Ladywriter

States warned about impending mortgage crisis

Under Alaska law, it is up to the state's Personnel Board — which is conducting its own investigation into the matter — to decide whether Palin violated state law and, if so, must refer it to the Senate president for disciplinary action. Violations also carry a possible fine of up to $5,000. too bad I'd rather just see her get shot in the face X'D

Researchers were able to harvest enough energy to power small sensors Tree power might sound like a hippie battle cry, but scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have literally tapped into the tiny electrical current carried in trees and created a company, Voltree, to capitalize on it as a power source."People have known about this phenomena for many years and have tried to explain it by various exotic mechanisms," said Andreas Mershin, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT who is involved in the research. "But the cause of it is a simple pH difference between the tree and the soil," said Chris Love, a senior in chemistry at MIT and Vice President of Voltree. Working with the U.S. Forest Service, Voltree has created cheap sensors that use tree power to monitor temperature and humidity conditions inside forests. The goal is to give forest managers and firefighters better tools to predict and monitor fires. Mershin and Love were initially skeptical of tree power but investigated it anyway. To debunk alternative explanations for the observed electrical charges, Mershin and Love put a potted, four-foot-tall ficus tree into MIT's copper Faraday cage (which blocks out external static electrical fields), stuck platinum electrodes into the soil and into the tree's tissue, and turned off the lights. Their instruments recorded a slight electrical charge. To prove their own theory, that the charge was generated by the pH difference between the tree and the soil, the scientists created a range of soil pHs, from an acidic two to a basic 12, by adding hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide. For each unit change in pH, the electrical current changed by 59 millivolts. The greater the difference between the soil pH and the tree's pH, the greater the energy, as Mershin and Love predicted. Still, it's not much of a current. The batteries that likely power your TV remote are about 1.5 volts. A tree living in harsh soil conditions can generate a few hundred millivolts at best. But through some proprietary hardware and software tricks, Love and his colleagues amplified that tiny tree current up to 2.4 volts, enough energy to power small sensors. But initially, they didn't know what kind of sensors they should power. "We had a solution that was looking for a problem," said Mershin. After considering several possibilities, the team, now incorporated as Voltree, created a cheap, tree-powered sensor that would monitor temperature and humidity inside a forest and approached Tory Henderson of the U.S. Forest Service at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Each sensor package should last approximately 15 years, said Love, and would be placed in a grid with sensors spaced about 65 feet apart. Depending on the programming, data would bounce from one sensor to another until it reached a more permanent weather station, which would send the data to NIFC. © 2008 Discovery Channel

Mathematical model helps explain how and why temperaments develop We know our siblings and in-laws have personalities — sometimes to a fault. But science recently has revealed that such individual differences are widespread in the animal kingdom, even reaching to spiders, birds, mice, squid, rats and pigs. Now a new mathematical model helps to explain how and why such animal temperaments develop over time. The model explains a central question of both animal and human personality — why certain individuals are more rigid or flexible than others, and why some change their behavior in response to changes in their environment while others do not. The answer, says Franz Weissing of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, comes down to costs and benefits. A group in which both rigid and flexible personality types co-exist makes for an optimal system, his model shows. The field of animal-personality study is starting to gain some substance and credibility, said University of Texas psychologist Sam Gosling, who does research in this field. "When I started doing this, like 10 years ago, things were really different. I remember people thought it was anthropomorphic [to use the term animal personality]," said Gosling, who was not involved in the recent study. Prestigious scientific journals are publishing research articles explicitly on the topic of animal personality, he said. "I think it does reflect a new sense of respect in the field and I think it's opening up all kinds of important opportunities and allowing us to test questions we simply couldn't test without animal studies," Gosling said. Duck food Weissing and his colleagues ran various model simulations of scenarios that included a resource as well as responsive and unresponsive animals. He said the new model shows, for example, when it's optimal for animals to react to a change in food and when it's not. It turns out that competing personalities help to keep a healthy balance in a group. Say you have a duck pond in which, every day, twice as much food is scattered along the right side of the pond, leaving the left side sparse, Weissing said. The ducks learn to paddle to the right side to forage. Then one day, say, more food shows up on the left side of the pond, leaving the right with a dearth. Experiments have shown that some of the ducks were checking out the left side of the pond all along and will notice and swim to the food on the left. Other ducks, however, will stick to their routine and continue about their business of scarfing up the little bit of food still on the right side. The responsive ducks benefit from their quick move to the big pile of food, while the unresponsive ducks could starve, or at the very least, not get a bellyful. The tables turn if too many ducks were to respond and head over to the left side of the pond. In this model scenario, the competition on that side of the pond would skyrocket, leaving some of these seeming smarty pants with little food. Meanwhile, the unresponsive ducks would benefit in this scenario, because while they would be left with a smaller portion of food, there would be hardly any competition for it. In some of the model simulations, responsiveness could also be a waste of energy. If say the food never moves to the other side of the pond, the proactive ducks could exhaust themselves to no avail. In the end, a balance between ducks that scan for change and ducks that stick with the routine would benefit the overall population. Individuals coexist The researchers also found animal personalities tend to persist. That's because, as the adage goes, practice makes perfect. Individuals who are responsive gain experience, so it behooves them to continue such behavior in the future. "Individuals that have been responsive before have a slight advantage in collecting or interpreting environmental cues," Weissing told LiveScience. "This is a plausible assumption, since the performance of individuals generally improves with the experience they have." Similar personality types also exist in humans. "Some humans behave rather routine, in a rigid way. And others behave in a rather flexible way," Weissing said. "The first type is rather traditional, conservative, always following the trodden path of the past, whereas the other type is more interested in change, interested in the environment, always sampling the environment." While the model simulations didn't directly analyze human behavior, Weissing said there is a crossover between non-human animals and the rest of the animal kingdom. The research, detailed online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

