Pickpocketing: An Art That's Stealing Away : NPR

Isn't that just the Dickens; Pickpocketing is a lost art
Retrieved by Pat Darnell

The Lost Art of Pickpocketing -- The venerable crime has all but disappeared in the United States. What happened, and should we miss it? | By Joe Keohane | Posted Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 (LINK)

Based on this story written by Joe Keohane -- came a segment from National Public Radio:
Pickpocketing: An Art That's Stealing Away : NPR: "New York, once a pickpocket's paradise, scored 23,000 cases of in 1990 alone. Five years later, the number fell by half, according to writer Joe Keohane, who wrote about the decline for Slate. By about 2000, he says, there were fewer than 5,000 reports of the crime. It's the same story in many major cities across the country."

EXCERPT | " ... Training To Be 'A Pianist'

Part of the reason pickpocketing has declined so dramatically is that no one teaches it anymore. Older pickpockets called "wires" used to train younger ones in the craft.

"Then they would train five, and they would train five, and it would just keep the system going," Keohane says. "In New York, you'd have organized pickpocketing schools." (NPR. March 6, 2011. LINK)

Michael Openshaw, March 16, 2011 wrote:
"Actually, pickpocketing has been outsourced. It’s still an active viable trade in places like Africa. Got hit up by a very professional 3 man team in Uganda. Fortunately, I’m left-handed and they only got my camera on the right side (They filched my passport as well, but threw it back to me since the new ones are difficult to utilize; considerate of them)"

"The loss of the camera was more important for the video I hadn’t offloaded. But one of my older orphan girls took up the challenge, help bribe the cops into doing their job (the pickpockets are regulars), got the camera back, got the guys arrested, only cost about $42 (plus a matching amount for reward to my wonderful savior there). The guys ended up in jail…until they could pay their way out. Were back on the same corner about a week later where my girl saw them; they smiled and waved. All very business-like; paying for education."

Dave Slifka, February 25, 2011 wrote:
"I was in Barcelona last summer where I met several people who were victims of pickpocketry. Few things change your life so quickly for the worse and so needlessly. A life of thievery of any kind is, in my opinion, one of the lowest forms of existence. To wax nostalgically for it is, at best, misguided and, at worst, irresponsible."

Jim Snedeker (Jas500) wrote:
So as long as NPR gets one of its perky hosts to do a light-hearted story celebrating a crime, then that means it's all right, right? NOT! Why not interview a real person who'd had their pocket picked and see how they felt? The woman whose diabetes medication was in her purse? The man who had to suffer through months of paperwork and angst to restore his good credit because of stolen credit cards? Instead, you quoted people getting picked... from a movie! And then you interviewed a professional pick-pocketer, complete with audience laughter. Nice choices, NPR.
(Tue Mar 08 2011)

*

*

* 

MooPig Graphiques and ReWildings :: Today in Tripoli --

THURSDAY'S Just When it seemed not another cliche could be Uttered ... Part TWO

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him...


The waitress asks them for their orders.


The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to the ostrich, "What's yours?"
"I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order. "That will be $9.40 please." The man reaches into his pocket and, pulls out the exact change for payment.


The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke."
The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?" Asks the waitress.

"No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and a salad," says the man.

"Same," says the ostrich.


Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62."

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and Places it on the table.


The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me, Sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?"

"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and Found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered Me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money Would always be there."


"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a Million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want For as long as you live!"


"That's right..Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact Money is always there," says the man.


The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"

The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick with a big butt and long legs who agrees with everything I say.."

Chilean Miners Rescued, But Were They Saved? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Camp HOPE
Retrieved by Pat Darnell

On February 13 this year, I watched this segment of the TV show "60 Minutes." Here is an excerpt; if you want to watch the show click on the LINK ...

Chilean Miners Rescued, But Were They Saved? - 60 Minutes - CBS News: "(CBS) It attracted more than a billion viewers worldwide - one of the most watched television events ever: people were mesmerized as the 33 Chilean miners stepped from darkness into light. It might have been the greatest rescue operation since Noah's Ark. And the miners? They were lionized, living proof that in this software century courage and endurance have not disappeared." (LINK)

EXCERPT  |  " ... Even under these conditions, the men maintained remarkable discipline. They voted on everything, and they stuck to a daily schedule - a general meeting, followed by a prayer service. Then, they had what they called dinner.

Franklin, who gained unprecedented access to the miners, has written a book called "33 Men." He says the men always divided their food evenly even when they were down to one teaspoon of tuna every 48 hours.

But by day 16, Franklin says the miners were all starving and realized they would have to eat the first man who died.

"They told me that they had a pot and a saw ready," Franklin explained.

