Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track | Threat Level from Wired.com:
"The Obama administration for the first time is weighing in on a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit and is supporting hefty awards of as much as $150,000 per purloined music track. "
All You Need for Fresh Air: 3 Essential Green Plants | greenUPGRADER:
"Seventeen years ago Kamal Meattle found out that the air in his home city of Dehli was killing him. He had grown allergic to the pollutants in the air and his lung capacity started declined to 70%. He began researching and found that these three plants can provide a human with all the fresh air they need indoors to be healthy. The three plants are the Areca Palm, the Mother-in-law’s Tongue , and the Money Plant."
A Medical Madoff: Anesthesiologist Faked Data in 21 Studies: Scientific American:
"Over the past 12 years, anesthesiologist Scott Reuben revolutionized the way physicians provide pain relief to patients undergoing orthopedic surgery for everything from torn ligaments to worn-out hips. Now, the profession is in shambles after an investigation revealed that at least 21 of Reuben's papers were pure fiction, and that the pain drugs he touted in them may have slowed postoperative healing. 'We are talking about millions of patients worldwide, where postoperative pain management has been affected by the research findings of Dr. Reuben,' says Steven Shafer, editor in chief of the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, which published 10 of Reuben's fraudulent papers. Paul White, another editor at the journal, estimates that Reuben's studies led to the sale of billions of dollars worth of the potentially dangerous drugs known as COX2 inhibitors, Pfizer's Celebrex (celecoxib) and Merck's Vioxx (rofecoxib), for applications whose therapeutic benefits are now in question. Reuben was a member of Pfizer's speaker's bureau and received five independent research grants from the company. The editors do not believe patients were significantly harmed by the short-term use of these COX2 inhibitors for pain management but they say it's possible the therapy may have prolonged recovery periods."
[BOT] New Study Explains How Pot Kills Cancer Cells:
"A new study published in Nature Reviews-Cancer provides an historic and detailed explanation about how THC and natural cannabinoids counteract cancer, but preserve normal cells. The study by Manuel Guzmán of Madrid Spain found that cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor. The Guzman study is very important according to Dr. Ethan Russo , a neurologist and world authority on medical cannabis: 'Cancer occurs because cells become immortalized; they fail to heed normal signals to turn off growth. A normal function of remodelling in the body requires that cells die on cue. This is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. That process fails to work in tumors. THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die.' 'But, that is not all,' explains Dr. Russo: 'The other way that tumors grow is by ensuring that they are nourished: they send out signals to promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. Cannabinoids turn off these signals as well. It is truly incredible, and elegant.' "
"Scientists at the University of California created a neural implant for a beetle that gives them wireless control over the insect. Electrical signals delivered via the electrodes command the insect to take off, turn left or right, or hover in midflight. Beetles and other flying insects are masters of flight control, integrating sensory feedback from the visual system and other senses to navigate and maintain stable flight, all the while using little energy. Rather than trying to re-create these systems from scratch, Michel Maharbiz and his colleagues aim to fuse the ‘born’ with the ‘made’. "
Singularity Hub - A blog about Longevity, Nanotech, Robotics, Genetics, AI, The Brain..:
"The Fertility Institutes recently stunned the fertility community by being the first company to boldly offer couples the opportunity to screen their embryos not only for diseases and gender, but also for completely benign characteristics such as eye color, hair color, and complexion. The Fertility Institutes proudly claims this is just the tip of the iceberg, and plans to offer almost any conceivable customization as science makes them available. Even as couples from across the globe are flocking in droves to pay the company their life’s savings for a custom baby, opponents are vilifying the company for shattering moral and ethical boundaries. Like it or not, the era of designer babies is officially here and there is no going back."
Researchers store data in bacteria DNA - Innovation- msnbc.com:
"FUJISAWA, Japan - These days, data get stored on disks, computer chips, hard drives and good old-fashioned paper. Scientists in Japan see something far smaller and more durable — bacteria. The four characters that represent the genetic coding in DNA work much like digital data. Character combinations can stand for specific letters and symbols — so codes in genomes can be translated, or read, to produce music, text, video and other content. While ink may fade and computers may crash, bacterial information lasts as long as a species stays alive — possibly a mind-boggling million years — according to Professor Masaru Tomita, who heads the team of researchers at Keio University."
Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research - NYTimes.com:
"Biotechnology companies are keeping university scientists from fully researching the effectiveness and environmental impact of the industry’s genetically modified crops, according to an unusual complaint issued by a group of those scientists. Insect-resistant corn varieties are bred to repel rootworms. Enlarge This Image Craig Lassig for The New York Times Ken Ostlie, an entomologist, said Syngenta had withdrawn its permission and a study about corn and rootworms had to stop. ‘No truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions,’ the scientists wrote in a statement submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency. The E.P.A. is seeking public comments for scientific meetings it will hold next week on biotech crops. The statement will probably give support to critics of biotech crops, like environmental groups, who have long complained that the crops have not been studied thoroughly enough and could have unintended health and environmental consequences."
The Final Hour: 65 Trillion - U.S. Financial Obligations Exceed The Entire World's GDP:
"The total liabilities of the United States government, including future social security and medicare payments that the U.S. government is already committed to pay out, now exceed 65 TRILLION dollars, which is more than the entire GDP of the whole world. According to the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government, which is an official United States government report, the U.S. actually had a budget deficit of 5.1 trillion dollars in 2008. So why did the Congressional Budget Office report that the federal budget deficit was only 455 billion dollars (which is certainly a total disaster) in 2008?"
