Anyway

 

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered : 

Forgive them anyway. 

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: 

Be kind anyway. 

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies:

Succeed anyway. 

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. 

Be honest and frank anyway. 

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous: 

Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow: 

Do good anyway. 

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough: 

Give the world the best you've got anyway. 

 

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God: 

It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa

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America’s “quiet professionals”

The President:

They’re America’s “quiet professionals” -- because success demands secrecy.  But I will say this.  Like all of you, they could have chosen a life of ease.  But like you, they volunteered.  They chose to serve in a time of war, knowing they could be sent into harm’s way.  They trained for years.  They’re battle-hardened.  They practiced tirelessly for this mission.  And when I gave the order, they were ready.

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Because it is true...

http://movies.cnnbcvideo.com/index.php?nid=1304773775_8424&z=&p=aauw&fb=&id=

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National Day of Reason

National Day of Reason.

The National Day of Reason, observed by millions of people in this country and around the world since 2003, celebrates the application of reason and the positive impacts it has had on humanity. Reason and rational discourse have the power to improve living conditions around the world and cultivate intelligent, moral, and ethical interactions among people.

Reason and rational thinking have made our country great. The Constitution of the United States of America is based upon the philosophies developed during the historical Age of Reason and the idea that citizens engaging in rational discourse and decision-making can govern themselves. The Constitution also contains a strong separation of church and state, making it clear that government should continue to be built on reason.

Our nation faces many problems--ending two wars, creating jobs, educating our children, tackling our budget, and protecting our safety net. Although the gravity of these issues may drive many to prayer, the way we will solve them is through the application of reason.

The National Day of Reason is also about taking time to improve our communities--whether that means holding a blood drive or collecting items for the local food bank. It is also about ensuring that our government represents citizens of all beliefs and backgrounds. I encourage everyone to join in observing this day and focusing upon the employment of reason, critical thinking, the scientific method, and free inquiry to the resolution of human problems and for the welfare of human kind. It is the duty and responsibility of every American to promote the development and application of reason.

http://www.stark.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2211&Itemid=84

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File under: "Awe, gee, isn't that toooooo bad."

George W. Bush Reportedly Feels Ignored In Obama 'Victory Lap' Following Osama Bin Laden's Death

[LINK: Huffington Post ]

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A Giant Malaysian Shield Praying Mantis

A Giant Malaysian Shield Praying Mantis is pictured in Igor Siwanowicz’s studio in Munich, Germany. Biochemist and photographer Igor Siwanowicz has spent the last seven years carefully acquiring, breeding and capturing bizarre and visually stunning images of creepy crawlies.

[LINK: All Creatures [great and small] ]

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God in the here

Experiencing God in the here and now

 

Why are we so enamored with a side of God (His transcendence), an attribute we can't really wrap our minds around anyway, when there is so much of God we can experience right here, right now, with faculties God has gifted us with to know Him, to enjoy Him?

 

We want to know him in some abstract, spiritual way, when He is cooling us with a breeze and warming us with a sun ray. We look for God in miracles, in some out of this world (supernatural) phenomenon and we miss Him in so many, many ways every single day, every single moment. The question is not where is God, but where are we?

 

Florin Paladie

[LINK: 

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Independently confirm if L.Graham (R, S.C.) has a brain...

Graham: "Independent" Authority Should Have Confirmed Osama's Death

from MoJo Blogs and Articles | Mother Jones

 by Suzy Khimm

Having already called on the White House to release photos of Osama bin Laden’s body, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) now says that independent experts should have been brought into verify bin Laden's identity before the body was buried at sea. 

"I think it would have been smart to have an independent group, forensic scientists, maybe from Scotland Yard or some other organization," said Graham. The South Carolina Republican softened his earlier criticism of the White House being overly sensitive to Islamic traditions in expediting bin Laden's burial—but said Obama shouldn't have rushed the proceedings. "Religious sensitivity is smart... but [we could have held] onto body for period of time to allow for indispensable analysis to help us make the case," he told reporters.

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Oh my goodness

"Oh my goodness, that's a great question. Um, gosh, that's a great question, I have to think about it, OK? Because there are many."

-- Sarah Palin, when asked at the White House Correspondent's Dinner who she thought was the most influential journalist today

The question, by the way, was asked of several of the attendees and each of them -- even Bill Hader from Saturday Night Live -- had no trouble coming up with journalists both well known and obscure.

[LINK: from Deus Ex Malcontent by Chez ]

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Noble occupation of beekeeping

2011, oil on panel, 19 x 19 cm, contact for availability

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The Libraries Didn't Burn

The Libraries Didn't Burn
by Elaine Equi

despite books kindled in electronic flames.

The locket of bookish love
still opens and shuts.

But its words have migrated
to a luminous elsewhere.

Neither completely oral nor written —
a somewhere in between.

Then will oak, willow,
birch, and olive poets return
to their digital tribes —

trees wander back to the forest?

[LINK: Poets.org...The Libraries Didn't Burn ]

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Untitled

Arizona Governor Vetoes HB 2230 During  Meeting with Sodhi Family

SALDEF Commends Sodhi Family, Local Community, and Arizona Governor May 2, 2011: During a meeting with the family of Balbir Singh Sodhi, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed HB 2230 on Friday, April 29, 2011. The family, who had requested the meeting with the Governor, is overjoyed that the plaque listing the name of Mr. Sodhi will not be removed from the state’s 9/11 memorial. The memorial commemorates Mr. Sodhi’s death on September 15, 2001, as the first individual to be murdered as a result of post-9/11 backlash.

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Our collective Ken and Barbie dolls

"This, apparently, is what it takes to get the media's undivided attention: the marriage between two people who are politically powerless, and who spend their waking lives as designated fetish objects for the United Kingdom's interested citizenry, for Anglophiles the world over, and for the celebrity-fixated media. Our collective Ken and Barbie dolls."

-- Matt Zoller Seitz in a brilliantly dead-on piece currently posted at Salon

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The simple history that neo-cons and tea partiers so easily forget.

We must remember that Marie let slip, "Let them eat cake" and their response was "off with their heads"

How wonderfully ironic that in this age of middle class suppression, undermining union and labor rights, imposing draconian laws governing the rights and health of women and general cutting our the tightly strained safety net the wanna be power brokers have forgotten one simple historical fact.

When the populace becomes oppressed enough, when they become hungry enough or even insulted enough that there will be out breaks of civil disobedience.

I suggest that the first job of government is to keep the majority of people mollified.  Make food, really healthy food, easy to get.  Make housing affordable.  Allow families to comfortably meet the needs of their children.  Above all we want a sense of dignity, national dignity.

Just a reminder, the revolution will not be televised, the revolution will be tweeted, blogged and you-tubed in real time, right now.

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Laughter is the best medicine?

HOSPITAL CHART BLOOPERS (Actual writings from hospital charts)

The patient refused autopsy.

Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared.

The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

She is numb from her toes down.

While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

The skin was moist and dry.

Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

Patient was alert and unresponsive.

Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid. 

I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.

Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.

The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

Skin: somewhat pale but present.

The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.

Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

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The Thought Police

The Thought Police are here.  They've come

To put you under cardiac arrest.

And as they drag you through the door

They tell you that you've failed the test.

                -- Buggles, "Living in the Plastic Age"

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The Thought Polic

The Thought Police are here.  They've come

To put you under cardiac arrest.

And as they drag you through the door

They tell you that you've failed the test.

                -- Buggles, "Living in the Plastic Age"

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Why the Facts Don't Matter in Politics

Why the Facts Don't Matter in Politics

Why the Facts Don't Matter in Politics:

by Jonah Lehrer

If a piece of information doesn’t follow Republican talking points - and Clinton’s deficit reduction didn’t fit the “tax and spend liberal” stereotype - then the information is conveniently ignored. “Voters think that they’re thinking,” Bartels says, “but what they’re really doing is inventing facts or ignoring facts so that they can rationalize decisions they’ve already made.” Once we identify with a political party, the world is edited so that it fits with our ideology.

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Moving on...

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...neutering American men...

