HEADLINES OF INTEREST

[Flying Horse]

Scalpels in the basement: Dirty surgical tools infect 1000s.

A special report on the Today show revealed shocking problems at many hospitals.What NBC found suggests that the handling of the increasingly high-tech instruments can be a weak link in hospitals’ patient safety net.
The departments responsible for cleaning and reassembling surgical instruments -- usually known as “sterile processing” -- are frequently found in hospital basements and sometimes staffed by underpaid hourly laborers. These workers can be a forgotten and neglected part of the team involved in a surgical procedure. As the CPI report indicates, the sterilization workers say they feel more like they’re doing an unrecognized service, with pressure from nurses and surgical staff to make the process as fast as possible. The faster the instruments make it into the operating rooms, the more patients are moving through the surgical suites. But what may seem like a push for efficiency can backfire, with disastrous consequences.
New Jersey is the only state that requires hospital sterilization workers to undergo training.
New research finds that too often, surgical tools are leaving the basements still contaminated with hidden blood, tissue and other debris from previous surgeries. Risk management clinical engineer Jahan Azizi at the University of Michigan ran a video camera through 350 suction instruments and found that all of them contained some kind of debris after they had been sterilized according to protocol. His results were presented to the Food and Drug Administration at meetings this past year.
Although the FDA requires device manufacturers to provide cleaning instructions they don’t require hospitals to report dirty surgical instruments that find their way into operating rooms. And, only 25 states are required to report surgical site infections.
The CPI’s Eaton says that part of the problem is the increasing numbers of minimally invasive surgeries has spurred development of smaller, more complex instruments made from materials like tungsten, plastic and other polymers – not just steel and glass. Experts have pointed out that these new tools are harder to clean and require more detailed instructions from the manufacturers. The FDA requires surgical instrument manufacturers to provide cleaning instructions for each tool. But with rapid advances in surgical procedures over the past few decades some say these cleaning instructions have failed to keep up with the changing landscape of the industry.
“Theoretically, if a device is truly impossible to clean, it should never end up on the marketplace,” said Eaton. Moreover, the testing of these reprocessing procedures are conducted in laboratories, not in the real world. This helps explain Azizi’s results in which 100% of suction tools he looked at were contaminated.
Some experts say the system is flawed and what’s needed is tighter regulation from the government, manufacturers and hospitals -- as well as better communication. In the meantime, patients are left with debilitating and lifelong repercussions.

Stop Keystone pipeline before it's too late.

According to Ted Turner, former owner of CNN. now co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which seeks to reduce the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, the Keystone XL pipeline is not in our national interests.
The purpose of Keystone XL is to bring tar sands crude oil through the United States to Gulf Coast refineries from its origins in Canada. n Canada, extraction of tar sands crude requires clear-cutting 1000s of acres of boreal forests, diverting rivers, strip-mining, and destroying critical habitat for some of the largest populations of woodland caribou left in the world. 30% of North America's songbirds and 40% of its waterfowl rely on the wetlands and waterways of the boreal forest.
Tar sands oil production has already created more than 50 square miles of toxic waste ponds so massive they are visible from space. Even more important, tar sands oil extraction produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil and gas, putting even greater strain on our atmosphere and oceans, which have little absorptive capacity left.
Closer to home, the pipeline presents an immediate threat to drinking water for millions and to the livelihood of farmers and ranchers. To transport via pipeline, the thick tar sands crude must be mixed with toxic chemicals and then pumped at extreme temperature and pressure. This sets the stage for more pipeline failures and spills that create a highly toxic mess. The existing Keystone 1 tar sands pipeline has spilled more than 12 times in its first 12 months of operation. In July 2010, a spill of more than 800,000 gallons of toxic tar sands crude from the Enbridge pipeline contaminated more than 30 miles of water and shoreline along the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. This created public health problems, threats to groundwater, widespread fish kills, and destruction of wildlife habitat, contamination that is still being cleaned up at a cost exceeding $700 million.
The potential for pollution of vital groundwater from the Keystone XL pipeline is even more frightening. Depending on the final route of the pipeline, spills would threaten the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest aquifer in the western North American region, upon which millions of people and agricultural businesses depend for drinking water, irrigation and livestock watering.
Meanwhile, the pro-pipeline lobby is pushing the public to accept Keystone XL with fuzzy promises about jobs and security. But TransCanada's jobs claims have been widely discredited, and there is no guarantee the oil transported by the pipeline would remain in the United States for sale. An attempt in Congress to require the oil to be consumed in the United States was rejected just last week, and it has been widely detailed that Gulf Coast refineries plan to export the finished product to Europe and Latin America. How do we become more energy secure under that scenario? Now Congress, by means of an amendment to the highway bill, is pushing to wrest decision-making control over the project from the administration, bypass final environmental review, and force approval of the pipeline before the final route has even been determined.

[Flying Horse]

Devil in the details: Santorum hardly alone in belief in Satan.

Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator and 2012 Republican presidential contender, is making headlines for comments he made at a Catholic university in 2008 about Satan having his “sights on” America. In the speech, which resurfaced recently, Santorum told an audience at Ave Maria University in southwest Florida: “Satan [has been] attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that [have] so deeply rooted in the American tradition.”
He said Satan has been “most successful” in attacking academia, but that Satan also has gone after the church and popular culture. Santorum said politics and government would be the next to fall to Satan’s attack. “The body politic held up fairly well up until the last couple of decades but it is falling too.”
While such frank talk about spiritual warfare is uncommon among presidential candidates, surveys over the past few decades have shown that the majority of Americans do believe in Satan. A 2009 Harris Interactive survey found 60% of American adults believe in the devil, while 82% said they believe in God. "Santorum's comments regarding his theory of the fall of American institutions is, I think, quite relevant in the current presidential debate," said C. Melissa Snarr, associate preofessor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. "What he's saying, it's certainly not any heresy," the Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center, told CNN. "It's the language some preachers would use that conservative Catholics would be very comfortable with. Is it the kind of language theology professors at Catholic universities would use? Probably not. They would likely see it more metaphorically," he said.
Snarr said the media is right to dissect the speech. "Is the media making too much of it? No. He has chosen to make a very public interpretation of the trajectory of the United States (specifically citing an opposition candidate) and his public political theology should be discussed thoroughly," Snarr said in an email response. She added: "This is not to say, however, that a belief in Satan or even spiritual warfare puts him at the 'extreme' end of Christianity. Belief in Satan and Satan's activity is present in multiple Christian traditions and particularly important for more theologically conservative evangelical believers— of whom there are many in the U.S."

Romney and Santorum clash on a range of issues in critical debate

Battling for the mantle of Republican frontrunner in the 2012 nominating contest, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum clashed on issues as varied as health care reform, the role of government and even political endorsements throughout a pivotal Republican presidential debate. The former Massachusetts governor and the former Pennsylvania senator sought to create some separation, largely through dredging up the other's past political missteps.
The debate, the 20th of the primary cycle, comes at a particularly fluid point in the race. Arizona and Michigan host primaries on Tuesday, and 11 states will hold primaries or caucuses a week later on "Super Tuesday." But it's Michigan — where Romney was raised and his father was governor — where the primary campaign has become a proxy battle for momentum in the battle for the nomination.
Against that backdrop, Romney, attacked Santorum along similar themes he'd used on the campaign trail in recent weeks, tarring the former Pennsylvania senator as a career politician who abetted profligate spending. "While I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the Bridge to Nowhere," Romney said during an exchange over the congressional practice of earmarking.
Santorum, a resurgent candidate since upsetting Romney in a trio of nominating contests earlier this month, assailed Romney as an inauthentic conservative of political convenience, particularly as it relates to the health reform law Romney signed as governor. "I believe in markets, not just when they're convenient for me," he said in reference to Romney's support for a 2008 Wall Street bailout, and 2009 opposition to similar assistance to the auto industry
Newt Gingrich spent much of the debate reprising a role that had won him past success in debates, by playing antagonist to President Obama and the media, two favorite GOP bogeymen. And Texas Rep. Ron Paul again employed his libertarianism to criticize all of the other Republicans onstage, sometimes to the benefit of Romney.
But the fight between Santorum and Romney was the heavyweight showdown of the evening, and the most persistent of tonight's debate. Their battles extended to most areas of discussion, like contraception or health reform, to some of the finer points of congressional endorsements and earmarking. Santorum said during an exchange with Romney over funding for contraceptive services that it would be difficult for Romney to be the nominee because of his health care plan in Massachusetts, the biggest issue in the race - government in control of our lives.
Romney reminded Santorum that the former Pennsylvania senator had endorsed him for president in 2008, during which Santorum praised Romney as the most conservative candidate. And he sought to defuse Santorum's criticism on "ObamaCare" by pointing out that Santorum had worked to re-elect Sen. Arlen Specter over conservative challenger Pat Toomey in 2004. (Specter ultimately left the GOP and became one of the decisive votes to past Obama's health reform law.)
One of the few areas of agreement during the evening came on the matter of foreign policy, when Santorum and Romney argued for similarly hawkish policies. <Hasn't the GOP learned anything from our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan?>
Gingrich had sought to use tonight's meeting to infuse his campaign with new energy after skipping most of February's caucuses and primaries in favor of raising much-needed money. But the ex-speaker seemed relaxed by not having to spar as directly with GOP challengers, and focus instead on the GOP's common enemies. He focused on the matter of immigration, an important issue in the Latino electorate and in Arizona.
Paul stuck to the kind of message that's won him a loyal following within a segment of the Republican Party -the need for a more limited foreign policy and a radically smaller role for the federal government. Paul hasn’t yet won any of the primaries or caucuses (the latter on which he’s specifically focused), but he’s managed to pick up some delegates in the process. The libertarian-minded congressman has fought on. sometimes to the benefit of Romney, since Paul’s advertisements have gone after the former Massachusetts governor’s rivals. He has been sharply critical of Santorum as inauthentically conservative.
But in the end, no one seemed to land a knockout punch and the impact any made on Tuesday's primaries is anyone guess.

