No Coffee Day 104

New study: drinking coffee makes you anxious!

Just a couple more things to add to my list of Reasons Not to Drink Coffee Anymore. According to the article, the consumption of coffee, and caffeine, is just a means to stave off the effects of withdrawal. I could have told you that. But official studies of course have a bit more validity than one person's opinion on the matter. Also, one doesn't get more alert from drinking coffee. Oh, all those nights I drank coffee in the hopes of perking up only to have the opposite effect!

All you need to know about Chris Christie

Chris Christie Rips Off Monty Python

Highlights:

...
Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in Tuesday's knife-edge gubernatorial election, has been called out as a copyright thief. The 47-year-old lawyer, who was controversially appointed by George W. Bush as a U.S. Attorney in 2001 on Karl Rove's recommendation after being a top Bush fund-raiser in the 2000 election, has created an election commercial that steals copyright-protected material from British comedy troupe Monty Python -- without permission or credit.
...
But neither Christie -- a lawyer for 22 years -- nor anyone in his campaign bothered to seek any permission for using the copyrighted material in his election spot.

Alerted to the theft of their copyright, members of Monty Python are most unhappy. Michael Palin, who appears in the clip pirated for the advert, is especially displeased that his likeness is being used by the Republican candidate without permission.

"I'm surprised that a former U.S. Attorney isn't aware of his copyright infringement when he uses our material without permission. He's clearly made a terrible mistake. It was the endorsement of Sarah Palin he was after -- not that of Michael Palin."

Monty Python's Terry Jones says that the troupe is strongly considering suing the Republican for his copyright infringement:

"It is totally outrageous that a former US Attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people. On the other hand -- another of Bush's legal appointees was Alberto Gonzales and he didn't seem to know much about the law either...," Jones said.

Racism, Lou Dobbs, Birthers, Stupidity.

Obama Haters Becoming Increasingly Racial in Their Rhetoric

Newsflash: You don't have to not be white to have a hatred for white people. (You also don't have to not be American to dislike America/ns).


Apparently, it's not "dead": Dobbs finds "new developments" to report about Obama birth certificate "controversy" on CNN

Weenie weenie weenie. Me me me. I'm a victim. Boo-hoo. Only "Papa Bear" defends me!

Why don't you watch your own bloody show, Dobbs? Then you'll know that the birthers' bullshit was debunked while you were out.


Colbert Vs. Crazy: Stephen Takes On 'Birther' Movement

Yes Orly Taitz, the Obama administration IS the equivalent of Hitler's or Stalin's. Obviously. I mean he is the one that preemptively attacked and invaded other countries, bolstered hatred of Moslems in America, and sent innocent civilians to Guantanamo because they looked like a terrorist. That was absolutely Obama. Redunkulous.

Newsflash: If the parents of the US Presidents had to be born in the United States in order for the person in question to be deemed eligible to be the president, we'd have never been able to have presidents to begin with. Hello, nation of immigrants?

Birth Certificate, Shmirth Shertificate

'Birther' Debate Never Ends
I want to be able to say that I can't believe congress is actually putting forth a bill about this whole birth certificate brouhaha. I want to say I can't believe that some military wing-nut was allowed to leave his post just because they do not believe Obama to be of "natural birth." I really want to, but after the last 8 years it really isn't so hard to believe anymore. Revolting, to be sure, idiotic, no doubt, but I can't say I'm not surprised.

So I tweet about this and some bloody asswipe of a kid keeps bombarding me (and a number of others all tweeting against Lou Dobbs) with the same bloody link. A link to an article of stupendously biased proportions. I don't even know if I want to link to it, but I do like to know what the enemy's thinking, so here it is not hyperlinked: http://bit.ly/4uUBoT

Lou Dobbs can suck it. "Mr. Independent" my ass. He's catering to the "whacko ring" now (to use the words of Chris Matthews, who still plays very good hardball). (audio clip here) Goodness. What a bunch of sorry saps, bitter about Obama being president, trying to hang onto whatever they can to bring him down and invalidate his presidency. I don't know what all this "if Obama would only put an end to this by producing a birth certificate" crap is all about, either. The birth certificate was already proven real and shown in June, people! 

Here's the bloody birth certificate THEY'RE looking for:

And a hip hip for Rachel Maddow! Rachel Maddow Discusses 'Birthers' with Washington Independent's Dave Weigel

Ugly World

I don't know if it's just because I was watching CNN at the doc's today, or if I got more absorbed than normal in my news-reading, but a whole lot of ugly happened today. Uuuuuuh-guh-leeee.

