Healthcare Jujitsu

Robert Reich
Monday, March 26, 2012
http://robertreich.org/post/19972321637

Not surprisingly, today’s debut Supreme Court argument over the so-called “individual mandate” requiring everyone to buy health insurance revolved around epistemological niceties such as the meaning of a “tax,” and the question of whether the issue is ripe for review.

Behind this judicial foreplay is the brute political fact that if the Court decides the individual mandate is an unconstitutional extension of federal authority, the entire law starts unraveling.

But with a bit of political jujitsu, the President could turn any such defeat into a victory for a single-payer healthcare system – Medicare for all.

Here’s how.

The dilemma at the heart of the new law is that it continues to depend on private health insurers, who have to make a profit or at least pay all their costs including marketing and advertising.

Yet the only way private insurers can afford to cover everyone with pre-existing health problems, as the new law requires, is to have every American buy health insurance – including young and healthier people who are unlikely to rack up large healthcare costs.

This dilemma is the product of political compromise. You’ll remember the Administration couldn’t get the votes for a single-payer system such as Medicare for all. It hardly tried. Not a single Republican would even agree to a bill giving Americans the option of buying into it.

But don’t expect the Supreme Court to address this dilemma. It lies buried under an avalanche of constitutional argument.

Those who are defending the law in Court say the federal government has authority to compel Americans to buy health insurance under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which gives Washington the power to regulate interstate commerce. They argue our sprawling health insurance system surely extends beyond an individual state.

Those who are opposing the law say a requirement that individuals contract with private insurance companies isn’t regulation of interstate commerce. It’s coercion of individuals.

Unhappily for Obama and the Democrats, most Americans don’t seem to like the individual mandate very much anyway. Many on the political right believe it a threat to individual liberty. Many on the left object to being required to buy something from a private company.

The President and the Democrats could have avoided this dilemma in the first place if they’d insisted on Medicare for all, or at least a public option.

After all, Social Security and Medicare require every working American to “buy” them. The purchase happens automatically in the form of a deduction from everyone’s paychecks. But because Social Security and Medicare are government programs financed by payroll taxes they don’t feel like mandatory purchases.

Americans don’t mind mandates in the form of payroll taxes for Social Security or Medicare. In fact, both programs are so popular even conservative Republicans were heard to shout “don’t take away my Medicare!” at rallies opposed to the new health care law.

There’s no question payroll taxes are constitutional, because there’s no doubt that the federal government can tax people in order to finance particular public benefits. But requiring citizens to buy something from a private company is different because private companies aren’t directly accountable to the public. They’re accountable to their owners and their purpose is to maximize profits. What if they monopolize the market and charge humongous premiums? (Some already seem to be doing this.)

Even if private health insurers are organized as not-for-profits, there’s still a problem of public accountability. What’s to prevent top executives from being paid small fortunes? (In more than a few cases this is already happening.)

Moreover, compared to private insurance, Medicare is a great deal. Its administrative costs are only around 3 percent, while the administrative costs of private insurers eat up 30 to 40 percent of premiums. Medicare’s costs are even below the 5 percent to 10 percent administrative costs borne by large companies that self-insure, and under the 11 percent costs of private plans under Medicare Advantage, the current private-insurance option under Medicare.

So why not Medicare for all?

Because Republicans have mastered the art of political jujitsu. Their strategy has been to demonize government and seek to privatize everything that might otherwise be a public program financed by tax dollars (see Paul Ryan’s plan for turning Medicare into vouchers). Then they go to court and argue that any mandatory purchase is unconstitutional because it exceeds the government’s authority.

Obama and the Democrats should do the reverse. If the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate in the new health law, private insurers will swarm Capitol Hill demanding that the law be amended to remove the requirement that they cover people with pre-existing conditions.

When this happens, Obama and the Democrats should say they’re willing to remove that requirement – but only if Medicare is available to all, financed by payroll taxes.

If they did this the public will be behind them — as will the Supreme Court.

Those Revolting Europeans

PAUL KRUGMAN
May 6, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/opinion/krugman-those-revolting-europeans.html

The French are revolting. The Greeks, too. And it’s about time.

Both countries held elections Sunday that were in effect referendums on the current European economic strategy, and in both countries voters turned two thumbs down. It’s far from clear how soon the votes will lead to changes in actual policy, but time is clearly running out for the strategy of recovery through austerity — and that’s a good thing.

Needless to say, that’s not what you heard from the usual suspects in the run-up to the elections. It was actually kind of funny to see the apostles of orthodoxy trying to portray the cautious, mild-mannered François Hollande as a figure of menace. He is “rather dangerous,” declared The Economist, which observed that he “genuinely believes in the need to create a fairer society.” Quelle horreur!

What is true is that Mr. Hollande’s victory means the end of “Merkozy,” the Franco-German axis that has enforced the austerity regime of the past two years. This would be a “dangerous” development if that strategy were working, or even had a reasonable chance of working. But it isn’t and doesn’t; it’s time to move on. Europe’s voters, it turns out, are wiser than the Continent’s best and brightest.

What’s wrong with the prescription of spending cuts as the remedy for Europe’s ills? One answer is that the confidence fairy doesn’t exist — that is, claims that slashing government spending would somehow encourage consumers and businesses to spend more have been overwhelmingly refuted by the experience of the past two years. So spending cuts in a depressed economy just make the depression deeper.

Moreover, there seems to be little if any gain in return for the pain. Consider the case of Ireland, which has been a good soldier in this crisis, imposing ever-harsher austerity in an attempt to win back the favor of the bond markets. According to the prevailing orthodoxy, this should work. In fact, the will to believe is so strong that members of Europe’s policy elite keep proclaiming that Irish austerity has indeed worked, that the Irish economy has begun to recover.

But it hasn’t. And although you’d never know it from much of the press coverage, Irish borrowing costs remain much higher than those of Spain or Italy, let alone Germany. So what are the alternatives?

One answer — an answer that makes more sense than almost anyone in Europe is willing to admit — would be to break up the euro, Europe’s common currency. Europe wouldn’t be in this fix if Greece still had its drachma, Spain its peseta, Ireland its punt, and so on, because Greece and Spain would have what they now lack: a quick way to restore cost-competitiveness and boost exports, namely devaluation.

As a counterpoint to Ireland’s sad story, consider the case of Iceland, which was ground zero for the financial crisis but was able to respond by devaluing its currency, the krona (and also had the courage to let its banks fail and default on their debts). Sure enough, Iceland is experiencing the recovery Ireland was supposed to have, but hasn’t.

Yet breaking up the euro would be highly disruptive, and would also represent a huge defeat for the “European project,” the long-run effort to promote peace and democracy through closer integration. Is there another way? Yes, there is — and the Germans have shown how that way can work. Unfortunately, they don’t understand the lessons of their own experience.

Talk to German opinion leaders about the euro crisis, and they like to point out that their own economy was in the doldrums in the early years of the last decade but managed to recover. What they don’t like to acknowledge is that this recovery was driven by the emergence of a huge German trade surplus vis-à-vis other European countries — in particular, vis-à-vis the nations now in crisis — which were booming, and experiencing above-normal inflation, thanks to low interest rates. Europe’s crisis countries might be able to emulate Germany’s success if they faced a comparably favorable environment — that is, if this time it was the rest of Europe, especially Germany, that was experiencing a bit of an inflationary boom.

So Germany’s experience isn’t, as the Germans imagine, an argument for unilateral austerity in Southern Europe; it’s an argument for much more expansionary policies elsewhere, and in particular for the European Central Bank to drop its obsession with inflation and focus on growth.

