Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tufts Study: Can Features Pinpoint Your Political Affiliation?
Your Political Party Written On Your Face
Your face says a lot about you. It says some obvious stuff (your age, gender, and race, for example, are usually apparent by the way your face looks), but people can also glean other information from your mug—like your political party.
A recent study at Tufts took a bunch of undergraduates, showed them pictures of Democrat and Republican candidates from the 2004 and 2006 Senate elections, and asked them to guess each politician's political party. To eliminate any racial bias (people might think a black politician had to be a Democrat) they eliminated racial minority politicians.
The result? They found that the students' guesses were much better than chance. They also found that the students were good at guessing the political party affiliation of other students based on pictures of their faces.
The subtle clue the students used to make their guesses? Republicans' faces tended to score higher on a measure of "power," based on how dominant and mature they looked. Democrats' faces scored higher for "warmth," as based on their perceived likeability and trustworthiness.
I don't want to further unhelpful stereotypes about our political parties, but this is undeniably interesting stuff. What wasn't clear from the study is how the causation goes, though. Do Democrats try to look "warmer" (and Republicans more "powerful") or do the underlying traits cause the political beliefs?
If you click on the link provided in the article, you go to a summary of the article, which includes this:
Conclusions/Significance
These data suggest that perceivers' beliefs about who is a Democrat and Republican may be based on perceptions of traits stereotypically associated with the two political parties and that, indeed, the guidance of these stereotypes may lead to categorizations of others' political affiliations at rates significantly more accurate than chance guessing.
"Chance guessing?" How does "chance guessing" differ from looking at pictures and guessing a person's politics based on their appearance?? And how are these stereotypes generated in the first place ... on college campuses in particular?
I wonder how much money Tufts got for this 'study.' Wanna bet it was from porkulus money?
I wonder if they included a picture of Nancy Pelosi in that stack o' pictures they were showin' them thar college kids. Now SHE'S warm and fuzzy, isn't she?
I wonder if they included a picture of Nancy Pelosi in that stack o' pictures they were showin' them thar college kids. Now SHE'S warm and fuzzy, isn't she?Socialized Medicine: The Stories Just Keep Getting Better
First, there was the story of one of Canadia's premiers choosing to come here to the U.S. for heart surgery, electing to leave his nation's "model" health care system. From the Canadian Press
An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.Second story: Today I read that there are ongoing NHS hospital woes in England. From the BBC:
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.
"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.
"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."
The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.
He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.
Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.
His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.
He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.
Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.
"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.
Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.
"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.
"(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."
Williams said his decision to go to the U.S. did not reflect any lack of faith in his own province's health care system.
"I have the utmost confidence in our own health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are just over half a million people," he said.
"We do whatever we can to provide the best possible health care that we can in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian health care system has a great reputation, but this is a very specialized piece of surgery that had to be done and I went to somebody who's doing this three or four times a day, five, six days a week."
Ah, yes ... the infamous wait times in Canada
[source: US News & World Reports].
Hospital patients were left "sobbing and humiliated" by uncaring staff, an investigation into one of the worst NHS scandals in history has found.
The independent inquiry claimed the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust had become driven by targets and cost-cutting.
The report - the latest in a long line of critical reviews - said the distress and suffering had been "unimaginable".
Last year it was reported there were at least 400 more deaths than expected at the trust from 2005 to 2008.
But the relatives of patients treated there said many questions still remained unanswered.
In particular, they want a public inquiry into how the scandal could have happened, including the role of the wider NHS in the case.
It may be uncomfortable for ministers, but there are still major questions that need to be answered about the Stafford Hospital scandal.The poor treatment patients received is now well documented. But what remains unclear is why it was not picked up earlier.
The hospital would have been monitored by a primary care trust, strategic health authority and host of patient safety agencies, but none picked up the problems. In fact, the SHA even dismissed concerns about high death rates at one point.
......
Stafford Hospital hit the headlines last year when a report was published by the Healthcare Commission claiming patients had been "dying needlessly" and put the number of excess deaths at more than 400.
It reported a catalogue of shocking examples, including cases where unqualified receptionists assessed people as they arrived at A&E.
...
This latest report also outlines instances where patients were "routinely neglected".
It documents cases where patients were left in soiled sheets which relatives were forced to wash.
And it highlights examples where patients were left alone, leading to falls - some fatal, which were not reported.
And one woman, who gave evidence, told the inquiry: "My Mum was in absolute agony, I can hear her screams now, as I walked into the ward."
Half of the patients and relatives who gave evidence also cited problems getting enough food and drink.
The report criticised the "ineffective" management which was too often concerned with hitting targets, particularly in A&E, as well as the "lack of compassion" and "uncaring attitude" of staff.
But staffing levels were also said to be too low because the trust was trying to slash costs by £10m.
"It is time that the public were told the truth about the very large number of excess deaths of patients in NHS care and the very large number of avoidable but deadly errors that occur in NHS hospitals every day."
Since the original Healthcare Commission report, inspectors have been carrying out regular checks and have said care is now safe, although some problems persist over staffing and equipment.
...
Sounds like a nightmare ... that some Americans think would solve all of our problems here. Wake up!
Monday, February 22, 2010
It's Tea Party Time, Baby!!
Oh, and check out this nice little invitation the Dallas Tea Party has issued to Keith Olbermann and his henchmen at MSNBC (which Bob Parks of Black & Right dubs "Many Shows with No Blacks Channel"):
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Holder Admits Nine DOJ Officials Worked for Terrorist Detainees
This Attorney General has got to go!!!!!!!! He demonstrates the legal expertise of a magazine back-page mail order law school diploma!Holder admits nine Obama Dept. of Justice officials worked for terrorist detainees, offers no details
By: Byron York
Attorney General Eric Holder says nine Obama appointees in the Justice Department have represented or advocated for terrorist detainees before joining the Justice Department. But he does not reveal any names beyond the two officials whose work has already been publicly reported. And all the lawyers, according to Holder, are eligible to work on general detainee matters, even if there are specific parts of some cases they cannot be involved in.
