MindMover
MindMover's JournalFacebook says tell me if you are an organ donor...
(Reuters) - Tired of the long wait for a new kidney, Michael Shelling, a 50-year-old video game marketing consultant based in San Diego, decided to take a more active role in the search.
About three months ago, he decided to tap into his social network by setting up a Facebook page to get the word out to his friends, and their friends, that he needs a new kidney and, by the way, his blood type is O.
The search may have paid off. A potential donor is going through testing to see if they are a match.
It is the kind of scenario Facebook hopes to foster. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg put out the call earlier on Tuesday to encourage the social network's users -- more than 900 million -- to speak up if they are organ donors and display it on their personal pages.
"We think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends, and we think that can be a big part in helping to solve the crisis," Zuckerberg told ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" program on Tuesday.
There are currently 92,102 people in the United States waiting for a donor kidney -- the organ that is in greatest demand -- according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Last year, only 28,535 kidney transplants took place, with the majority of those donated from deceased donors.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/01/net-us-facebook-idUSBRE8400PW20120501
Poll: So is this Facebook question/answer helpful or invasive ...?
Sorry that you were offended by men stating the obvious....
that they are attracted to pictures of scantily clad women.....
and your level of offensive dialogue is set so low that a man saying that he likes naked women would set off your offensive demeaning comment post, to me is over the top.....
Furthermore, you state "Could you use a video to make your point that doesn't open with a sexist or salacious image?!
And, look: the first two responses are apparently from people with purient interest in an image that is demeaning to women. "
My question is, what is sexist about a naked woman, or is the sexist part in your head......?
We are the oppressed...
We are the oppression no one sees in the home of the free.
We are the genocide unspoken in the land of the brave.
Disease
Mutilation
Massacre
Rape
Sterilization
Starvation
Relocation
Neglect...
We are the eyes of a child bathing in the sink.
We are the arms of a teenager pumping water for his family.
We are the grandparents who raised their grandchildren.
We are the middle schooler who's sister hung herself.
We are the elder who clings to his beer.
We are the women who wear sunglasses to cover a bruise.
We are native, and we are still here.
We are the grass dancer who refuses to quit.
We are the high school graduate with a dream of college.
We are the drummer who sings to the great spirit.
We are the shawl dancer who raises her brother.
We are the elders who keep tradition alive. We are strong.
We will not give in.
We will not assimilate.
We are still here.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/h7nf1m
Originalist Sin
A brilliant article shows that the Founding Fathers not only supported mandates, they passed laws imposing them. Take that, Scalia!
The five conservative justices on the Supreme Court—Thomas, Alito, Scalia, Roberts and Kennedy—cloak themselves in the myth that they are somehow channeling the wisdom and understanding of the Founding Fathers, the original intent that guided the drafting of the Constitution. I believe the premise of their argument is itself suspect: It is not clear to me how much weight should be given to non-textually based intent that is practically impossible to discern more than 200 years later. Most of the issues over which there is constitutional dispute today could not even have been envisioned when the document was drafted.
Even so, it would be an even better response to the conservative wing’s claim of perceived understanding of original intent to be able to refute their claims by showing them to be historically and indisputably wrong. So once again let’s venture into the world of the health care debate. The consensus view is that existing Commerce Clause doctrine clearly authorizes the type of mandate passed in the act—see in particular the affirmance of the statute by ultraconservative Judge Silberman of the D.C. Circuit Court.
Nonetheless, those opposing the bill insist that an individual mandate has never been done and the framers would simply not permit such an encroachment on liberty and freedom.
Some spectacular historical reporting by Professor Einer Elhauge of Harvard Law School in the New Republic thoroughly rebut the argument. He has found three mandate equivalents passed into law by the early Congresses—in which a significant number of founders served—and reports that these bills were signed into law by none other than Presidents George Washington and John Adams. As Founders go, one might consider them pretty senior in the hierarchy. Their acts can probably be relied upon to give us a reasonable idea what the Founders intended to be the scope of congressional and governmental power.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_best_policy/2012/04/affordable_care_act_the_supreme_court_and_the_constitution_harvard_law_professor_einer_elhauge_shows_how_the_founding_fathers_supported_mandates_.html?wpisrc=twitter_socialflow
Rep. Allen West Calls Democrats Nine-Foot-Tall Aliens
Here's a quick lesson in how political fundraising works: If you say crazy things about your political rivals, your base will give you a ton of money. But as a consequence, your political rivals will also find themselves raising a ton of money, which means that if you want to keep your head above water, you have to continue saying increasingly nuttier things.