The Germans, needless to say, don’t like this conclusion, nor does the leadership of the central bank. They will cling to their fantasies of prosperity through pain, and will insist that continuing with their failed strategy is the only responsible thing to do. But it seems that they will no longer have unquestioning support from the Élysée Palace. And that, believe it or not, means that both the euro and the European project now have a better chance of surviving than they did a few days ago.

Defense of Obama fails to withstand scrunity

Liberals’ defense of Obama fails to withstand scrunity
Bill Crane
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
http://www.miscellanynews.com/2.1577/liberals-defense-of-obama-fails-to-withstand-scrunity-1.2735646

Let me begin with a thought exercise. In 2008, you face a choice between two candidates to vote for. You happen to have a crystal ball that tells you that, if one of the candidates is elected, he will escalate one ongoing war in the Middle East, begin another, step up deportations and extraordinary renditions, attack our social safety net and vastly step up the war on the racial undercaste laughingly referred to as “the War on Drugs.” An unsavory choice, but you can’t vote for the other candidate, because he is a Republican.

It is with this in mind that I read last week’s opinion column in The Misc by Mr. Jack Mullan, who claimed my reasoning was as “artificial as it is absurd” in my column on the subject of the 2012 presidential election published two weeks ago.

It seems that anytime someone on the left has the temerity to point out how disastrous the Obama presidency has been to the vast majority of Americans, a response takes one of the following forms: (1) The Republicans, evil and powerful, stopped Obama from doing everything he really wanted very badly to do, (2) He actually has accomplished very much (insert reference to healthcare/Don’t Ask Don’t Tell or some other supposed accomplishment as needed), or (3) The Republicans are so evil that you can’t possibly think of not supporting Obama, perhaps followed by (4), if you only vote for him one more time, Charlie Brown, it will really change things!

Our Mr. Mullan, sadly, follows these stages to a T—but that is perhaps not his fault, as Obama is so hard to defend at this point that his remaining champions are more or less forced to fall back on rote formulas. These defenses are similar to what I remember thinking as an altar boy when I would say the Nicene Creed—it was full of contradictions and just plain nonsense, but comforting in its vagueness and fluffy language.

Mr. Mullan’s first point, in an interesting variation on the theme, deals with the bank bailouts pilloried in the famed chant at so many Occupy events (Banks got bailed out!/We got sold out!). Normally this is something an Obama supporter would do well to forget ever happened, but Mr. Mullan makes a valiant effort to find something positive: “President Obama did enact a bailout, but did so in order to rescue the auto industry and preserve thousands of manufacturing jobs for the middle class.”

An interesting prospect! Obama helped to save the jobs of the middle class. Surely everyone could get behind that?

Everyone, that is, except the “middle class” autoworkers whose jobs were supposedly “saved” by the bailouts. Perhaps they have not been sufficiently grateful to Obama because, well, they are too busy getting screwed by the companies he stepped in to save. GM, for instance, has instituted wages for new hires that are less than half those of current employees, and is bent on shredding the pensions of retirees.

By the way, in case you are wondering where banks fit into the bank bailouts (which is what I actually addressed in my last article), it is because Mr. Mullan would seemingly prefer to not remember that $700 billion of taxpayers’ money was handed over to the banks that caused the financial crisis, gratis. Even where this money made the federal government primary shareholder, as in the case of AIG and others, Obama stepped in to make sure their management (as we must again remember, the ones who caused the crisis through insane speculation) would not be replaced.

Acts like this, combined with other matters such as the escalated war on Afghanistan and futile War on Drugs, the execution of foreign and a few American citizens by flying death robots, the record deportations of “illegal” immigrants, and the alarmingly severe restrictions on civil liberties including the continuation of the PATRIOT Act (matters so small they have escaped the notice of Mr. Mullan except for a small nod toward the end of his piece) should be enough to convince most of us that Obama is Bush’s spiritual successor on practically all the issues we care about. In which case, his supporters turn to the following helpful phrase: Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Mullan’s description of this magical piece of legislation is pretty typical. The ACA “represents a landmark reform that expands access to healthcare to millions of citizens while tackling the rising costs of insurance premiums.” The fact that it does not include a public option is unfortunate, but according to Mr. Mullan, “the votes for a public option simply did not exist in Congress at the time.”

I have to say I am a bit confused that Mr. Mullan chooses to write so much about a public option in a healthcare bill that, in accordance with the president’s wishes before Democrats lost a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, was actually written by the insurance corporations. The option of creating a sane healthcare system by putting them out of business was never even suggested by Obama, who caved on the weak “public option” as soon as it was suggested that he might face Republican opposition on it.

As for the ACA “expanding healthcare to millions of citizens,” well, I and many other citizens are less than thrilled about what it has to offer. Obamacare solved the problem of millions of uninsured by promising to enroll them in state-funded Medicare in a few years, the very same program that—wait for it—states are currently taking the hatchet to. What remains is a by the corporations, for the corporations law that forces most of us to purchase awful healthcare plans with the slight consolation that our premiums may not go through the roof—that is, unless our state governments find that such increases are “reasonable.”

Mr. Mullan finally has no other option than (3)—look at how evil the Republicans are! He writes, “The proposal coming from Romney and the Republicans is to cut, cut, cut: regulations, taxes, and vital social welfare programs would be severely slashed.” Excuse me? This from a supporter of the man who has kept the NLRB and OSHA on a starvation diet, and who stopped the sunset of the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy? Pot, meet kettle.

What are the prospects for Obama’s next term? Following his proposed budget for the next year, Mr. Mullan writes, “The president maintains strong support for the social safety net, invests in education, energy and infrastructure, and introduces new taxes not only on the wealthiest earners, but also on big banks…that would raise $60 billion over the next decade.”

Sounds good, right? Until you remember that Obama has promised big things along these lines before, namely, last time he was trying to get elected. But we’re still waiting for the Employee Free Choice Act, intended to help workers unionize easier, or the closing of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay.

As for Mr. Mullan’s other objections, they are so insincere that I hesitate to even address them. “It would be remiss to abandon a such a central civil right as voting because of dissatisfaction with one’s options,” he writes. Well, if it is a choice between sacrificing every principle I have as a socialist and exercising this “central civil right,” my rights will have to take one for the team this time around. Similarly, I do not pose a dichotomy between activism and voting. Some of my best friends vote. What I do argue is that voting in this presidential election is ineffective, and ultimately a scam.

If you have been paying attention to anything that has been going on in Washington rather than sticking your head in the sand ostrich-style, it should be perfectly clear that in all likelihood, four more years of Obama means another four years of broken promises as he drifts increasingly rightward.

Whoever wins the election will be the bought and paid for candidate of the one percent. Obama raised the most money from Wall Street of any candidate, ever, last time around, and he may yet have a chance to beat his own record. If you desire real change in this country rather than words, you belong outside the voting booths in November.

Provocateur Unmasked

The FBI's Cleveland Bridge Bomb Plot Informant
Full Article:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/03-7

The Associated Press reports:

An attorney representing one of five defendants in an alleged conspiracy to blow up an Ohio bridge questioned the role of an undercover informant, saying the ex-con hired by the FBI appeared to have played an active role in the plot.

Their arrests that night marked the latest case in which FBI agents or informants planned fake terrorism plots alongside targeted suspects. Cleveland defense lawyer John Pyle also said Wednesday that the case could be one of "the tail wagging the dog." He said his client, Brandon Baxter, will plead not guilty in the case, which is set for a preliminary hearing next week.

Much of a 22-page FBI affidavit outlining the charges was based on the work of an undercover operative who has drug, robbery and bad check convictions.

