Friday, June 20, 2008

Official Seal of the Obama of the United States





The Obama campaign debuted a new logo Friday that bears a striking resemblance to the presidential seal. Photo credit: AP, White House.
Hail to the Thief

Friday's Lost Video

Todays lost video is from 1986. Havenbt heard this one on a while.... Welcome to the boomtown by Danid and David.


Pranks and the race card

UPDATE: It gets even better: This was inspired by MTV

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/18/2008-06-18_sick_cake_prank_ripped_off_mtv.html


Interesting story out of New York. The "prank" story alone is interesting, but check the comments. A real eye opener.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/06/19/2008-06-19_cakeprank_kids_arent_laughing_now.html

From the WTF File: High School Girls Make Pregnancy Pact



Original story: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html

I find myself posting vids or links and then saying, "I don't know what to say," over and over again.

The world is nuts.

Of Psychics and Faith Healers

Two stories came to my attention today that both address the lack of critical thinking in our society.

The first one comes to us from Barrie, Ontario where Colleen Leduc is having problems with her daughter’s school. Her daughter, Victoria, is autistic and attends a public school. A few weeks ago, she got a call from her school that they believed her daughter had been the victim of sexual abuse, one of a parent’s worst nightmares.

Colleen was naturally upset and then she was told the “evidence”.

“"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes, I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"

Victoria, who is non-verbal, had also been exhibiting sexualized behaviour in class, actions which are known to be typical of autistic behavior. (See other typical actions here) That lead authorities to suspect she had a bladder infection that may have somehow been related to the 'attack.'”

Yes, a psychic! And she could only identify a girls whose name begins with V, and she was displaying behavior typical of someone with here condition...well, call that and open and shut case! NOT!

On top of that, Victoria wears a GPS unit with a sound recorder which pretty much put any allegations to rest. But that didin’t stop her from being reported to Children’s Aid who also visited her to investigate the allegations!

The other story comes from Oregon where a family let their teenager die from a pinched urethra, a condition that could have easily been treated with a catheter. The family relied on faith healing instead.

Both of these stories illustrate the harm that non-critical thinking can do, leading to untrue accusations and even to death. We supposedly left the dark ages behind and are no longer governed by irrational superstitions. Given all I encounter in my everyday life from horoscopes to psychics to biorhythms to faith healing, well, I have my doubts.

Think, people!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Some Photos of Delacacies from Pridefest: Milwaukees First Ethnic Festival of Summer 2008




Aging Gracefully 1


Pete Townsend

Internet addiction is a 'clinical disorder'

By Andy Bloxham
Last Updated: 5:23PM BST 19/06/2008

Obsessive internet use is a public health problem which is so serious it should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist.

Sufferers spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing.

They suffer four symptoms: They forget to eat and sleep; they need more advanced technology or more hours online as they develop 'resistance' to the pleasure given by their current system; if they are deprived of their computer, they experience genuine withdrawal symptoms; And in common with other addictions, the victims also begin to have more arguments, to suffer fatigue, to get lower marks in tests and to feel isolated from society.

Early research into the subject found highly educated, socially awkward men were the most likely sufferers but more recent work suggests it is now more of a problem for middle-aged women who are spending hours at home on their computers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2152972/Internet-addiction-is-a-%27clinical-disorder%27.html

The Devil made 'em do it

Hate, not incident at Obama rally, is the real issue

By ROCHELLE RILEY • FREE PRESS BLOGGER • June 19, 2008

We are missing the bigger story.

That two young Muslim women wearing head scarves were steered away from seats behind Sen. Barack Obama at his televised Detroit rally on Monday was sad, but not the bigger story.
That his campaign apologized, as it should have, for the badly mishandled incident by campaign volunteers was not the bigger story.

The bigger story is that hateful extremists who used to exist on the fringe of society are now taking over and too much is being done to appease them instead of ignore them.

The Obama volunteers who didn't want the women to provide fuel for rumors that Obama is a secret Muslim chose to let hate-mongers dictate their actions and hurt the women's feelings. They made a mistake, as far as we know. (Of course, the Web would have you believe that they did it on purpose because they KNEW that these women were actually plants by Sen. John McCain's campaign, an unlikely but possible scenario that seems all the more impossible when you read about their wonderful attitudes.)

