MEMORANDUM FOR THE GENERAL COUNSEL COMMANDER, US ARMY EUROPE
SUBJECT: Comprehensive Review on the Implementation of a Repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654
The President has requested that the Congress repeal 10 U.S.c. § 654, “Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces,” and directed the Department to consider how best to implement a repeal of this law.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and l owe the President an assessment of the implications of such a repeal, should it occur. We also must develop an implementation plan for any new statutory mandate. To be successful, we must understand all issues and potential impacts associated with repeal of the law and how to manage implementation in a way that minimizes disruption to a force engaged in combat operations and other demanding military activities around the globe. Should Congress take this action, strong, engaged and informed leadership will be required at every level to properly and effectively implement a legislative change.
Accordingly, you are to stand up an intra-Department, inter-Service working group to conduct a comprehensive review of the issues associated with a repeal of the law. An integral element of this review shall be to assess and consider the impacts, if any, a change in the law would have on military readiness, military effectiveness and unit cohesion, and how to best manage such impacts during implementation.
To effectively accomplish this assessment, I believe it essential that the working group systematically engage the force. The participation of a range of age, rank and warfare communities in this study including families, in addition to active outreach across the force is a critical aspect that will undoubtedly lead to insights and recommendations essential to the Department’s implementation of any change.
It is critical that this effort be carried out in a professional, thorough and dispassionate manner. Given the political dimension of this issue, it is equally critical that in carrying out this review, every effort be made to shield our men and women in uniform and their families from those aspects of this debate.
Your terms of reference are attached. By copy of this memorandum, all DoD Components will fully cooperate in the execution of this Review and be responsive to all requests for information, detail personnel, or other support. The working group shall submit its report to me by December 1, 2010.
Attachment(s): As stated
cc: Secretaries of the Military Departments Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness General Counsel of the Department of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Comprehensive Review on the Implementation of a Repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654
These Terms of Reference (TOR) establish the objectives of the Secretary of Defense directed
Comprehensive Review for the Repeal of 10 U.S.c. § 654, “Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces.” The Review will examine the issues associated with repeal of the law should it occur and will include an implementation plan that addresses the impacts, if any, on the Department.
Objectives and Scope:
The Review will identify the impacts to the force of a repeal of 10 U.S.C § 654 in the areas reflected below:
1.Determine any impacts to military readiness, military effectiveness and unit cohesion, recruiting/retention, and family readiness that may result from repeal of the law and recommend any actions that should be taken in light of such impacts.
2.Determine leadership, guidance, and training on standards of conduct and new policies.
3.Determine appropriate changes to existing policies and regulations, including but not limited to issues regarding personnel management, leadership and training, facilities, investigations, and benefits.
4.Recommend appropriate changes (if any) to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
5.Monitor and evaluate existing legislative proposals to repeal 10 U.S.C § 654 and proposals that may be introduced in the Congress during the period of the review.
6.Assure appropriate ways to monitor the workforce climate and military effectiveness that support successful follow-through on implementation.
7.Evaluate the issues raised in ongoing litigation involving 10 U.S.C § 654.
Methodology:
1. Review all DoD directives, instructions and other issuances potentially impacted by a repeal. Identify where new directives and instructions may be needed.
2.Ensure participation in the working group by: military service leadership; appropriate OSD staff elements; cross service officer and enlisted communities; mid-grade and senior ranks; human resources/personnel specialists; pay and benefits specialists; family support programs specialists; accession point and training communities; service academies and/or senior service schools; and medical, legal and religious support personnel.
3.In an appropriately balanced manner, engage Members of Congress, key influencers of potential service members and other stakeholder groups that have expressed a view on the current and perspective policy.
4.Research/study methods shall include systematic engagement of all levels of the force and their families, analysis of current data and information, and review the experiences of foreign militaries.
5.Engage the RAND Corporation to update the National Defense Research Institute
report on “Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and
Assessment” (1993).
Deliverables:
•A Report addressing the areas above will be delivered to the Secretary of Defense not later than December 1, 2010. Prior to the delivery of the report to the Secretary of Defense, each Service Chief shall be afforded the opportunity to review and comment.
•The Review will provide a plan of action to support the implementation of a repeal of the law. The Review shall identify areas for further study.
Support:
•The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer will provide adequate funding for the Review.
• The DA&M, through Washington Headquarters Services, will coordinate for and provide human resources, office/facilities, and other support to ensure success of this effort.
•The Military Departments and other DOD Components will provide full support to the Review with detail personnel, information (including but not limited to documents and interviews of personnel), analytical capacity as determined necessary and any other support as requested.
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March 2, 2010
Are you going to cry because she lost her husband, companion and 'Verdugo' for 73 years?
Published: March 1, 2010
The old woman had drawn down the shade in her room — hoping, I imagined, to stop the midday Miami sun from penetrating her grief. But the sun still hit the window full force and illuminated the shade like a Chinese lantern.
She sat silently in a wheelchair, her 93-year-old silhouette stooped in the bathing light. I entered, held her hand for a moment and introduced myself. “Sit down, doctor,” she said politely.
I asked her why she had come to the nursing home, and she described the recent passing of her husband after 73 years of marriage. I was overwhelmed by the thought of her loss, and wanted to offer some words of comfort. I leaned in close and spoke.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “What has it been like for you losing your husband after so many years of marriage?”
She paused for a moment and then replied: “Heaven.”
Seeing my bewilderment, she smiled and went on to describe how she had endured decades in an unhappy marriage with a gruff, verbally abusive man.
As she spoke, I realized why my instincts were so completely off. In my misguided empathy I had committed what William James called the psychologist’s fallacy, assuming incorrectly that one knows what someone else is experiencing. With this newly widowed patient I imagined that only a life of sadness and decrepitude remained, and I felt bad about it.
But I was wrong. She had not fallen into the abyss. She was glad to have finally won a measure of freedom and was determined to make the best of it. As her life unfolded at the nursing home over the next year, she threw herself into new activities and relationships in a way that was quite unexpected.
All of us lapse into such mistaken impressions of old age from time to time. It stems in part from an age-centered perspective, in which we view our own age as the most normal of times, the way all life should be. At 18 the 50-year-olds may seem ancient, but at 50 we are apt to say the same about the 80-year-olds.
“So what’s it really like to be old?” I often ask my patients, who are mostly in their late 80s and 90s, and the responses are unexpected.
“I forgot I was so old,” a 100-year-old patient recently told me, and then excused herself to make it to bingo on time.
This age-centrism is particularly pervasive in people’s attitudes toward nursing homes. All too often we imagine that life seems to end at the nursing home door — that it is loveless and lonely, with death hovering close by.
We make this mistake when we refuse to see the needs for intimacy even in the most debilitated elderly. Our youth-centered culture equates love with sex; in contrast, I have seen with my older patients that love can be an endlessly blossoming flower, felt and expressed in hundreds of ways. A friend’s mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease has fallen in love with another resident on her floor, and they walk around holding hands and snuggling with a newfound innocence that perhaps only their memory loss restored.
We also project our terror of death onto the aged, assuming that fear and depression must stalk the final years of life. And yet in my 15 years of working in nursing homes, I have never heard a patient say that he or she was afraid of death. Sometimes there is acceptance, other times anticipation, but most often it is not a great concern. Life goes on in its shadows.
In the end, there is a cost to our myopic view of aging. We imagine the pains of late-life ailments but not the joys of new pursuits; we recoil at the losses and loneliness and fail to embrace the wisdom and meaning that only age can bring. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured the sentiment well:
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
Dr. Marc E. Agronin is a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems.
The old woman had drawn down the shade in her room — hoping, I imagined, to stop the midday Miami sun from penetrating her grief. But the sun still hit the window full force and illuminated the shade like a Chinese lantern.
She sat silently in a wheelchair, her 93-year-old silhouette stooped in the bathing light. I entered, held her hand for a moment and introduced myself. “Sit down, doctor,” she said politely.
I asked her why she had come to the nursing home, and she described the recent passing of her husband after 73 years of marriage. I was overwhelmed by the thought of her loss, and wanted to offer some words of comfort. I leaned in close and spoke.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “What has it been like for you losing your husband after so many years of marriage?”
She paused for a moment and then replied: “Heaven.”
Seeing my bewilderment, she smiled and went on to describe how she had endured decades in an unhappy marriage with a gruff, verbally abusive man.
As she spoke, I realized why my instincts were so completely off. In my misguided empathy I had committed what William James called the psychologist’s fallacy, assuming incorrectly that one knows what someone else is experiencing. With this newly widowed patient I imagined that only a life of sadness and decrepitude remained, and I felt bad about it.
But I was wrong. She had not fallen into the abyss. She was glad to have finally won a measure of freedom and was determined to make the best of it. As her life unfolded at the nursing home over the next year, she threw herself into new activities and relationships in a way that was quite unexpected.
All of us lapse into such mistaken impressions of old age from time to time. It stems in part from an age-centered perspective, in which we view our own age as the most normal of times, the way all life should be. At 18 the 50-year-olds may seem ancient, but at 50 we are apt to say the same about the 80-year-olds.
“So what’s it really like to be old?” I often ask my patients, who are mostly in their late 80s and 90s, and the responses are unexpected.
“I forgot I was so old,” a 100-year-old patient recently told me, and then excused herself to make it to bingo on time.
This age-centrism is particularly pervasive in people’s attitudes toward nursing homes. All too often we imagine that life seems to end at the nursing home door — that it is loveless and lonely, with death hovering close by.
We make this mistake when we refuse to see the needs for intimacy even in the most debilitated elderly. Our youth-centered culture equates love with sex; in contrast, I have seen with my older patients that love can be an endlessly blossoming flower, felt and expressed in hundreds of ways. A friend’s mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease has fallen in love with another resident on her floor, and they walk around holding hands and snuggling with a newfound innocence that perhaps only their memory loss restored.
We also project our terror of death onto the aged, assuming that fear and depression must stalk the final years of life. And yet in my 15 years of working in nursing homes, I have never heard a patient say that he or she was afraid of death. Sometimes there is acceptance, other times anticipation, but most often it is not a great concern. Life goes on in its shadows.
In the end, there is a cost to our myopic view of aging. We imagine the pains of late-life ailments but not the joys of new pursuits; we recoil at the losses and loneliness and fail to embrace the wisdom and meaning that only age can bring. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured the sentiment well:
For age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day.
Dr. Marc E. Agronin is a geriatric psychiatrist at Miami Jewish Health Systems.
In the name of common sense, STOP SAYING THAT, sTuPid
In the name of common sense, the following phrases need to die a slow and painful death. I'm going to use homophobes as an example here (because it's what I'm most familiar with) but really, this applies across the board to just about every ism there is.
There are certain common threads that are often used by the forces of privilege, cluelessness, prejudice and general whatthefuckery out there that need to die now. Either stop using them or there needs to be a new Godwin-type law where we acknowledge that using them completely destroys any point or argument you're trying to make. They're tired, they're old and they're meaningless and they've become almost as offensive as the crap they're used to defend.
I'm not a homophobe, but...
Yes you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't feel the need to say that, followed by a 'but' that proves it beyond doubt.
I have gay friends
Probably the most tired and stinking of all of these rotten tropes, the "I have gay/black/jewish/female/whatever friends" has been a rallying cry for bigots for far too damn long to such a degree that it has become a perfect way to IDENTIFY a bigot. Only homophobes and the hopelessly privileged feel the need to wave their gay friends around as some kind of defence (because non-prejudiced folk don't NEED to). Sadly, this is not only becoming more common, but is also becoming official as no end of political parties, businesses, organisations etc get themselves some prominent gay members for some helpful rainbow-washing
There are no doubt many things wrong with this excuse, but 3 spring to mind:
1) We don't believe you. I don't believe that all these bigots have such an amazing diverse circle of friends. I don't believe that the number of virulent homophobes who apparently have their own little fanclub of adoring GBLTs just waiting to fawn over their every word. It's ridiculous.
2) Even if you DID have gay friends it wouldn't mean anything. Your 'friend' doesn't feel the need to add stress to every social occasion by calling you on your bullshit? Maybe they don't want a confrontation? Maybe you should take the clue everyone's giving you and realise that you may, just may, be forcing your gay friend to tolerate a lot of shit every time they spend any time with you.
3) Your gay friend does not give you a pass on homophobia, even if they're willing to let it slide, that doesn't mean everyone else has to.
I didn't mean it!
It wasn't my intent, I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean any harm. etc etc
See, people need to learn what this means - it means you have failed. It's not an excuse, it's an admission of error. It's not a justification, it's an explanation of why you've DONE SOMETHING WRONG.
You didn't intend to hurt or offend people? Well you did. You, therefore, failed. That doesn't justify your actions or words nor does it absolve you from apologising for it or trying to make it right. It most certainly doesn't if your error was careless or inexcusably clueless.
Also, as is made really really clear in this wonderful article lack of intent doesn't mean you're doing no harm. Just because you didn't intend that portrayal to be stereotyped and damaging and add to the pile of already damaging portrayals out there doesn't change the nature of the portrayal. Just because you didn't intend a slur to make someone feel vulnerable and unsafe, doesn't mean it didn't. Just because your careless, prejudiced language use didn't intend to offend, trigger or annoy people doesn't mean it didn't.
Your intention, especially your clueless, thoughtless intention, doesn't absolve you from or justify the harm you cause.
Obscure dictionary definitions
Yes, gay technically means happy - though no-one has actually used it in that context since the 1950s. Yes a f*ggot is a bundle of wood used for lighting fires (a definition so obscure, most people don't even know it and hasn't been used commonly for freaking centuries). Yes, queer is something strange or odd.
And? When someone says "fucking queer" or calls someone a "f*ggot" or says that something is "so gay" I can guarantee you that these archaic dictionary definitions were the furthest from their minds. Because we have something called CONTEXT which makes it blindingly OBVIOUS what is meant and no amount of obsolete and dusty dictionary quotations are going to change what the words ACTUALLY mean.
Language has changed - it's not a slur any more!
Says the privileged people to which the slur doesn't apply. You don't get to say what does and doesn't offend the marginalised (seriously you don't. Because I am PAST SICK of straight folk telling me what is and isn't homophobic).
