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The mind's eye runs rampant (again). Three -Eyed Giant Blue Insectile Found this beastie in a piece of broken PVC, stained by the glue and cleaner. Looks like an alien bug to me. Hey. See " Faces in the Rocks "

The Guardian Gives Good Graphics "CA" is China; "JA" Japan, etc. I was palavering with a pal on the huge U.S. Defense budget recently and came up with a pie chart. This is better. If we just took the red part, not covered by other nations' expenditures, and spent it on, say, education, we'd be the best educated country in the world (again). Graphic 1 credit

He Who Screams Loudest A competitor walks into your store and pees on the floor. Then he immediately screams, "There's pee on your floor! You people are filthy! This store is a scumbag place! I'm calling the Board of Health!" That is precisely the tactic being used by Republicans like Eric Cantor who are trying to blame the crazed verbal and physical violence from right wingnuts on the Democrats. Or the national debt on everyone but George W. Fee Fi Fo Fum; I smell the stink of hypocrisy-dumb. Or is that a wafting draft of Big Lie propaganda technique? pix credit

... And Who's Paying for It Koch Industries , that's who. Guess who blew the whistle? Good old Greenpeace! Whatever you think of their war on whalers (I love it), you've got to admire their courage. Greenpeace's latest attack is on one of the most powerful, secretive, and rich companies in the world. In an admirable piece of investigative work , they have documented who pays the (huge) tab on denying climate change. And guess what, they are oil men! Surprise! Here are the boys running Koch Industries: Koch is a huge, privately-owned company that has nearly a hundred billion a year in revenue. Since it's a private company, they can keep a very low profile. And under that low profile, they outspend Exxon Mobile by three-to-one trying to debunk the truth of climate change. (And you thought Exxon was the bad guy.) So if you ever wonder how such loony-tunes stuff keeps popping up from climate change denialists , it's because these guys are pump

THE SECOND SCARIEST STUFF ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE The FIRST scariest is the incessant bleating of the "deniers," egged on by the hydrocarbon industry. I read in the Washington Post a Heritage Foundation denialist called climate change "the greatest non-crisis facing mankind." That's high level denying. That's scary . That SECOND scariest part is the truth itself. Here's an excerpt from a report in Science Daily: "A new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wyoming predicts that by the year 2100, many of today's familiar climates will be replaced by climates unknown in today's world, if current rates of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and other greenhouse gas emissions continue. The new global climate models for the next century forecast the complete disappearance of several existing climates currently found in tropical highlands and regions near the poles, while large swaths of the tropics and sub

Are We More Gullible? As an addicted poll reader, I note that (some) polls say that white people are much less likely to say that the health care reform law will help them personally than say people of differing shades. One question: Have you never run afoul of your insurance company? Would you like those parasites to still have the power to cancel your insurance when you need it most? Would you like to be unable to buy health insurance if you change - or worse, lose your job - because of a "pre-existing condition?" That happened to me, because I had (treatable, controlled) hypertension. Do you like your premiums going up at two or three times the rate of inflation? Blue Cross just popped my wife's premiums 29% - no recourse, no appeals, no changing insurance companies because she has a - guess what? - pre-existing condition! Do you like having to haggle with some insurance company clerk for legitimate claims? Do you oldies just love the "donut hole?" I

Ten Times Retail Markup?!? Healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Why, Lord, why? - Is it all those scans prescribed by the docs who own the scanners? - Is it all those CYA tests to protect the docs from lawsuits? - Is it the meds that cost 300% more in the U.S.A. than anywhere else in the world? - Is it the weak regulations on keeping our food safe? - Is it the $500 a minute specialist fees? YES! All that and insane overcharges for everything from the famous dollar-per-aspirin some hospitals charge to things like THIS... THE STORY A close pal breaks her ankle. She goes to a podiatrist. The Physician gives her a simple, off-the-shelf ankle brace for temporary support. The bills trickle in. Cost for that brace? $490! Whoa, we say. So we look up the cost of this device. Check it out: = $490 charged by the Podiatrist = $49.95 charged by Smart+Medical Identical product. Identical manufacturer. Identical reimbursement code. Keep in mind #49.95 is a retail price, available to you and