Saturday, November 24, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Pocahontas Park Today...
We got in 8 miles today on the Red and Blue trails. I am totally wasted and my knees are hurting. I will have to go to the gym tomorrow to lift weights. I guess that I am just really tired from work this week…
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood
over questions of reality and illusion.
I know this: if life is an illusion, then I
am no less an illusion, and being thus, the
illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I
love, I slay, and I am content.
(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Strange Files...
On CNN.Com/HealthDoctors untangle the strange case of the giant hairball!
CNN) -- It may not be the most appetizing reading before a hearty holiday meal, but the New England Journal of Medicine is devoting part of its Thanksgiving issue to a giant hairball -- and not the feline kind.
The prestigious journal details the case of a previously healthy 18-year-old woman who consulted a team of gastrointestinal specialists.
She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.
After a scan of the woman's abdomen showed a large mass, doctors lowered a scope through her esophagus.
It revealed "a large bezoar occluding nearly the entire stomach," wrote Drs. Ronald M. Levy and Srinadh Komanduri, gastroenterologists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.
For the uninitiated, a bezoar is a hairball.
"On questioning, the patient stated that she had had a habit of eating her hair for many years -- a condition called trichophagia," they wrote.
"It seemed like she'd been doing this for several years," Levy told CNN.
The woman underwent surgery to remove the mass of black, curly hair, which weighed 10 pounds and measured 15 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches, the doctors said.
Five days later, she was eating normally and was sent home.
A year later, the pain and vomiting were gone, the patient had regained 20 pounds "and reports that she has stopped eating her hair."
Reached at his home in Chicago, Levy said he had no idea whether the journal's timing of the publication on Thanksgiving was intentional.
Either way, he said, it would not affect the gastroenterologists' holiday dinner plans -- "We don't get fazed by much."
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Justices To Rule On D.C. Gun Ban
2nd Amendment Case Could Affect Laws Nationwide
By Robert BarnesWashington Post Staff Writer
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will determine whether the District of Columbia's strict firearms law violates the Constitution, a decision that will raise the politically and culturally divisive issue of gun control just in time for the 2008 elections.
The court's examination of the meaning of the Second Amendment for the first time in nearly 70 years carries broad implications for gun-control measures locally and across the country.
The District has the nation's most restrictive law, essentially banning private handgun ownership and requiring that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and disassembled or outfitted with a trigger lock. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declared it unconstitutional last year, becoming the first appeals court to overturn a gun-control law because of the Second Amendment.
For years, legal scholars, historians and grammarians have debated the meaning of the amendment because of its enigmatic wording and odd punctuation: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Gun-rights proponents say the words guarantee the right of an individual to possess firearms. Gun-control supporters say the words convey only a civic or "collective" right to own guns as part of service in an organized military organization. The Bush administration said in 2002 that it supports the individual-rights position.
Robert A. Levy, a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute who has spent years planning a challenge that would reach the Supreme Court, called the court's decision to take the case "good news for all Americans who would like to be able to defend themselves where they live and sleep."
"And it's especially good news for residents of Washington, D.C., which has been the murder capital of the nation despite an outright ban on all functional firearms since 1976," he said.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has said the District's up-and-down homicide rate would have been higher without the ban, and that the law is a locally supported move to protect police officers, children and other victims of gun violence.
"It's the will of the people of the District of Columbia that has to be respected," Fenty said at a news conference with D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer and several D.C. Council members. "We should have the right to make our own decisions."
He added: "We believe the U.S. Constitution is on our side."
The two sides proposed competing constitutional questions, so the court wrote its own, saying it would determine whether provisions of the District's law "violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes." The court will probably hear the case in March.
The court's last examination of the amendment was in 1939, when it ruled in U.S. v. Miller that a sawed-off shotgun transported across state lines by a bootlegger was not what the amendment's authors had in mind when they were protecting arms needed for military service.
Since then, almost all of the nation's courts of appeal have read the ruling to mean that the amendment conveys only a collective right to gun ownership. But two of them, the D.C. Circuit and the 5th Circuit, have endorsed the individual-rights view, and so have some legal scholars who normally take positions on the left.
Mark V. Tushnet, a Harvard law professor whose new book, "Out of Range," is a legal and historical examination of the Second Amendment, concluded that the legal arguments on each side "are in reasonably close balance."
There is scant evidence about the justices' views.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia have made statements that seem to show their sympathy for the individual-rights argument. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at his confirmation hearing that he believed the court in its Miller decision "sidestepped" the fundamental question.
Levy and co-counsel Clark M. Neily III and Alan Gura worked for years to assemble a challenge to the D.C. ban that the courts would accept. Their plaintiffs are law-abiding citizens who want the weapons for self-defense rather than people appealing criminal convictions for possessing weapons.
The case is called District of Columbia v. Heller because of security guard and D.C. resident Dick A. Heller, 65, whose application for a permit to keep a handgun in his home was denied by the city.
A federal district judge ruled against Heller and other residents who brought the suit, but a three-judge panel of the appeals court overturned that decision. By a 2 to 1 vote, the judges ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to private firearms and self-defense that "existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution."
The petition filed by the D.C. attorney general said the appeals court is wrong for three reasons: It recognizes an individual rather than a collective right, the Second Amendment serves as a restriction only on federal interference with state-regulated militias and state-recognized gun rights, and the District is within its rights to protect its citizens by banning a certain type of gun.
The gun-rights lawyers said they agreed that even a recognition of an individual right could allow the government to make reasonable restrictions, but not the ban the District imposes.
Both sides acknowledge that the Second Amendment pertains to federal restrictions rather than to restrictions imposed by states and that the District's unique status presents something of a jurisdictional quandary. But Maryland and three other states filed a brief saying that all have a stake in the case, because allowing the appeals court ruling to stand would destabilize current law and "cast a cloud over all federal and state law restricting access to firearms."
National groups on both sides of the gun-control issue are jittery about bringing the case to the Supreme Court, because of the uncertainty about the outcome.
"We're nervous," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Anytime you go to the Supreme Court, you could end up with all sorts of gun laws being called into question."
The National Rifle Association was also initially skeptical about the case, but Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said he is more confident of a positive outcome for his group with Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the court.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
By Robert BarnesWashington Post Staff Writer
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will determine whether the District of Columbia's strict firearms law violates the Constitution, a decision that will raise the politically and culturally divisive issue of gun control just in time for the 2008 elections.
The court's examination of the meaning of the Second Amendment for the first time in nearly 70 years carries broad implications for gun-control measures locally and across the country.
The District has the nation's most restrictive law, essentially banning private handgun ownership and requiring that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and disassembled or outfitted with a trigger lock. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declared it unconstitutional last year, becoming the first appeals court to overturn a gun-control law because of the Second Amendment.
For years, legal scholars, historians and grammarians have debated the meaning of the amendment because of its enigmatic wording and odd punctuation: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Gun-rights proponents say the words guarantee the right of an individual to possess firearms. Gun-control supporters say the words convey only a civic or "collective" right to own guns as part of service in an organized military organization. The Bush administration said in 2002 that it supports the individual-rights position.
Robert A. Levy, a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute who has spent years planning a challenge that would reach the Supreme Court, called the court's decision to take the case "good news for all Americans who would like to be able to defend themselves where they live and sleep."
"And it's especially good news for residents of Washington, D.C., which has been the murder capital of the nation despite an outright ban on all functional firearms since 1976," he said.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has said the District's up-and-down homicide rate would have been higher without the ban, and that the law is a locally supported move to protect police officers, children and other victims of gun violence.
"It's the will of the people of the District of Columbia that has to be respected," Fenty said at a news conference with D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer and several D.C. Council members. "We should have the right to make our own decisions."
He added: "We believe the U.S. Constitution is on our side."
The two sides proposed competing constitutional questions, so the court wrote its own, saying it would determine whether provisions of the District's law "violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes." The court will probably hear the case in March.