Protests muted in Iran, earthquakes, more bombs, "cyber war," blatant racism. Baah humbug!

C'mon world, lighten up! Peel off your hatred robes and hug! Wipe off that scowl! (Also, the last I checked, this wasn't pre-1954).

Pool Boots Kids Who Might "Change the Complexion"
Blogger the Field Negro on the topic



But apparently the Vox Pop statue story is getting more news-worthy. (?) CNN is apparently covering it now. Although CNN covers anything. Not that a decapitated statue doesn't warrant an official FBI investigation or anything....

Palin: it's a trick!

This one pretty much sums up my fears:
Palin: Really Retreating Or Just Reloading?

Excerpts:

With what appeared to be a smile of delight, she began explaining why she would not "go with the flow" and complete her term in office. It would be the easy way out to serve as a "lame duck," she said, and she was not that sort of person. She wasn't a quitter. And so, she said, she had decided to ... quit....

This leaves two paths ahead for Palin, who will leave office in three weeks.

Choice One: She can go home to Wasilla and try to remake the life she had there before politics (or at least statewide and national politics) blew it up. This might have the much-to-be-desired effect of removing her from the late-night comedians' hit list, the incessant tabloid chatter and the endless round of recriminations with John McCain's 2008 campaign team. Just this week, Palin had won the dubious distinction of being named "Sitting Duck" of the year by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Choice Two: She can stop worrying about the intricacies of the Alaska budget and the internal squabblings of the Legislature in Juneau and concentrate on putting together a campaign for 2012. After all, she is one of the three Republicans mentioned most often as her party's preferred candidates for Next Time (along with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, who both ran in 2008). Among Republican primary voters, she had the highest personal approval rating of any 2012 Republican prospect in a recent Pew Research Center poll, and it was over 70 percent....

What is so pressing? She needs time to build a staff that is loyal to her alone, as we can see from the endless replays of the internal wars of the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008 in Vanity Fair and Politico this past week. She must show she can raise tens of millions of dollars before the primaries, and hundreds of millions after that. And most desperately, she has to develop a more resilient media sensibility that can turn both fawning and savaging attention to her purpose.

Assuming the soon-to-be-former governor wants all this, and has prepared herself for the sacrifices ahead, she is making a hard-headed decision to reach for the brass ring and to do it now.

Palin Resignation

Sarah Palin Resigning As Alaska Governor

Excerpts:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a surprise announcement Friday that she is resigning from office at the end of the month. Palin offered little explanation about why she plans to step down, raising speculation that she will focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race....

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a statement released by her office....

Palin was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform. But her popularity has waned as she waged in partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign. Her term would have ended in 2010.

Palin said she planned to make a "positive change outside government," without elaborating. She also expressed frustration with her current role as governor.

"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

Later, on Twitter, she promised supporters more details: "We'll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election ... this is in Alaska's best interest, my family's happy ... it is good. Stay tuned"

Palin's decision even took Parnell by surprise. He said he was told on Wednesday evening, and was not aware that any presidential ambitions were behind the move.

Crop Circles Explained!

Wallabies: Hopping through the Poppies (and hopped up on them, too!)

Excerpt:

Wallabies are getting stoned on poppies and are making their own crop circles as they lose all sense of balance and direction.

The extraordinary scenes are being played out in officially-operated poppy fields in Tasmania, the large island state south of the Australian continent and which is the world's largest producer of legally-grown opium for the pharmaceutical market.

Tasmania's Attorney-General, Lara Giddings, said the wallabies were getting so stoned after hopping into the poppy fields and chewing the heads of plants that they ended up hopping around in circles.

'While doing this, they squash the poppies and create circles in the fields.'

She reported the bizarre scenes to a State's Budget Estimates hearing.

'They get as high as a kite and go around in circles and then they crash, ' she said.

'We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high.'

Mr Rick Rockliff, a manager of one of the fields said the problem extended beyond wallabies - wildlife and livestock which ate the poppies were also known to 'act weird', including deer and sheep.

Something about "hopping through the poppies" brings me back to this:

Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me

Oh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me

Knee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
And tiptoe through the tulips with me

I kinda wish this shmuck on the right would let Tiny Tim have one bloody frame to himself though.

Over Ibuprofen? Seriously?

http://tinyurl.com/ltezqq

Excerpts:

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a school's strip search of an Arizona teenage girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal.

