A clever inventor, Patrick Priebe, has created a palm sized laser cannon that looks like something out of Iron Man. Small but very powerful it can pop balloons and make fabric smolder. Not much...yet!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Dow Jones CEO Latest Casualty of Murdoch Scandals
New Corp is teetering. First News of the World goes down, then the Rebekah Brooks, head of News International resigns and now Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal resigns. All due to the hacking crimes of NOTW and other Murdoch papers.
This adds fuel to the rumor that the scandal may spread to the US and the extensive media holdings of Rupert Murdoch here. Additionally, the FBI has launched an investigation of News Corp to determine the extent of any illegal activities that might have taken place in this country. There are allegations of phone hacking of 9/11 victims and bribes to former NYC police officers.
I would imagine the folks over at Fox News are quaking a bit, considering rumors of their own shady practices this could be ugly for them as well.
This adds fuel to the rumor that the scandal may spread to the US and the extensive media holdings of Rupert Murdoch here. Additionally, the FBI has launched an investigation of News Corp to determine the extent of any illegal activities that might have taken place in this country. There are allegations of phone hacking of 9/11 victims and bribes to former NYC police officers.
I would imagine the folks over at Fox News are quaking a bit, considering rumors of their own shady practices this could be ugly for them as well.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Debt Talks - Why the GOP Won't Budge and Why We are in Trouble
It is understandable why President Obama is frustrated with the debt ceiling talks. He is dealing with a modern version of the Roman god Janus. Janus had two faces one looking to the future and one to the past. The GOP has two faces as well, one the more rational conservative like Mitch McConnell (R, KY) and the other the far less rational Tea Party face of Eric Cantor (R, VA).
The whole thing boils down to politics, but the most risky kind imaginable. Right now Moody's, the credit rating service, has said it may downgrade US securities. That would be a real blow to a slow recovery. It would mean higher interest rates and a loss of confidence from our lenders, like China who has already warned against defaulting on our debts. Yet apparently that means nothing to the Tea Party.
The problem is the Tea Party folks have little grasp of the realities and complexities of how our economy works. To them it's just a simple balance sheet of income and debt. Well as any company accountant will tell you, that might work fine for a check book, but things are far more complicated in the world of big money.
The more rational conservatives know we have to raise the debt ceiling in order to keep growing and to eventually grow our way out of our recession. They raised the debt ceiling several times without a whimper during the Bush administrations and never gave it a second thought. Now that they are out of power things have changed? Not really, only the players names and parties.
The GOP sees a chance to make political hay out of this and the Tea Party has caught on to it and rather than seeing it as a tactic, they see it as a line in the sand. They have been watching way too much Fox News, and have lost their grip on reality. That is evident when complete whack-jobs like Michele Bachmann can be considered presidential material. The unfortunate thing is the GOP embraced the Tea Party folks figuring they could be reigned in and join the fold. They can't.
It all reminds me of the point when the GOP decided to play to the evangelical crowd. The fundamentalists had been quietly practicinig their brand of religion for a while and no one gave them a second thought. The GOP saw them as an opportunity and courted their leaders forming the inappropriately titled "moral majority". That dance with the devil brought a radical edge to the Republicans that still exists, only now it takes the face of Tea Baggers.
Obama has his work cut out to negotiate with this modern day Janus. Once face looking to conservative principals and the other glued to Fox News. God help us all!
The whole thing boils down to politics, but the most risky kind imaginable. Right now Moody's, the credit rating service, has said it may downgrade US securities. That would be a real blow to a slow recovery. It would mean higher interest rates and a loss of confidence from our lenders, like China who has already warned against defaulting on our debts. Yet apparently that means nothing to the Tea Party.
The problem is the Tea Party folks have little grasp of the realities and complexities of how our economy works. To them it's just a simple balance sheet of income and debt. Well as any company accountant will tell you, that might work fine for a check book, but things are far more complicated in the world of big money.