"We need you to come in and lock shields, and strengthen up the men who are going to the fight for you. To let these other women know on the other side -- these planned Parenthood women, the Code Pink women, and all of these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness -- to let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient. That’s what we need you to do." 

-- Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida, addressing the members of Women Impacting Nation

[ LINK: Hat-tip to Deus Ex Malcontent ]

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Cognito ergo ...

Cognito ergo porcus ( I think therefore I Ham )

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R.I.P. Phoebe Snow

Phoebe Snow, Bluesy Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 60

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 26, 2011

Phoebe Snow, a bluesy singer, guitarist and songwriter whose “Poetry Man” was a defining hit of the 1970s but who then largely dropped out of the spotlight to care for her disabled daughter, died Tuesday. She was 60.

Ms. Snow, who was nominated for best new artist at the 1975 Grammy Awards, died in Edison, N.J., from complications of a brain hemorrhage she had in January 2010, said Rick Miramontez, her longtime friend and public relations representative.

Ms. Snow’s manager, Sue Cameron, said the singer endured bouts of blood clots, pneumonia and congestive heart failure since her stroke.

Known as a folk guitarist who made forays into jazz and blues, Ms. Snow put her stamp on soul classics like “Shakey Ground,” “Love Makes a Woman” and “Mercy, Mercy Mercy” on over a half dozen albums.

Not long after Ms. Snow’s “Poetry Man” reached the Top 5 on the pop singles chart in 1975, her daughter, Valerie Rose, was born with severe brain damage, and Ms. Snow decided to care for her at home rather than place her in an institution.

[LINK: NYT:Phoebe Snow, Bluesy Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 60 ]

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Worrying is like...

[ LINK: ReflectionOf.Me - of you and of everything that surrounds us... ]

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Meet the right charlatan?

Meet the Religious Right Charlatan Who Teaches Tea Party America The Totally Pretend History They Want to Hear

David Barton is a Republican Party activist and a fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history.

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The "Donald" or How I came to love the Republican Party

Donald Trump is the best thing to happen to the Republican Party since Sarah Palin.

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Astroturf

Astroturf refers to apparently grassroots-based citizen groups or coalitions that are primarily conceived, created and/or funded by corporations, industry trade associations, political interests or public relations firms.

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David Koch - Evidence Of Direct Tea Party Link

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The Billionaire's Tea Party (In the heart of Kentucky)

http://www.billionairesteaparty.com/watch-film-for-free/

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"Schneier's Law"

[T]he Dunning-Kruger effect, named after the authors of this paper: "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments."

Abstract: People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.

[LINK: "Schneier's Law" ]

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Good read: The Things To Do by Flemming Funch

The things to do are: the things that need doing: that you see need to be done, and that no one else seems to see need to be done. Then you will conceive your own way of doing that which needs to be done -- that no one else has told you to do or how to do it. This will bring out the real you that often gets buried inside a character that has acquired a superficial array of behaviors induced or imposed by others on the individual. --Buckminster Fuller

[ LINK: The Things To Do by Flemming Funch ]

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Elton & Leon

[LINK: Tribeca Film Festival - The Union ]

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He's the tax man, er, uh ... collector.

PAKISTAN'S TRANSGENDER TRIBE OF TAX COLLECTORS

From CNN:

Miss your tax deadline in the United States this weekend, and you might get a nasty letter at your door. In Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, you might get Riffee and the gang. They are "transgender" tax collectors -- whose weapons include flamboyancy, surprise -- and a little lipstick.

In a move that speaks volumes about the lengths to which Pakistan is going to tackle tax evasion, Karachi officials are using Riffee - who like many people in South Asia works under a single name - and her team as enforcers with a difference. They are sent to the businesses or houses of debtors. The aim -- in this very conservative Muslim society -- to embarrass tax debtors into paying up.

Riffee -- like her tax-collector friends Sana and Kohan -- is physically a man, but prefers to be called and dress as a woman. Their job is quite simple: each morning they turn up to work and get a list of missed payments. One by one, they make house-calls, causing trouble at each debtor's home or office, trying to get them to pay up. It's not clear how effective this tactic is, but officials insist they would not do it if it did not work.

"Their appearance causes great embarrassment amongst the people," said Sajid Hussein Bhatti, the tax superintendent who gives Riffee her orders every morning.

More here.

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A fitting tribute: A retrospective of Captain Beefheart by Greil Marcus

“GOD, PLEASE FUCK MY MIND FOR GOOD!” Captain Beefheart shouted at the end of Doc at the Radar Station, his second-to-last album. It was 1980, and it was a dare to whatever version of God might be present to receive it: his audience, maybe; music itself. Or it was a dare to time—the fifteen years since he’d made his first record, or the thirty years to come. Can you shut me up? Can you scramble my rhythm and my words until they’re a labyrinth I’ll never escape? I’ll do it first!  [Much more... ]

[LINK: A retrospective of Captain Beefheart by Greil Marcus ]

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Says it all...

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D'ohvolution

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The Law of Mother Earth

The Law of Mother Earth: Behind Bolivia's Historic Bill
Nick Buxton, YES! Magazine: "The 'Mother Earth' law under debate in Bolivia's legislature will almost certainly be approved, as it has already been agreed to by the majority governing party, Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS). The law draws deeply on indigenous concepts that view nature as a sacred home, the Pachamama (Mother Earth) on which we intimately depend. As the law states, 'Mother Earth is a living dynamic system made up of the undivided community of all living beings, who are all interconnected, interdependent and complementary, sharing a common destiny.' The law would give nature legal rights, specifically the rights to life and regeneration, biodiversity, water, clean air, balance, and restoration." 
Read the Article 

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Trig Trutherism

Trig Trutherism, the surprisingly resilient conspiracy theory that Sarah Palin is not actually the mother of 3-year-old Trig Palin, is experiencing a boomlet thanks to a new academic paper that endorses the concept. Long pursued by the blogger Andrew Sullivan and a significant segment of the Palin-hating left, Trig Trutherism holds that Trig's real mother is either Bristol Palin or some third party, and that Sarah Palin herself faked the pregnancy to avoid embarrassment for her daughter or for political gain or some combination of reasons.

[LINK: More at 

Trig Trutherism: The definitive debunker ]

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Stupid is as stupid does...

"Officers heard a gunshot, approached the vehicle, asked Mr. Jones if he was OK. He was, and they also observed he had a gun in his hand."

-- Lt. Nick Loussia of the Southfield, Michigan Police Department describing the moments after Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones almost shot his foot off with his own .40 caliber handgun

[LINK:]

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What'r'ya'doin? Huh? Huh, lemme see? Lemme see?

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Back 25 years to the Future

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Michigan police downloading drivers' phone data without warrants?

Michigan police downloading drivers' phone data without warrants?

For a few years now, the Michigan State Police has been using portable devices that allow them to secretly extract personal information from cell phones of drivers who have been pulled over.

That in itself wouldn't be such a shocking revelation if the devices have been used only on cell phones of people suspected of a crime, but according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the police has used the devices to access data of people who were simply pulled over for minor infractions.

[ More... ]

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Keep on pushing!

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Stand in the shadow...

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What A Won'erful World This Would Be ... (Apologies to Sam Cooke)

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Doing nothing is a monk’s core business

Doing nothing 

A Buddhist phones the monastery and asks the monk “Can you come to do a blessing for my new house?”

The monk replies “Sorry, I’m busy.”

“What are you doing? Can I help?”

“I’m doing nothing”, replied the monk, “Doing nothing is a monk’s core business and you can’t help me with that.”

So the next day the Buddhist phones again, “Can you please come to my house for a blessing?”
“Sorry,” said the monk, “I’m busy.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m doing nothing,” replied the monk.

“But that was what you were doing yesterday!”, said the Buddhist.

“Correct”, replied the monk, “I’m not finished yet!"

Nothing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Lovingly borrowed from Rob Nelson ]

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Our Phony Budget Battles Are All Smoke and Mirrors | | AlterNet

Our Phony Budget Battles Are All Smoke and Mirrors
Both parties in Washington have supported and sustained massive ongoing deficits propping up a crippled, state-dependent capitalism.

