Archive for October, 2009
Photographs of Tibetan monks at Longwu monastery – Telegraph
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Photographs of Tibetan monks at Longwu monastery
[From Photographs of Tibetan monks at Longwu monastery - Telegraph]
Ugliest Faces In Hollywood? Bullet Points: The 10 Ugliest Faces in Hollywood – 4/25/2008
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Hollywood is a cruel place that traffics on the looks of big stars. Which makes it insane there are actually working actors out there who have hideously ugly faces. Well, ugly stars out there… we salute you. Here are the 10 Ugliest Faces In Hollywood
[From Bullet Points: The 10 Ugliest Faces in Hollywood - 4/25/2008 ]
New iPhone app tracks disease outbreaks | MNN – Mother Nature Network
Posted by: | CommentsApple iPhone owners wondering if there is a case of swine flu nearby can now find out instantly with a new program that tracks outbreaks of infectious diseases.
Outbreaks Near Me is an application for the popular smartphone developed by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston in collaboration with the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[From New iPhone app tracks disease outbreaks | MNN - Mother Nature Network]
Points of interest…..mastering eq | PublicSpacesLab
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Right, I’m going to tell you the so called secrets of mastering eq. I know everybody thinks it’s the compression that makes that lovely stable full sound, but without balancing the tone, the compression wont make that happen alone.
[From Points of interest.....mastering eq | PublicSpacesLab]
Drunkie!!
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EMBED-Drunkest Guy Ever Goes for More Beer – Watch more free videos
22 of the Coolest Sculptures You’ll Ever See – My Modern Metropolis
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Today, we’ve compiled an extensive list of 22 modern day sculptures that are as cool as they are freaky. These three-dimensional pieces of art are mind-blowing not just because of the materials that have been used but because they leave an indelible mark on our memory. From the hyper-realistic sculptures from Ron Mueck and Duane Hanson to the magically moving sculptures of Peter Jansen and Saúl Hernández, each piece tells an interesting story. It is only through our shared experiences that we come to appreciate how sculptures have evolved as an art form as we reflect on the meaning of each visual piece.
[From 22 of the Coolest Sculptures You'll Ever See - My Modern Metropolis]
Insurers Spending $700K a Day to Kill Healthcare Reform
Posted by: | CommentsInsurers Spending $700K a Day to Kill Healthcare Reform
by mcjoan
Digg this! Share this on Twitter – Insurers Spending $700K a Day to Kill Healthcare ReformTweet this submit to reddit Share This
Tue Sep 15, 2009 at 03:10:04 PM PDTWow, that could be providing a helluva lot of healthcare.
Washington, D.C. – A campaign finance watchdog’s analysis of insurance and HMO political contributions and lobbying expenses found the industries spent $126,430,438 over the first half of 2009 and $585,725,712 over the past two and a half years to influence public policy and elected officials. The group, Public Campaign Action Fund, found that in the first part of 2009, the industries were spending money at nearly a $700,000 a day clip to influence the political process and that the monthly pace of political spending this year has increased by nearly $400,000 over the average spent per month in the previous two years.
In addition to PAC contributions to our “public servants,” that’s funding 875 registered lobbyists for the insurance industry, and 920 for the HMOs. Which really is hardly a drop in the bucket for the industry, when you take into consideration their CEO compensation, which ranges from $3 million to $24 million.
Nice to know what our premiums are paying for, huh? We could cut out the middleman here. We could start giving all the money we’re spending on premiums directly to our representative and Senators. Maybe then they’d listen to us, the people who hired them, when it comes to vote.
Yeah, right.
Got Acid? Tripping Out: The Return of Hofmann’s Problem Child, LSD | Disinformation
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Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, lambasted the countercultural movement for marginalizing a chemical that he asserted had potential benefits as an invaluable supplement to psychotherapy and spiritual practices such as meditation. “This joy at having fathered LSD was tarnished after more than ten years of uninterrupted scientific research and medicinal use when LSD was swept up in the huge wave of an inebriant mania that began to spread over the Western world, above all the United States, at the end of the 1950s,” Hofmann groused in his 1979 memoir LSD: My Problem Child.
For just that reason, Hofmann was jubilant in the months before his death last year, at the age of 102, when he learned that the first scientific research on LSD in decades was just beginning in his native Switzerland. “He was very happy that, as he said, ‘a long wish finally became true,’ ” remarks Peter Gasser, the physician leading the clinical trial. “He said that the substance must be in the hands of medical doctors again.”