Chief Political Correspondent
02/19/10 3:52 PM EST
Holder's admission comes in the form of an answer to a question posed last November by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley. Noting that one Obama appointee, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, formerly represented Osama bin Laden's driver, and another appointee, Jennifer Daskal, previously advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch, Grassley asked Holder to give the Senate Judiciary Committee "the names of political appointees in your department who represent detainees or who work for organizations advocating on their behalf ... the cases or projects that these appointees work with respect to detainee prior to joining the Justice Department ... and the cases or projects relating to detainees that have worked on since joining the Justice Department."
In his response, Holder has given Grassley almost nothing. He says nine Obama political appointees at the Justice Department have advocated on behalf of detainees, but did not identify any of the nine other than the two, Katyal and Daskal, whose names Grassley already knew. "To the best of our knowledge," Holder writes,
during their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees, and four others either contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases or were otherwise involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees.Holder says other Obama appointees, like Holder himself, came from law firms which represented detainees but did no work on behalf of the terrorist prisoners. But other than Katyal and Daskal, Holder does not reveal any names of any Obama appointees, nor does he mention the cases they worked on.
And what are they recused from, anyway? Very little. Holder writes that Katyal has not worked on any Guantanamo detainee matters but has participated in litigation involving detainees who continue to be detained at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan and in litigation involving [Ali Saleh Kahlah] al-Marri, who was detained on U.S. soil." As for Daskal, "she has generally worked on policy issues related to detainees," Holder writes. "Her detainee-related work has been fully consistent with advice she received from career department officials regarding her obligations."
As for everyone else, Holder lists no names and no cases, but in a paragraph filled with modifiers, he makes it clear that all the lawyers who had advocated for detainees are free to work on general detainee matters.
The senior Department officials referenced above, like other political appointees who are similarly situated, have recused from particular matters regarding specific detainees in which their former firms represent the detainee or another party and from decisions relating specifically to the dispositions of particular detainees represented by their former firms. These recusals pertain to decisions relating to particular matters involving specific parties who are or have been represented by their former law firms within the relevant time period. However, as noted above, these senior officials have been authorized to participate in policy and legal decisions regarding detainee matters, in particular matters regarding specific detainees whom their prior employer did not represent, and in decisions relating to the disposition of such detainees. [emphasis added]Finally, it is possible that there are more than nine political appointees who worked for detainees. Holder tells Grassley that he did not survey the Justice Department as a whole but instead canvassed several large offices within the organization.
Bottom line: Holder revealed no names beyond the two already publicly known. He revealed no cases from which Justice political appointees recused themselves. The letter, which will likely be interpreted on Capitol Hill as a thumb-your-nose statement, is sure to anger Republican senators more than satisfy them.
British Court Upholds Discriminatory Labor Practice of British Airways
Here's the story by Aaron J. Leichman of The Christian Post (emphasis added):
You will note that British Airways has changed its uniform policy to permit the wearing of religious symbols. Perhaps it is a matter of principal that Eweida continues with her law suit.British Airways Worker Loses Religious Discrimination Case
A British Airways check-in worker who refused to hide her cross necklace at work has lost her case against the airline in London's Court of Appeals but will likely take it up to the Supreme Court.
Sat, Feb. 13, 2010 Posted: 10:52 AM EDT
A British Airways check-in worker who refused to hide her cross necklace at work has lost her case against the airline in London's Court of Appeals but will likely take it up to the Supreme Court.
The Appeals Court on Friday upheld the November 2008 judgment of an employment tribunal, which found that banning Nadia Eweida from wearing a cross was not discriminatory because Christians “generally” do not consider wearing a cross as a requirement of their religion.
Furthermore, the court's judge ruled, however much British Airways’ ban conflicted with individuals' religious beliefs, the airline was justified in imposing it.
The case reflects "problems which can arise when an individual asserts that a ... practice adopted by an employer conflicts with beliefs which they hold, but which may not only not be shared but may be opposed by others in the workforce,” the judge stated, according to Agence-France Presse.
"It is not unthinkable that a blanket ban may sometimes be the only fair solution," he added.
Although British Airways has since changed its uniform policy to allow for the open wearing of all religious symbols, including crosses, Eweida took the airline to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, claiming the airline had discriminated against Christians by not allowing them to openly wear symbols of their faith while Muslim and Hindu employees were permitted to wear headscarves and turbans.
Eweida wanted British Airways to acknowledge the old policy amounted to religious discrimination, and was seeking 120,000 pounds (nearly $200,000) in damages and lost wages for the roughly three months she was kept off the job.
Following Friday’s ruling, Dr. Vincent Cable, Eweida’s Member of Parliament and the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, vowed to “fight on” and take “this important issue of principle and freedom of expression” to the Supreme Court.
Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for the London-based human rights group Liberty, added: “This is a disappointing judgment that will do little to build public confidence in equality laws protecting everyone.
“But this is just the sort of case that a Supreme Court is for and we have every hope that the highest court in the land will put Britain's long tradition of religious tolerance into modern legal practice,” said Ferguson, who represented Eweida.
According to Liberty, Eweida currently has support from religious leaders, politicians of all parties and the Transport and General Workers Union.
Notably, it was only after a public backlash and widespread criticism from politicians and church leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, that British Airways changed its uniform policy to allow crosses on chains to be worn openly.
Interesting that British Airways made the excuse that Christians are not dictated by their religion to wear crosses. They fail to see that neither does Islam require the wearing of head coverings for women. So, BA allows head coverings but not crosses. Hmmmm ...
Again, we're slapped upside the head with this ridiculous, mindless political correctness nonsense. Such PC-minded (or "blinded") individuals resort to all kinds of contortions to accommodate those of other races and religions, failing or refusing to see when they discriminate against another group.