[Flying Horse]

Headlines of Interest for February 24, 2012

Why isn't the world intervening in Syria?

....As the death toll grows in Syria, so do the desperate pleas for help. So why isn't the world responding? China and Russia, two Syrian allies, vetoed a UN resolution earlier this month that would have condemned the Syrian regime and provided legitimacy for a Libya-like intervention if necessary. Many just feel that it is just too risky to give weapons and support to what is still an uncertain entity.
Perhaps most importantly, al-Assad still has the support of Syria's army -- one that is much stronger, better equipped and more unified than the one in Libya. "As long as Damascus, Aleppo, most mosques, schools and the bulk of the armed forces support (al-Assad), we would be mistaken to underestimate the risks of an all-out war, sectarian bloodshed and rival tribal fighting," said Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
There are geographical concerns that have to be taken into account when considering military intervention in Syria. Its neighbors probably won't be very accommodating for supplies, troops or anything else that might be needed in the mission. Iraq and Lebanon have their own sectarian issues and Jordan would likely be hesitant to help. Israel is out of the question. Which leaves Turkey as the most likely staging ground, but they have risks to consider as well. Topography also is a concern, being much more mountainous than Libya, and that would make fighting -- not to mention travel -- much harder.
The US isn't taking any long-term options off the table, but right now it's committed to clamping down with tougher sanctions, not arming the opposition. "Our strong preference is not to fuel what has the potential to become a full-blown civil war," said Susan Rice, the US mbassador to the UN. The hope is that economic difficulties will eventually turn more of the Syrian people, including its soldiers, against al-Assad.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a recent blog post agrees that economics could become a major problem for the Syrian regime. "It's not like Saudi Arabia," he said. "It can't bribe its people. It doesn't have that kind of ability even to bribe the army. "Eventually, they're going to face real cash shortfalls. And what that means going forward is a really interesting question. This is not a regime that can outlive the sanctions and all this pressure unendingly. They have got one source of cash right now: Iran. And that, too, is drying up."
Perhaps the key question to ask right now is, how long do you wait? With people dying every day, when do you say enough is enough and give up on sanctions? "Today, the death toll is approaching 8,000, with 60,000 detained and 20,000 missing," a Syrian resistance leader said in a plea posted to CNN.com last week. "When will it be the right time to help us? What other option is there that hasn't been tried yet?"

Do the GOP candidates get Iran?

It's no surprise that this week's Republican presidential debate in Arizona was a Wild West shootout. The candidates unloaded on each other, on President Barack Obama and, among others things, on Iran. As Iran becomes a top foreign policy topic in the election season, it is worth noting the positions of the various candidates. First off, we should cut the candidates a break. The Republican Four are not Iran experts and should not be held to that standard. Second, this campaign -- like others in the past -- has had its share of attacks and counterattacks where facts are often stretched or ignored.
Ron Paul did the best job in saying things that were factual. He is right that the Soviet Union was one of the most brutal regimes in human history. The Soviets had nuclear weapons, and we talked to them -- and that turned out to be a good thing. He is also correct in saying that when a country is threatened, its hardliners often gain strength because of a "rally around the flag" effect. His implied claim that sanctions always fail is a little shakier. Sanctions are a tool, a means toward an end to be used in combination with other policy tools, including negotiation.
Rick Santorum suggested that the way to deal with the Iran is by supporting pro-American Iranians and the Greens opposition movement to oust the government in Tehran. The only problem is that Iranians who oppose the government nevertheless support a civilian nuclear program. In fact, a top leader of the Greens opposition even criticized Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad for being too soft on the nuclear issue.
Perhaps the most bizarre answer on Iran came from Mitt Romney. His chief concern? Iran will give enriched uranium to Hezbollah or Hamas, who would then travel to Latin America and then maybe on to the U.S. to detonate a dirty bomb. 1st, nuclear weapons and dirty bombs are fundamentally different things (enriched uranium is a terrible material for a dirty bom), 2nd, governments, especially paranoid ones, don't just hand off nuclear material to some wacky third party, if only because they fear the wacky group will use it against them. 3rd, Iran has for decades had plenty of dirty bomb material it could use for such an attack. And yet it hasn't happened.
Newt Gingrich gave the most troubling response, arguing for military strikes against Iran, maintaining that Ahmadinejad is a dictator who would use nuclear weapons against Israel. The problem here is that he has his facts wrong. Ahmadinejad is not the leader of Iran; the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is. Actually, Ahmadinejad is now little more than a figurehead. He's closer to a dead duck and has been for some time.
All in all, the Republican presidential hopefuls did not do horribly. Still, on issues of war and peace, where the lives of American servicemen and servicewomen and their families hang in the balance, we should expect those who would be president -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- to stand more firmly with the facts.

[Flying Horse]

Headlines of Interest for February 25, 2012

Canadian sled dog killings prompt new rules

The government of British Columbia, Canada has published new regulations governing the handling of sled dogs — a move prompted by a grisly 2010 case in which a tourism company near Whistler killed as many as 100 animals that become "surplus," amid slumping business. The Sled Dog Code of Practice is a step — a small one, according to critics — toward addressing problems in competitive and entertainment dog sledding that is mostly unseen. "The problem with this whole issue is these (breeding and training) operations are out of the public eye," said Debra Probert, executive director of the Vancouver Humane Society. "People see the dogs in public, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes."
The sled dog slaughter came to light only when one of the employees of Howling Dog Tours Whistler Ltd. who were charged with killing the dogs by shooting them and slitting their throats applied for compensation from the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia because he said he was suffering trauma from the task. The WorkSafeBC document explaining the decision to approve the compensation was leaked, making incident public in gruesome detail.
Animal rights critics have long criticized major dog sled races — especially the 1,100-mile Iditarod across Alaska, which begins March 3. Mushers are adamant that dogs love the work, that they are bred to do it, and that no one loves the dogs more than they do. But critics say pushing the dogs to run 100 miles a day for two weeks is brutal. One or more dogs die in the race nearly every year, despite the volunteer veterinarians who attend to the animals. The new British Columbia regulations are primarily focused on the breeding, training, transportation and euthanizing of the animals. They spell out requirements for pens and tethers, exercise, socializing, grooming and nail care. And they say that euthanizing should not be a means of culling or population control.
The standards disappointed some animal advocates, including the Vancouver Humane Society, which had advocated banning sled dog racing. And some were outraged that the regulations spell out how sled dog owners should euthanize dogs if they cannot race anymore and can't be placed in a new home. A diagram illustrates the proper way to position a gun at a dog’s head to ensure a clean kill. Nonetheless, the British Columbia regulations move the province ahead of other Canadian jurisdictions, where no specific regulations exist.
Within the United States, Alaska currently has among the weakest legal protections for animals, with only a few lines in state law that require "minimum conditions" for "adequate" nutrition and care. Just last month, an Alaska court found a sled dog breeder guilty of cruelty to animals after local authorities found 19 dead dogs and 168 more severely malnourished at his operation in Willow. Frank Rich was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of animal cruelty.
A task force has just started formulating standards to elaborate on the law.
A task force has just started formulating standards to elaborate on the law. "The challenge is to make them broad enough to encompass all sorts of dog lifestyles," including athletes like sled dogs, said Jay Fuller, veterinarian for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. "We’d like to make clear standards for what is acceptable." There is no question of barring dog sledding, which is protected by state law, he said. “Any regulations we adopt have to be consistent with state law, and the law says (the competitions) are OK,” Fuller said.
"What I hope is that there will be a universal standard of care for all dogs," said Maureen O’Nell, executive director of the Alaska Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, who is taking part in the meetings. She said that sled dogs are a particularly sensitive case, and some would like to create special rules for them. "The mushers are a strong community and I think there has been hesitation to what might somehow be perceived as anti-mushing,” she said.