"Do you think that the potential candidates knew who they were?" Simon asked.

"One of the candidates told me that the guys had been joking, 'Hey, if you die in your sleep, you know, you're gonna be breakfast, lunch and dinner.' So those last few nights he said he couldn't sleep. He was too afraid that if he died that his companions would end up eating him," Franklin said.

Mario Sepulveda, who emerged as the leader of the group early on, says he thought it was only a matter of time.

"How long do you think it would have been before you had to do it?" Simon asked.

"I would say five or ten days. I don't know. But I was gonna get out of there no matter what. Food, or no food, I was gonna get out of there. How? I had to think about which miner was going to collapse first and then I started thinking about how I was going to eat him, I promise you, I wasn't embarrassed, I wasn't scared," Sepulveda said. (60 minutes. Feb 13, 2011. LINK) ... "

MooPig FWD Email :: Japanese Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Disaster

"Radiation interferes with your body’s Chemistry..." (Dr Al Sears, MD)

One mSv is the average accumulated background radiation for 1 year
Retrieved from email for Public Service by Pat Darnell

ARTICLE BY: Dr Al Sears, MD
Al Sears, MD
11903 Southern Blvd., Ste. 208
Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411
EXCERPT  |  " ... Radiation interferes with your body’s chemistry. Your cellular activity is disrupted by radioactivity of any particles you may absorb. It breaks chemical bonds between atoms and molecules that make up your DNA, tissues and organs.

Too much radiation makes it so that your body either can’t repair DNA damage, or your DNA makes mistakes during repair. This is when you get radiation-induced cancer.

Radiation is now measured in sieverts. The standard measure is the milisievert (mSv). One mSv is the average accumulated background radiation dose to an individual for 1 year, not including radon, in the United States.

They still use that benchmark even though most Americans get around 3 mSv a year of background radiation.

A chest x-ray would give you about 0.06 mSv. A typical CT scan exposes you to about 2 mSv.

A worker at a nuclear plant receives 1.6 mSv per year.

A dose of 100 mSv a year is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer is evident.

A single dose of 1,000 mSv causes radiation sickness such as nausea and decreased white blood cell count, but not death.. For example, 5,000 mSv at once will kill about half the people within a month.

In Japan, ... radiation levels near damaged nuclear plant on Japan’s northeast coast reached as high as 400 mSv an hour.

In Tokyo, more than 100 miles away from the reactor, people will have their radiation exposure triple for the year to 4 mSv. This is not a deadly dose of radiation… but there is no threshold.

Any exposure above zero is assumed to give you a greater risk for radiation-induced cancer.

Recognize the symptoms of radiation poisoning:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Bloody nose or mouth
• Bruising
• Dehydration
• Diarrhea
• Fainting
• Hair loss
• Ulcers, swelling or redness
• Weakness

Emergency care professionals will then give you one or more of these treatments:

• Potassium iodide. Your thyroid is where all the iodine in your body goes. If there’s radioactive iodine in the air, your thyroid will absorb it like any other iodine, and keep it there.

Potassium iodide is non-radioactive iodine, and taking it will fill your thyroid so it doesn’t absorb any radioactive iodine. The standard dose is a 130mg pill. Your body will then eliminate radioactive iodine through your urine. This prevents about 99% of damage you might otherwise get.

• Prussian blue. This type of dye binds to particles of radioactive cesium, the other element released into the air in Japan. You then eliminate radioactive particles in your stool. What doctors are trying to do with this treatment is speed up the elimination of the radioactive particles so they are not absorbed into your cells.

• Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA). This is probably not needed for an event like the one in Japan, but it would have been necessary after Chernobyl. DTPA binds to metals, including plutonium, americium and curium. You also eliminate this through your urine, speeding up the process and reducing the amount of radiation absorbed.

• GCSF – If your bone marrow has been affected and you may have trouble producing white blood cells, doctors may give you protein called granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. This helps your body make white blood cells which counter sickness and infection. The names of the drugs are Neupogen and Neulasta.

Here are four important things to remember if you are ever exposed to significant radiation:

1. Don’t apply ointments to radiation burns – These will hold in radioactive particles. Soap and water are best to remove them. Dress any burn and do not change the dressing frequently.

2. Leave irradiated area – Continued exposure is much more harmful that one-time exposure. Going indoors, or getting away from the irradiated area sounds simple, but it reduces exposure.

3. Take off and discard affected clothing – removing these eliminates about 90 percent of radioactive particles.

4. Radiation sickness is not contagious – once you are away from the radiation and the affected person is decontaminated, it is safe to care for them.

To learn more about Wellness Research and Consulting,

call (866) 792-1035 or visit: http://www.alsearsmd.com

*

*

*

NASA Talk -- How High the Moon?