It reminds me of a colleague at work who complained on several occasions of Christian students observing the annual "See You at the Flag Pole", which is an event of prayer that takes place before the school day starts -- totally protected by the Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, because such an event does not take place during the school day and does not use taxpayer monies. The colleague complained about this on several occasions, so one time I asked her how she felt about some schools being faced with the dilemma of whether to offer classrooms with prayer rugs to their Muslim students during Ramadan during the school day -- a clear violation of separation of church and state. She had no problem with that. In her PC-induced blindness, she could not see her own religious bias.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Billboards Stir Up Controversy in Abortion Debate: Labels Blacks as 'Endangered Species'
This from The Associated Press via FoxNews (the below were added by me for your convenience and were not part of the original article):
Atlanta Billboards Link Race, AbortionToo bad that, according to Prof. Guy-Sheftall, that many black people "could care less" to know about Planned Parenthood's origins and the eugenics background of its founder Margaret Sanger.
ATLANTA — The message on dozens of billboards across the city is provocative: Black children are an "endangered species."
The eyebrow-raising ads featuring a young black child are an effort by the anti-abortion movement to use race to rally support within the black community. The reaction from black leaders has been mixed, but the "Too Many Aborted" campaign, which so far is unique to only Georgia, is drawing support from other anti-abortion groups across the country.
"It's ingenious," said the Rev. Johnny Hunter, national director of the Life Education and Resource Network, a North Carolina-based anti-abortion group aimed at African-Americans that operates in 27 states. "This campaign is in your face, and nobody can ignore it."
The billboards went up last week in Atlanta and urge black women to "get outraged."
The effort is sponsored by Georgia Right to Life, which also is pushing legislation that aims to ban abortions based on race.
Black women accounted for the majority of abortions in Georgia in 2006, even though blacks make up just a third of state population, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Nationally, black women were more than three times as likely to get an abortion in 2006 compared with white women, according to the CDC.
"I think it's necessary," Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for Operation Rescue, said of the billboard campaign. "Abortion in the black community is at epidemic proportions. They're not really aware of what's actually going on. If it shocks people ... it should be shocking."
Anti-abortion advocates say the procedure has always been linked to race. They claim Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger wanted to eradicate minorities by putting birth control clinics in their neighborhoods, a charge Planned Parenthood denies.
"The language in the billboard is using messages of fear and shame to target women of color," said Leola Reis, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Georgia. "If we want to reduce the number of abortions and unintended pregnancies, we need to work as a community to make sure we get quality affordable health care services to as many women and men as possible."
In 2008, Issues4Life, a California-based group working to end abortion in the black community, lobbied Congress to stop funding Planned Parenthood, calling black abortions "the Darfur of America."
Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler said a race-based strategy for anti-abortion activists has gotten a fresh zeal, especially in the wake of the historic election of the country's first black president, Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights.
"He's really out of step with the rest of black America," Scheidler said. "That might be part of what may be shifting here and why a campaign like this is appropriate, to kind of wake up that disconnect."
Abortion rights advocates are disturbed. Spelman College professor Beverly Guy-Sheftall called the strategy a gimmick.
"To use racist arguments to try to bait black people to get them to be anti-abortion is just disgusting," said Guy-Sheftall, who teaches women's history and feminist thought at the historically black women's college.
"These one-issue approaches that are not about saving the black family or black children, it's just a big distraction," she said. "Many black people don't know who Margaret Sanger is and could care less."
For statistics on abortion, you can go to the Guttmacher Institute and read its policy review dated summer 2008: "Abortion and Women of Color: The Bigger Picture."
The second chart "Stark Contrasts" (also from the Guttmacher review cited above) shows Black and Hispanic women have abortions at much higher rates than White women due to a higher rate of "unintended pregnancies."[The Guttmacher Institute says this about its organization: "The Guttmacher Institute advances sexual and reproductive health worldwide through an interrelated program of social science research, public education and policy analysis. For nearly four decades, Guttmacher has demonstrated that scientific evidence — when reliably collected and analyzed, compellingly presented and systematically disseminated — can make a difference in policies, programs and medical practice."]
Sunday, February 14, 2010
American Donations To Haiti Relief Surpass $709 Million
American Charity Donations to Haiti Surpass $709MAlthough there is still a loooong way to go to helping Haiti recover from last month's tragic earthquake, it's amazing to consider how much Americans have given to date.
American charities have contributed more than $709 million to aid quake-stricken Haiti.
Some of the largest gifts from the U.S. came through the American Red Cross ($271 million), Catholic Relief Services ($37.3 million), the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund ($40 million), Doctors Without Borders ($43.5 million), U.S. Fund for UNICEF ($44.7 million), and World Vision ($24.7 million), the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported.
It's been one month since the 7.0-magnitude earthquake turned much of the Caribbean nation into rubble. Amid the chaos and grief, Haitians stopped on Friday to mourn the losses, including the deaths of more than 200,000 people. The nation observed a moment of silence at 4:53 p.m., the time the earthquake struck on Jan. 12.
The devastation has prompted millions of people to open their hearts and wallets for the quake victims, hundreds of thousands of whom are now homeless and hungry.
The United Methodist Church alone has donated $11 million for relief work in Haiti.
"The journey to bring relief to Haiti is going to be long and hard. It calls for generosity and sacrifice," said the Rev. Paul Doherty, chair of the Michigan Area Haiti task force and a United Methodist Committee on Relief liaison, according to the denomination's news service. "A brighter day will come for Haiti."
Other U.S.-based denominations have collected large donations from member churches, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ($4.2 million), the Southern Baptist Convention (more than $4 million), and Christian Reformed Church in North America ( more than $1.7 million), among others.
...
Mohammed Cartoon: Them Skandinavians Are Up To Mischief Again!