8 reasons why gas will hit $5 a gallon this year

Oil prices have moved up from $75 a barrel in October of last year to more than $100 a barrel currently. And the trend continues to point toward even higher oil prices. Of course, along with the price of oil, gas prices have also risen, almost in lockstep. The price of gasoline today is 10% higher than it was just two months ago. The average price for a gallon of regular is almost $3.62. Gas prices in January have been the highest ever recorded price for that month. Many economists and energy analysts believe a rise to $4 a gallon is inevitable. But their estimates could be grossly understated. Gas will reach $5 a gallon before the end of the year.
Two warring trends are pushing and pulling gas prices. On the one hand, Americans now drive less than at any time in the past 11 years. On the other hand, gasoline and oil inventories are at very low levels around the world, and traders believe that supply will tighten significantly. The fact that Americans drive much less will not offset an interruption of supply from the Middle East, a decision by refineries to charge more to turn oil into gasoline, or higher demand from emerging economies like China and India.

• Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the crude oil produced in the world is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has threatened to shut down shipping traffic through it. The US Navy has a carrier group in the area but it isn't clear if the US government would act without the open support of allies or the UN.
  
• Iran. Because of the embargo against the nation due to nuclear weapons violations, the U.S. has pressured large oil importers such as Japan to act to isolate Iran by cutting their imports. As the world’s third largest oil importer, Japan indeed will have to get its oil somewhere other than Iran -- which will put more pressure on current production.
  
• Refiners raising prices. Most of the oil refined on the east coast of the U.S. is Brent crude, a type of oil produced from the North Sea. The price of Brent -- more than $124 a barrel -- is almost $16 higher than the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the amount most people read about in the media. But because Brent has replaced WTI as the global price benchmark, U.S. refiners set prices for gasoline and other products as if Brent were the only grade of crude used. That allows refiners with access to cheaper WTI to make larger profits. To avoid losses, refiners will have to increase gasoline prices.
  
• Other geopolitical risks. In Nigeria, which is the 14th largest producer of oil in the world, Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has continued to attack Christian pipelines, apparently in a move to disrupt the government. Venezuela is the world’s 11th largest producer of crude and Hugo Chavez is due for a 2nd cancer surgery later this month. Some analysts question his ability to hold onto the presidency through the current election cycle. Analysts recently mentioned Bahrain, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria and Yemen as political flashpoints all of which translate to more concerns about oil supply - and the price rises.
  
• The European Union. Deepening financial and economic trouble in Europe would drop demand for oil there. However, if leaders in the region can settle on mechanisms to protect nations with financial problems from default, national budgets will not be cut to extraordinarily low levels -- levels that would otherwise kill both consumer demand and business demand for oil.
  
• US economic recovery. The argument that Americans now drive less is not a powerful one for gas and oil demand when a healthy economy also means more consumption of oil for business, petrochemicals and jet fuel. Demand for oil-based products across the entire economy will pick up with any recovery.
  
• Summer. So long as the U.S. economy continues to improve, more drivers will be on the road this summer.
  
• Supply risk. OPEC members produced nearly 31 million barrels a day, cutting the cartel’s spare capacity capability from 3.18 million barrels per day to 2.85 million. Saudi Arabia accounts for 2.15 million of those daily barrels of spare capacity. Russia is the world’s 1st or 2nd largest producer and the OECD is counting on Russian production to make up for some of the short supplies and to grow by 1.4% to 10.72 million barrels a day in 2012. There is no guarantee that Russia will deliver. Supply from Canada, the US, Australia and Brazil is expected to rise in 2012, though North Sea production is expected to fall. The OECD estimates global demand in 2012 of 90 million barrels a day and global supply essentially equal to projected supply. Nothing about that state of affairs should lead anyone to a conclusion that prices will fall.
  

[Flying Horse]

Headlines of Interest for February 26, 2012

[Flying Horse]

Headlines for 26 February 2012

Silence is goldgen: "The Artist" fules at Oscars.

Vive la France! Vive la...silent black-and-white movies? The Artist was expected to win a number of the major Academy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles, and the French, mostly silent, mostly black-and-white film did just that. It claimed 5 - the golden statuettes for best picture, best director, best actor and even best costume design and best score.
Jean Dujardin, acclaimed in his native France but little-known in America, won the best actor honor for his role as a silent-film actor who can't adjust to talkies. "I love your country!" he exclaimed upon reaching the stage. "Artist" director Michel Hazanavicius claimed the best director award. His wife, Berenice Bejo, stars in the film and was nominated for best supporting actress, but lost to Octavia Spencer in The Help.
The best actress category, one many expected to go to Viola Davis for her role in The Help. nstead, Meryl Streep's name was called for her role as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no! Oh, come on! Why her? Again?' But whatever," the star joked. The Iron Lady, which ages Streep from a young Thatcher to a woman in her 80s, also won the Oscar for makeup.
Octavia Spencer claimed the best supporting actresss Oscar for her role as a maid in The Help. Her tearful acceptance speech thanked the Academy for pairing her with "the hottest guy in the room," as she cradled her trophy. The announcement of her win was greeted with a standing ovation. She is the fifth African-American woman to ever win the honor.
Christopher Plummer, 82, set a record as the oldest man or woman ever to win an acting Oscar when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a homosexual man coming out of the closet in Beginners. “You’re only two years older than me, darling, where have you been all my life?” Plummer asked his Oscar statuette. Plummer's career spans over six decades, and he is perhaps best remembered for playing Captain Von Trapp in 1965's The Sound of Music.
Bret McKenzie of "Flight of the Conchords" fame won the best original song Oscar for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets. He said he grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets and was thrilled to work with them. He also thanked the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, saying "it's a true honor to work in the shadow of such legends." Woody Allen, who's famous for not attending the Academy Awards, won the best original screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris, in a pick that was a surprise to many who expected The Artist to claim that honor. The Descendants won for best adapted screenplay.
Martin Scorsese's Hugo was the most nominated film of the night, with 11 nominations. It claimed five technical awards, winning for cinematography, art direction, sound editing, sound mixing, and best visual effects.
Undefeated, about an underdog high-school football team, won for best documentary feature. The filmmakers used their speech to apologize to a friend who had told them they'd win a year ago, saying they were sorry for calling him an idiot. Filmmaker T.J. Martin was bleeped for calling the win "f------ awesome," but later said "we meant no offense."Rango, with Johnny Depp voicing a chameleon who saves a town in the Old West, won for best animated feature film.
All in all, I found it enjoyable last night. I was interested to see how often the Golden Globes and the Oscars meshed. The main exception was The Artist and its star Jean DuJesin. The Golden Globes went to The Descendents and George Clooney. I think, from all I've heard, the Oscars got it right.
And then there was Angelina Jolie's leg!!

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Frozen embryo 'open adoption' raises hopes, questions.

Meet the modern "open adoption" family -- at least two hopeful humans and one embryo, brought together by science, trust, complicated legalities and a goodly bit of luck. Carmen Olalde really wanted children. She went through years of infertility treatment and IVF, then a difficult pregnancy, to have her twins. And as her twins turned four, she realized that two kids were enough. But she still had four frozen embryos from her last IVF cycle.
And so she made a decision that put her at the frontier of reproductive ethics. She donated the embryos to a Virginia couple also suffering from infertility, whom she met via a website ad – on the condition that the donation be "open," and they send regular photos of any resulting child and hopefully keep in touch by e-mail and phone.
Many post-birth adoptions these days are “open,” in which the birth and adoptive families know each other’s name and perhaps have some degree of contact. Pre-birth arrangements may be following suit, though the law hasn't yet caught up. Embryo donation has long been available at IVF clinics, but in the late 1990’s, embryo “adoption” agencies opened, with the goal of placing the roughly 500,000 unused frozen embryos in the U.S. with prospective families. Although they encourage open arrangements, most agencies leave that decision to the families involved.
The control factor appealed to Karolina Dembinska-Lemus and her husband Oscar, who received Olalde's frozen embryos. “For about three-and-a-half years we tried everything, domestic and international adoption and being foster parents. We had parents changing their minds left and right. It got to be too much,” she says. She was also looking for embryos from Hispanic parents like the Olaldes; Oscar is from El Salvador. Embryo donation is also generally cheaper than finding an egg donor or a surrogate.
The donation arrangements are murky legally, as well as emotionally. Adoption laws only cover children already born, so families involved in embryo donation usually sign forms and contracts dictating "ownership" of the embryos, often hiring their own lawyers for private agreements. Some follow up with a legal adoption after a child is born to further secure their rights.
Margaret Swain, an attorney whose practice focuses on adoption and reproductive technology, says children born from donation will likely appreciate an open arrangement, even though parents might initially feel uncomfortable. “Following the lessons learned from adoption, and what we are hearing from children born through gamete donation, some degree of openness is probably a good idea. Children born of gamete donation -- donation of either egg or sperm -- usually like to know more about the person who donated, or to meet that person,” she says.
Debra McCrea of Grimes, Iowa says she felt on some level that embryos she donated were, after all, her children, which was why she chose to give them to a family rather than to science. She donated six embryos each to three different recipients -- one of whom she found on Craigslist. “Although it would be awesome to have a chance to save somebody’s life through stem cell research, that’s not the reason we went into this. I wanted my kids to have a ton of siblings, but my husband and I couldn’t afford to have that many. “There are some emotional ties there. But it’s a gift for us, because otherwise they wouldn’t have a chance to come to life to all,” she says.