Super Perigee Moon
The full moon is seen as it rises near the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, March 19, 2011, in Washington. The full moon tonight is called a super perigee moon since it is at its closest to Earth in 2011. The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March 1993.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Page Last Updated: March 20, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

MooPig Gigs Ad's :: Brother Jack and the Pack

Pribek and the Pumps Implement Diplomacy
Retrieved from HERE

First Gig With New Band
Gigs Ad's Posted Mar

Comments:

"We will be busting out the power trio on Monday April 4th at…

The Big Easy Tavern

710 N. Palafox St., Pensacola Florida 32501
(Corner of Palafox and Cervantes below the Days Inn lobby)
(850) 429-0045"

"Oh yeah…and by the way…the name of the band is…'Brother Jack And The Pack.'  (thanks there PT)"

[LINK]

*

*

*

NASA Talk -- How Mars' Envisioned 1970

Imagining Mars
This composite of three artists' renderings from 1975 was only wish fulfillment for an unnamed JPL artist; however, the landscape and the rendered shapes took into account what was known about Mars that year. Compared to Earth, Mars is further away from the light of the sun, very cold and very arid, and had a thin atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide but little nitrogen, an environment distinctly inhospitable to complex, Earth-like, carbon-based life forms.

"Life on Mars" was envisioned as low to the ground, symmetrical and simple. The artist drew silicon-based life forms, probably coached by others, perhaps scientists, who had thought about such possibilities. Peculiar saucer-like shapes stood only slightly above ground level, root-like structures reached outward for growth resources; a bundle of cones faced many directions for heat, light or food. Instead of reality, the images embodied the artist's hope and anticipation of what future Martian exploration would find.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL
Page Last Updated: March 25, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

So, just How is Einstein's Street Credit Holding Up?

Einstein's Theory Fights Off Challengers
Two new studies have put Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to the test like never before, using observations of galaxy clusters to study the properties of gravity on cosmic scales. These results, made using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, show Einstein's theory is still the best game in town. Such studies are crucial for understanding the evolution of the universe, both in the past and the future, and for probing the nature of dark energy, one of the biggest mysteries in science.

This composite image of the Abell 3376 galaxy cluster shows X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the ROSAT telescope in gold, an optical image from the Digitized Sky Survey in red, green and blue, and a radio image from the VLA in blue. The bullet-like appearance of the X-ray data is caused by a merger, as material flows into the galaxy cluster from the right side. The giant radio arcs on the left side of the image may be caused by shock waves generated by this merger.

Chandra observations of galaxy clusters have previously been used to show that dark energy has stifled the growth of these massive structures over the last 5 billion years and to provide independent evidence for the existence of dark energy by offering a different way to measure cosmic distances.

Image Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/A. Vikhlinin; ROSAT), Optical (DSS), Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA/IUCAA/J.Bagchi)
Page Last Updated: March 24, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

Thank You Ben Bernanke! | Uncommon Wisdom Daily

AP | NEW YORK – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (bur-NANG’-kee) was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2009.

Other winners was then-President-elect Barack Obama ... The 2007 winner was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Other previous winners have included Bono, President George W. Bush, and Amazon.com CEO and founder Jeff Bezos (BAY’-zohs.)

Thank You Ben Bernanke! | Uncommon Wisdom Daily: "Ben Bernanke has unleashed the most powerful forces on the planet.
Retrieved from email by Pat Darnell

More powerful than any government. More powerful than any other central bank. More powerful than even the President of the United States.

He has ramped up the printing presses and will now print at least $600 billion of new money — and reinvest the interest the Fed is already receiving on money it printed previously (used to buy bonds) — to buy even more bonds (and print even more money).

All told, the Fed will be printing as much as $100 billion of new fiat money, per month. And that’s just for QEII!

Why do I say just for QEII? Because I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that in the not too distant future — the Fed will find that it must print even more money, and up the ante yet again.

Make no mistake about this: As I told you from the get-go of this great financial crisis, Bernanke’s ultimate agenda is to massively devalue the U.S. dollar to inflate away debts … push up asset prices … and spark a major round of inflation.

Bernanke’s ultimate agenda is to massively devalue the U.S. dollar to inflate away debts.
Bernanke, more than any other central banker, is deathly afraid of a deflationary spiral. He will do anything he deems necessary to avoid it. He has virtually unlimited powers at his disposal."

WHAT is "QEII," you ask? Oh... here you go:

*

*

*

What were those Mayans Up To ?

They were into CYCLES
Retrieved By Pat Darnell





Under the above youTube the comment "GAGU" was posted. Now what the heck does that refer to?