Should you need a refresher on those controversial Danish cartoons, click here.2,500 protest Muhammad cartoon in Norway
OSLO -- About 2,500 people marched through downtown Oslo in a protest Friday against a Norwegian newspaper that printed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
The demonstrators chanted "God is great" in Arabic and waved placards calling for a boycott of the Dagbladet daily.
On Feb. 3, the newspaper published a photograph showing a man in front of a computer screen with a depiction of Muhammad as a pig. The picture accompanied an article that said users were posting offensive material about Muslims and Jews on the Facebook page of Norway's security police.
Dagbladet's acting editor-in-chief, Lars Helle, told The Associated Press that he doesn't regret printing the offending image and that he welcomed Friday's protest.
"It was a test for Norwegian society - whether this would be a peaceful protest or not," Helle said.
He said Dagbladet has not received any direct threats since it published the caricature. A hacker attack originating from Turkey brought down the newspaper's Web site for two hours Wednesday evening, but Helle said it's unclear whether that attack was connected to the caricature.
Protesters said they wanted to show Norwegian media how hurtful such images are to Muslims. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
"We have done nothing to anybody. We want to live here in peace. Norway is our home. Our children live here. Why should they (Norwegian media) hurt us like this?" said Naradim Muhammad, a 43-year-old school teacher who helped organize the demonstration.
The demonstration was peaceful, except for a firecracker that was apparently thrown by a protester onto a restaurant patio. It caused burn damage to a patio sofa, but nobody was injured. After the blast, organizers ordered the crowd to disperse, encouraging them to go home or to a local mosque to pray.
Police spokesman Joern-Kristian Joergensen said the protest concluded without further incident.
However, Oslo police, who maintained a low profile during the demonstration to avoid confrontation, would remain on alert throughout the evening, he said.
Angry protests swept across Muslim countries in 2006 after a Danish newspaper printed 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. That newspaper said it was challenging a perceived self-censorship among artists afraid to offend Islam.
This cartoon was originally printed on Feb. 3rd, and it seems to have taken about 2 weeks before the protest against the newspaper started. Oddly, those "offended" seemed to have overlooked the intent of the article -- that of Norway's security police Facebook page getting such pictures posted on it.
Global Warming: The People's Cube Nails It
Hee, hee! I found this humorous little morsel over at The People's Cube:
Global Warming Consensus Reaches 130% with -50% Against
It's official: the consensus for Man-made Climate Change is now over-unanimous. The results from a recent poll conducted by the Mann-Hansen Group strongly support Man-made Climate Change theories by 130% for to -50% against. This unprecedented result was obtained by counting a 'no' vote as a negative response which is added by subtracting. This also generates a positive feedback raising the pro vote beyond the 100% level.
Explained a Mann-Hansen expert, "Yes, the numbers don't exactly add up to 100, a discrepancy we attribute to the carbon offset, as the poll takers, being life forms, have quite a bit of carbon in them. In any case, the whole thing has man's carbon fingerprints all over it. Our computer models can rectify this using the customary Flexible Up and Down Guess Estimate, or FUDGE factor. This might seem unnatural, but Man-made Climate Change is unnatural, so the consensus may as well be, too. You have to fight fire with fire."
He continued, "The Precautionary Principle would seem to imply we act with caution, but as the consensus has passed the 100% tipping point, it no longer applies. This invokes the Post-Cautionary Principle meaning radical, precipitous action is now required. Which is what we've been saying all along, only now we've produced some overwhelming numbers to back us up."
Tea Party Protest: 1st Anniversary is Feb. 27th!
1st Anniversary Nationwide Tea Party Protest
On February 27, we will gather on the steps of the Gateway Arch to demonstrate our commitment to taking back the U.S. Congress in 2010.
One year ago, 38,000 patriots gathered in 40 cities on February 27 to protest continued bailouts and the proposed stimulus. We vowed to build a movement that Washington could not ignore.
- In July, the Senate tabled Cap and Trade
- In August, Congress recessed without taking over healthcare
- In October, Congress began a re-write of healthcare takeover legislation
- In November, the Tea Party movement drove a tax and spend liberal Republican from a U.S. Congressional race in NY-23
- In January, Massachusetts voters elected Republican Scott Brown to replace Ted Kennedy
So join us on the steps of the arch at 1:30. Let’s caffeinate the catfish one more time.
Bring signs, but signs cannot have sticks or poles attached.
Please copy this image and use to print your own business cards to hand out
And check stlouisteaparty.com every day for updates.
Immediately before the 1st Anniversary Tea Party Protest on the steps of the Arch is a 2nd Amendment rally from 10:00 to 12:00. Come to celebrate the right to bear arms and stay to celebrate the right to peaceably assemble, to petition Congress for a redress of grievances, and to retire those who don’t understand why our ancestors left Europe.
Winter Insanity: Beet Juice to the Rescue!
From St. Louis:
The Missouri Department of Transportation is using an anti-icing product made from sugar beets to help keep the roads clear.USAToday reports on Cincinnati's rave reviews:
Mo-DOT used 78,000 gallons of Geomelt to keep roads clear statewide last year. It first started using the Geomelt in northwest Missouri in 2006.
Beet juice is a natural product that works well when mixed with either rock salt or liquid salt brine to keep ice from forming on the roads before a storm. It also helps melt snow and ice once they are already on the roads.
Combined with salt, the beet juice freezes at a lower temperature than just salt alone, so it can be used when the weather is colder - even at temperatures closer to zero. The mixture reduces the corrosive properties of salt and improves its effectiveness. That means less salt, more efficiency and less equipment, bridge deck and vehicle corrosion.
The sugar beet juice is brown in color so salt mixed with it is somewhat brown. The liquid is a by-product of sugar production.
It works by lowering the freezing temperature of the brine that's used to pretreat roads, experts say. And it's made from a waste product that was dumped down the drain before this new use was discovered.Geomelt is produced by Geomelt USA, which encourages a transition from using large amounts of harmful chemicals and salt to using more ecologically responsible products with a minimal impact on the environment.