And guess what? It hardly ever HAS changed. Gay is used as a general insult or label for things that are bad even when unrelated to sexuality NOT because language as changed - BUT BECAUSE BEING GAY IS SEEN AS BEING BAD. Gay is an insult because BEING gay is seen as negative. That is insulting. And the same applies to "retard" and "lame." They are seen as negative because the people the words originally described are seen negatively. And, yes, this certainly applies to "gypped" and "jewed"
But everyone does it!
Yes, bigotry and prejudice is awfully common. Thank you so much for adding to this and making it even MORE common. Because it's appreciated. Really.
Seriously - do you expect the fact that there is homophobia EVERY FREAKING WHERE to make me feel happier about your homophobia? It is common because you are adding to it and defending it.
These need to end. They're old excuses that have been pulled out so many times that they're permanently engraved on bingo cards. Using any of these tired tactics doesn't defend your prejudice - it proves it.
by Sparky (Spark in Darkness)
There are certain common threads that are often used by the forces of privilege, cluelessness, prejudice and general whatthefuckery out there that need to die now. Either stop using them or there needs to be a new Godwin-type law where we acknowledge that using them completely destroys any point or argument you're trying to make. They're tired, they're old and they're meaningless and they've become almost as offensive as the crap they're used to defend.
I'm not a homophobe, but...
Yes you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't feel the need to say that, followed by a 'but' that proves it beyond doubt.
I have gay friends
Probably the most tired and stinking of all of these rotten tropes, the "I have gay/black/jewish/female/whatever friends" has been a rallying cry for bigots for far too damn long to such a degree that it has become a perfect way to IDENTIFY a bigot. Only homophobes and the hopelessly privileged feel the need to wave their gay friends around as some kind of defence (because non-prejudiced folk don't NEED to). Sadly, this is not only becoming more common, but is also becoming official as no end of political parties, businesses, organisations etc get themselves some prominent gay members for some helpful rainbow-washing
There are no doubt many things wrong with this excuse, but 3 spring to mind:
1) We don't believe you. I don't believe that all these bigots have such an amazing diverse circle of friends. I don't believe that the number of virulent homophobes who apparently have their own little fanclub of adoring GBLTs just waiting to fawn over their every word. It's ridiculous.
2) Even if you DID have gay friends it wouldn't mean anything. Your 'friend' doesn't feel the need to add stress to every social occasion by calling you on your bullshit? Maybe they don't want a confrontation? Maybe you should take the clue everyone's giving you and realise that you may, just may, be forcing your gay friend to tolerate a lot of shit every time they spend any time with you.
3) Your gay friend does not give you a pass on homophobia, even if they're willing to let it slide, that doesn't mean everyone else has to.
I didn't mean it!
It wasn't my intent, I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean any harm. etc etc
See, people need to learn what this means - it means you have failed. It's not an excuse, it's an admission of error. It's not a justification, it's an explanation of why you've DONE SOMETHING WRONG.
You didn't intend to hurt or offend people? Well you did. You, therefore, failed. That doesn't justify your actions or words nor does it absolve you from apologising for it or trying to make it right. It most certainly doesn't if your error was careless or inexcusably clueless.
Also, as is made really really clear in this wonderful article lack of intent doesn't mean you're doing no harm. Just because you didn't intend that portrayal to be stereotyped and damaging and add to the pile of already damaging portrayals out there doesn't change the nature of the portrayal. Just because you didn't intend a slur to make someone feel vulnerable and unsafe, doesn't mean it didn't. Just because your careless, prejudiced language use didn't intend to offend, trigger or annoy people doesn't mean it didn't.
Your intention, especially your clueless, thoughtless intention, doesn't absolve you from or justify the harm you cause.
Obscure dictionary definitions
Yes, gay technically means happy - though no-one has actually used it in that context since the 1950s. Yes a f*ggot is a bundle of wood used for lighting fires (a definition so obscure, most people don't even know it and hasn't been used commonly for freaking centuries). Yes, queer is something strange or odd.
And? When someone says "fucking queer" or calls someone a "f*ggot" or says that something is "so gay" I can guarantee you that these archaic dictionary definitions were the furthest from their minds. Because we have something called CONTEXT which makes it blindingly OBVIOUS what is meant and no amount of obsolete and dusty dictionary quotations are going to change what the words ACTUALLY mean.
Language has changed - it's not a slur any more!
Says the privileged people to which the slur doesn't apply. You don't get to say what does and doesn't offend the marginalised (seriously you don't. Because I am PAST SICK of straight folk telling me what is and isn't homophobic).
And guess what? It hardly ever HAS changed. Gay is used as a general insult or label for things that are bad even when unrelated to sexuality NOT because language as changed - BUT BECAUSE BEING GAY IS SEEN AS BEING BAD. Gay is an insult because BEING gay is seen as negative. That is insulting. And the same applies to "retard" and "lame." They are seen as negative because the people the words originally described are seen negatively. And, yes, this certainly applies to "gypped" and "jewed"
But everyone does it!
Yes, bigotry and prejudice is awfully common. Thank you so much for adding to this and making it even MORE common. Because it's appreciated. Really.
Seriously - do you expect the fact that there is homophobia EVERY FREAKING WHERE to make me feel happier about your homophobia? It is common because you are adding to it and defending it.
These need to end. They're old excuses that have been pulled out so many times that they're permanently engraved on bingo cards. Using any of these tired tactics doesn't defend your prejudice - it proves it.
by Sparky (Spark in Darkness)
Despite Gay Face, Radcliffe is not. What is a Gay Face??
During his recent sit-down with MTV to discuss his work with The Trevor Project, the admirable Daniel Radcliffe fielded a question about his sexual orientation.
Said Radcliffe: My favorite thing I saw was a guy on the Internet that said, 'Of course he's gay. He's got a gay face,' which I thought was kind of an odd thing to say anyway. A 'gay face'? That's a very worrying thing, like they have sat at home and have got pictures of me next to other famous, gay [people] — Elton John, I don't know — just comparing across the years. I'm not sure. It's very, very odd...If people want to say that, they can. But I'm not. I'm straight."
Dan is rad.
Radcliffe added that he doesn't think his role as Harry Potter would have stopped him from coming out.
Trying again, NYS Marriage bill still alive and kicking
We will try again without having a weak Governor (at the time, dying now) push for a vote if we are not even close to having the votes.
The New York State Senate Judiciary Committee is taking up the governor’s gay marriage bill on Tuesday. After a grand introduction by Governor Paterson last week, the governor announced Wednesday he would defer to the state senate majority leader and not demand the bill receive a vote without knowing if there were enough votes to pass.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Tuesday is also the day of the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Equality & Justice Day.
A just-released poll determined a wide majority of New Yorkers favor passage of the gay marriage bill.
The New York State Senate Judiciary Committee is taking up the governor’s gay marriage bill on Tuesday. After a grand introduction by Governor Paterson last week, the governor announced Wednesday he would defer to the state senate majority leader and not demand the bill receive a vote without knowing if there were enough votes to pass.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Tuesday is also the day of the Empire State Pride Agenda’s Equality & Justice Day.
A just-released poll determined a wide majority of New Yorkers favor passage of the gay marriage bill.
If you are a guy and recently bought underwear=Recess OVER!
For one answer to the nation's most pressing economic question -- when will the recession end? -- just take a peek inside the American man's underwear drawer.
There may be some new pairs there, judging by recent reports from retailers and analysts, and that could mean better days ahead for everyone
Here's the theory, briefly: Sales of men's underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip.
"It's a prolonged purchase," said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer research firm NPD Group. "It's like trying to drive your car an extra 10,000 miles."
The growth in sales of men's underwear began to slow last year as the recession took hold, according to Mintel, another research firm. This year, Mintel expects sales to fall 2.3 percent, the first drop since the company started collecting data in 2003.
But the men's underwear index may also have a silver lining. Mintel predicts that next year, men's underwear sales will fall by 0.5 percent, and as with many economic indicators, a slowing of a decline can be welcomed as a step in the right direction. Retailers are reporting encouraging signs in the men's underwear department. Sears spokeswoman Amy Dimond said stores are beginning to see more sales. At Target, spokeswoman Jana O'Leary said sales of men's underwear have been stronger over the past two months and multi-pair packs are moving.
No less an oracle than former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has given this theory credence, as described in a report on NPR two years ago. But you don't have to take his word for it. Just ask Kenneth Sanford, 59, of Capitol Heights, Md., about his underwear. He said he usually buys new boxers every three months or so in maroon, black or white. But he's having a hard time finding a new job, and he hasn't bought a new pair of underwear in at least eight months.
There may be some new pairs there, judging by recent reports from retailers and analysts, and that could mean better days ahead for everyone
Here's the theory, briefly: Sales of men's underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip.
"It's a prolonged purchase," said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer research firm NPD Group. "It's like trying to drive your car an extra 10,000 miles."
The growth in sales of men's underwear began to slow last year as the recession took hold, according to Mintel, another research firm. This year, Mintel expects sales to fall 2.3 percent, the first drop since the company started collecting data in 2003.
But the men's underwear index may also have a silver lining. Mintel predicts that next year, men's underwear sales will fall by 0.5 percent, and as with many economic indicators, a slowing of a decline can be welcomed as a step in the right direction. Retailers are reporting encouraging signs in the men's underwear department. Sears spokeswoman Amy Dimond said stores are beginning to see more sales. At Target, spokeswoman Jana O'Leary said sales of men's underwear have been stronger over the past two months and multi-pair packs are moving.
No less an oracle than former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has given this theory credence, as described in a report on NPR two years ago. But you don't have to take his word for it. Just ask Kenneth Sanford, 59, of Capitol Heights, Md., about his underwear. He said he usually buys new boxers every three months or so in maroon, black or white. But he's having a hard time finding a new job, and he hasn't bought a new pair of underwear in at least eight months.
March 1, 2010
If you have Blue Cross/Shield/Watch your Credit Report
Data theft creates notification nightmare for BlueCross
By Robert McMillan
March 1, 2010 08:23 PM ET
Data theft creates notification nightmare for BlueCross
IDG News Service - A break-in one evening last October at a shopping mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is proving expensive for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Over the past five months, the company has employed a small army of workers to sort through the aftermath of what has proved to be a large and complex breach. Late last year, BlueCross and forensics company Kroll OnTrack employed 500 full-time workers and 300 part-time employees, working in two shifts, six days a week, to piece together what happened, the company said in a letter posted to the Maryland attorney general's Web site over the weekend.
As with many data breaches, this one can be traced back to a burglary involving unencrypted data.
On Oct. 2, someone stole 57 hard drives from a closet at the health insurance company's training center in Chattanooga's Eastgate Town Center mall. The drives contained recordings of more than 1 million customer support calls, totalling 50,000 hours of conversation. There were also 300,000 screen shots, showing what BlueCross representatives had on their computer monitors at the time some of the calls were made.
In most of the calls, subscribers provided their BlueCross ID number, name and date of birth -- not enough information for criminals to pull off an identity theft scam. But in some calls, Medicare subscribers provided what's known as a Health Insurance Claim (HIC) number, which contains the subscriber's Social Security number. Many of the screen shots also include Social Security numbers, and that information can be used in identity theft.
So for the past five months, BlueCross has been sorting out which of its 3 million customers to notify of the breach. "Unfortunately, after checking with numerous vendors throughout the country, an electronic solution could not be formulated, and a largely manual review of audio and video files has been necessary," BlueCross said in the letter, dated Dec. 16.
"We made the decision that there is really no substitute for actually manually going through it and looking at the video screens or listening to the audio," said Roy Vaughn, a BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee spokesman. "It has to be reviewed."
To date, BlueCross has identified more than half a million affected customers and sent notification letters to about 300,000, according to the BlueCross Web site. As of Jan. 8, more than 110,000 work-hours had been spent reviewing the material.
The process has cost more than US$7 million so far, and it will be several months more before the notification effort is concluded, Vaughn said.
The average data breach costs $6.75 million, according to Michael Spinney, a senior privacy analyst with the Ponemon Institute. However, the BlueCross incident is more complex than a typical data breach, he said. "It sounds like they're going to be paying a lot more."
BlueCross is offering victims free credit monitoring, though Vaughn said most victims faced a "low risk" of having their personal information misused.
It is also auditing its security practices and has hired a former Department of Defense cybercrimes agent named Stephen Baird to conduct penetration tests of the company's security. BlueCross has also assigned two internal investigators to look into the theft, full time.
"We are determined to prevent any future thefts," the letter reads. "It is an understatement to say that BlueCross regrets this data breach."
By Robert McMillan
March 1, 2010 08:23 PM ET
Data theft creates notification nightmare for BlueCross
IDG News Service - A break-in one evening last October at a shopping mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is proving expensive for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Over the past five months, the company has employed a small army of workers to sort through the aftermath of what has proved to be a large and complex breach. Late last year, BlueCross and forensics company Kroll OnTrack employed 500 full-time workers and 300 part-time employees, working in two shifts, six days a week, to piece together what happened, the company said in a letter posted to the Maryland attorney general's Web site over the weekend.
As with many data breaches, this one can be traced back to a burglary involving unencrypted data.
On Oct. 2, someone stole 57 hard drives from a closet at the health insurance company's training center in Chattanooga's Eastgate Town Center mall. The drives contained recordings of more than 1 million customer support calls, totalling 50,000 hours of conversation. There were also 300,000 screen shots, showing what BlueCross representatives had on their computer monitors at the time some of the calls were made.
In most of the calls, subscribers provided their BlueCross ID number, name and date of birth -- not enough information for criminals to pull off an identity theft scam. But in some calls, Medicare subscribers provided what's known as a Health Insurance Claim (HIC) number, which contains the subscriber's Social Security number. Many of the screen shots also include Social Security numbers, and that information can be used in identity theft.
So for the past five months, BlueCross has been sorting out which of its 3 million customers to notify of the breach. "Unfortunately, after checking with numerous vendors throughout the country, an electronic solution could not be formulated, and a largely manual review of audio and video files has been necessary," BlueCross said in the letter, dated Dec. 16.
"We made the decision that there is really no substitute for actually manually going through it and looking at the video screens or listening to the audio," said Roy Vaughn, a BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee spokesman. "It has to be reviewed."