"We need to get the discovery and put the case under a microscope," Pyle said. "But just on the basis on the filing in the court, there's some indicators that this informant was playing a really active role."

Federal authorities described the men as anarchists who are angry with corporate America and the government and unknowingly worked with an FBI informant for months as they crafted and carried out their plan. [...]

Their arrests that night marked the latest case in which FBI agents or informants planned fake terrorism plots alongside targeted suspects...

Americans Elect canceling caucuses, has no candidates
ALEX PAREENE
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2012
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/03/americans_elect_canceling_caucuses_has_no_candidates

Americans Elect is a weird experiment in applying a lot of money and time and resources into proving a common elite myth: That Americans as a whole are crying out for “bold,” nonpartisan political leadership, and that their strong desire for moderate, independent solutions is stifled by the two-party system. So far, the organization has managed to win presidential ballot access in 26 states, which is a remarkable achievement. The only problem is, it has no candidate. And the process it developed to select a candidate is turning out to be a big, hilarious mess.

So any Americans Elect delegate can “draft” a candidate, and any eligible citizen can declare him- or herself a candidate, but AE has a high bar for a candidate to be declared “qualified” to actually run in its online primary: “Insiders” require 10,000 clicks — 1,000 people in at least 10 states — of support from delegates. “Outsiders” require 50,000. Thus far, Ron Paul, a drafted candidate, has received 8,753 clicks. Buddy Roemer, a declared candidate, has 4,389. In other words, no one is close to being qualified, and the massive grass-roots support AE expected did not really pan out. The first “caucus” vote, scheduled for next week, has been canceled. The next vote, set for May 22, is reportedly “in jeopardy.”

They are still really confident that they’ll find just the right deficit hawk, though. There is a shortlist, they cryptically explained to the Washington Post:

The group is still on the lookout for a Goliath-toppling personality. “There’s a short ­list,” said chief executive Kahlil Byrd, without sharing names. How many? “Negative eight,” he said, and his spokeswoman repeated the cryptic tally. As in less than zero? Byrd would only clarify: “More than four.”

I don’t think they count Ron Paul, the only possible AE candidate with an actual substantial base of support. (He is too “extreme” for this crowd.) At the moment, some AE types seem to be attempting to draft David Walker, the former comptroller general and “No Labels” co-founder. (Oddly, his “No Labels” site bio was recently scrubbed, then replaced with lots of info missing.) David Walker, now there’s a name that’ll get voters to the polls.

Americans Elect has thus far spent $9 million on its website alone.

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene

RFK witness: There was a second shooter

RFK assassination witness tells CNN: There was a second shooter
Full Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/justice/california-rfk-second-gun

As a federal court prepares to rule on a challenge to Sirhan Sirhan's conviction in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination, a long overlooked witness to the murder is telling her story: She heard two guns firing during the 1968 shooting and authorities altered her account of the crime.

Nina Rhodes-Hughes wants the world to know that, despite what history says, Sirhan was not the only gunman firing shots when Kennedy was murdered a few feet away from her at a Los Angeles hotel.

"What has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right," Rhodes-Hughes said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "The truth has got to be told. No more cover-ups."

Her voice at times becoming emotional, Rhodes-Hughes described for CNN various details of the assassination, her long frustration with the official reporting of her account and her reasons for speaking out: "I think to assist me in healing -- although you're never 100% healed from that. But more important to bring justice."

TSA defends pat-down of 4-year-old at Kan. airport

Full Article:
http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-25/news/31399816_1_pat-down-tsa-agents-screening-procedures

The grandmother of a 4-year-old girl who became hysterical during a security screening at a Kansas airport said Wednesday that the child was forced to undergo a pat-down after hugging her, with security agents yelling and calling the crying girl an uncooperative suspect.

The incident has been garnering increasing media and online attention since the child’s mother, Michelle Brademeyer of Montana, detailed the ordeal in a public Facebook post last week. The Transportation Security Administration is defending its agents, despite new procedures aimed at reducing pat-downs of children.

The child’s grandmother, Lori Croft, told The Associated Press that Brademeyer and her daughter, Isabella, initially passed through security at the Wichita airport without incident. The girl then ran over to briefly hug Croft, who was awaiting a pat-down after tripping the alarm, and that’s when TSA agents insisted the girl undergo a physical pat-down.

Isabella had just learned about “stranger danger’’ at school, her grandmother said, adding that the girl was afraid and unsure about what was going on.

“She started to cry, saying `No I don’t want to,’ and when we tried talking to her she ran,’’ Croft said. “They yelled, `We are going to shut down the airport if you don’t grab her.’’’

But she said the family’s main concern was the lack of understanding from TSA agents that they were dealing with a 4-year-old child, not a terror suspect.

“There was no common sense and there was no compassion,’’ Croft said. “That was our biggest fault with the whole thing — not that they are following security procedures, because I understand that they have to do that.’’

Brademeyer, of Missoula, Mont., wrote a public Facebook post last week about the April 15 incident, claiming TSA treated her daughter “no better than if she had been a terrorist.’’ The posting was taken down Wednesday. Another post said the family had filed formal complaints with the TSA and the airport.

The TSA released a statement Tuesday saying it explained to the family why additional security procedures were necessary and that agents didn’t suspect or suggest the child was carrying a firearm.

“TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that our officers followed proper screening procedures in conducting a modified pat-down on the child,’’ the agency said...

Supremes Sympathetic to Arizona Profiling Law

"Justices seem sympathetic to central part of Arizona law."  The headline suggests the Supreme Court has once again used a case to turn our political system farther to the right, in this case using a race-baiting anti-immigration law.  (And no doubt the Roberts regime deserves such cynical suspicions.)  But the real story here, as has often been the case during the Obama Administration, is how the executive branch has evaded a political fight against reactionary forces.  This latest example: rather than argue SB 1070 was racist not only in practical outcome but in design, they instead only argued it was unconstitutional due to states taking supposedly federal-only powers.  If you think I am making this up, here's the exchange during oral arguments between Chief Justice John Roberts and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli that says it all:

Roberts: Before you get into what the case is about, I’d like to clear up at the outset what it’s not about.  No part of your argument has to do with racial or ethnic profiling, does it?  I saw none of that in your brief.
Verrilli: That’s correct.
Roberts: Okay.  So this is not a case about ethnic profiling.
Verrilli: We’re not making any allegation about racial or ethnic profiling in this case.


By this logic, it would be okay for federal agents to demand papers from people proving they are US citizens (which is what AB 1070 is about.)  The problem, according to the Obama Administration, is who is doing it and not is what being done.

To her credit, Justice Sonia Sotomayor (the only Hispanic on the court) could barely conceal her disgust with the argument.  "You can see it is not selling very well.  Why don’t you try to come up with something else?”

In retrospect, Team Obama's reasoning here shouldn't be too surprising.  Consistently, his DOJ has sanctioned the most repellant arguments made by the Bushistas.  In this case, they are arguing more for consolidation of power in the federal government than against racial injustice.  Such an argument conveniently sidesteps opposing a political scapegoating that appeals to the ugliest form of populism.

The good news here is if the Supreme Court sides with Arizona in its decision (which some believe the Supremes were hinting at in the tone of their questions) the battle over 1070 won't be over.  As the SJ Mercury notes: "Should the court uphold any part of the law, immigration groups are likely to challenge it based on an argument not before that court Wednesday -- that the law discriminates on the basis of race and ethnic background."  An argument, sadly, the Obama Adminstritation lacked the spine or sense of decency to present.