YouTube - Texas Border Patrol - Rising Violence In Mexico:
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How to stitch a wound when away from civilization - by Matthew Soo - Helium:
"If you have ever been out somewhere and received a nice cut it is not fun. It is really not fun when you are out in the middle of no where, like on a fishing trip or out camping. Have no fear though here is a quick 4 step guide to helping you stitch that wound right up."
"That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that ‘the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,’ therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force"
Report: 'Dirty bomb' parts found in slain man's home - Bangor Daily News:
"BELFAST, Maine — James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a ‘dirty bomb.’ "
7 charged as evidence sought on Phelps - Local / Metro - The State:
"‘The sheriff’s department is deploying resources they are normally reserving for major drug dealers and major criminals,’ said McCulloch, also a former prosecutor."
Govt called to cancel rules listing herbs as hazardous - Nationmultimedia.com:
" A group of organic farmers and alternative agricultural activists have called on the government to cancel regulations listing 13 herbal plants as hazardous substances, saying they would destroy local initiative in using the plants as alternative pesticides in place of chemicals. The group also asked the government to withdraw this legislation - an Industry Ministerial regulation and a Draft of Agricultural Ministerial regulation - within 30 days. If there was no response from the government they would gather at Government House to submit their petition and pressure Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, said the group's leader, Thai Health Foundation's director, Veerapong Kriangsinyot. The Industry Ministry - aiming to control pesticide production and commercialisation - announced its new regulation on February 3, listing the 13 plants as 'hazardous substances type 1' under the 1992 Hazardous Substances Act. The plants are: neem, citronella grass, tumeric, ginger, Chinese ginger, African marigold, Siam weed or bitter bush, tea seed cake, chilli, Chinese celery, ringworn bush, glory lily and stemona. They are widely used among farmers as alternatives for expensive and toxic farm chemicals, pesticides and herbicides."
Robbie Gennet: On Role Models and their Bongs:
"'Two of my favorite things are sitting on my front porch smoking a pipe of sweet hemp, and playing my Hohner harmonica.' - Abraham Lincoln (from a letter written by Lincoln during his presidency to the head of the Hohner Harmonica Company in Germany)"
Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash - Crime & courts- msnbc.com:
"WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses. The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench. In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers. "
The Associated Press: NY school officially renamed for President Obama:
"HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — Students got their wish Wednesday as their school was officially renamed Barack Obama Elementary School. School officials believe it's the first in the nation to be renamed for the 44th president, and they said the idea to change the name of Ludlum Elementary School came from the children themselves. The students wrote essays and held mock debates during the campaign, and paid close attention when Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain met in their final presidential debate at Hofstra University, about a mile from their school on Long Island. 'It really sends a message to children that when they get involved they can make a difference,' said acting school Superintendent Joseph Laria."
Honolulu Exopolitics Examiner: Obama administration to clash with corporations over UFO files:
"President Obama’s January 21 Memoranda to promote Open Government and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are intended to release unnecessarily classified national security files. Among the many millions of classified files to ultimately be released, some will concern UFOs and extraterrestrial life. From these releases, UFO enthusiasts and exopolitical researchers hope to find clues into how government policy has been developed. More importantly, FOIA releases will point to where the bulk of the nation’s UFO files are located. That’s when the Obama administration will run up against corporate control of UFO files and policy."
Honolulu Exopolitics Examiner: Obama’s Chief Technology Officer and the X-Files:
Ben Rich, former Head of Lockheed Skunk Works explained the situation best: "We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects and it would take an act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity... anything you can imagine we already know how to do."
What’s My Pass? » The Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time:
"From the moment people started using passwords, it didn’t take long to realize how many people picked the very same passwords over and over. Even the way people misspell words is consistent. In fact, people are so predictable that most hackers make use of lists of common passwords just like these. To give you some insight into how predictable humans are, the following is a list of the 500 most common passwords. If you see your password on this list, please change it immediately. Keep in mind that every password listed here has been used by at least hundreds if not thousands of other people."
GM, Chrysler suing taxpayers with taxpayer money - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money:
"Earlier this week, Obama instructed the EPA to reconsider the case of California’s existing proposal to raise fuel-efficiency standards. The automakers have been fighting California and other states in court for several years. Last week, they pledged to continue that fight - despite the president's instructions and, to a larger extent, his consistent and unequivocal insistence on a ‘green’ auto industry. Except, as it stands now, the automakers are basically using their bailout money -- from taxpayers -- to turn around and sue…the taxpayers themselves. "
Suits Saying Pfizer Experimented on Nigerian Children Are Revived - washingtonpost.com:
"A federal appeals court on Friday revived two lawsuits brought against Pfizer by Nigerian families who say the giant drugmaker used their children in an illegal test of an experimental antibiotic. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled that the suits, dismissed earlier by a lower-court judge who said they should have been brought in Nigeria, can now go forward in the U.S. courts. Lawyers said the ruling could set a precedent affecting other American companies accused of wrongdoing overseas. "
"Three physicists have reexamined the math surrounding the creation of microscopic black holes in the Switzerland-based LHC, the world's largest particle collider, and determined that they won't simply evaporate in a millisecond as had previously been predicted. Rather, Roberto Casadio of the University of Bologna in Italy and Sergio Fabi and Benjamin Harms of the University of Alabama say mini black holes could exist for much longer"
U.N. crime chief says drug money flowed into banks - International Herald Tribune:
"VIENNA: The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday. Vienna-based UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in an interview released by Austrian weekly Profil that drug money often became the only available capital when the crisis spiralled out of control last year. 'In many instances, drug money is currently the only liquid investment capital,' Costa was quoted as saying by Profil. 'In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor.'"