To date, BlueCross has identified more than half a million affected customers and sent notification letters to about 300,000, according to the BlueCross Web site. As of Jan. 8, more than 110,000 work-hours had been spent reviewing the material.
The process has cost more than US$7 million so far, and it will be several months more before the notification effort is concluded, Vaughn said.
The average data breach costs $6.75 million, according to Michael Spinney, a senior privacy analyst with the Ponemon Institute. However, the BlueCross incident is more complex than a typical data breach, he said. "It sounds like they're going to be paying a lot more."
BlueCross is offering victims free credit monitoring, though Vaughn said most victims faced a "low risk" of having their personal information misused.
It is also auditing its security practices and has hired a former Department of Defense cybercrimes agent named Stephen Baird to conduct penetration tests of the company's security. BlueCross has also assigned two internal investigators to look into the theft, full time.
"We are determined to prevent any future thefts," the letter reads. "It is an understatement to say that BlueCross regrets this data breach."
Low carb or Low fat/which one will keep you leaner???
March 1, 2010 -- A low-carb diet may offer quick results, but a new study suggests that a low-fat diet may be best for long-term weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight.
Researchers found obese people who followed a low-fat diet may be more likely to keep the weight off three years later after starting the diet than those who followed a low-carbohydrate diet.
"Although participants in the low-carbohydrate group lost more weight at 12 months, they regained more weight during the next 24 months," write researcher Marion L. Vetter, MD, RD of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine. "In contrast, participants in the low-fat group maintained their weight loss."
In the study, researchers started with a group of 132 obese people who weighed an average of 289 pounds before starting either a low-fat diet, a calorie- restricted diet with less than 30% of daily calories from fat, or a low-carb diet with fewer than 30 grams of fat per day for 12 months.
After six months on the diets, the group on the low-carb diet experienced the greatest weight loss, but by 12 months there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two groups.
Three years after the study began and two years after the diets ended, researchers followed up with 40 people in the low-carb diet group and 48 in the low-fat diet group.
They found people in the low-carb diet group weighed an average of 4.9 pounds less than before they started dieting while those in the low-fat diet group weighed an average of 9.5 pounds less than they did at the start of the study.
Researchers say while both diets appear to offer weight loss benefits, the pattern of weight change was different between the low-carb and low-fat diet groups.
"The differences in weight regain between the two groups probably reflects initial weight loss," write the researchers. "Participants who lost more weight during the first 12 months tended to regain more weight by month 36."
Researchers found obese people who followed a low-fat diet may be more likely to keep the weight off three years later after starting the diet than those who followed a low-carbohydrate diet.
"Although participants in the low-carbohydrate group lost more weight at 12 months, they regained more weight during the next 24 months," write researcher Marion L. Vetter, MD, RD of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine. "In contrast, participants in the low-fat group maintained their weight loss."
In the study, researchers started with a group of 132 obese people who weighed an average of 289 pounds before starting either a low-fat diet, a calorie- restricted diet with less than 30% of daily calories from fat, or a low-carb diet with fewer than 30 grams of fat per day for 12 months.
After six months on the diets, the group on the low-carb diet experienced the greatest weight loss, but by 12 months there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two groups.
Three years after the study began and two years after the diets ended, researchers followed up with 40 people in the low-carb diet group and 48 in the low-fat diet group.
They found people in the low-carb diet group weighed an average of 4.9 pounds less than before they started dieting while those in the low-fat diet group weighed an average of 9.5 pounds less than they did at the start of the study.
Researchers say while both diets appear to offer weight loss benefits, the pattern of weight change was different between the low-carb and low-fat diet groups.
"The differences in weight regain between the two groups probably reflects initial weight loss," write the researchers. "Participants who lost more weight during the first 12 months tended to regain more weight by month 36."
The Supremes want to keep without lyrics
Splitting 5-4, the Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked any television broadcast to the general public of the San Francisco federal court challenge to California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The stay will remain in effect until the Court rules on a coming appeal challenging the TV order. The Court, chastizing lower courts for attempting “to change its rules at the eleventh hour,” issued a 17-page opinion. The ruling came out nearly 40 minutes after an earlier temporary order blocking TV had technically expired.
When he met the gays he doubled crossed..Harold Ford..tail to the wind
Marriage equality flip-flopper Harold Ford Jr. will not be running for U.S. Senate in New York. He explains why in a New York Times op-ed:
"I’ve examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary — a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened. I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans. I realize this announcement will surprise many people who assumed I was running. I reached this decision only in the last few days — as I considered what a primary campaign, even with the victory I saw as fully achievable, would have done to the Democratic Party. I am a Democrat. But I am an independent Democrat. I am not going to stop speaking out on behalf of policies that I think are right — regardless of ideology, party or political expediency."
Buh-bye.
"I’ve examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary — a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened. I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans. I realize this announcement will surprise many people who assumed I was running. I reached this decision only in the last few days — as I considered what a primary campaign, even with the victory I saw as fully achievable, would have done to the Democratic Party. I am a Democrat. But I am an independent Democrat. I am not going to stop speaking out on behalf of policies that I think are right — regardless of ideology, party or political expediency."
Buh-bye.
Another one bites the dust for killing a guy because he was gay.
Steven Odegard was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole on Friday for the January 2008 murder of gay Boston hairdresser Daniel Yakovleff:
" Yakovleff had been found stabbed to death in the defendant’s apartment early on the morning of Jan. 17, 2008, and Odegard was subsequently charged with the victim’s murder after turning himself in to the police in December of that year. Prosecution’s opening statements, heard Monday, Jan. 25, detailed the evening that ended with Yakovleff’s gruesome slaying. Suffolk County homicide prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Mark T. Lee described to jurors how the two men had met in the early hours of Jan. 17 at the Boston Eagle, a Tremont St. bar, and decided to return to Odegard’s apartment. 'What happened next, plain and simple, is that Dan Yakovleff was murdered,' Lee said. 'I can’t tell you exactly what happened. No one can, because a crime this violent is not one you commit in front of witnesses."
Pass the Butter, PLEASE........
Lady Gaga wore a jewel-encrusted crustacean headdress out to dinner at Mr. Chow in London over the weekend. Also fashioned to her wrist was a withered, yellow "claw" of her own.
UK tabloid The Mirror claims that they spent 24 hours with Gaga as she stayed in Liverpool:
"Arriving in a fleet of blacked-out Mercedes Benz, she was ushered into the hotel through the back door, avoiding a scrum of her devout fans. As her team lugged 15 cases of luggage behind her, the manager went to introduce himself to the 23-year-old. GaGa peered up suspiciously from behind her shades and whispered into his ear: 'I’m so glad to be here. I want it all to be perfect.' With that, her own manager proceeded to produce a list of 'requirements for GaGa’s stay' from his inside jacket pocket and read them out. The hotel manager was told that the singer must not be disturbed at any time before 1pm, the mini-bar should be stripped of alcohol during daylight hours and people must not 'shout in her presence'."
(image source)
♻ RETWEETPOSTED 11:21 AM EST BY ANDY TOWLE
February 28, 2010
The Macho sport of Figure Skating!! Johnny Weir is making me watch again
Johnny Weir held a press conference in Vancouver yesterday in response to controversy that has arisen in Quebec and elsewhere over remarks made by sportscasters about his persona and his costumes.
Said Weir: "I'm not somebody to cry over something or to be weak about something. I felt very defiant when I saw these comments. It wasn't these two men criticizing my skating, it was them criticizing me as a person, and that was something that really, frankly, pissed me off...I hope more kids can grow up the same way I did and more kids can feel the freedom that I feel to be themselves and to express themselves and that's the most important thing."
The skater added: "I'm always thought of the sparkly flamboyant character that wore a crown of roses...nobody knows me. I think masculinity is what you believe it to be. To me, masculinity is all my perception. I think masculinity and femininity is something that's very old fashioned. There's a whole new generation of people that aren't defined by their sex or their race or who they like to sleep with. I think as a person you know what your values are and what you believe in and I that''s the most important thing."
February 27, 2010
One more suicide of a famous youth: Marie's Osmond
Blosil jumped to his death from his Los Angeles apartment on Friday night around 9 p.m. The Los Angeles Fire Department tells us they received a 911 call at 9:24 p.m. and were dispatched a minute later. An individual who'd fallen from a 15-story building was found dead at the scene of the incident.
The ongoing investigation is being handled by the
LAPD and the Los Angeles Coroner's Department. An autopsy might be conducted as soon as Sunday morning.
Blosil is one of Marie Osmond's eight children. He wrote in his suicide note that he’d suffered from life-long depression.
The ongoing investigation is being handled by the
LAPD and the Los Angeles Coroner's Department. An autopsy might be conducted as soon as Sunday morning.
Blosil is one of Marie Osmond's eight children. He wrote in his suicide note that he’d suffered from life-long depression.
RU stupid if ur religious..or smarter if ur not???????
CNN reports today of a study that finds that men who are liberal, atheist, and sexually exclusive stand to have a higher IQ than those who are conservative, religious, and prone to multiple sexual partners.
“Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ” offers the usual caution of not using these findings to “stereotype or make assumptions about people,” but does make one wonder.
“The reasoning is that sexual exclusivity in men, liberalism and atheism all go against what would be expected given humans’ evolutionary past. In other words, none of these traits would have benefited our early human ancestors, but higher intelligence may be associated with them.
“The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward,” said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. “It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people — people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower — are likely to be the ones to do that.”
“Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid, Kanazawa said. Assuming that, for example, a noise in the distance is a signal of a threat helped early humans to prepare in case of danger.
“It helps life to be paranoid, and because humans are paranoid, they become more religious, and they see the hands of God everywhere,” Kanazawa said.”
by: NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
“Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ” offers the usual caution of not using these findings to “stereotype or make assumptions about people,” but does make one wonder.
“The reasoning is that sexual exclusivity in men, liberalism and atheism all go against what would be expected given humans’ evolutionary past. In other words, none of these traits would have benefited our early human ancestors, but higher intelligence may be associated with them.
“The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward,” said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. “It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people — people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower — are likely to be the ones to do that.”
“Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid, Kanazawa said. Assuming that, for example, a noise in the distance is a signal of a threat helped early humans to prepare in case of danger.
“It helps life to be paranoid, and because humans are paranoid, they become more religious, and they see the hands of God everywhere,” Kanazawa said.”
by: NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Single Men, Unhappily coupled men..Risk of Fatal Stroke
"Single Men, Unhappily Married Men May Have Higher Risk Of Fatal Stroke"
Single or unhappily married men may have an elevated risk of fatal stroke in the coming decades, according to a large study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.
The findings are based on earlier work in which researchers examined 10,059 civil servants and municipal workers (average age 49) who participated in the Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease Study in 1963. Using the national death registry and other records, researchers tracked the fate of the men through 1997, the last year for which underlying causes of death had been coded.
Among the men who in 1963 were single, 8.4 percent died of stroke in the following 34 years, compared with 7.1 percent of the married men. Considering age at death and adjusting for socioeconomic status, obesity, blood pressure, smoking habits and family size, as well as existing diabetes and heart disease at the time of the earlier survey, single men had a 64 percent higher risk of fatal stroke than did married men. That figure is comparable to the risk of fatal stroke faced by men with diabetes, said Uri Goldbourt, Ph.D., author of the study.
Furthermore, in 1965, the married men had been asked to evaluate their marriages as very successful, quite successful, not so successful, or unsuccessful. In an analysis of the 3.6 percent of men who had reported dissatisfaction in their marriage, adjusted risk of a fatal stroke was also 64 percent higher, compared with men who considered their marriages very successful.
"I had not expected that unsuccessful marriage would be of this statistical importance," said Goldbourt, a professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
The new research has several limitations, he said, including a lack of data on nonfatal vs. fatal strokes and on participants' medical treatment after the first five years of the initial study. Women also weren't included.
While the effects of marital status and success may be similar in women, "there are still differences, and research on women is clearly needed," Goldbourt said.
The research is a snapshot of Israel from more than four decades ago, he said. "How much this reflects associations between being happily or relatively happily married and stroke-free survival in other populations, at later times, is not readily deduced."
American Cancer Society
Single or unhappily married men may have an elevated risk of fatal stroke in the coming decades, according to a large study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.
The findings are based on earlier work in which researchers examined 10,059 civil servants and municipal workers (average age 49) who participated in the Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease Study in 1963. Using the national death registry and other records, researchers tracked the fate of the men through 1997, the last year for which underlying causes of death had been coded.
Among the men who in 1963 were single, 8.4 percent died of stroke in the following 34 years, compared with 7.1 percent of the married men. Considering age at death and adjusting for socioeconomic status, obesity, blood pressure, smoking habits and family size, as well as existing diabetes and heart disease at the time of the earlier survey, single men had a 64 percent higher risk of fatal stroke than did married men. That figure is comparable to the risk of fatal stroke faced by men with diabetes, said Uri Goldbourt, Ph.D., author of the study.
Furthermore, in 1965, the married men had been asked to evaluate their marriages as very successful, quite successful, not so successful, or unsuccessful. In an analysis of the 3.6 percent of men who had reported dissatisfaction in their marriage, adjusted risk of a fatal stroke was also 64 percent higher, compared with men who considered their marriages very successful.
"I had not expected that unsuccessful marriage would be of this statistical importance," said Goldbourt, a professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
The new research has several limitations, he said, including a lack of data on nonfatal vs. fatal strokes and on participants' medical treatment after the first five years of the initial study. Women also weren't included.
While the effects of marital status and success may be similar in women, "there are still differences, and research on women is clearly needed," Goldbourt said.
The research is a snapshot of Israel from more than four decades ago, he said. "How much this reflects associations between being happily or relatively happily married and stroke-free survival in other populations, at later times, is not readily deduced."
American Cancer Society
February 26, 2010
AF: A beautiful guy with everything to live for. Looks, money, advantages that many people will kill for; Yet he did not want to continue in this journey, which happens to be a very short one. Obvious to me is that he had something inside that was eating him alive and until it did.Former "Growing Pains" actor Andrew Koenig was found dead Thursday in a wooded area of a sprawling downtown park where he enjoyed spending time, apparently after committing suicide.
The actor's father, Walter Koenig, said "my son took his own life," and police spokeswoman Jana McGuinness said, "I'll let Mr. Koenig's words speak for themselves."