To read the original article:

http://www.mercurynews.com/census/ci_20482689/justices-seem-sympathetic-central-part-arizona-law

Was Stonehenge designed for sound?

Full Article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131519/Was-Stonehenge-designed-sound-Researchers-recreate-ancient-site-sounded-like-Neolithic-man.html

Stonehenge could have been designed with acoustics in mind like a Greek or Roman theatre, a study has revealed.

A team of researchers from the University of Salford spent four years studying the historic site’s acoustic properties in a bid to crack the mystery of why it was built.

While they could not confirm the exact purpose of the stones, the researchers did find the space reacted to acoustic activity in a way that would have been noticeable to the Neolithic man...

It's already been a very record-breaking hot year

Full Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/already-very-record-breaking-hot-070315035.html

It's been so warm in the United States this year, especially in March, that national records weren't just broken, they were deep-fried.

Temperatures in the lower 48 states were 8.6 degrees above normal for March and 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months of the year, according to calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That far exceeds the old records.

The magnitude of how unusual the year has been in the U.S. has alarmed some meteorologists who have warned about global warming. One climate scientist said it's the weather equivalent of a baseball player on steroids, with old records obliterated.

"Everybody has this uneasy feeling. This is weird. This is not good," said Jerry Meehl, a climate scientist who specializes in extreme weather at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "It's a guilty pleasure. You're out enjoying this nice March weather, but you know it's not a good thing."

World’s Most Heinous Conspiracy

Millions Suffering Needlessly and Dying Prematurely
Steven A. Swan
4-11-12

Imagine there being a scientist who had earned a doctorate degree in cellular biology and physiology (the study of how living things function) way back in 1959. Imagine that this scientist also participated in developing electrocardiography—the interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart.

Imagine that this scientist’s curiosity led her to experiment further with using electricity, as well as radio waves, to analyze substances. Imagine that this scientist discovered that everything in existence, living or dead, animate or inanimate, produces and emits its own radio frequency or range of radio frequencies. (Tiny entities produce a single radio frequency; larger entities produce a range of radio frequencies. The larger the entity, the wider the range.)

Imagine that this scientist invented a device with which she could determine the composition of any substance based upon the radio frequencies emitted by its components. Imagine that this scientist used this invention to analyze individuals with diseases to determine that combinations of toxins and foreign invaders (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) were causing most of them and that by removing these toxins and foreign invaders, virtually all diseases could be cured.

Imagine that this scientist decided against submitting her discoveries for conventional (and somewhat political) scientific review and verification because the process would take much too long and in the interim many people would suffer needlessly and die prematurely. Rather, she opted to disseminate her discoveries directly those who most urgently needed them. She did so by publishing books documenting her discoveries, through media interviews, through word-of-mouth, through whatever she could think of. Fortunately, she was able to reach and help hundreds of thousands of individuals using these methods.

Imagine that when the mainstream medical establishment (including the giant pharmaceutical companies) learned of this scientist’s discoveries, it naturally feared losing its highly profitable health care monopoly. Imagine the mainstream medical establishment, in conjunction with the mainstream scientific community and the corporate-controlled mainstream media, conspiring to savagely and repeatedly vilify this scientist and her discoveries in as many ways as they could imagine.

Imagine this scientist taking all of this unwarranted vilification in stride and continuing her research. This included sharing her new discoveries with others. Being precluded from practicing medicine within the United States because she was not a medical doctor, she also established a clinic in Mexico to help individuals cure their life-threatening diseases. This included closely monitoring their conditions with her invention to ensure that her protocols were being effective. Because they needed her the most, she only admitted the most terminally ill of patients.

Imagine that this scientist was so engrossed in her research and in helping to save the lives of others that she neglected her own health. Inexplicably, she refused to postpone her important work to concentrate on her own ailments. Tragically, in 2009 at the age of eighty, this remarkable scientist’s extraordinary life came to an end.

Imagine this scientist’s detractors using her death as an opportunity to vilify her and her discoveries even further. They cited her death as proof that she was a charlatan, that her discoveries were fabricated, and that her cures did not work. Unfortunately, they have convinced millions of others that their lies are true.

Fortunately, many thousands of us know the real truth. We have used this scientist’s discoveries, inventions, and cures to keep ourselves, our families, our friends, and others healthy and to cure our own ailments and diseases. We only wish that it were easier to overcome the lies of the mainstream medical establishment, et. al., and bring these truths to the millions of other individuals in the world who are suffering needlessly and dying prematurely.

The above account is true. It is the remarkable story of scientist extraordinaire, Dr. Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph.D., N.D. Unfortunately, Dr. Clark is no longer with us. However, there are many thousands of us attempting to disseminate Dr. Clark’s remarkable discoveries to as many others as possible. However, it is a daunting task given the power and influence of those who have conspired against her and her discoveries.

Steven A. Swan has been studying and using Dr. Clark’s discoveries and inventions for many years to keep himself healthy. He was also able to adapt information in Dr. Clark’s final book about curing cancer to cure his own asthma and his own psoriasis.

Swan offers consultations to anyone wishing to use Dr. Clark’s discoveries to cure their own ailments or diseases or who simply wish to understand them better. (Because of the vast amount of scientific information contained in Dr. Clark’s books, they can be somewhat confusing to individuals who have not studied them.)

Swan’s website is entitled Dr. Hulda Clark Consultant and it is located at drclarkconsultant.com. Swan can be reached by email at contact@drclarkconsultant.com.

AT&T will allow customers to unlock their iPhone

AT&T will allow out-of-contract customers to unlock their iPhone
4-6-12
Full Article:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/06/att_will_allow_out_of_contract_customers_to_unlock_their_iphone.html

Starting this Sunday, AT&T will begin offering out-of-contract customers the ability to unlock their iPhone and use it on another carrier.

AT&T announced the change in policy in a statement issued on Friday. It takes effect in just two days, on April 8...

Previously, customers who finished the terms of their two-year contract with AT&T had an iPhone that could not be unlocked through official avenues. That meant even though they were free to leave for another carrier, they could not bring their iPhone with them...

Can you violate a patent by planting some seeds?

Farm-fresh infringement: Can you violate a patent by planting some seeds?
Timothy B. Lee
4-5-12
Full Article:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/04/farm-fresh-infringement-can-you-violate-a-patent-by-planting-some-seeds.ars

Can a farmer commit patent infringement just by planting soybeans he bought on the open market? This week, the Supreme Court asked the Obama administration to weigh in on the question. The Court is pondering an appeals court decision saying that such planting can, in fact, infringe patents.

In 1994, the agricultural giant Monsanto obtained a patent covering a line of "Roundup Ready" crops that had been genetically modified to resist Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. This genetic modification is hereditary, so future generations of seeds are also "Roundup Ready." Farmers had only to save a portion of their crop for re-planting the next season, and they wouldn't need to purchase new seed from Monsanto every year. The company didn't want to be in the business of making a one-time sale, so when Monsanto sold "Roundup Ready" soybeans to farmers, it required them to sign a licensing agreement promising not to re-plant future generations of seeds.

However, farmers remain free to sell the soybeans they grow in the commodity market, where most are used to feed people or livestock. Roundup Ready soybeans have become extremely popular; they now account for 94 percent of all acres planted in Indiana, for instance. Vernon Bowman, an Indiana farmer, was a customer of Monsanto who realized that Roundup Ready soybeans had become so common in his area that if he simply purchased commodity soybeans from a local grain elevator, the overwhelming majority of those soybeans would be Roundup Ready. Commodity soybeans are significantly cheaper than Monsanto's soybeans, and they came without the contractual restriction on re-planting.