In an 8-1 ruling, the justices said school officials violated the law with their search of Savana Redding in the rural eastern Arizona town of Safford.

Redding, who now attends college, was 13 when officials at Safford Middle School ordered her to remove her clothes and shake out her underwear because they were looking for pills — the equivalent of two Advils. The district bans prescription and over-the-counter drugs and the school was acting on a tip from another student.

"What was missing from the suspected facts that pointed to Savana was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear," Justice David Souter wrote in the majority opinion. "We think that the combination of these deficiencies was fatal to finding the search reasonable."

In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas found the search legal and said the court previously had given school officials "considerable leeway" under the Fourth Amendment in school settings.

Officials had searched the girl's backpack and found nothing, Thomas said. "It was eminently reasonable to conclude the backpack was empty because Redding was secreting the pills in a place should thought no one would look," Thomas said.

Thomas warned that the majority's decision could backfire. "Redding would not have been the first person to conceal pills in her undergarments," he said. "Nor will she be the last after today's decision, which announces the safest place to secrete contraband in school."

Way to go Clarence, schools should, by all rights, be allowed to do whatever they so wish to their students, even if it includes peaking in their underwear for a headache pill. Clarence, of course, rightly upset as his own secret hiding place of various contraband could be discovered with the announcement of the ruling in the young hoodlum's favor.

USA vs FS

Texas makes a break for the border

Excerpt:

Independence wouldn’t be a huge stretch for Texas. It already has its own national flag, left over from its decade as a sovereign republic. As a result, transition expenses should be minimal. At the Austin tea party, Governor Perry, still flushed with the excitement of denouncing federal oppression from the platform, told reporters, “When we came in the union, in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.” He added, a little ominously:

My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pays attention. We’ve got a great Union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what might come out of that.

Or, translated into New Yorkese: Nice little Union you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.

Pros and cons of course. PRO: we could get more done without the pickets. CON: they'll probably end up waging war

All in moderation.

***

Be confident without being egotistical.

Be modest without putting yourself down.

All in moderation. Balance is key.

Globosity

I'm seriously crying tears of joy here. America is a country I can finally be proud to be in, a country that, once again, is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We have proven indeed how "elastic" we can be, how quickly we can adapt, and ready we are to change. This can only be beneficial, not only here but abroad as well, both in how we are perceived internationally as well as the relationships we have with those countries we might just be able to call friends again. Goodness, I'd be proud to say I'm American the next time I travel. This world might actually get better.

Overwhelming hope of a global turning point

"From the streets of Arab capitals to the chancelleries of Europe, from the African interior to the favelas of South America, the world overwhelmingly delighted in Barack Obama's victory, seeing in it a moment that promises a turning point and the chance of reconciliation.

Some compared it to Nelson Mandela's ascent in South Africa or the fall of the Berlin wall. Others spoke of a watershed for America, and even for the world. Kenya declared a national holiday in honour of its most famous son, and the town of Obama in Japan went berserk. Mandela himself said Obama's victory demonstrated that no one in the world should be reluctant to dare "to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place".

"We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream of making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all," he said in a congratulatory letter to the victor.

European leaders outdid each other with superlatives. For France's Nicolas Sarkozy, it was a "brilliant victory", a moment in which "the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism". The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, spoke of a "turning point" for America, and added: "It may also be a turning point for the world." Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, wished the new president "luck, success and God's blessing", while a spokesman for the Pope expressed hope that Obama "can fulfil the expectations and hopes that many have in him".

Africans were even more jubilant, seeing in Obama's victory the conquest over a prejudice that still scars a continent. Nigeria's president, Umaru Yar'Adua, said the moment "has finally broken the greatest barrier of prejudice in human history". Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, saw in the election result "America's extraordinary capacity to renew itself and adapt to a changing world".

India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said Obama's journey would inspire "not only in your country but also around the world"."

Black people respond to Barack Obama's US presidential election success

"Joe Benjamin, who was wrapped in a colourful cloak and carrying his shopping in a bag at the end of a staff, said he would wait to see how Obama panned out.

He said: "I come from another era - I think in terms of summers and I'm heading into my 72nd. I'm still part of the struggle. I remember when Nelson Mandela came out of prison. I think Obama may not do much, we'll see. He brings change but he won't do anything rash. It's good for history though."

He added: "I'm from Bermuda, I came here in 66. We still haven't had an Asian or black prime minister. Europeans are different and in the UK it's make believe. America is more liberal.

...

Across the Caribbean, Luis Aquino, a security guard in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, described the victory as "especially valuable" for Latin America.