The Raw Story | Official: UN may prosecute Bush administration, regardless of US action:
" Official: UN may prosecute Bush administration, regardless of US action David Edwards Published: Thursday January 22, 2009 Print This Email This The UN's special torture rapporteur called on the US Tuesday to pursue former president George W. Bush and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of Guantanamo prisoners. 'Judicially speaking, the United States has a clear obligation' to bring proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak said, in remarks to be broadcast on Germany's ZDF television Tuesday evening. He noted Washington had ratified the UN convention on torture which required 'all means, particularly penal law' to be used to bring proceedings against those violating it. 'We have all these documents that are now publicly available that prove that these methods of interrogation were intentionally ordered by Rumsfeld,' against detainees at the US prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Nowak said."
From A Weekend Musician, To Making $4.2 Million... By Giving Music Away Free | Techdirt:
"Corey's story is quite interesting. He mostly makes money from concerts, and the free music drives more people to those concerts, but there are a few other aspects that are worth exploring. First, even though the music is available for free, plenty of people still buy his music on iTunes. However, as an experiment, they took down the free tracks from Corey's website for a period of time last summer... and sales on iTunes went down. Once again, this proves how ridiculous the claim is that free songs somehow cannibalize sales. "
Ice cream causes positive alcohol test - UPI.com:
"The man claimed the alcohol reading was the result of eating a Bubble O' Bill ice cream treat and Magistrate Rod Crisp ordered a test to be performed to back up the claim. Police recorded the man's blood alcohol content as 0.00 and performed the test a second time after he took a few bites of Bubble O' Bill, yielding a 0.018 reading."
The Raw Story | Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists:
"'The National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications -- faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications,' Tice claimed. 'It didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications.'"
New Law Could Keep Books Out Reach For Children - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville:
"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A federal law that will soon go into effect could have some startling consequences, including the possible banning of children from libraries unless certain books are pulled from the shelves. Library Books Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act books for children will have to be tested for lead. The law is called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and it is designed to protect children all over the country from the dangers of lead. Experts said there could be trace amounts of lead in books because of the ink. That's why the government wants all books, old and new, tested for lead."
Flu in U.S. found resistant to main antiviral drug - International Herald Tribune:
"Virtually all the flu in the United States this season is resistant to the leading antiviral drug Tamiflu, and scientists and health officials are trying to figure out why. The problem is not yet a public health crisis because this has been a below-average flu season so far and the chief strain circulating is still susceptible to other drugs — but infectious disease specialists are worried nonetheless."
"9. David Ben Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): 'If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?' Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121. "
"Today we have 'Nutra-Sweet', which is widely used in a plethora of consumables, despite a demonstrated neurological reaction in some people. In February 1996, it was decided to also use the product name 'Benevia'. It is estimated that as many as 20,000,000 people cannot metabolize phenylalimine, and this inability is genetically inherited by children. The inability to metabolize phenylalinine can lead to mental retardation in children. This means a risk of retardation for millions of children. A multi-billion dollar enterprise, this substance is said to be 'refined' from 'natural' substances. Like other 'refined' substances, it represents a health threat to the general public. No long term studies have been performed to evaluate the physiological effects of this substance, yet the public is lead to believe it is absolutely safe. Technically, the chemical is called aspartame, and it was once on a Pentagon list of biowarfare chemicals submitted to Congress. [1] Aspartame is in over 4,000 products worldwide and is consumed by over 200 million people in the United States alone. What follows is a skeletal examination of the chronology related to aspartame. A more detailed chronology is given later in this chapter based on information provided to us by the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network. "
"Marine Corps General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day and you have to read his reply to the woman who interviewed him concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you should smile."
suddenly.everything.sucks. health. aspartame.:
"Aspartame was not approved until 1981, in dry foods. For over eight years the FDA refused to approve it because of the seizures and brain tumors this drug produced in lab animals. The FDA continued to refuse to approve it until President Reagan took office (a friend of Searle) and fired the FDA Commissioner who wouldn't approve it. Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes was appointed as commissioner. Even then there was so much opposition to approval that a Board of Inquiry was set up. The Board said: 'Do not approve aspartame'. Dr. Hayes overruled his own Board of Inquiry. "
"9. David Ben Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister): 'If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault ? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?' Quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121. "
The Bailout Needs a Bailout » The Foundry:
"To recap, the Bush Administration’s latest $6 billion bailout of GMAC, bringing the first round of the GM bailout total to $23.4 billion, pushes the total money committed by the Troubled Asset Relief Program past the initial $350 billion authorized by Congress. In other words, TARP now has now made specific promises to spend more money than it actually has the authority to spend. The bailout is now in need of a bailout."