So Bowman planted (and re-planted) commodity soybeans instead of using Monsanto's seeds. When Monsanto discovered what Bowman was doing, it sued him for patent infringement.

Patent protection or freedom to farm?

Bowman argued his use of the seeds is covered by patent law's "exhaustion doctrine." This doctrine, like copyright law's first sale doctrine, holds that a patent holder's rights in a particular product are "exhausted" when the product is sold to an end user. The Supreme Court beefed up the exhaustion doctrine in 2008 when it held that LG could not "double dip" on patent licensing fees—charging both chipmaker Intel and OEM Quanta royalties for the same chip.

Bowman argued that when Monsanto sold seed to a farmer, it exhausted its rights not only to that specific seed but to all of the seed's descendants. Since Bowman wasn't required to sign a licensing agreement before buying commodity seeds, he argued that he was free to plant the seeds and even to save and re-plant each season's crop for future seasons.

But Monsanto countered that each new generation of seeds is a separate product and thus requires a separate patent license. In effect, Monsanto contends that Bowman is illegally "manufacturing" infringing soybeans...

Last year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled, as it had on several previous occasions, that patent exhaustion did not cover second-generation seeds. The Supreme Court has now asked the Solicitor General, the official in charge of representing the Obama administration before the Court, to weigh in on the case...

Was resurrection story inspired by the cloth?

Holy Shroud! Was resurrection story inspired by the cloth?
Alan Boyle
4-4-12
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/04/11020390-holy-shroud-was-resurrection-story-inspired-by-the-cloth

The Shroud of Turin has been seen as many things over the past 620 years, ranging from true burial cloth of the risen Jesus to clever medieval fake, but Cambridge art historian Thomas de Wesselow puts together a 448-page-long case for one of the lesser-known theories in his new book, "The Sign": that the shroud's negative image of a naked, bloodied man was really produced by Jesus' decomposition, and that the stories of his resurrection were inspired by the display of that cloth to his earliest disciples.

"The message really is that the Shroud of Turin is authentic," de Wesselow told me. "This is the only rational way of understanding this image. It can be understood entirely naturalistically. There's no reason to invoke a miracle to explain the image."

De Wesselow acknowledged this could be a hard sell for believers as well as for skeptics. "There are two big things I am arguing against," he admitted.

He's already taking flak from both sides.

"It's breathtakingly astonishing," said Joe Nickell, a senior research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry who has written extensively about the shroud. "He's clearly not a doubting Thomas. He's come up with some rather silly ideas, and then as people often do, he's fallen in love with them."

Meanwhile, in a column about the shroud, the Catholic Herald's Francis Phillips basically brushed off de Wesselow's views, saying they were "too eccentric to reproduce here."

Legends and lore for Easter

"The Sign" is the latest example of shroud lore that comes out during the Easter season, just around the time when millions of Christians are dwelling on the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. (I'm linking to other examples at the end of this item.) The Shroud of Turin has a clear line of provenance going back to around 1390, but when you try to go further back, you can easily get swept up in tales of the Knights Templar and legendary relics like the Veil of Veronica and the Holy Mandylion.

De Wesselow comes at the story from his background in art history. He's been researching the story of the shroud full-time for the past five years, and has woven together an explanation from scientific findings that seem to support the shroud's authenticity, plus perspectives on the animist beliefs of ancient peoples.

"I've studied images, what they mean and how they affect people," de Wesselow said. "In the old days, people saw images as potentially alive. They had potentially a consciousness. ... That type of thinking was absolutely standard before the modern age. It has nothing to do with an optical illusion, and it has nothing to do with people being stupid."

De Wesselow picks up on the idea that the shroud is actually a "vaporograph," colored by a chemical reaction between the gases exuded by a dead body and the carbohydrate deposits on the surface of Jesus' burial cloth. Blood stains were left on the cloth as well. When the shroud was taken from the body, the ghostly image remained behind — and de Wesselow said Jesus' disciples could have interpreted that image as the spiritual manifestation of their leader.

"The appearances of the risen Jesus were simply viewings of the shroud image," he said.

Here's what de Wesselow thinks happened next: After a series of viewings in the Holy Land, the shroud was and taken to the city of Edessa in modern-day Turkey, where it came to be folded up, framed and venerated by the Byzantine Christians as the Mandylion. The cloth was transferred to Constantinople in the 10th century, and disappeared in the year 1204, only to turn up again in France in the 1300s. The shroud was transferred to Turin in 1578, and it's been there ever since.

Holes in the theory?

What about the biblical references to the risen Jesus conversing with the apostles, or eating fish to prove he was really real, or letting St. Thomas touch his wounds? De Wesselow noted that the first accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection were written down decades after they supposedly occurred. "In that time, there's plenty of room for all the legends to be added to the story... These are stories written by sophisticated individuals later on to prove the point that there was a physical resurrection," he said.

Is there any evidence that dead bodies could actually produce the sort of vaporograph that de Wesselow is talking about? "We haven't got anything precisely similar," he acknowledged, "but I don't think that's surprising."

He pointed to a phenomenon known as the Jospice Imprint: In 1981, a cancer patient died at an English hospice and left a partial imprint of his body and face on a mattress cover. "It seems to have been formed from urine pooling around his body," de Wesselow said. That's not what he thinks happened in Jesus' case, but he nevertheless cited the imprint as "another example of a strange image."

De Wesselow totally buys into the evidence provided by the Shroud of Turin Research Project, to the effect that the image is not an artistic forgery but the real imprint of a battered man from centuries ago. That's a huge leap of faith right there. If you accept that, there are only so many types of explanations for the shroud you can come up with. De Wesselow said his explanation addresses the shroud mystery as well as the roots of belief in Jesus' resurrection.

"There are explanations involving a miracle, or that Jesus was spiritually resurrected and appeared in visions to his disciples," de Wesselow told me. "Since the 18th century, scientists have tried to explain the resurrection, and they've basically given up. They've basically forgotten about the whole problem. What I think I can do is provide a fairly coherent explanation which is completely naturalistic. It's a better alternative to the traditional Christian view."

A skeptic speaks

Nickell, however, prefers to stick with his own skeptical view. "I think the resurrection appearances can be seen as pretty much the same kind of thing we have today with apparitional experiences — ghosts, if you will," Nickell said. "We could see ourselves in such a situation with, say, Elvis sightings. You can understand them as experiences that people had but were illusory."

The way Nickell sees it, the biggest argument against de Wesselow's "cloth-as-Jesus" hypothesis comes from the scriptures themselves: There are only vague references to burial cloths in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The gospel of John, meanwhile, refers to Jesus being covered by separate cloths for the face and the body, which is "fatal to the Shroud of Turin," Nickell said.

"The bottom line for me is, if this author were correct, and Jesus' shroud had survived, surely one of the holy evangelists would have made note of it," Nickell said. "If it had been kept and had a remarkable picture of Jesus on it, we would have known about it. And we don't."

Mark Ruffalo: Fracking is a public health concern

Mark Ruffalo: Fracking is a public health concern
Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/04/mark-ruffalo-fracking-is-a-public-health-concern/

Actor Mark Ruffalo appeared Wednesday on MSNBC to discuss his campaign against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, a controversial method of natural gas extraction.

“Everywhere we’ve done it there has been contamination,” he said. “You have to ask yourself: ‘If we could do it safely, why aren’t we doing it? Why is this industry asking to be exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Hazardous Waste Act, the Superfund Act.’ They’re saying that because they can’t make money, they can’t make it economically profitable to do it safely.”

