If you Intercepted a Shipment of Rockets Bound for the Taliban, From Whence Would you Guess They Came ?

Ok, maaaaybe you'd think Syria or maaaaybe you'd think North Korea.  Nope.

No, I'm guessing that the "Buy Local" campaign, which has bumper stickers and window signs all over my neighborhood, has finally reached the Taliban and they in turn have reached out, mullah to mullah to buy good Iranian rockets rather going to the suburbs or even (gasp!) to the Walmarts of International arms sales. 

So remember, be it rockets, tomatoes or shaving cream, Buy Local.

British Link Iran to Rockets Found in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com

 

Technorati Tags: Taliban,Iran,Afghanistan,arms sales,buy local,New York Times

Obama Misery Index hits a record high - BostonHerald.com

This op/ed by Mitt Romney has the usual political rhetoric, but think that he has some very good points in talking about the debt, creating private sector jobs, and that only increasing the taxable income - NOT by increasing the tax rate, can we bring the deficit down and sustain an economic recovery. 

You might or might not agree, but I hope that seeing the name of a GOP leader doesn't preclude anyone from reading through the points he makes about what he feels needs to be done.  THAT is what we need today, the ability to talk civilly about what must be done to solve our serious financial problems. 

Anyway, I found his suggestions very much worthwhile.  

Obama Misery Index hits a record high - BostonHerald.com

Technorati Tags: Obama,Misery Index,Mitt Romney,Federal Debt,economic recovery

Dr. Hoover's "Very Simple Process"

Longtime NASA scientist Dr. Richard Hoover has spent many years snooping about the Arctic, Siberia and Antarctic for a very special kind of extremely rare meteorite known as CI1 carbonaceous chondrites.  How rare are theses meteorites?  Up to this time, only nine such meteorites are known to exist on Earth.  The meteorites contain fossils of large bacteria closely resembling bacteria found here on earth.  The entire project suggests that life may be much more widely distributed than previously thought.  Dr. Hoover's entire article is published in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology

Exclusive: NASA Scientist Claims Evidence of Alien Life on Meteorite - FoxNews.com

 

Technorati Tags: Alien Life,Meteorite,Bactrerium

World's sixth mass extinction may be underway: study - Yahoo! News

Don't worry, this is not another 2012 item!  Somewhere between being the most successfully adapted species on the planet and being the wasteful, overpopulating,messy species we are, is the story of what is clearly shaping up to be the sixth mass extinction in Earth history.  Mass extinction is the term used for periods when 75 percent or more of the species on the planet go extinct, and with loss of habitat due to increasing human population, over-fishing, non-native invasive species, pollution and other human and natural processes combining to cause the extinction of hundreds of species each year, it does appear that we are in the midst of a sixth such event.

World's sixth mass extinction may be underway: study - Yahoo! News

Technorati Tags: Mass extinction

My Way News - Egypt's top archaeologist warns of looting

This is a tragic situation in my opinion.  Dr. Hawass, the chief archeologist and the man in charge of all of Egypt's historic sites, digs, museums and galleries, has decided that with looting going on at such an extensive pace, and the military government failing to respond to his repeated requests to shore up security around the irreplaceable historical, artistic and archeological locations, he must resign his ministerial position to draw attention to the situation. 

Indeed, the situation must be quite bad in terms of providing police protection or military protection because Dr. Hawass is now calling on the young people who started the revolt in Egypt to come together and protect the nation's treasures and legacy as one of the world's greatest and earliest civilizations.  I wonder how the more militantly Islamic revolutionaries and the Islamic Brotherhood will view protecting the treasures of the past - will they see them as idols?  Will they see the Pharaohs as despots like Mubarak was believed to be?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art joined Hawass in his concerns, issuing a statement today: 

The Met and the entire museum community worldwide are increasingly concerned about what appear to be ongoing, grievous security breaches at Egypt's historic sites and archaeological digs," the museum's director, Thomas P. Campbell, said in a statement Thursday.