Mayan Menu for December 21, 2012 :: Winter Solstice

Ancient Mayan Food for Thought 
Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  [HERE]


Mayan Calendar Extension  |  [SOURCE]

" ... NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: In our Maya Long Count Calendar, the important dates for 2012 are as follow since Creation Date August 13, 3114 BC: "
2012 --
March Equinox (Mar 20) – 12.19.19.4.2 – 12 Ik 10 Kumk’u
June Solstice (Jun 20) – 12.19.19.8.14 – 13 Ix 17 Sotz’
September Equinox (Sep 22) – 12.19.19.13.8 – 3 Lamat 11 Ch’en
December Solstice (Dec 21) – 12.19.19.17.18 – 2 Etz’nab 1 K’ank’in

*

*

*

Conclusions?

Response to Pribek dot Net [again]

So, you are saying al Queda is a mercenary group: they work for the highest bidder. They are like ready men who ride on buses through the picket lines at factories, when the local has a strike. I get it. Nicely done. Scabs.

But I did not know you cared.

Meanwhile:
Corporate strategists in USA usually write a “Five Year Plan” that comes due fast and they end up hiring mercenaries in the end when the plan does not congeal … or is failing to bear fruit.

China Bureau Chiefs, on the other hand, make “Fifty Year Plans” that you can trace right this very minute back to the 1960′s — a plan that has come due and “is” bearing FRUIT. *[China and kin have billions of population who are treated like immigrants in their own country, is how they accomplish this] But we — including Europe, East Europe, Russia, and Mid-East — haven’t got what it takes to undermine them in any capacity. That is why it feels like a conspiracy… I hate to invoke Nixon, but he was accurate.

How does that relate to al Queda turn about? Well, those clowns make us into fools by their playing dumb. “Can’t anyone in this whole world see the truth?” — I think that is what you are reporting, God love ya’.

However, “turn about” is still “fair play.” Call it Divine Punishment which is what the al Queda’s preaching … it is a perfect ruse — or venue — for turn about, no?

First, one plays like he prays four times a day at the call of some lonesome cowboy crooning from a tower; invoking the great and terrible “unknown.” Second, you corral your women and children, and make them fearful of everything. Third, you steal everything that isn’t tied down. Fourth, you invent an enemy. Fifth, you dump everything you stole on your enemy.

It makes for a lot of dust. Smoke screens for the witless lawmakers, and whiny business people: when the only issue to tackle right now is how to help China start and accomplish its newest fifty year plan.

MooPig Graphiques and ReWildings :: "Heavy Air"

Half A Billion Blog Posts Later, Google To Give Blogger A Revamp

MooPig and Google
Retrieved by Pat Darnell


Half A Billion Blog Posts Later, Google To Give Blogger A Revamp

Google’s blogging service Blogger has been used for over half a billion blog posts (with over half a trillion words in total) to date, writes product manager Chang Kim on the Blogger Buzz blog.

Those blog posts have been read by 400 million readers across the globe, Kim adds. And according to the video below, 75 percent of traffic comes from outside the United States (the service is available in 50 languages).

MooPig's "CEO Golden Bungee Cord"

MooPig TV Reviews :: Undercover Boss on CBS
by Pat Darnell

What a CEO has that most everyone else doesn't have is the Golden Bungee Cord. He or She will bounce back no matter how far the fall. A dismissed CEO is a sure thing. He will show up in another operation as an officer. The CEO is the ultimate fall guy.

CEO's have this: a full year's income saved for when they fall -- and falling is imminent. They know from hind sight that they are entitled because they can "afford" to not work as if they are eminent domain -- the power of the CEO to take private property for his own use with payments going to other members of the boards who hire and fire CEO's.

Undercover Boss is a TV show that attempts to immerse the CEO into his own company at the bottom. It is a tale usually of a Boss being humbled, for a time, by his own workers. Don't worry, Labor is in the toilet, so it won't matter much the outcome. It turns out, the well-paid CEO undeservedly foregos the usual 18 holes to work side by side with personnel who are hindered and saddled with debt, situational dogma, and blighted in some way.

No matter; when CEO goes for the job that is responsible for most outsets of dementia, the reality is that he or she has a golden bungee cord. CEO's have term life, longterm disability insurance, short term catastrophic and bonuses. The CEO can support his way of life indefinitely, and doesn't worry about healthcare. Our Chief Executive Officers will bounce back, not to worry.

MooPigsters know not all CEO's are at the top of their game, but walk-a-day in-my-shoes takes on new meaning when slumming with the home-grown peeps down at the warehouse. Lee Iacocca comes to mind, the guy who was fired from Ford and became CEO at Chrysler.

For all of you who have to clean the public toilets because you are the new kid on the block:
CBS Undercover Boss LINK
"It's a Mess ..."