"He was obviously in a lot of pain," Walter Koenig said, referring his son's lifelong depression.
McGuinness, speaking at a press conference at the park, said foul play was not involved, but said she could not be more specific because the coroner was taking over the investigation.
Andrew Koenig, 41, had a recurring role on the 1980s sitcom as Richard "Boner" Stabone, a pal of star Kirk Cameron's character, Mike. The native of Venice, California, hadn't been seen since Feb. 14, while visiting friends in Vancouver.
He was supposed to return home two days later. His parents reported him missing Feb. 18, then asked the public for help finding him a few days later.
On Tuesday, Vancouver police and three search-and-rescue teams looked for any signs of Koenig throughout Stanley Park, which covers more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares). Friends and family decided to try again on their own Thursday and one of them found Koenig's body near a marsh in a heavily wooded area about 100 feet (30 meters) off the Bridle Path. McGuinness said the body could not be seen from the walking path.
The elder Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov on the original "Star Trek" TV series, was nearby when the body was found. Hours later, Koenig and his wife, Judith, issued a statement at a police station in the park.
They said Andrew had been depressed, and had said earlier that he had given away his belongings and had been off his medication. They urged others who are having trouble coping to seek help.
"If you are one of those people who can't handle it any more, know people are out there who really care before you make that final decision," Walter Koenig said. "Talk to somebody."
Koenig had said he that his son had cleaned out his apartment in Los Angeles, a city where he felt like he didn't belong. Koenig did not know his son planned to move to Vancouver, which is what Andrew told friends before he disappeared.
Andrew Koenig also appeared in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "My Two Dads," and "G.I. Joe," and the films "NonSeNse," "InAlienable" and "The Theory of Everything." His father has praised his son for his acting, film editing and directing work, and said he was also a busy environmental activist. He also was an advocate for refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
In 2008, Koenig was arrested during the Rose Bowl parade in California while protesting China's support for Myanmar's military government.
He came to love Vancouver after shooting a TV episode there, and once lived there for three years.
February 25, 2010
Sicily, Italia
The people of Sicily are often portrayed as very proud of their island, identity and culture and it is not uncommon for people to describe themselves as Sicilian, before the more national description of Italian.[64] Despite the existence of major cities such as Palermo, Catania, Messina and Syracuse, popular stereotypes of Sicilians commonly allude to ruralism, for example the coppola is one of the main symbols of Sicilian identity; it is derived from the flat cap of rural Northern England which arrived in 1800 when Bourbon king Ferdinand I had fled to Sicily and was protected by the British Royal Navy.[65]
Sicily has been under the control of a variety of different cultures, including the original Italic people, the Romans, Vandals, Greeks, Byzantines, Saracens and Normans, each contributing to the island's culture, particularly in the areas of cuisine and architecture. Sicilian people tend to most closely associate themselves with other southern Italians, with whom they share a common history. The island of Sicily itself has a population of approximately five million, and there are an additional ten million people of Sicilian descent around the world, mostly in North America, Argentina, Australia and other European countries. Like the rest of Southern Italy, immigration to the island is very low compared to other regions of Italy because workers tend to head to Northern Italy instead, due to better employment and industrial opportunities.
Most whales killed 'were pregnant'
July 24, 2007 - 9:15AM
Bloody waters ... the majority of whales killed were pregnant females, new report claims.
Photo: Kate Davison
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More than half the whales killed by Japanese whalers in the Antarctic last summer were pregnant females, the Humane Society International (HSI) said today.
The group said that of the 505 Antarctic minke whales killed, 262 of them were pregnant females, while one of the three giant fin whales killed was also pregnant.
The findings came from a review of Japanese reports from their most recent 2006-07 whale hunt in Antarctic waters and were released ahead of the resumption of a Federal Court case the HSI is taking against Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.
Japanese whalers take hundreds of whales each year in Antarctic waters for so-called scientific study purposes.
"These are gruesome statistics that the Japanese government dresses up as science", HSI spokeswoman Nicola Beynon said in a statement.
She said the HSI was hoping the court would set a date for a full hearing of the case at today's directions hearing.
"The full hearing will be to determine whether Japanese whalers are in breach of Australian law when they hunt whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary in Antarctica and whether the court will issue an injunction for the hunt to be stopped," Ms Beynon said.
"HSI will ask for the final hearing to be held as soon as possible before the hunt starts up again this summer.
"It has been three years since HSI launched the case and many hurdles have been overcome to get to this point.
"It horrifies Australians to know that pregnant humpback whales breeding in the warm waters off Australia this winter will be targeted by the
February 24, 2010
Media Expose on Distortions on "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
'MEDIA MATTERS' EXPOSES MYTHS, PENS OPEN LETTER TO MEDIA ABOUT LIES AND DISTORTIONS ON 'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL'
Some great work from Media Matters today in a posting detailing the Myths and Falsehoods on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.
Media Matters (with a coalition of groups and individuals) also penned a letter to the media advising them to be wary of distortions regarding the military gay ban and its repeal.
Wrote MM:
Don't Ask, Don't Tell proponents too often paint a distorted picture of what a repeal would mean. Today, Media Matters for America released a comprehensive review detailing how opinion pages and cable news talk shows have been flooded with falsehoods and anti-gay rhetoric to support the dubious argument that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is working.
Myths that repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell would adversely affect unit cohesion, retention, or the HIV rate among servicemembers are not based in reality. Similarly, the anti-gay rhetoric permeating many of these arguments only serves to cheapen the national discussion on this important issue.
Because news outlets continue to repeat these outrageous myths, a coalition of organizations is banding together to combat misinformation about the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law. As Congress moves forward on this legislation, we will be vigilant in ensuring that news reports are accurate and fair. The public deserves an honest debate -- not one marred by blatant falsehoods and anti-gay attacks.
HRC signed on to the action, as did GLAAD.
♻ RETWEET
February 23, 2010
There was Michele Bachmann, waxing moronic as only Michele Bachmann can do
One speaker referred to it as "the Conservative Woodstock". Unlike the last Woodstock, however, "our women are beautiful." Apparently this freak has the hots for Phyllis Schlafly. Va va voom!
Another convention of pissed off and clueless white people blew into town last week. The Conservative Political Action Conference - CPAC to you and me - staged this silly photo-op for no other purpose than to flex some badly whithered muscles. And as far as anyone can tell, it was, in fact, an all white gathering. Some idiotic commentator at FOX Noise claimed that he had heard from a friend that there was an African American spotted on the periphreals of the crowd chomping the life out of a hapless watermelon - but that has yet to be confirmed by any responsible news agency. Sarah Palin, for reasons no one can explain, did not show up.
They came to preform what (in a perfect world) would be dismissed as an impossible feat: convincing their fellow citizens that the failed economic and social policies advocated by the right wing for the last three decades should be advanced once again on Election Day 2010. But this is not a perfect world, and - given the American electorate's hideous track record in recent years - their chances of taking back the House and Senate this November is a pretty safe bet. Or is it?
Although concealed by a facade of respectability, this was a vicious crowd. Come to think of it, "crowd" is too polite a term. This was a mob. In normal circumstances, considering the eight years of damage they were able to inflict upon the country they profess to love so much, one might think that their cause would have been pronounced dead-as-a-doornail at this late stage. But these were a people united and reinvigorated, bought together by their utter contempt - their irrational hatred - for that goddammed nigger in the White House. That was their hideous, unspeakable and unspoken common denominator. I just spoke it for them.
These were a people with a renewed sense of mission.
"The sky's the limit here. I think 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the Conservative cause. And I think Barack Obama is a one-term president."
Dick Cheney
In a spontaneous display of twisted adulation, the crowd chanted in unison, "RUN, CHENEY, RUN!!!" The Dickster, to my bitter disappointment, assured them that he would not run. Pity. I've been wishing like Jiminy Cricket on a star for a Cheney/Palin ticket in 2012. Wouldn't that be the perfect farce? Sickie Dick and Fascist Barbie! Ah, the possibilities....
Cheney wasn't the only icon of the uber right to make himself known to the drooling throng. The Grand Old Party's rock stars showed up in half-witted droves for this show.
There was Michele Bachmann, waxing moronic as only Michele Bachmann can do. Almost four weeks ago on this very site, I asked the musical question, "Can Michele Bachman possibly get any stupider?" The answer, apparently, is yes. She showed a giant slide of a billboard in her home state of Minnesota which displayed a huge photograph of George W. Bush. Underneath the moronically smiling Dubya was this caption:
"MISS ME YET?"
Not surprisingly, this ocean of assholes misses him terribly. So, too, does Michele Bachmann. It was quite touching really.
There was John Boehner giving a speech demonstrating the complete gullibility of his audience given the fact that he wasn't laughed off the podium:
Ladies and gentlemen, if you help elect a Republican Congress this November, and I'm fortunate enough to be elected Speaker of the House, I pledge to you right here and now: we're going to run the House differently."
I wish I could have set up a concession stand outside that hall selling my new line of gas heaters made out of balsa wood. I'd have walked away with a small fortune.
There was former Congressman Dick Armey demonstrating yet again that he has spent the last ten years in a vacuum. I am not kidding you, he actually had this to say about the president: "You're intellectually shallow; you're a romantic; you're self-indulgent." He then went on to call Obama, "the most incompetent president perhaps in our lifetime."
QUESTION: What was this knucklehead doing between the years 2001 and 2009? Any ideas?
There was Marco Rubio, the GOP's latest poster boy and candidate for senate. This guy also fancies himself something of a comedian. It was a good thing that Washington was shut down last week by the worst snow storm in its history. Why? Because "the president couldn't find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes." THAT'S A KILLER! WHAT A COMEDIAN! Here's what made the remark so funny: he was reading off of a teleprompter when he made it. That's what I love about these people - totally void of any sense irony.
FOR THE HISTORICAL RECORD:
Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made use of the teleprompter. How far do you think Reagan or either of the Bushes would have gotten without that invention? I find it interesting that in a half century, only the black guy got criticized for actually using it. I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
And then there was Glenn Beck with his tired old robo-message: Liberalism equals Communism. The fact that this nitwit was welcomed with open arm to this event should give you a fairly good idea where their heads are at.
So I guess the writing is on the wall; the Democrats are going to get hammered on Election Day, right? I wouldn't be too sure about that. There are far too many monkey wrenches that are ready to be thrown into this engine. The most amusing thing to observe during the CPAC orgy last Thursday was their subtle attempt to disassociate themselves from the so-called "Tea Party Movement" without flatly rejecting it. What is going on here?
Here's what's going on: The cooler heads within the Republican National Committee know damned well that the Tea Partiers a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. It's not only the fact that most of these people are dumber than dog shit, it's also the ugly fact that so much (although not all) of that movement is based on the nasty philosophy that has embodied the white supremacist movement for decades. You could see it in the signs and remarks of the protesters at the September 12, March on Washington last year. Most of these twits refuse to acknowledge that the president of the United States is an American citizen!
Like Chamberlain appeasing der fuhrer in Munich in 1938, the RNC has quite a dilemma before it. On the one hand they need to keep these jackasses "inside the tent pissing out" - so to speak. On the other hand they have to avoid alienating moderates. Like the demented uncle living in the attic, they must do everything humanly possible to limit his contact with the neighbor's kids if you know what I mean.
The Tea Party people are already claiming credit for Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago. They are determined to steer the course of the GOP in November, come hell or high water. If they are allowed control of the party, their extremism will only turn off a huge segment of the voting population. If they are denied that opportunity, they will splinter off into third and even fourth party uprisings. Have you ever watched an elephant try to walk a tightrope? It's more fun than a barrel of donkeys!
In the final analysis, the CPAC convention last week was not the celebration of omnipotence they would have us believe. It was nothing more than an organization of desperate politicians trying to put a pretty face on a dead pig. They have no ideas. They have no vision. The only reason for the existence of the Republican party since the days of President Grant is to serve as handmaidens to their only constituency - the plutocracy. This fact is becoming more and more obvious to even the casual observer; hence their desperation. Will Election Day prove to be the landslide for the Republicans that so many are predicting? Don't count on it. That weird uncle is walking the streets.
Tom Degan
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
Another convention of pissed off and clueless white people blew into town last week. The Conservative Political Action Conference - CPAC to you and me - staged this silly photo-op for no other purpose than to flex some badly whithered muscles. And as far as anyone can tell, it was, in fact, an all white gathering. Some idiotic commentator at FOX Noise claimed that he had heard from a friend that there was an African American spotted on the periphreals of the crowd chomping the life out of a hapless watermelon - but that has yet to be confirmed by any responsible news agency. Sarah Palin, for reasons no one can explain, did not show up.
They came to preform what (in a perfect world) would be dismissed as an impossible feat: convincing their fellow citizens that the failed economic and social policies advocated by the right wing for the last three decades should be advanced once again on Election Day 2010. But this is not a perfect world, and - given the American electorate's hideous track record in recent years - their chances of taking back the House and Senate this November is a pretty safe bet. Or is it?
Although concealed by a facade of respectability, this was a vicious crowd. Come to think of it, "crowd" is too polite a term. This was a mob. In normal circumstances, considering the eight years of damage they were able to inflict upon the country they profess to love so much, one might think that their cause would have been pronounced dead-as-a-doornail at this late stage. But these were a people united and reinvigorated, bought together by their utter contempt - their irrational hatred - for that goddammed nigger in the White House. That was their hideous, unspeakable and unspoken common denominator. I just spoke it for them.
These were a people with a renewed sense of mission.
"The sky's the limit here. I think 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the Conservative cause. And I think Barack Obama is a one-term president."
Dick Cheney
In a spontaneous display of twisted adulation, the crowd chanted in unison, "RUN, CHENEY, RUN!!!" The Dickster, to my bitter disappointment, assured them that he would not run. Pity. I've been wishing like Jiminy Cricket on a star for a Cheney/Palin ticket in 2012. Wouldn't that be the perfect farce? Sickie Dick and Fascist Barbie! Ah, the possibilities....
Cheney wasn't the only icon of the uber right to make himself known to the drooling throng. The Grand Old Party's rock stars showed up in half-witted droves for this show.