The court's last examination of the amendment was in 1939, when it ruled in U.S. v. Miller that a sawed-off shotgun transported across state lines by a bootlegger was not what the amendment's authors had in mind when they were protecting arms needed for military service.
Since then, almost all of the nation's courts of appeal have read the ruling to mean that the amendment conveys only a collective right to gun ownership. But two of them, the D.C. Circuit and the 5th Circuit, have endorsed the individual-rights view, and so have some legal scholars who normally take positions on the left.
Mark V. Tushnet, a Harvard law professor whose new book, "Out of Range," is a legal and historical examination of the Second Amendment, concluded that the legal arguments on each side "are in reasonably close balance."
There is scant evidence about the justices' views.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia have made statements that seem to show their sympathy for the individual-rights argument. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at his confirmation hearing that he believed the court in its Miller decision "sidestepped" the fundamental question.
Levy and co-counsel Clark M. Neily III and Alan Gura worked for years to assemble a challenge to the D.C. ban that the courts would accept. Their plaintiffs are law-abiding citizens who want the weapons for self-defense rather than people appealing criminal convictions for possessing weapons.
The case is called District of Columbia v. Heller because of security guard and D.C. resident Dick A. Heller, 65, whose application for a permit to keep a handgun in his home was denied by the city.
A federal district judge ruled against Heller and other residents who brought the suit, but a three-judge panel of the appeals court overturned that decision. By a 2 to 1 vote, the judges ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to private firearms and self-defense that "existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution."
The petition filed by the D.C. attorney general said the appeals court is wrong for three reasons: It recognizes an individual rather than a collective right, the Second Amendment serves as a restriction only on federal interference with state-regulated militias and state-recognized gun rights, and the District is within its rights to protect its citizens by banning a certain type of gun.
The gun-rights lawyers said they agreed that even a recognition of an individual right could allow the government to make reasonable restrictions, but not the ban the District imposes.
Both sides acknowledge that the Second Amendment pertains to federal restrictions rather than to restrictions imposed by states and that the District's unique status presents something of a jurisdictional quandary. But Maryland and three other states filed a brief saying that all have a stake in the case, because allowing the appeals court ruling to stand would destabilize current law and "cast a cloud over all federal and state law restricting access to firearms."
National groups on both sides of the gun-control issue are jittery about bringing the case to the Supreme Court, because of the uncertainty about the outcome.
"We're nervous," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Anytime you go to the Supreme Court, you could end up with all sorts of gun laws being called into question."
The National Rifle Association was also initially skeptical about the case, but Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said he is more confident of a positive outcome for his group with Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the court.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Dc Gun Laws...
This is off of the NRA's Website. This does not need to happen!!! Please help to not let this happen!!!
--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++
| The Case For Reforming The District of Columbia`s Gun Laws |
H.R. 1399/S. 1001, the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act," introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and in the Senate by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), would end D.C.'s prohibition on using guns for self-defense in one's home and conform other D.C. gun laws to federal laws, while retaining stiff penalties for illegal gun possession and gun crimes. It would do none of the things claimed by anti-gun groups. The legislation is long overdue. In 1976, D.C.'s City Council thumbed its nose at Congress, the 14th Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws," and the rest of the U.S., and began conducting a social experiment of its own design against the city's law-abiding residents. The experiment, unlike anything known elsewhere in America, took the form of the Firearms Control Regulations Act, which required that firearms kept at home be rendered useless for protection by being "unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a trigger lock or similar device." It required that all privately owned firearms be registered, and prohibited possession of a handgun not registered with city police prior to Sept. 24, 1976, and re-registered by Feb. 5, 1977. The results have been catastrophic. Since D.C. imposed its 1976 laws, it has earned the unfortunate distinction, "murder capital of the United States." D.C.'s murder rate had been declining before 1976, but it increased thereafter. Between 1976-1991, it rose 200%, while the U.S. murder rate rose only 9%. (FBI, D.C. Police)
|
--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Mountain Biking Today...
We went to Pocahontas Park and we did the Red Trail. IT was fun as we had not ridden it in a long time. The redid a section of the trial and made a Half-Pipe out of it. I saw it and rode it several weeks ago with Mark. I will have some video clips of a few parts of the trial. Jeff brought his camera and we used the video function. After we rode the Red, We went to the Green trial and it was a good fun ride on that trial we had 6.69 miles when we made it back to the Quala Lot. I hope to get some more ridding in this weekend!!
God Bless and have a good Thanksgiving Day!!
RMStringer
******************
"Seduction is thus a central, indeed in certain respects, the central idea, in political life.
It signifies a course of action deliberately designed by one or more interested
agents to undermine and replace some established loyalty."
Kenneth Minogue (November issue of The New Criterion)
Monday, November 19, 2007
Recovery Thoughts...
I was in Austin all weekend for my brother’s wedding. It was very nice and a good time was had by all. There was lots of drinking by the wedding party which I was a member, but I did not drink. It was strange. I really never think about doing drugs. It is just a non-issue for me. When I touched down in Austin at the airport I had a very strange feeling like I wanted to use. I was back in Austin, in the part of town where all the bad stuff is located. I had to catch a taxi to be brought to the wedding rehearsal and the guy drove me right down K blvd, I kind of freaked when I saw several streets that I used to roll down when I was using. It was really strange being on that side of town and seeing those streets. I had so many different thoughts going on inside my head that it was crazy like “wouldn’t it be nice” kind of thing and then I snapped back into reality! What the hell was I thinking? I knew that it was a non-possibility and that I would never go down those streets again. I have over 5.5 years and way too much to lose over some bullshit like that. Being sober is the best think that I could have done in my life. It was part of a not so natural maturing process that I have undergone over the last 5+ years. I am very grateful for my sobriety. And let me be clear on this; it has been over 5.5 years since I drank and may 15, 2008 it will be 5 years of continued clean life with no drugs.
Some people go their whole live and never recover. The Big Book promises that it does happen! You do not have to go through life and be a miserable “recovering” person, you CAN and WILL RECOVER if you do what is suggested in the book!
God Bless everyone…
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced
equation inherent to the programming of the matrix.
You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite
my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate
from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision.
While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not
unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control.
Which has led you, inexorably, here." - The Architect, The Matrix Reloaded
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Travel Problems...
From RMStringer
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Blinky's Episode 2: Dwight T. Albatross presents!
New Zine comes out December!
Just some of the amazing stuff: Steve Niles, Kaitlin Olson, MacPherson & Boatwright hit you with some Irving Rat from Poo, Ms. Monster, Mia Albatross, a Billy Purgatory Storybook with Moses + some SPECIAL GUEST art, Susan Heidi, Kim Falcon, and Ihaveyourshit does the holidays! So much more, I can't even remember it all!
Blinky's on the Web! Click!
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Just some of the amazing stuff: Steve Niles, Kaitlin Olson, MacPherson & Boatwright hit you with some Irving Rat from Poo, Ms. Monster, Mia Albatross, a Billy Purgatory Storybook with Moses + some SPECIAL GUEST art, Susan Heidi, Kim Falcon, and Ihaveyourshit does the holidays! So much more, I can't even remember it all!
Blinky's on the Web! Click!
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Holidays....
You know what I can’t stand? I bet many of you are like this as well; Christmas Advertising!
I HATE to go into Wall Mart and see all the Christmas decorations up all over the dam store especially when they put them up a few days after Halloween. I mean we have not gotten to Thanks Giving yet and Christmas stuff is plastered all of the store. It was a hell of a sight to see at 8.30am this morning; a big dam tree at the entrance to the store. All the Christmas decorations were prominently displayed in the front and it is just doo commercial. I remember a kid that there used to be “seasons” where everything had its place! The 4th of July had its time, then Labor Day, Then we would have Halloween. The stores would kick it up a notch and place stuff out like candy and costumes, then they would take them down and prepare for Thanksgiving. Shortly after that, they would place Christmas items up all about the store, none of this crap of blasting it to your face before Thanksgiving has happened yet. They are trying to make a buck earlier and with Ohhh “Black Friday” and the “specials” People flock like zombified morons to get the early bird specials and this only increases the HYPE of the whole madness…
Ok, Now to sleep!