Road crews learned long ago that pretreating highways with brine before a storm helps prevent the accumulation of snow and ice. Then they learned that adding beet juice to the brine could make the treatment effective at lower temperatures.
A commercial product called Geomelt uses the beet juice that's left after sugar has been extracted from sugar beets. The Ohio Department of Transportation is testing it in 11 counties, spokesman Scott Varner said Wednesday.
"Rock salt alone stops melting snow at about 18 degrees; Geomelt goes to 20 below," Varner said.
Neo-Nazis Overwhelmed by Anti-Nazis at Dresden Protest
I love it! The good guys win -- anti-Nazi demonstrators showed up at a neo-Nazi protest in Dresden, Germany yesterday, effectively helping a sizable police force in the protest.
This from Digital News (emphasis added):
Here are some YouTube videos:
This from Digital News (emphasis added):
As many police as protesters ... and two to three times as many anti-Nazis! How great that 'the good guys' are standing up to these whackos!!!Dresden Neo-Nazi protest overwhelmed by anti-Nazi opponents
Posted Feb 14, 2010 by ■ Stephanie DearingGerman's neo-Nazis gathered at the Neustadt Railway station in Dresden for the annual event in which neo-Nazis commemorate the bombing of Dresden by the Allies during World War II.Dresden, Germany - Police say approximately 5,000 neo-Nazis gathered in preparation for a "funeral march" to mark the deaths of Germans killed in the Allied bombing of the city 65 years ago. Anticipating trouble, the police presence numbered approximately 5,000. But it was the anti-Nazis who were the story Saturday. Police estimate between 10,000 to 15,000 people showed up to block the neo-Nazis. The anti-Nazis joined hands in a human chain to prevent the neo-Nazi's from gaining access to Dresden's city center. Spokesperson for Dresden without Nazis, Lena Roth told media
"We have for the first time succeeded in preventing the biggest neo-Nazi march in Europe."Dresden without Nazis is a loose alliance of many different Dreden groups. The weather Saturday was cold, but those who gathered to oppose the neo-Nazis said it difficult to stay outside, but it was worthwhile. In spite of the heavy police presence, there were scuffles, injuries and arrests.
The neo-Nazis have gathered on each anniversary of the bombing of Dresden, which took place 65 years ago, to draw attention to the "suffering of the German people." Neo-Nazis maintain that the bombing of Dresden was a "halocaust" for the Germans. However, those who turned out to opposed the neo-Nazis said it was important to remember the Nazis had caused World War II.
Dresden city officials and residents mark the anniversary of the bombing every year. This year, thousands of Dresden residents marked the anniversary in a candle-light ceremony on Saturday night.
The neo-Nazis had come to Dresden from around Germany. The pro-Nazis were violent, and police warned them they could not guarantee their safety. There were clashes between police and neo-Nazis, resulting in some injuries. Pro-Nazi protesters also lit barricades on fire.
The Neustadt Railway station is significant to the neo-Nazis because during the war, it is where the Nazis sent off trains full of thousands of Jews and other people to Auschwitz.
During the war, Allied Forces thought Dresden was "a vital command center" for the Nazis. The bombing mission took 12 hours to complete, and when done, Dresden was destroyed. An exact death toll is not known, but estimates range from between 25,000 to 100,000 deaths. The raid has remained controversial, and to this day, the death toll remains debated. Dresden has since been rebuilt.
In 2005, a large contingent of approximately 5,000 neo-Nazis managed to disrupt commemorative ceremonies in Dresden, marking the anniversary.
Here are some YouTube videos:
Get PO'd! It's Time to Party!!!
It's not that I'm all that excited about the Winter Olympics, and, yes, this comes on the heels of last weekend's Super Bowl, but with winter getting rather looooong, any reason to get together with friends and family to party is great.
Feel free to steal this idea. First, cook up a bit batch o' your favorite pasta. (I also bought some tasty pizzas from Sam's -- they're cheap and quite good.) I had a selection of wines for my guests to try, and they volunteered to bring sides and desserts to share. I was tempted to say they could only bring foods that started with an O or a P, but figured that would have been too hokey. But, we did get some pies -- coconut cream and chocolate!!!
NCAA Bans "Eye Black" Messages on Athletes
This from The Christian Post (emphasis added):
NCAA Football Committee OKs Ban on 'Eye Black' NotesYeah, sure -- "equipment issue."
The NCAA Football Rules Committee agreed Wednesday to bar players from displaying words, numbers, logos and other symbols in the anti-glare “eye black” they underline their eyes with.
Though not mentioned in the decision, former college football star and outspoken Christian Tim Tebow has been credited by numerous media and bloggers as having had an influence on the move – dubbed by some already as “The Tebow Rule.”
Though hundreds of college players use their eye black to express themselves, Tebow’s use of the glare reducer had drawn notably attention over the past two years as it touted verses in the Bibles. It became especially prominent the college football season before last as he marched his team toward their second BCS championship in three years.
In the 2009 BCS championship game, Tebow donned the most popular Bible verse in America – John 3:16 – which went on to be googled by some 94 million people over two days. Other verses, the Florida Gators QB has sported include Mark 8:36, John 16:33, Ephesians 2:8-10, and James 1:24.
The recent decision by the NCAA Football Rules Committee came as it held its annual meeting this past week in Indianapolis. Other actions the committee took included the endorsement of a proposal to penalize unsportsmanlike conduct as a live-ball foul beginning in the 2011 season.
The issue regarding “eye black” was among several “equipment issues” that the committee decided to clarify.
Wow. Eye black with messages pale in comparison to the days of grandstanding or pelvic thrusting in the endzone. Besides it being unacceptable to be a person of faith these days, one can't help but wonder if this "Tebow rule" has now drawn fire due to Tebow's "controversial" commercial that aired during The Super Bowl last week?
