Category: Interesting Reads

I might be wrong on the air travel issue

I’m not. Let me just state that up front. And apologies again about the language below – I try to keep the site clean, but this current issue just cranks my frustration levels too high for me to stay clean.
There is a chance, though, that I’m wrong on the air travel issue. I’ve credited the whole ass-raping that travellers are being subjected to now to a government making decisions based on idiots running things. The fine folks at StecoNews have a different view – conspiracy. Now normally I pass on any conspiracy theorists ravings, but since I hold fast to my almost certainly untrue conspiracy view (which if you’ve been with me long you’ve seen me post on before) of the lies we were fed to justify the illegal war in Iraq, I’m going to post some notes from other conspiracy nutjobs out there. That said, here’s a few highlights from the StecoNews post title “London Terror Alert? A Skeptical Round-up” for you to ruminate on.

Several points make the whole affair seem unlikely:

  1. The Republicans are joyfully using it for political gain. Via (Phila Daily News)
  2. Officials have known about the threat of liquid explosives for years and done nothing. Via (NYTimes)
  3. Bush has been trying to cut funds for bomb detection at us airports Via (ABC News)

That’s half the list. You’ll have to check StecoNews for the rest.  I do want to point out that #2 is true, but indicative of nothing.  As I’ve mentioned before, the terrorist attacks have done nothing to increase our risk during travel, but only heightened our awareness.  The natural government reaction is to make a meaningless gesture which appears to be a positive security move, and suddenly acting on the threat of liquid explosives is just that.
[tags]Air travel restrictions a political conspiracy?, More air travel ranting, London terrorist attacks a ruse[/tags]

The wisdom of charlatans

Bravo to Christopher Wanjek at LiveScience.com for taking the time to write about just how much is wrong in Kevin Trudeau’s book More Natural Cures Revealed (no link provided to avoid endorsing this hackery).

Kevin Trudeau wants to save your life, and the Nazis at the FDA and FTC will stop at nothing to bring him down. They have made it clear to him that their intent is to imprison him, confiscate his latest book, and burn it.

So begins Trudeau’s self-published “More Natural Cures Revealed,” a fascinating cross between a health book, fictitious novel, and a paranoid, hate-filled rant along the lines of “Mein Kampf.”

Normally I wouldn’t highlight such lunacy for risk of advertising it. And at first glance, one would think that this book could only attract a fringe audience, like those websites advocating to drink your own urine. But “More Natural Cures” is a follow-up to the self-published “Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About,” which sold several million copies and reached the New York Times best-seller list.

Continue reading “The wisdom of charlatans”

Colon cleansing – sounds good for you but isn’t really

OK, so it doesn’t sound good, but to a lot of people, it sounds like colon cleanings are a good natural therapy cure for what ails you. As Christopher Wanjek covers in this LiveScience.com article, just because it sounds like it should be good for you doesn’t mean it is good for you. In fact, it can be very bad for you.

Unlike many natural therapies, colon cleansing makes a lot of sense. It is expensive, utterly useless and potentially harmful, but it’s all even more logical if one subscribes to the body-as-a-sewer-system paradigm.

Now, I’ll be talking about feces, so this column is not for the squeamish or those eating lunch.

. . .

Laxatives and enemas, which promote bowel movements, have been around for at least 4,000 years and were famously practiced by the ancient Egyptians. That shouldn’t be an endorsement; the ancient Egyptians also buried servants alive to attend to the mummified kings in the afterlife. Colon cleansing refers to a more invasive procedure of water and hoses stuck you-know-where. It’s not clear when this practice started.

All this is part of Mr. Wanjek’s Bad Medicine column. The article covers the history and “logic” of this practive, some of the whys of the rebirth of the practice, and why it’s wrong for you.  If you’d like something less (WARNING: scientific term ahead) icky to read that will educate you, here are some other recent Bad Medicine columns:

[tags]Bed Medicine, Colon cleansing, LiveScience.com[/tags]

Happy Birthday, Fidel Castro

I almost made it through the day without wishing Mr. Castro a happy birthday (because, like, you know he totally reads my web site and is waiting for me to send well-wishes, and all). So, here’s a bit from The History Channel on our favorite communist dictator whofidel_castro_mug_3.jpg lives only miles from the US.

1926 Fidel Castro born

Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro is born in the Oriente province of eastern Cuba. The son of a Spanish immigrant who had made a fortune building rail systems to transport sugar cane, Fidel attended Roman Catholic boarding schools in Santiago de Cuba. He became involved in revolutionary politics while he was a student and in 1947 took part in an abortive attempt by Dominican exiles and Cubans to overthrow Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. In the next year, he took part in urban riots in Bogotá, Colombia. The most outstanding feature of his politics during the period was his anti-American beliefs; he was not yet an overt Marxist.

The humorous part of Castro’s history?  In 1953, while trying to overthrow the current Cuban government with a band of rebels, roughly half of his troops were captured or killed.  Arrested for this, Castro argued he shouldn’t be jailed:

Castro was himself arrested and put on trial for conspiring to overthrow the Cuban government. During his trial, he argued that he and his rebels were fighting to restore democracy to Cuba, but he was nonetheless found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

So, Fidel, how’s that whole democratizing your nation going?

That said, happy birthday Fidel Castro.  We hope you get well from your recent surgery and all really soon.  And could you like, please stop being a communist dictator and all?