Fracking involves injecting a mixture of water and chemicals deep underground, triggering small explosions that drive gas pockets upwards.

The energy industry defends fracking as a safe method of natural gas extraction, but the U.S. Geological Survey and others in the energy industry believe that fracking, or deep underground liquid injection similar to fracking, can cause earthquakes. Others near fracking wells have detected high levels of methane in their water supplies, including several cases where water was so volatile it could be set on fire.

“This is a public health issue,” Ruffalo said. “There have been no credible public health studies done on this.”

He explained that his anti-fracking campaign, called Water Defense, was meant to fight the millions of dollars being spent by the energy industry to promote the method.

Theories behind the lack of present-day "contact"

Why are we not already widely aware of non-Earth civilizations and beings?
Seven theories behind the lack of present-day "contact"
Full Article:
http://www.naturalnews.com/035420_human_beings_invasive_species_intelligent_life.html

• Theory #1 - Earth has been declared a "non-intervention" zone and all non-Earth civilizations have agreed to stay "hands off" while simply observing our planet and our species. This would, of course, imply some sort of galactic governing body, which is a fascinating subject all by itself.

• Theory #2 - There are no advanced aliens in the galaxy. We are the only intelligent life in the universe. God help us if this turns out to be true, as there will be nothing to stop human-led corporations from pillaging and destroying entire worlds if inexpensive space travel technology can be developed. Imagine Jupiter renamed "Planet Microsoft, Inc." Technology without ethics is extremely dangerous.

• Theory #3 - There are aliens, but they just haven't noticed us yet. Maybe they only get around to checking each life-supporting planet every 50,000 years or so, and since our entire civilization is only about 10,000 years old (or so), we haven't yet showed up on their radar. Our use of nuclear weapons -- a series of events easily visible from space -- has only taken place in the last 75 years or so. The light from such events has only begun to reach many advanced civilizations that might be gearing up to take action against Earth as a result.

• Theory #4 - Our own present-day human species was created by non-Earth beings genetically seeding or altering native primates in order to create a more intelligent race for some purpose that we don't yet know about. (A slave race of obedient workers, perhaps? That trait seems to have been made quite prominent among present-day humans...)

• Theory # 5 - Extraterrestrials know all about us, but they're waiting to see if we will destroy ourselves first. If we somehow get through the next couple of hundred years without decimating our own planet, then perhaps they will make contact. This is a question of species maturity -- are human beings mature enough to even bother being contacted? Or are we still just fair-skinned apes who beat each other over the heads with sticks and rocks while poisoning our own planet and destroying life? Earth's "advanced weapons" are a joke in a galactic sense, and our focus on weapons and war only proves how stupid we are when it comes to wisdom and maturity.

• Theory #6 - Extraterrestrials are already here, and they're already taking over with some sort of nefarious infiltration agenda. Remember the "V" television series? Yeah, lizard people and all that... The "David Icke theory."

• Theory #7 - Earth has already been claimed as "property" by one of the non-Earth races, and they will soon come to the planet to claim its resources. If you think about it, if earthlings had the technology of faster-than-light space travel, wouldn't we run around the Milky Way staking claim to all the valuable planets we could find? And the most valuable planets of all, it seems, would be water planets, as water is really the "gold" of life (as we know it) in the galaxy. A big blue planet like Earth would look like a valuable gem floating in a sea of mostly inhabitable rocks. Every advanced civilization in the universe would want to "own" Earth if, indeed, ownership was still one of their functioning tendencies.

Significa 5-15-12

The Freemont Experience is a likable attraction for downtown Las Vegas, but a more ambitious plan was to put a full-sized Starship Enterprise from Star Trek there:

http://www.thegoddardgroup.com/blog/index.php/now-it-can-be-told-the-star-trek-attraction-that-almost-came-to-life-in-1992

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Konformist Book Club: Urville

From Amazon:

Urville, the capital of a large island province, has a population of nearly 12 million, making it the one of the most significant cities in Europe. It is also entirely imaginary. Gilles Trehin, an autistic man with exceptional creative talents and an obsession with large cities, conceived and developed Urville over the course of 20 years. He shares his vision in this beautifully illustrated guide to the city, which he renders convincingly real in nearly 300 drawings of different districts of Urville. He describes, in remarkable detail, the architectural styles of its individual buildings and provides historical, geographical, economic and cultural information. This includes historical figures and cultural anecdotes grounded in historical reality - Trehin accounts for the effects of the Vichy regime, the Second World War and globalisation on his imagined city. This book offers fascinating evidence of and insight into the creative power of the autistic mind and will be of interest to people with autism and without.

To read more on Urville:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/16/urville-gilles-trehin/

Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843104199/thekonformist

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Kool websites

http://steampunkanarchist.wordpress.com/

Steampunk began as a radical satirical form of fiction, but today it encompasses much more. What precisely is steampunk? As the editors of Steampunk Magazine explain, steampunk is “a vibrant culture of DIY crafters, writers, artists, and other creative types, each with their own slightly different answer to that question”. By its diverse nature, steampunk resists definition. Furthermore, in the ever evolving nature of steampunk, “as each new iteration of the idea be­comes more ambitious, the mutations are delightfully limitless and unpredictable”...

BrianFoxBand Records
http://www.brianfoxband.com

"BECAUSE YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH!!"

THE "33" CD

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE CD ($11.99)!!!


Activation Products
http://www.activationproducts.com

Activation Products was created from a desire to become healthy by discovering and applying the very best foods and technologies in existence.

We collect and offer those products which work the most synergistically with the systems of the human body. Try a little of everything and discover what works for you.

We enjoy helping people by sharing the information that has helped us.


http://www.preparewise.com

At PrepareWise, we have one goal in mind: Helping you prepare your family for emergencies by providing the best prices for freeze dried food storage anywhere on the web. PrepareWise proudly offers Legacy Premium, the wise food storage choice, because of it's lower cost per day, greater freeze dried meals variety, gourmet tastes, and incredible value. Enjoy Free Shipping on every item on our website, and let us know how we can help you protect your family and build up your emergency food storage.


http://www.musclebounded.com

New Discovery By Scientists Leads To Massive Muscle Gains...

With the recent media coverage exposing steroid use in professional sports, many everyday people are looking for an extra edge to build muscle, get stronger, and look better.

Steroids, although effective, are unhealthy and illegal to use without a prescription. Millions of dollars have been spent in sports medicine research to find a completely safe, natural alternative that produces the same results.

After years of research scientists now agree that nitric oxide supplements are a safe way to maximize your muscle gains.

Many professional athletes, body builders, and even UFC fighters have started using a nitric oxide supplement called NOX360 last year. Terrell Owens "TO", a professional football player, recently told us, "I need to best at what I do. NOX360 keeps me dominant on and off the field. No other product gives me the endurance and strength to stay on top of my game."

NOX360 currently sells for as high as $99.99 in retail supplement stores, and this limited time promotion gives you a free trial of NOX360 for $1.95, just paying for shipping and handling. To learn more on NOX360 & nitric oxide, we provided some internal research and reviews for our readers as well as the NO3 free trial links.

The Science Behind Nitric Oxide & NOX360

Your body naturally produces nitric oxide to move oxygen into your muscles while you exercise. This burst of oxygen keeps your muscles functioning while lifting weights or through your cardio session.

Unfortunately, your body can only generate a limited amount of nitric oxide. When the nitric oxide runs out your muscles can no longer power through the exercise no matter how much mental determination you have.

Taking a nitric oxide supplement 30 minutes before your workout could be the push your body needs to add weight to your bench press or run that extra mile. This increased stamina results in longer, harder workouts and a better body in less time.