'Toons in Search of Captions :: "Eclipse !"

Response to FNCMAFDAA, March 25, 2011

Pribek
Friday Night Cage Match/Fondue Party/Evolving Conversation/Dancing About Architecture Vol. 131 - Copyright © 2011 Pribek. Visit the original article at http://pribek.net/2011/03/25/friday-night-cage-matchfondue-partyevolving-conversationdancing-about-ar...

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Budget Cuts

[SOURCE]
CPB Responds to House of Representatives' Proposal to Cut Public Media Funding
For Immediate Release on February 13, 2011
The following statement should be attributed to Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting:

Federal funding for public media is a smart and careful investment that continues to deliver proven benefits to the American people at both a local and national level. It is a successful example of a vital public-private partnership.

We understand the challenges to our economy as a result of increasing budget deficits, but the proposed elimination of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) will not address this challenge in a meaningful way; it represents a disproportionate attack on public media. Further, elimination of CPB would impact millions of Americans who rely on public media for free, quality content that has a mission to educate, inform and inspire. This proposed action would directly result in cuts to the 1,300 public television and radio stations that provide this service; impact thousands of jobs in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout the country already reeling from a faltering economy; and eliminate a valued service - content that strengthens our civil society through children's and educational programming, lifelong learning for all Americans, and quality entertainment.

About CPB

CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 and is steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,300 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services. (HERE)

MooPig Graphiques and ReWildings :: "Give us a Caption... eh?"

Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi made his first public appearance in a week on Tuesday, assuring his country that they will “beat” the international coalition striking his military forces, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested he really may be looking for ways to slip out the back door.
The defiant strongman spoke to a crowd of supporters from a balcony at his Bab Al-Azizya residential compound in a suburb of Tripoli – the target of a cruise missile strike on Sunday night.

[SOURCE]
The speech came after heavy anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies over Tripoli and the sound of loud explosions echoed through the Libyan capital after nightfall on Tuesday. The gunfire appeared to signal a fourth night of U.S. and European air operations over Libya to enforce a U.N.-authorized no-fly zone.

WHoop whoop whoopp :: "Earthquake Warning"

Why do I Keep Hearing "Experts" say This:
by Pat Darnell

As this report concludes, that as of yet, "no firmly reliable" method for predicting earthquakes has been scientifically recognized, it is well worth noting the too many to be ignored anomalous coincidences leading up to catastrophic mega-quakes are breaking out all over the World and should only be ignored at ones peril. In other words, it is always best to be prepared should disaster strike, wherever the warning comes from.

*

*

* 

An appeal for family tranquility and peace and quiet at home

We need a Break!
by Pat Darnell

[SOURCE]  |  The Forgotten Books of Eden, by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr., [1926]
*
*
*
O Lord, deliver my soul from the lawless and wicked man,
From the tongue that is lawless and slanderous, and speaketh lies and deceit.
Manifoldly twisted are the words of the tongue of the wicked man,
Even as among a people a fire that burneth up their beauty.
So he delights to fill houses with a lying tongue,
To cut down the trees of gladness which setteth on fire transgressors,
To involve households in warfare by means of slanderous lips.

May God remove far from the innocent the lips of transgressors by bringing them to want
And may the bones of slanderers be scattered far away from them that fear the Lord!
In flaming fire perish the slanderous tongue far away from the pious!
May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that hateth the unrighteous;
And may the Lord establish the man that followeth peace at home.
The salvation of the Lord be upon Israel His servant for ever;
And let the sinners perish together at the presence of the Lord;
But let the Lord's pious ones inherit the promises of the Lord.
*
*
*

Gen Jones in: Babbling Boomers OUT!! :: "A MooPig Re-Run"

We Baby Boomers have had it... for sure. Charlie joins the ranks of Kenny Rogers, Mel Gibson, Jane Fonda... well you be the judge.

NASA Talk :: "Endeavour on the Pad"

Image Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Page Last Updated: March 11, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk :: "Discovery Returns"

Welcome Home
STS-133 mission crew members, from left, Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, pilot Eric Boe, Commander Steve Lindsey, Alvin Drew and Steve Bowen, pose for a photograph in front of the space shuttle Discovery after landing, Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., completing Discovery's 39th and final flight. Since 1984, Discovery flew 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Page Last Updated: March 10, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk :: "Discovery Returns"

The Journey Home
The space shuttle Discovery is seen from the International Space Station as the two orbital spacecraft accomplish their relative separation on March 7. During a post undocking fly-around, the crew of each vessel photographed the opposing craft.

