that you purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. Alternatively, you may request a check in the amount of your credit by following the instructions included in the formal notice of the settlements, set forth below. You can learn more about the settlements here:
http://www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements

In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices. We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.

Thank you for being a Kindle customer.

The Amazon Kindle Team

==========================================================

(c) 2012 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210.

Reference: 26267370

Please note that this message was sent to the following e-mail address: reinkefj

==========================================================

Benefits from an Attorney General E-books Settlement Fund

Para una notificación en Español, llamar o visitar nuestro website.

Records indicate that you are eligible for a payment from Settlements reached by the State Attorneys General with E-book publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. The Settlements resolve an antitrust lawsuit about the price of electronic books (“E-books”). Amazon.com has not been sued in this case. It is providing this notice as a service to its customers.

What the Settlements Provide

The Settlements create a $69 million fund for payments to consumers who purchased qualifying E-books from April 1, 2010 through May 21, 2012. If the Court approves the Settlements, eligible consumers like you will receive automatic credits to your E-reader accounts. The credit can be used on any purchases of E-books or print books. The amount of your payment has been determined based on the qualifying E-book purchases identified by Amazon.com in your E-reader account.

How to Receive your Benefit

Because you are pre-qualified, you do not need to do anything to receive your credit. It will be applied to your account by Amazon.com automatically, and you will receive another email letting you know when it’s available. (If you bought E-books from more than one retailer, you may receive notices with different instructions about whether you will receive a credit or need to file a Claim Form for that retailer. You will have a separate claim for each retailer and you should follow the specific instructions from each one.)

You also have the option to receive a check instead of your credit. You can request a check by calling 1-866-621-4153, or going to the Settlement website listed below, and clicking on the Check Request Option link. Be sure to reference the Settlement ID number found at the bottom of this email. The Settlement website is: http://www.EBookAGSettlements.com

Your Other Rights

You can choose to exclude yourself from the Settlements and keep your right to sue on your own. If you exclude yourself, you can’t receive any benefits from the Settlements. If you don’t exclude yourself, you can submit objections about the Settlements.

Your written Exclusion Form or objections must be postmarked by December 12, 2012. Please visit the Settlement website for detailed information on how to submit a valid Exclusion Form or objection.

A separate lawsuit against two other publishers and Apple, Inc. continues and is set for a trial in 2013. Your rights in the separate suit are not affected by any action you take in regards to these Settlements.

The Court will hold a hearing on February 8, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. to consider whether to approve the Settlements. You or your own lawyer may ask to appear and speak at the hearing.

For more detailed information:
Call 1-866-621-4153 or visit http://www.EBookAGSettlements.com
Settlement ID Number: AMG2zmVrr6F3fT6eRm

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How much did the lawyers get? Argh! What’s wrong with this picture.

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INTERESTING: Was Jeter’s stumble caused by being tired?

Monday, October 15, 2012

I posted on FACEBOOK Sunday in the wee hours:

“Argh! It’s 0109. I “invested” hours in the <Expletive Deleted> Yankees and they lose in extra innings. I want my time back. And, Jeter looked like he broke his ankle. Not a good omen. To bad Alex didn’t have that happen to him a week ago. Sigh.”

and then later that same morning in human being hours:

“Heard this morning that “doctor” Reinke, medical training courtesy of doctor Phil’s tv program, and 14 years on the first aid squad, got my “snap” diagnosis sadly correct. Do you think too many extra inning games and travel made him “tired”? Accidents happier when you’re tired. Now we will see if this Yankee’s team has “character”? ARod has to snap out of the slump for them to win. Maybe they are all just “tired”. They are all “old” in baseball terms. Tigers may have just gotten a big “break”. We’ll see!”

(REMINDER: Remember the sources of my education: I’m just a fat old white guy injineer with: Law “degree” from watching Judge Judy; Medical “degree” from watching Doctor Phil; Building “degree” from watching “Holmes on Homes”; Investing “degree” from reading about Bernie Made-off; and creating caring human relationships from studying the movie roles of Gunny Ronald Lee Ermey!)

Upon reflection, it seemed obvious to me that he’d broke it. I thought that when I saw it in real time. He was carried off the field in pain. Having broken bones, I know what that feels like. And, I’ve seen race horses fall. You can just tell. A break just seems to happen differently.

The interesting part is what role does fatigue play in all this?

Alex’s slump, Derek’s stumble, Granderson’s near miss home runs, other players not up to par, just missing the spot.