That brings us to Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a bomb-throwing tea party rock star who's moving into a new district that gave 51 percent of its vote to Barack Obama in 2008, and is considered to be one of Democrats' top targets this fall. West has $3.3 million on hand for the fall—an enormous sum for a House candidate at this stage in the race. Not coincidentally, though, the two biggest fundraising hauls from Democratic House challengers nationwide came from the likely nominees in the district West currently serves in (Fla.–22), and in district he's moving into (Fla.–18).
So what do you do if you're Allen West? You keep on keeping on. Here's a Facebook note he posted last week:
Here we go again, the artful dodger, President Barack Hussein Obama, bribing the electorate with political gimmicks. We are witnessing a political propaganda program of Orwellian proportions designed to manipulate and deceive the American people. This is so reminiscent of the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man". Obama and his liberal progressive disciples are the modern day Kanamits. My warning to you all, don't fall for the intellectually dishonest rhetoric and become post-election day dinner America!
What is a Kanamit? The Broward–Palm Beach New Times helpfully informs us that the Kanamit were "a race of nine-foot-tall aliens that come to Earth and cure famine, blight, and nuclear warfare." But that was all just a ruse for their real goal: "their kindness is really just a not-very-elaborate ruse to fatten up the human race so they can be carted back to the Kanamit home planet to be eaten. A Kanamit book called To Serve Man that was discovered by the humans turns out not to be about helping man at all—it's a cookbook." It's people!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/rep-allen-west-calls-democrats-nine-foot-tall-aliens
Poll: Which planet is Allen West from....?
Parkinson's Personality: Disease More Likely to Strike Cautious People
Some personality traits appear to be linked with the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests.
The results show patients with Parkinson's disease are more likely to be cautious and avoid taking risks compared with people who don't have Parkinson's.
Moreover, the tendency to avoid taking risks appears to be a stable personality trait across a patient's lifetime — as far back as 30 years before symptoms began, those with Parkinson's disease said they did not often engage in risky or exhilarating activities, such as riding roller coasters or speeding, the study found.
The findings add to a growing body of research suggesting Parkinson's is more likely to afflict people with rigid, cautious personalities.
It's possible that what we consider to be aspects of someone's personality may in fact be very early manifestations of Parkinson's, said study researcher Kelly Sullivan, of the University of South Florida's department of neurology. However, much more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis, Sullivan said.
It's also way too soon to say that having a "look before you leap" personality puts you at risk for Parkinson's.
"I'm not a big risk-taker, but at the same time, I haven't resigned myself that I'm going to have Parkinson's," Sullivan said.
http://www.livescience.com/20008-parkinsons-disease-personality-risk-avoidance.html?utm_source=Marleybonez-via-twitter
Poll: Is this study sample to small to make this important determination...?
New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism
The Obama campaign apparently didn't look backwards into history when selecting its new campaign slogan, "Forward" — a word with a long and rich association with European Marxism.
Many Communist and radical publications and entities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries had the name "Forward!" or its foreign cognates. Wikipedia has an entire section called "Forward (generic name of socialist publications)."
"The name Forward carries a special meaning in socialist political terminology. It has been frequently used as a name for socialist, communist and other left-wing newspapers and publications," the online encyclopedia explains.
The slogan "Forward!" reflected the conviction of European Marxists and radicals that their movements reflected the march of history, which would move forward past capitalism and into socialism and communism.
The Obama campaign released its new campaign slogan Monday in a 7-minute video. The title card has simply the word "Forward" with the "O" having the familiar Obama logo from 2008. It will be played at rallies this weekend that mark the Obama re-election campaign's official beginning.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/apr/30/new-obama-slogan-has-long-ties-marxism-socialism/
Poll: Can one word define a campaign and its associations...?
Number of Babies Born Addicted to Prescription Painkillers Skyrockets
The treatment of dependent infants cost more than $720 million in 2009, with the majority of funding coming from Medicaid.
An epidemic similar to that of "crack babies" in the early 90s may be resurfacing, with the number of infants being born addicted to prescription painkillers increasing fivefold since 2000.