There was Michele Bachmann, waxing moronic as only Michele Bachmann can do. Almost four weeks ago on this very site, I asked the musical question, "Can Michele Bachman possibly get any stupider?" The answer, apparently, is yes. She showed a giant slide of a billboard in her home state of Minnesota which displayed a huge photograph of George W. Bush. Underneath the moronically smiling Dubya was this caption:
"MISS ME YET?"
Not surprisingly, this ocean of assholes misses him terribly. So, too, does Michele Bachmann. It was quite touching really.
There was John Boehner giving a speech demonstrating the complete gullibility of his audience given the fact that he wasn't laughed off the podium:
Ladies and gentlemen, if you help elect a Republican Congress this November, and I'm fortunate enough to be elected Speaker of the House, I pledge to you right here and now: we're going to run the House differently."
I wish I could have set up a concession stand outside that hall selling my new line of gas heaters made out of balsa wood. I'd have walked away with a small fortune.
There was former Congressman Dick Armey demonstrating yet again that he has spent the last ten years in a vacuum. I am not kidding you, he actually had this to say about the president: "You're intellectually shallow; you're a romantic; you're self-indulgent." He then went on to call Obama, "the most incompetent president perhaps in our lifetime."
QUESTION: What was this knucklehead doing between the years 2001 and 2009? Any ideas?
There was Marco Rubio, the GOP's latest poster boy and candidate for senate. This guy also fancies himself something of a comedian. It was a good thing that Washington was shut down last week by the worst snow storm in its history. Why? Because "the president couldn't find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes." THAT'S A KILLER! WHAT A COMEDIAN! Here's what made the remark so funny: he was reading off of a teleprompter when he made it. That's what I love about these people - totally void of any sense irony.
FOR THE HISTORICAL RECORD:
Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made use of the teleprompter. How far do you think Reagan or either of the Bushes would have gotten without that invention? I find it interesting that in a half century, only the black guy got criticized for actually using it. I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
And then there was Glenn Beck with his tired old robo-message: Liberalism equals Communism. The fact that this nitwit was welcomed with open arm to this event should give you a fairly good idea where their heads are at.
So I guess the writing is on the wall; the Democrats are going to get hammered on Election Day, right? I wouldn't be too sure about that. There are far too many monkey wrenches that are ready to be thrown into this engine. The most amusing thing to observe during the CPAC orgy last Thursday was their subtle attempt to disassociate themselves from the so-called "Tea Party Movement" without flatly rejecting it. What is going on here?
Here's what's going on: The cooler heads within the Republican National Committee know damned well that the Tea Partiers a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. It's not only the fact that most of these people are dumber than dog shit, it's also the ugly fact that so much (although not all) of that movement is based on the nasty philosophy that has embodied the white supremacist movement for decades. You could see it in the signs and remarks of the protesters at the September 12, March on Washington last year. Most of these twits refuse to acknowledge that the president of the United States is an American citizen!
Like Chamberlain appeasing der fuhrer in Munich in 1938, the RNC has quite a dilemma before it. On the one hand they need to keep these jackasses "inside the tent pissing out" - so to speak. On the other hand they have to avoid alienating moderates. Like the demented uncle living in the attic, they must do everything humanly possible to limit his contact with the neighbor's kids if you know what I mean.
The Tea Party people are already claiming credit for Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago. They are determined to steer the course of the GOP in November, come hell or high water. If they are allowed control of the party, their extremism will only turn off a huge segment of the voting population. If they are denied that opportunity, they will splinter off into third and even fourth party uprisings. Have you ever watched an elephant try to walk a tightrope? It's more fun than a barrel of donkeys!
In the final analysis, the CPAC convention last week was not the celebration of omnipotence they would have us believe. It was nothing more than an organization of desperate politicians trying to put a pretty face on a dead pig. They have no ideas. They have no vision. The only reason for the existence of the Republican party since the days of President Grant is to serve as handmaidens to their only constituency - the plutocracy. This fact is becoming more and more obvious to even the casual observer; hence their desperation. Will Election Day prove to be the landslide for the Republicans that so many are predicting? Don't count on it. That weird uncle is walking the streets.
Tom Degan
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
I am who I am - I don't need instructions on how to be a gay man
I reject a ridiculously narrow standard of what it means to be a man. I reject that a man must meet these foolish, harmful standards. And when I don't meet that standard, it's not because I'm gay. It's not because a gay man is less of a man. My "effeminate" or "less manly" behaviour or tastes most certainly does not somehow prove some trait about gay men everywhere. I am my own person and it is an absurdity to infer anything about other gay men by my actions. I am a gay man. The fact I am a man solely attracted to other men, and that I identify as gay is enough to make me a gay man. I am not any less gay because I am not flamboyant enough. I am not closeting myself because I don't wear glitter or rainbows or pink (pink? I look AWFUL in pink). I am not refusing to embrace my gayness by not wanting to wear drag. My monogamous life and preference for monogamy is not some kind of betrayal of what it means to be GBLT. It doesn't make me a wanna-be heterosexual. My domestic partnership (gah I hate that ridiculous term - my MARRIAGE as it should be) doesn't make me somehow not truly gay.
February 22, 2010
The Government decided to poison you in order to make you slow down on drinking
The Chemist's War
The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.
By Deborah Blum
Posted Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at 10:00 AM ET
Detroit police inspecting a clandestine underground brewery during Prohibition.
It was Christmas Eve 1926, the streets aglitter with snow and lights, when the man afraid of Santa Claus stumbled into the emergency room at New York City's Bellevue Hospital. He was flushed, gasping with fear: Santa Claus, he kept telling the nurses, was just behind him, wielding a baseball bat.
Before hospital staff realized how sick he was—the alcohol-induced hallucination was just a symptom—the man died. So did another holiday partygoer. And another. As dusk fell on Christmas, the hospital staff tallied up more than 60 people made desperately ill by alcohol and eight dead from it. Within the next two days, yet another 23 people died in the city from celebrating the season.
Doctors were accustomed to alcohol poisoning by then, the routine of life in the Prohibition era. The bootlegged whiskies and so-called gins often made people sick. The liquor produced in hidden stills frequently came tainted with metals and other impurities. But this outbreak was bizarrely different. The deaths, as investigators would shortly realize, came courtesy of the U.S. government.
Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.
Although mostly forgotten today, the "chemist's war of Prohibition" remains one of the strangest and most deadly decisions in American law-enforcement history. As one of its most outspoken opponents, Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner of New York City during the 1920s, liked to say, it was "our national experiment in extermination." Poisonous alcohol still kills—16 people died just this month after drinking lethal booze in Indonesia, where bootleggers make their own brews to avoid steep taxes—but that's due to unscrupulous businessmen rather than government order.
I learned of the federal poisoning program while researching my new book, The Poisoner's Handbook, which is set in jazz-age New York. My first reaction was that I must have gotten it wrong. "I never heard that the government poisoned people during Prohibition, did you?" I kept saying to friends, family members, colleagues.
I did, however, remember the U.S. government's controversial decision in the 1970s to spray Mexican marijuana fields with Paraquat, an herbicide. Its use was primarily intended to destroy crops, but government officials also insisted that awareness of the toxin would deter marijuana smokers. They echoed the official position of the 1920s—if some citizens ended up poisoned, well, they'd brought it upon themselves. Although Paraquat wasn't really all that toxic, the outcry forced the government to drop the plan. Still, the incident created an unsurprising lack of trust in government motives, which reveals itself in the occasional rumors circulating today that federal agencies, such as the CIA, mix poison into the illegal drug supply.
During Prohibition, however, an official sense of higher purpose kept the poisoning program in place. As the Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1927: "Normally, no American government would engage in such business. … It is only in the curious fanaticism of Prohibition that any means, however barbarous, are considered justified." Others, however, accused lawmakers opposed to the poisoning plan of being in cahoots with criminals and argued that bootleggers and their law-breaking alcoholic customers deserved no sympathy. "Must Uncle Sam guarantee safety first for souses?" asked Nebraska's Omaha Bee.
The saga began with ratification of the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States.* High-minded crusaders and anti-alcohol organizations had helped push the amendment through in 1919, playing on fears of moral decay in a country just emerging from war. The Volstead Act, spelling out the rules for enforcement, passed shortly later, and Prohibition itself went into effect on Jan. 1, 1920.
But people continued to drink—and in large quantities. Alcoholism rates soared during the 1920s; insurance companies charted the increase at more than 300 more percent. Speakeasies promptly opened for business. By the decade's end, some 30,000 existed in New York City alone. Street gangs grew into bootlegging empires built on smuggling, stealing, and manufacturing illegal alcohol. The country's defiant response to the new laws shocked those who sincerely (and naively) believed that the amendment would usher in a new era of upright behavior.
Rigorous enforcement had managed to slow the smuggling of alcohol from Canada and other countries. But crime syndicates responded by stealing massive quantities of industrial alcohol—used in paints and solvents, fuels and medical supplies—and redistilling it to make it potable.
Well, sort of. Industrial alcohol is basically grain alcohol with some unpleasant chemicals mixed in to render it undrinkable. The U.S. government started requiring this "denaturing" process in 1906 for manufacturers who wanted to avoid the taxes levied on potable spirits. The U.S. Treasury Department, charged with overseeing alcohol enforcement, estimated that by the mid-1920s, some 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol were stolen annually to supply the country's drinkers. In response, in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge's government decided to turn to chemistry as an enforcement tool. Some 70 denaturing formulas existed by the 1920s. Most simply added poisonous methyl alcohol into the mix. Others used bitter-tasting compounds that were less lethal, designed to make the alcohol taste so awful that it became undrinkable.
To sell the stolen industrial alcohol, the liquor syndicates employed chemists to "renature" the products, returning them to a drinkable state. The bootleggers paid their chemists a lot more than the government did, and they excelled at their job. Stolen and redistilled alcohol became the primary source of liquor in the country. So federal officials ordered manufacturers to make their products far more deadly.
By mid-1927, the new denaturing formulas included some notable poisons—kerosene and brucine (a plant alkaloid closely related to strychnine), gasoline, benzene, cadmium, iodine, zinc, mercury salts, nicotine, ether, formaldehyde, chloroform, camphor, carbolic acid, quinine, and acetone. The Treasury Department also demanded more methyl alcohol be added—up to 10 percent of total product. It was the last that proved most deadly.
The results were immediate, starting with that horrific holiday body count in the closing days of 1926. Public health officials responded with shock. "The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol," New York City medical examiner Charles Norris said at a hastily organized press conference. "[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible."
His department issued warnings to citizens, detailing the dangers in whiskey circulating in the city: "[P]ractically all the liquor that is sold in New York today is toxic," read one 1928 alert. He publicized every death by alcohol poisoning. He assigned his toxicologist, Alexander Gettler, to analyze confiscated whiskey for poisons—that long list of toxic materials I cited came in part from studies done by the New York City medical examiner's office.
Norris also condemned the federal program for its disproportionate effect on the country's poorest residents. Wealthy people, he pointed out, could afford the best whiskey available. Most of those sickened and dying were those "who cannot afford expensive protection and deal in low grade stuff."
And the numbers were not trivial. In 1926, in New York City, 1,200 were sickened by poisonous alcohol; 400 died. The following year, deaths climbed to 700. These numbers were repeated in cities around the country as public-health officials nationwide joined in the angry clamor. Furious anti-Prohibition legislators pushed for a halt in the use of lethal chemistry. "Only one possessing the instincts of a wild beast would desire to kill or make blind the man who takes a drink of liquor, even if he purchased it from one violating the Prohibition statutes," proclaimed Sen. James Reed of Missouri.
Officially, the special denaturing program ended only once the 18th Amendment was repealed in December 1933. But the chemist's war itself faded away before then. Slowly, government officials quit talking about it. And when Prohibition ended and good grain whiskey reappeared, it was almost as if the craziness of Prohibition—and the poisonous measures taken to enforce it—had never quite happened.
The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences.
By Deborah Blum
Posted Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at 10:00 AM ET
Detroit police inspecting a clandestine underground brewery during Prohibition.
It was Christmas Eve 1926, the streets aglitter with snow and lights, when the man afraid of Santa Claus stumbled into the emergency room at New York City's Bellevue Hospital. He was flushed, gasping with fear: Santa Claus, he kept telling the nurses, was just behind him, wielding a baseball bat.
Before hospital staff realized how sick he was—the alcohol-induced hallucination was just a symptom—the man died. So did another holiday partygoer. And another. As dusk fell on Christmas, the hospital staff tallied up more than 60 people made desperately ill by alcohol and eight dead from it. Within the next two days, yet another 23 people died in the city from celebrating the season.
Doctors were accustomed to alcohol poisoning by then, the routine of life in the Prohibition era. The bootlegged whiskies and so-called gins often made people sick. The liquor produced in hidden stills frequently came tainted with metals and other impurities. But this outbreak was bizarrely different. The deaths, as investigators would shortly realize, came courtesy of the U.S. government.
Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.
Although mostly forgotten today, the "chemist's war of Prohibition" remains one of the strangest and most deadly decisions in American law-enforcement history. As one of its most outspoken opponents, Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner of New York City during the 1920s, liked to say, it was "our national experiment in extermination." Poisonous alcohol still kills—16 people died just this month after drinking lethal booze in Indonesia, where bootleggers make their own brews to avoid steep taxes—but that's due to unscrupulous businessmen rather than government order.
I learned of the federal poisoning program while researching my new book, The Poisoner's Handbook, which is set in jazz-age New York. My first reaction was that I must have gotten it wrong. "I never heard that the government poisoned people during Prohibition, did you?" I kept saying to friends, family members, colleagues.
I did, however, remember the U.S. government's controversial decision in the 1970s to spray Mexican marijuana fields with Paraquat, an herbicide. Its use was primarily intended to destroy crops, but government officials also insisted that awareness of the toxin would deter marijuana smokers. They echoed the official position of the 1920s—if some citizens ended up poisoned, well, they'd brought it upon themselves. Although Paraquat wasn't really all that toxic, the outcry forced the government to drop the plan. Still, the incident created an unsurprising lack of trust in government motives, which reveals itself in the occasional rumors circulating today that federal agencies, such as the CIA, mix poison into the illegal drug supply.