While these guys are all athletes in fine shape. Maybe a little old. Long in the tooth. But … you have to question the schedule without proper time to rest. 

Is everyone being cheated by an arbitrary schedule?

Do they need more off days and travel days to accommodate peak performance?

I know when I’m tired, I get silly, clumsy, and (more) stupid. (Some of my late night blog post can show that!)

So did a “tired” Derek just demonstrate his humanity?

No one could ever accuse him of not playing hard. But maybe Joe needed to recognize the physical shape of his troops. Maybe he’s tired too?

We’ll never know, but ‘doctor’ Reinke thinks that’s the proximate cause — greed. By the owners, TV, players, and fans.

Comments?

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INTERESTING: Titanic’s Biggest Question

Saturday, October 13, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/mythbusters-answers-titanics-biggest-question-could-jack-and-rose-both-have-survived-on-that-board/

Entertainment
MythBusters Answers Titanic’s Biggest Question: Could Jack and Rose Both Have Survived on That Board?

Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:06pm by Liz Klimas

*** begin quote ***

It’s something every teenage girl at the end of the 1990s seeing Titanic for the fifth time was thinking: Leo DiCaprio so could have fit on that wooden board instead of freezing in the water and dying. Now the popular show MythBusters has finally taken the time to weigh in on the topic with its expert reenactment skills.

*** end quote ***

When I first saw the movie, I annoyed folks with that theory.

Maybe the board should have been smaller to quiet know it alls.

I think that shows like this just might induce people and children think.

One can only hope.

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INTERESTING: Is there a “thumb on the scale”?

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/taylor-swift-love-life-17371914

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/taylor-swift-glamours-cover-girl-17371916

A fun experience was interrupted by the garish “commercials” pro-Obama anti-Romney 47%.

This brought an interesting thought: is ABC’s website providing propaganda support?

How is that accounted for to its stockholders?

Reported to the FEC?

Just seems odd to me. Revisited the site at random and got the same ad. Considering that the underlying story is “youth oriented” maybe this is an another “thumb on the scale” attempt. 

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INTERESTING: Couple sues game show

Monday, October 1, 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208220/Couple-sues-Fox-game-losing-580-000-despite-answering-question-correctly.html

Couple sues Fox game show after losing $580,000 ‘despite answering question correctly’
By Hugo Gye
PUBLISHED: 00:44 EST, 25 September 2012 | UPDATED: 05:31 EST, 25 September 2012

*** begin quote ***

A couple who appeared on a short-lived Fox game show are suing the producers two years later, claiming that they were denied more than half a million dollars despite answering a crucial question correctly.

Andrew and Patricia Murray, who are both airline pilots, were contestants on Million Dollar Money Drop in December 2010.

They now claim the question which lost them the chance to win $580,000 was incorrect and was ultimately a ‘trick question’, according to TMZ.

*** end quote ***

Entertaining when they blow it. 

Interesting if they recover.

Is there an insurance company behind the lawsuit?

Did they have a hand in the staging of questions that would keep the payoffs low?

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INTERESTING: Hollywood will carry the Obamacare “flag”; propaganda?

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/121282.html

September 19, 2012
Yet Another Reason To Torch the TV
Posted by Becky Akers on September 19, 2012 08:10 AM

*** begin quote ***

“Officials in California want prime-time TV shows to help promote President Obama’s healthcare law. … ‘A number of popular television programs and personalities such as Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, the Biggest Loser, Dr. Oz and others will be approached and pitched to incorporate story lines or mentions of health care reform that would reinforce campaign messages,’” according to the “marketing plan” from “California’s insurance exchange — a new marketplace [sic], created by” Obummercare.

Apparently, the idea that propaganda should be subtle and hidden has waned as Our Rulers’ contempt for us waxes.

*** end quote ***

I’ve debated that Obamacare muddles “health”, “health care”, “health care insurance”, and / or something else.

Now we find out that the Gooferment is using / expect Hollywood to brainwash us.

Sorry, but if any of my favorite comedies pick up this theme. They are toast!

They can join Jane Fonda in my dog house!

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INTERESTING: Here’s My Obligatory Post on the Topless Middleton Pics

Friday, September 21, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/heres-our-obligatory-post-on-a-french-paper-publishing-topless-pics-of-kate-middleton/

World
Here’s Our Obligatory Post on a French Paper Publishing Topless Pics of Kate Middleton
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 9:47am by Jonathon M. Seidl Jonathon M. Seidl

*** begin quote ***

One can only imagine the uproar at Buckingham Palace after a second young royal has been caught nude this summer. While last month it was Prince Harry, this time the subject is a little less likely: the dignified and refined Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.

The circumstances surrounding Kate’s pictures, however, are quite different than Harry’s. While the latter was snapped sans clothes at a wild Vegas party, the former apparently was photographed while on vacation at a private residence in France. The pictures were taken from so far away that the image clarity is poor.

*** end quote ***

Seems a shame that “the press” can “focus” on this type of picture, but just can’t “see” anything more important to look into.

Remember the Enquirer was the “paper” that broke the John Edwards sex story! 

All the BHO44 documentation in the world could be missing, but “we” got topless Kate pictures!

We can’t get an unbiased report on the economy, the Middle East, or “crony capitalism”; but we got “topless” Kate pictures.

There’s no time for the politicians and bureaucrats to address our real problems; but we got topless Kate photos.

And the pictures are supposed to be near un-viewable.

Just need to not look!

Like Lady Godiva.

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INTERESTING: 80% of doctors are expendable

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

http://www.impactlab.net/2012/09/11/technology-will-replace-80-of-doctors-vinod-khosla/

September 11th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Technology will replace 80% of doctors: Vinod Khosla

*** begin quote ***

Health care must be more data driven and about wellness, not sick care.

Eighty percent of doctors could be replaced by machines.

Khosla assured the audience that being part of the health care system was a burden and disadvantage. To disrupt health care, entrepreneurs do not need to be part of the system or status quo. He cited the example of CEO Jack Dorsey of Square (a wireless payment system allowing anyone to accept credit cards rather than setup a more costly corporate account with Visa / MasterCard) who reflected in a Wired magazine article that the ability to disrupt the electronic payment system which had stymied others for years was because of the 250 employees at Square, only 5 ever worked in that industry.

hosla believed that patients would be better off getting diagnosed by a machine than by doctors. Creating such a system was a simple problem to solve. Google’s development of a driverless smart car was “two orders of magnitude more complex” than providing the right diagnosis. A good machine learning system not only would be cheaper, more accurate and objective, but also effectively replace 80 percent of doctors simply by being better than the average doctor. To do so, the level of machine expertise would need to be in the 80th percentile of doctors’ expertise.

*** and ***

Can we do better in being more reliable, consistent, and creating a system process and design that is comparable to highly reliable organizations and industries? Of course. Can we be more systematic and doing the right things every patient every time on areas where the science is known to level of the molecule? Yes. Care must be incredibly simple to access, extremely convenient and intensely personal.

*** end quote *** 

Well, I am not a fan of America’s current “health care” system. Unless you’re trying to change it to the “socialized medicine” system found in the UK, Canada, and Europe.

I want improvement; not a retro grade or down grade to something worse.

And, of course, I think to the way to that is with less Gooferment and more liberty freedom.

After watching Deep Blue play Jeopardy, it’s seems possible. Doctor House could be a less smelly less crazy diagnostician. I’d have  gladly liked my wife’s case presented to Doctor Deep Blue. It couldn’t have had a worse outcome. 

Then look at all the regulation and costs imposed by that regulation.

The FDA, Medicare / Medicaid, Doctor licensing, Nurse Licensing, Pharmacist Licensing, Pharmacy regulation, Hospital regulation, Insurance regulation, State regulation, Federal regulation, financial regulation, tax code manipulation, Medical education regulation, anti-trust legislation that allows the AMA a monopoly, …  

Did I miss any?

Sigh!

How do we get out of this mess?

Let people make mistakes. Shade tree mechanics. Turn it over to WalMart.

Medicine should be patient driven.

Look at pet care. Competitive. “Cheap”. Easily found. No forms. No real regulation.

Imagine if a Nurse could have her own “practice”. Finding sick people and getting them to the doctor or hospital. Physician’s assistants would be an extension of the system. Everyone says early detection is crucial to good outcomes. Everyone says that rapid care is essential to good outcomes. Everyone says that over use of the ER is driving up costs and wait times. 

Yada, yada, yada …

It could be so much better.

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INTERESTING:Gooferment Social Welfare

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/119929.html

September 2, 2012
Penn Jillette on Government Social Welfare
Posted by David Kramer on September 2, 2012 09:18 PM

Libertarian Penn Jillette (Penn and Teller) expresses his contempt for government social welfare in this very clear and concise statement:

*** begin quote ***

“It’s amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.”

*** end quote ***

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I love when someone NAILS it. 

Argh!