Image Credit: NASA
Page Last Updated: March 8, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk :: "Discovery Returns"

Discovery Comes Home
With its drag chute unfurled, space shuttle Discovery rolls down Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Landing was at 11:57 a.m. EST, completing the 13-day STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Main gear touchdown was at 11:57:17 a.m., followed by nose gear touchdown at 11:57:28, and wheelstop at 11:58:14 a.m. On board were Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, and Mission Specialists Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, Alvin Drew and Steve Bowen.

Discovery and its six-member crew delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module, packed with supplies and critical spare parts, as well as Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, to the orbiting outpost. STS-133 was Discovery's 39th and final mission. This was the 133rd Space Shuttle Program mission and the 35th shuttle voyage to the space station.

Image Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller
Page Last Updated: March 9, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

Prices at the PUMP :: "Prices continue to rise in the USA"

" ... Prices have skyrocketed before during the Arab oil embargo in 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1979, the two wars with Iraq and when hurricanes ravaged the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and 2008. Yet gas prices eased as each crisis ended, falling as low as $1.80 a gallon in December 2008 in California.
On Saturday, California drivers were paying on average $3.95 a gallon, with prices hitting $3.97 in San Jose and $4 in San Francisco the first major city in the state to reach that figure.
That's about 90 cents more than a year ago. For truckers, the diesel increase is a counterpunch to what have been profitable signs of economic recovery. “We're the first to see signs of a revived economy, and we've been busy lately,” said Mike Riggan, president of TanTara Transportation of Muscatine, which runs 45 flatbed trucks in 45 states. (SOURCE. Posted by Maria Lauritsen On Sunday, March 13th 2011 in Economy) ..."

*

*

*

Geologic Economic Developments

[Rightnetwork. SOURCE]  :: I wrote this before JAPAN Earthquake\Tsunami Disaster --
I didn't know you could buy a Stock Exchange! Imagine my surprise at seeing this headline. For me it was like an earthquake revelation ... and it must be true that I have been hiding under a rock.

Germany buys the NYStock Exchange for what " ... NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse agreed on Tuesday [Feb 15] to a $10 billion all-stock merger, combining two of the world’s biggest stock exchanges into a trans-Atlantic powerhouse. (SOURCE) ... "

Then I find out " ... Last week, the London and Toronto stock exchanges announced their own tie-up. In October, SGX, the operator of the Singapore stock exchange, said it planned to buy the Australian stock exchange. (NYT. SOURCE)... "

I understand one reason: smaller electronic groups are taking market share from the giant guys. So the combining of forces is multitudinousness for preserving market share. This is Richter scale of 'big shaking going down' as NYC Stock Exchange moves across the Atlantic in geologic subduction by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into Earth's mantle till plates converge.

Now I know that Exchanges merge all the time. How about that?

*

*

*

Golfman, a Gentlemen's Hero -- John Daly -- PART TWO

Reuters Headline:
MIAMI, March 2 | Wed Mar 2, 2011
(Reuters) - John Daly is suing organisors of the Honda Classic, claiming he injured himself while trying to stop his backswing after being distracted by a fan taking his picture while he was playing in the tournament.

 "... In 2008, Daly smashed a spectator's camera into a tree when the individual tried to take his photograph at the Australian Open in Sydney. ... "

" ... The American, whose outlandish attire and booming drives have been a massive drawcard wherever he plays, has steadily slipped down the world rankings since he won the 1991 PGA Championship 1995 British Open.

He has not won a tournament since 2004 but has rarely been out of the headlines since he has spent most of his adult life struggling with alcohol, anti-depressants, gambling, binge eating and divorces. (Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com) [SOURCE] ... "

Donate Japan

Japan Disaster Relief: Where to Give
"With Thousands Feared Missing, Relief Organizations Offer Assistance;" (ABC NEWS)

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | March 12, 2011 | [SOURCE]

" ... Rescue and recovery efforts have already begun and are expected to last for months, with numerous international organizations and governments offering assistance. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he dispatched 50,000 troops for recovery efforts as powerful aftershocks continue to rattle the region.
To make donations, below is a list of organizations contributing to the relief effort. (ibid.) ... "

Japan Relief Donations
Save the Children: Emergency Relief for Japan Quake
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake
Toll free: 800-728-3843
Text JAPAN or 20222 to donate.


The American Red Cross: Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief
www.redcross.org
Text REDCROSS or 90999 to make $10 donation by text message.


Salvation Army
donate.salvationarmyusa.org
Toll free: 800-SAL-ARMY
Text QUAKE or 80888 to donate $10


International Medical Corps
www.internationalmedicalcorps.org
Text MED or 80888 to donate $10


Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org


Global Giving
www.globalgiving.org
Text JAPAN or 50555 to donate $10

Look at Housing :: Costs

[SOURCE]

Look at housing. Combined, the typical cost of homeowner’s insurance and real estate taxes, two basic unavoidable costs of owning a home and putting a roof over your head — have increased an average of 92.5%!

