theway2k’s Friends

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

nobody@vox.com(Timothy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:13:18 -0500

Reuters
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who unveiled his revised state budget proposal yesterday in Sacramento, is hoping his lottery bond plan will help erase the state's massive shortfall. But lawmakers from both parties objected to the proposal.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

U.S. Marines 24 in Helmand Province

nobody@vox.com(American Infidel) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:30:25 -0500

Photos from Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images

A US Marine from C company 1/6 24 MEU stands under camouflage netting as he mans a position at a base in Garmser in the southern province of Helmand on May 8, 2008. Helmand, the main source of Afghanistan's opium output, is in the grip of a Taliban-insurgency launched after it was toppled from government in a US-led invasion in late 2001. Most ISAF soldiers in Helmand are British, and were joined by US Marines last week in a push to remove the Taliban from around southern Garmser district.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Thought we already knew animals felt them before us......

nobody@vox.com(Catalina) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:12:54 -0500

Chinese wonder if animals can predict earthquakes

By HENRY SANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

Baby Tit Birdie

First, the water level in a pond inexplicably plunged. Then, thousands of toads appeared on streets in a nearby province. Finally, just hours before China's worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely.

As bodies are pulled from the wreckage of Monday's quake, Chinese online chat rooms and blogs are buzzing with a question: Why didn't these natural signs alert the government that a disaster was coming?

"If the seismological bureau were professional enough they could have predicted the earthquake ten days earlier, when several thousand cubic meters of water disappeared within an hour in Hubei, but the bureau there dismissed it," one commentator wrote.

In fact, seismologists say, it is nearly impossible to predict when and where an earthquake will strike.

Several countries, including China, have sought to use changes in nature — mostly animal behavior — as an early warning sign. But so far, no reliable way has been found to use animals to predict earthquakes, said Roger Musson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.

But that has not stopped a torrent of online discussion. Even the mainstream media has chimed in, with an article in Tuesday's China Daily newspaper questioning why the government did not predict the earthquake.

Online commentators say the first sign came about three weeks ago, when large amounts of water suddenly disappeared from a pond in Enshi city in Hubei province, around 350 miles east of the epicenter, according to media reports.

Then, three days before the earthquake, thousands of toads roamed the streets of Mianzhu, a hard-hit city where at least 2,000 people have been reported killed.

Mianzhu residents feared the toads were a sign of an approaching natural disaster, but a local forestry bureau official said it was normal, the Huaxi Metropolitan newspaper reported May 10, two days before the earthquake.

The day of the earthquake, zebras were banging their heads against a door at the zoo in Wuhan, more than 600 miles east of the epicenter, according to the Wuhan Evening Paper.

Elephants swung their trunks wildly, almost hitting a staff member. The 20 lions and tigers, which normally would be asleep at midday, were walking around. Five minutes before the quake hit, dozens of peacocks started screeching.

There are a few possible reasons for such behavior, said Musson, the seismologist. The most likely is that the movement of underground rocks before an earthquake generates an electrical signal that some animals can perceive. Another theory holds that other animals can sense weak shocks before an earthquake that are imperceptible to humans.

Zhang Xiaodong, a researcher at the China Seismological Bureau, said his agency has used natural activity to predict earthquakes 20 times in the past 20 years, but that still represents a small proportion of China's earthquakes.

"The problem now is this kind of relationship is still quite vague," he said.

In winter 1975, Chinese officials ordered the evacuation of the city of Haicheng in northeastern Liaoning province the day before a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, based on reports of unusual animal behavior and changes in ground water levels. Still, more than 2,000 people died. Strange environmental phenomena including changes in well water levels, were also reported a year later before a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Tangshan in northeastern China that killed 240,000, Musson said.

A team of Chinese seismologists was sent to the region but didn't find any evidence to suggest an earthquake. As the seismologists were going home, they stopped for the night in Tangshan and were killed in the quake.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Thanks to Patrick

nobody@vox.com(Timothy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:18:16 -0500

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

United Church of Christ needs to be saved from itself

nobody@vox.com(Timothy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:46:10 -0500

United Church of Christ needs to be saved from itself. The latest controversy regarding Trinity United Church of Christ has raised some serious internal problems.

I am a member of United Church of Christ and have been for almost 20 years. This being said, I plead ignorance to what was happening at Trinity. Now, it is up to the faithful in the pews to stand up for what is just and call for the removal of Trinity from the United Church of Christ.

There should be no room in our denomination for Trinity's Black Liberation Theology and their relationship with Louis Farrakhan. The following is part of our Statement of Faith. We need to return to this model.

United Church of Christ Statement of Faith in the form of a doxology (In Part).