Silence is goldgen: "The Artist" fules at Oscars.

Vive la France! Vive la...silent black-and-white movies? The Artist was expected to win a number of the major Academy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles, and the French, mostly silent, mostly black-and-white film did just that. It claimed 5 - the golden statuettes for best picture, best director, best actor and even best costume design and best score.
Jean Dujardin, acclaimed in his native France but little-known in America, won the best actor honor for his role as a silent-film actor who can't adjust to talkies. "I love your country!" he exclaimed upon reaching the stage. "Artist" director Michel Hazanavicius claimed the best director award. His wife, Berenice Bejo, stars in the film and was nominated for best supporting actress, but lost to Octavia Spencer in The Help.
The best actress category, one many expected to go to Viola Davis for her role in The Help. nstead, Meryl Streep's name was called for her role as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. "When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no! Oh, come on! Why her? Again?' But whatever," the star joked. The Iron Lady, which ages Streep from a young Thatcher to a woman in her 80s, also won the Oscar for makeup.
Octavia Spencer claimed the best supporting actresss Oscar for her role as a maid in The Help. Her tearful acceptance speech thanked the Academy for pairing her with "the hottest guy in the room," as she cradled her trophy. The announcement of her win was greeted with a standing ovation. She is the fifth African-American woman to ever win the honor.
Christopher Plummer, 82, set a record as the oldest man or woman ever to win an acting Oscar when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a homosexual man coming out of the closet in Beginners. “You’re only two years older than me, darling, where have you been all my life?” Plummer asked his Oscar statuette. Plummer's career spans over six decades, and he is perhaps best remembered for playing Captain Von Trapp in 1965's The Sound of Music.
Bret McKenzie of "Flight of the Conchords" fame won the best original song Oscar for "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets. He said he grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets and was thrilled to work with them. He also thanked the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, saying "it's a true honor to work in the shadow of such legends." Woody Allen, who's famous for not attending the Academy Awards, won the best original screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris, in a pick that was a surprise to many who expected The Artist to claim that honor. The Descendants won for best adapted screenplay.
Martin Scorsese's Hugo was the most nominated film of the night, with 11 nominations. It claimed five technical awards, winning for cinematography, art direction, sound editing, sound mixing, and best visual effects.
Undefeated, about an underdog high-school football team, won for best documentary feature. The filmmakers used their speech to apologize to a friend who had told them they'd win a year ago, saying they were sorry for calling him an idiot. Filmmaker T.J. Martin was bleeped for calling the win "f------ awesome," but later said "we meant no offense."Rango, with Johnny Depp voicing a chameleon who saves a town in the Old West, won for best animated feature film.
All in all, I found it enjoyable last night. I was interested to see how often the Golden Globes and the Oscars meshed. The main exception was The Artist and its star Jean DuJesin. The Golden Globes went to The Descendents and George Clooney. I think, from all I've heard, the Oscars got it right.
And then there was Angelina Jolie's leg!!

[Flying Horse]

Headlines for 28 February 2012:
3rd student dies in Ohio school shooting.

...Toll grows after Monday's attack in Chardon, Ohio. Suspect in shooting reportedly comes from a violent family. Thomas Lane Jr., the father of suspect T.J. Lane, had been arrested several times for abusing women he had children with, including the teen's mother, the newspaper reported. The father had been warned to stay away from the teen's mother at least once, records reportedly showed.
Thomas Lane filed for divorce from the teen's mother in 2002 and later that year was charged with attempted murder, felonious assault and kidnapping, WKYC-TV cited court records as showing. He was convicted of felonious assault and sentenced to 5 years probation. It was not immediately clear what the charges stemmed from.
Officials believe Lane opened fire inside a high school cafeteria at the start of the classes on Monday, hitting five students. Daniel Parmertor was killed instantly and on Tuesday officials said Demetrius Hewlin had died while Russell King Jr. was declared brain dead. Two others remain hospitalized.
"He had no emotion on his face, he was just shooting," a Chardon student told WKYC. Travis Carver, another student present in the cafeteria at the time said the expression on the gunman's face was "straight determination."
When asked about the suspect, his family's lawyer called him a "good kid." "By all accounts T.J. is a fairly quiet and good kid. His grades are pretty impressive," Bob Farinacci said. "He's a sophomore. He's been doubling up on his classes with the intent of graduating this May. He pretty much sticks to himself but does have some friends and has never been in trouble over anything that we know about." "The family wanted me to convey to the citizens of Geauga County and Northeastern Ohio that the family is devastated," Farinacci said in the statement late Monday. "They want to give their most heartfelt and sincere condolences to the family of the young man who passed and their continuing prayers are with all those who were injured."

'Stunning discovery' in Jerusalem resurrects 'Jesus Tomb' debate.

Using a remote-controlled camera on the end of a robotic arm, investigators have found what could be the earliest evidence of a Christian iconography in Jerusalem, engraved on a set of "bone boxes" inside a nearly intact 1st-century tomb. One of the limestone boxes, known more formally as an ossuary, carries a Greek inscription calling on God to "rise up" or "raise up" someone. Another box appears to show the carved image of a fish, perhaps with the prophet Jonah in its mouth. Allusions to fish and the "sign of Jonah" came to be widely used among early Christians, but not among Jerusalem's Jews.
Those discoveries alone would be enough to get biblical scholars excited. But the investigators in this case are the same people who claimed five years ago that ossuaries from a nearby tomb were engraved with the names of the biblical Jesus and his family. They're putting forth this new find as supporting evidence for their earlier claims, and resurrecting the topic in a newly published book (The Jesus Discovery) as well as a Discovery Channel documentary that's due to air this spring.
That almost guarantees that the link to Jesus will take center stage once again in the discussion of the discovery, with most archaeologists discounting the connection. There's even a chance that the renewed controversy would push this most recent find out of the spotlight. That would be a terrible shame, said John Dominic Crossan, an expert on 1st-century Christianity and former Catholic priest who is a professor emeritus at DePaul University. "It's a stunning discovery," he said. "It's a stunning piece of technology. As a scholar, I really don't want to get lost in saying, 'Oh, come on, it's off the wall.' Yeah, it's off the wall. But look at the wall!" Or in this case, look at the box.
It is thought that the use of such bone boxes in Jerusalem ceased in the year 70, due to the Roman destruction of the city. Thus, there's a chance that the residents buried in the Patio Tomb actually lived during the time of Jesus and his first disciples. However, Crossan noted that Christians weren't the only ones in 1st-century Jerusalem who held a religious belief in resurrection. The Pharisees and the Essenes also looked forward to the resurrection of the righteous, he said. "What I would say is ... this is a rich Pharisee, a rich person in the 1st century who believes in the resurrection," Crossan told me. "We always thought that [the image of] Jonah coming out of the fish was peculiarly Christian. Maybe that's one more thing that the early Christians took from Jewish tradition, and this would be the first evidence."

[Flying Horse]

Headlines for 29 February 2012:

Keystone pipeline claims just don't add up.

