All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Proof Rand Slept Through Presidential Election! Rand Paul Says There Hasn’t Been A ‘Big Debate About Obamacare’ (VIDEO)

“You know, I think it was helpful to talk more about it,” Paul said. “We haven’t had a big debate about Obamacare really since it passed in Congress. And so I think it was helpful to have the debate.”

via Rand Paul Says There Hasn’t Been A ‘Big Debate About Obamacare’ (VIDEO).

Mariano Rivera: A Zen Master With a Mean Cutter | Repeating Islands

Mariano Rivera understood what Steve Jobs, Lao Tzu and Bruce Lee understood: that simplicity is an art and a strength, a source of joy and beauty and power. The greatest closer of all time, who could become the first player to win unanimous election to the Hall of Fame, did it all with basically one pitch: the cut fastball. It moved with such velocity and wizardry that it seemed to defy the laws of physics, breaking hundreds of bats and shattering many more dreams. It was a pitch delivered with easy elegance and brutal economy, a pitch Rivera could tailor with such precision and infinitude of detail that it flummoxed even the most canny and experienced batters.

It was also a pitch that underscored an almost perfect fusion of character and style. As Yankees Manager Joe Girardi has pointed out, baseball is what the deeply religious Rivera does, it’s not who he is. But who Rivera is — a consummate professional, stoic, focused, dedicated and at peace with himself — has indelibly imprinted the way he has gone about the job: his unparalleled consistency and longevity, his grace under pressure, and his ability to come back from adversity, be it a blown save or his potentially devastating ligament tear in 2012.

via Mariano Rivera: A Zen Master With a Mean Cutter | Repeating Islands.

Wave of jellyfish shuts down Swedish nuke reactor | News , International | THE DAILY STAR

It wasn’t a tsunami but it had the same effect: A huge cluster of jellyfish forced one of the world’s largest nuclear reactors to shut down – a phenomenon that marine biologists say could become more common.

Operators of the Oskarshamn nuclear plant in southeastern Sweden had to scramble reactor number three on Sunday after tons of jellyfish clogged the pipes that bring in cool water to the plant’s turbines.

By Tuesday, the pipes had been cleaned of the jellyfish and engineers were preparing to restart the reactor, which at 1,400 megawatts of output is the largest boiling-water reactor in the world, said Anders Osterberg, a spokesman for OKG, the plant operator.

via Wave of jellyfish shuts down Swedish nuke reactor | News , International | THE DAILY STAR.

Buddhist mobs kill 94-year-old woman, torch 70 homes in Myanmar

Police say hundreds of Buddhist rioters have gone on a rampage in western Myanmar, killing a 94-year-old Muslim woman and setting more than 70 homes ablaze.

Police officer Kyaw Naing says the clashes broke out in Thabyachaing village, about 20km north of the coastal town of Thandwe, on Tuesday afternoon.

He says the 94-year-old woman died of stab wounds and between 70 and 80 houses were set on fire.

via Buddhist mobs kill 94-year-old woman, torch 70 homes in Myanmar.

The Real Reason the GOP Is Waging War on Food Stamps – In These Times

Though I am no longer at the RNC, I smell the same tactic in House Republicans’ recent vote to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, popularly known as food stamps: It is simply more symbolism and political soap opera for Fox News viewers and Limbaugh Leaguers—and, in turn, another opportunity for Republicans to reach potential donors.

Ostensibly, Speaker John Boehner and colleagues have proposed food stamp cuts as a way to cut federal spending. But there are greater factors at work than simple number-crunching in their attempts to slash $40 billion in SNAP funding from the farm bill. In addition to supposed overspending, eliminating alleged welfare fraud and abuse has been a wildly popular issue for the Republican Party since the 1980s. It began with Ronald Reagan and his fictitious Welfare Queen, a symbol that got him elected governor of California and president of the United States. Moral: There is high office and lots of money in targeting abusers of welfare and food stamps.

via The Real Reason the GOP Is Waging War on Food Stamps – In These Times.

Bats Blamed for Deadly Middle East MERS Respiratory Virus | Green Prophet

The deadly coronavirus behind Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) has been isolated in a bat in Saudi Arabia, according to a report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The virus was found in a the feces of an Egyptian tomb bat, or Taphozous perforatus, a creature known to roost in abandoned buildings.

MERS-CoV has sickened 135 people, 58 fatally, since its emergence in June 2012.  Those statistics, current as of September 19 according to FluTrackers, exclude retrospectively positive cases from the first known MERS-CoV outbreak in Jordan.

All primary cases have been traced to the Arabian Peninsula.

Dr. Jonathan H. Epstein, a veterinarian with the EcoHealth Alliance, said that since these insect-eating bats do not normally bite people, infection likely occurs when victims are exposed to dried bat guano. It’s also probable that the virus spreads from bats to other animals before it reaches humans.

Research published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases suggested that the linking animal could be the dromedary camel (camels in Oman, Egypt and the Canary Islands possess antibodies to a similar virus). Tests on sheep, goats and cows are ongoing.

University of Nottingham virologist Jonathan Ball told the BBC, “We have long suspected that bats are the original source. Bats are a source of lots of human virus infections, like Ebola, henipahvirus, rabies and SARS.”

“Bats are unlikely to be the cause of continuing outbreaks. Humans and bats don’t interact very much. It’s much more likely that an intermediate animal is involved – and finding out what this animal is key if we are to eradicate this virus before it becomes a bigger problem,” continued Ball, “But there are still some crucial unknowns.”

The infected bat was discovered in an abandoned house on a date palm orchard in the small Saudi city of Bisha. The first known MERS-CoV victim was a local paint salesman whose Bisha warehouse was surrounded by a large garden with fruit trees and insects that attract bats. The victim, a 60-year-old man, got sick in mid-June and died two weeks later.

via Bats Blamed for Deadly Middle East MERS Respiratory Virus | Green Prophet.

It’s Up To Boehner

It can’t be reiterated often enough: If John Boehner puts a temporary spending bill on the House floor, without any anti-Obamacare stunts in it, it would pass.

He can do it today and avoid a shutdown, or he can do it in a few days or weeks and end a shutdown. It’s up to him.

via It’s Up To Boehner.

True but he is afraid it would not pass and then he’d be out of a job as majordomo of the House

Police: Boy,6, accidentally shot

A 6-year-old Rochester boy accidentally shot himself Sunday evening while playing with a handgun, according to Rochester Police.

The child was shot in the lower body inside a house on Rugraff Street, between Lyell Avenue and Jay Street, about 6:45 p.m. The boy, whose name was not released, was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, said Rochester Police Sgt. Elena Correia. He was listed in satisfactory condition Monday morning, she said.

Officers interviewed several adults who were in the house at the time of the incident, said Rochester Police Lt. Jeremy Anzalone. No charges were filed in connection with the shooting, which remained under investigation.

via Police: Boy,6, accidentally shot.

Roma and Sinti in Berlin Often Sleep in Cars – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Marietta herself speaks of local residents who always look at her angrily and who bark “German words” at her that she does not understand. Young people have spat on her.

Antiziganism is widespread. In a long-term study two years ago, more than 40 percent of respondents said that they would have a problem if Sinti and Roma were staying in their neighborhood. About a quarter of participants expressed the view that Sinti and Roma should be “banished from the inner cities.”

via Roma and Sinti in Berlin Often Sleep in Cars – SPIEGEL ONLINE.