According to a new study released Monday, babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome—exposure to addictive drugs while in the mother's womb—are increasingly addicted to Oxycodone, Vicodin, Heroin or opiates and can suffer from seizures, breathing problems, difficulty feeding and inconsolability, according to Stephen Patrick, a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow at the University of Michigan and lead author of the report.
[Deaths From Painkillers Triple in a Decade]
"Opiate painkillers are the new epidemic," he says. "It's becoming a problem. We need to increase attention from a public health perspective and talk about how we deal with opiates and the way they're prescribed."
The addiction is rarely if ever fatal, but treatment of the 13,000 "Oxy Babies" born addicted to painkillers in 2009 cost more than $720 million. About 80 percent of affected infants were on Medicaid, according to Patrick's report.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has tripled over the past several years. About 12 million Americans—about 1 in 20 teenagers and adults—use prescription painkillers in a way that's not prescribed.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/04/30/number-of-babies-born-addicted-to-prescription-painkillers-skyrockets
Poll: Is "getting high/low" hardwired into humanity...?
Blackfeet ask for more openness about oil, gas exploration
BROWNING – Speaking to an uncomprehending group of federal and tribal land managers, Diane Calflooking Burd delivered an impassioned and articulate entreaty in her native Blackfeet language.
Then, after a long pause, she drove her point home in English.
“That’s how all this technical language from the oil companies sounds to us,” she said. “We need an interpreter, because they don’t tell us nothing.”
Calflooking Burd was among several dozen tribal members who gathered last week in a conference room at the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Browning to learn more about oil and gas exploration on the Blackfeet Reservation. The meeting was arranged by the Bureau of Land Management and BIA, with the purpose of informing tribal members who have leased portions of their allotted land to energy companies for oil and gas exploration.
*****
Calflooking Burd and other stakeholders called for more transparency from energy companies and better communication and outreach from the BIA and the BLM, which oversee mineral leases on the reservation.
“They have an obligation to the people,” said Debbie White Grass Bullshoe, whose elderly family members have holdings on the reservation. “If I’m going to help my mom sign, I want to know we’re in for. We need to be better educated before we decide to sign. These oil companies wouldn’t be here without us.”
Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/local/blackfeet-ask-for-more-openness-about-oil-gas-exploration/article_529e15ac-91ba-11e1-b129-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1tZAllAHL
Poll: Do you think oil companies tell anyone the truth..?
An Underground Fossil Forest Offers Clues on Climate Change
In the clammy depths of a southern Illinois coal mine lies the largest fossil forest ever discovered, at least 50 times as extensive as the previous contender.
Scientists are exploring dripping passages by the light of headlamps, mapping out an ecosystem from 307 million years ago, just before the world’s first great forests were wiped out by global warming. This vast prehistoric landscape may shed new light on climate change today.
Dating from the Pennsylvanian period of the Carboniferous era, the forest lies entombed in a series of eight active mines. They burrow through the rich seams of the Springfield Coal, a nationally important energy resource that underlies much of Illinois and two neighboring states and has been heavily mined for decades.
Pushed downward over the ages by the crushing weight of rock layers higher up, the Springfield forest lies at varying depths, 250 to 800 feet underground. The researchers have only sampled it so far, in the vicinity of Galatia, Illinois, but they think it extends more than 100 miles in one direction; its width has not been ascertained. An earlier discovery by the same team, the Herrin Coal forest farther north in Illinois, is just two miles long.
“Effectively you’ve got a lost world,” said Howard Falcon-Lang, a paleontologist at Royal Holloway, University of London, who has explored the site. “It’s the closest thing you’ll find to time travel,” he added.
Curiously, the forest can be viewed only from below. The scientists crane their necks, illuminating the ceiling with miners’ helmet lamps. Hundreds of millions of years ago, trees and other plants grew atop thick peat that eventually compressed into coal; when that was excavated, the forest’s fossilized remains could be seen in the mine’s shale ceiling.
“It’s a botanical Pompeii, buried in a geological instant,” said William A. DiMichele, a paleobiologist and curator of fossil plants at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and one of the forest’s discoverers. He believes it was gently entombed by floods that successively washed through a swamp.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/science/underground-fossil-forest-in-illinois-offers-clues-on-climate-change.html?
Poll: Does looking into past geological history help us today ..?
Profile Information
Member since: Sun Jul 31, 2011, 05:36 PMNumber of posts: 5,016