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood
over questions of reality and illusion.
I know this: if life is an illusion, then I
am no less an illusion, and being thus, the
illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I
love, I slay, and I am content.
(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Cold night cooling tower
From my LGVX8600 phone.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Good Recipes...
I am going to post tomorrow a few recipes that I think yall might enjoy. One is for Chicken Chili and the other is for Brisket that I cook. My wife made the Chicken Chili tonight and it was very good!!
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You have no conscience and it seems you never will - Cyberaktif
Friday, November 09, 2007
Comcast Speed...
I guess that they have upped the speed of the downloads as I am getting peaks at 9.84 mbps!! That is nice!!!
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood
over questions of reality and illusion.
I know this: if life is an illusion, then I
am no less an illusion, and being thus, the
illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I
love, I slay, and I am content.
(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)
Computer problems...
Well i messed up my Ubuntu 7.10 system yesterday. I wanted to upgrade from Desktop to Studio and it did not work! You cant do that! During the process i had to format the comp and during the Studio install, it messed up. So today, i have to do a total OEM Ubuntu Studio install and then go about getting the software upgrades reinstalled. It is going to be a royal pain to do this as Linux uses command line to get some upgrades done and it takes time. From my LGVX8600 phone. From RMStringer
Thursday, November 08, 2007
" Nature Creates a River "
I saw thes on a site and wanted to publish them for yall to enjoy!
These are cool!!
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Blogroll Me!
Twin Musical Tesla Coils playing Music...
This is WAY COOL. Have yourself a listen!!!
Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.
Mario Bros
Sugar Plum Fairy
Tetris Theme
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.
Mario Bros
Sugar Plum Fairy
Tetris Theme
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
5 healthy habits that can be damaging
These are very interesting to me as i have always heard "Eat a good breakfast" and because i work night-shift, my mother always says "that i am not getting enough sleep" that i should sleep in during the weekend. Well, this article tells different about several of thses old standards.
Work, worrying and waah-ing babies may not be to blame…
You try and get eight hours sleep, eat breakfast and exercise regularly. So why are you so tired? New research has found that it’s not just crying babies or long work hours that rob us of energy - healthy habits can be just as damaging. You hear about the benefits of a new diet or exercise and can take it to extremes.
Here’s how to stay fit but have more bounce.
Catching up on ZZZs
When there’s nothing to drag you out of bed on the weekend, it’s tempting to keep snoozing - but this can leave you groggy. ‘Sleeping more over the weekend won’t make up for lost slumber during the week,’ says Kathleen McGrath, an insomniac expert.
‘It’ll just interfere with your pineal gland’s ability to produce the sleep hormone melatonin - which is why you’ll spend Sunday night counting sheep.’Fight the fatigue: Stick to eight hours shut eye, even on the weekend. Still tired? Have a30-minute nap in the afternoon. It’ll help you produce more melatonin for a better night’s rest.
Your morning shower
There’s nothing like a steaming shower to make you feel refreshed first thing. So why is it that somewhere between towelling off and getting dressed you’re ready to crawl back under the doona? ‘A hot shower raises your body’s temperature,’ explains Kathleen.
‘When it drops back to hormal, the brain produces melatonin and tells your body it’s time to sleep.’
Fight the fatigue: Work the effect a hot soak has on your body by having your scrub two hours before bedtime. That way, you’ll be out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. If you can’t live without your morning rinse, hit the cold tap in the shower for just a few seconds before you jump out as this kick-starts your nervous system and makes you feel full of zing.
A hearty breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. But if it’s too big, you may feel sapped of energy before lunchtime. A large meal loaded with sugar and refined carbs like white bread and sugary cereals drives blood sugar levels up but then you get an energy dip a few hours after eating.Fight the fatigue: The trick here is to go for more protein at breakfast. It stabilises your blood sugar, which determines how peckish and energetic you feel. Have a slice of wholegrain toast with eggs or peanut butter. The proteins will give you 75% more energy.
Being a diet saint
While munching all day is not a good idea, not eating anything between meals isn’t either. Go for more than four hours without food and your blood sugar may drop and you’ll feel zonked. This can leave you cranky, lazy in the afternoon and ravenous by the time you get home.Fight the fatigue. Eat five small meals to keep your energy levels on an even keel. Good choices include a handful of almonds or Ryvita with hummus.
Your gym membership
Exercising intensively daily can cause your body’s glutamine - the most abundant amino acid in out bodies - to crash, which can weaken your immune system. You’ll just feel wiped out.
Fight the fatigue: Listen to your body. If it says ‘ouch’, slow down. Have a few sessions doing something gentle, like swimming. This gives our muscles time to rest and recover from the physical strain you’ve put them through and keeps exercise fun.
I hope this helps
Live life to its fullest,
Rowell Bulan M.D.Your Guide To HomeHealth Care
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Work, worrying and waah-ing babies may not be to blame…
You try and get eight hours sleep, eat breakfast and exercise regularly. So why are you so tired? New research has found that it’s not just crying babies or long work hours that rob us of energy - healthy habits can be just as damaging. You hear about the benefits of a new diet or exercise and can take it to extremes.
Here’s how to stay fit but have more bounce.
Catching up on ZZZs
When there’s nothing to drag you out of bed on the weekend, it’s tempting to keep snoozing - but this can leave you groggy. ‘Sleeping more over the weekend won’t make up for lost slumber during the week,’ says Kathleen McGrath, an insomniac expert.
‘It’ll just interfere with your pineal gland’s ability to produce the sleep hormone melatonin - which is why you’ll spend Sunday night counting sheep.’Fight the fatigue: Stick to eight hours shut eye, even on the weekend. Still tired? Have a30-minute nap in the afternoon. It’ll help you produce more melatonin for a better night’s rest.
Your morning shower
There’s nothing like a steaming shower to make you feel refreshed first thing. So why is it that somewhere between towelling off and getting dressed you’re ready to crawl back under the doona? ‘A hot shower raises your body’s temperature,’ explains Kathleen.
‘When it drops back to hormal, the brain produces melatonin and tells your body it’s time to sleep.’
Fight the fatigue: Work the effect a hot soak has on your body by having your scrub two hours before bedtime. That way, you’ll be out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. If you can’t live without your morning rinse, hit the cold tap in the shower for just a few seconds before you jump out as this kick-starts your nervous system and makes you feel full of zing.
A hearty breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. But if it’s too big, you may feel sapped of energy before lunchtime. A large meal loaded with sugar and refined carbs like white bread and sugary cereals drives blood sugar levels up but then you get an energy dip a few hours after eating.Fight the fatigue: The trick here is to go for more protein at breakfast. It stabilises your blood sugar, which determines how peckish and energetic you feel. Have a slice of wholegrain toast with eggs or peanut butter. The proteins will give you 75% more energy.
Being a diet saint
While munching all day is not a good idea, not eating anything between meals isn’t either. Go for more than four hours without food and your blood sugar may drop and you’ll feel zonked. This can leave you cranky, lazy in the afternoon and ravenous by the time you get home.Fight the fatigue. Eat five small meals to keep your energy levels on an even keel. Good choices include a handful of almonds or Ryvita with hummus.
Your gym membership
Exercising intensively daily can cause your body’s glutamine - the most abundant amino acid in out bodies - to crash, which can weaken your immune system. You’ll just feel wiped out.
Fight the fatigue: Listen to your body. If it says ‘ouch’, slow down. Have a few sessions doing something gentle, like swimming. This gives our muscles time to rest and recover from the physical strain you’ve put them through and keeps exercise fun.