During Prohibition, however, an official sense of higher purpose kept the poisoning program in place. As the Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1927: "Normally, no American government would engage in such business. … It is only in the curious fanaticism of Prohibition that any means, however barbarous, are considered justified." Others, however, accused lawmakers opposed to the poisoning plan of being in cahoots with criminals and argued that bootleggers and their law-breaking alcoholic customers deserved no sympathy. "Must Uncle Sam guarantee safety first for souses?" asked Nebraska's Omaha Bee.
The saga began with ratification of the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States.* High-minded crusaders and anti-alcohol organizations had helped push the amendment through in 1919, playing on fears of moral decay in a country just emerging from war. The Volstead Act, spelling out the rules for enforcement, passed shortly later, and Prohibition itself went into effect on Jan. 1, 1920.
But people continued to drink—and in large quantities. Alcoholism rates soared during the 1920s; insurance companies charted the increase at more than 300 more percent. Speakeasies promptly opened for business. By the decade's end, some 30,000 existed in New York City alone. Street gangs grew into bootlegging empires built on smuggling, stealing, and manufacturing illegal alcohol. The country's defiant response to the new laws shocked those who sincerely (and naively) believed that the amendment would usher in a new era of upright behavior.
Rigorous enforcement had managed to slow the smuggling of alcohol from Canada and other countries. But crime syndicates responded by stealing massive quantities of industrial alcohol—used in paints and solvents, fuels and medical supplies—and redistilling it to make it potable.
Well, sort of. Industrial alcohol is basically grain alcohol with some unpleasant chemicals mixed in to render it undrinkable. The U.S. government started requiring this "denaturing" process in 1906 for manufacturers who wanted to avoid the taxes levied on potable spirits. The U.S. Treasury Department, charged with overseeing alcohol enforcement, estimated that by the mid-1920s, some 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol were stolen annually to supply the country's drinkers. In response, in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge's government decided to turn to chemistry as an enforcement tool. Some 70 denaturing formulas existed by the 1920s. Most simply added poisonous methyl alcohol into the mix. Others used bitter-tasting compounds that were less lethal, designed to make the alcohol taste so awful that it became undrinkable.
To sell the stolen industrial alcohol, the liquor syndicates employed chemists to "renature" the products, returning them to a drinkable state. The bootleggers paid their chemists a lot more than the government did, and they excelled at their job. Stolen and redistilled alcohol became the primary source of liquor in the country. So federal officials ordered manufacturers to make their products far more deadly.
By mid-1927, the new denaturing formulas included some notable poisons—kerosene and brucine (a plant alkaloid closely related to strychnine), gasoline, benzene, cadmium, iodine, zinc, mercury salts, nicotine, ether, formaldehyde, chloroform, camphor, carbolic acid, quinine, and acetone. The Treasury Department also demanded more methyl alcohol be added—up to 10 percent of total product. It was the last that proved most deadly.
The results were immediate, starting with that horrific holiday body count in the closing days of 1926. Public health officials responded with shock. "The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol," New York City medical examiner Charles Norris said at a hastily organized press conference. "[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible."
His department issued warnings to citizens, detailing the dangers in whiskey circulating in the city: "[P]ractically all the liquor that is sold in New York today is toxic," read one 1928 alert. He publicized every death by alcohol poisoning. He assigned his toxicologist, Alexander Gettler, to analyze confiscated whiskey for poisons—that long list of toxic materials I cited came in part from studies done by the New York City medical examiner's office.
Norris also condemned the federal program for its disproportionate effect on the country's poorest residents. Wealthy people, he pointed out, could afford the best whiskey available. Most of those sickened and dying were those "who cannot afford expensive protection and deal in low grade stuff."
And the numbers were not trivial. In 1926, in New York City, 1,200 were sickened by poisonous alcohol; 400 died. The following year, deaths climbed to 700. These numbers were repeated in cities around the country as public-health officials nationwide joined in the angry clamor. Furious anti-Prohibition legislators pushed for a halt in the use of lethal chemistry. "Only one possessing the instincts of a wild beast would desire to kill or make blind the man who takes a drink of liquor, even if he purchased it from one violating the Prohibition statutes," proclaimed Sen. James Reed of Missouri.
Officially, the special denaturing program ended only once the 18th Amendment was repealed in December 1933. But the chemist's war itself faded away before then. Slowly, government officials quit talking about it. And when Prohibition ended and good grain whiskey reappeared, it was almost as if the craziness of Prohibition—and the poisonous measures taken to enforce it—had never quite happened.
If this list doesn't make you hungry, then you're already ahead of most of us.
7 Worst Restaurant Starters
A funny thing has happened to America's restaurant appetizers, starters, and sides: They've started growing bigger than the main meals. It's now common for a diner to wolf down 500 or 600 greasy calories before even starting on the entree, or to find that amount sitting alongside an already-giant burger.
One might wonder where all the calories end up. The answer: our collective belly-fat supplies. Last year, obesity rates stayed constant in only 13 states, while the other 37 states saw an increase. This big fat growth—which stretches over 75 percent of America—is due in no small part to our propensity to eat full meals before we eat full meals. (It's not uncommon anymore to take in two days' worth of calories in a single meal at one of our favorite restaurants.)
Bing Search: Nutrition
View results for:
To help you wrap your arms around the problem, the writers of the best-selling Eat This, Not That! series have gathered the most gluttonous starters and side binges in America. If this list doesn't make you hungry, then you're already ahead of most of us.
Worst Seafood Appetizer
Long John Silver’s Breaded Clam Strips
320 calories
19 g fat (4.5 g saturated, 7 g trans fat)
1,190 mg sodium
The restaurant industry began to shift away from frying in partially hydrogenated oil 10 years ago. Now, Long John Silver’s is one of the few places left clinging to their trans-fatty fare. The word that should have set you off was “breaded”—it implies that the dish has been fried in oils, and in this case, those oils are packed with potentially heart-harming trans fats. Who wants to order fried seafood through a squawk box anyway? Luckily, Long John also serves up a number of dishes that boost good cholesterol, none better than the simple grilled fillet of salmon.
Bonus tip: Bad fats boost your cholesterol; too much sodium spikes blood pressure. Eat sparingly the foods on our list of the 30 Saltiest Foods in America.
Eat This Instead!
Lobster Stuffed Crab Cake
170 calories
8 g fat (2 g saturated, 0 g trans)
390 mg sodium
Worst Drive-Thru Side
Arby’s Large Mozzarella Sticks
650 calories
35 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,220 mg sodium
Fried cheese is never a good idea, but as a sandwich sidekick, it spells certain disaster. Anything with as much saturated fat as a Double Whopper should not be called an appetizer or a side. Arby’s menu presents a side dish conundrum, given that their entire roster of “Sides and Sidekickers” receives the deep-fried treatment. Best to skip over this section entirely. If it’s cheese you crave, order the French Dip ’N Swiss or Ham and Swiss Melt instead to save more than 300 calories.
By David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, Men's Health
A funny thing has happened to America's restaurant appetizers, starters, and sides: They've started growing bigger than the main meals. It's now common for a diner to wolf down 500 or 600 greasy calories before even starting on the entree, or to find that amount sitting alongside an already-giant burger.
One might wonder where all the calories end up. The answer: our collective belly-fat supplies. Last year, obesity rates stayed constant in only 13 states, while the other 37 states saw an increase. This big fat growth—which stretches over 75 percent of America—is due in no small part to our propensity to eat full meals before we eat full meals. (It's not uncommon anymore to take in two days' worth of calories in a single meal at one of our favorite restaurants.)
Bing Search: Nutrition
View results for:
To help you wrap your arms around the problem, the writers of the best-selling Eat This, Not That! series have gathered the most gluttonous starters and side binges in America. If this list doesn't make you hungry, then you're already ahead of most of us.
Worst Seafood Appetizer
Long John Silver’s Breaded Clam Strips
320 calories
19 g fat (4.5 g saturated, 7 g trans fat)
1,190 mg sodium
The restaurant industry began to shift away from frying in partially hydrogenated oil 10 years ago. Now, Long John Silver’s is one of the few places left clinging to their trans-fatty fare. The word that should have set you off was “breaded”—it implies that the dish has been fried in oils, and in this case, those oils are packed with potentially heart-harming trans fats. Who wants to order fried seafood through a squawk box anyway? Luckily, Long John also serves up a number of dishes that boost good cholesterol, none better than the simple grilled fillet of salmon.
Bonus tip: Bad fats boost your cholesterol; too much sodium spikes blood pressure. Eat sparingly the foods on our list of the 30 Saltiest Foods in America.
Eat This Instead!
Lobster Stuffed Crab Cake
170 calories
8 g fat (2 g saturated, 0 g trans)
390 mg sodium
Worst Drive-Thru Side
Arby’s Large Mozzarella Sticks
650 calories
35 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,220 mg sodium
Fried cheese is never a good idea, but as a sandwich sidekick, it spells certain disaster. Anything with as much saturated fat as a Double Whopper should not be called an appetizer or a side. Arby’s menu presents a side dish conundrum, given that their entire roster of “Sides and Sidekickers” receives the deep-fried treatment. Best to skip over this section entirely. If it’s cheese you crave, order the French Dip ’N Swiss or Ham and Swiss Melt instead to save more than 300 calories.
By David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, Men's Health
YEAR OF THE TIGER: GAYS COME OUT IN CHINATOWN PARADE
NYC Chinatown's Lunar New Year parade included gay groups for the first time: "Wearing rainbow bandannas, about 300 gays and supporters waved versions of the fish and the phoenix, traditional Chinese symbols for prosperity and renewal. They were joined by drummers and even a costumed tiger with its own rainbow armbands. 'We are ecstatic. It's a huge step forward,' said Irene Tung, 31, a spokeswoman for Q-Wave, which led the gay contingent."
USA Today on gay life in mainland China: "Because many Asians live with their parents until they get married, it's often harder for them to lead openly gay lives. 'Maybe you can come out in your workplace, but not at home, so you get married,' says Zhang Beichuan, a professor at Qingdao University and an expert on homosexuality. China's one-child policy also puts pressure on gays and lesbians to have kids, because their families 'really care that they produce a child,' says Sun Zhongxin, who pioneered a 2005 course about homosexuality at Fudan University in Shanghai. The prevalence of double lives — by one measure, as many as 90% of Chinese gays marry the opposite sex, compared with a fraction of that in Western nations — has prevented true acceptance of homosexuality, some experts say."
♻
February 21, 2010
If u got a job try to keep it!
Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
BUENA PARK, Calif. — Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits
Monica Almeida/The New York Times
“There are no bad jobs now. Any job is a good job,” said Jean Eisen, who became unemployed more than two years ago.
The New Poor
Long-Term Unemployment
Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed.
Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives — potentially for years to come.
Yet the social safety net is already showing severe strains. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments, according to the Labor Department.
Here in Southern California, Jean Eisen has been without work since she lost her job selling beauty salon equipment more than two years ago. In the several months she has endured with neither a paycheck nor an unemployment check, she has relied on local food banks for her groceries.
She has learned to live without the prescription medications she is supposed to take for high blood pressure and cholesterol. She has become effusively religious — an unexpected turn for this onetime standup comic with X-rated material — finding in Christianity her only form of health insurance.
“I pray for healing,” says Ms. Eisen, 57. “When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got to go with what you know.”
Warm, outgoing and prone to the positive, Ms. Eisen has worked much of her life. Now, she is one of 6.3 million Americans who have been unemployed for six months or longer, the largest number since the government began keeping track in 1948. That is more than double the toll in the next-worst period, in the early 1980s.
Men have suffered the largest numbers of job losses in this recession. But Ms. Eisen has the unfortunate distinction of being among a group — women from 45 to 64 years of age — whose long-term unemployment rate has grown rapidly.
In 1983, after a deep recession, women in that range made up only 7 percent of those who had been out of work for six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. Last year, they made up 14 percent.
Twice, Ms. Eisen exhausted her unemployment benefits before her check was restored by a federal extension. Last week, her check ran out again. She and her husband now settle their bills with only his $1,595 monthly disability check. The rent on their apartment is $1,380.
“We’re looking at the very real possibility of being homeless,” she said.
Every downturn pushes some people out of the middle class before the economy resumes expanding. Most recover. Many prosper. But some economists worry that this time could be different. An unusual constellation of forces — some embedded in the modern-day economy, others unique to this wrenching recession — might make it especially difficult for those out of work to find their way back to their middle-class lives.
Labor experts say the economy needs 100,000 new jobs a month just to absorb entrants to the labor force. With more than 15 million people officially jobless, even a vigorous recovery is likely to leave an enormous number out of work for years.
Some labor experts note that severe economic downturns are generally followed by powerful expansions, suggesting that aggressive hiring will soon resume. But doubts remain about whether such hiring can last long enough to absorb anywhere close to the millions of unemployed.
A New Scarcity of Jobs
Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce — particularly for older, less-educated people like Ms. Eisen, who has only a high school diploma.
Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 — the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.
By PETER S. GOODMAN,NYtimes
BUENA PARK, Calif. — Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits
Monica Almeida/The New York Times
“There are no bad jobs now. Any job is a good job,” said Jean Eisen, who became unemployed more than two years ago.
The New Poor
Long-Term Unemployment
Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed.
Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives — potentially for years to come.
Yet the social safety net is already showing severe strains. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments, according to the Labor Department.
Here in Southern California, Jean Eisen has been without work since she lost her job selling beauty salon equipment more than two years ago. In the several months she has endured with neither a paycheck nor an unemployment check, she has relied on local food banks for her groceries.
She has learned to live without the prescription medications she is supposed to take for high blood pressure and cholesterol. She has become effusively religious — an unexpected turn for this onetime standup comic with X-rated material — finding in Christianity her only form of health insurance.
“I pray for healing,” says Ms. Eisen, 57. “When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got to go with what you know.”
Warm, outgoing and prone to the positive, Ms. Eisen has worked much of her life. Now, she is one of 6.3 million Americans who have been unemployed for six months or longer, the largest number since the government began keeping track in 1948. That is more than double the toll in the next-worst period, in the early 1980s.
Men have suffered the largest numbers of job losses in this recession. But Ms. Eisen has the unfortunate distinction of being among a group — women from 45 to 64 years of age — whose long-term unemployment rate has grown rapidly.
In 1983, after a deep recession, women in that range made up only 7 percent of those who had been out of work for six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. Last year, they made up 14 percent.