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INTERESTING: A gang with an institutional structure

Sunday, September 9, 2012

http://dailyreckoning.com/fifty-shades-of-government

Fifty Shades of Government
By Jeffrey Tucker

*** begin quote ***

This is the great tragedy of living under leviathan. People have different ideas about how it ought to conduct its affairs. Who should be rewarded? Who should be punished? Who gets the privileges? Who must bear the cost? It becomes a war of pressure groups, everyone seeking to live at the expense of everyone else.

What is this thing we call government? It consists of the gang with an institutional structure that makes the rules, enforces the rules, and lives by rules that are different from those it imposes on the rest of the population. We can’t steal, but government can. We can’t kill, but government can. We can’t counterfeit, kidnap, and engage in fraud, but government can. This thing called government, obviously, has a strong interest in maintaining its power, prestige, and funding.

This is true no matter what the structure of the government happens to be. Oligarchy, absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, presidential republic, parliamentary republic, democracy — all of them have one thing in common: They create a special caste of citizens that live at the expense of everyone else.

*** end quote ***

The essence of Libertarianism is that we need no such class. 

Each man, and woman, of course, is their own sovereign.

Responsible to keep their word and a free to bind themselves in any way they see fit.

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INTERESTING: Taylor Swift can turn the tables on the Trolls

Monday, September 3, 2012

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120902/COLUMNIST0101/309020082/Hey-Taylor-Swift-here-s-how-get-sweet-revenge?nclick_check=1

Hey, Taylor Swift, here’s how to get sweet revenge
2:04 AM, Sep 2, 2012

*** begin quote ***

Internet trolls have hijacked an innocent contest waged by country megastar Taylor Swift. She will give a free concert and $10,000 to the school that gets the most votes online after “liking” her Facebook page.

Swift’s foes are urging people to vote for the Horace Mann School for the Deaf. Because there’s nothing more hilarious than using deaf children as the punchline to a lame joke aimed at poking fun at a superstar, right?

Swift has legions of public relations people, millions of dollars in income and an international career. Her new song, “We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together,” is topping charts.

So the 22-year-old phenomenon does not need advice from a 51-year-old local news columnist in Nashville. But here’s some anyway: Babe, embrace this. Own it. Take the joke and turn it around on them. If the Horace Mann School wins — and, with the votes at around 25,000 so far, that looks pretty certain — you get on a plane to Boston and sing your pretty little heart out for them.

*** and ***

It would be a wonderful, generous gesture for her to perform there. After all, music therapy is commonly taught to deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

“Music belongs to all people, and all people have the right to music experiences,” wrote Patricia Winter, a music therapist, in an online article.

Children with hearing impairment, with or without hearing aids or cochlear implants, connect with music. They feel the vibrations. They “hear” lyrics through sign language. Touching the neck of someone singing helps them improve speech skills.

What better revenge would there be for Swift than having photos of sweet deaf children touching her as she sings posted all over the same Internet that’s trashing her?

And one more thought, based on Swift’s own lyrics.

She’s right: People do indeed throw rocks at things that shine. But when you take the high road, they can’t hit you.

*** end quote ***

An EXCELLENT response. 

Rub the trolls nose in it and do good works while you do it.

Sounds very Taylor-esque!

Maybe she good give a duplicate prize to the Number #2 runner up.

I love this idea. When handed lemons, make lemonade.

Webcast it and enshrine yourself as America’s sweetheart. Like Bob Hope or Lucile Ball.

LOL!

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INTERESTING: WHo can morally kill who?

Sunday, September 2, 2012

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2012/08/selective-prosecution.html

Friday, August 31, 2012
Selective Prosecution?

*** begin quote ***

Like many Americans, I’ll be watching 60 Minutes on Sunday night. Not that I’m a regular viewer of the program; from my perspective, the MSM is like bad medicine, best taken in small doses, and only when necessary. So why am I tuning in to CBS? Because the network’s venerable news magazine will have the first broadcast interview with Mark Owen, the Navy SEAL who participated in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and has written about the mission.

*** end quote ***

While the Constitution provides the Congress the power of marque and reprisal, the President just goes off and kills people.

Sorry, but I don’t believe anything those politicians and bureaucrats say.

Sounds like this EYEWITNESS has a different story to tell and the “establishment” would rather he did “spill the beans”.

Maybe I’ll watch. 

Always nice to get something first hand.

Maybe?