Cloud flows slowly west along ground; at least 3 people injured PETROLIA, Pa. - A corrosive liquid overflowed from a tank at a chemical plant in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, evaporating into a toxic cloud that snaked along the ground and forced about 2,500 to flee. At least three residents were believed to be injured.A material called oleum, similar to sulfuric acid, leaked from a tank at the Indspec Chemical Corp. plant in Petrolia, said plant manager Dave Dorko. Authorities were concerned about the potential for respiratory damage and skin burns, said Freda Tarbell, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Authorities went door to door to warn the 2,500 people living within 2 miles to evacuate. Residents were taken to shelters in nearby towns, and officials said they did not know when they would be allowed to return. Red Cross officials said they expected to shelter only 50 to 100 people overnight. No injuries were reported at the plant, where the spill was contained and crews were trying to clean it up. An official at Butler Memorial Hospital, where authorities said three residents were taken, declined to comment. The dense cloud was reported moving slowly west Saturday night, close to the ground. No further evacuations were planned, but residents in the path were told to remain inside, to close doors, windows and vents, to shut down any system that draws air from the outside, and to put out any fires in fireplaces. Petrolia is about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

A legislative investigation found governor Sarah Palin violated state ethics laws by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Read the investigative report in Palin ethics probe (pdf)

OBAMA TALKS TOUGH ABOUT AFGHANISTAN; HERE'S WHAT HE'S REALLY IN FOR By Anand Gopal, Tomdispatch.com Afghanistan is filled with poor, jobless people who have seen their families blown up by Americans. And they're itching to get revenge. http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/102340/ 12 NEW STOMACH-TURNING REVELATIONS ABOUT SARAH PALIN By AlterNet Staff, AlterNet Palin has taken to smearing Obama. But it's her own record that continues to yield alarming information, undermining her skills and credibility. http://www.alternet.org/election08/102345/ VOTER PURGES COULD CAUSE FLORIDA-LIKE PRESIDENTIAL RECOUNTS By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet If the November vote is close, key swing states that have been illegally rejecting voters could become recount battlegrounds like Florida. http://www.alternet.org/democracy/102374/ HOW SCARY THE ECONOMY WOULD BE IN MCCAIN'S HANDS By Jared Bernstein, Huffington Post McCain's economic plan contradicts his recently held fundamental views and is far out of touch with the needs of the country. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/101895/