Proponents of the Keystone oil pipeline argue the $7 billion project will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, give the economy a shot in the arm, lower gasoline prices and wean the U.S. from foreign imports. Too bad the claims don’t hold up.
House Speaker John Boehner renewed his attack on the White House this week for postponing approval of the project pending a State Department review of the environmental impact of the proposed 1,661-mile pipeline, which would cross six Midwest states to deliver Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast. Republicans have intensified their attacks on Democratic Pres. Obama's energy policies in recent days, blaming them for higher pump prices that could hurt his re-election prospects in the Nov. 6 face-off against the eventual GOP nominee.
There's no doubt that rising North American oil production has created pipeline bottlenecks for companies trying to get their product to market. One major chokepoint at a central storage hub in Cushing, Okla., has created such a glut of oil that it's forced prices lower, providing consumers in the middle of the country with a significant discount at the gas pump. But proponents' case that the Keystone XL pipeline will bring major economic benefits to the U.S. is much harder to make.
Critics say the jobs created will be a drop in the bucket of the US labor force, which totaled more than 153 million people in January. Even if those jobs were added in a single month, they would reduce the unemployment rate by just 0.01%. When measured against just the construction and manufacturing workforces, the impact would be 0.07%. Critics of the company's claims, including a group of Cornell University researchers, also note that the employment impact would amount to the equivalent of 15,000 jobs that last only a year. "We're not looking down our nose here at temporary jobs. A six-month job is better than no work," said Sean Sweeney, one of the authors of a report on the pipeline's economic impact. "But the actual effect of the project is finite. It's not going to create jobs permanently."
The Cornell report also notes that a significant portion of the economic impact will be felt outside the U.S. Some 50% or more of the steel pipe used for Keystone XL, the report said, will be manufactured outside of the U.S. "A lot of the steel for Keystone XL is already stockpiled in the US and sourced from India and Canada," said Sweeney. "Those are not U.S. jobs, those are Indian and Canadian jobs."
TransCanada also argues that the six states crossed by the pipeline's route "are expected to receive an additional $5.2 billion in property taxes during the estimated operating life of the pipeline." But that analysis fails to account for the likely damage caused by oil spills along the pipeline route. In the past five years, more than half a million barrels of oil and other hazardous liquids have been spilled from US pipelines, killing 76 people and causing some $2.4 billion in property damage, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Some of the biggest claims about the pipeline's economic benefits are based on the argument that it will lower oil prices by increasing supplies and reducing the risk of a cutoff of shipments from less-friendly foreign suppliers. That assumption generated some very large numbers in author Robert Perryman's analysis, some of which have become part of the political debate. But critics argue that Keystone will raise the price of oil consumed in the US, not lower it. That's because the current glut of oil created by the bottleneck at the Cushing hub would allow Canadian producers to reprice their oil at the global benchmark, which is now about $15 a barrel higher. The total increase would amount to some $2 billion to $4 billion a year, according to the company's own estimates presented in its application to Canadian authorities.
"Oil companies don’t benefit by reducing the price that we pay at the pump," said Jeremy Symons, a spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation. "The reason they're willing to invest so much money to build in a pipeline all the way across America is to maximize their profit. And that means we're all going to pay more."
One of the most popular claims by the pipeline's political supporters centers on the benefits of "energy security." They assert that increasing the supply of oil bought from a friendly neighbor will offset the reliance on politically hostile suppliers in the Middle East. But critics say that argument fails for several reasons. First, while increased oil output from Canada would displace a small fraction of US imports from other sources, even if the Keystone pipeline weren't built that oil would almost certainly flow to the US over existing pipelines or by other modes of transportation, such as railcars. The US imports just about every barrel of oil Canada produces. (Only 1.7% of Canadian oil goes to non-US destinations.)
Secondly, the flow of oil to the Gulf could actually lower the share of Canadian oil consumed in the US because, once transported to Houston, oil producers would have access to a global shipping hub in a tariff-free zone, giving them a financial incentive to export at least some of it. Moreover, the US is already steadily “weaning” itself from foreign oil based on forces that will likely remain in place for some time, with or without the Keystone pipeline. Since 2005, US dependence on imported oil fell from 60.3% in 2005 to 49.3% in 2010 due to a variety of factors, according the Energy Department. The biggest reason is that demand is falling; it's down 12% from the peak in 2007 thanks to more fuel-efficient cars and trucks and to increased supplies of biofuels. Domestic oil production has also begun rising after more than two decades of being in decline. Increased output in deepwater Gulf of Mexico oilfields and the Bakken formation in the upper Midwest will continue to add to those supplies. Improvements in U.S. refineries have also helped cut the demand for crude, the Energy Department said. Domestic oil production has also begun rising after more than two decades of being in decline. Increased output in deepwater Gulf of Mexico oilfields and the Bakken formation in the upper Midwest will continue to add to those supplies. Improvements in U.S. refineries have also helped cut the demand for crude, the Energy Department said.
All in all, the only real recipient of savings will be the company, TransCanada. The rest of us will not.

Tobacco health labels violate free speech, judge rules.
A U.S. judge sided with tobacco companies, ruling that regulations requiring large graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertising violate free-speech rights under the U..Constitution. Cigarette makers challenged the Food and Drug Administration's rule requiring companies to label tobacco products with images of rotting teeth, diseased lungs and other images intended to illustrate the dangers of smoking.
"The government has failed to carry both its burden of demonstrating a compelling interest and its burden of demonstrating that the rule is narrowly tailored to achieve a constitutionally permissible form of compelled commercial speech," US District Judge Richard Leon said. While educating the public about the dangers of smoking "might be compelling, an interest in simply advocating that the public not purchase a legal product is not," Leon wrote in a 19-page ruling. Further, Leon noted that the warning labels were too big to pass constitutional muster and that the government has numerous tools at its disposal to deter smoking such as hiking cigarette taxes or including simple factual information on the labels rather than gruesome images.
Congress in 2009 passed a law ordering the FDA to adopt the label regulation, which requires color warning labels big enough to cover the top 50 percent of a cigarette pack's front and back panels, and the top 20 percent of print advertisements. Tobacco companies challenged the rule, arguing that it would force them to engage in anti-smoking advocacy against their own legal products. "Unfortunately, because Congress did not consider the First Amendment implications of this legislation, it did not concern itself with how the regulations could be narrowly tailored to avoid unintentionally compelling commercial speech," Leon wrote.
The judge last year granted a preliminary injunction blocking the new label requirement from taking effect, a decision that the Obama administration has appealed. The case is R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co et al v. FDA, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 11-1482.
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[Flying Horse]

Headlines of Interest for 2 March 2012:

Woman called 'slut' by Limbaugh is 'stunned, outraged.'

The ongoing debate over birth control took a particularly nasty turn recently when conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for speaking out about the issue. Fluke, a birth control activist, spoke with Today’s Matt Lauer about Limbaugh’s comments and the failure of a GOP-sponsored amendment that would have allowed employers at religious institutions to opt out of providing contraception in health plans. Fluke told Lauer that she expected some backlash, especially from someone like Limbaugh. Still, the comments stung — especially since they were made on the first day of Women’s History Month.
“I think my reaction was the reaction a lot of women have had historically when they’ve been called these types of names: Initially to be stunned by it, and then to quickly feel outraged and very upset,” she told Lauer.
Limbaugh’s comments came on the heels of heated congressional debate over the so-called “Blunt Amendment,” a measure that ultimately failed in the Senate and would have nixed the Obama administration’s mandate on contraception. Lawmakers evoked Fluke’s name during the debate as someone who testified during an unofficial democratic committee hearing headed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about how a friend needed birth control to shrink ovarian cysts and help preserve her fertility.
Fluke had been previously blocked from testifying before a Republican-led, all-male congressional panel on contraception and religious freedom. Limbaugh said Fluke was just trying to promote casual sex.
Democratic congresswomen, including Pelosi, released a statement criticizing what they called the “vicious and inappropriate attacks” leveled at Fluke. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and more than 75 Democratic lawmakers have called on Republican colleagues to condemn Limbaugh’s attack. "When Sandra Fluke testified before the House Democratic Steering and Policy committee after Republicans attempted to silence her, she courageously spoke truth to power,” the congresswomen wrote in a statement. “She has been subject to attacks that are outside the circle of civilized discussion and that unmask the strong disrespect for women held by some in this country."
I lost all respect for Russ Limbaugh years ago when he attacked a 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton's on her looks. Over the yearss he has proved to be a non-gentleman in every way. To call a woman in this day and age a 'slut' and 'prostitute' because she supports contraception is astonishing. And just proves once again that he is someone whose opinions are archaic and unhelpful in the advancement of political debate in this country.

North Miami high school students fight valedictorian's deportation order.

An immigration judge on Monday ordered the deportation of 18-year-old valedictorian Daniela Pelaez, who was brought illegally to the US by her parents when she was 4 years old. Late Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement saying it will not take further steps in the case until the conclusion of Pelaez's appeal on the judge's decision. Not everyone agrees Pelaez should stay. "She should be deported," said Linda Simmons, who has a son in ninth grade at North Miami High. "Her parents broke the law."
Personally, I think that she should not be punished for her parent's actions. Second, I think that all children who were brought illegally to this country, but have known no other life, should be granted legal status in this country. And given the opportunity to become citizens. In every way that counts, they are citizens.

Outsourced: Poor Indians used for US drug trials.