[tags]Happy Birthday, Fidel Castro, Cuban government[/tags]

Cool tools – easy sandcastles

(via Cool Tools)
Since we covered the online how-to build sandcastles a few days ago, it seemed only appropriate to point out this book on building sandcastles recently highlighted at the Cool Tools web site.

sandcastles-book.jpgBook Description

A crenellated turret here, a winding, arched staircase there, maybe even a giant turtle-fairy tale ideas are at the heart of every sandcastle. Summer after summer, children and adults alike make valiant efforts to infuse their sandy structures with such inspiration, but the results are generally disappointing.

With Sandcastles Made Simple, Lucinda “sandy feet” Wierenga, a renowned sand sculptor, puts a permanent end to less-than-perfect beach creations. She provides the ultimate step-by-step guide to building impressive sandcastles, and shows that with a few simple tools and a basic understanding of sand, building dream castles can be easy.

[tags]Sandcastles[/tags]

Surprise science headline of the century?

Obese people more likely to pass out in heat.

ATLANTA (AP) — Obese people face a higher risk of passing out — or worse — during heat waves, some health experts say.

Layers of fat make it extra difficult for a body to dissipate heat, or to move to a cool location. Add in diabetic dehydration and other conditions common in the obese, and it’s a recipe for trouble.

“ER physicians will tell you that they (obese people) are the ones collapsing,” said Thomas Adams, a Michigan State University physiologist.

Continue reading “Surprise science headline of the century?”

How to build a sandcastle

(via LifeHacker)
Another item to throw on the list of things I need to do with my kids – Build a sandcastle.  Of course, I think this might have been handier when we were living in Myrtle Beach, but since I couldn’t find a good job there, that didn’t last long.

Why spend money on clay when you can use beach sand for free? Indulge your artistic side and create medieval fantasies by building your very own sand castle.

  1. Draw a rough sketch of the castle you’d like to build.
  2. Choose a square site near the water, but not so close that waves will destroy your castle as the tide comes up. Make sure the square is large enough for your castle plans.
  3. Dig a hole down to the water table, where the sand is dark and moist, or bring up large buckets of water from the ocean or lake.

And the list goes on.  After the ehow guide is a section with tips from ehow readers.

[tags]How to build a sandcastle[/tags]

Even in the spider world, men are wrong

LiveScience.com has this article on the mating habits of a certain spider species (Physocylus globosus, if you must know).  “Now why in the world would this make you say men are wrong, Randy?” you might be thinking.  Well, because much like everything else we males do, the females instruct the males in how they are mating incorrectly.  And all you voyeuristic perverts can even watch the video and hear the audio of these 2 little critters getting it on.

While mating, female Physocylus globosus spiders emit high-frequency squeaks to let males know what they should be doing, a new study finds.

Continue reading “Even in the spider world, men are wrong”

Today in History – Jesse Owens puts hole in Hitler’s theories of superior race

Stupid old Hitler thought he had the formula for the perfect race.  He considered skin color to be one of the important factors in building the perfect race.  Then came the 1936 Olympics, where Jesse Owens went on to win or be on the team that won 4 gold medals, the 4th coming on this date in 1936.  This showed Hitler that either he was wrong about skin color being an important part of the perfect race, or that he’d selected the wrong skin color.

In 1931, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1936 Summer Olympics to Berlin. The choice was meant to signal Germany’s return to the world community after defeat in World War I. Two years later, however, Adolf Hitler came to power. He transformed the democratic German government into a one-party dictatorship, purged political opponents and suspected dissidents, instituted anti-Semitic policies, and began the remilitarization of Germany.

Hitler initially held the Olympics in low regard because of their internationalism but became an avid supporter after Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels convinced him of their propaganda value.

Continue reading “Today in History – Jesse Owens puts hole in Hitler’s theories of superior race”

What’s wrong with this picture?

As you’ve probably gathered from some of my recent posts, I tend to aimlessly wander around the intarwebbe from time to time. In those ramblings, I usually find nothing of note. Occasionally, however, I find stuff that I really think is worth passing on. The latest such finding is the site National Parks Traveler, which discusses various goings-on in America’s national parks. After reading a few days worth of posts there, I look to the sidebar and see what categories I have to look in on the site. Out of curiosity, I decide to see what the Missteps in the Park category holds. Among the lost tourist details is this little helpful hint on how NOT to behave in a national park.

bisonkids_copy.jpgSo, what’s at play here? Are we talking communing up close with nature, or a building case of child neglect?

I’d opt for the latter. I mean, really, where are the parents and what are they thinking? Do they have a death wish for their kids? Any bets that if the kids wound up being gored, which they didn’t, that the parents would sue the National Park Service?

Continue reading “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Top 10 ways to destroy the earth

LiveScience.com has a guide for all you future evil genuises who are trying to figure out the best way to destroy the earth. And since I know I have some vil geniuses reading the site, I’ll help you out and get some of the details up here. I can clue you in up front that there is no mention of sharks nor frikkin’ laser beams.

Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.

You’ve seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You’ve heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world.

Fools.

The Earth was built to last. It is a 4,550,000,000-year-old, 5,973,600,000,000,000,000,000-tonne ball of iron. It has taken more devastating asteroid hits in its lifetime than you’ve had hot dinners, and lo, it still orbits merrily.

So my first piece of advice to you, dear would-be Earth-destroyer, is: do not think this will be easy.

Continue reading “Top 10 ways to destroy the earth”

What to pack for college

(via LifeHacker)

In case any of you are leaving for college soon, here is a list of some of the things you need to take that you would otherwise forget or didn’t know you needed (along with links to other lists of stuff you need to take).

7. If you’re a drinker… Girl? No Alcohol. Guy? Bring Alcohol!
If you’re a girl, celebrate. It will probably be 4 years before you pay for alcohol ever again. Guys, we don’t have it so good.

[tags]College packing list[/tags]