Weeks of highly publicized debates - some in Congress, more in the mass media - brought Republicans and Democrats to a budget deal. To maximize public attention, they threatened a possible government shutdown. Both parties said that large government deficits and accumulated debt were "serious problems." They agreed that solving them required only spending cuts, not revenue increases. In unison, they repeated, "we" must "learn to live within our means."

In fact, both sides never actually engaged the deficit and the debt. They limited themselves to purely cosmetic, symbol-laden cuts (Republicans) and refusals to cut (Democrats). Aiming at the 2012 election, both parties used the deficit and budget debates purely to impress their voters.

Basic numbers tell the true story. The current (Fiscal Year 2011) budget spends about $3.5 trillion while receiving $2.0 trillion in tax revenues. The difference of $1.5 trillion (the equivalent of $1,500 billion) is this year's deficit. The US Treasury must borrow that from whoever will lend to the US government. After much hot air, Republicans and Democrats reached a "historic compromise," namely a spending cut of $38 billion. That will reduce this year's deficit from $1,500 billion to $1,462 billion, an economically insignificant sum. The sound and fury of Washington's debates signified nothing was to be done about the actual deficit.

[LINK: Our Phony Budget Battles Are All Smoke and Mirrors ]

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Harvesting our amygdalas? Or trying to make the world a better place?

The world has changed though, hasn't it? We have entered the Matrix, but it's not our body heat they want. They want the preference model encoded in our amygdala and a list of all the people that might influence that model tomorrow.

Harvesting our amygdalas? Or trying to make the world a better place?

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Here is why health care costs are so high.

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A tribute to Allen "Chris" Christensen

A tribute to Allen "Chris" Christensen

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Contributing to the high cost of health care...

Doctors Don't Treat Themselves With the Treatments They Recommend

by Daniel Fromson

A survey published in the Archives of Internal Medicine offers a surprising finding: It turns out that the treatments doctors would pick for themselves are not always the treatments they would recommend to patients. Imagining themselves as patients, doctors often select treatments that carry a higher risk of death but fewer unpleasant side effects. Here's more on the new study, from Reuters:

"I don't think any patient would expect that. If they found out, they would raise a lot of questions," said Peter Ubel, at Duke University, who led the research.

"It has nothing to do with moral. It has everything to do with human nature. The doctors don't even know they are behaving this way."

In the survey, two sets of questions were sent to primary care physicians around the United States. One set asked about different types of hypothetical colon cancer surgery and another about a treatment for bird flu.

The doctors received either a survey that asked them to assume they were the patient, or one that asked them about their advice for patients.

Of 242 physicians who answered the colon cancer questionnaire, 38 percent went with the survey that carried a higher risk of death but fewer side effects for themselves. By contrast, only a quarter said they would recommend that treatment to their patients.

Read the full story at Reuters.

[Evidently doctors don't sue themselves for malpractice - or else they would insist on enduring all of the rule-out studies they order just to CYA (cover YOUR ass))

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Obesity, Disparities in Care Help Drive U.S. Stillbirths: Studies

27,000 American women still experience this often preventable outcome each year, experts say

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- While the rate of stillbirths in the United States has dropped over the past few decades, this tragic outcome is still a reality for far too many couples, experts say.

As part of a series of studies published online April 14 in The Lancet, researchers report that a leading cause of stillbirth in the United States may be obesity, which can raise the risk for fetal loss.

Obese women are more likely to have diabetes and hypertension, and "these are two of the major causes of stillbirth," noted the lead author of one paper, Dr. Robert L. Goldenberg, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. "But for reasons that are not clear, above diabetes, above hypertension, obese women are still more likely to have a stillbirth [than thinner women]."

[LINK: Obesity, Disparities in Care Help Drive U.S. Stillbirths: Studies ]

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But they don't pay American taxes?!?!

GE to Invest $1.2 Billion in Indonesia

General Electric announced that it will invest $1.2 billion in Indonesia to expand its business operations outside the island of Java. GE said the investment will go toward developing energy, infrastructure, health and transport on the island of Kalimantan.

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the dumbest form of socialism ever

  Prof. Lawrence Lessig and others have anguished over the fact that we have yet to correct this system, calling it, "the dumbest form of socialism ever produced by man: where we socialize the risk, but privatize the benefit."

