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What's happening out in the world? Did it matter, does it now?
Speaking of Food...
It's a damn shame the evil conglomerates like Monsanto have more than enough money to keep the American public blissfully ignorant of the crap they dump into our "food." It continues to boggle my mind how few people realize the antibiotics, steroids, chemicals, etc. that we ingest every day by ingesting and digesting. "Sickening" and "angering" are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how this enrages me, but it's a continually growing trend in how the corporations who REALLY run this country treat the American public. We're less than guinea pigs to them; all they want are our dollars, and they're more than happy to poison us to get them.
Agreed, Parkas
Monsanto is one of the main culprits. Somebody else on this site was doing activism around Monsanto and they were actively being shadowed. Monsanto is aggressive in going after it's opponents!
there is some hope for our food supply...
I am in contact daily with current national publications for the greenhouse industry. There is a national movement in its infancy, but growing rapidly, for greenhouse growers around the nation to move from flower production to year-round organic food production. Granted, most are not doing this as a way to stem the obesity problem here, but as a method of economic survival from the 2008 recession which hit the greenhouse industry very hard - no need for grasses or flowers when you can't pay the mortgage. Growers are pandering to the new and older generation of well informed consumers and apparently, there's a shitload of us. I'm very interested to see where this movement will be going in the upcoming years. I don't agree with the sometimes ridiculously high prices demanded from organic produce so I'm hoping if organic food production becomes much more commonplace, the prices will drop to boost sales. It's still not a great economy yet. At least not where I live.
Chemicals in our food? How about all around us. Better living through chemistry, Parkas. Like the feel of cotton? In the US in 2009, $687 million of pesticides were used on US cotton representing 23% of total GLOBAL pesticide use. In 2010, 45 MILLION pounds of pesticides were used on domestic US cotton. You can purchase 100% organic cotton; if you can find it as it currently accounts for 0.7% world production.
www.ota.com/organic/fiber/Cotton-and-the-Environment.html. Read all about it. And that's not even a food substance.
There is a saying in chemistry: garbage in, garbage out, meaning that unknown/unwanted contaminants at the start of a synthesis will end up in the final product. Turns out that the majority of rice produced in the US is produced in southern states on abandoned cotton fields in soil that was exposed to decades of unregulated arsenic based pesticides. Guess what rice does with arsenic; the same thing any good plant does; absorb it. The federal limit for arsenic exposure in drinking water is 10ppb (parts per billion). There is no limit for foods (go figure). US produced brown rice has upwards of 400ppb arsenic levels and these are the common avg. everyday brands found on store shelves. Might want to read this too as high levels of arsenic are being found in children's juices as well.
consumerreports.org/cro/arsenicinfood.htm.....excellent article with lists of foods and drinks that are rice based with levels of arsenic detected.
And who can forget this fine example from 1994 of the true relationship between mega-money and our elected and paid for government officials. These patrons of health are still around and doing quite well. Chemical kings themselves.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_ZDQKq2F08
It's not hopeless, it's just about educating ourselves, thinking for ourselves and putting our money where we think it counts most.
On Friday, McAdory High
As November is Native American Awareness Month and this story made the national news, this is both topical and current:
On last Friday, McAdory High (McCalla, Ala.) faced off against Pinson Valley High (Pinson) in the second round of the Alabama Class 5A playoffs. McAdory emerged victorious, 34-17, but the real headline came from what happened before the game kicked off.
As reported by AL.com, among other sources, McAdory’s cheerleaders produced a traditional paper run-through banner for the team to break through as it entered this field. This time, the banner attempted to poke fun at the Pinson Valley mascot, the Indians, with a culturally insensitive reference to the Trail of Tears, an allusion to the forcible removal of Native Americans from the Southeast to modern day Oklahoma in the 1830s.
On Monday, the first day that the schools were back in session, McAdory principal Tod Humphries took full responsibility for the sign’s appearance in a full apology issued to the public via the school’s website.
Here is the most important part of Humphries’ apology:
This was not condoned by the school administration, the Jefferson County Board of Education or the community. The person who would normally be responsible for approving such signs is out on maternity leave, and I take full responsibility that arrangements were not made to have the signs pre-approved before the ballgame. Please accept our sincere apologies to the Native American people and to anyone who was offended by the reference to an event that is a stain on our nation’s past forever.
The apology is significant and cogent. It would be easy to discuss this as a mere aberration on the part of well-meaning kids just trying to show school spirit but in reality it brings up the old aphorism of "those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them in the future."
In reality, even well-meaning adults don't understand the significance of the American governments policy toward the Native-Americans, especially in the regard to forced relocation of the remainder of the once proud Cherokee nation. Even this slight recap from Howard Zinn's "A People's History Of The United States" (p. 147) doesn't do the sheer brutality of forcing an entire nation's remainder, spread throughout the Southeast, to an alien land that could not sustain them:
"Some Cherokees had apparently given up on nonviolence:
three chiefs who signed the Removal Treaty were found dead.
But the seventeen thousand Cherokees were soon rounded up
and crowded into stockades. On October 1, 1838, the first detachment set out what was to be known as the Trail of
Tears. As they moved westward, they began to die -- of
sickness, of drought, of the heat, of exposure. There were
645 wagons, and people marching alongside. Survivors,
years later, told of halting at the edge of the Mississippi
in the middle of the winter, the river running full of ice,
"hundreds of sick and dying penned up in wagons or stretched
upon the ground." The leading authority on Indian removal
estimated that during the confinement in the stockade or on
the march westward four thousand Cherokees died. Wolves and
vultures followed the wagons, waiting to feast of the dying."
RE: On Friday, McAdory High
Just another fine example of how a proper education builds awareness of the world outside our day-to-day norm. This actually reminds me of a recent discussion my wife and I had about the treatment of Japanese-Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most Americans have completely forgotten that we had concentration camps here, too, and detained a great deal of Asian-Americans for fear that they were sleeper agents for the Japanese army. Were the conditions as harsh as the concentration camps built by the Nazis to detain the Jews? Doubtful, but it's one of those moments in history that we'd all rather forget than talk about and learn from.
I commend Tod Humphries for his statement. Not many people in his position possess the level of humanity and humility he exemplified in what he said. It reminds me and should remind us all that, while America has done many great things as a nation, we've also done some horrible things, and we should be reminded of these mistakes at least as much as our accomplishments. As Dr. Wayne said, "Bruce, why do we fall down? So we can learn to pick ourselves up again."
Slow News Day?
RIP Brian Griffin, and welcome back to the international community, Iran.
the welcome wagon...
brings in the voice of Tony Sirico, aka Peter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri from the series "Sopranos" for the new character "Vinny".
He's "experienced" too.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjGonSlC7rs with Steven Van Zandt and the late, great James Gandolfini
Trending: Smackdowns in Brooklyn
This is incredibly disgusting and sick and the media are being called to task because it is in the realm of the "middle-ground" between going viral and picking up copy-cats. You're not wearing the wrong color or the wrong article clothing. Some millennial decides to make a game of killing you with one punch and it's jolly good fun in the city...
The end of life as we know it and Brooklyn feels fine.
Have a Happy Thannksgiving!
We're up for a white one here and there is always something jolly about relatives coming to call and kicking of their boots and settling in for a nice afternoon of conversation about politics, football and who is about to have a baby and who is getting married. In other words, life in the family.
significant events enlivening nothingness
Massive respect to Tom Daley.
Good on ya, mate!
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders Announces
Sort of, a presidential run in 2016. What he said yesterday (and I'm paraphrasing) if there is no other politician with enough gumption to stand up for the poor and working class in this country, then he would be willing to do it.
Starting as Mayor of Vermont's largest city, Burlington, some thirty odd years ago, Bernie has always been a populist candidate and is easily the Senator farthest to the Left in that body and he generally does what he says.
I can't think of another third party candidate that would start out from this much of an influential position to raise the most important issues of our time, which would include things like global warming. I think he is short on original ideas and would be more of a gadfly than any sort of serious candidate. I can't see him getting anymore than 3% of the vote, especially as I see Obama's organization splintering, if not disintegrating.
But I do wish Bernie the best. He is "The People's Candidate", if i can use that hackneyed phrase and a lonely voice calling in the corporate wind.
Seminal Event That Ended Apartheid in South Africa
Mandela's Last Years in Imprisonment at Verster
Recovering from tuberculosis caused by dank conditions in his cell, in December 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. Here, he was housed in the relative comfort of a warder's house with a personal cook, using the time to complete his LLB degree. There he was permitted many visitors, such as anti-apartheid campaigner and longtime friend Harry Schwarz. Mandela organised secret communications with exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo. In 1989, Botha suffered a stroke, retaining the state presidency but stepping down as leader of the National Party, to be replaced by the conservative F. W. de Klerk. In a surprise move, Botha invited Mandela to a meeting over tea in July 1989, an invitation Mandela considered genial. Botha was replaced as state president by de Klerk six weeks later; the new president believed that apartheid was unsustainable and unconditionally released all ANC prisoners except Mandela. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate legalising the ANC and freeing Mandela. Although some were deeply opposed to his plans, de Klerk met with Mandela in December to discuss the situation, a meeting both men considered friendly, before releasing Mandela unconditionally and legalising all formerly banned political parties on 2 February 1990. The first photographs of Mandela were allowed to be published in South Africa for 20 years.
Leaving Victor Verster on 11 February, Mandela held Winnie's hand in front of amassed crowds and press; the event was broadcast live across the world. Driven to Cape Town's City Hall through crowds, he gave a speech declaring his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not over, and would continue as "a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid." He expressed hope that the government would agree to negotiations, so that "there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle", and insisted that his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in national and local elections. Staying at the home of Desmond Tutu, in the following days Mandela met with friends, activists, and press, giving a speech to 100,000 people at Johannesburg's Soccer City.
So it is possible to discern that Mandela ended apartheid in South Africa due to his persistent organizing efforts, which led to jail for 27 years. Increasing isolation and sanctions against the Afrikaner regime by the world's industrialized countries, moved by citizen protest, was also a driving factor. Gradually the old-line faction of fascist Dutch leaders started to relent. Botha's stroke was key. de Klerk friendliness toward the cause and Mandela was a huge development.
What made Mandela great was that he was able to leave his hatred and bitterness toward the former ruling class behind him. He was also a pragmatic and believed in the tip of the spear to prod those whites along the path to racial harmony. His humbleness in recognizing his position as just the start of a long list of leaders in a democracy was huge and unprecedented for a black African leader.
The seminal event was his ability to communicate his vision to a crowd of 100,000 inside the soccer stadium at Soccer City with hundreds of thousands more outside just waiting to hear what he had said. He set the tone for a path for reconciliation that could have easily gone the other way towards violence and hate. This is what made Mandela a luminary among men of his time, on a par with Gandhi who was also influenced profoundly by his time as a lawyer in South Africa.
Pussy Riot / Greenpeace Activists To Be Freed
Let's hope this is true. Wonderful news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25308640
http://rt.com/news/amnesty-bill-putin-parliament-951/
Raider whippin'
Sure glad I wasn't wearing a Chiefs jersey with a seat in the "Black Hole" yesterday afternoon.How about Jamaal Charles with 5 TD's! I imagine the Oakland media is not kind to the Raiders, especially with the team across the bay doing better.
The Santa Clause
I only caught a blurb of those on yesterday morning's news, but has anyone else heard the controversy about how Santa Clause can't be white anymore? Apparently some parents and/or children are having a hard time dealing with the fact that Santa's white while they aren't. So now there's apparently a movement to change Santa into something other than a fat and jolly white guy with obviously high blood pressure (how else do you explain the constantly rosey cheeks?). It was apparently a talking point of Fox "News" the other day, but that should come as no surprise to ANYONE.
CHRISTMAS: If you're having a hard time identifying with a fat white guy who lives in an uninhabitable frozen wasteland and delivers toys to all the world's children in a matter of hours while being pulled through the sky in a sleigh that's pulled by magical flying reindeer, you're doing it wrong.
@Parkas: Re: Santa "Klauss"
A young black liberal think-tank spokes. had the audacity to challenge the fact that the historical personage named Saint Nicholas from the swarthy-skinned country of Turkey could actually be Turkish in racial characteristics as Jon Stewart so aptly pointed-out on the Daily Show.
Meghan "Lemon-Tart", the commentator from Fox started this, admonishing kids strongly to cover their ears and to remember the world is flat and that Santa is an incandescent albino.
SNL had a great skit also. Way to go, Fox!
IN THE NEWS LAST WEEK
Worst Guest Appearance of All-Time 65-95
3/8/70 - A mystery guest takes the mike after Pigpen's Katie Mae and "sings" a blues while Pigpen and the band accompany him - then he continues shouting and tunelessly bleating a harmonica all through Not Fade Away, while the Dead apparently ignore him. This was thought to be Wayne Ceballos; Pigpen seems to have encouraged him onstage, for some reason. (The link has a debate on whether this singer is Ceballos or not - which is ironic, since the genuine Ceballos on 6/8/69 is almost equally atrocious.) Hands-down the worst guest appearance.
New Blood Pressure Advisory Needs More Study
If you're like me, then, for the last ten years, you've had your doctor macking on you to get your blood pressure under 140 over 90 -- often not an easy thing to do, especially with crappy Indian knock-off generics like Robaxyn taking up to 10% of the market these days.
The actual new recommendation from a prestigious source like the New England Journal of Medicine will be quite a useful guideline to know for long life and good health.
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Chinese Party Materials!
Synthetic: Induces vivid hallucinations and loud roaring noises in the ears that some times lasts for hours.
L*o*v*e*l*y!
(Warning! Do not use these for stocking-stuffers!)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Obama Accepts 46 Recommendations to Amend Spying Regs.
President Obama has accepted an official government report he had tasked in which the NSA has it's balls nicked but not clipped, mostly in the way it which it collects metta telephone data. These are superficial changes in that the telephone companies control different parts of the data collection and storage. What the NSA says it needs to do is have access to all the pieces of data quickly. The NSA doesn't particularly care where that data resides until it needs it. It just wants an "Access-All-Areas" pass from every telephone company.
President Obama thanked his White House review panel for the important recommendations to insure privacy controls on the cloud/internet and in telephone calls.
The White House also allowed as it would be wise to dial back on the total transparent collection of private communications amongst it's "allies". Still, Obama is not prepared to give a pardon to leaker Ed Snowden.
Previous to Snowden, the POTUS had total deniability that any of these programs actually even existed. Obama had gone so far as to say that a chat with the American people regarding these issues was overdue. Still, due process must take place with Snowden, despite the fact that he is sitting on over a million pages of documents that could further damage the reputation of the US and it's relations with Allies. It is presumed that the Russians and and the Chinese already have every shred of information collected by Snowden.
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Duck Dynasty on Homosexuality
Not sure how many of the Deadheads here watch and/or are fans of the Robertson family, but they're in the midst of a huge public stink regarding some anti-gay sentiments made public. Now, I don't know all the particulars--I don't have a whole lot of time for television nor do I make the time--but the show is either on hiatus or is being cut from A&E and may very well be taken off the air entirely. And, OF COURSE, the entire country is in an uproar over this.
Here's my stance on it: the man (I'm not sure if it was Phil or Si) is entitled to his opinion. The network knew going into it that the entire family are devout Christians. The Robersons' stance on homosexuality and all that should NOT come as a surprise. Just because they're public figures is no reason to take them off the air. Do I agree with the sentiment? No, but I also know there are some who do. And chances are there always will.
Will this hurt the family's reputation? Sure, a little. Chances are this'll become a Republican political talking point (if it hasn't already), and I'm sure it'll become a rallying cry for the TEA Party and other uber-conservatives nationwide. And the show will most likely come back on the air but to a network that's more "in line" with the family's beliefs.
All I wanna know is this: when did we lose our freedom of speech? I'm pretty sure it was in the Constitution....
@Parkas: If this is the quote...
"It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical,"
If that is the quote then then A&E needs to get a life, even if it is a corporate one.
My, how times have changed. The network comes out with a strong statement of support for the LGBT community and slams Robertson, putting him on "hiatus" from filming. YOU do have to wonder if a person has the right to free speech, espousing his religion (as he understands it).
Personally, I don't agree with the guy but this isn't hate speech. He is not advocating for the "Final Solution" for gays. Commercial interest is at the heart of this corporate statement. Robertson should sue them unless his contract is draconian.
Russia Frees Activists
Proving that Putin is a smarter scumbag than we thought. Nothing has changed in Russia, these activists should thank the Olympic Gods for blowing the Olympics Sochi's way this year (a Winter venue w/o snow).
Wonder how much the bribe was to get the contract to make snow?
RE: Anna rRxia
I like how no one wants to take a shot a GQ for such obviously low-class journalism. If A&E didn't do their research into the Robertson family's beliefs, they're morons. GQ clearly did, and that's why they asked the question. I mean, who honestly reads GQ anymore, anyway? I'm surprised they have enough room in that rag for one story considering all the advertisements. What gets me is how people are so surprised Phil would feel that way. I mean, come on!
Personally, I applaud him for staring straight into the barrel of a fully-loaded question and saying what he really believes. That takes balls, of which he clearly has a lot. In the end, though, this is only going to hurt A&E, because they'll either have to cave and let Phil back on the show (why they can't edit him out of the footage they've already filmed is beyond me), or the Robertson family will walk and take "Duck Dynasty" to another network. And I can think of only a handful of networks that wouldn't welcome them with open arms.
it's been decades since I looked at a GQ
being an old lady and all, but it's always struck me as slick 'n' sleazy. With a great eye for fashion, though.
the ongoing vagina vs. anus debate...
if you stop to think about it, penises all over the world have been doing the thinking for a lot of us guys for so long that it's a shame they can't speak for themselves regarding their own preference and end this silliness once and for all.
Whoops, my bad. They have been speaking for themselves. I forgot about ruling government bodies and the upper echelons of militaries.
Never mind.
Not to mention
The Seinfeld Episode where Jerry's penis is playing chess with his brain.
That's the trouble men... You've been letting the helmets win too long!
Have A Very Jerry Christmas
& A Mellow New Weird!
(And may all whose unemployment is running out receive 28 week extensions under the tree Christmas morning!)
Jerry Christmas folks....
I hope everyone is as happy and lucky as i am to spend the holidays with the ones you love the most.
Salivation Not Salvation
Ignorance has no place in this world.
Goodbye, Mr. Robertson. Your species is dying out.
Happy Christmas
..or midwinter festival or holiday or whatever you wish to one and all!
Shame not to see a seasons greeting on the home page of this site instead of the increasingly dominant storefront.
See you all in 2014. Hoping the rumours of Phil and Friends coming to London come true.
CB
well hey, Merry Christmas to all, however belatedly...
I was traveling, like many folks, and wish all on the road a safe and happy homecoming. Also a happy new year!
yeah
miss the season's greetings from deadnet this year, just the store and everything else is secondary. I hope every single deadhead has a Merry and a Happy. Let's hope 14 is better than 13. I'm glad I don't ever have to go thru another year with a 13 in it. Peace, Love, Dead.
Auld Lang Syne
Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you'll buy your pint cup !
and surely I'll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there's a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o' thine !
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
For the passing of another year and the thoughts of those passed on....
Happy New Year 2014 everyone.
happy new year
to all, now, can we get this store front off this home page, geeze, the holidays are over and let's hope it gets back to being about the music and the band and not all the stuff you have to sell. Thanks
Colorado opens up marijuana sales
Today's the grand opening for residents of Colorado,over 21, to legally purchase 1 oz of marijuana. Out-of-staters, like me, can buy a quarter ounce of pot. Can we hear from Colorado residents on where the shops are and how they're doing? Burlington CO is not participating in the program, so land traffic from the east will have to drive in to Denver, I reckon. TSA security may be on the lookout at airports for folks leaving the state by air. Federal lands including national parks, wildlife refuges, and ski resorts on Forest Service land will still prohibit the use and possession of the weed.
well said Unkle Sam
Happy New Year to one and all.
But a New Year Greeting from this site would have been a nice gesture, especially considering the special significance of the turning of the year in GD history.
Oh well, maybe the Rhinos are taking a rest after a fantastic 30 days of dead, and a 2013 full of fabulous releases. They have really upped their game in the past couple of years.
Looking forward to a even better 2014 and the build up to the big one....2015.
happy new year!
I was asleep by 10!
here's to a great 2014 for all of us.
Happy New Year !
Two points for the Leafs at the Winter Classic would be a great way to start the year.
Go Leafs Go!!!!!
Tall, Strange, and Trippy
I watched the webcast from TXR last night, where we got to see Bill Walton, who played Father Time, shaking his bones after midnight. Happy New Year all...
Happy New Year
just listening to Squaw Valley, Grateful Dawg; was there, and still there when I listen. Wishing you all peace, joy and hope in this new year ... 'once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right'. Sending love to you all.
-
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And, Back to reality on Planet NKR
Kim Jong-Un's uncle was stripped naked and fed to 120 starving dogs as the tyrant watched on, a shocking report has claimed.
An official report in China says Jang was stripped naked and thrown into a cage, along with his five closest aides.
Then 120 dogs, who had been deprived of food for three days, were allowed to eat them in a process called "quan jue", or execution by dogs.
The report added the entire process lasted for an hour, with Kim, 30, supervising it along with 300 senior North Korea officials.
The things that go on on this planet are simply amazing -- from the sublimely beautiful to the most utterly grotesque it seems as if human beings are capable of anything.
This is the worst thing I've heard since reports of political prisoners being buried in the Eritrean dessert in shipping containers where they are tortured to death.
The human race is better than this and will eventually evolve.
That's an eye-opener
That's incredibly hideous Anna. Couldn't believe it until I googled it.
I ♥ Non Sequuntur
> Kim Jong-Un's uncle was stripped naked and fed to 120 starving dogs as the tyrant watched on, a shocking report has claimed...The human race is better than this and will eventually evolve.
I wish I could agree with you, Anna, but there seems to be no evidence for your claim.
Fallujah Falls
Al-Qaeda is having a busy weekend in Iraq.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/iraq-government-loses-…
You might very well be right, ME
I've been to S. Korea three times before and remember a medium-large sized city in the South named Kwang Jue. Maybe this whole thing was sloppy reporting but I have to believe that the 31 year old wouldn't engage in a diplomatic head-fake of that immensity.
Still, there is Arraratt, the N. Korean version of the Olympics on steroids. The Korean peninsula is tricky, acid-glazed kind of place.