I hope this helps
Live life to its fullest,
Rowell Bulan M.D.Your Guide To HomeHealth Care
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Changes to brain after cocaine abuse
I saw this article while i was reading on Reddit. I thought that i was very interesting as i have done posts on the 12-Steps and my Recovery. It is a very interesting article.
Researchers have uncovered a key genetic switch that chronic cocaine or stress influences to cause the brain to descend into a pathological state. In studies with mice they showed how chronic cocaine changes gene activity to enhance the addictive reward from the drug. And they showed similarly how chronic stress induces the same kinds of changes that hypersensitizes the brain, causing depression-like symptoms.
The researchers said their basic finding in the animals could lead to better treatments for addiction, depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Eric Nestler and colleagues published their findings in the November 8, 2007, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
In their experiments, the researchers explored how chronic cocaine or stress exerts “epigenetic” control of genes in the brain. Such control involves repressing or activating genes by altering the structure of the chromatin that enwraps genes. Specifically, the researchers explored whether chronic cocaine or stress affect an enzyme called histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5). Normally, HDAC5 represses specific genes by removing molecules called acetyl groups from the histone proteins that make up the chromatin surrounding them. The researchers’ previous studies had shown that chronic cocaine administration in mice caused an increase in acetyl groups in a brain region called the nucleus accumbens (NAc), known to be involved in response to cocaine or stress.
The researchers’ studies showed that giving mice chronic cocaine led to a reduction in HDAC5, allowing some 172 genes to be activated. What’s more, they found that this loss of HDAC5 in the NAc made the mice more sensitive to the reward of chronic cocaine. They determined the animals’ reward-sensitivity to cocaine by measuring the mice’s preference for an area of a box that they were taught to associate with receiving cocaine.
The researchers also studied whether the animals’ adaptation to chronic stress involved HDAC5 levels. In these experiments, they exposed mice to aggressive mice and measured the resulting depressive behavior. The researchers found that such stress also reduced HDAC5 function, although through a different mechanism than for chronic cocaine.
“These data demonstrate a crucial role for HDAC5 in regulating behavioral adaptations to chronic stress as well as chronic cocaine and suggest that HDAC5 contributes to a molecular switch between acute stress responses and more long-lasting depression-like maladaptations,” wrote the researchers.
“The functions of HDAC5 described here provide new insight into the pathogenesis of drug addiction, depression, and other stress-related syndromes,” they wrote. “This fundamentally new insight into the molecular underpinnings of chronic maladaptation in brain could lead to the development of improved treatments for addiction, depression, and other chronic psychiatric disorders.”
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Researchers have uncovered a key genetic switch that chronic cocaine or stress influences to cause the brain to descend into a pathological state. In studies with mice they showed how chronic cocaine changes gene activity to enhance the addictive reward from the drug. And they showed similarly how chronic stress induces the same kinds of changes that hypersensitizes the brain, causing depression-like symptoms.
The researchers said their basic finding in the animals could lead to better treatments for addiction, depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Eric Nestler and colleagues published their findings in the November 8, 2007, issue of the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press.
In their experiments, the researchers explored how chronic cocaine or stress exerts “epigenetic” control of genes in the brain. Such control involves repressing or activating genes by altering the structure of the chromatin that enwraps genes. Specifically, the researchers explored whether chronic cocaine or stress affect an enzyme called histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5). Normally, HDAC5 represses specific genes by removing molecules called acetyl groups from the histone proteins that make up the chromatin surrounding them. The researchers’ previous studies had shown that chronic cocaine administration in mice caused an increase in acetyl groups in a brain region called the nucleus accumbens (NAc), known to be involved in response to cocaine or stress.
The researchers’ studies showed that giving mice chronic cocaine led to a reduction in HDAC5, allowing some 172 genes to be activated. What’s more, they found that this loss of HDAC5 in the NAc made the mice more sensitive to the reward of chronic cocaine. They determined the animals’ reward-sensitivity to cocaine by measuring the mice’s preference for an area of a box that they were taught to associate with receiving cocaine.
The researchers also studied whether the animals’ adaptation to chronic stress involved HDAC5 levels. In these experiments, they exposed mice to aggressive mice and measured the resulting depressive behavior. The researchers found that such stress also reduced HDAC5 function, although through a different mechanism than for chronic cocaine.
“These data demonstrate a crucial role for HDAC5 in regulating behavioral adaptations to chronic stress as well as chronic cocaine and suggest that HDAC5 contributes to a molecular switch between acute stress responses and more long-lasting depression-like maladaptations,” wrote the researchers.
“The functions of HDAC5 described here provide new insight into the pathogenesis of drug addiction, depression, and other stress-related syndromes,” they wrote. “This fundamentally new insight into the molecular underpinnings of chronic maladaptation in brain could lead to the development of improved treatments for addiction, depression, and other chronic psychiatric disorders.”
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Time Change...
This mess is kicking my ass!! BIGTIME!! Working nights lie I do and then loosing an hour has been very bad on me this week. I have been so freaking tired after I get home from work that I have been sleeping till 5 or so in the evening and I have not made it to the gym at all this week. I did however, ride nearly 25 miles this weekend, so I hope that makes up for slacking at the gym…
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced
equation inherent to the programming of the matrix.
You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite
my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate
from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision.
While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not
unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control.
Which has led you, inexorably, here." - The Architect, The Matrix Reloaded
Shouldn't Life Be Easier?
Well shouldn't it be easier? It is a constant balancing act. Money, Gas, Bills, Happiness, all a balancing act with a very delicate equilibrium. IF you spend too much on a weekend, you are short for the week and that sucks. Spend too much during g the week and the weekend is shot. Have a car break down and you are just screwed! Most Americans are just 2, count it TWO, paychecks from financial ruin. With 100+ channels of crap on the TV, no one can decide on what to watch. You could have 10 TVs sitting beside each other and there would still be an argument on what to watch on 1 of them! That is just life I guess.
I am Tired…
You know what I am tired of? I am tired of people living in the past. I had a friend that he and I went way back together, back to the 11th grade. We became friends and did lots of stuff together. He would come over to my house and we would go to the lake and hang out or go the clubs in Beaumont or Louisiana. We were big party people back then. I was in college and so was he. He graduated and I did not. He then went to UT Galveston to get his PHD. I played around for several years. I would go to Galveston and we would party together or go to concerts and stuff like that. He started to mature and I did not at that point. He would call me in the middle of the night to talk about some of his projects dealing with the splicing of genes.
Now, he ended up in Baltimore working for the government and I did the "American dream: Married, kid, house" He stayed single but dated around. We would chat and talk, visit when we could as he was busy and we were moving around the country like always. Then it started. We would trade music, programs like always, and then he would lash out at me to be a responsible adult like him. He said that he wanted what was best for me and to stop being lazy, that he was always trying to help me. He would send me "gifts" in the mail and then later ask me to pay for a bit of them.
I was and had done a lot of maturing by this time and gotten my life straightened out, no drinking or the such. We would get into a fight over him trying to push his "high" morals onto me and act like a father to me. We really butted heads and would not speak for a while. Then without warning, I would get an instant message and he would want to talk and be friends again. This was the pattern that we had for about a year more and then we got into a huge fight. He would act like he was better than me and was on top of the world, but remember, we both used to party very hard in the past. I guess that he forgot about that. He wanted me to come to visit for the weekend and I did not want to.
As our "friendship" progressed, he got stranger and stranger, almost jealous of me being married. The huge fight was between my wife and him. It was very nasty and that was over a year ago. We have not spoken since then and I guess that we never will. Our lives took different paths, both good in their own rights. Do I miss talking to him sometimes, yes, In the beginning we had lots in common, music, mutual friends, partying, but in the end, all we had was music. I have not been able to find someone to discuss in person music to that extent and perhaps I never will; time will tell about that.
For any Interested...
RounTrey is the correct name and i have found the url for the development:
http://www.rountreyonline.com/masterplan.html
http://www.rountreyonline.com/plan.html
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
http://www.rountreyonline.com/masterplan.html
http://www.rountreyonline.com/plan.html
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
The Weather...
Well my friends, it has gotten cold here in the "Ole Dominion" for a change. We just went to eat a Chili's and it was 45 degrees. We are supposed to be stuck in this weather pattern for a while longer. So i guess that we are finally going to get into winter here. It is about time if you as k me. We still need rain and lots of it but with the cooler weather water will not be such a factor here. People will stop watering their lawns and consumption will go down. I turned my sprinklers off about 2 weeks ago and cut the lawn down very low. We have had several freezes since then and hopefully the grass will stop growing. I do not want to have to cut the lawn again this year! Well, i am full and there are a few TV progs i want to watch, so i am out of here. :-)
Jim Duncan's forecast:
The weather pattern has taken a decidedly cooler turn, with the jet stream dropping south and a chilly high pressure ridge to our north. Overnight lows could dip into the upper 20s in some normally colder spots by sunrise Thursday, with highs into the start of the weekend not managing much more than the low to middle 50s.
Rain prospects may inch up slightly later Friday, with a little more moisture working in along a back-door cold front, but overall chances for any meaningful rainfall will otherwise stay very low through the 7-day forecast period.
What is your opinion?
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Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Blog Move?
I might move all my services to wordpress. I have a site set up called http://renigade.wordpress.com.
I am just not getting the traffic that I would like with blogger anymore. Please go and have a look if you will.
Thankx,
RMStringer
________________________________
What have I done
What lies I have told
I've played games with the ones that
rescued my soul
Oh, have I come to the point where I'm losing the grip
Or is it still time to get into
The swing of things - A - Ha 1986
Monday, November 05, 2007
Food additives ‘can cause hyperactivity’
A new study has indicated that some food additives can increase hyperactivity in children.Researchers commissioned by the UK’s Food Standards Agency looked at the effects of two combinations of E numbers on the behaviour of children who were prone to hyperactivity.
The scientists took two mixes of artificial food colours and the popular preservative sodium benzoate, which can be found in foods in like soft drinks, confectionary and ice cream, which are popular with children.
They found that the combinations did increase hyperactivity among children and recommended that those who are prone to hyperactivity or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder should eliminate these additives from their diet.
The study added that there are many factors associated with hyperactivity including genetic factors, being born prematurely or environment and upbringing.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland says it is aware of the study, which covered Sunset Yellow (E110), Tartrazine (E102), Carmoisine (E122), Ponceau 4R (E124), Quinoline Yellow (E104) and Allura Red (E129).
It is also recommending parents to read food labels when buying products for their children.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
The scientists took two mixes of artificial food colours and the popular preservative sodium benzoate, which can be found in foods in like soft drinks, confectionary and ice cream, which are popular with children.
They found that the combinations did increase hyperactivity among children and recommended that those who are prone to hyperactivity or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder should eliminate these additives from their diet.
The study added that there are many factors associated with hyperactivity including genetic factors, being born prematurely or environment and upbringing.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland says it is aware of the study, which covered Sunset Yellow (E110), Tartrazine (E102), Carmoisine (E122), Ponceau 4R (E124), Quinoline Yellow (E104) and Allura Red (E129).
It is also recommending parents to read food labels when buying products for their children.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Mack: L'Affaire Bagdad
Thanks to Mac Hall for letting me publish this commentary.
L'Affaire Bagdad
"I shall have to delay you for a few minutes. You see the Legation is only just open and we have not yet got our full equipment. We are expecting the rubber stamp any minute now."
-- A diplomat in Evelyn Waugh's Scoop
The American diplomatic corps, the envy of the world of pallid wine and crumbly cheese, is afraid to go to Bagdad – so afraid that no one is volunteering, and diplomats may have to be dragged out of cocktail parties in Ottawa and the racing season at Epson Downs and ordered to report to The Cradle of Civilization.
Working Americans whose taxes support civil servants can certainly understand the reluctance of diplomats to serve civility in Bagdad. What towboat captain or steelworker cannot appreciate the difficulty in finding a really good tailor in Port Said Street? And, after all, embassy soirees in Bagdad are more likely to be explosive rather than sparkling, and the paucity of wine merchants is appalling, simply appalling. Worse, the shopping along Muthana Al Shaiban Street is simply not up to Paris standards, m'dear. Picnicking along the Tigris is quite impossible given the heat, and trying to punt through the bobbing, malodorous corpses is so, so tiresome.
A with-it diplomat in Bagdad can only resent the sad reality that so many of his personal bodyguards are not Harvard or Yale, and don't appreciate amusing anecdotes about yachting with Walter Cronkite off Martha's Vineyard and tittering about people who actually have jobs and love America.
And then there are the Christian priests in Iraq. In New England, anyone who's anyone keeps a tame bishop or two for amusement. In Iraq, though, priests and bishops are not much fun at parties, didn't go to the right schools, and suffer a tendency to be martyred by the sort of people American bishops like to be palsy with for the cameras. Yawn.
Doesn't anyone understand that stern diplomatic notes can be exchanged just as easily after one's afternoon nap in Brussels as well as after one's afternoon nap in Iraq? And the embassy in Brussels is so convenient to the theatre.
And then there's the bother of domestic staff in Bagdad. When interviewing and hiring a suitable kitchen staff (soooooooo exhausting), one must check references very carefully so that one does not hire a pastry chef who might bring explosives into the morning room. The maids, the housekeeper, the porters, the gardeners – can one find staff up to scratch in Iraq? Yes, a life of public service is terribly demanding.
Entertaining can be quite a bother too. In Europe one knows that a grand duke l'orange takes precedent over a charge' du flatus, but how does one seat a Sunny mahdi and a Shirty sheik at dinner without causing a row? Gracious! And what is the proper dress for receptions during a rocket attack – black-tie body armor or white-tie body armor?
And must those beastly American soldiers get blown up in the street outside the embassy? Can't they go out to the countryside and get blown up there? An American diplomat needs his sleep, after all, and having all those persons from the flyover states fighting and dying just outside is so unseemly.
The American diplomatic service – always a step and six feet of reinforced concrete behind our fighting men and women. Why should they have to serve in Bagdad – or anywhere else?
-30-
The glory of modern people is that they really do feel. Their only danger is that they cannot think.
-- G. K. Chesterton
Mountain Biking Total
We did Poco Red and Blue today and ended up with 8.84. SO for the weekend, I have a total of 24.49 miles over 3 rides. My legs are very sore for the activity but I feel very good and it was freaking cold, 36 degrees when we hit the trial head!!
RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You have no conscience and it seems you never will - Cyberaktif
Bike Weekend...
Well, I rode on Friday with a total of 6.64 miles on the Blue and Double Red trials at Pocahontas Park, Saturday we went to Buttermilk and we got in a 9 mile ride. IT was the best ride that I have ever done at Buttermilk. I can tell that I am really improving. I am going this morning back to Pocahontas and we are going to do the Red. IT is about 39 degrees, VERY COLD! I will post a grand total of my miles later today…
RMStringer
#################
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,
anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Author Unknown
Saturday, November 03, 2007
The Big Lie: ‘Iran Is a Threat’
This is a very interesting view point from this author. I do not know what my view point is but i do think that they are a big threat to our country. Having said that, i do not think that we need to go and invade them.
As written by Scott Ritter from the RINF website.
Iran has never manifested itself as a serious threat to the national security of the United States, or by extension as a security threat to global security. At the height of Iran’s “exportation of the Islamic Revolution” phase, in the mid-1980’s, the Islamic Republic demonstrated a less-than-impressive ability to project its power beyond the immediate borders of Iran, and even then this projection was limited to war-torn Lebanon.
Iranian military capability reached its modern peak in the late 1970’s, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlevi. The combined effects of institutional distrust on the part of the theocrats who currently govern the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the conventional military institutions, leading as it did to the decay of the military through inadequate funding and the creation of a competing paramilitary organization, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Command (IRGC), and the disastrous impact of an eight-year conflict with Iraq, meant that Iran has never been able to build up conventional military power capable of significant regional power projection, let alone global power projection.
Where Iran has demonstrated the ability for global reach is in the spread of Shi’a Islamic fundamentalism, but even in this case the results have been mixed. Other than the expansive relations between Iran (via certain elements of the IRGC) and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, Iranian success stories when it comes to exporting the Islamic revolution are virtually non-existent. Indeed, the efforts on the part of the IRGC to export Islamic revolution abroad, especially into Europe and other western nations, have produced the opposite effect desired. Based upon observations made by former and current IRGC officers, it appears that those operatives chosen to spread the revolution in fact more often than not returned to Iran noting that peaceful coexistence with the West was not only possible but preferable to the exportation of Islamic fundamentalism. Many of these IRGC officers began to push for moderation of the part of the ruling theocrats in Iran, both in terms of interfacing with the west and domestic policies.
The concept of an inherent incompatibility between Iran, even when governed by a theocratic ruling class, and the United States is fundamentally flawed, especially from the perspective of Iran. The Iran of today seeks to integrate itself responsibly with the nations of the world, clumsily so in some instances, but in any case a far cry from the crude attempts to export Islamic revolution in the early 1980’s. The United States claims that Iran is a real and present danger to the security of the US and the entire world, and cites Iranian efforts to acquire nuclear technology, Iran’s continued support of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran’s “status” as a state supporter of terror, and Iranian interference into the internal affairs of Iraq and Afghanistan as the prime examples of how this threat manifests itself.
On every point, the case made against Iran collapses upon closer scrutiny. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mandated to investigate Iran’s nuclear programs, has concluded that there is no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Furthermore, the IAEA has concluded that it is capable of monitoring the Iranian nuclear program to ensure that it does not deviate from the permitted nuclear energy program Iran states to be the exclusive objective of its endeavors. Iran’s support of the Hezbollah Party in Lebanon - Iranian protestors shown here supporting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel rally - while a source of concern for the State of Israel, does not constitute a threat to American national security primarily because the support provided is primarily defensive in nature, designed to assist Hezbollah in deterring and repelling an Israeli assault of sovereign Lebanese territory. Similarly, the bulk of the data used by the United States to substantiate the claims that Iran is a state sponsor of terror is derived from the aforementioned support provided to Hezbollah. Other arguments presented are either grossly out of date (going back to the early 1980’s when Iran was in fact exporting Islamic fundamentalism) or unsubstantiated by fact.
The US claims concerning Iranian interference in both Iraq and Afghanistan ignore the reality that both nations border Iran, both nations were invaded and occupied by the United States, not Iran, and that Iran has a history of conflict with both nations that dictates a keen interest concerning the internal domestic affairs of both nations. The United States continues to exaggerate the nature of Iranian involvement in Iraq, arresting “intelligence operatives” who later turned out to be economic and diplomatic officials invited to Iraq by the Iraqi government itself. Most if not all the claims made by the United States concerning Iranian military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been backed up with anything stronger than rhetoric, and more often than not are subsequently contradicted by other military and governmental officials, citing a lack of specific evidence.
Iran as a nation represents absolutely no threat to the national security of the United States, or of its major allies in the region, including Israel. The media hype concerning alleged statements made by Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has created and sustained the myth that Iran seeks the destruction of the State of Israel. Two points of fact directly contradict this myth. First and foremost, Ahmadinejad never articulated an Iranian policy objective to destroy Israel, rather noting that Israel’s policies would lead to its “vanishing from the pages of time.” Second, and perhaps most important, Ahmadinejad does not make foreign policy decisions on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the sole purview of the “Supreme Leader,” the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2003 Khomeini initiated a diplomatic outreach to the United States inclusive of an offer to recognize Israel’s right to exist. This initiative was rejected by the United States, but nevertheless represents the clearest indication of what the true policy objective of Iran is vis-à-vis Israel.
The fact of the matter is that the “Iranian Threat” is derived solely from the rhetoric of those who appear to seek confrontation between the United States and Iran, and largely divorced from fact-based reality. A recent request on the part of Iran to allow President Ahmadinejad to lay a wreath at “ground zero” in Manhattan was rejected by New York City officials. The resulting public outcry condemned the Iranian initiative as an affront to all Americans, citing Iran’s alleged policies of supporting terrorism. This knee-jerk reaction ignores the reality that Iran was violently opposed to al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan throughout the 1990’s leading up to 2001, and that Iran was one of the first Muslim nations to condemn the terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
A careful fact-based assessment of Iran clearly demonstrates that it poses no threat to the legitimate national security interests of the United States. However, if the United States chooses to implement its own unilateral national security objectives concerning regime change in Iran, there will most likely be a reaction from Iran which produces an exceedingly detrimental impact on the national security interests of the United States, including military, political and economic. But the notion of claiming a nation like Iran to constitute a security threat simply because it retains the intent and capability to defend its sovereign territory in the face of unprovoked military aggression is absurd. In the end, however, such absurdity is trumping fact-based reality when it comes to shaping the opinion of the American public on the issue of the Iranian “threat.”
Scott Ritter was a Marine Corps intelligence officer from 1984 to 1991 and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. He is the author of numerous books, including “Iraq Confidential” (Nation Books, 2005) , “Target Iran” (Nation Books, 2006) and his latest, “Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement” (Nation Books, April 2007).
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
As written by Scott Ritter from the RINF website.
Iran has never manifested itself as a serious threat to the national security of the United States, or by extension as a security threat to global security. At the height of Iran’s “exportation of the Islamic Revolution” phase, in the mid-1980’s, the Islamic Republic demonstrated a less-than-impressive ability to project its power beyond the immediate borders of Iran, and even then this projection was limited to war-torn Lebanon.
Iranian military capability reached its modern peak in the late 1970’s, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlevi. The combined effects of institutional distrust on the part of the theocrats who currently govern the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the conventional military institutions, leading as it did to the decay of the military through inadequate funding and the creation of a competing paramilitary organization, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Command (IRGC), and the disastrous impact of an eight-year conflict with Iraq, meant that Iran has never been able to build up conventional military power capable of significant regional power projection, let alone global power projection.
Where Iran has demonstrated the ability for global reach is in the spread of Shi’a Islamic fundamentalism, but even in this case the results have been mixed. Other than the expansive relations between Iran (via certain elements of the IRGC) and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, Iranian success stories when it comes to exporting the Islamic revolution are virtually non-existent. Indeed, the efforts on the part of the IRGC to export Islamic revolution abroad, especially into Europe and other western nations, have produced the opposite effect desired. Based upon observations made by former and current IRGC officers, it appears that those operatives chosen to spread the revolution in fact more often than not returned to Iran noting that peaceful coexistence with the West was not only possible but preferable to the exportation of Islamic fundamentalism. Many of these IRGC officers began to push for moderation of the part of the ruling theocrats in Iran, both in terms of interfacing with the west and domestic policies.
The concept of an inherent incompatibility between Iran, even when governed by a theocratic ruling class, and the United States is fundamentally flawed, especially from the perspective of Iran. The Iran of today seeks to integrate itself responsibly with the nations of the world, clumsily so in some instances, but in any case a far cry from the crude attempts to export Islamic revolution in the early 1980’s. The United States claims that Iran is a real and present danger to the security of the US and the entire world, and cites Iranian efforts to acquire nuclear technology, Iran’s continued support of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran’s “status” as a state supporter of terror, and Iranian interference into the internal affairs of Iraq and Afghanistan as the prime examples of how this threat manifests itself.
On every point, the case made against Iran collapses upon closer scrutiny. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mandated to investigate Iran’s nuclear programs, has concluded that there is no evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Furthermore, the IAEA has concluded that it is capable of monitoring the Iranian nuclear program to ensure that it does not deviate from the permitted nuclear energy program Iran states to be the exclusive objective of its endeavors. Iran’s support of the Hezbollah Party in Lebanon - Iranian protestors shown here supporting Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel rally - while a source of concern for the State of Israel, does not constitute a threat to American national security primarily because the support provided is primarily defensive in nature, designed to assist Hezbollah in deterring and repelling an Israeli assault of sovereign Lebanese territory. Similarly, the bulk of the data used by the United States to substantiate the claims that Iran is a state sponsor of terror is derived from the aforementioned support provided to Hezbollah. Other arguments presented are either grossly out of date (going back to the early 1980’s when Iran was in fact exporting Islamic fundamentalism) or unsubstantiated by fact.
The US claims concerning Iranian interference in both Iraq and Afghanistan ignore the reality that both nations border Iran, both nations were invaded and occupied by the United States, not Iran, and that Iran has a history of conflict with both nations that dictates a keen interest concerning the internal domestic affairs of both nations. The United States continues to exaggerate the nature of Iranian involvement in Iraq, arresting “intelligence operatives” who later turned out to be economic and diplomatic officials invited to Iraq by the Iraqi government itself. Most if not all the claims made by the United States concerning Iranian military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been backed up with anything stronger than rhetoric, and more often than not are subsequently contradicted by other military and governmental officials, citing a lack of specific evidence.
Iran as a nation represents absolutely no threat to the national security of the United States, or of its major allies in the region, including Israel. The media hype concerning alleged statements made by Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has created and sustained the myth that Iran seeks the destruction of the State of Israel. Two points of fact directly contradict this myth. First and foremost, Ahmadinejad never articulated an Iranian policy objective to destroy Israel, rather noting that Israel’s policies would lead to its “vanishing from the pages of time.” Second, and perhaps most important, Ahmadinejad does not make foreign policy decisions on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the sole purview of the “Supreme Leader,” the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2003 Khomeini initiated a diplomatic outreach to the United States inclusive of an offer to recognize Israel’s right to exist. This initiative was rejected by the United States, but nevertheless represents the clearest indication of what the true policy objective of Iran is vis-à-vis Israel.
The fact of the matter is that the “Iranian Threat” is derived solely from the rhetoric of those who appear to seek confrontation between the United States and Iran, and largely divorced from fact-based reality. A recent request on the part of Iran to allow President Ahmadinejad to lay a wreath at “ground zero” in Manhattan was rejected by New York City officials. The resulting public outcry condemned the Iranian initiative as an affront to all Americans, citing Iran’s alleged policies of supporting terrorism. This knee-jerk reaction ignores the reality that Iran was violently opposed to al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan throughout the 1990’s leading up to 2001, and that Iran was one of the first Muslim nations to condemn the terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
A careful fact-based assessment of Iran clearly demonstrates that it poses no threat to the legitimate national security interests of the United States. However, if the United States chooses to implement its own unilateral national security objectives concerning regime change in Iran, there will most likely be a reaction from Iran which produces an exceedingly detrimental impact on the national security interests of the United States, including military, political and economic. But the notion of claiming a nation like Iran to constitute a security threat simply because it retains the intent and capability to defend its sovereign territory in the face of unprovoked military aggression is absurd. In the end, however, such absurdity is trumping fact-based reality when it comes to shaping the opinion of the American public on the issue of the Iranian “threat.”
Scott Ritter was a Marine Corps intelligence officer from 1984 to 1991 and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. He is the author of numerous books, including “Iraq Confidential” (Nation Books, 2005) , “Target Iran” (Nation Books, 2006) and his latest, “Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement” (Nation Books, April 2007).
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Judge Orders Bush Administration to Issue Global Warming Report
Taken from the RINF website.
By Karen Gullo
The Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled.
District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government “unlawfully withheld action” required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change.
The law mandates the research plan should be revised every three years and the assessment every four years. The last research plan was in 2003 and the last assessment was published in 2000. Greenpeace International and two other environmental groups who say the U.S. government suppresses science on climate change sued in November seeking a court order to produce the reports.
“As the research plan is now more than a year overdue, the court orders that a summary of the revised proposed research plan be published in the Federal Register no later than March 1,” Armstrong said in the order today. The scientific assessment must be produced by May 31, she said.
The administration will review the ruling before commenting, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Calls to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and Martin LaLonde, a Justice Department attorney involved in the case, weren’t immediately returned.
President George W. Bush, citing economic reasons, in March 2001 rejected the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty among industrialized nations that would have required cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and other gases linked to global warming.
Government `Wrong’
The Bush administration said in court filings that it determined “only recently that the initiation of a process to revise the research plan has become necessary and advisable” and that the government has discretion about how to handle the revised reports, which Armstrong said was “wrong.”
The reports may be completed by the end of the year, government lawyers said in court filings.
“This is the first court order specifically rebuking the Bush administration for suppressing climate change science,” said Matthew Vespa, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued. “The report will provide updated information that all federal agencies will have to look at when assessing the impact of climate change.”
The case is Center for Biological Diversity v. Brennan, 06-7062, U.S. District Court, for the Northern District of California (San Francisco).
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
By Karen Gullo
The Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled.
District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government “unlawfully withheld action” required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change.
The law mandates the research plan should be revised every three years and the assessment every four years. The last research plan was in 2003 and the last assessment was published in 2000. Greenpeace International and two other environmental groups who say the U.S. government suppresses science on climate change sued in November seeking a court order to produce the reports.
“As the research plan is now more than a year overdue, the court orders that a summary of the revised proposed research plan be published in the Federal Register no later than March 1,” Armstrong said in the order today. The scientific assessment must be produced by May 31, she said.
The administration will review the ruling before commenting, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Calls to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and Martin LaLonde, a Justice Department attorney involved in the case, weren’t immediately returned.
President George W. Bush, citing economic reasons, in March 2001 rejected the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty among industrialized nations that would have required cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and other gases linked to global warming.
Government `Wrong’
The Bush administration said in court filings that it determined “only recently that the initiation of a process to revise the research plan has become necessary and advisable” and that the government has discretion about how to handle the revised reports, which Armstrong said was “wrong.”
The reports may be completed by the end of the year, government lawyers said in court filings.
“This is the first court order specifically rebuking the Bush administration for suppressing climate change science,” said Matthew Vespa, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued. “The report will provide updated information that all federal agencies will have to look at when assessing the impact of climate change.”
The case is Center for Biological Diversity v. Brennan, 06-7062, U.S. District Court, for the Northern District of California (San Francisco).
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Doctor: G Bush has symptoms of presenile dementia
As written by Alex Beam
It is an article of faith with millions of Americans, most of them on the left, that George W. Bush is stupid. Many reasonable people think his policies are ill-advised, but millions more insist Bush must be a moron because he sounds stupid.
The president’s tortured “Bushisms” are chronicled daily and have been collected in books. Two of the more notorious are “I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family” and “Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.”
But something doesn’t compute. Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express and a Yale pal of both Bush and John Kerry, says Bush is five times smarter than people think he is. Cynics deride what passes for scholarship at the Harvard Business School, but the course work for the two-year MBA isn’t easy. A grading curve forces a small number of students to fail, and Bush didn’t fail.
So why does Bush sound stupid? One doctor thinks he shows signs of “presenile dementia,” or an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
This summer, Joseph Price, a self-described “country doctor” in Carsonville, Mich., was reading a long article in The Atlantic about Bush’s speaking style. Author James Fallows alluded to Bush’s malapropisms and to speculation that Bush had a learning disorder or dyslexia. But those conditions generally manifest themselves in childhood. Furthermore, Fallows wrote, “through his forties Bush was perfectly articulate.”
Dr. Price’s children happened to have given him a daily tear-off calendar of “Bushisms” for Christmas. “They are horrible, but they are also diagnostic,” Price says. When he read that Bush had spoken clearly and performed well while debating Texas politician Ann Richards in 1994, Price thought: “My God, the only way you can explain that is by being Alzheimer’s.”