The cost of energy, averaging the price gains for heating oil, natural gas, and electricity — has soared 87.67%.

The cost of a gallon of gas for your car has jumped 118%!

Medicare Part B premiums have rocketed 143% higher!

And, some of the very basic food items we buy on a regular basis — potatoes, eggs, beef, bread — they too have soared, rising more than 64% in the same period.

Overall, according to this table, prices have increased 88% since the year 2000 — a rate of inflation that’s three-times greater than what the government is telling you.

To make matters worse, the pundits in Washington continue to claim that inflation is “not a problem” … “tame” … and that it will be “easy to deal with.”

Give me a break! Anyone with half a brain can see that prices are going up all around them.

Plus, it’s bound to get worse. Consider a few examples of what’s happened with prices so far this year, in merely nine weeks:

Oil is up 17.3% …

Heating oil is up 27.3% …

A pound of coffee is up 13.6% …

Cocoa is up 21.5% …

Corn is up 16.8% …

Cotton is up 55.1% …

Again, only in nine weeks!

Now, you tell me, does that look like annualized inflation of 3%? Or even 9%?!

I don’t think so! The average price appreciation of the above, pretty much staple items, is almost 20%.

Meanwhile, the value of the U.S. dollar continues to lose purchasing power. So that means even more inflation is coming down the pike. And lots of it!

So I urge you — no, I implore you — do NOT buy into the low inflation nonsense!

If you do, the money you’ve worked so hard for will disintegrate right before your eyes. It will crumble in value, just like the U.S. dollar is inevitably going to continue to do …

Hey, Michigan, What's Up with This? Raise Taxes, Cut Services?

[LINK]

Michigan Repub Gov Rick Snyder wants to Own it all ... ?
Retrieved by Pat Darnell

VIDEO:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Last night on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show, Maddow explained that Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder is pushing a bill through that will give ultimate governmental power literally to corporations, thereby using shock doctrine tactics to create a dystopian government. Synder’s bill not only goes after collective bargaining rights, but does in fact seem to represent the Republicans’ final solution to killing democracy by enabling the replacement of elected officials, dissolving entire city’s government and handing them over to corporations. Snyder calls his “budget bill” a “shared sacrifice,” but it gifts corporations with 1.8 billion in tax breaks while hitting citizens with harder taxes, including seniors and other vulnerables, and cutting essential services to an already suffering region."

Above is the video from MSNBC: if you receive this post via email then you should go to the MooPig site to watch this VIDEO!!

"And like any good bully or dictator, the time to strike is when you’ve sucker punched your victim and he or she is lying on the ground helpless, barely clinging to life; people will give up all kinds of personal liberties when they’re desperate. So now they are striking at us by deploying Republican governors as missiles of economic warfare around the country; taking away collective bargaining, taking away Medicaid, pushing for state militias ruled by the Republican governor, and now in Michigan, literally giving the government to corporations. All of this will result in a Republican dystopia; a negative utopia often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government which entails a repressive and controlled state."

"Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is calling this power grab a “$45 billion cost-cutting budget,” thereby attempting to package an unprecedented power grab as the answer to fiscal woes. Governor Synder suggests these cuts are part of a “shared sacrifice”, as he tries to appeal to the renowned work ethic of heartlanders. Of course, that “shared sacrifice” raises taxes on Michiganders while cutting services and changes the state’s corporate tax structure so only large “C” corporations pay business taxes while all other corporations get off scot-free. This amounts to a 1.8 billion dollar tax break to business. This “shared sacrifice” eliminates tax breaks for seniors and low-income workers and gets kills many other income tax deductions for individuals."

"So, brothers, what's your story?"

*

*

*

MooPig Report from the Middle :: "Survivor Industries"

MooPig loves among other droppings to be a Trend Spotter
by Pat Darnell

MooPig wants to present the newest business idea for all the MooPigsters out there looking for the next "big" trend in business.

Surviving has made it to MooPig's attentive state of conscience. It may not be "spoken of" out there yet; but we do note a sense of Surviving Industries Emerging.

Leading indicators:

• Well, let's see -- 60 Minutes just did a "After the Chilean Miner Rescue" segment that sort of points to our latest thinking on the subject
• *[thinking ... ]*
• Then there is the whole massive Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster and aftermath going in this direction...
• *[processing]*
• Hmmmm ... how about the complete failure of the Music Industry -- such as the recent report that CD sales were down another 20% this year. 
• *[reaching]*
• Teenagers having nightmarish dreams about "surviving" some cataclysmic event after 13 hours straight of playing Black Ops on XBOX .... ?