"Religious Jews protest against Israel in New York city; explaining that conflict between Arabs and Jews is political, not religious as Zionist/Israeli propaganda would have you believe. "
BreakthroughAlert.com: Is a volcano big enough to cause an ice age really about to blow its top?:
"
~ Latest Flash (12/31 9:48AM): level of seismic activity still increasing ~ The most potentially destructive volcano on earth, the Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming (see map), has recently begun experiencing an unusually strong and persistent earthquake swarm that has scientist concerned because it might indicate an impending eruption (see Today's Seismogram Display). Yellowstone is labeled a super volcano, because the pool of magma under the ground is a stunning 34 miles x 45 miles in size. Large enough that an eruption is expected to eject sufficient material to plunge the entire planet into a new ice age. The ridge shown in the photo is the rim of the huge caldera from the last eruption. Ash recovered from sediment over wide areas of North America shows that Yellowstone has had previous super volcanic eruptions 2.1 million, 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago."
GM crops found to affect reproduction in mice: Austrian study - Technology News - SINA English:
"VIENNA – Genetically-modified maize can affect reproduction in mice, an Austrian study has found, although its authors have dismissed warnings by environmental groups that it could also harm humans.
The long-term study, which was commissioned by the Austrian health ministry, found that female mice that had been given a diet consisting of 33 percent genetically-modified (GM) maize had fewer babies and fewer litters than those fed on non-GM food after a few generations."
"I was riding to work yesterday when I observed a female driver cut right in front of a pickup truck, causing him to have to drive onto the shoulder to avoid hitting her.
This evidently angered the driver enough that he hung his arm out his window and 'flipped' the woman off.
'Man, that guy is stupid,' I thought to myself. I ALWAYS smile nicely and wave in a sheepish manner whenever a female does anything to me in traffic, and here's why.......... "
Some Pretty Funny Stuff -- Courtesy of The Freeman Institute...:
"
1. I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.-Gilda Radner-
2. I've been on so many blind dates, I should get a free dog. -Wendy Liebman-
3. I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb and I also know that I'm not blonde. -Dolly Parton-
4. I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on. -Roseanne Barr-
5. Behind every successful man is a surprised woman. -Maryon Pearson-
6. I want to have children, but my friends scare me. One of my friends told me she was in labor for 36 hours. I don't even want to do anything that feels good for 36 hours. -Rita Rudner-
7. I think -- therefore I'm single. -Lizz Winstead-
8. Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth. -Erma Bombeck-
9. If high heels were so wonderful, men would still be wearing them. -Sue Grafton-
10. You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy. -Erica Jong-"
Retired Black White House Butler Talks About His Experience, Obama « Hello, Negro:
"Eugene Allen, 89, a retired White House butler, tries on his old tuxedo for a photo. Allen, who served eight presidents during a period when America ’s racial history was being rewritten, is marveling at the election of Barack Obama."
New Report: Worldwide Bankruptcy Wave About to Hit:
"Europe and the U.S. are about to experience a significant increase in business failures.
That's the conclusion reached by Paris-based Euler Hermes, the world's largest credit insurer, in a recently released 57-page report on business insolvencies worldwide.
With the exception of Japan, which recently emerged from its own 'Lost Decade,' Euler expects that almost every country in the world will see a rise in insolvencies far greater than previous economic downturns."
"This is the first of two stories about disparities in the way people of different races are treated in the Cuyahoga County courts. "
One-year old boy kept alive by cats! - allvoices.com:
"While the boy was sleeping peacefully around 8 cats were on top on him quite busy licking his body because he was very dirty. She said, ‘When I walked over they became really protective and spat at me. They were keeping the boy warm while he slept.’ The officer also noticed scraps of food near the boy and it was assumed that the boy was probably feeding on those scraps."
CNSNews.com - Democrat Says Fairness Doctrine Should Extend to Cable, Satellite TV:
"‘The so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine’ would restrict free speech on the public airwaves, stifling dissent at a time when an open national dialogue about our country’s future is essential,’ Boehner said in a news release on Tuesday."
"Who can blame Galveston plainclothes police who thought a 12-year-old girl standing outside her house (flipping the switch on the circuit breaker as her mother has asked her to do) was a prostitute? After all, she was wearing 'tight shorts' according to the vigilant officers, and she happened to live only two blocks away from a location where someone had complained that prostitution was taking place.
So the three brave officers did the natural thing: they allegedly jumped the girl and beat her up, according to Courthouse News and the Houston Press.
"
The Raw Story | Bush Administration created executive pay loophole:
"Pressured by constituents who worried that companies would take government aid and continue to pay their executives eye-popping bonuses, Congress inserted a provision that would penalize companies who took taxpayer money and shelled out outsized bonuses.
But at the last minute, Bush officials insisted on a one-sentence provision that stopped the measure in its tracks, according to congressional aides who spoke to the Washington Post.
The change stipulated that the sanction would only apply to firms that sold mortgage backed securities to the government at auction, which the Bush Treasury Department said would be the method they'd use to infuse troubled companies with bailout cash."
Recession seen worsening, deflation a risk | Reuters:
"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The 'nasty' U.S. recession will tighten its grip next year as unemployment rises and weak home and stock prices imperil consumers, finance firms and debt-laden businesses, a UCLA Anderson Forecast report released on Thursday said.