Coincidence? Hmmmmm ....
Plug-In Hybrids: The Infrastructure May Not Be Ready
Electric cars peak my curiosity, but they continue to pose problems. I have blogged before about my skepticism with regards to hybrid cars (go here, for example), and it sounds like the advent of plug-in electric cars, although promising, might force our nation's electrical companies to scramble in order to beef up the infrastructure.
In December, Reuters via FoxNews reported that Toyota would be selling plug-in hybrids, or PHVs, in two years.
Click here to see the other plug-ins: The Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt.Toyota Motor Corp will begin selling "affordable" plug-in hybrid cars in 2011, upping the ante on General Motors and Nissan Motor as they aim to take the lead in the field of rechargeable cars.
Toyota's first plug-in model, the Prius Plug-In Hybrid (PHV), adds an external charging function and more batteries to the popular Prius to enable longer-distance driving on electricity alone.
Because it can also run on gasoline, plug-in hybrids — such as GM's upcoming Volt due for sale next year — eliminate the "range anxiety" seen as one of the main shortcomings of battery-powered pure electric cars.
The Prius PHV can travel 14.5 miles using only the electric motor, making a short commute possible on zero emissions, Toyota said. On a full charge and full tank of gas, the car could theoretically travel 870 miles, it said.
Toyota, the world's biggest automaker and by far the top seller of gasoline-electric hybrid cars, said it would aim to sell "several tens of thousands" of plug-in hybrid cars to the general public in an "affordable" price range.The third-generation Prius starts at 2.05 million yen in Japan and $22,400 in the United States. Uchiyamada said he expects the mass-produced plug-in cars — which may not take the shape of the Prius — to be sold globally.
The Chevrolet Volt, on track to become the first mass-market plug-in hybrid in the United States, could cost as much as $40,000 before a $7,500 consumer tax credit is applied, GM has said. The U.S. automaker expects to sell about 10,000 Volts in the first year of production and 60,000 in its second full year.
Nissan's pure electric Leaf car due for sale in 2010 has a range of 100 miles on a single charge....
Following this, the Detroit Free Press reported last month that the nation's infrastructure might not be capable of handling the increase load on its electrical system that these PHVs would pose (emphasis added):
Surge of plug-in cars could strain electric companiesI guess as with any new technology, such as the Internet and the demand to improve access and speed, plug-in cars will pose challenges. But, "the powers that be" promise that the need will be met. When there's a will, there's a way, as they say.
Preparing America's neighborhoods to handle the additional power load that electric vehicles are expected to require is among the challenges facing the utility and automotive industries as plug-in electric vehicles are introduced, DTE Energy Chairman Tony Early said today.
Almost every major automaker plans to introduce an electric car over the next three years even though many questions about the technology remain.
Early said nation's power plants and major power lines are capable of providing adequate electricity to meet the additional demand that plug-in electric vehicles for the foreseeable future. But in many cases, the power lines in neighborhoods will need to be upgraded.
With most plug-in electric vehicles expected to cost $40,000 or more, "We can pretty much guess what neighborhoods are going to buy these vehicles. It's going to be upper end neighborhoods," Early said during a panel discussion on electric vehicles in Detroit hosted by Inforum.
That means that the owners of plug-in electric vehicles will live in concentrated areas.
And so the local infrastructure will really be a challenge," Early said. "You will see breakers trip and you will see transformers burn out."
In addition to that challenge, panelists from GM, Chrysler and Ford acknowledged that many other challenges exist, including finding ways to reduce the cost of the lithium-ion batteries that will power electric vehicles and the need for common standards for the size of the plug.
Still, a consensus emerged among panelists that all of those problems can be solved. ...
"This is an idea whose time has come and the technology is emerging to match it," Early said.
Global Warming: The Fat Lady Sings
Snuggle up with your Valentine, because Global Warming ... ain't. ("Baby, It's Cold Outside!")Today's Mail Online over in the UK is reporting today Mr. Hockey Stick, "scientist" Phil Jones, admits that global warming has happened before not due to humanity and that he can't keep track of his own scientific data nor those of others!
Here's the insanity in its entirety ... (emphasis added)
Oddly, the other day I was in a discussion group at school, looking over textbooks for possible adoption. One contained the partyline section on global warming ... it was soooooo hard for me not to pipe up with "Gee, what do we do now that it's been found that there's not a whole lot of good, solid evidence to support Global Warming? Wouldn't this be a bit too political for us teachers to present in class? I suggest we be sure to include the other side of the issue." But, that was just in my little Fantasy Land. Reason warned me, however, that I would be promptly driven from the building and stoned by my PC-conscious colleagues, who would then promptly toss my body over the cliff of political expediency.Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995
By Jonathan Petre
Colleagues say that the reason Professor Phil Jones has refused Freedom of Information requests is that he may have actually lost the relevant papers.
- Data for vital 'hockey stick graph' has gone missing
- There has been no global warming since 1995
- Warming periods have happened before - but NOT due to man-made changes
Professor Jones told the BBC yesterday there was truth in the observations of colleagues that he lacked organisational skills, that his office was swamped with piles of paper and that his record keeping is ‘not as good as it should be’.
The data is crucial to the famous ‘hockey stick graph’ used by climate change advocates to support the theory.
Professor Jones also conceded the possibility that the world was warmer in medieval times than now – suggesting global warming may not be a man-made phenomenon.
And he said that for the past 15 years there has been no ‘statistically significant’ warming.
The admissions will be seized on by sceptics as fresh evidence that there are serious flaws at the heart of the science of climate change and the orthodoxy that recent rises in temperature are largely man-made.
Professor Jones has been in the spotlight since he stepped down as director of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit after the leaking of emails that sceptics claim show scientists were manipulating data.