The Benefits of Nitric Oxide & NOX360

- Drastic Muscle Gains

- Increased Blood Flow and Oxygen Delivery to Muscles

- Transform Your Body

- Boosted Strength, Endurance and Power

- Supports Your Immune System

- Immediate Results


What’s the Best Nitric Oxide Product?

Now that the science behind nitric oxide has been proven, several companies are rushing to bring a nitric oxide supplement to consumers, but which is the best?

NOX360 is, without question, the most popular nitric oxide supplement available on the market today. Thousands of people have already bought NOX 360 online or from their local supplement stores. As you can see below, NOX360 out performs every nitric oxide supplement on the market.

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FeedBack: Christ's disciples' remains 'discovered'

If you actually want to understand what these symbols mean, you first need to understand ancient symbology. No one involved in this project seems to have a clue and thereby all assertions about symbols and their interpretations are without any factual support.

I will demonstrate that this image purposely portrays the merger of both a fish and a vessel and it is Hebrew, not Christian. To fully understand what this image represents, it must be viewed correctly with the "ball" at the bottom, just as it was drawn. Changing its position breaks the meaning of the symbolic code. Consider that the ball is the sun rising above the horizon at the spring equinox. The fish/vessel is the constellation Pisces, and thereby this shows the spring equinox sun, rising into Pisces, which is how you determine the current age on the zodiac.

This image would then represent a zodiacal/astrological time stamp pointing to the second temple period, which was at the start of the age of Pisces. The fish thereby represents the constellation Pisces, and the vessel shape holds the "waters" of that age. Water symbolizes the flow of deeds through time, and a vessel holds a measured quantity of water (or other liquids like wine and oil). The measured period of time is the 2160 years of the age of Pisces, which ended in 2001. This image is a perfect symbolic code for the age of Pisces and the time and deeds (waters...) it represents.

The second temple period was the 11th 360-year cycle on the Hebrew calendar. That is why the Dead Sea Scrolls were buried in exactly 11 caves, during the 11th cycle, which is also symbolized by the 11 stars in Genesis. The 11th cycle was also the beginning of the age of Pisces, and it is well known that the zodiac was used by those who buried the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as other groups throughout the region.

The symbology of that image is not Christian, but instead a symbolic time code pointing to the age of Pisces and related details. That is also the true source of the fish symbolism used by early Christians and later recast by Church leaders to hide the astrological source and associations with those most call the “Essenes.” Visit my website (SevenStarHand.org) and download a free copy of my ebook to learn the basic rules for this ancient symbology. They prove all previous interpretations are erroneous, though both a fish and a vessel were correct guesses.

You have discovered something that none of you understand and now I bring proof of the correct solution to this mystery. Sadly for religious leaders, it completely exposes pivotal ancient lies…

This image provides key proof that Christian assertions about the fish and related symbology have always been wrong. I’ll publish more details soon.

Here are more insights:

Dead Sea Scrolls' Burial Secret Completely Exposes Ancient Lies
http://www.i-newswire.com/dead-sea-scrolls-burial-secret/81149

Here is Wisdom...

Buddy Page
aka
Seven Star Hand

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Awesome Quotes: Watchmen

"I heard a joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says, 'Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you up.' Man bursts into tears. Says, 'But doctor... I am Pagliacci.' Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach

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April 15th (ironically, better known as income tax day) marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  Here are 10 facts you probably didn't know about The Titanic...
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/100th-anniversary-titanic-10-things-didn-t-know-232200873.html

* On the evening of April 14, the first-class passengers on the Titanic enjoyed a ten-course meal that included oysters, poached salmon, sirloin of beef, lamb with mint sauce, chocolate éclairs and waldorf pudding. According to Armchair World, a different wine was served with each course, and coffee and cigars accompanied by port and distilled spirits were available with the last course.

* The Titanic had its own newspaper. According to the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, The Atlantic Daily Bulletin was printed daily and included news articles, the latest stock prices, horse-racing results, society gossip and a daily menu.

* The massive ship had some unheard of amenities. A Discovery Channel article details perks such as an onboard Turkish bath, libraries, a squash court and a heated swimming pool. The luxury liner even had an infirmary with an operating room.

* While the Titanic boasted some of the wealthiest people in the world on board, two famous men of that era didn't make the trip. According to Discovery.com, financier J. P. Morgan and famed chocolatier Milton S. Hershey had planned to sail aboard the ship's maiden voyage but canceled at the last minute.

* Less than a month after the tragedy, silent film actress and Titanic survivor Dorothy Gibson starred in the film "Saved From the Titanic." According to Stageclick, the actress reenacted her personal story of the tragedy, complete with the actual white silk evening dress she wore on that fateful night. The film was a hit in America and England, but the only known prints were destroyed two years later in a fire.

* Many artifacts from the Titanic were salvaged. The Titanic Museum in Massachusetts houses The Titanic Historical Society's collection, which includes a lifejacket, lifeboat flag, luncheon and dinner menus, a square of first-class stateroom carpet, letters and postcards written on board, first class china and a bridge bell.

* According to UK's Mirror, a violin alleged to have belonged to Titanic bandleader Wallace Harley was recently discovered. While tests are being done to prove its authenticity, if sold it would break the record for a Titanic artifact, post office keys that were sold in England for £101,000 in 2007.

* The former home of one of the most famous Titanic survivors is now a museum in Denver. The 1910 home of socialite Margaret Brown - known after the tragedy as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," is open for tours and workshops.

* The last remaining survivor of the Titanic died in 2009. Millvana Dean was only nine weeks old and the youngest passenger on the ship when she was put on a lifeboat and saved. According to The Guardian, her death at age 97 came just a month after "Titanic" stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet helped pay her nursing home expenses.

* Many sources have pegged the band's final song as "Nearer My God To Me." But in a 1912 interview with The New York Times, surviving crew member Harold Bride said the band played the hymn "Autumn" as the ship went down.

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YouTube Movie of the Week
Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfFpvaP87UU

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'Nobody has seen Tupac's body': Suge Knight reveals he is not sure rapper is really dead...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2133123/Tupac-alive-Suge-Knight-stuns-fans-suggesting-rapper-dead.html

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Stoner Cooking

Magic Bullet Egg Nog
http://www.buybullet.com/recipes.php?recipe=eggnog&category=drinks&name=Egg%20Nog

Nothing says, "Holiday Season" like creamy, delicious egg nog. Dazzle your guests with this quick and easy home brew.

Ingredients

 3 eggs
 2 Tbs sugar
 pinch of salt
 1 - 1/2 cups milk
 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preparation

Start by... adding all the ingredients to the Tall Cup and blend with the Cross Blade until smooth (about 8 seconds).

Then... Pour into a sauce pan and over low heat, warm the mixture making sure to stir it constantly.

When... the mixture has thickened remove it from heat. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Serving Suggestion

This recipe serves 2, double or triple the ingredients (and use the Blender Attachment) for more servings.

Tip!

Add a shot of rum and a sprinkle of nutmeg to each serving for a classic holiday cocktail.


The Original Potato Salad
http://www.bestfoods.com/recipe/detail/6609/1/the-original-potato-salad

It's made with Real Mayonnaise, just like mom always made!

 • 2 lbs. potatoes (5 to 6 medium), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
 • 1 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
 • 2 Tbsp. vinegar
 • 1-1/2 tsp. salt
 • 1 tsp. sugar
 • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
 • 1 cup thinly sliced celery
 • 1/2 cup chopped onion
 • 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (optional)

1.Cover potatoes with water in 4-quart saucepot; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and cool slightly.

