Globaltrickster

<scratch Utah off of possible places to move to>

Plan to Import 20,000 Tons of Italian Nuclear Waste into Utah Approved by US Gov : TreeHugger

Here’s a troubling plan—the ironically named US company EnergySolutions is seeking approval to import 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy. The waste would be processed in Tennessee, then shipped on over to Utah, where it would be buried in the desert.

This is what I am talking about! 20 out of 23 subjects is pretty good freaking odds. Odds I am sure my little girl would be willing to take for even a partial cure. But where is this? In a lab still, years later. And this is not the only possible cure that has been reported on, so why is this still in labs and journals? Well, I guess we would not need to spend all that money on insulin, needles, testing, etc. We can’t take that money from the mouths of those vendors! Then they might need to innovate and come up with research and better drugs for other diseases out there. Yes this is part frustration, but it is also part absurdity.

Transplants help Type 1 diabetics skip insulin | Reuters

CHICAGO, April 14 (Reuters) – People with type 1 diabetes who got stem cell transplants were able to go as long as four years without needing insulin treatments, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

There is a new rule in the universe. This edict says that if you are such an incompetent driver to slide into a ditch, or drive 30 miles below the speed limit as a precaution, then every other driver on the road is allowed one punch to your head. Every single one of them. And if you lose consciousness, your body will be moved to the side of the road, so that the rest of us can drive as we know how to do.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

Woman has developed an imaginary, but useful, third arm – Boing Boing

After having a stroke, a 64-year-old woman reports that she now has a “pale, milky-white and translucent third arm” that she can use to scratch itchy parts of her body. She also says the limb can’t penetrate solid objects.

It is “the first case known to doctors of a person being able to feel, see and deliberately move a limb that doesn’t exist.” The woman underwent an MRI and when doctors asker her to move her imaginary third limb, her brain responded as if she really had the arm. Her visual cortex activity also indicated that she saw the arm. (Via Arbroath)

to conserve finances, canceled the hosting and moved over to WordPress with domain masking, just a lot cheaper. means less control over the site, widgets, etc. but had to be done. twitter posts will now, sometimes it seems, show up in the lower right as a widget. links have been re-added, categories adjusted, etc.

If your not watching the Onion News videos, you need to be. Here is a site with a few examples.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/22933

Some of the funniest bits I’ve seen.

the headaches and anger have come again, but even worse, the ambition.
i imagine, that as usual, it will be drowned by the trivialities of life, the entertainments and passions of compliancy.
perhaps this time i can hold onto it, before it slips away, if i dare.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LslJv5nPvC0]

Nellie Mckay Work Song

Discovered a new artist, after hearing one of her songs on NPR, Nellie McKay.

I am a lover of music, as many people are, however, as a writer, lyrics have always been the premium for me. Secondly, I would have to say any genre breaking sound catches my attention. Nellie is described by one reviewer as a cross between “Dorris Day and Eminem” which seemed absurd at first glance. The first song I heard was ‘Identity Theft’ which definitely had lyrical rhymes, but to an almost…Grand Ole Opry sound to it. It was the words to this song that first drew me in enough to seek out more from Nellie.

Journo-fascist profiteers, pornotastic pioneers
Bonbonbastic puppeteers, get away from me
How can you write what we read, that ain’t my reality
You disabuse humanity, humility and fealty

So I grabbed this “Dorris Day/Eminem” singer and started to listen. And by god it was an accurate description. In some songs she sounded positively 1930′s, in others, she rapped with great speed and accuracy. What put a smile on my face was the lyrics. In almost every song, Nellie’s words drip with an intelligent and critical sarcasm. Sometimes her barbed words are aimed at politics, but most of it is social commentary, especially feminist issues.

Overall, she has a good voice, catchy music, and intelligent song writing. Not to mention the slight jolt when going from a classically sung song about marriage (sarcastic) to a rap about the toils of work, is a pleasant surprise.

For 20+ years now I have lived in Alaska. I have heard all the complaining of the cold, the snow, long winters, for all those years. But sometimes its hard to remember that it is usually worse somewhere else. I will now think of this place while I am outside starting the car, etc. I don’t think it will make me any warmer, but at least I don’t suffer alone. And I think that is all most people want. 

A visit to the coldest town on Earth – Boing Boing

The village has a population of around 800 and is located 690 meters above sea level and lies in a valley between two mountain ranges (the reason for the low temperatures). The name Oymyakon means “non-freezing water” because of the natural hot spring close to the village.

The temperature this week is pretty low and the temperature tomorrow is a chilly -63C which based on the stats at Wikipedia equals the record low for December.