World's Largest Food Fishery in Danger of Collapse Dwindling Food Supply Puts Endangered Steller Sea Lions, Fishing Jobs in Jeopardy WASHINGTON - A new survey conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service reveals that populations of Alaska pollock, the world's largest food fishery, have dropped 50 percent since last year. Pollock is America's most ubiquitous seafood product, found in McDonald's fish sandwiches, frozen fish sticks, fish and chips, and imitation crabmeat. The assessment revealed that Bering Sea pollock stocks have declined to their lowest level on record - a startling development for a fishery NMFS' chief scientist recently called "one of the most successfully managed species in the world" and that has earned a Marine Stewardship Council certification. In December, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will set the new pollock catch limits for 2009. Scientists and conservationists have warned that unless the Council reduces fishing pressure on pollock, a vital forage species for fur seals, whales, and endangered Steller sea lions, the entire Bering Sea ecosystem could be in jeopardy of collapse. This would prove devastating for the state's commercial fishermen and traditional coastal communities that depend on a healthy ocean for their livelihoods. "Economic pressures to keep on fishing at such high levels have overwhelmed common sense," said Dr. Jeremy Jackson, Director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. "With the huge uncertainties inherent in fisheries models, a far more precautionary, ecosystem-based approach is required. Otherwise, fisheries managers are gambling with the health of our oceans and coastal communities." Over the past several years, the pollock fishery has experienced poor juvenile survival rates and dwindling populations, forcing the council to reduce harvests in the past two fishing seasons. But experts say these actions have been inadequate, failing to prevent further declines. In order to restore the fishery's health, the allowable catch must be cut in half, fishing on spawning populations suspended, and marine reserves established to protect critical habitats. "We are on the cusp of one of the largest fishery collapses in history," said John Hocevar, Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Director. "It may still be possible to prevent disaster, but the North Pacific Fishery Management Council must take swift and decisive action when they meet in December." For background on the pollock fishery, see our report at: www.greenpeace.org/usa/rethinking Contact: John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director

TROOPERGATE INVESTIGATOR: PALIN 'UNLAWFULLY ABUSED HER AUTHORITY' AlterNet The news isn't good for the Republican vice presidential nominee -- and is an unpleasant reminder of the power abuses of the Bush years. http://www.alternet.org/rights/102564/ WHY THE GOP IS NUTS ABOUT ACORN By Richard L. Hasen, Huffington Post Attacks on ACORN appear to be part of a broader GOP strategy to shrink the number of Dem voters and sow doubts if the election turns out to be close. http://www.alternet.org/democracy/102557/ MEMO TO MEDIA: THE PALIN RAPE-KIT STORY HAS NOT BEEN 'DEBUNKED' By Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America The central, undisputed facts of Palin's actions remain hidden in plain sight for all to see. It's time for the press to take a closer look. http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/102327/

RECESSION? DEPRESSION? HOW DEEP, HOW FAR AND WHAT CAN BE DONE? By Joshua Holland, AlterNet A survey of what some of the best thinkers believe we're facing in the coming months and years -- and the best ways to prevent complete disaster. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/102379/ THE WOMAN WHO COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS FINANCIAL MESS WAS SILENCED BY GREENSPAN, RUBIN AND SUMMERS By Katrina vanden Heuvel, TheNation.com A sad tale emerges of willfully arrogant behavior designed to undermine a wise woman's good judgment. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/102559/