Spotting trends and other forms of terrain has become a favorite wonkish exercise at Moopig round table Editors' meetings. Surviving the gas prices, tightening the belts, investing in smart appliances ... is on everyone's mind.

Not a day goes by that Middle America does not race to their local newspapers to see if any thing local made national headlines. Furtherest from ever achieving that is Texas Aggies sports teams; but that is not what tethers global south to balustrades of disappearing resources. What ropes and chains we the Middle in a short radius is civil disobedience.

All us here in the Middle are chanting around, and rabble rousing, our capital cities -- especially the Mid-West -- for what we are not sure. But it is a movement, and no one really knows how long the Middle has been stopped up ... so this could be a helluva' movement.

So we present Survivor Industries as Exhibit One for our reader, and finish with this one thought:

"It’s a well known fact that in the event of nuclear holocaust two things would TRUELY survive; cockroaches and Bear Grylls, afterwards Bear would simply eat the cockroaches for protein."

That's our Report from the Midddle this week; where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the children are all above average.

NEXT WEEK:

We learn how to grill bear meat after blackberry season, using only a cell phone.

Fishy, Fishy, Fishy :: Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster

Need some Follow-up on GULF WAR?
Retrieved by Pat Darnell at Examiner dot com

Looks can be deceiving. At first it looks like big fish is going to eat smaller fish ... not this time ... big fish has developed a taste for the oozing, dripping crude oil in his pool. Yes, big fish is a crude junkie.

Lucky for the little fish, they get to populate, and populate, and populate ... er ... until they reach numbers never before recorded. 

"In a MOXNEWS report Monday about Gulf dolphin deaths with Geraldo weighing in for dolphins and humans in grief over death and dying. On Rivera's report, Marine Biologist Mobi Solangi from The Institute for Marine Mammals stated, "The dolphins are the canary in the mine. Whatever happens to them, happens to us."

Five more baby dolphins have been sited during the past two days."

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Geraldo hears Gulf cries for help:What happens to dolphins happens to humans:Vid - National Human Rights | Examiner.com 

"Over the past two weeks, dead bay dolphins are washing ashore on the Gulf Coast, having been stillborn or having died soon after birth, is a possible sign of human rights, including reproductive rights, also being violated by the Gulf Operation, as Riki Ott and Dr. Gina Solomon warned mothers ten months ago. Over 100,000 Gulf Coast residents are suffering with what has been called the Gulf Blue Plague, many of whom are children who are not recovering.
We are all connected as one."

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Censored Gulf news: Babies at risk 10,000 times greater, humans and dolphins? - National Human Rights | Examiner.com

"For the first time since the Gulf Operation overtly began in April what has been called "Gulf War II," a group has defended human rights of the most vulnerable cohort of the now over 100,000 Gulf Plague victims, the children. On Monday, Florida Oil released the video, "Spill Children: The Untold Story of the BP Gulf Oil Disaster (Part 1)," a compilation of Gulf victim advocates speaking on behalf of the innocent and suffering children, babies plus the unborn exposed to crude oil, Nalco's sprayed Corexit, and bioengineered antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Child Left Behind Gulf Program."

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Censored Gulf news: Spill Children in Gulf War II - National Human Rights | Examiner.com

"The petrochemical-military-industrial complex is gassing Gulf Coast residents with poisonous Benzene and Corexit dispersant at dangerously high levels in the largest U.S. domestic military operation to date. The military and FEMA are engaged in Emergency Plans for 36 urban areas from Texas to Florida due to the unstoppable Gulf oil volcano the size of Mt. Everest, as WMR reports, indicating evacuations. Some people are advised to relocate now. (See Parts III and IV)"

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Gassed in the Gulf (Part I): BP Gulf War Syndrome - National Human Rights | Examiner.com

Smith Dies

Smith who grew up in his family's Dairy Queen business and stayed with it till he died today at the top of his game. He remembers being held as an infant on his Momma's hip while she fried up the burgers and fries. Now that is a great memory.


Folks, can we get about three minutes of silence ... that's right -- and close your eyes. Very good!

*[hmmmm .... chomp chomp slurp, lick chomp, burp, chew chew, swallow, slurp BELCH ... urp, chomp Ahhhhh]*

-- Okay you can all open your eyes now ! Amen. --

David said...
The Wilmette DQ was old when I started going there in 1973 (class of '77). You're right - good burgers, and it sounds like it hasn't changed much. I remember they used to have the door rigged with a rope, pulleys and a sandbag behind the counter so they could open the door and let you out if your hands were full... (FEBRUARY 7, 2011).

*

*

*