Twice, Ms. Eisen exhausted her unemployment benefits before her check was restored by a federal extension. Last week, her check ran out again. She and her husband now settle their bills with only his $1,595 monthly disability check. The rent on their apartment is $1,380.
“We’re looking at the very real possibility of being homeless,” she said.
Every downturn pushes some people out of the middle class before the economy resumes expanding. Most recover. Many prosper. But some economists worry that this time could be different. An unusual constellation of forces — some embedded in the modern-day economy, others unique to this wrenching recession — might make it especially difficult for those out of work to find their way back to their middle-class lives.
Labor experts say the economy needs 100,000 new jobs a month just to absorb entrants to the labor force. With more than 15 million people officially jobless, even a vigorous recovery is likely to leave an enormous number out of work for years.
Some labor experts note that severe economic downturns are generally followed by powerful expansions, suggesting that aggressive hiring will soon resume. But doubts remain about whether such hiring can last long enough to absorb anywhere close to the millions of unemployed.
A New Scarcity of Jobs
Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce — particularly for older, less-educated people like Ms. Eisen, who has only a high school diploma.
Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 — the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.
By PETER S. GOODMAN,NYtimes
February 19, 2010
yo, IM home and all the lights are on!
If you haven't heard about this new Web site yet, pull up a chair. Because you might make the next list of "new opportunities" of empty homes available for pilfering.
A new Web site, called PleaseRobMe.com, pulls information from social networking sites like Twitter, Foursquare and Google Buzz, that indicates that the user is not home. It then posts that message and the user's whereabouts (if known) online for all to see.
For example, you just sent a Twitter, like poor ole' @donagher did, saying "I'm at Specialty's Cafe and Bakery - Mountain View," and now anyone who knows @donagher, knows he's not home. Would-be thieves can filter by location or Twitter name. Yikes.
The Dutch developers, Barry Borsboom, Boy van Amstel and Frank Groeneveld say they like social networking, but that their goal is to shine a giant spotlight on the dangerous side-effects of location sharing.
Yo. I'm home and all of the lights and cameras are on.
A new Web site, called PleaseRobMe.com, pulls information from social networking sites like Twitter, Foursquare and Google Buzz, that indicates that the user is not home. It then posts that message and the user's whereabouts (if known) online for all to see.
For example, you just sent a Twitter, like poor ole' @donagher did, saying "I'm at Specialty's Cafe and Bakery - Mountain View," and now anyone who knows @donagher, knows he's not home. Would-be thieves can filter by location or Twitter name. Yikes.
The Dutch developers, Barry Borsboom, Boy van Amstel and Frank Groeneveld say they like social networking, but that their goal is to shine a giant spotlight on the dangerous side-effects of location sharing.
Yo. I'm home and all of the lights and cameras are on.
Smoked or vapor MaryJane will help the pain
Medical Marijuana Has Merit, Research Shows
Feb. 18, 2010 -- Marijuana can be a promising treatment for some specific, pain-related medical conditions, according to California researchers who presented an update of their findings Wednesday to the California Legislature and also released them to the public.
''I think the evidence is getting better and better that marijuana, or the constituents of cannabis, are useful at least in the adjunctive treatment of neuropathy," Igor Grant, MD, executive vice-chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, tells WebMD.
''We don't know if it's a front-line treatment. I'm hoping the results of our studies will prompt larger-scale studies that involve a much more varied population."
''This [report given to the Legislature] sets the stage of larger-scale studies,'' he says.
Some experts who reviewed the report say some of the studies are flawed and that they worry about the long-term health effects of marijuana smoke.
Perspective: Medical Marijuana Research
Some observers speculated that the researchers presented their report to the Legislature to call attention to marijuana research because an initiative to legalize marijuana for general use is expected to be on the California ballot in November 2010.
But Grant says that's not the case. "We sent it to the Legislature because our report was due," he says.
The program Grant directs was launched in 1999, when the California Legislature passed (and the governor signed) SB 847. Since then, the center has completed five scientific trials, with more in progress.
Medical Marijuana: The Research Scorecard
Five studies, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, show the value of marijuana for pain-related conditions, the researchers say in the report.
Smoked cannabis reduced pain in HIV patients. In one study, 50 patients assigned either to cannabis or placebo finished the study. Although 52% of those who smoked marijuana had a 30% or more reduction in pain intensity, just 24% of those in the placebo group did. The study is published in the journal Neurology. In another study, 28 HIV patients were assigned to either marijuana or placebo -- and 46% of pot smokers compared to 18% of the placebo group reported 30% or more pain relief. That study is in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Marijuana helped reduce pain in people suffering spinal cord injury and other conditions. In this study, 38 patients smoked either high-dose or low-dose marijuana; 32 finished all three sessions. Both doses reduced neuropathic pain from different causes. Results appear in the Journal of Pain.
Medium doses of marijuana can reduce pain perception, another study found. Fifteen healthy volunteers smoked a low, medium, or high dose of marijuana to see if it could counteract the pain produced by an injection of capsaicin, the ''hot'' ingredient in chili peppers. The higher the dose, the greater the pain relief. The study was published in Anesthesiology.
Vaporized marijuana can be safe, other research found. In this study, 14 volunteers were assigned to get low, medium, or high doses of pot, either smoked or by vaporization delivery, on six different occasions. The vaporized method was found safe; patients preferred it to smoking. The study is in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
A sixth study, as yet unpublished, found marijuana better than placebo cigarettes in reducing the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and the pain associated with the spasticity.
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Feb. 18, 2010 -- Marijuana can be a promising treatment for some specific, pain-related medical conditions, according to California researchers who presented an update of their findings Wednesday to the California Legislature and also released them to the public.
''I think the evidence is getting better and better that marijuana, or the constituents of cannabis, are useful at least in the adjunctive treatment of neuropathy," Igor Grant, MD, executive vice-chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, tells WebMD.
''We don't know if it's a front-line treatment. I'm hoping the results of our studies will prompt larger-scale studies that involve a much more varied population."
''This [report given to the Legislature] sets the stage of larger-scale studies,'' he says.
Some experts who reviewed the report say some of the studies are flawed and that they worry about the long-term health effects of marijuana smoke.
Perspective: Medical Marijuana Research
Some observers speculated that the researchers presented their report to the Legislature to call attention to marijuana research because an initiative to legalize marijuana for general use is expected to be on the California ballot in November 2010.
But Grant says that's not the case. "We sent it to the Legislature because our report was due," he says.
The program Grant directs was launched in 1999, when the California Legislature passed (and the governor signed) SB 847. Since then, the center has completed five scientific trials, with more in progress.
Medical Marijuana: The Research Scorecard
Five studies, published in peer-reviewed medical journals, show the value of marijuana for pain-related conditions, the researchers say in the report.
Smoked cannabis reduced pain in HIV patients. In one study, 50 patients assigned either to cannabis or placebo finished the study. Although 52% of those who smoked marijuana had a 30% or more reduction in pain intensity, just 24% of those in the placebo group did. The study is published in the journal Neurology. In another study, 28 HIV patients were assigned to either marijuana or placebo -- and 46% of pot smokers compared to 18% of the placebo group reported 30% or more pain relief. That study is in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Marijuana helped reduce pain in people suffering spinal cord injury and other conditions. In this study, 38 patients smoked either high-dose or low-dose marijuana; 32 finished all three sessions. Both doses reduced neuropathic pain from different causes. Results appear in the Journal of Pain.
Medium doses of marijuana can reduce pain perception, another study found. Fifteen healthy volunteers smoked a low, medium, or high dose of marijuana to see if it could counteract the pain produced by an injection of capsaicin, the ''hot'' ingredient in chili peppers. The higher the dose, the greater the pain relief. The study was published in Anesthesiology.
Vaporized marijuana can be safe, other research found. In this study, 14 volunteers were assigned to get low, medium, or high doses of pot, either smoked or by vaporization delivery, on six different occasions. The vaporized method was found safe; patients preferred it to smoking. The study is in Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
A sixth study, as yet unpublished, found marijuana better than placebo cigarettes in reducing the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and the pain associated with the spasticity.
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
February 18, 2010
"Everybody's journey is individual"
"Everybody's journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality." -James Baldwin
Born in Harlem in 1924, American novelist, essayist, and playwright James Baldwin is one of the most renowned figures in American literature. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) is an autobiographical work about coming of age as the son of a Harlem preacher. His later and most socially significant novel, Giovanni’s Room (1956), spoke of homosexuality and interracial relationships, challenging social constructions of post-WWII society.
Born in Harlem in 1924, American novelist, essayist, and playwright James Baldwin is one of the most renowned figures in American literature. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) is an autobiographical work about coming of age as the son of a Harlem preacher. His later and most socially significant novel, Giovanni’s Room (1956), spoke of homosexuality and interracial relationships, challenging social constructions of post-WWII society.
February 17, 2010
Ewan enjoyed french kissing another guy
EWAN MCGREGOR FANCIES FULL FRONTAL NUDITY
Ewan McGregor talks to OUT magazine about how much he enjoys nudity and pushing the limits of sexuality on screen:
“I always try not to limit myself in all respects. Sexuality is just one of them. I could understand saying ‘I would never do gratuitous nudity.’ Wait. No. I probably would. I’d probably be quite happy to. I remember getting a kind of rush out of [going full frontal] that first time, a slight feeling of power about it, you know?”
McGregor also reveals that he shot two takes of a fellatio scene on Jim Carrey in the upcoming film I Love You Phillip Morris: "There were two alternatives. There was the spit, and there was a really nice slow swallow, where I look at him and just do a loud swallow. I really like that one, but I guess they went for the more obvious spit over the side.”
McGregor recently told the L.A. Times that he "quite liked kissing Jim Carrey" in the film.
He also recently dashed suggestions that it's not a gay movie:
"Y'know there was a lot of talk about it at Sundance about it not being a 'gay movie.' Well, I think it is a gay movie. Of course it's a gay movie. It's about two gay men or three gay men, y'know? And a man whose relationships are with men. And although the humor isn't born out of the fact it's about gay men, it's a funny movie. Y'know, I never wanted to be worried about the fact that it's a gay story because it is. I hope they locked it that way. You can imagine that the people who deal with such things going, 'Oh, let's make sure people don't think it's a gay movie and y'know that won't sell.' But of course it is, and it's a good film."
Ewan McGregor talks to OUT magazine about how much he enjoys nudity and pushing the limits of sexuality on screen:
“I always try not to limit myself in all respects. Sexuality is just one of them. I could understand saying ‘I would never do gratuitous nudity.’ Wait. No. I probably would. I’d probably be quite happy to. I remember getting a kind of rush out of [going full frontal] that first time, a slight feeling of power about it, you know?”
McGregor also reveals that he shot two takes of a fellatio scene on Jim Carrey in the upcoming film I Love You Phillip Morris: "There were two alternatives. There was the spit, and there was a really nice slow swallow, where I look at him and just do a loud swallow. I really like that one, but I guess they went for the more obvious spit over the side.”
McGregor recently told the L.A. Times that he "quite liked kissing Jim Carrey" in the film.
He also recently dashed suggestions that it's not a gay movie:
"Y'know there was a lot of talk about it at Sundance about it not being a 'gay movie.' Well, I think it is a gay movie. Of course it's a gay movie. It's about two gay men or three gay men, y'know? And a man whose relationships are with men. And although the humor isn't born out of the fact it's about gay men, it's a funny movie. Y'know, I never wanted to be worried about the fact that it's a gay story because it is. I hope they locked it that way. You can imagine that the people who deal with such things going, 'Oh, let's make sure people don't think it's a gay movie and y'know that won't sell.' But of course it is, and it's a good film."
February 13, 2010
Gay Man Gets Top Pentagon Job
Despite the snowpocalypse and continued Republican efforts to block presidential appointments, on Thursday the U.S. Senate confirmed two openly gay individuals to fill positions in the Obama administration, including a top job in the Defense Department.
By unanimous vote, senators confirmed Douglas Wilson to the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. This is a civilian position in the Defense Department; therefore, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT),” which prevents openly gay people from serving the U.S. military, doesn’t apply to him. During the Clinton administration, Wilson had served as the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for public affairs.
I initially did not understand the significance of Wilson’s appointment until I did some research. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs acts as the principal staff advisor and assistant to the US Secretary of Defense and the US Deputy Secretary of Defense. He is responsible for providing Defense Department information to the public, United States Congress and the media. Wilson will lead a worldwide public affairs community comprised of almost 4,000 military and civilian personnel.
ACTION from the White House! Finally. Not words, but action. This appointment is crucial in the repeal of DADT. We finally have someone who not only sympathizes, but EMPATHIZES with the discrimination that gays face.
Additionally, the Senate confirmed by unanimous consent openly lesbian attorney Cynthia Atwood, to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the independent federal agency that regulates challenges to citations or penalties of OSHA inspections in the American workplace.
For the last three years, Atwood has been an administrative appeals judge for the Labor Department’s administrative review board, and for eight years was an attorney adviser for that board.
Both Wilson and Atwood were nominated to their positions after being recommended by the Presidential Appointments Project, a Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund-led initiative that helps openly LGBT individuals get appointments in the Obama administration.
Denis Dison, a Victory Fund spokesperson, praised the Senate for confirming Wilson and Atwood. “We’re glad the Senate finally confirmed these two outstanding individuals,” he said. “They are proof that the president is focused on finding the best people to work in his administration, and we’re proud they’ve stepped up to serve their country.”
The Senate confirmation came after President Obama threatened to use his power to make recess appointments after obstruction tactics by Republican senators had prevented the confirmation of more than 63 nominees.
In a statement, President Obama commended the Senate for allowing 27 nominations to move forward, but said he may still make recess appointments if the Senate doesn’t act on more nominees when it comes back from break.
“While this is a good first step, there are still dozens of nominees on hold who deserve a similar vote, and I will be looking for action from the Senate when it returns from recess,” Obama said. “If they do not act, I reserve the right to use my recess appointment authority in the future.”
I take this as an olive branch, a sign of peace indicative of a new attitude from our President. Perhaps he will use or at least threaten his executive authority in more ways than one? Regardless, we now have some “family” on the inside. And that is something to give us Hope.