"The world cannot sit by and permit unchecked anarchy to jeopardize the cultural heritage of one of the world's oldest, greatest, and most inspiring civilizations. We echo the voices of all concerned citizens of the globe in imploring Egypt's new government authorities ... to protect its precious past. Action needs to be taken immediately."

Dr. Hawass has listed a number of disastrous crimes against the antiquities of Egypt in recent days on his personal website: 

http://www.drhawass.com/blog/status-egyptian-antiquities-today-3-march-2011

My Way News - Egypt's top archaeologist warns of looting

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Archeology,Egyptology,Looting,Dr. Zawi Hawass

Cops find naked man 'growling like dog' and claiming to be devil

You just never know....

Cops find naked man 'growling like dog' and claiming to be devil

Last US WWI veteran dies

I hope to see flags at half-staff all over the country for this man.  When we talk about those who have come before and protected our Nation it is important to remember that they all had names, family, friends, hopes.  This man gives all of us a lot to live up to.   

Last WWI veteran dies

Maryland Semen Attacker Sentenced to Probation: The Criminal Report Daily : Investigation Discovery

I probably should have let this one alone too, as it is a really offensive subject, and in my opinion it is a sexual assault.  It seems unbelievable to me that this guy gets probation for multiple - and there were way more than two - sexual assaults.  He is connected by DNA, video surveillance, purchases made at the locations just prior to the assaults...

But here is what really bothers me.  If you can stand it, skip down to the end of the article by David Lohr.  I find his comment haunting when he says he's had a lot of time to think about this.  Why does that bother me?  Well, we're supposed to think, "Oh good, he has realized the error of his ways."  What it makes me think is that he's thought a lot about how NOT to get caught in the future.  It is common enough for behaviors like this to escalate into much worse behaviors, and I am not going to be surprised at all if in five years we find that there is a serial killer at work, or perhaps one caught.

Maryland Semen Attacker Sentenced to Probation: The Criminal Report Daily : Investigation Discovery

Funerals, Births and Earthquakes

I remember where I was, just 10 years ago Monday.  I had just left my Grandmother's funeral, which took place just a few days before her 91st birthday.  She was the kindest person I have ever known, accepted life's ups and downs with the quiet confidence, compassion and understanding of the rhythms of life and death.  She was pretty healthy until about two weeks before she died.  She lived in her own home until her last day, and had accepted the subtle losses of capabilities that came with advanced years with grace and common sense that is often overwhelmed in people as we age by the frustration and pride that makes us deny even to ourselves that we are not quite up to doing some of the things we used to do. 

It was an emotional day - my brother and I led the memorial service - and it was amazing to me that although I was very sad, and felt a keen sense of loss, I also felt a profound sense of gratitude and a feeling of having been uplifted by the hours of reflection I'd done as I thought about her and what I wanted to say about her.  All the things we'd done together, the laughing; all those memories, happy memories of her.  I was surprised to find myself feeling that I had been lucky enough to be a part of that rarest of all things:  a life well lived.  Even at the end of her life, we took care of her in her own bed.  I think it was a comfort to her, and it was a deeply meaningful time for me as well.  She was at peace with what was happening, and told me in the middle of one night "I didn't think it would take so long." 

I have just one regret related to my Grandma.  I wish my kids had been given the chance to know her.  I was also struck by the feeling that as someone central to my life and who I am, was leaving this life just as I waited for someone to enter and become central to my life - my son.  My parents have made my grandparents home their own, and my son and daughter love to go to visit them, the small farm and their uncle (actually great-uncle, who along with my Grandpa shaped so many of my memories and sense of self as a boy).

I had left Pocatello and was in an area of patchy cell coverage near the Utah border with Idaho, driving to Salt Lake to catch a flight home to Seattle.  I heard the news of a big quake, and did what the emergency services people hate: I did my part to clog the phone lines and called my wife, who was then just over 7 months pregnant with our son.  At first it wasn't clear how much damage there was, and I was 650 miles away, having trouble getting my call through.  Finally I did, and learned that both mother and son were fine, and the house was fine, too.