"It is historic and a blow against racism," he said. "People don't talk about it much, but there is racism in many parts of Latin America, especially Brazil ... To see a black man in the White House is something to cheer."

In Paris, however, optimism was tempered by the widespread belief that it couldn't happen in France. "Don't get me wrong, I hope he'll do good things, go into fewer wars, that kind of thing," said Amir Baroui, a 28-year-old shopkeeper of Tunisian origin. "But it's not the same here. In France - well, you saw it with Ségolène [Royal, the defeated presidential candidate] last year: we don't want women and we don't want blacks or Arabs or anyone who isn't white."

But for some, the sight of a black man in the White House remained an unshakeable inspiration. Omar Aidera, 15, hadn't heard the news but smiled when told Obama had won. "One day," he said, pausing to extract his iPod earphones, "one day it will all have changed.""

Time heals wounds

I'm not weak. It is strength that is required to forgive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgiveness

http://www.hinduism.co.za/forgiven.htm

Excerpts:

Anger Versus Forgiveness
O beautiful one, one should forgive under every injury. It has been said that the continuation of species is due to man being forgiving. He, indeed, is a wise and excellent person who has conquered his wrath and shows forgiveness even when insulted, oppressed, and angered by a strong person. The man of power who controls his wrath, has (for his enjoyment) numerous everlasting regions; while he that is angry, is called foolish, and meets with destruction both in this and the other world. The illustrious and forgiving Kashyapa has, in this respect, sung the following verses in honour of men that are forgiving.

"Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas, forgiveness is the Sruti. He that knows this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness is Brahma; forgiveness is truth; forgiveness is stored ascetic merit; forgiveness protects the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together. Persons that are forgiving attain to the regions obtainable by those that have performed meritorious sacrifices, or those that are well conversant with the Vedas, or those that have high ascetic merit. Those that perform Vedic sacrifices as also those that perform the meritorious rites of religion obtain other regions. Men of forgiveness, however, obtain those much adored regions that are in the world of Brahma. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of mind. Can one like us abandon forgiveness, which is such, and in which are established Brahma, and truth, and wisdom and the worlds? The man of wisdom should ever forgive, for when he is capable of forgiving everything, he attains to Brahma. The world belongs to those that are forgiving; the other world is also theirs.

The forgiving acquire honours here, and a state of blessedness hereafter. Those men that ever conquer their wrath by forgiveness, obtain the higher regions. Therefore has it been said that forgiveness is the highest virtue."

Forgiveness is a Great Power
Vidura said: There is one only defect in forgiving persons, and not another; that defect is that people take a forgiving person to be weak. That defect, however, should not be taken into consideration, for forgiveness is a great power. Forgiveness is a virtue of the weak, and an ornament of the strong. Forgiveness subdues (all) in this world; what is there that forgiveness cannot achieve? What can a wicked person do unto him who carries the sabre of forgiveness in his hand? Fire falling on the grassless ground is extinguished of itself. And unforgiving individual defiles himself with many enormities. Righteousness is the one highest good; and forgiveness is the one supreme peace; knowledge is one supreme contentment; and benevolence, one sole happiness.

Mythology of Agedness

We are but a fragment in this earth's history. Everything is much older than we think it is. Man has been living on this earth for hundreds of thousands of years, building up civilizations, only to have them wiped from existence and buried beneath the layers of the earth. How do we know what's beneath the layers of this planet, anyway? How are we so certain that the earth does not have the power to destroy the existence of a civilization entirely? Why are we giving ourselves such a small time frame?

Points of reference:
Tiwanaku
The Great Sphinx
Akrotiri
Knossos
Hueyatlaco


It's easy to get caught up in this crap. Like getting lost in Wikipedia, but pure bullshit.

Eris

What I'm reading: The Kuiper Belt.
What I'm watching: Soviet UFO Secrets Revealed.

Not related to what I'm watching right now, but Roswell obviously was Project Mogul, I mean c'mon, missing weather balloon? Same flight path? As for Tunguska, that is attributed to the Beta Taurid meteor shower and a larger fragment from Comet Encke. As for the Dropa Stones...ugh. Bi discs? Hello? Obviously a hoax? Are you a gullible idiot? But you can't blame people for trying, what with the absence of a religion of mystery is it any wonder we turn to extraterrestrials as the new "deity"? It is rather lonely to imagine that we're the only planet with life.