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The Power Of Words

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"16 Corporations or We the People?"

I did not cause the recession!!!

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The Coming Age of Corporate Paternalism

3:11 PM Monday April 11, 2011 
by John T. Landry  | Comments (2)

In HBR and elsewhere, a number of authors have wrung their hands about the public legitimacy of business. To steal from Churchill's definition of democracy, business has become the least popular American institution, except for all the others.

We can best see where influence really lies with President Obama's new council on jobs and competitiveness. Its responsibility is the public imperative of our time, to promote employment in the aftermath of the Great Recession. How does this Democratic president expect the council to do this? By "investing in American businesses to encourage hiring, to educate and train our workers to compete globally."

[ :LINK: The Coming Age of Corporate Paternalism ]

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Well kept secret... the ultimate vacation get-away...

Lotus of the Month Club

[courtesy of Frank :: listics.com ]

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Who has your back?!?

When you use the Internet, you entrust your online conversations, thoughts, experiences, locations, photos, and more to companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook. But what happens when the government asks these companies to hand over your private information?  Please join me in urging Internet companies to stand up for their users when the government comes knocking. https://whohasyourback.eff.org

Thanks

- Bill

-----------------------------

-----------------------------

William Meloney VII

Voice: 270-215-4275

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Standard Politician vs. Standard Voter

Standard Politician vs. Standard Voter

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Taking molecular biology to a new level...

Adventures in Extreme Science

From Crick and Watson through J. Craig Venter, we had all our eggs in one basket — molecular biology, gene mapping, whatever you want to call it. It failed. And now we're counting on this guy.

By Tom Junod

Eric Schadt

Douglas Adesko

Published in our April issue, on sale soon

There may be another scientist in the world as smart as Eric Schadt. After all, scientists are a pretty smart lot, even though you'd be surprised at how few want to change the world, and how many of them have the trudging souls of brilliant, dutiful clerks. There may even be another scientist in the world as popular, as in demand as Eric Schadt, even though Eric works hard at everything he does, including his popularity, and is engaged, at any given time, in at least ten collaborations with other top scientists, not to mention the production — just last year — of a profligate thirty-five scientific papers, not to mention the delivery, year in and year out, of about forty talks and presentations after receiving invitations to deliver two or three hundred. (You'd also be surprised by how social a lot of scientists are, and how many parties they go to.) But if you're looking for a scientist whose great popularity rests in tirelessly writing papers and delivering speeches whose implicit and sometimes explicit message to the most eminent minds in his field is that they're wrong, that they've failed, and that the best way for them to stop wasting their lives is to follow him in a scientific revolution that he admits might not even work: Well, then you'd probably have to narrow your search a little bit. It takes a pretty smart guy to tell the smartest people in the world that all their success, all their hard-won knowledge has led them to a dead end ... that the approach they've taken has been a little, um, simplistic. It takes Eric Schadt to say that — and then to make the damned sale.

[ LINK: Adventures in Extreme Science ]

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R.I.P. Mr. Gil Robbins

Gil Robbins, Folk Singer With the Highwaymen, Dies at 80

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Published: April 9, 2011

Gil Robbins, a singer, guitarist and songwriter with the folk group the Highwaymen and a fixture on the folk-music scene, died on Tuesday at his home in Esteban Cantú, Mexico. He was 80.

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China Detains Church Members Over Public Praying

By ANDREW JACOBS

Published: April 10, 2011

BEIJING — The police detained dozens of members of an underground Protestant church on Sunday morning, after the congregation tried to pray in a public plaza in the north of the capital.

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A parishioner was ordered into a van by a plainclothes police officer in Beijing on Sunday.

The police corralled scores of parishioners into buses and blocked church leaders from leaving their homes. Among those detained was a photographer from The New York Times, who was later released.

Last week the church, Shouwang, was evicted from the space it had been renting after the government pressured the landlord not to renew the lease. The congregation, one of the largest so-called house churches in China, has been seeking legal recognition from the authorities since 2006 without success.

[ LINK: China Detains Church Members Over Public Praying ]

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