Drug trial outsourcing to foreign countries is rapidly becoming an attractive alternative for U.S. pharmaceutical companies looking to save millions of dollars, avoid regulatory scrutiny and tap into a seemingly endless supply of drug study participants. A year-long Dateline investigation into one of the preferred destinations for overseas drug trials, India, raises questions about lax regulatory oversight in these studies, the integrity of some of the companies contracted to run them and the reliability of the data they produce
Whether the studies are for birth control, diabetes, migraines or high blood pressure, money often draws volunteers into Indian drug trials. Many desperately poor recruits are so eager to enroll that they disregard potential risks. Dr. Chandra Gulhati, editor of the “Monthly Index of Medical Specialties,” an Indian medical journal, points out that luring test subjects with money violates India’s Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The act allows some payment, but not enough to sway free will. “It should never be so much that it works as an inducement,” Gulhati said.
In practice, however, the pay is often just that. Subjects can make up to $400, depending on the length of the study -- far outstripping traditional earnings. The financial incentives can lead to study volunteers enrolling in more than one study at a time. That not only puts their lives in danger, but it also can skew the accuracy of test results that drug companies and regulators rely on to judge a drug’s safety.
Parsottam Parmar is a social worker in Ahmedabad’s slums who advocates for higher wages and ongoing health care for drug-study participants. He is alarmed by what he is witnessing. “People keep falling sick,” he said. “There are many instances where there are swellings in the limbs, loss of eyesight. Several deaths have occurred … It becomes a question of human rights -- a big one at that.” The Indian government reports that across the country more than 1,500 people have died in clinical trials since 2008, many participating in studies for Western pharmaceutical companies.
Because official documentation of the deaths is frequently incomplete or non-existent, it is unclear how many people died from the same illnesses that initially qualified them for certain drug studies. The lack of oversight by Indian government officials has created a culture of impunity for drug research companies and the doctors who work for them.
Although data from overseas studies is used help win FDA approval for drugs, the agency told Dateline in a statement that it faces “a number of handicaps in its inspections of foreign clinical sites, which are not technically under FDA jurisdiction under international law.” In India, for example, the FDA said its inspectors are not legally permitted access to confidential records held by contract research firms that often do testing for Western pharmaceutical companies. It’s a law that would severely hamper any investigation into a patient’s
Following reports of unauthorized drug studies on children and mentally disabled patients, India’s health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, told reporters last month that some companies running drug trials in India are not following regulations. “Sometimes the companies don’t go by the laid-down procedures and it causes great harm to persons and individuals on which this test is carried out,” he said.
Even when deaths during drug trials raise questions, drug companies can eliminate those questions at little expense. Last year, Azad, the Indian health minister, confirmed that 10 foreign drug companies paid an average of about $4,800 to relatives of 22 people who died during or after participating in drug trials in 2010. The amount is a small fraction of compensation paid for similar deaths in other countries, Gulhati said.
But reports of illnesses and deaths linked to drug trials do little to deter a steady stream of willing volunteers. They need the money and so they volunteer. It's that simple.

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Leap free or die - 'Occupy Wall St.' goes improv'.

Despite forecast of a freezing, rainy afternoon, members of Occupy Wall St. movement pushed through with their planned protest rally yesterday (Feb. 29), never backing off an inch in their desire to change and end the culture of corruption that has become so prevalent in corporate America. Bryant Park was the scene of simultaneous activities as discussion groups tackled more pressing issues; theater/dance performers collaborated to adapt guerilla tactics in case NYPD won't let them 'do their thing' on 42nd St. In his brief lecture, award-winning journalist/author Matt Taibbi tried his best to illustrate in layman's language, how corprate giants have used deception and misinformation to amass more profits; discussed other ills of society that has enslaved and affected the lives and livelihood of those 99%. The protest actions yesterday was a big "leap" for a movement that knew no boundaries; whose ideas and goals have crossed the seas, hoping ultimately to uplift the living conditions of everyone who have long suffered in misery. The arrest of some participants never deterred the street theater performers from giving their best act, even the rain failed to dampen their spirits.

Women roar back at Rush's rhetoric.
In the wake of Rush Limbaugh calling birth control activist Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute,” thousands of women who feel personally stung by the attack have risen up to respond. By Friday evening, Fluke had more than 15,000 Twitter followers and Limbaugh had lost two sponsors. Fluke, a Georgetown University law student, had testified during an unofficial Democratic committee hearing about how a friend had been unable to pay for the birth control needed to shrink ovarian cysts and help preserve her fertility.
Janet Hyde, the Helen Thompson Woolley Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, says such name-calling “is a method for exerting power and control over women.” If that was Limbaugh’s goal, Friday’s tweets suggest he failed. “I'd love to know what Limbaugh’s wife thinks about his recent tirade,” one woman wrote. “I bet she's too busy holding aspirin between her knees to comment.” Limbaugh’s call for the posting of videotapes of women who use birth control went beyond sticks and stones, though, says Kathi Miner, an assistant professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies at Texas A&M University, who described the notion as “a form of sexual violence.”
The president of Georgetown, a Catholic Jesuit institution, defended Fluke’s right to express her views without fear of attack. “This expression of conscience was in the tradition of the deepest values we share as a people,” John DeGioia wrote in a letter posted on the university’s website. “One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression.” And yet, DeGioia said, citing Limbaugh, some people who disagreed with Fluke’s position “responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.”

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest

Ron Paul: No federal financial aid for tornado victims.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) stood by his libertarian beliefs, saying that victims battered in a band of states in the South and Midwest should not be given emergency financial aid from the federal government. "There is no such thing as federal money," Paul said, on CNN’s State of the Union. "Federal money is just what they steal from the states and steal from you and me....The people who live in tornado alley, just as I live in hurricane alley, they should have insurance," Paul said.
Paul said there was a role for the National Guard to restore order and provide care and shelter in major emergencies, but that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) led to nothing but "frustration and anger." "To say that any accident that happens in the country, send in FEMA, send in the money, the government has all this money—it is totally out of control and it's not efficient," Paul said. Unfortunately, for many people, they cannot afford insurance and therefore would be left destitute without federal assistance.

7th advertiser pulls out on Limbaugh.

A flower company is the 7th advertiser to pull its ads from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's radio program in reaction to his derogatory comments about a law student who testified about birth control policy. ProFlowers said on its Facebook page that it has suspended advertising on Limbaugh's program because his comments about Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke "went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company."
The six other advertisers that say they have pulled ads from his show are mortgage lender Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online data backup service provider Carbonite and online legal document services company LegalZoom. Clear Channel's Premiere Radio Networks Inc. hosts Limbaugh's program, one of the country's most popular talk radio shows. The company is supporting Limbaugh, whose on-air contract with Premiere runs through 2016. When asked which companies or organizations were the largest advertisers on Limbaugh's show, Nelson said that that information was "proprietary." Nelson didn't immediately respond Sunday to questions about how much revenue the company will lose with the advertiser defections or how much revenue Limbaugh's show brings in. Clear Channel's parent company was taken private in 2008 by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.
That's the difference between the Don Imus incident and this. NBC/GE is a publicly financed company and has to answer to its stockholders. Clear Channel's parent dompany doesn't. I would hope that they would fire Limbaugh for his remarks, but don't hold your breath.

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest:

$336 million: Rhosde Island woman, 81, wins Powerball with $3 ticket.

....Louise White, 81, of Newport, R.I., is the sole winner of the third-largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game: $336.4 million and accepted the money on behalf of the Rainbow Sherbert Trust. White chose to accept the lump sum payment of $210 million, rather than the 30 payments paid out over 29 years. She will pay $52.5 million in federal taxes and more than $14 million in state taxes. Her lawyers called her a "vivacious octogenarian." The Rainbow Sherbert Trust is named after the dessert she purchased while buying the winning ticket. White said it is her son's favorite dessert.

Rush Limbaugh underestimated Us & it's costing him.

Rush Limbaugh launched his verbal sexist attack at the start of Women's History Month. He was probably aware that experiences of sexism can make women feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, shocked, and shamed. He was clearly however not aware of the recent psychological research showing the bystander effect of women witnessing other women being disrespected. Women and men have been motivated to act and it is costing him sponsors. Now days later he has given a semi-apology but that is not enough. We have to make sure that we don't just respond when the target is a law student in a public forum but when any women or girl is verbally assaulted. The new motto for wome - For our daughters' sake, let's end misogyny in America.

Anonymous in disarray after major crackdown snares leaders.

In the US government's biggest crackdown to date on a hacktivist group calling itself "Anonymous," four leaders and one other activist were arrested and charged with a computer hacking conspiracy. The Department of Justice also revealed that it had snared the prime leader of an Anonymous offshoot group called LulzSec, which conducted a high-profile, two-month hacking rampage last summer against corporate and government targets. The raids and arrests has put the loosely connected hacking movement into disarray.
What particularly set the movement on edge was the conviction and apparent turning of the LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, known by his hacker alias Sabu. The DOJ revealed that federal authorities investigated the hacker suspects with help from a leader within the organization who had been secretly working with government officials. Fox News reported that Monsegur -- whom the DOJ said was arrested and convicted in August 2011 -- was that mole.
The four ringleaders arrested were all close associates of Monsegur -- "close" being a relative term for alleged Internet criminals. Monsegur was from New York, two of the other leaders were from the United Kingdom, and two were from Ireland. The fifth, more loosely connected arrestee was from Chicago. They are facing a combined seven counts and a maximum of 105 years of jail time, according to an indictment unsealed by a federal court. Monsegur pled guilty to twelve counts in August, including computer hacking conspiracy, fraud and aggravated identity theft. The DOJ says he faces up to 124 years in prison, but that will likely be reduced due to his cooperation with authorities.

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Solar storm hits Earth: so far, no problem.