Flights into Seattle were canceled that day, so I didn't get in until the next day.  As I drove along the very empty Alaskan Way Viaduct.  I noticed a bit of misalignment on the railings between sections of roadway, and wondered if the bridge was indeed safe to be driving on.  It's easier to be paranoid when you're the only car in sight on a viaduct that everyone says won't survive a major quake.    I guess it wasn't so safe after all, because the  bridge was under inspection at the time, and the engineers noted it too.  Not long after that it was closed until it could be repaired and retrofitted. 

I was glad, but surprised that there hadn't been more damage, after hearing about areas of liquefaction and the collapse of some masonry structures.  I remember a similar feeling on a more personal level:  though I'd been hundreds of miles away, and could do nothing to help Caty if she needed it, things had turned out okay.  I was so glad that she and the baby were unharmed; but I had such a helpless and anxious feeling that it was not until I was at home that I could relax.

I remember being glad that Seattle (and I) got a wake-up call that seems to have caused a lot of people to be much more aware of what could happen - what will happen in Seattle, but hopefully a more prepared and structurally sound version.

Local News | Dangerous ground: Hard lessons learned since the 2001 Nisqually quake | Seattle Times Newspaper

Cool or Fool? Is this a cool tat or a FAIL?

This seems like a better Seattle tattoo, than, say, San Diego.  You generally want cloudy days and layered shirts over this one, am I right?  Take it to the beach, lose the shirts, and well, then you're not even the guy who brought a knife to a gunfight.  You're the guy that brought a tat of a gun...

Maybe he has a silencer on it?  And then there would be flying.  Can you just hear the conversation with TSA as they lube a glove in the "special screening" area...

"Do you have any weapons, needles, anything I should know about?"

"Ummm..."   Here's the part where the tat begins to cause our friend to question his choice...at the time it seemed so cool to use a pictogram to let everybody know he's packin'!  For his sake I hope he's ugly, or the poor guy with the misguided tat might never get out of that special screening area!

I could never be this cool. Even when I carried a triple safety 45 like he seems to, I just never felt comfortable with carrying where this feller carries his "statement".  I'd be nervous all the time that I might have an accidental discharge in a place you really don't even want contemplate.  Then again, we can't see everything, so maybe he's integrated the bits I'd be a-stressin' over - like with the silencer and a couple of spare clips...

Well, enough of this silliness.  Though if any of you know this guy ask him if it is a Colt or a Springfield Arms version.  And hey:  if he chunks up and becomes the unfortunate pear-shape, does this tat just stretch into a

     Mac10?      

Technorati Tags: Humor,funny Photos,funny,tatto

Smartphone app that helps doctors detect cancer

This is AMAZING!

One Per Cent: Smartphone app that helps doctors detect cancer

Technorati Tags: Science,Cancer,Cancer Detection,Technology

Mortality in ankylosing spondylitis. - PubMed.gov

I hesitate to put info like this out there because it can be demoralizing and cause fear.  But, after thinking about it a fair bit, I believe that the tip-off that this study and many others reflecting similar information can help those of us with inflammatory illnesses such as AS understand the impact of the disease on more than just the skeletal, connective tissue systems.  There is clear evidence that AS causes a reduction in life span without regard to treatment received.  This is mainly due to the increased risk factors for heart disease, as well as the  abnormal treatment of lipids in the body and many other common sense risks which can shorten our lives. 

Knowing that AS brings with it an increased heart risk due to inflammatory changes, as well as many common effects of AS work to cause or accelerate heart disease (these include microvascualr changes, endocrine changes such as low testosterone and increased cholesterol as well as poor sleep habits and less exercise overall).  Knowing that AS is an over-arching risk factor for heart-related mortality is a form of empowerment for those of us who have this disease - but only if we do as much as possible to treat and address all of the risks that AS ADDS to our personal cardiac risks.  Below is the abstract from a study showing the many increased risk factors to increased mortality due to AS.

Mortality in ankylosing spondylitis.

Zochling J, Braun J.

Research Institute, Hobart, Australia.