The raw data, collected from hundreds of weather stations around the world and analysed by his unit, has been used for years to bolster efforts by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to press governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Following the leak of the emails, Professor Jones has been accused of ‘scientific fraud’ for allegedly deliberately suppressing information and refusing to share vital data with critics.
...
Asked by Mr Harrabin about these issues, Professor Jones admitted the lack of organisation in the system had contributed to his reluctance to share data with critics, which he regretted.
But he denied he had cheated over the data or unfairly influenced the scientific process, and said he still believed recent temperature rises were predominantly man-made.
Asked about whether he lost track of data, Professor Jones said: ‘There is some truth in that. We do have a trail of where the weather stations have come from but it’s probably not as good as it should be.
‘There’s a continual updating of the dataset. Keeping track of everything is difficult. Some countries will do lots of checking on their data then issue improved data, so it can be very difficult. We have improved but we have to improve more.’
He also agreed that there had been two periods which experienced similar warming, from 1910 to 1940 and from 1975 to 1998, but said these could be explained by natural phenomena whereas more recent warming could not.
He further admitted that in the last 15 years there had been no ‘statistically significant’ warming, although he argued this was a blip rather than the long-term trend.
And he said that the debate over whether the world could have been even warmer than now during the medieval period, when there is evidence of high temperatures in northern countries, was far from settled.
Sceptics believe there is strong evidence that the world was warmer between about 800 and 1300 AD than now because of evidence of high temperatures in northern countries.
But climate change advocates have dismissed this as false or only applying to the northern part of the world.
Professor Jones departed from this consensus when he said: ‘There is much debate over whether the Medieval Warm Period was global in extent or not. The MWP is most clearly expressed in parts of North America, the North Atlantic and Europe and parts of Asia.
...Sceptics said this was the first time a senior scientist working with the IPCC had admitted to the possibility that the Medieval Warming Period could have been global, and therefore the world could have been hotter then than now.
Professor Jones criticised those who complained he had not shared his data with them, saying they could always collate their own from publicly available material in the US. And he said the climate had not cooled ‘until recently – and then barely at all. The trend is a warming trend’.
Mr Harrabin told Radio 4’s Today programme that, despite the controversies, there still appeared to be no fundamental flaws in the majority scientific view that climate change was largely man-made.
But Dr Benny Pieser, director of the sceptical Global Warming Policy Foundation, said Professor Jones’s ‘excuses’ for his failure to share data were hollow as he had shared it with colleagues and ‘mates’.
He said that until all the data was released, sceptics could not test it to see if it supported the conclusions claimed by climate change advocates.
He added that the professor’s concessions over medieval warming were ‘significant’ because they were his first public admission that the science was not settled.
[Tip: GatewayPundit: "It Was All A Lie: ClimateGate Scientist Admits There Is Not Global Warming"]
UPDATE: This, by the way, followed the story reported at the end of January about England's University of East Anglia refusing to comply with Britain's Freedom of Information Act to hand over its raw data supporting global warming. Guess who the director of the department is? Professor Phil Jones. (Click here for the Times Online story: "Scientists in stolen e-mail data scandal hid data.")
Environmental Guy
"You're only as clean as your colon!!!!"
Jim Carrey ... from his "In Living Color" days.
Jim Carrey ... from his "In Living Color" days.
Tick Disease: Protect Your Dog! Protect Yourself!
You see, this is the point of this post: tick disease may not hit just once. There are several types of tick-borne diseases, and each one can take a while to cure or it may be an on-going condition with occasional recurrences.
Hannah's first known episode began this past October. She started with HGE -- hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. Yep, it's as nasty as it sounds -- both ends fully engaged accompanied by blood in the stools and vomitus. (By the way, I say "known", because she had at least one other case of HGE prior to this.) After a mad dash to the vet's office with my pleading for a last-minute appointment, Hannah was given subcutaneous fluids, a shot to shut down her intestinal tract and a another injection of antibiotics. My normally crazed CBR was curled up on the vet's floor, seemingly relieved to be at the vet's and too weak to be her normal ornery self. She was so sick that at one point I feared she would die.
She got through the night without any "incidents", but the next morning she refused to put any weight on her rear right leg, instead weakly hobbling around on three legs in tripod-fashion. A second trip to the vet resulted in x-rays to assure there was no damage, and at that time she was running a high fever, which was not the case the day before. It was then that my vet started to ask if I had found a tick on her recently. The joint tenderness and high fever were typical symptoms. So, in addition to her original prescriptions for antibiotics and "gut stuff", Hannah was given a tick-specific antibiotic and anti-inflammatories. Within a few days, Hannah was back to putting full weight on the leg and being her usual wild self. (Funny how a dog's bad behaviors, that normally make you crazy, alarm you greatly when they are suddenly absent ... and how happy you are to see those ornery habits return.)
The vet had me bring Hannah in for blood tests for various tick diseases, such as Ehrlichia, Lyme and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The numbers, or "titers", came back testing positive for RMSF, although her number was the lowest on the scale. I needed to bring Hannah back 3 weeks later to test again: the thought being that if she did, indeed have RMSF, the numbers would significantly increase. But, her tests came back the same -- no change. So, the vets decided that she had some kind of tick illness, although none of their tests could determine which one.
Now, as you can imagine, I'm kicking myself for not having had a product like Frontline on Hannah. For those of you pet owners who don't, please start! I am worried that Hannah might continue to have cycles of HGE and lameness, which could have easily been prevented. I thought being in an urban area meant we were safe. Boy, was I wrong! Here's what Dogs & Ticks says:
Each year, thousands of dogs contract Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and other vector-borne diseases. With their furry coats, proximity to the ground and love of exploration, dogs are 50 to 100 times more likely than humans to come in contact with disease-carrying ticks.Let me also make clear: We humans need to protect ourselves, as well! Since Hannah's illness first hit in October, I have met three human friends who have also been infected by tick diseases: my cousin, my colleague's father, and my neighbor. Each of them was in urban areas and not, as you would think would be the typical tick haven, out in the woods.