In a letter to be published in The Atlantic’s October issue, Price calls presenile dementia “a fairly typical Alzheimer’s situation that develops significantly earlier in life. . . . President Bush’s `mangled’ words are a demonstration of what physicians call `confabulation’ and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia.” He adds that Bush should be “started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease.”
Yes, I asked for a second opinion. University of Massachusetts neurology professor Dr. Daniel Pollen thinks it is bootless to speculate about Bush’s condition without a formal neuropsychological assessment. “I think it’s unfair to say somebody has or does not have a dementia as an analysis based on his public utterances,” says Pollen, who is not a Bush supporter. Noting that Bush spoke well in his debates with both Richards and Al Gore, Pollen adds that Bush’s “peak performances are not in the range I would consider for anybody to have Alzheimer’s disease in the near future.”
Suppose Price is right. What effect might his observation have on the 2004 election? Absolutely none. The White House isn’t going to start speculating about an incipient medical condition that might make the president look bad. When I forwarded Price’s comments to the White House, it sent me Bush’s 2001 and 2003 physical exams, which show normal neurological functions. “There is nothing to suggest that there has been any change from those reports,” says White House spokeswoman Erin Healy.
There is ample precedent for papering over presidents’ medical shortcomings. Stanford Medical School professor Herbert Abrams and others have argued that Ronald Reagan was incapacitated from the day he was shot in March of 1981 through the succeeding seven years of his presidency. In their 1988 book, “Landslide,” Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus report that one White House staffer considered Reagan’s condition so bad in 1987 that he suggested invoking the transfer-of-power provisions of the 25th Amendment. That idea went nowhere fast.
As for the Democrats, they have no incentive to medicalize a condition they so enjoy teeing off on: Bush’s seemingly goofy stupidity. Kerry suggests that Bush’s bicycle has training wheels; Kerry’s wife suggests that people who oppose her husband’s health schemes are idiots. The Democrats would rather feel superior to their opponents than beat them, and so far they are doing a very good job.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
It is an article of faith with millions of Americans, most of them on the left, that George W. Bush is stupid. Many reasonable people think his policies are ill-advised, but millions more insist Bush must be a moron because he sounds stupid.
The president’s tortured “Bushisms” are chronicled daily and have been collected in books. Two of the more notorious are “I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family” and “Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.”
But something doesn’t compute. Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express and a Yale pal of both Bush and John Kerry, says Bush is five times smarter than people think he is. Cynics deride what passes for scholarship at the Harvard Business School, but the course work for the two-year MBA isn’t easy. A grading curve forces a small number of students to fail, and Bush didn’t fail.
So why does Bush sound stupid? One doctor thinks he shows signs of “presenile dementia,” or an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
This summer, Joseph Price, a self-described “country doctor” in Carsonville, Mich., was reading a long article in The Atlantic about Bush’s speaking style. Author James Fallows alluded to Bush’s malapropisms and to speculation that Bush had a learning disorder or dyslexia. But those conditions generally manifest themselves in childhood. Furthermore, Fallows wrote, “through his forties Bush was perfectly articulate.”
Dr. Price’s children happened to have given him a daily tear-off calendar of “Bushisms” for Christmas. “They are horrible, but they are also diagnostic,” Price says. When he read that Bush had spoken clearly and performed well while debating Texas politician Ann Richards in 1994, Price thought: “My God, the only way you can explain that is by being Alzheimer’s.”
In a letter to be published in The Atlantic’s October issue, Price calls presenile dementia “a fairly typical Alzheimer’s situation that develops significantly earlier in life. . . . President Bush’s `mangled’ words are a demonstration of what physicians call `confabulation’ and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia.” He adds that Bush should be “started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease.”
Yes, I asked for a second opinion. University of Massachusetts neurology professor Dr. Daniel Pollen thinks it is bootless to speculate about Bush’s condition without a formal neuropsychological assessment. “I think it’s unfair to say somebody has or does not have a dementia as an analysis based on his public utterances,” says Pollen, who is not a Bush supporter. Noting that Bush spoke well in his debates with both Richards and Al Gore, Pollen adds that Bush’s “peak performances are not in the range I would consider for anybody to have Alzheimer’s disease in the near future.”
Suppose Price is right. What effect might his observation have on the 2004 election? Absolutely none. The White House isn’t going to start speculating about an incipient medical condition that might make the president look bad. When I forwarded Price’s comments to the White House, it sent me Bush’s 2001 and 2003 physical exams, which show normal neurological functions. “There is nothing to suggest that there has been any change from those reports,” says White House spokeswoman Erin Healy.
There is ample precedent for papering over presidents’ medical shortcomings. Stanford Medical School professor Herbert Abrams and others have argued that Ronald Reagan was incapacitated from the day he was shot in March of 1981 through the succeeding seven years of his presidency. In their 1988 book, “Landslide,” Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus report that one White House staffer considered Reagan’s condition so bad in 1987 that he suggested invoking the transfer-of-power provisions of the 25th Amendment. That idea went nowhere fast.
As for the Democrats, they have no incentive to medicalize a condition they so enjoy teeing off on: Bush’s seemingly goofy stupidity. Kerry suggests that Bush’s bicycle has training wheels; Kerry’s wife suggests that people who oppose her husband’s health schemes are idiots. The Democrats would rather feel superior to their opponents than beat them, and so far they are doing a very good job.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
Correction to a previous post...
The name of the new community is called Round Trey, not Round tree. My mistake.
RMStringer
+++++++++++++++++++++++
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
Friday, November 02, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Housing Developments...
You know what sucks? Our Housing Development, that is what sucks. It is called Edgewater. I have lived all over the country in the past 12 years of my life and i have lived in some good places and some bad places. Massachusetts was a bad place.
I would have to say that Highlands Ranch in Colorado was the BEST place to live with its parks and Rec Centers, 4 of them to be exact with all the amenities that you could hope for.
Now to our present housing community. It would appear to be a nice community with new homes and nice roads in it, no side walks though. We found a home that we liked and moved here not know that there were not going to be ANY pools or Rec Centers!! NONE!! and there are no planes to build any. The developer did not make any room for them; he was greedy and sold all the land for houses never thinking that someone might like to go swimming during the hot Richmond summers. And to boot, he has opened a new development on the other side of the road that is the same damm way, no pools, no tennis courts, no trails and no sidewalks either. What a moron!! People from Edgewater 1 are moving to Edgewater 2 for a bigger home, WHY? They will still not have anything there.
Now down the street, we have Roundtree. It has sidewalks and is going to have tennis courts, soccer fields, swimming pools and trails to ride/hike on. The homes are bigger for the most part which really does not matter when the housing market is in the dumps. The keep building and for what? it must be a tax rite-off for empty houses. My friend and i ride our bikes and watch the construction of the new homes and just laugh! They say that we might be able to use their facilities and i will hold my breath till that happens as they are not even constructed yet.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
I would have to say that Highlands Ranch in Colorado was the BEST place to live with its parks and Rec Centers, 4 of them to be exact with all the amenities that you could hope for.
Now to our present housing community. It would appear to be a nice community with new homes and nice roads in it, no side walks though. We found a home that we liked and moved here not know that there were not going to be ANY pools or Rec Centers!! NONE!! and there are no planes to build any. The developer did not make any room for them; he was greedy and sold all the land for houses never thinking that someone might like to go swimming during the hot Richmond summers. And to boot, he has opened a new development on the other side of the road that is the same damm way, no pools, no tennis courts, no trails and no sidewalks either. What a moron!! People from Edgewater 1 are moving to Edgewater 2 for a bigger home, WHY? They will still not have anything there.
Now down the street, we have Roundtree. It has sidewalks and is going to have tennis courts, soccer fields, swimming pools and trails to ride/hike on. The homes are bigger for the most part which really does not matter when the housing market is in the dumps. The keep building and for what? it must be a tax rite-off for empty houses. My friend and i ride our bikes and watch the construction of the new homes and just laugh! They say that we might be able to use their facilities and i will hold my breath till that happens as they are not even constructed yet.
What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!
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