Anywho, moreso interested in the reading...have had the video paused for last hour while getting lost in the depths of wikipedia researching trans-Neptunian Objects, Planet X, ancient mythology, and the Anunnaki.

My thirst is unquenchable.

The Psychological Kevlar Act

"But is it moral to weaken memories of horrendous acts a person has committed?"

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/72956/?page=entire

Excerpts:

The Psychological Kevlar Act "directs the secretary of defense to develop and implement a plan to incorporate preventive and early-intervention measures, practices or procedures that reduce the likelihood that personnel in combat will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other stress-related psychopathologies, including substance use conditions. (Kevlar, a DuPont fiber, is an essential component of U.S. military helmets and bullet-proof vests advertised to be "five times stronger than steel.") The stated purpose of this legislation is to make American soldiers less vulnerable to the combat stressors that so often result in psychic injuries.

...

What they have come up with has already been dubbed "the mourning after pill." Propranalol, if taken immediately following a traumatic event, can subdue a victim's stress response and so soften his or her perception of the memory. That does not mean the memory has been erased, but proponents claim that the drug can render it emotionally toothless.

If your daughter were raped, the argument goes, wouldn't you want to spare her a traumatic memory that might well ruin her life? As the mother of a 23-year old daughter, I can certainly understand the appeal of that argument. And a drug that could prevent the terrible effects of traumatic injuries in soldiers? If I were the parent of a soldier suffering from such a life-altering injury, I can imagine being similarly persuaded.

Not surprisingly, the Army is already on board. Propranolol is a well-tolerated medication that has been used for years for other purposes.

And it is inexpensive.

But is it moral to weaken memories of horrendous acts a person has committed? Some would say that there is no difference between offering injured soldiers penicillin to prevent an infection and giving a drug that prevents them from suffering from a posttraumatic stress injury for the rest of their lives. Others, like Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, object to propranolol's use on the grounds that it medicates away one's conscience. "It's the morning-after pill for just about anything that produces regret, remorse, pain or guilt," he says. Barry Romo, a national coordinator for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, is even more blunt. "That's the devil pill," he says. "That's the monster pill, the anti-morality pill. That's the pill that can make men and women do anything and think they can get away with it. Even if it doesn't work, what's scary is that a young soldier could believe it will."

'They mooed half the night. Then, no mooing'

[Article in this morning's Oregonian]



So apparently it wasn't insanely foggy and rainy just here, but all over the northwest, leading to the deaths of hundreds of cows. Organic cows (not that that makes a difference, but the article I read this morning explicitly stated they were such). It's times like these I'm glad my house is on a hill and on stilts, hundreds of feet above the ocean. But a lot of houses aren't...and the coast is flooding, and apparently "tempests" are now supposed to be the norm in the pacific northwest. Storms were one major thing I missed about the east coast, the rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning I would try to catch glimpses of from my bedroom window on the top floor through what little bit of sky I could make out. Not to mention the monsoon-like rain experienced in northern Michigan.

In any case, as sexy as storms are, Oregon needs to prepare itself for weather change. We don't want to lose our coast after all, though if necessary one could always follow the Dutch example and build a dike.

Diplomacy

Bush Insists Iran Remains a Threat Despite Arms Data

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 — President Bush warned on Tuesday that Iran remained a threat despite an intelligence assessment that it had halted a covert program to develop nuclear weapons four years ago, as the administration struggled to save a diplomatic process now in disarray.

Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, at a White House news conference on Tuesday. President Bush and his senior aides are trying to hold together the group of nations seeking to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Once again facing criticism over the handling — and meaning — of intelligence reports, Mr. Bush said the new assessment underscored the need to intensify international efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He said Iran could not be entrusted with acquiring even the scientific knowledge to enrich uranium for peaceful civilian use, explicitly declaring for the first time what has been an underlying premise of the administration’s policy. He also appeared to rule out any new diplomatic initiative with the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous, if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Bush said during a news conference dominated by questions about the fallout of the assessment, known as a National Intelligence Estimate. “What’s to say they couldn’t start another covert nuclear weapons program?”

...

Ugh. The conniving deceptiveness of this man and his administration. Trying to lead us into the same bullshit that led us to Iraq in the first place. What a fucktard (how intellectual am I). I'm envisioning another political cartoon. Bush as Rambo, bedecked with armaments, and severely disappointed to discover upon his entering the battle scene the enemy is sipping tea, saying he's too late.

Whatever happened to diplomacy?

And on that note, Uncle Robert is moving today to Jerusalem, where he will be working in the governor's palace with Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair. Awesome.