This year's most closely watched solar storm is sweeping over our planet right now, and so far the impact is not as severe as some had feared. However, experts caution that the storm could intensify as the day goes on, Early indications show that the geomagnetic effect is about 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits Earth. But hours after the storm arrived, there were no reports of problems with power grids, GPS, satellites or other technologies that are often disrupted by solar storms.
The storm started with a massive solar flare Tuesday evening and grew as it raced outward from the sun, expanding like a giant soap bubble, scientists said. The charged particles were expected to hit at 4 million mph (6.4 million kilometers per hour). Luckily, the storm struck about 6 a.m. ET in a direction that caused the least amount of problems, said Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center. "It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event," he said. But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said. "It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come," Kunches said from the NOAA forecast center in Boulder, Colo.
Astronomers say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time. And this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity. The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is supposed to reach a peak next year. Solar storms don't harm people, but they do disrupt technology. During the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts. Because new technology has flourished since then, scientists could discover that some new systems are also at risk, said Jeffrey Hughes, director of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling at Boston University.
Still, the potential for problems is widespread. Solar storms have three ways they can disrupt technology on Earth: with magnetic, radio and radiation emissions. This is an unusual situation, when all three types of solar storm disruptions are likely to be strong, Kunches said.


Solar storm lights up northern skies.
So far, the disruption caused by this week's solar storm seems to be minimal, but skywatchers are maximizing the opportunity to see auroral fireworks — and tonight just might be prime time for the show. For several days now, the sun has been sending out bursts of electrically charged particles, known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs. The most spectacular flare-up came late Tuesday, when two X-class solar flares blazed up from a particularly active sunspot region. The waves of particles associated with those flares began sweeping over Earth's magnetic field
Usually, that would suggest that tonight's the night to look for the northern lights in somewhat less northern regions of the globe — say, Massachusetts, Nebraska or Oregon. Two factors could put a damper on those expectations: First, the geomagnetic component of the storm is not as powerful as space weather forecasters had expected, at least not yet. Second, the full moon's glare might wash out the delicate glow of the aurora. Rest assured the lights will be shining in the usual places, including Scandinavia, Russia and Canada.

[Flying Horse]

Today's Headlines of Interest:

Mormon church tries to lmit baptism of deceased Jews.
Mormon leaders put up a firewall in their massive genealogical database to block anyone who attempts to access the names of hundreds of thousands of Holocaust victims. The move comes amid criticism that the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hasn't done enough to live up to commitments to stop its members worldwide from performing the baptism ritual on Holocaust victims and other notable Jews.
Mormons believe the baptism ritual allows deceased people a way to the afterlife — if they choose to accept it. But the practice offends members of many other religions, especially Jews, who have expressed outrage at attempts to alter the religion of Holocaust victims because they were killed based on their beliefs. Nobel-laureate Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel called on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last month to use his affiliation with the church to block Mormon members from the posthumous practice, The Washington Post reported. A spokeswoman for Romney said his campaign would not comment on the matter, directing all comments to the church.
In the 1990s, after negotiations with Jewish leaders, the church agreed to end to the practice, but revelations by an ex-Mormon researcher have shown it continues. In recent weeks, researcher Helen Radkey, using confidential Mormon sources who had access to the LDS database, revealed that Mormon temples had posthumously baptized the family of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal, Anne Frank and Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, a Jewish writer who was murdered while on assignment in Pakistan.
I've never liked the Mormon religion and this just reinforces that dislike. How dare they? These are people who lived and died for their religious beliefs and should be left in peace. Their religious beliefs and practices should not be contravened by some other's prejudicial religious views.

[Flying Horse]

March 10, 2012 Topic of Interest:

How much would Keystone XL oil pipeline really help US consumers?
As often happens, lost in the political wrangling over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline – on hold after Pres, Obama rejected TransCanada’s initial construction proposal – are some key findings that run counter to the rosy picture of abundant supply and lower prices so often painted by US politicians.
1st - Canadian companies backing the Keystone XL – touted as enhancing US energy security with a big new surge of imported Canadian oil – actually expect it to supply more lucrative Gulf Coast export markets as well as raise Midwest oil prices by reducing “oversupply” in that region. These little-publicized findings are contained in the studies and testimony of experts working for TransCanada, the company that wants to build the pipeline from Alberta’s tar sands across America’s heartland to Gulf Coast refineries.
Most analysts agree that more Canadian oil flowing south would help reduce imports from other regions. Less obvious, however, is the fact that the Keystone XL pipeline is not actually needed to bring all that new Canadian oil to the US – a flow now projected to rise to 1.7 million barrels per day by 2030, according to the Dept. of Energy study. Often characterized by proponents as validating the need for the pipeline, that study actually found that Canadian oil import growth will go on at “almost identical” levels through 2030 using existing and new pipeline capacity as well as rail shipments – whether or not Keystone XL is built.
2nd - The president's denial unleashed a furor as GOP presidential candidates and oil industry backers lambasted the White House for denying the US economy oil and jobs. “The president demonstrates a lack of seriousness about bringing down unemployment, restoring economic growth, and achieving energy independence,” GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said in a statement. Newt Gingrich said the decision “weakens America's national security and kills thousands of well-paying American jobs.”
“Rather than providing the US with more Canadian oil, Keystone XL will simply shift oil from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast, where much of it can be exported to international buyers – decreasing US energy supply and increasing the cost of oil in the American Midwest,” concludes a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based environmental advocacy non-profit group, citing numerous TransCanada studies and the transcripts of Canadian federal hearings. "The firms involved have asked the US State Department to approve this project, even as they’ve told Canadian government officials how the pipeline can be used to add at least $4 billion to the US fuel bill,” Philip K. Verleger, president of PKVerleger LLC, a Colorado consulting firm that specializes in research on oil market economics, wrote in a Minneapolis Star-Tribune commentary last March. But that is not merely Verleger’s opinion. It’s based on findings of the economic consultants hired by TransCanada – contained in their analyses of the pipeline’s impact on Canadian oil producers and in official testimony before Canada's National Energy Board.
“Existing markets for Canadian heavy crude, principally [the US Midwest], are currently oversupplied, resulting in price discounting for Canadian heavy crude oil,” concludes a 2009 analysis on behalf of TransCanada by Purvin & Gertz, Inc., an oil economics firm based in Houston. “Access to the [US Gulf Coast] via the Keystone XL Pipeline is expected to strengthen Canadian crude oil pricing in [the Midwest market] by removing this oversupply. This is expected to increase the price of heavy crude to the equivalent cost of imported crude.” As a result of those increases in the price of heavy crude in the Midwest and sales of higher-margin refined products shipped out from Gulf Coast refineries to other markets, Canadian oil producers could be expected to reap $2 billion to $3.9 billion more each year, the analysis says.
3rd - Why Canadian crude oil producers would choose Keystone XL when other pipelines to the US are running well below capacity has much to do with diversifying away from the US market to more lucrative markets in Europe, China, and other Asian countries, Verleger and others argue. Trends seem to support this thesis. That trend was captured in testimony Sept. 17, 2009, before Canada’s National Energy Board. Seven Canadian companies were willing to pay higher pipeline tariff costs for using the Keystone XL pipeline, the testimony showed, in order to bypass Midwest refineries by sending 500,000 barrels per day, the lion’s share of the pipeline’s capacity, to Gulf refineries.
In addition to winning higher prices for Canadian oil in the Gulf, the pipeline would boost revenues by shuttling existing oil supplies out of the Midwest – boosting prices, the Canadian study and testimony also show.
“So seven shippers or seven producers are, in your view, pursuing this strategy in order to increase the [Midwest oil market] and Ontario prices. Do I have it right?” D. Davies, a Canadian energy board examiner asked Thomas Wise, the Purvin & Gertz expert who authored the economic analysis for TransCanada. “If a minority of the barrels were sold at the Gulf Coast at a Gulf Coast price, that would have the effect of raising the price not only in the Midwest and Ontario but in Western Canada,” Mr. Wise responded.
Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, was alarmed enough to call last year for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into the matter based in part on the Canadian National Energy Board testimony. “While the full nature of the arrangements agreed upon by the Canadian shippers is unclear, there is clear indication that there is a coordinated ‘strategy’ among Canadian suppliers to gain higher prices,” Senator Wyden wrote Jonathan Liebowitz, chairman of the FTC in an April 6, 2011, letter. “This will have the effect of manipulating supply levels allowing prices of oil refined in [the Midwest oil market] to rise and ultimately benefitting the Canadian companies with higher prices.” On Thursday, it was Wyden who put forward an amendment to the transportation bill that would have prohibited the sale of the Keystone oil overseas and imposed other regulatory requirements. His amendment was defeated 64 to 34.
And nowhere does anyone take up the environmental record of TransCanada. They have had numerous pipeline breaks spilling oil onto the Canadian countryside. And there is no reaso to expect the pipeline in the US to be an better. And so we could be faced with numerous devastating oil spills. Remember BP and the Guld Coast? Why so they need this pipeline. As cited above, there are already existing pipelines that are not running to capacity that could be used.