Ticks can be present anywhere—from the deep woods to urban parks ...
Despite the availability of simple testing, prevention and treatment options, many people don’t know their dog is suffering from these debilitating tick diseases until it’s too late.
My poor neighbor T became seriously ill last summer, resulting in hospitalization and almost a week of tests by several specialists before they arrived at the diagnosis: Lyme disease. Prior to this diagnosis, he had months of odd ailments coupled with significant weight loss. T is presently on his second round of multi-month sick leave with this week ending in another hospitalization due to pneumonia. His immune system remains impaired. The question remains if T will ever be "cured."
Be smart: If you can prevent ticks, do so. Check out your local area for how prevalent tick disease is.
Oh, and don't forget about nasty mosquitoes either -- they carry wicked diseases for both man and dog, as well.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Labor Unions Attempt to Disrupt Tea Party: "Astroturf" in Its Truest Sense
This from that evil bastion of journalism, FoxNews (emphasis added):
Varogas and Rakis' "Independent Strategies" consultant firm -- now THIS is "astroturf" in the truest sense of the word! Their scheme is truly turning into a very twisted web. I guess this is proof that The Tea Party movement is like ... shingles! We're the gift that just keeps on givin' ... and buggin' the crap out of the Left!Anti-Tea Party Web Site Part of Scheme to Funnel Funds
A new Web site targeting the tea parties is a part of a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country's biggest labor unions and trickling slowly into political slush funds for Democratic activists.
A seemingly grassroots organization that's mounted an online campaign to counter the tea party movement is actually the front end of an elaborate scheme that funnels funds -- including sizable labor union contributions -- through the offices of a prominent Democratic party lawyer.
A Web site popped up in January dedicated to preventing the tea party's "radical" and "dangerous" ideas from "gaining legislative traction," targeting GOP candidates in Illinois for the firing squad.
"This movement is a fad," proclaims TheTeaPartyIsOver.org, which was established by the American Public Policy Center (APPC), a D.C.-based campaign shop that few people have ever heard of.
But a close look reveals the APPC's place in a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country's biggest labor unions into political slush funds for Democratic activists.
Here's how it works: What appears like a local groundswell is in fact the creation of two men -- Craig Varoga and George Rakis, Democratic Party strategists who have set up a number of so-called 527 groups, the non-profit election organizations that hammer on contentious issues (think Swift Boats, for example).>
Varoga and Rakis keep a central mailing address in Washington, pulling in soft money contributions from unions and other well-padded sources to engage in what amounts to a legal laundering system. The money -- tens of millions of dollars -- gets circulated around to different states by the 527s, which pay for TV ads, Internet campaigns and lobbyist salaries, all while keeping the hands of the unions clean -- for the most part.
The system helps hide the true sources of funding, giving the appearance of locally bred opposition in states from Oklahoma to New Jersey, or in the case of the Tea Party Web site, in Illinois.
And this whitewash is entirely legal, say election law experts, who told FoxNews.com that this arrangement more or less the norm in Washington.
"It's not illegal but it is, I think, dishonest on the part of the organizations," said Paul Ryan, a legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. "And there's a reason they do it: they know voters don't like outsiders coming in to sway the vote."
Calls and e-mails to the Maryland-based consultant firm Independent Strategies, run by Varoga and Rakis, were not returned.
Public records show at least seven political shops listed in Suite 1102, most of which are essentially clones of one another, but all of which have offered money -- from measly thousands to game-changing millions -- in state-level elections across the country:
-The American Public Policy Committee Donations | IRS forms
-Patriot Majority Donations | IRS forms
-Citizens for Progress Donations | IRS forms
-Oklahoma Freedom Fund Donations | IRS forms
-Mid Atlantic Leadership Fund Donations | IRS forms
-Public Security Now Donations | IRS forms
-Pioneer Majority Donations | IRS forms
-Bluegrass Freedom Fund Donations | IRS forms
The APPC, which developed the anti-tea party ads, has gotten all of its money for 2010 from Patriot Majority and from Citizens for Progress, which is also called Patriot Majority West.
Patriot Majority West sent them $25,000 in January, and Patriot Majority added another $5,000. The groups, both run by Varoga and Rakis, also swap hundreds of thousands of dollars between themselves, money often buttressed by gifts from Patriot Majority Midwest, seen above as the Oklahoma Freedom Fund.
The confusing naming system is intentional, say election law experts, who generally disapprove of the practice. "I do take issue with and have long complained about groups that shield particular special interests with innocuous-sounding names like ... 'Americans for America,'" said Ryan. "That type of naming of an organization, I believe, is specifically intended to obscure the true sources of funding of special interest groups behind political activity."
These three Patriot Majority groups also send checks to Independent Strategies, the strategy firm run by Varoga and Rakis. And some of the 527s have sent money to VR Strategies, another firm run in part by and named after Varoga.
The most recent backers of the Patriot Majority and Patriot Majority West, which helped fund the APPC and thus the Tea Party site, form a veritable Who's Who of the country's top labor unions: the Service Employees International Union, Change to Win, the Communications Workers of America, the National Education Association, the Teamsters Union, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and others besides.
But by far the largest donations have come from a collection of unionized government workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) -- which in 2008 alone donated $5.8 million to Patriot Majority and another $4.1 million to Patriot Majority Midwest.
Using this arrangement, Varoga and Rakis are managing what NPR called a "never-ending pot of union money" that they dispense among the 527s they run, which in turn pay for ads in hotly contested election districts.
That means that taxpayer dollars, sent up as union dues, have been going to fund a host of Democratic causes and help quash the tea party movement.
What's more, Varoga and Rakis are not actually present in Suite 1102. That is the office of their lawyer, Joseph Sandler, a longtime general counsel to the Democratic National Committee....
[Oh, and yet another reason why I'm so glad I quit the NEA a few years ago!]
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