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/BLOG08/80619032

Hanson the sick bastard gets 6 years

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

God's Pharmacy! Amazing!

I'm not a bible thumper but this is kinda interesting.....



A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.




A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.





Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.



A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.



Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.



Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.


Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (mo dern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries




Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.



Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.




Oranges, Grapefruit, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.



Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

RUSD to mail taxpayers tube of KY to make insertion easier

Unified needs technology upgrade
District hopes three-year plan will help


Many schools are using hardware that is “becoming antiquated at best,” School Board member Don Nielsen said Monday.

He asked his fellow board members to take a hard look at the technology plan and an accompanying analysis by Unified’s instructional technology department that pointed out the need to address the aging technology.

“I would see this as a stepping-off point, possibly down the road, for resurrecting the technology referendum,” Nielsen said. “It’s quite obvious in talking to the staff that our technology needs are growing.”

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/06/18/local_news/doc4859b4e1c3ae7771347308.txt

Belated Happy Father's Day


Newest Darwin Award Nominee

A 19-year-old man accidentally shot and killed himself Tuesday morning while he was attempting to rob a Grand Prairie home, authorities said.

Cameron Sands, 19, of Fort Worth kicked in the door of the house and then shot himself in the stomach as he pulled a gun out of his pants to shoot the homeowner, Grand Prairie police said. The homeowner was not injured.

After Mr. Sands shot himself, he dropped the gun and ran out of the home. Police found his body around 5:30 a.m. in the driveway of the home in the 2800 block Garden Grove Road, said Lt. John Brimmer, a Grand Prairie police spokesman.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/061908dnmetrobberydeath.168672f7.html

Hey, that's not a real word!

But the New York Times Crossword puzzle used it anyway. Saturday, June 14ths NYT puzzle, clue 1.A: Modern coinage meaning intuition without regard to the facts.

The answer: "Truthiness", the world coined by none other than Stephen Colbert.

Interesting...

If the presidential election were being held today, for whom would you vote:

June 2004: Bush 42, Kerry 48
June 2008: McCain 42, Obama 48

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/06/17/GR2008061700146.html

Kazoo Ewww!



http://www.break.com/index/i-suppose-austrialia-has-talent-too.html

I don't know what to say . . .

Welcome to Our Newest Blogger: "Anonymous"


Here's his profile:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/00787846447619465144


Thank you for registering and joining our group, Anonymous!


We look forward to your contributions to our site.

Solstice Moon Illusion


"June 16 , 2008: Sometimes you just can't believe your eyes. This week is one of those times.

"On Wednesday night, June 18th, step outside at sunset and look around. You'll see a giant form rising in the east. At first glance it looks like the full Moon. It has craters and seas and the face of a man, but this 'moon' is strangely inflated. It's huge!

"You've just experienced the Moon Illusion."

The story: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/16jun_moonillusion.htm

Did I beat hale-bopp in posting this? Woo-hoo!

Firefox 3 Now Available


Download it here:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Seems to me to be even faster than 2. What I really like, though, is the clarity of the typeface. I have a visual impairment that always made Internet Explorer 7 appear more readable to me - now they're equal.

I don't like change, though, and they had to change the appearance of the buttons on the toolbar, didn't they?

All in all, a much better product that IE7, faster, much safer, more intuitive and easy to use, and it's free!

If you didn't already realize it about them already...

...this is what is wrong with the JT "censorship". Just look at some of the comments in this horribly tragic story. First off, it should not have even been put in the newspaper. To me it's disrespectful in this circumstance and makes me sick. Second, to allow the comments that some of the "bloggers" have made just proves once again that the JT has selective censorship.

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/06/18/local_news/doc485801467bbbe518008743.txt


Do you think suicides should become a story in the newspaper?

More Unfortunate Flood Pictures


Railroad museum in close to Portage Wi pictures of the flood.

"Railroad museum in close to Portage Wi pictures of the flood."

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Winger?

Did he leave in a Right winged huff, or was he tossed in the trash for being offensive?

The JT Blog site

Well, it looks like they really screwed it up good this time. They moved all the blog entries way down on the page. At first, I thought my browser was having trouble painting the screen. After a couple of refreshes, I realized what they had done.