The more rational conservatives know we have to raise the debt ceiling in order to keep growing and to eventually grow our way out of our recession. They raised the debt ceiling several times without a whimper during the Bush administrations and never gave it a second thought. Now that they are out of power things have changed? Not really, only the players names and parties.
The GOP sees a chance to make political hay out of this and the Tea Party has caught on to it and rather than seeing it as a tactic, they see it as a line in the sand. They have been watching way too much Fox News, and have lost their grip on reality. That is evident when complete whack-jobs like Michele Bachmann can be considered presidential material. The unfortunate thing is the GOP embraced the Tea Party folks figuring they could be reigned in and join the fold. They can't.
It all reminds me of the point when the GOP decided to play to the evangelical crowd. The fundamentalists had been quietly practicinig their brand of religion for a while and no one gave them a second thought. The GOP saw them as an opportunity and courted their leaders forming the inappropriately titled "moral majority". That dance with the devil brought a radical edge to the Republicans that still exists, only now it takes the face of Tea Baggers.
Obama has his work cut out to negotiate with this modern day Janus. Once face looking to conservative principals and the other glued to Fox News. God help us all!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Meet Rick Perry's Freinds on Prayer Day - Mostly Hate Mongers
Take a look at who Rick Perry is aligning himself with. People who believe Oprah is the devil and gays are plotting to take over the world. They also believe the Holocaust was God's doing to punish the Jews. In other words, wackos and hate mongers. Hope you don't vomit.
Conservative Marriage Vow Pledge - Slavery = Better off Black Children
The Family Leader, a notorious anti-gay group has backtracked on their "Marriage Vow". Apparently they are taking too much flack for their bumbled wording about African American families.
“...sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.”Even conservatives were wary of signing a document this wacky. Now the Family Leader has tried to cover their tracks with this statement:
“After careful deliberation and wise insight and input from valued colleagues we deeply respect, we agree that the statement referencing children born into slavery can be misconstrued, and such misconstruction can detract from the core message of the Marriage Vow: that ALL of us must work to strengthen and support families and marriages between one woman and one man. We sincerely apologize for any negative feelings this has caused, and have removed the language from the vow.”Strengthen marriage? Well the rest of the pledge includes condemning Sharia law, downsizing government, keeping gays out of the military, and stopping illegal immigration. Sounds a whole lot more like a GOP platform than a vow to protect marriage. More from the SPLC on this bunch, who aligns themselves with the hate-group, the AFA.(American Family Association)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Ron Paul - Buh Bye!
So Ron Paul, the perennial Libertarian/Republican/Whatever candidate for President is giving it another whirl. He announced today he is not seeking reelection so he can gird his loins for the 2012 Presidential run.
The 75-year old doctor has been known for his obstinacy in the House and gained the nick name, "Dr. No".
He is running somewhere around 6th in the polls for Republican candidate, behind unannounced candidate Rick Perry. Though he may have been one of the founding forces in the Tea Party, I seriously doubt he will get the GOP nod for president.
My guess is he might run as an Independent or Libertarian or even better just not run at all. I think this will be pretty much the last we hear from Mr. Paul, though his offspring may still be a factor in the future.
The 75-year old doctor has been known for his obstinacy in the House and gained the nick name, "Dr. No".
He is running somewhere around 6th in the polls for Republican candidate, behind unannounced candidate Rick Perry. Though he may have been one of the founding forces in the Tea Party, I seriously doubt he will get the GOP nod for president.
My guess is he might run as an Independent or Libertarian or even better just not run at all. I think this will be pretty much the last we hear from Mr. Paul, though his offspring may still be a factor in the future.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Amazing Magnetic Boy? Amazing What People Believe - Video Bunco
This actually made a news story. Supposedly, it's a Brazilian boy who is a natural magnet. The video purports to demonstrate this.
Any young magician knows this parlor trick. A little moisture on the skin can make smooth objects stick, But apparently reporters are easily fooled. Watch:
Any young magician knows this parlor trick. A little moisture on the skin can make smooth objects stick, But apparently reporters are easily fooled. Watch:
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