Abstract

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease which causes pain along with loss of physical function and quality of life over many years. It has also been shown to increase mortality compared to the general population, independent of treatment modalities. Cardiovascular deaths are increased, and recent studies suggest both an abnormality of lipid regulation and microvascualr changes. Increased rates of suicide, accidental death, and alcohol-related deaths have also been reported. This review examines rates and causes of increased mortality in AS and highlights a need to focus on cardiovascular risk factors and psychological health in addition to physical disability in patients with AS.

Increased Mortality Rates in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients.  PubMed

Gary Ridgeway Back in Seattle

Lines on maps.  So much in life is determined by lines on maps.  In 2003, lines on a map allowed a man who had killed dozens to avoid being executed for his crimes.  At the same time, the plea deal Ridgeway's attorneys were able to work out with King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng spared the families of Ridgeway's victims both the pain of an extended trial and the unending distress of not knowing the fate of their loved one with any degree of certainty.  The result of the plea deal and the lines of King County on the map have kept Ridgeway alive (though he doesn't look so good).

Because Ridgeway's habit of picking up and frequently murdering prostitutes along the Sea-Tac strip just south of Seattle took place in King County, he has been able to plead guilty and avoid execution.

This week Ridgeway was in King County Court to plead guilty to his forty-ninth murder - that of Becky Marrero in 1982.  He received the required life without parole sentence as set out in the plea agreement.  As he told the court in his original trial, "I killed so many women, I have a hard time keeping them straight." 

I know that it is not a small number of people who feel as I do, hoping that at some point police will be able to make a case against Ridgeway in a jurisdiction across the King County line. 

Technorati Tags: Green River Killer,Gary Ridgeway,serial killer,true crime,Seattle true crime

Low Testosterone - Serious Health and Mortality Risk

 

As we learn more about the health effects that are associated with low testosterone (defined as less than 300 nanograms per deciliter of blood), it is apparent that the impacts upon the health of most men range from being asymptomatic, to serious health conditions such as congestive heart failure, or cumulative and serious vision impairments. 

It is not clear yet, whether the low levels of testosterone in the blood are causing these issues, or whether they are effects of other health problems.  I tend to agree with the hypothesis that low and ultra-low testosterone are causative , and left untreated, can cause serious disease processes. 

In men of a certain age such as I (over 40), to an elderly man, low testosterone can result in fatigue, moodiness, depression, inefficient use of nutrients along with other issues.  It is important to use a blood test to check on testosterone levels in any cases where a man has developed symptoms.  Important enough that it can carry the weight of a life or death decision.  Men with ultra low testosterone are just over 40% more likely to have a heart attack than men who have levels at, or well above the  normal level.

The discovery of a blood testosterone level that is far below normal can also be a tipoff that the endocrine system is generally having problems.  In my own case, the onset of Ankylosing Spondylitis (I wouldn't know that I had AS until nearly eight years later), both because it is the result of my immune system attacking healthy joints and connective tissue, and because it causes inflammation throughout the body, occurred at the same time, I began feeling a deep fatigue.  This fatigue was not only feeling "tired". but was an indicator that something in my body was failing.  I am fortunate to have a primary care physician named Warren Fein, a man who is not only very good at his job, but is an excellent listener.  When he heard my description of the fatigue, he immediately checked for blood thyroid levels, and when they were low (well below the minimum threshold), he prescribed a synthetic thyroid replacement, then followed up to see if my fatigue had abated.  It had not, and this caused us to set out on a mission to find the rest of  the problems, if any, with my endocrine system. 

In my case, not only had my thyroid been affected, but I also had low vitamin D levels, low testosterone, elevated cortisol, low human growth hormone, etc.  In other words, we learned that there were so many areas of the endocrine system that were out of whack, both Dr. Fein and I believed that something was causing the pituitary system to fail.  Even after beginning testosterone replacement therapy following an evaluation with Dr. Davies ( a top-notch endocrinologist), my blood levels continued to decline - at one point I had only 70 nanograms per deciliter of blood.  finally, with larger doses every other week, we were able to get the testosterone level up to just over 300. 

I encourage men over 40 to read up on the issue and if you are experiencing some symptoms which could be related to low T, discuss it with your doctor. You might just be saving your own life.