2.Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper in large bowl. Add potatoes, celery, onion and eggs and toss gently. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Also terrific with Hellmann's ® or Best Foods ® Light or Canola Cholesterol Free Mayonnaise.

Cost per recipe*: $3.09

Cost per serving*: $0.39

*Based on average retail prices at national supermarkets.

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Japan comes up with some great ideas, and here's one of them: neko cafes, where patrons can hang out and pet cats while sipping coffee.  This is an idea that should be an easier sell than sushi.  Sadly, they may be shutting down due to laws combatting exploitation of animals, even though the cafes were never meant to be the target of the laws:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/17/uncertain-future-for-japans-cat-cafes/

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Food Porn of the Month:

From the UK, Pizza Hut is offering a "Hot Dog Stuffed Crust" pizza with a mustard drizzle.  Meanwhile, back in the USA, Burger King is test marketing a bacon sundae in Nashville:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57412379-10391704/pizza-hut-unveils-hot-dog-stuffed-crust-pizza-burger-king-offers-bacon-sundae/

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'The Voice': New Bible translation focuses on dialogue
Bob Smietana, USA TODAY
4-15-12
Full Article:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-04-15/the-voice-bible-translation/54301502/1

The name Jesus Christ doesn't appear in The Voice, a new translation of the Bible.

Nor do words such as angel or apostle. Instead, angel is rendered as messenger and apostle as emissary. Jesus Christ is Jesus the Anointed One or the liberating king.

That's a more accurate translation for modern American readers, says David Capes, lead scholar for The Voice, a complete edition released this month by publishing company Thomas Nelson. Capes says that many people, even those who've gone to church for years, don't realize that the word "Christ" is a title.

"They think that Jesus is his first name and Christ is his last name," says Capes, who teaches the New Testament at Houston Baptist University in Texas.

Seven years in the making, The Voice is the latest entry into the crowded field of English Bible translations.

Unlike the updated New International Version and the Common English Bible — both released last year — much of The Voice is formatted like a screenplay or novel. Translators cut out the "he said" and "they said" and focused on dialogue.

So in Matthew 15, when Jesus walks on the water, scaring his followers, their reaction is immediate:

Disciple: "It's a ghost!"

Another Disciple: "A ghost? What will we do?"

Jesus: "Be still. It is I; you have nothing to fear."

"I hope we get people to see the Bible — not as an ancient text that's worn out — but as a story that they participate in and find their lives in," Capes says.

The title for The Voice came from the New Testament book of John and from the Greek word logos. It's usually translated as "word" in verses such as John 1:1, which reads: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," in the New International Version, one of the most popular English translations.

In The Voice, that passage reads: "Before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God." Frank Couch, the executive editor and publisher of The Voice, says that translation better captures what logos means...

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Milestones

THE Paul Krassner, Konformist Kontributor, friend and idol, has turned 80:

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/happy_birthday_paul_krassner_father_of_the_underground_press_turns_80_today

Matt Groening reveals that Springfield in The Simpsons is based on the city near his hometown in Oregon:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Matt-Groening-Reveals-the-Location-of-the-Real-Springfield.html


Pat Summitt retires as Tennessee women’s basketball coach, won 1,098 games & 8 NCAA titles

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/pat-summitt-to-step-down-legendary-tennessee-womens-basketball-coach-won-1098-games-8-ncaa-titles/2012/04/18/gIQA2CK2QT_story.html


Fenway Park turns 100:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/redsox/story/2012-04-19/Fenway-Park-100th-anniversary/54422780/1


The first LSD trip turned 69 years old:

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/albert_hoffmans_took_his_first_lsd_trip_69_years_ago_today


The DARPA Robotics Challenge is looking for machines to help the military, but insists it's not to develop killer robots (as if the military would want machines to kill humans!) but rather to do things like drive vehicles, replace broken machinery, and snuggle:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402846,00.asp

Jack Nicholson turned 75.  In honor of his birthday, Life Magazine released on its website unpublished photos taken in 1969 of the soon-to-be megastar:

http://life.time.com/culture/jack-nicholson-unpublished-photos-1969/


Jamie Moyer, 49, becomes oldest pitcher to win a MLB game:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/04/18/150876220/take-that-kids-jamie-moyer-is-oldest-pitcher-to-win-an-mlb-game


Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains, has been dead for a decade:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/how-alice-in-chains-found-the-most-memorable-voice-in-grunge/255469


The New York Mets turn 50:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/sports/baseball/mets-at-50-the-good-the-bad-but-mostly-the-ugly.html


Which of the following honors should a man pursue more:

1. Going to Cleveland for induction in the prestigious Rock Hall of Fame

2. Getting a blowjob from Lana Del Rey

Say what you will about Axl Rose, but the crazy SOB sure has his priorities straight...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/report-axl-rose-is-dating-lana-del-rey-20120409


Best Buy has lost it's CEO, and as CNet puts it: "Best Buy would still need a miracle to avoid the fate suffered by the likes of Good Guys, Circuit City, and CompUSA, let alone return to its go-go days. The problem is less anything that Best Buy did or didn't do than the fact that times have changed and there's no going back."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57411933-92/worst-of-all-worlds-for-best-buy


Viking robots found life on Mars in 1976, scientists say:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47031923/ns/technology_and_science-space


Bubba Watson wins the Masters:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/watson-works-wonders-and-1411084.html


Phil Humber tosses MLB's 21st perfect game:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/white-sox-rhp-phil-humber-222948392--mlb.html


Arkansas fires coach Bobby Petrino following scandal:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57411010/60-minutes-icon-mike-wallace-dies-at-93


Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer known as the ‘Merchant of Death’, was sentenced to 25 years in prison...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9189852/Merchant-of-Death-Viktor-Bout-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison.html


San Francisco restaurant Sam Wo, made famous by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and the "Tales of the City" novels of Armistead Maupin, closes after 100 years:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/21/11321018-san-franciscos-world-rudest-waiter-restaurant-sam-wo-shuts-after-100-years


Lollapalooza 2012 lineup headliners: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, The Black Keys and, batting cleanup, Black Sabbath:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lollapalooza-2012-lineup-black-sabbath-chili-peppers-jack-white-20120411

*

RIP

Thomas Kinkade, one of America's most popular painters, 54.  Stop drinking the haterade, all you dissers!  "What people were responding to was the way his paintings made them feel. We used to call it a 20-second vacation on their wall. People wanted to put themselves into the picture in their imagination. He wanted to give people a way to celebrate the good things in the world around them and visually take a little break in what they contend with day-to-day."

http://www.mercurynews.com/los-gatos/ci_20385235/brother-says-painter-thomas-kinkade-battled-alcoholism


Amplifier maker Jim Marshall, 88
As Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue put it: "You were responsible for some of the greatest audio moments in music's history and 50% of all our hearing loss......"

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2012/04/marshall-amplification-jim-marshall-dies.html


Ferdinand A. Porsche, Designer of the 911, Dies at 76:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/automobiles/ferdinand-a-porsche-76-dies-designed-celebrated-911.html


"60 Minutes" icon Mike Wallace dies at 93:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57411010/60-minutes-icon-mike-wallace-dies-at-93


Dick Clark of American Bandstand:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/arts/television/dick-clark-tv-host-and-icon-of-new-years-eve-is-dead-at-82.html


Levon Helm, co-founder of The Band, dead at 71:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/showbiz/obit-levon-helm/index.html


Jonathan Frid, ‘Dark Shadows’ Star, at 87:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/television/jonathan-frid-ghoulish-dark-shadows-star-dies-at-87.html