We believe in you, O God, Eternal Spirit, God of our Savior Jesus Christ and our God, and to your deeds we testify:
You call the worlds into being, create persons in your own image,and set before each one the ways of life and death.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Trinity United Church of Christ

nobody@vox.com(Timothy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:21:33 -0500

Sen Obama has been at Trinity since 1991. The theology at Trinity is different than most congregations in the United Church of Christ family. This being said, Sen Obama has every right under our constitution to worship any place he wants. Furthermore, I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state.

On the other hand, Trinity has created a separatist type of spiritual and intellectual church organization. Should Sen Obama be elected to represent all Americans, when he belongs to a separatist church that praises Louis Farrakhan? I will report you decide.

In 1991, when Obama joined the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, he pledged allegiance to something called the Black Value System, which is a code of non-Biblical ethics written by blacks, for blacks.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

OBESE NATION

nobody@vox.com(The Historian) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:04:23 -0500

OBESE NATION

Have you looked around you lately? Our society is full (too full) of fatties. There cannot possibly be that many Americans with a genetic predisposition to obesity. We have become a nation of pigs.

Everywhere I go there is all too often a collection of large rear ends in virtually every direction. Not only is that bad for our health and the future of our health care system but it is making the rest of the world a bit peeved.

Really, how tough is it to simply do the following:

1. STOP THE SUGAR: it is everywhere and in almost everything we eat. Stay on the lookout for high fructose corn syrup, a true killer along with just plain sugar.

2. Back off the carbs: why? Because carbohydrates turn to sugar once they are in our systems. Thus we get way too much sugar in our blood which first gets stored as fat and second pushes us inexorably toward diabetes.

3. Cut the portion sizes: forget the second helping, don't heap food on your plate, back off desert.

4. Follow mom's advice: eat lots of fresh fruits, salads and veggies. They are good for you and they fill you up. Not to mention if decently prepared they are tasty as well.

If you worry over what the rest of the world thinks about America (even if the reaction from India below is a bit too overblown), stop stuffing your face with all the wrong food and too much of it at that. Further, get some exercise every day if possible or at least four times per week if not.

We don't need food police like many on the left like to advocate. What we need is a little common sense along with the recognition that obesity is a gradual form of suicide. Stop the lunacy, eat right. Widespread obesity is a sign of a growing weakness in American society.

Indians bristle at U.S. criticism on food prices
By Heather Timmons

NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet, say a growing number of politicians, economists and academics here.

Criticism of the United States has ballooned in India recently, particularly after the Bush administration seemed to blame India's increasing middle class and prosperity for rising food prices. Critics from India seem to be asking one underlying question: "Why do Americans think they deserve to eat more than Indians?"

The food problem has "clearly" been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories than the average person in India, said Pradeep Mehta, the secretary general of CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment, a private economic research organization based in India with offices in Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam and Britain.

If Americans were to slim down to even the middle-class weight in India, "many hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa would find food on their plates," Mehta said. The money Americans spend on liposuction to get rid of their excess fat could be funneled to famine victims instead, he added.

Developing nations like China and India have long been blamed for everything from the rising cost of commodities to global warming, because they are consuming more goods and fuels than ever before. But Indians from the prime minister's office on down never fail to point out that per capita, India uses far fewer commodities and pollutes far less than the West, and particularly the United States.

Many Indians felt that the remarks of President George W. Bush on May 2 were more of the same, though this time they seemed to breed a widespread sense of "We're not going to take this anymore." During a news conference in Missouri, Bush mentioned India's growing middle class, and said "when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up." This came on the heels of a similar statement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that had already upset many in India.

Americans eat an average of 3,770 calories per capita a day, the highest amount in the world, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, compared to 2,440 calories in India. They are also the largest per capita consumers in any major economy of beef, the most energy-intensive common food source, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The United States and Canada top the world in oil consumption per person, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

"George Bush has never been known for his knowledge of economics," Jairam Ramesh, the minister of state for commerce, told The Press Trust of India after Bush's remarks, which he said proved again how "comprehensively wrong" Bush is.

"To say that demand for food in India is causing increase in global food prices is completely wrong," Ramesh said.

Politicians and academics in India cite various other reasons: diversion of arable land in the United States and Europe into ethanol production; trade subsidies by the United States and Europe; and the dollar's decline.

Subsidies to Western farmers have undercut agricultural production in fertile areas of Africa for decades, Kamal Nath, India's minister for commerce and industry, said by telephone. Meanwhile, he added, Americans waste more food than people in many other countries, in part because they buy in such large quantities.

The United States is responsible "many times more" than India for the world food crisis because of its higher food consumption, said Ramesh Chand, an economist with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which advises India's government on farming policy.

The Bush administration responded to the criticism from India with calls for a truce. Bush is a "great friend and admirer" of India, said David Mulford, the U.S. ambassador to India. He added that he thought "this is a time for increased cooperation among nations to solve this problem and that hostile political commentary is not productive."