Once there, I noticed that VERY few comments are being posted. Could be that many people are just not seeing the entries. Seems to me to be fairly idiotic. Even Gray Kitty complained.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Don't Get Too Close to the Sun...Oops!

There is a satellite called SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) that orbits at a gravitationally balanced point between the Earth and the Sun called L1 (the First Lagangian point). This orbit allows the satellite to always point toward the Sun for pretty much continuous observations. Launched in 1995 and still going strong.

SOHO has two cameras with coronographs. A coronograph is literally a disk placed in front of the Sun so you can observe the area around the Sun which does happen to contain the Sun's corona (hence the name).

Yesterday it saw a comet get a little too close to the Sun. These comets are called Sungrazers and SOHO has discovered a lot of them (I remember when they 1000th was discovered, and they are rapidly closing in on 1500). You can see the comet approach, grow a nice tail, and then disintegrate before your eyes.

This isn't the biggest, best or most spectacular one SOHO has seen, but merely the most recent. There are amazing things going on in our universe all the time and I encourage you to visit sites such as the SOHO home page from time to time...you never know what just happened!

Don't Agree? Just shoot them says Micheal Reagan

Conservative talk show host Micheal Reagan recently said of 9-11 truther Mark Dice, "How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of the firing range? Tie him to a post, don’t blindfold him, and let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice.” He even made the generous offer, "I’ll pay for the bullet." You can listen to Reagan's remarks on youtube.



His big beef is that Dice's group is allegedly sending materials to our troops in Iraq claiming 9/11 was an inside job (which I am on record in previous blogs as disagreeing with this group quite vigorously and will therefore not even link to his material). In Reagan's view, this is an offense that demands execution without trial.

Howard Stern lost a job for insulting a woman's basketball team, yet this guy openly calls for vigilante executions and keeps his job? Heck, our so called "liberal media" hasn't even uttered a peep about this one. The only places I find any references to this are the fringe media such as The Raw Story and Godlike Productions (which is so atrocious I am not even going to provide a link!)

According to the article, Dice has received a personal apology from Reagan and will appear (or has appeared) on Reagan's show today to receive an on air apology.

I don't listen to a lot of conservative talk radio (never heard Reagan's show before) but there is some frightening and threatening rhetoric coming from these shows.

How Should Crime and Violence be Reported in the Local Media?



Does the Journal Times highlight the tragedies in our town to sell more newspapers? Would a focus on the positive make Racine more positive? Does blogging/making comments on these events do anything other than eat up server space?




Join the discussion here: http://news.racinepost.com/2008/06/homicides-cast-shadow-on-communitys.html,
or post your comments below.

Hot Rod Power Tour Returning to Racine in 2009

Announcement: http://news.racinepost.com/2008/06/hot-rods-will-return-to-racine-in-2009.html

I'm a bit of a gearhead and was disappointed with the rain that greeted last year's tour. I finally got out later in the day and walked around and took some pictures. I hope that we have better weather next time. I also wonder how those guys and gals can afford to drive from city to city these days?

Vrooom-vrooom!


How about drag races on Pershing Drive from 6th to 11th Streets this time?


And a jet car driven by the Mayor!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Madame Zoltar: Tomorrow's News Today


Hello, childrens!

Here are my predictions for the coming week in the Racine area:

The National Weather Service will issue a storm watch/warning, tornado watch/warning, forecast a blizzard, damaging high winds with hail, an electrical storm, an ice storm, a hurricane, a typhoon, and/or acid rain - all of this with 100% certainty. None of it will happen.

Someone, somewhere in Racine will be shot, stabbed, hit, mugged, robbed, and/or raped. All of it will happen, probably at once.

Mayor Becker will make an appearance at some obscure forum somewhere out of state, quite possibly out of the country, speaking with great knowledge and insight on a subject that has absolutely nothing to do with Racine or the problems facing this city. None of the local media will report on this except for the Racine Post.

The winning lottery numbers will be 4 - 32 - 78.926 - 40,698,251 - √378 - Ï€

Thank you, and have a wonderful week!

Time Warner Cable Testing “Internet Metering” in Texas

"The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=762193

Oh no! I will have to give up food if they start this here.