Dear ACLU Supporter, Reports all over the media yesterday and today confirm what we've known all along. Surveillance programs touted as critical to protect national security have in fact been used to monitor the private communications of innocent Americans abroad, including humanitarian workers and U.S. service-members. Two former military intercept operators -- the people at the National Security Agency (NSA) who actually listen in to people's calls -- revealed the news in an ABC report released yesterday. Contrary to direct assurances from Bush administration officials that NSA monitoring was directed at suspected terrorists, the intercept operators report that "hundreds of U.S. citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they call friends and family back home." The NSA even intentionally directed its surveillance powers at well-established humanitarian organizations like Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross. It is outrageous that service men and women and international aid workers have had their private conversations needlessly and wantonly invaded by our government. That is why the ACLU's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Congress's expansion of the NSA's surveillance authority under the FISA Amendments Act is so critical. Our case, Amnesty International v. McConnell -- brought on behalf of an impressive array of journalists, human rights organizations and lawyers -- shines a spotlight on the devastating effect of unchecked spying power on Americans doing indispensable work around the globe. It's more important than ever that you support the ACLU's lawsuit and other actions challenging out-of-control government spying. Just as we warned -- and as our FISA lawsuit contends -- the NSA's new unchecked surveillance powers invade the privacy of innocent Americans and fundamentally undermine human rights workers, journalists and attorneys doing important work around the globe. This dragnet spying is ineffective, intrusive, unnecessary and most certainly unconstitutional. Donate now to support the ACLU's lawsuit and put an end to out-of-control government eavesdropping. http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=x2_ebf9OikJreWjQQLozJw.. The FISA Amendments Act -- rushed through a timid pre-election Congress -- gives the government nearly unfettered access to Americans' international communications without any meaningful judicial oversight. As this week's news demonstrates, with unchecked and unaccountable spying powers, NSA officials will quickly run amok. That's why the ACLU is acting decisively to bring our government's behavior back in line with the Constitution. We will not yield until we bring this reckless spying to an end. Please stand with us today. Sincerely, Anthony D. Romero Executive Director ACLU P.S. To learn more about our lawsuit challenging unconstitutional spying, visit our website. http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=9h-16NFkJSPBDFXoWJm8ig.. © ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004

Added: August 23, 2008 (more info) iH7f5o42c2w

Added: August 11, 2008 JXNVVWhszfY

lookin through 1 of my playlists and found ... Added: March 17, 2008 aqRsjie3Quc Added: January 21, 2008 ivREYgodK4I December 09, 2007 JLVTmYYTdO0 Added: February 24, 2008 _2KugGZotr0 theres more lots more some people have seen this shit storm coming glad I was paying attention....

ya know.... if ya aint nervous by now yer in a coma

HtNXlShAvU makes me feel like pukeing al lover that bitch

no...fuckin....way... X'D

Two weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Paulson bailed out American Insurance Group (AIG) with $85 billion dollars in taxpayer money - and now they are back for more. He said they needed it to stay afloat. Now, we know what they did with our money. AIG executives headed out on a taxpayer funded junket to the St. Regis resort in California. While there, they had a blast at our expense. They helped themselves to:(1) * $201,047.42 for hotel rooms and $147,301.71 for catered banquets * $23,380 for the hotel spa and another $1,488 for the salon. * Golf for $6,939.09 and $5,016.32 spent at the Tavern. Now they are back at the trough. This is outrageous. Tell Treasury Secretary Paulson: The Director who authorized this junket should be fired and every penny spent on this lavish retreat must be returned to the Treasury. Send a message to Secretary Paulson right now http://act.truemajorityaction.org/p/7002/campaign?campaign_KEY=1553 Our government needs to be involved in restoring the economy. We need an economic recovery package for Main Street instead of more giveaways to Secretary Paulson's buddies on Wall Street. These bailouts are the last money grab by the Bush Administration on their way out of office. It's on us to provide oversight and make sure taxpayer money isn't wasted. Thanks for being vigilant, -Darcy Darcy Scott Martin TrueMajority Washington Director

welcome back

John McCain - ironically enough, while aboard the "Straight Talk Express" - was unable to answer when confronted with a simple question: Shouldn't insurance companies be required to cover birth control if they cover Viagra? That was months ago, and he still hasn't answered the question clearly! I think it's time he answers, and next week's debate presents the perfect opportunity. Watch the video and tell debate moderator Bob Schieffer that John McCain owes millions of voters an answer about birth control >> http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AAMav/WLmw/ANR12 There's a reason John McCain "certainly do[es] not want to discuss that issue," as he stammers in the clip: Because his record shows that he's dangerously out of touch with a nation where 98 percent of women use birth control at some point in their lives. As recently as 2005, McCain voted specifically against requiring insurance companies to cover prescription birth control. Next Wednesday's debate is the last chance for voters to hear from the candidates in an open forum! And we can't afford a president who's out-to-lunch on issues affecting women and their families. It's time to demand real answers. Watch the video of McCain's birth control "straight talk" and insist that he is asked: Why should men get insurance coverage for Viagra while some women pay the full cost out-of-pocket for prescription birth control? Take action >> http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AAMav/WLmw/ANR12

ROTFLMAO!!!! QE66jjj08zE