The preliminary study picks up where investigators left off. It explores the possible therapeutic effects of the drug on the intense anxiety experienced by patients with life-threatening disease, such as cancer…
[From Got Acid? Tripping Out: The Return of Hofmann’s Problem Child, LSD | Disinformation]
A Collection Of Pre-1930 Awkward Family Photos: Pics, Videos, Links, News
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A Collection Of Pre-1930 Awkward Family Photos
CULTURE BUZZ These pictures should give you a pretty good idea of what AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com would’ve looked like 100 years ago. It starts out cute, but turns ugly and creepy fast…[From A Collection Of Pre-1930 Awkward Family Photos: Pics, Videos, Links, News]
YouTube – Et Cetera – Raga Lady/Blue Thursday Morning/Sunrise (1971)
Posted by: | CommentsBrad Laner’s Eichler house in Granada Hills – latimes.com
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Brad Laner’s Eichler house
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Some of the artwork comes from Laner’s mother, Judy Koenig. She painted the triptych in the living room while getting her master’s degree at Cal State Northridge in the 1990s. Laner commissioned her to paint the geometric piece on the other wall.[From Brad Laner's Eichler house in Granada Hills - latimes.com]
YouTube – Rachel Maddow Rachel Maddow confronts Tim Phillips Part 1
Posted by: | Comments[From YouTube - Rachel Maddow Rachel Maddow confronts Tim Phillips Part 1]
Ten Must-See Art Documentaries
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1. The Mystery of Picasso (1956) Renowned French filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot follows his dear friend – Pablo Picasso – through the creation of twenty pieces, in a film that is a work of art within itself.
Doctor says near-death experiences are in the mind – CNN.com
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NEWTON, Massachusetts (CNN) — For Laura Geraghty, April 1, 2009, started out just as any other day. It was sunny but cool, she remembers.
[From Doctor says near-death experiences are in the mind - CNN.com]
Governor calls for firing of justice in interracial marriage case – CNN.com
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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — The actions of a justice of the peace in Louisiana who refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple have prompted some top officials, including Gov. Bobby Jindal, to call for his dismissal.
[From Governor calls for firing of justice in interracial marriage case - CNN.com]
Power Company Trying To Switch Off Cancer Patient’s Oxygen Machine
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As part of its Bearing Witness 2.0 project, the Huffington Post is rounding up a few of the best local stories of the day.
Mable Randon is suffering from the late stages of cancer. She’s bound by a wheel chair and only breathing with the help of an electrically-powered oxygen machine. Rucks Russell of KHOU in Houston reports that the local power company sent her a disconnection notice because of late bills. She applied to the Critical Customer Program, a payment plan seemingly tailor-made for people in Randon’s condition who depend on electric life support — but she was denied.
Her provider, Freedom Power, already had the most complaints of any energy company in Texas. The Texas Public Utilities Commission launched an investigation into Randon’s case on Wednesday, which will keep the power on for the time being. Texas-based Amegy Bank has set up a charity fund to help her keep her lights on.
KHOU also has a video.
******
Darla Tolliver and her husband, Jim, are just $28,000 away from owning their home after making payments since 2001, reports Claire Galofaro of the Bristol Herald Courier in Virginia. But now, after Jim lost his job, they are three months behind on their mortgage, and fearing foreclosure. “It’s like you’re in quicksand, and the more you struggle and try to get out, the more you sink” remarked Darla. “My life is in that house…the thought of losing it is unbearable.”
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Bessie Mae Berger, 97, is homeless. She lives with her two sons in a Chevrolet Suburban, reports Bob Pool of the Los Angeles Times. Her sons, Larry and Charlie Wilkerson, are both unemployed and get by on disability checks and food stamps. A damaged nerve and degenerative arthritis, respectively, forced them out of work years ago. They now panhandle for extra change — Berger holds a sign reading “I am 97 years old. Homeless. Broke. Need Help Please.” Because they insist on living together, they have been repeatedly denied government-subsidized housing, and are running into brick walls navigating government aid programs. “There’s a million empty homes here in California, but they can’t seem to find one we can live in,” said Larry. The Times also has an affecting audio slideshow, showing how the family lives in their own words.
[From Power Company Trying To Switch Off Cancer Patient's Oxygen Machine]
Top 10 Best Ghost Movies (Horror Movie List)
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Top 10 Creepiest Ghost Movies
12.10.09 # 9:48 # Top Ten # 19 Comments
It is fast approaching that unique portion of the year when all true matters arcane and diabolical are given the festive treatment, as Halloween prompts folks to deploy their broomsticks for something other than sweeping up after the household pet. Although we have recently seen cinematic quotas of the supernatural gobbled up by vampire and zombie flicks, it would be remiss to overlook the genuine chills instilled by the most successful exponents of the ghost movie genre. So here are ten of the scariest ghost movies to put the frighteners on us poor, trembling cinema-goers[From Top 10 Best Ghost Movies (Horror Movie List) - With Clips | Movie Moron]