Additionally, a sustained retreat in prices for goods and services is a very real possibility that would further drag on the economy, according to the forecasting unit's report.
'Where only last quarter we were worried about inflation, we are now worried about its very rare opposite: deflation,' the report said. Falling prices would cut demand and discourage employers from hiring."
The Memory Hole > Henry Ford and the Nazis:
"Henry Ford's reward from Hitler finally came in July 1938, when on his seventy-fifth birthday he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Ford was the first American and the fourth person in the world to receive this medal, which was the highest decoration that could be given to any non-German citizen. Benito Mussolini, another of Hitler's financiers, had been decorated with the same honor earlier that year.[128]"
Males of All Species Are Becoming More Female:
"Thousands of chemicals released into the environment are interfering with animal and human endocrine systems, resulting in physical changes. Comprehensive research indicates that these chemicals, nicknamed ‘gender-benders,’ are causing the males in many species to become feminized."
Related Topic: Baby boys born with smaller penises
Sources in this Story
The ill effects of these chemicals have in fact been documented for the human male populations as well. A study led by the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the University of Rochester examined baby boys from three different regions of the United States whose mothers had been exposed to substances containing phthalates. Researchers tested expectant mothers for the presence of these chemicals in their urine. Mothers with higher levels of the chemical tended to give birth to baby boys with smaller penises and in some cases, incompletely descended testicles.
Sheriff: Eviction Heartless During Winter, Recession - Local News Story - WLWT Cincinnati:
"HAMILTON, Ohio -- An area sheriff has ordered deputies to ignore eviction orders when people have nowhere else to live.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said evictions in winter weather and during an economic recession are heartless and those cases should be sent back to the courts and resolved some other way."
CTV.ca | Worker affidavits allege Taser problems:
"CTV News has obtained court documents that suggest thousands of Tasers may be defective.
The documents are the words of insiders -- factory workers at the Arizona plant which makes the controversial devices.
The workers expressed concern about the stun-guns firing excessive electrical charges in affidavits signed for a 2005 lawsuit.
The lawsuit was brought against Taser International by its own shareholders, who were concerned the company had not disclosed safety deficiencies.
"
"In March 2006 Taneka Talley was stabbed to death while at work. The Fairfield, California Dollar Tree clerk left behind a son who should be getting death benefits. He's not because the man who killed his mother did so because she was black.
The insurance company claims that Talley's death has to do with the colour of her skin which isn't job related.
The man who killed the young mother had never met her before. The death was a random act of violence. It happened on the job. The insurance company, Specialty Risk Services, is taking the low road though and using the theory that had Talley been another race she would still be alive and therefore it's not work related. "
My Way News - Panel urges Obama to consider hacker-response plan:
"WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama should create a new White House office to protect cyberspace from hackers, thieves and foreign agents, coordinating security efforts across U.S. military, intelligence and civilian agencies, according to a new report from a panel of leading government and industry experts.
The report, expected to be made public Monday on Capitol Hill, also urges Obama's new administration and Congress to pass new laws to allow for speedier investigations - and in some cases quicker retaliation once intruders are identified. It proposed online 'data warrants,' for example, rather than traditional search warrants, which it said 'may be increasingly impracticable in the online environment.'"
Laid-off workers occupy Chicago factory, seek pay | U.S. | Reuters:
"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Invoking Main Street resentment of Wall Street's federal bailout, some 200 workers entered their third day of occupying a shuttered Chicago window and door factory on Sunday, demanding that Bank of America agree to pay them severance plus vacation pay.
Workers belonging to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers union began their peaceful occupation of the plant on Friday after family-owned Republic Windows & Doors said it was closing after Bank of America canceled its line of credit.
The workers said Republic Windows & Doors gave them only three days notice of Friday's closing instead of the 60 days required by law, and owes them roughly $3,500 per worker including unused vacation pay.
A union spokeswoman said Bank of America is not letting the company pay the workers.
'We're just shocked that Bank of America, after receiving $25 billion in bailout money, not only do they refuse to extend credit to companies but, to add insult to injury, they don't allow these companies to fulfill their legal obligations to their workers,' union spokeswoman Leah Fried said."
Op-Ed Columnist - A Killer Without Borders - NYTimes.com:
"As if you didn’t have enough to worry about ... consider the deadly, infectious and highly portable disease sitting in the lungs of a charming young man here, Garik Hakobyan. In effect, he’s a time bomb.
Mr. Hakobyan, 34, an artist, carries an ailment that stars in the nightmares of public health experts — XDR-TB, the scariest form of tuberculosis. It doesn’t respond to conventional treatments and is often incurable.
XDR-TB could spread to your neighborhood because it isn’t being aggressively addressed now, before it rages out of control. It’s being nurtured by global complacency."
Proposed fee on smelly cows, hogs angers farmers - Yahoo! News:
"MONTGOMERY, Ala. – For farmers, this stinks: Belching and gaseous cows and hogs could start costing them money if a federal proposal to charge fees for air-polluting animals becomes law.
Farmers so far are turning their noses up at the notion, which is one of several put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that greenhouse gases emitted by belching and flatulence amounts to air pollution.
'This is one of the most ridiculous things the federal government has tried to do,' said Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, an outspoken opponent of the proposal."
Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security - washingtonpost.com:
"The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.
The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.
There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement."
Irene Monroe: This Era of Black Women and HIV/AIDS:
"Right here in the nation's capitol, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rivals that of many Third World countries. Washington D.C. affectionately dubbed as 'Chocolate City' is approximately 60 percent of people of African descent. And of it's residents one in 20 is thought to have HIV, and 1 in 50 of its residents to have AIDS. Of the 3,269 HIV cases identified between 2001 and 2006 who tested positive nine of 10 were African American."
"Nick Dial was a police officer who volunteered to be Tasered. Since then his health has suffered to such an extent that he can no longer work. And he's not alone; other police officers have suffered serious health problems, from vertebrae misalignments to heart arrhythmia and stroke. 'In its video, Taser International claims that nobody has suffered a serious injury or death as a result of the Taser, but that just isn't true,' says Dial. "
Prozac Ocean: Fish Absorb Our Drugs, and Suffer For It | Discoblog | Discover Magazine:
"Chemists have found that water downstream of water treatment plants holds a veritable medicine cabinet worth of antidepressants, including venlafaxine, bupropion (Wellbutrin), citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft)."
Medicare to Cover Prescription Handguns?:
"Several weeks ago you were kind enough to blog about the Palm Pistol. We thought you might be interested to learn that the FDA has completed its ‘Device/Not a Device’ determination and concluded the handgun will be listed as a Class I Medical Device, exempt from 510(k) Pre-Market Notification in accordance with 21 CFR 890.5050 ‘Daily Activity Assist Device.’
We have now submitted an application to the CMS contractor Noridian for a DME (Durable Medical Equipment) Coding Verification in order to be assigned an HCPCS code. Once assigned , physicians will be able to prescribe the Palm Pistol for qualified patients who may seek reimbursement through Medicare or private health insurance companies.
"
"Anti-government and bank rage reached a boiling point Monday in the small island nation of Iceland, where residents have seen unemployment and inflation skyrocket following the fall collapse of the Icelandic banking system. Iceland, a nation recently prided as a great example of the ‘Scandanavian Model’ of a prosperous welfare system, has in a matter of months been transformed into the least politically and ecnomically stable nation in Europe. The International Herald Tribune reports below-"
Mets: Citi Field will remain name of new ballpark: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:
"NEW YORK (AP) -- Citi Field will remain the name of the New York Mets' new ballpark following a government bailout the team believes will help the struggling bank survive its economic crisis.
Citigroup agreed in 2006 to pay the Mets $400 million over 20 years for naming rights to the stadium, scheduled to open next year. Two New York City councilmen said last week that the $800 million ballpark's name should be changed to Citi/Taxpayer Field."
Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion - Los Angeles Times:
"Reporting from Washington -- The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new 'right of conscience' rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control."
'Crash taxes' add hefty fees for aid - MSN Money:
"Imagine you're cruising down the road when you hit a patch of black ice and slide into a guardrail. A passing motorist calls 911. Soon firetrucks and police arrive.
Weeks later, a $1,400 bill does, too -- for the cost of the police and firefighters who answered the call. What's worse, it's not covered by insurance, and it might scar your credit if you ignore it.
Sound implausible? It's happening in a number of towns, cities and counties in at least 24 states. And given today's cratering economy (and property-tax revenue), more strapped local governments may be tempted to authorize so-called accident response fees."
"(NaturalNews) Up to 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States may be contaminated with trace amounts of melamine, the toxic chemical linked to kidney damage, according to recent tests. The FDA's test results, which the agency hid from the public and only released after the Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request, showed that Nestle, Mead Johnson and Enfamil infant formula products were all contaminated with melamine.
The AP is also reporting that Abbott Laboratories conducted its own in-house tests that detected trace levels of melamine in its formula products. Together, these infant formula manufacturers make about 90 percent of the infant formula sold in the United States."
"BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European patients had to pay about 3 billion euros ($3.87 billion) more for medicines in 2000-2007 because pharmaceutical companies deliberately stalled the sale of cheaper generic versions, EU antitrust regulators said Friday.
An investigation of major pharmaceutical companies -- including Pfizer (PFE Quote - Cramer on PFE - Stock Picks), GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote - Cramer on GSK - Stock Picks) and Sanofi Aventis (SNY Quote - Cramer on SNY - Stock Picks) -- showed they had blocked or delayed generic drugs from entering the market to prevent losing revenue on their more profitable drugs, the European Commission said. "
The Associated Press: Expert: Small Ark. earthquakes could be warning:
"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A series of small earthquakes that rattled central Arkansas in recent weeks could be a sign of something much bigger to come.
By this weekend, seismologists hope to install three measurement devices to gather data about future temblors in the area. That information could show whether the rumbles come from heat-related geological changes or from an undiscovered fault — which could mean a risk of substantial earthquakes in the future.
'The potential for generating a high-magnitude earthquake is real,' said Haydar Al-Shukri, director of the Arkansas Earthquake Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock."
Sick babies denied treatment in DNA row - National - smh.com.au:
"BABIES with a severe form of epilepsy risk having their diagnosis delayed and their treatment compromised because of a company's patent on a key gene.
It is the first evidence that private intellectual property rights over human DNA are adversely affecting medical care.
Deepak Gill, head of neurology at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, said he would test at least 50 per cent more infants for the SCN1A gene - which would diagnose the disabling Dravet syndrome - if the hospital could conduct the test in-house.
But rights to the gene are controlled by the Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies, which has already threatened to stop public hospitals testing for breast cancer gene mutations, and the hospital will not risk a similar problem."
"The gunmen were terrifyingly professional, making sure at least one of them was able to fire their rifle while the other reloaded. By the time he managed to capture the killer on camera, Mr D'Souza had already seen two gunmen calmly stroll across the station concourse shooting both civilians and policemen, many of whom, he said, were armed but did not fire back. 'I first saw the gunmen outside the station,' Mr D'Souza said. 'With their rucksacks and Western clothes they looked like backpackers, not terrorists, but they were very heavily armed and clearly knew how to use their rifles."
LewRockwell.com Blog: The Real Ford Position on Bailouts:
"Thanks to Kevin Duffy for a reminder of what the great entrepreneur Henry Ford said on February 11, 1934: 'Let them fail; let everybody fail! I made my fortune when I had nothing to start with, by myself and my own ideas. Let other people do the same thing. If I lose everything in the collapse of our financial structure, I will start in at the beginning and build it up again.'"
Surprise Drop in Power Use Delivers Jolt to Utilities - WSJ.com:
"An unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn't a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could reflect a permanent shift in consumption that will require sweeping change in their industry.
Numbers are trickling in from several large utilities that show shrinking power use by households and businesses in pockets across the country. Utilities have long counted on sales growth of 1% to 2% annually in the U.S., and they created complex operating and expansion plans to meet the needs of a growing population."
FDA Scientists Revolt Against Corrupt Food and Drug Administration Officials:
"(NaturalNews) A group of scientists working in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health division has revolted against the corrupt managers of its own department, accusing them of committing crimes by claiming, 'There is extensive documentary evidence that managers at CDRH have corrupted and interfered with the scientific review of medical devices.'
Read the letter yourself here (PDF):
The letter from the FDA's own scientists goes on to say, 'It is evident that managers at CDRH have deviated from FDA's mission to identify and address underlying problems with medical devices before they cause irreparable harm, and this deviation has placed the American people at risk.'"
Think Progress » Washington state judge admits to calling Mukasey a ‘tyrant.’:
"Richard Sanders, a justice on the Washington State Supreme Court, confirmed yesterday that he called Attorney General Michael Mukasey a ‘tyrant’ at a Federalist Society dinner last week:
After listening to Mukasey defend the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policies — its detainment practices at Guantánamo Bay, its interpretation of the Geneva Conventions’ reach — Sanders stood and shouted ‘Tyrant! You are a tyrant!’
‘Frankly, everybody in the room was applauding or sometimes laughing, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to stand up and say something.’ And I did,’ Sanders told The Seattle Times Tuesday. ‘I stood up and said, ‘Tyrant,’ then I sat down again, then I left.’
Sanders said he didn’t learn until the next morning that, moments after this episode, Mukasey passed out at the podium."
The Raw Story | Bush Labor Department misled Congress in effort to privatize jobs:
"President George W. Bush's Labor Department misled Congress in an effort to prove outsourcing jobs to private companies was more efficient than assigning the jobs to government employees, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday.
The report (pdf here) found that the Department used fictional projected numbers to improve 'savings reports' -- even when real numbers were already available. And when the government did find private firms to take a government job, that employee generally was either reassigned to another task with the same title or promoted"
"NaturalNews) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, continuing its campaign of censorship against truthfully-described herbal supplements, seized $71,000 worth of Charantea herbal supplements last week in a raid involving U.S. Marshals. The company, Fulllife Natural Options, was accused by the FDA of marketing an 'unapproved drug' due to the truthful marketing claims that accurately describe the blood sugar lowering effects of the product's main ingredient: Bitter Melon fruits."
Cops track crims through family DNA - The INQUIRER:
"A CONTROVERSIAL NEW law in California is allowing police to track down criminals by trawling through the state's DNA database looking for profiles of close family members.
The LAPD hope that in cases where a perp’s DNA doesn’t match up to any DNA profiles in the database, family members whose DNA is on file may be able to give detectives a clue to his/her whereabouts.
The method is not a new one, having started out in Britain several years ago, but California's newly-approved familial searching policy will be the most far-reaching one in the US and is already making privacy advocates itchy."
Obama Looks to Axe Daylight Time -- NYT Explains Why - Green Daily:
"In order to conserve energy, President-elect Barak Obama wants to eliminate daylight saving time.
"
Man pays for county mistake - PennLive.com:
"When Walter Andre Sharpe Jr. signed for a certified letter from Dauphin County Domestic Relations in 2001, he didn't know he was signing on for a seven-year nightmare.
Since then, the Philadelphia man has been thrown in jail four times, lost his job, become estranged from his four children and spent more than $12,000 to support the child of another man."
'I unwittingly ate human flesh,' caller tells stunned radio DJ | Mail Online:
"She answered: 'It was when I was a child when I lived in Africa. We always went to the same butcher and then suddenly - we were there a couple of years - the meat started to get so much better.
'It was only when we moved back to England a couple of years later that we realised that the butcher had been arrested because he farmed little black girls.'"
Israel Bans International Media from Gaza, Arrests Human Rights Activists - Middle East Times:
"GAZA CITY, Gaza -- Israel has banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza to cover the deteriorating humanitarian situation there as the country 's complete closure of the territory enters a third week."
VS iPhone: iPhone has a built-in spyware module?:
"Today an underground hacker team 'web-Hack' from Russia released a whitepaper with results of iPhone firmware research. They reverse- engineered some functions and published this information. Results of a research shocked community. Russian hackers found a built-in function which sends all data from an iPhone to a specified web-server. Contacts from a phonebook, SMS, recent calls, history of Safari browser - all your personal information can be stolen."
Gulf War illness is real, report finds - Yahoo! News:
"'Scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition with real causes and serious consequences for affected veterans,' said the committee, which has been looking into the problem since 2002."
Bankers Manifesto of 1892 - You Must Read the Bankers Manifesto:
"We (the bankers) must proceed with caution and guard every move made, for the lower order of people are already showing signs of restless commotion. Prudence will therefore show a policy of apparently yielding to the popular will until our plans are so far consummated that we can declare our designs without fear of any organized resistance."
Slashdot | Feds Can Locate Cell Phones Without Telcos:
"schwit1 sends along an Ars Technica report covering the release of documents obtained under the FOIA suggesting that the Justice Department may have been evading privacy laws in their use of 'triggerfish' technology. Triggerfish are cell-tower spoofing devices that induce cell phones to give up their location and other identifying information, without recourse to any cell carrier. 'Courts in recent years have been raising th"
CSI Kitchen Table — The Latest Home Test Kits:
"Home test kits used to be for things like finding out if you're pregnant or checking the hot tub's chlorine level. Now over-the-counter chemical tests can tell you if your spouse is cheating or if your new home ever doubled as a meth lab. Yes, science now makes house calls.
"
John F. Kennedy vs The Federal Reserve | BREAK THE MATRIX:
"On June 4, 1963, a virtually unknown Presidential decree, Executive Order 11110, was signed with the authority to basically strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal Government at interest. With the stroke of a pen, President Kennedy declared that the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank would soon be out of business. The Christian Law Fellowship has exhaustively researched this matter through the Federal Register and Library of Congress. We can now safely conclude that this Executive Order has never been repealed, amended, or superceded by any subsequent Executive Order. In simple terms, it is still valid."
"According to a recent report released by the Justice Department, the number of incarcerated Americans reached an all-time record last year. Local, state and federal officials jailed an additional 62,000 people as of June 2006 sending the prison population to 2.24 million people.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) annual report says the 2.8 percent increase in incarcerations was the largest increase in six years. Black men continue to be imprisoned at record pace. Blacks and Hispanics are the primary people being jailed. Currently, Black men, who are roughly 6 and a-half percent of the nation’s total population, represented 37 percent of those behind bars. African American males have an incarceration rate of 4.8 percent compared to 1.9 percent for Hispanics and 0.7 percent for whites. Amazingly, 11 percent of all Black males between 25 and 34 are in prison."
U.S. physicians apologize to black doctors - International Herald Tribune:
"CHICAGO: The American Medical Association, the largest physicians' group in the United States, apologized to black doctors on Thursday for a history of racial discrimination.
The AMA said it will work to increase the ranks of minority physicians and their participation in the association.
The apology arose from the work of an independent panel of experts commissioned in 2005 to study the history of what the AMA called 'the racial divide in organized medicine.'"
t r u t h o u t | Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans Than Illegal Drugs:
" A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission has concluded that prescription drugs have outstripped illegal drugs as a cause of death.
An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together. According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem. "
Kuruc.info - Korlátlanul magyar: 25 years murder-free in 'Gun Town USA':
"In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of 'Wild West' showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender."
Missing Bees: What's going on?:
"A team of scientists from Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and University of California San Francisco identified both a virus and a parasite that are likely behind the recent sudden die-off of honey-bee colonies. Using a new technology called the Integrated Virus Detection System (IVDS), which was designed for military use to rapidly screen samples for pathogens, ECBC scientists last week isolated the presence of viral and parasitic pathogens that may be contributing to the honeybee loss.
But it now appears that a much more basic culprit has killed the bees -- Bayer Corporation. Colony Collapse Disorder is poisoning with a known insect neurotoxin called Clothianidin, a pesticide manufactured by Bayer, which has been clearly linked to massive bee die offs in Germany and France. "
Techdirt: Bloomberg Sues The Fed For More Transparency Over $2 Trillion In Emergency Loans:
"While plenty of people are focused on the $700 billion TARP bailout/rescue plan that Congress gave the Treasury Department, that's not the only cash the government has at its disposal. In fact, the Federal Reserve has apparently handed out $2 trillion in emergency loans, with almost no transparency over who received the loans and what the collateral is or how it's valued. Bloomberg (the company, not the mayor) is now suing to have the Fed reveal that info. The government has been talking up a storm about how all of these bailout efforts would be very transparent with respect to taxpayer money -- but the reality hasn't lived up to the rhetoric. "
ACLU 'Concerned' After Students Told Not To Say Obama - Commitment 2008 News Story - WAPT Jackson:
"PEARL, Miss. -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi said Friday that it had received numerous reports from throughout the state from parents and students regarding alleged violations of students’ free speech following Tuesday’s election.
On Thursday, the Pearl Schools superintendent said that a school bus driver and a coach were disciplined for allegedly telling students not to say President-elect Barack Obama’s name."
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