Low Testosterone Symptoms, Health Effects, and Testosterone Replacement

A Cry for Innocence - the WM3

Beginning with the viewing of "Paradise Lost", the HBO documentary film which detailed the murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, as well as the arrest and trial of three teens in relation to the crimes.  The whole subject is sad and sickening.  The killings themselves, and the subsequent arrest and conviction of three other young men that I simply don't see a single piece of evidence - not one, not even the "confession" of one of the young men - that indicates guilt. 

This link is to the CBS News special examining the case, as well as new information in the case.  It's worth watching.  I can also recommend the definitive resource on the case, this website: 

http://www.wm3.org/

The documentary can be found at:

CBS News presentation on the WM3, as well as new evidence

Now just one more comment about this case:  Not only do I believe that these three young men did not commit the crimes, but I am truly frightened by the fact that a man could be sent to death row without a single bit of evidence.  If it can happen to him...

I hope you'll watch the video, check out the website, and truthfully, I hope that some of you will offer your support in whatever way you can (I have chosen to post this blog entry where thirty-five thousand readers will have the chance to access information and perhaps start down the road of becoming informed, a road that I can only believe to end at new trials and acquittals.

Technorati Tags: West Memphis Three,Robin Hood Hills murders,crime,true crime

Cairo Teen Finds Looted Pharaoh Akhenaton Statue

Thank heavens they've returned at least one looted ancient treasure to the Museum.  Hard to imagine laying your hands on a statue more than 3,000 years old, ripping it from its' base in the national museum, and then throwing it like garbage into a trash bin.

I wonder what would have become of the statue had not the 14 year old nephew of a professor found it and brought it to his uncle, who then made sure it was returned to the museum.

I have been struck still and silent many times in my life, when I stood in a place where history I knew had occurred.  I can't imagine taking a priceless and irreplaceable statue like this. 

I know people are starving, but I can't see that destroying or trashing this rare statue in a rare style will feed a single soul.

Cairo Teen Finds Looted Pharaoh Akhenaton Statue#

Technorati Tags: Akhenaton,Egypt,Looting

Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth « CBS Los Angeles

Maybe this is the first in the series that is supposed to cause the end of the world in December 2012?  If you haven't heard that theory, the 10-15,000 year solar flare maximum intensity cycle will supposedly cause massive damage and trigger the disastrous end to the world.  Of course, that assumes that the conclusion of the Mayan Long Count calendar leads to more than simply a new era, and the solar flares lead to more than some electrical grid and communications problems. 

Biggest Solar Flare In Years Headed For Earth « CBS Los Angeles

Technorati Tags: 2012,Doomsday,End of the World

This Cracked Me Up

Matt Rosemeir's Edible Dirt comic often cracks me up, and this comic is no exception. 

Suicide by Cop

I may be showing some insensitivity here, and if so, I am sorry.  It is not my intent.  Suicide is always hard on the people left behind, and I in no way wish to minimize the grief that friends and family are feeling.

In a study of 707 officer involved shootings between 1998 and 2006, conducted and published by Dr. Kris Mohandie, thirty-six percent of the incidents were incidents where the shooting was precipitated purposefully in order to force police officers to kill a person.  But the person who wants the officer to shoot them because they wish to die, but cannot kill themselves is not the only victim in such situations.  They put officers lives in danger, innocent bystanders lives in danger and with certainty they cause a great deal of emotional turmoil for the officers involved.

This morning Lakewood Police officers were dispatched to a domestic dispute.  When they arrived, a woman with a knife in her hand emerged from the mobile home she shared with a domestic partner neighbors say she often fought with.  Shouting for officers to shoot her, the woman pointed and waived the knife, but the officers held their fire.  The woman then ran back into the trailer home and shortly afterward, returned with a gun.  She continued to shout at the officers to shoot her, but it was not until she raised the gun and pointed it at officers, that they fired.  Three officers fired, and thankfully, the only person their bullets struck was the woman with the gun.