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INTERESTING: Titanic sunk by a “cold water mirage”

Friday, August 24, 2012

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Did-the-Titanic-Sink-Because-of-an-Optical-Illusion.html

Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?
New research may have found the reason why the ship struck an iceberg: light refraction
By Tim Maltin
Illustrations by Charles Floyd
Smithsonian magazine, March 2012

*** begin quote ***

An unusual optical phenomenon explains why the Titanic struck an iceberg and received no assistance from a nearby ship, according to new research by British historian Tim Maltin. Atmospheric conditions in the area that night were ripe for super refraction, Maltin found. This extraordinary bending of light causes miraging, which, he discovered, was recorded by several ships in the area. He says it also prevented the Titanic’s lookouts from seeing the iceberg in time and the freighter Californian from identifying the ocean liner and communicating with it. A 1992 British government investigation suggested that super refraction may have played a role in the disaster, but that possibility went unexplored until Maltin mined weather records, survivors’ testimony and long-forgotten ships’ logs. His findings—presented in his new book, A Very Deceiving Night, and the documentary film Titanic’s Final Mystery, premiering on the Smithsonian Channel at 8 p.m. on April 15—are distilled here:

1. The Titanic was sailing from Gulf Stream waters into the frigid Labrador Current, where the air column was cooling from the bottom up, creating a thermal inversion: layers of cold air below layers of warmer air. Extraordinarily high air pressure kept the air free of fog.

*** end quote ***

Fascinating. 

This video explains and rationalizes the reason that Titanic didn’t see the iceberg that sank it.

Human frailty. We don’t know what we don’t know and our paradigms fail us.

I wonder how many “optical illusions” have tripped me up over my life?

Argh!

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INTERESTING: India’s blackout is in the USA’s future

Thursday, August 23, 2012

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/infrastructure/
us-woefully-unprepared-for-a-blackout-like-indias-analysis-11413652

U.S. Woefully Unprepared for a Blackout Like India’s: Analysis
Two major blackouts last week left hundreds of millions of Indians in the dark. PM contributor Glenn Harlan Reynolds says despite its advanced grid, the U.S. needs major improvements in infrastructure and preparedness to be ready for a major power loss.
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds

August 6, 2012 2:16 PM 

*** begin quote *** 

Last week, India suffered two huge blackouts. Tuesday’s cut power to 370 million people; another one on Wednesday blacked out 670 million people, making it the worst blackout in the history of humanity.

Talking about this with a colleague, I said, “Don’t worry. That can’t happen here.” “Why not?” she asked. “Because we don’t have 670 million people,” I replied.

*** end quote ***

As a fat old white guy injineer, E-lect-trick-al for that matter, I know how fragile our infrastructure is.

A power outage for a week and we are in TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It).

Civilization will break down in a month.

Personally, I’m suggesting that only the Amish, the Mormons, and a few preppers will survive.

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INTERESTING: Sleep is not the cousin of death

Sunday, August 19, 2012

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-three-ss-you-must-get-right/

The Three S’s You Must Get Right

*** begin quote ***

You hear it all the time: “It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change!” or “Fitness is something you live!” It seems like every health guru out there with a diet and/or workout plan says something to that effect. Unfortunately, if you fully subscribe to their prescriptions and do so for life, you’re still only changing what you eat or how you work out.

While that’s most of the battle, it’s not enough. Diet and exercise are simply vital components of a lifestyle. If you make a permanent modification to your diet and exercise without addressing the other things that encompass a “lifestyle,” you’re selling yourself short.

Which is why I believe it is necessary to focus on the other stuff, too. I’m convinced that good health, longevity, happiness, and weight management come down to far more than just diet and exercise.

*** and ***

Sleep

Sleep is not the cousin of death, and no, you shouldn’t hold off on sleeping until you’re dead. Sleep is restoration time. It’s when your body repairs itself. And, chances are, you’re not getting nearly enough of it.

Are you? How often do you get a “good night’s sleep?” Do you regularly wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day?

If you are like most people you are not getting good, regular sleep. You’re hitting the snooze button several times, fumbling for your coffee fix, and yawning at work. You’re staying up late with the TV going or you’re taking your laptop into bed.

It wasn’t always like this. For millions of years, up until about a hundred twenty years ago, humans all over the world enjoyed restorative, refreshing, regular sleep. When the sun went down, they either went to sleep or started getting ready for it. Life would wind down. Candles and fire were too costly to burn all night, every night, so nighttime meant bedtime.

*** end quote ***

This will be the hardest part of going primal.

I am NOT a good sleeper.

We’ll see.

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