2/13/10-by Isabell James
February 11, 2010
What the H***with the stupid scale??
I used to weight my self when ever I saw the scale and it had dust on it. Dust, pants, shoes, shirts down and make luv to the thing. Lately It had been giving me increased readings everytime I weight my self ( reg weight 185 lbs, BMI under 25...6.1 hght). Last time I weight my self it read 214 lbs. I could not understand!! I gain about 5-10 during the holidays, but it's gone by my birthday in the spring time. No special effords, except not going to ding ding at fam. and other places.
I was still wearing the same pants 32w..but I did notice they were tighter. I thought muscle, because my legs have been very active. Muscle weights more than fat. But 214 from 186lbs. Something was wrong!
I went to a routine Dr.'s office visit. The cutie male nurse John, weight me. I paid not much attention because the doc walk in and one of the first things I said was, "Doc what r u doing to me" You r' tweeking my meds and my weight is gone crazy. He said ur crazy, you r only 4 lbs more than 3 months ago. Well!!
When I got home I weight my self..scale 204...I lost 15 lbs in a week???
I went to the "beyond store" and got me a nice digital one with numbers I can see.
I weight my self today with pants on and shirt: 191LBS...only 5 pounds off my reg weight of 186lbs. I thru the analog one(made in France..that's why I got it...something made in Europe instead of China). The digital one is made..u guessed it..China.
The moral of this story is...if ur scale says crazy things to u.. Don't depair! Don't give up anything yet. Just checked where it was made. If it's not chinese or old USA...throw the old thing away.
Good bye homophobe
Florida Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart will call it quits today, retiring after nine terms representing a heavily Cuban-American district in the Miami area, according to a source briefed on the decision.
Diaz-Balart, whose younger brother, Mario, also holds a congressional seat in Florida, is the 18th Republican to retire this cycle and the second in two days. [...]
The seat -- thanks to the Republican lean of most Cuban Americans -- favors the GOP. [...]
[ Miami-Dade County Democratic Chairman Joe] Garcia is reportedly interested in running again and would give Democrats a genuine pickup opportunity in the 25th if he did decide to make the contest. One complicating factor for Garcia is that he is currently working in an appointed post in the Obama Administration. [...]
There are now 31 total retirements in the House -- 18 on the Republican side and 13 for Democrats.
Groom never seen his bride..when he did he found she had a beard
An Arab ambassador escaped married life by a whisker.
The diplomat had his marriage instantly annulled after he tried to kiss his veiled bride and discovered she had a beard and was cross-eyed.
The unnamed groom had never seen the woman's face because she wore a niqab throughout their entire courtship, according to reports.
He freaked out after they signed the marriage contract in Dubai, canceled the reception and went right to an Islamic Sharia court.
He demanded the union be annulled, that $137,000 he'd spent on wedding gifts and expenses be returned, and the bride be examined for "hormonal deficiencies."
"He was absolutely horrified," said a wedding guest, according to London's Daily Mail.
"The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil.
"A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court, leaving his new bride in floods of tears."
The ambassador alleged that that his would-be mother-in-law had shown him pictures of his intended's sister to trick him into marrying the homelier woman.
"Every time the couple met, the bride would do her best not to reveal her entire face," a source close to the case told the local Gulf News this week.
The court granted the annulment but did not approve compensation.
A doctor who examined the jilted bride, who is also a doctor, did not find any medical reason for her facial hair.
The report did not identify the ambassador nor give any further details
tconnor@nydailynews.com
Related Topics
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/02/11/2010-02-11_close_shave_for_arab_groom_in_a_hairy_bridetobe_snafu.html#ixzz0fFUAx1cX
The diplomat had his marriage instantly annulled after he tried to kiss his veiled bride and discovered she had a beard and was cross-eyed.
The unnamed groom had never seen the woman's face because she wore a niqab throughout their entire courtship, according to reports.
He freaked out after they signed the marriage contract in Dubai, canceled the reception and went right to an Islamic Sharia court.
He demanded the union be annulled, that $137,000 he'd spent on wedding gifts and expenses be returned, and the bride be examined for "hormonal deficiencies."
"He was absolutely horrified," said a wedding guest, according to London's Daily Mail.
"The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil.
"A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court, leaving his new bride in floods of tears."
The ambassador alleged that that his would-be mother-in-law had shown him pictures of his intended's sister to trick him into marrying the homelier woman.
"Every time the couple met, the bride would do her best not to reveal her entire face," a source close to the case told the local Gulf News this week.
The court granted the annulment but did not approve compensation.
A doctor who examined the jilted bride, who is also a doctor, did not find any medical reason for her facial hair.
The report did not identify the ambassador nor give any further details
tconnor@nydailynews.com
Related Topics
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/02/11/2010-02-11_close_shave_for_arab_groom_in_a_hairy_bridetobe_snafu.html#ixzz0fFUAx1cX
February 8, 2010
Intense kiss in the "Pride"
Ben Whishaw and Hugh Dancy share an intense kiss in The Pride, which opens on February 16 off-Broadway at NY's Lucille Lortel Theatre.
The NYT writes: "In a story that flips seamlessly between this century and the last, Mr. Whishaw plays two gay men living in London, both named Oliver, who struggle with the emotional costs of a pre-Stonewall romance (for the Oliver of 1958) and the post-Stonewall psychosexual consequences (the Oliver of 2008). Mr. Dancy plays Philip, Oliver’s equally conflicted love interest in both decades.' Maybe it doesn’t conform to the model of a romance,' Mr. Whishaw said of Mr. Campbell’s script, 'but it does have some of those ingredients, and it definitely has a political edge to it. It’s partly about somebody becoming politicized in a way, or aware that everything you do is in some way a political action.'"
Haiti overflowing with Evangelist Missionaries
The horrific destruction and human suffering in Haiti exert an almost irresistible pull on U.S. Christian missionaries eager to help. But as the jailing last week of 10 missionaries from a small Baptist church in Idaho illustrates, best intentions don’t always translate into good deeds in the chaotic aftermath of the monster earthquake.
The horrific destruction and human suffering in Haiti exert an almost irresistible pull on U.S. Christian missionaries eager to help. But as the jailing last week of 10 missionaries from a small Baptist church in Idaho illustrates, best intentions don’t always translate into good deeds in the chaotic aftermath of the monster earthquake.
Some, evangelical Protestants in particular, are in a pitched battle with voodoo in Haiti, which they view as satanic. As evangelist Pat Robertson put it shortly after the earthquake, Haitians’ adherence to voodoo was a “pact with the devil” that caused the disaster.
Some Protestants also are vying for the souls of Catholic Haitians. The rivalry is in part a reflection of a historical global competition between the major Christian groups. But it is heightened because many Haitian Catholics also observe voodoo traditions
“Most voodoo ceremonies begin with Catholic prayers,” says Dubois of Duke University. “At this point Catholic priests don’t spend much energy trying to stop voodoo.”
That doesn’t sit well with groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, which includes this description of Haiti’s spiritual landscape on its Web site:
“An estimated 75 percent of Catholics are also increasingly involved in voodoo, spiritism and witchcraft. … There is a steady growth of Protestant churches.
The horrific destruction and human suffering in Haiti exert an almost irresistible pull on U.S. Christian missionaries eager to help. But as the jailing last week of 10 missionaries from a small Baptist church in Idaho illustrates, best intentions don’t always translate into good deeds in the chaotic aftermath of the monster earthquake.
Some, evangelical Protestants in particular, are in a pitched battle with voodoo in Haiti, which they view as satanic. As evangelist Pat Robertson put it shortly after the earthquake, Haitians’ adherence to voodoo was a “pact with the devil” that caused the disaster.
Some Protestants also are vying for the souls of Catholic Haitians. The rivalry is in part a reflection of a historical global competition between the major Christian groups. But it is heightened because many Haitian Catholics also observe voodoo traditions
“Most voodoo ceremonies begin with Catholic prayers,” says Dubois of Duke University. “At this point Catholic priests don’t spend much energy trying to stop voodoo.”
That doesn’t sit well with groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, which includes this description of Haiti’s spiritual landscape on its Web site:
“An estimated 75 percent of Catholics are also increasingly involved in voodoo, spiritism and witchcraft. … There is a steady growth of Protestant churches.
February 5, 2010
Useless knowledge
* Did you know...
The average IQ is 100, while 140 is the beginning of genius IQ.
*The world's only museum of Phallology is in Reykjavik, Iceland. Phallology is the the science of the penis.
*Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.
*It's rumored that sucking on a copper penny will cause a breathalyzer to read 0.
*28% of us have skinny-dipped. Only 14% with the opposite sex.
*The number 57 on a Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickle the company once had.
*Cats is based on fourteen poems of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
*Leonardo Da Vinci never signed or dated his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.
*Approximately 7.5% of all office documents get lost.
*Lobsters can move up to 25 feet per second underwater.
*The short-term memory capacity for most people is between five and nine items or digits. This is one reason that phone numbers were kept to seven digits for so long.
*Orson Welles is buried in an olive orchard on a ranch owned by his friend(partner), matador Antonio Ordonez in Sevilla,
The average IQ is 100, while 140 is the beginning of genius IQ.
*The world's only museum of Phallology is in Reykjavik, Iceland. Phallology is the the science of the penis.
*Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.
*It's rumored that sucking on a copper penny will cause a breathalyzer to read 0.
*28% of us have skinny-dipped. Only 14% with the opposite sex.
*The number 57 on a Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickle the company once had.
*Cats is based on fourteen poems of T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
*Leonardo Da Vinci never signed or dated his most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.
*Approximately 7.5% of all office documents get lost.
*Lobsters can move up to 25 feet per second underwater.
*The short-term memory capacity for most people is between five and nine items or digits. This is one reason that phone numbers were kept to seven digits for so long.
*Orson Welles is buried in an olive orchard on a ranch owned by his friend(partner), matador Antonio Ordonez in Sevilla,
February 4, 2010
Prison inmates in UK are confortable with diversity. Why am I not surprised!
'Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison', carried out by Dr. Coretta Philips of the London School of Economics, explored how prisoners' ethnic identities helped them cope with prison life, and whether such identities informed a social pecking order and the formation of gangs. More specifically, it explored the influence of prison practices on prisoner and group identities.
In January 2009 British broadsheets voiced fears of a flourishing gang culture in UK top-security prisons following an inspection report on Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire. By contrast, the LSE research - comprising ethnographic studies conducted in Kent over eight months each at a young offenders' institution and an adult male prison - found that, superficially at least, there was an acceptance of diversity amongst prisoners, with some welcoming it.
There were no gangs in either institution, and no religious or ethnic pecking order. However, prisoners tended towards same-ethnicity friendships, and formed groups providing physical protection, for sharing, and for access to items such as mobile phones and drugs. Muslim groups - encompassing a range of ethnicities - were both envied by non-Muslims for their potential for seeking concessions on religious grounds, and disparaged for their solidarity.
Although racist undercurrents led to conflict and division, prisoners lived in harmony much of the time. Dr Philips commented: "We found that the younger prisoners tended to be more attached to their neighbourhood than to their ethnicity, with local allegiances giving them a sense of self and of belonging beyond the prison walls. Any negative views of ethnic groups were typically held by those from semi-rural neighbourhoods, whereas those from London neighbourhoods valued the diversity they found on their own patch.
"By contrast, older prisoners tended to see themselves more in paternal and family terms, and it was notable that amongst these prisoners the ability to resolve disputes without violence was valued."
Prisoners from all ethnicities had issues with institutional approaches, although for different reasons. Many minority ethnic , mainly black, prisoners felt they were treated more harshly by staff than white prisoners. By contrast, many white prisoners resented what they saw as the preferential treatment of minority ethnic prisoners who claimed racist treatment. They were themselves, often uncomfortable in encounters with black prisoners and were fearful of being called racist.
NOTES:
This release is based on the findings from 'Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison', funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and carried out by Dr. Coretta Philips of the London School of Economics.
'Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison' involved ethnographic studies of a young offenders' institution (HMYOI Rochester) and an adult male prison (HMP Maidstone) - selected for their ethnically, nationally and religiously diverse populations from both urban and semi-rural residential areas. Research methods involved interaction and observation of prison life, semi-structured interviews with individuals, and group interviews.
In January 2009 British broadsheets voiced fears of a flourishing gang culture in UK top-security prisons following an inspection report on Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire. By contrast, the LSE research - comprising ethnographic studies conducted in Kent over eight months each at a young offenders' institution and an adult male prison - found that, superficially at least, there was an acceptance of diversity amongst prisoners, with some welcoming it.
There were no gangs in either institution, and no religious or ethnic pecking order. However, prisoners tended towards same-ethnicity friendships, and formed groups providing physical protection, for sharing, and for access to items such as mobile phones and drugs. Muslim groups - encompassing a range of ethnicities - were both envied by non-Muslims for their potential for seeking concessions on religious grounds, and disparaged for their solidarity.
Although racist undercurrents led to conflict and division, prisoners lived in harmony much of the time. Dr Philips commented: "We found that the younger prisoners tended to be more attached to their neighbourhood than to their ethnicity, with local allegiances giving them a sense of self and of belonging beyond the prison walls. Any negative views of ethnic groups were typically held by those from semi-rural neighbourhoods, whereas those from London neighbourhoods valued the diversity they found on their own patch.
"By contrast, older prisoners tended to see themselves more in paternal and family terms, and it was notable that amongst these prisoners the ability to resolve disputes without violence was valued."
Prisoners from all ethnicities had issues with institutional approaches, although for different reasons. Many minority ethnic , mainly black, prisoners felt they were treated more harshly by staff than white prisoners. By contrast, many white prisoners resented what they saw as the preferential treatment of minority ethnic prisoners who claimed racist treatment. They were themselves, often uncomfortable in encounters with black prisoners and were fearful of being called racist.
NOTES:
This release is based on the findings from 'Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison', funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and carried out by Dr. Coretta Philips of the London School of Economics.
'Ethnicity, Identity and Social Relations in Prison' involved ethnographic studies of a young offenders' institution (HMYOI Rochester) and an adult male prison (HMP Maidstone) - selected for their ethnically, nationally and religiously diverse populations from both urban and semi-rural residential areas. Research methods involved interaction and observation of prison life, semi-structured interviews with individuals, and group interviews.
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