I admit that my first sympathy when I heard of this case was toward the officers who were put in this position.  It is a cruel and thoughtless act to force a police officer to shoot a person, and thereafter subject them to emotional turmoil.  I was especially saddened that this act was forced upon three Lakewood Officers.  As I see it, they have been subjected to so much.

I just want to say that though I am sorry that the woman who chose to end her life was successful, I am especially sorry that three of Lakewood's police officers will have to deal with this as well. 

I have not forgotten the special burden Lakewood officers still carry, and I hope that these three officers will not be further burdened.  And I am damn glad that in forcing police officers to shoot her, this woman did not cause any innocent bystanders or police officers to be hurt or worse.

Thank you for your service.  I have not forgotten the sacrifice this department has made to protect the people of their community.

Sad News

Amidst the heavy economic, social justice, political and even basic survival problems to be found in Egypt today, I noted with sadness an inventory of stolen artifacts from the Egyptian Museum.  Dr. Zahi Hawass mentioned the sad news of theft (others have called the same events 'light-looting', which I might find humorous under other circumstances (Guard: "What are you doing here?" Looter: "Just a little light looting.  Really, it's nothing worth interrupting your marching!  I'll just take this item and get out of your hair!")  Except that the loss of items like those on the list published by Dr. Hawass last night isn't funny.  Victorious Armies and Revolutions have always been hard on museum pieces - especially gilded ones.  Damn shame.

The losses, as reported to Dr. Hawass by museum staff, are not insignificant.  And knowing of Hawass' well-known impatience with both suffering fools, and with anything which interferes with the preservation and restoration of the precious items he and his minions and colleagues collect.

The Army seems to be doing some collecting itself just now, though just what it is amassing is far more ephemeral:  Power.  By the end of the day today, generals tightened their grasp on power:  suspending the constitution, dissolving Parliament.  After all, the Parliament was the group elected in corrupt elections managed my former President Mubarak, would not the people be encouraged by the military rulers depriving the Parliament Mubarak had, after all, brought to power under cloudy, even shady elections.    Even as the council of generals responsible for ousting Mubarak after the weird, street shell game atmosphere which followed the former President's confused and rambling speech, the protestors seemed to view the intercession of the Armed Forces as a positive act; a first step to whatever the jumbled masses saw as democratic self-government.

Today, however, there may be reason for these same people becoming more subdued last night and today, as the military took steps to consolidate power and, though the requests were very politely communicated, the men in Army uniforms (not the hated police) began telling protestors to go home, to work, and not so much to the banks.  I am sure that as the bubbling Artesian well of joy at ousting former President Mubarak slowed to a trickle it must have occurred to at least some of the protestors that the generals who seized power from Hosni Mubarak were also men who had been promoted and assigned to their powerful positions by....indeed, by the former President of Egypt.  The 'military council' seemed to indicate neither any plan for the "free and fair" elections most of the protestors felt they'd been promised.

Indeed, one may interpret the actions of the military council as a shot across the bow of those of any group that expected an interim government led by civilians, or of any group that expected free and fair elections soon, or even in a future time (such as the six month transitional period expected to end with elections).  Instead, with the constitution suspended and the council of generals in charge, it was made clear that  any necessary governing issues would be dealt with as necessary by the issuance of decrees. 

We'll have to watch for the next steps, along with the world.  But, at least the military council edicts will be coming from a comfortable, well-known source:  Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, one of Mubarak's closest associates, leading the council of generals who achieved their prominence under the former President.  So, while the Parliament and constitution which had skewed power toward Mubarak, and even the cabinet has lost power, the military leadership will rule for an undetermined time, without constitution, civilian leadership or a time frame for elections.

And although it sounds like a scenario we would be quick to reject, I hope that we do not.  The military is the only stable and moderate institution in Egypt.  It is not a bad thing at this point to have the Armed Forces work to allow, facilitate and give time to put down roots other alternative organizations.  Otherwise, I fear the Muslim Brotherhood will be over-represented simply by virtue of being well organized and well funded.

Dr,  Zahi Hawass

The Independent

The Guardian

The Washington Post

 

Technorati Tags: Mubarak,Egypt,King Tut,Looting