[Flying Horse]

Headlines of Interest for March 12, 2012:

Wild boars with razor-sharp tusks invade upstate New York.

Officials aim to halt their progress, especially toward the six-million-acre Adirondack Park, the largest swath of pristine wilderness in the Northeast.
They roam by night, picking cornstalks clean, making off with apple crops. They have almost no natural predators, but they have razor-sharp tusks and a seemingly bottomless appetite for plants and animals. Their population can triple in one year. They are feral pigs, and while they have long plagued parts of the Southern and Western United States, now they have become a problem in the peaceful Champlain Valley of New York, an agricultural heartland on the edge of the Adirondacks.
Actually, they are rarely spotted. Since they hunt at night and steer clear of humans, few people ever see these pigs. But a pack of them was captured on camera foraging on Bob Rulf’s farm, their eyes eerily aglow in the light of the flash. “I have yet to see one myself,” Mr. Rulf, 82, said. He thought he had a deer problem, but when he dispatched a hunter to take care of them last spring, he learned the more disturbing truth.
Alternately called wild boars or feral swine, the pigs are not the gentle, pink cousins of Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White’s children’s classic. They start to breed as early as 6 months of age, bearing litters of as many as 10 piglets. They carry disease and can be aggressive toward people. They have even inspired a new television series, Hogs Gone Wild, about efforts to hunt them from Hawaii to Alabama. Perhaps most worrisome is their reputation as eating machines: the pigs devour ground-nesting birds and reptiles, fawns and domestic livestock, native vegetation and crops. Feral pigs have already proliferated in parts of western New York. But state officials are drawing a line in the topsoil, so to speak, determined to protect both the agrarian economy and the fragile ecosystem from the nascent herd — or “sounder” in swine-speak, “There’s a real sense of urgency,” said Ed Reed, a wildlife biologist for the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. “Once the pigs get established, they are very difficult to eradicate completely.”
Hunting the animals is tricky, given their nocturnal nature. State officials have settled on trapping as the best way to capture an entire sounder of swine. To that end, two technicians have been slowly assembling traps on Mr. Rulf’s property — corrals, 30 feet in diameter, in which dried corn and doughnuts laced with Jell-O powder are luring the estimated half-dozen pigs troubling his farm. With each extension of the traps, the pigs here have grown wary, staying away for a couple of nights before returning to nibble the bait. Officials hope that by the end of March, the pens will be finished and the pigs sufficiently acclimated to allow technicians to set trip wires closing the gates. The traps are circular because feral pigs have been known to crowd into the corners of other traps and climb atop one another to escape. <Proving that pigs are among the smartest of animals.> Last year, the state set a similar corral trap too soon, catching only three pigs. After that, none of the others returned to the area, even after the trap was dismantled. “I’ve never worked with an animal this smart,” Mr. Reed said.
Farmers in the region are nervously following the clash between the boars and the bureaucrats. “With all the agriculture here, the pigs have plenty of food,” said Peter Glushko, supervisor of Peru, a town of 7,000 on Lake Champlain, nine miles south of Plattsburgh. “Who knows where they’ll end up? Other farms should be concerned.” Farmers in the region are nervously following the clash between the boars and the bureaucrats. “With all the agriculture here, the pigs have plenty of food,” said Peter Glushko, supervisor of Peru, a town of 7,000 on Lake Champlain, nine miles south of Plattsburgh. “Who knows where they’ll end up? Other farms should be concerned.”

The growing population has a number of origins: domestic livestock and pet pigs that were either released or escaped captivity; Eurasian boars imported for use on hunting ranches; and a hybrid between the two. Some researchers believe that pigs were most likely introduced to North America by Christopher Columbus in the West Indies; American settlers later brought more pigs as livestock. The practice by farmers of allowing pigs to roam on open ranges continued in some states until the 1960s, furthering their expansion into the wild. So far, feral pigs have infiltrated 5 of 62 counties in New York State. They first showed up about a decade ago in neighboring Onondaga and Cortland Counties, and the statewide population is estimated to be a few hundred, according to Justin Gansowski, a wildlife disease biologist with the US Department of Agriculture in Castleton, N.Y.
By contrast, the feral pig population nationwide is a staggering five million, with the animals present in 35 states. Texas, Florida, Alabama and California are among the states with the highest concentrations of pigs, which benefit from warm climates and year-round availability of food.
New York State’s swine population has grown more slowly, possibly because of the cold climate’s impact on litter size. The Peru group, once estimated at 18 pigs, has been whittled by collisions with cars, hunting and trapping. While most pigs weigh between 100 and 150 pounds, one pig captured in Peru was an impressive 300 pounds.
Wildlife managers and researchers nationally are exploring various control measures, from contraceptives and poisons to snares and aerial shooting. Some are even taking cues from the military by employing night-vision equipment and thermal imaging to track and kill the pigs. In New York, the state’s ordinarily strict hunting rules have been relaxed for feral swine. The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Web site advises those with small game licenses to “shoot and keep feral swine at any time and in any number.” Rumor has it that Mr. Rulf’s pigs are descendants of Eurasian boars raised by a local man to sell to hunting preserves, although state and local officials have not confirmed that. Regardless of their origin, officials are not taking chances in halting the pigs’ progress, especially toward the six-million-acre Adirondack Park, the largest swath of pristine wilderness in the Northeast. “They eat everything,” Mr. Reed said. “They’ll eat the understory in a forest and dig up plants by rooting the ground for insects and roots. They compete with wildlife for food. They’re the most destructive mammal out there.”
So all you hunters out there, have at it. I think that with the feral pigs, for once the animals may have a level playing field.

[Flying Horse]

March 14, 2012 Headlines of Interest:

TSA testing new security procedures for elderly fliers.

The Transportation Security Administration on Wednesday announced it will begin testing new procedures that could reduce the number of pat-downs for travelers ages 75 and older. On March 19, modified airport screening procedures for elderly passengers will begin at Chicago's O’Hare International, Denver International, Orlando International and Portland International airports. The percentage of passengers in that age group is higher at those airports, said TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein.
The modified procedures being tested will be similar to those recently implemented for children age 12 and under, which means elderly travelers at the selected airports may no longer need to remove their shoes and light outerwear at airport checkpoints and are allowed a "do-over" through the advanced imaging technology to clear any anomalies. However, as with the procedures for young children, TSA reserves the right to ask elderly fliers to remove shoes and undergo a pat-down if any anomalies detected during screening cannot be resolved through other procedures. At the participating checkpoints, signs will alert travelers to the program. “We think people 75 and older will announce themselves,” said Farbstein. She added that officers will also do visual assessments and direct those who qualify to a special lane for expedited screening
The new procedures, along with greater use of explosives trace detection, could ultimately reduce pat-downs of elderly fliers. The announcement comes after recent high-profile passenger-TSA run-ins:
•An 85-year-old New York grandmother claimed she was humiliated while strip searched at JFK Airport last fall after she asked not to go through a body scanner;
•An 88-year-old woman said she was pulled aside at JFK and asked to pull her pants down to show her colostomy bag;
•A mastectomy patient said a checkpoint screener at JFK patted down her chest after declining to review her medical information card
TSA has implemented several other initiatives in the past year that have reduced and/or changed the screening requirements for many passengers. Those programs include the Known Crew Member program, the use of expanded behavior detection techniques, the PreCheck expedited screening initiative and TSA CARES, a toll-free number (1-855-787-2227) to assist travelers with disabilities and medical conditions and answer questions about screening policies, procedures and what to expect at the airport security checkpoint. I still think that I'll take the train.

Jury: Mega Millions winner must share with co-workers.

A jury has ruled that a New Jersey man will have to share a portion of his jackpot winnings from a 2009 lottery ticket with his former co-workers: $20 million to be exact. Former construction worker Americo Lopes, 52, won $38.5 million ($24 million after taxes) on Nov. 10, 2009. He claimed to his colleagues that he bought 12 tickets, including the jackpot winner, for himself, as a side bet in addition to the lottery pool tickets he purchased for the group. But his co-workers said he used their money to hit the winning numbers. On Wednesday, a Union County, N.J., jury sided with the plaintiffs, awarding the five other men in his pool about $4 million each. The men all worked with Lopes at Berto Construction Inc. in Elizabeth, N.J. when they began playing the lottery together in 2007. Lopes hid the news at the time that one of their tickets ended up being one of two winners of a $77 million total Mega Millions jackpot, reported The New York Post. His lawyer presented copious notes to the courtroom in an attempt to prove that the numbers drawn for the winning ticket were his own, not a combination the group had come up with. "They robbed me," Lopes said in Portuguese outside the courthouse, reported NJ.com.

[heart2heart]

Peg. I heard about the wild pigs. So strange.

Hello by the way.. Just stopping in for a minute or two to see how things are going. Hope all is well with you..