A White House spokesman, Scott Stanzel said, "We think it is a good thing countries are developing, that more and more people have higher standards of living."

Blaming India's growth is not only unfair but nonsensical, some economists argue. Food prices have not been continually rising with the growth of the developing world, said Ramgopal Agarwala, a former World Bank economist and senior adviser at RIS, a think tank in New Delhi.

"They were static until 2006, then in 2007 and 2008 there was a sudden spark," he said. Meanwhile, India's boom has been happening over the past decade. This is "not last year's phenomena," he said.

"I don't know who advised the president" on his recent comments, Agarwala said, but his analysis is "subprime."

Bush's "ignorance on most matters is widely known and openly acknowledged by his own countrymen," The Asian Age argued May 5 in an editorial, but he must not be allowed to "get away" with an attempt to "divert global attention from the truth by passing the buck on to India."

Mehta said that his remarks on liposuction were meant to be tongue in cheek but that "politically incorrect" attitudes like Bush's and Rice's needed to be challenged. Rather than blaming India, Mehta said, the West should be adjusting to the changing world. "If the developing world is going to develop, demand is going to go up and there are going to be new political paradigms," he said.

Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
Copyright © 2008 The International Herald Tribune www.iht.com

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I'm hot!

nobody@vox.com(Mello) — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:56:38 -0500

Well, not really, but I am feeling really great about my weight loss lately and for once, it's nice to feel good about my physical self. I know, I'm not supposed to be concerned about what I look like, but I can't help it. I've always been overweight and have always been self-conscious about it. Because overweight + tall = cow = not attractive.

So I've been doing this South Beach Diet. The first two weeks (Phase 1) are very restrictive and you're basically not allowed to eat any carbs. The idea is that you break your addiction to simple carbohydrates like those found in sweets and white flour - the things that cause your blood sugar to spike and then subsequently plummet, leaving you hungry even though you just ate. Those two weeks were hard, but the trade-off for it is that Phase 1 really jump starts your weight loss. I lost 11 pounds those first two weeks.

That was...I don't even know when. Mid-March? I think so, because I know when my parents were up here for Easter I felt like a jerk because I couldn't fix them a decent meal. (Well, I could've, but then I'd be preparing meals in duplicate, and spending all my time in the kitchen defeats the purpose of having anyone come and visit, let alone my parents who rarely come to my house.)

Anyway, after Phase 1 you begin Phase 2 (duh), in which you're gradually able to start phasing carbs back into your diet, in the form of (most) fruits and whole grains. Your diet is still vegetable-heavy, but that's ok because you don't really crave other stuff. OK, that's a lie. I still crave junk food but I'm usually able to resist. And for me, that's saying something because I have no willpower whatsoever. In Phase 2, the weight loss slows way down because now it's happening in a way that's more healthy and more likely to be permanent. The expected loss is about a pound a week.

Well, I'd been stuck at 1_1.5 or 1_2* for weeks. Literally. And I was definitely losing my motivation. To have lost 11 pounds in the first 2 weeks and only 3 more in the following 6 weeks was getting on my nerves!

But this week, for no apparent reason whatsoever, my weight finally budged. I woke up the other morning and I was at 1_9. I FINALLY got below the 1_0 mark! It was reason for celebration! Now I can say I've lost 15 pounds - actually it's 16 but 15 is a nice round number. And people are starting to notice! That's the best thing. My weight loss has been pretty unnoticeable compared to my husband, who's lost 40 pounds. Which is awesome - I'm psyched for him - and he did have more to lose than me, but it's motivating when people actually notice that there's a reason for all those weird things you put in your lunch and for always having to say no when everyone goes out for lunch at work.

So life is good today! It's springtime, the sun is shining, and I've lost 15 pounds!

*Sorry for the cryptic numbers regarding my weight. There's no way I'm actually going to tell you all - especially you tiny ones - what I weigh! Only my husband and my driver's license know. :)

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

cranes in the clouds and a steeple in the clouds

nobody@vox.com(jeffington) — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:14:02 -0500

cranes in the clouds

steeple in the clouds

not a perfict shoot but the clouds make up for it

Send to a friend

Gay Marriage Ban Overturned by California’s Highest Court

nobody@vox.com(Jim Phelan) — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:29:51 -0500

Photo

In a 4 to 3 ruling, California’s highest court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage today. This, despite voter’s not being in favor of same-sex marriage. Two dozen couples and gay rights groups petitioned lower courts, ending up at the highest court.

According to news reports, the cultural war is not over as other groups will seek to put measures on the ballots in November that will back current laws banning gay marriage by putting it the state’s constitution.

Interestingly, 6 of the 7 judges were appointed by Republican governors.

What is your opinion on the ruling?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend