René O'Deay gBlog

Prevent Swine Flu Good Advice

2009-10-19T11:35:00.001-05:00

From an email:
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know.

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. (Gargling with warm salt water kept me from being sick, after I got that tell-tale tickle in my throat. YEAY!....Della)

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
(A Neti pot with saline solution cleared up my chronic sinus infection this fall, after suffering for years. Even antibiotics didn't heal it.....Della)

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

I suggest you pass this on to your entire e-list. You never know who might pay attention to it - and STAY ALIVE because of it.

US turns its eye to Baluchistan

2009-10-10T00:14:00.001-05:00

Quetta Front & the Baluchi Factor
As fighting in Afghanistan, particularly the south, intensifies U.S. policy-makers are beginning to shift their gaze to Afghanistan’s southern border with Pakistan and wondering if the northern regions of Baluchistan are – like the FATA on Afghanistan’s eastern border – serving as a Taliban haven. U.S. officials have even claimed that Taliban head Mullah Omar and his top leaders are living in Baluchistan’s capital Quetta.

One of our friends here on NowPublic has been bemoaning the lack of concern for his countrymen for awhile, and the presence of the Taliban in his country along with their partnership with Pakistan forces in oppressing them.

From 2003:

The border regions of Pakistan, and Quetta in particular, are emerging as the main center of Taliban support in the region, and a breeding ground for opposition sentiment to the American campaign in Afghanistan and Mr. Karzai's government. Senior Taliban officials and commanders are taking refuge here, too, Afghan and American officials say. Members of the political opposition in Pakistan confirm that Taliban leaders are active and are recruiting young men to fight.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, and reports have confirmed a major training camp for Taliban is located there.

Some bits of advice from in-country:

"America is in for big trouble in Afghanistan unless you remove the source," warned one influential editor, who declined to give his name.

Habib Jalib Baloch, a former senator and leader of the Baloch National Party, said, "America should have selected to crush Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan, rather than go to war in Iraq."

He said he was sure that the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, and his top commanders were all in Pakistan, protected by their links to the Pakistani establishment.

"You need to cut the funding," he said. "You will not kill them with a hammer. You must cut the funding and the connection."

NowPublic

Stirring Protest Kashan University Students Iran July 3, 2009

2009-07-05T16:12:00.001-05:00

This video is amazing (uploaded July 3). The song translation from Saaed on his blog Revolutionary Road:

They form chains and sing ``Yare dabestani``, ``my fellow schoolmate`` a classic revolutionary song that every Iranian around knows by heart.

(rough translation)

My schoolmate
You're with me and going along with me
The alphabet stick is above our heads
You're my spite and my woe
Our names have been carved
On the body of this blackboard
The stick of injustice and tyranny
Still remains on our body

This uncivilized plain of ours
Is covered with weeds
Good, if good
Bad, if bad
Dead is the hearts of its people
My hand and yours
Should tear up these curtains
Who can, except you and I
Cure our pain?

Kashan lies south of Tehran, a major oasis with 2 universities. Kashan University website is offline.

NowPublic

St. Charles Avenue streetcars win federal stimulus cash

2009-06-20T16:05:00.001-05:00

For some light relief, I'm pleased to announce the streetcars in New Orleans will get Federal Stimulus cash.

If you live in Uptown New Orleans, part of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package is coming soon to a streetcar line near you.

The Times-Picayune archive
The U.S. Transportation Department announced Friday that the Regional Transit Authority will get $2.4 million in federal stimulus money to improve the St. Charles Avenue line.

Read the details here:

NowPublic

Mona - Quicksilver Messenger Service

2009-06-16T01:49:00.001-05:00

Here's one of the greatest covers of Bo Diddly's MONA! Quicksilver!

Round Houses for Solar and Hurricanes

2009-06-02T16:31:00.009-05:00

Southeast
Louisiana, High and dry: That's exactly how Bob and Sherry Bourg expect
to spend the 2009 storm season, now that their new hurricane-resistant home
has been installed on the shores of Lake Catherine.
Deltec, an Asheville, N.C., business, designs hurricane-resistant circular (technically, polygonal) homes and produces kits for assembly. The company trains contractors
in various locales to ensure that kits are assembled according to company standards.
Locals who follow "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" were introduced to the company when Ty Pennington and crew landed in town last spring and replaced the storm-and tornado-damaged home of a Westwego first responder and his extended family using a Deltec product.

Survived Katrina in Pass Christian, Mississippi:

A sales brochure for Deltec Homes says "round for a reason".

Dale and Carolyn Medley of Pass Christian now understand the reason, courtesy of Hurricane Katrina. The couple's unusual home withstood the storm's fury.

"We've had several people come by and look at it since the storm," said Dale Medley, while giving a tour of his unusually-shaped home.

The round house in Timber Ridge proved its worth in Katrina.

"My son's an architect and he advised that a round house, he explained to me, that the wind goes around it and it's safer with high winds than a square house," said Carolyn Medley.

Dozens of nearby houses in the Timber Ridge subdivision gave way to Katrina's wind and water. The Medley home survived the storm's wind with very little damage.

Deltec helped build home for Westwego couple and rebuild a church: banding
together with Extreme Makeover Home Edition and construction crews from around the country for 7-day rebuild of the New Orleans area home and a church damaged by Hurricane Katrina and tornadoes.

For more information visit http://www.DeltecHomes.com/

Notice the homebuilding seminars also on the site.

Grand Isle 'Round House' Post-Katrina, a survivor.

See you in a couple of weeks. Gone to Taos!

René O'Deay

Largest herd of gazelles sighted in Mongolia

2009-05-14T07:55:00.001-05:00

A mega-herd of a quarter of a million Mongolian gazelles has been seen gathering on the country's steppes, one of the world's last great wildernesses.

The coming together on the grassy plains is the largest ever recorded.

The biologists who saw it estimate it contained perhaps a quarter of all Mongolian gazelles on the planet.

"It was stunning," says Kirk Olson of the University of Massachusetts, US. "I don't know if I was surprised or simply blown away by what we came across."

This large of a gathering of these antelope is highly unusual, as herds of 5,000 to 8,000 only gather in the fall. The area has been unusually dry, but just a couple weeks ago there was a huge rainfall. Must be great grass.

See Olson and his group's detailed article on this epic gathering of the Mongolian Gazelle in the ORYX Journal.

NowPublic

The Farmer Suicide Belt of India

2009-05-08T09:25:00.003-05:00

Farmer Suicides, the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal, Wal-Mart in India and Monsanto

Farmers in India have been committing suicide in unprecedented numbers. 1 every 30 minutes.

We're talking small farmers who hold from 7 to 12 acres of land. Social pressures like raising money for weddings and for education for children cause many to sell off land to pay for them or make loans they cannot repay when crops fail. This is probably not good for the financial health of the family or their daughters's. Add to that many families are left destitute, landless, homeless.

VANDANA SHIVA: (interviewed in 2006) Indian farmers have never committed suicide on a large scale. It’s something totally new. It’s linked to the last decade of globalization, trade liberalization under a corporate-driven economy. The seed sector was liberalized to allow corporations like Cargill and Monsanto to sell unregulated, untested seed. They began with hybrids, which can’t be saved, and moved on to genetically engineered Bt cotton.

The cotton belt is where the suicides are taking place on a very, very large scale. It is the suicide belt of India. And the high cost of seed is linked to high cost of chemicals, because these seeds need chemicals. In addition, these costly seeds need to be bought every year, because their very design is to make seeds nonrenewable, seed that isn’t renewable by its very nature, but whether it’s through patenting systems, intellectual property rights or technologically through hybridization, nonrenewable seed is being sold to farmers so they must buy every year.

There’s a case going on in the Supreme Court of India right now on the monopoly practices of Monsanto. An antitrust court ruled against Monsanto, because the price is so high, farmers necessarily get into a debt trap, which is why I was talking about credit, for the wrong thing, could actually be a problem and not a solution.

In addition, the price of cotton is collapsing under the huge $4 billion subsidies given to agribusiness in the United States, which then dumps cotton on a world market with 50% reduction of price artificially. This is what led to the Cancun failure of WTO, but this is what is killing Indian farmers.

Just three days ago, farmers were protesting against the low prices of cotton. They went to the government agency, which before globalization used to buy cotton at a fair price. One farmer was shot dead. So we’re not just seeing suicides, we’re also seeing farmers’ protests treated as a new threat to the regime.

Genetic modification based on an obsolete theory and hence ineffective and dangerous

Genetic engineered seed

genetic engineering in the laboratory is crude, imprecise and invasive.

GM seeds also contain “suicide genes” that render the seeds from this year’s crop useless

farmers are forced to buy the patented seeds, pesticide and fertilizer again and again, every year.

Bt resistant pests and Roundup tolerant superweeds are on the rise, rendering the two major GM crop traits useless

Crop contamination and volunteers, bringing lawsuits from Monsanto spies,

GM crops cross-pollinate neighboring fields,

Volunteers in fields never planted with GM seed can spring up up to six years later.

Herbicide resistant GM volunteers hard to eradicate.

Monsanto is the only company that charges a $15/acre fee for HT canola.
Fortunately, in Canada an important victory over Monsanto in his lawsuit against the company for contaminating his land. In an out of court settlement, Monsanto has agreed to pay all the clean-up costs of HT canola with no gag-order.

Crop increase potential exaggerated, even losses up to 40% have been recorded.

Wildlife harmed, including insects, particularly honeybees.

Then, Walmart cames along and puts the small farmer markets out of business, an essential source of income for many in India.

Dr Vandana Shiva, physicist, eco-feminist, author, activist, has founded Seeds of Freedom and Naranya, with organic seed banks, in efforts to save over 56 species (under threat in India) of flower, fruits, grains, vegetables, and other cash crops from the dangers and eradication by GM seed crops and their products.

René O'Deay----

Contested Berlin Bust of Nefertiti a Fake?

2009-05-07T13:41:00.002-05:00

I find this claim somewhat oppotunistic. A Swiss art historian announces the release of a new book in which he claims that the bust of Nefertiti is actually a fake.

Doesn't have that much proof in my opinion. But here's one of the articles and you can make your own decision.

.....a Swiss art historian is claiming that a delicate bust of the Egyptian monarch in Berlin that was thought to date back to 1347 BC is in fact a 20th-century imposter.

Henri Stierlin says the bust was made by an artist named Gerardt Marks at the request of Ludwig Borchardt, an archaeologist, for research purposes. On December 6, 1912, a German prince admired the statue as an original, the story goes, and Borchardt didn’t have the heart to correct him.

Interesting that this appears just when Egypt's demands for the return of the bust of Nefertiti are heating up and after the recent CT scan of the statue revealed an exquisitely carved limestone base they claim proves its a real artifact, not a copy.

NowPublic

Taliban attack NATO terminal

2009-04-04T18:04:00.001-05:00

Direct from Kabul, Afghanistan:

Taliban attack NATO terminal in Peshawar and torch nine vehicles

Dozens of armed Taliban militants on April 3 stormed a NATO supplies container terminal in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, and torched nine vehicles and several offices, Police and locals said the terminal, located on the Ring Road in Pishtakhara Police station precincts, was attacked early in the morning, adding that the Taliban and Police exchanged heavy fire, but no casualties were reported. Police officials said there were more than 100 militants who participated in the raid. They said the Taliban also used rockets to target the Police party but failed to hit anyone.

NowPublic

Pink Sari Gang: We're Not going to Take it Anymore!

2009-04-01T01:33:00.001-05:00

Womens group "Pink Gang" fights for the rights of women and other marginalized people in rural India.

Dalai Lama won't seek Rebirth

2009-03-08T17:32:00.001-05:00

Taipei - The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in an interview with Taiwan television aired Sunday, said he is in excellent health - but won't seek reincarnation. In an interview with Taiwan's Formosa TV, which was conducted in India to mark the 50th anniversary of China's occupation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama said it would be up to the Tibetan people to decide if there should be a reincarnation after his death.

NowPublic

Bon Jovi joins New Orleans Jazz Fest roster May 2

2009-02-06T17:01:00.002-06:00

"New Orleans, meet New Jersey: Bon Jovi is coming to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell.

The veteran Jersey rock band that lorded over MTV in the 1980s and continues to fill arenas worldwide performs at the Fair Grounds on May 2. That is the biggest surprise on the day-to-day Jazz Fest schedule released today.

After Hurricane Katrina, Bon Jovi donated $1 million to build 28 homes in Houma in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network and Habitat for Humanity. A street was renamed Bon Jovi Boulevard.
Bon Jovi joins New Orleans Jazz Fest roster as daily schedule is announced - Keith Spera - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

"

Krewe du Vieux Plots Sex-Based Stimulus French Quarter Mardi Gras

2009-02-03T19:25:00.007-06:00

Covert Carnival double-secret agent, checks out Krewe du Vieux - Angus Lind - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com: "'Timing is everything and what's happening in the news -- the passage of Obama's $819 billion stimulus package -- could not have played into their hands any better,' said the unmistakable raspy voice.

'Speaking of time, the clock's running and we haven't much time. Quick, look at this, scribe.'

Mardi Gras Parade Krewe du Vieux

The legendary but oft-bungling covert Carnival double secret agent -- dormant since Carnival past -- handed me a stack of papers indicating that these always ribald, risque and roguish revelers had conjured up their own version of what's in the news: "Krewe du Vieux Releases Its 'Stimulus Package,'" based on sex-based initiatives.

That provocative package will be released Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in a 12,000-step recovery program and parade through the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny, as the krewe declares moral bankruptcy. Parental discretion is not only advised, it is mandatory -- a kiddie parade this ain't.

"Parade-goers are advised to watch their assets -- it says so right here on this page," Float said. "You can look for them to show their Bare Stearns."

Reigning over the 23rd procession of mule-drawn floats, brass bands and 17 sub-krewes drinking lots of booze is Crooner, Cruise Director and King Frankie Ford, he of "Sea Cruise" fame and Gretna's only Grammy winner.

"These papers we now have in our hands show that the parade is a veritable sea of sexual innuendoes, Scribe, and it's ingenious," Float told me. "Based on what we're seeing, I think on Saturday night you'll see Endowed Jones Averages, the S&M 500 and lots of mutual fun. Here's the skinny on the sub-krewe Mama Roux: They say to invest in stocks and bondage, tie up good investments."

"Float," I replied, "the sub-krewe Drips & Discharges, it appears, has become a newly formed investment spanking firm. They claim to have gotten a jump on the market by creating a binge fund, hoping that people will use it to cover their assets during these troubling times."

"Here's the Krewe of Underwear's plan, Scribe," Float said. "They say the entire country will go into foreclosure and the People's Republic of China will take over the Capitol, coating all the monuments with red lead-based paint. Stimulus checks will thereafter be drawn from China's official state-run bank, WonTon Savings and Loin. On Great Wall Street, the foreclosure news will cause the Mao Jones Industrial Average to fall 669 points.

"Look," he continued, "there's Underwear's float. It looks like Uncle Sam is going down a toilet. You know, this is our second worst economy in history, but there ain't nothing so bad that you can't make fun of it. This krewe just wants to, uh, stimulate people into having fun at Mardi Gras, that's all."

"Float, see these caveman costumes?" I asked. "It appears the Krewe of C.R.U.D.E. is going back in time and giving in to their sub-primal urges. And they're scrapping mules in favor of their float being pulled by unemployed bankers."

"No fluff in this naughty parade, Scribe. The stars always seem to align for them. They picked this stimulus package theme a long time ago. And, like one of their members said, 'Even the president is talking about us. It's strange how we get this publicity.'¤"

Rumors that the president is in the parade could not be confirmed or denied.

Columnist Angus Lind can be reached at alind@timespicayune.com "

More of their Stimulus plans are revealed on the Krewe du Vieux website:

Reflecting national trends, Krewe du Vieux is wheeling and dealing with its own brand of economic incompetence. On February 7th, KdV will roll out its own STIMULUS PACKAGE that includes substantial “Investments in Stocks & Bondage” and a bailout plan for “D&D Cock Market Investment Spankers.” In a “Salute to Trickle Down Economics” Krewe du Vieux’s crack economic team, advised by the investment firm of “Schmeckel and Shekel’s Foreskins and Foreclosures,” promises to “Extend the Guard” and “Go Down With Uncle Sam.”

Tales of King Tut’s Blog: First Edition Sun Child, Prince of Egypt

2008-12-27T11:41:00.000-06:00

"First Edition of my novel Sun Child, Prince of Egypt, will be out soon available online.
Sun Child, Prince of Egypt First Edition Book Cover Image-->

I designed a new book cover with my own graphics, photos and design (click on image to go to my blog for lightbox popup with the full size image):

Here's the link to our online eStore .

Hope you all like the new cover.

Can’t tell you just how thrilled we are to finally make it to print."
Tales of King Tut’s Blog : First Edition Sun Child, Prince of Egypt

René O’Deay, Tutankhamen and Paaten
Spread the Word!

The Reckoning - Debt Watchdogs - Tamed or Caught Napping? - Series - NYTimes.com

2008-12-07T17:24:00.002-06:00

“These errors make us look either incompetent at credit analysis or like we sold our soul to the devil for revenue, or a little bit of both.”

A Moody’s managing director responding anonymously to an internal management survey, September 2007.
The housing mania was in full swing in 2005 when analysts at Moody’s Investors Service, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious credit-rating agency, were pressured to go back to the drawing board.
Moody’s, which judges the quality of debt that corporations and banks issue to raise money, had just graded a pool of securities underwritten by Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender. But Countrywide complained that the assessment was too tough.
The next day, Moody’s changed its rating, even though no new and significant information had come to light, The Reckoning - Debt Watchdogs - Tamed or Caught Napping? - Series - NYTimes.com

All this, years after nationwide realtors, assessors and tax assessors began a campaign to consisently overvalue housing, for their own and tax base benefits.

Or haven't you noticed?

After reading the whole article, seems to me these guys at Moody's did sell their soul to the devil.

What's your take?

Space News Examiner: Fireball '100 times brighter than a full moon' explodes over Colorado

2008-12-07T15:39:00.004-06:00

"Less than a month after a fireball meteor tore through Canadian skies, astronomer Christ Peterson of Cloudbait Observatory photographed a fireball near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In a posting to an astronomy discussion group, Peterson said:

Early this morning (2008.12.06 01:06 MST, 08:06 UT) I recorded what I believe is my brightest fireball ever. I'm currently estimating a magnitude of -18, some 100 times brighter than a full Moon. There appear to have been
some thin clouds, so it was probably even brighter. I don't yet know if it's on other cameras. The terminal explosion appears to be fairly close to Colorado Springs.

Peterson also posted a video of the fireball."

Space News Examiner: Fireball '100 times brighter than a full moon' explodes over Colorado courtesy of Patricia Phillips, Space News Examiner

The Jawa Report: Maxine: Funny E-Mail From Friends

2008-11-17T18:14:00.001-06:00

Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida .

Not me.. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.

+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.

+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ? Yes!
Think about this one:

1. Cows
2. The Constitution
3. The Ten Commandments

C O W S

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington?

And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq .... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

T H E 1 0 C O M M A N D M E N T S

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this:

You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.

PART OF THE PROBLEM

Also, Think about this:

If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone-- YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

It is Time for America to Speak up !

Yep, I passed it on!

(Oopsy, which blog am I on? Oh ya, kill those mother f'n terrorists...ed.)

The Jawa Report: Maxine: Funny E-Mail From Friends

(Trackback: http://haloscan.com/tb/mypetjawa/194967 )

Shell Oil Company achieves 376.59 mpg in test car- 1973!

2008-11-05T10:07:00.001-06:00

Indianapolis (IN) - Using fully stock production gasoline engine powered vehicles, with engine modifications limited only to changes in fuel mixture and ignition timing, Shell Oil Company served host to an open competition in automobile efficiency.

The fruit of their forum was sweet indeed as a two-door, full-sized production car was able to drive off with the prize by achieving 376.59 miles in normal driving conditions using a single gallon of fuel. A more heavily modified vehicle was able to achieve over 1140 miles on a single gallon of fuel.

Results like these are truly astounding and beg the question: Are we really getting all we can in efficiency from auto makers?

Images of the test cars in question: Shell Oil 1973 - 376 MPG!

A PDF on these test cars.

Anybody wonder why the tech used on these old cars can't be implemented now?

NowPublic

Gray Ghost busted for mural coverup - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

2008-10-25T02:48:00.002-05:00

Gray Ghost busted for mural coverup - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com: "The Gray Ghost finally went too far.

Fred Radtke, who has fought a zealous battle against graffiti in the Crescent City since 1997, was issued a summons for criminal damage to property Thursday night, according to New Orleans Police Department spokesman Bob Young, after Radtke and fellow activists painted over a mural that had been placed on a wall with the property owners' permission.

Police initially reported Thursday evening that an unnamed person had been detained and released without charge in the incident.

Radtke, known as the Gray Ghost for the color of paint he uses, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by Military Police as he and anti-graffiti activists slathered a thick layer of gray paint over a newly finished mural near the corner of Burgundy and Press streets."
This is the man who covered up some of the highly rated Banksy work in New Orleans.

More photos on the art covered up by the Gray Ghost from Doug McCash, Times Picayune

NFL Wembley Saints Vs Chargers

2008-10-25T02:40:00.001-05:00

The Saints take on the Chargers in London's Wembley Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 26.

Optimize Your Web Connection - Wired How-To Wiki

2008-10-14T20:58:00.003-05:00

"Unfortunately, WD-40 won't help you here.

Your broadband connection screams compared with the dial-up days of yore, but it could be faster. These days, your internet connection can't be fast enough. That is why we're here — to show you the way to a faster internet connection by tweaking the hardware and software you're using.

There are a potentially infinite number of switches and gateways between you and the web. The trick to speeding up your connection is finding the shortcuts and only downloading the data you want, leaving behind the tacked-on cruft that's gumming up your web experience.

(This article is a wiki. Scratch that mental itch by logging in and adding your tips for a faster internet.)

Use a Router
OpenDNS
Turn Media Off
- Add-Ons and Plug-Ins
Basic HTML Will Always be Faster
Turn Off Virus Protection and Firewalls (Only if 100% certain you can handle the evils of the internet single-handedly)

Optimize Your Web Connection - Wired How-To Wiki:"

Are Major Oil Suppliers Manipulating the Price of Oil?

2008-10-07T01:28:00.001-05:00

Suppose that major suppliers in the oil industry are the manipulative speculators.

Two Stanford students explained how in the article 'Are Oil Prices Rigged?' in Time Magazine, last August 22, 2008, (Ari J. Officer studies financial mathematics at Stanford University. Garrett J. Hayes studies materials science and engineering at Stanford University.)

All about the Futures Market, the 'driving force in the pricing oil.'

What if the oil suppliers, instead of selling oil futures, were buying oil futures?

Thanks to margin in the futures market, you can trade ten times more oil than you could otherwise afford. For only $9,000, you could control more than $140,000 of oil at recent highs.

The futures market is much smaller than the real oil market. When you consider margin, the amount of money actually invested is even smaller. Indeed, one dollar invested in a long-term position in the futures market carries the leveraged weight of more than $300 in the physical oil market.
The point is, it would only take about $9 billion to control the entire long position in oil.

Major players in oil with the swag to do this (just a few):

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin, of Brunei Shell Petroleum, is worth about $23 billion;

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud is worth about $21 billion;

Russian Vagit Alekperov of LUKoil is worth about $13 billion.

But who is actually playing the oil futures market to drive the price up is hidden, behind the hedge funds.

The futures market that serves as a price discovery mechanism for the physical oil market is open only to the elite. We trust these elites to determine the prices, but who are they? Who are the so-called experts? Hedge funds, oil companies, OPEC — the very people who profit from massive, consistent increases in prices. Notice a conflict of interest?

All an oil supplier would have to do to raise prices is buy up futures contracts.
It's not even that risky.

They use other people's money to control these markets.

Prices in the futures market — and, indeed, any real-life market on a standardized good — do not form where actual supply meets actual demand; they form where perceived supply meets perceived demand. Participants in the futures market merely represent the world around them. A veil has been placed over the public's eyes, and they accept this illusion of a fair price.

The black gold standard.

In many ways, oil has become a pseudo-currency. Similarly, with oil traded internationally in U.S. dollars, the dollar is pegged against oil. While squeezing American industry, high oil prices also devalue the dollar. With the state of our economy reflected in the price of oil, it has become a new standard for valuing America. We are slaves to this black gold standard.

Market needs to have more transparency, not just the price of futures but the names of participants. Hiding behind the hedge funds these manipulators profit and are attempting to bring down America.

Notice that oil price on the market are not reflected in the price of gas at the station?

Oil Prices Rigged? You betcha.

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Sir Paul McCartney visits Palestinian site during Israel visit

2008-09-24T16:41:00.001-05:00

Sir Paul McCartney said he was carrying a message of peace for Israel and Palestine as he toured the West Bank town of Bethlehem ahead of his planned concert in Tel Aviv.

By Tim Butcher in Bethlehem

Last Updated: 8:18PM BST 24 Sep 2008

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney visits the Church of Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem

During a lightning visit to the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, Sir Paul got a mixed reaction.

Among local Palestinians there was mostly bafflement at his status. Mohammed Itmaizi, a 26-year-old policeman guarding the ancient Byzantine basilica, said he had never heard of the Beatles or Sir Paul.

But among Western tourists visiting the church, Sir Paul's visit was welcomed with gusto. -----

When asked his attitude to those Palestinian leaders who have criticised him for agreeing to perform in Israel, breaking their call for a cultural boycott of Israel, he said he respected their view but disagreed.

"I have come here to Bethlehem deliberately to see Palestine with my own eyes," he said.

"Anyone who knows me knows I support peace for all people.

"This visit is meant to counter those that criticise me for going to Israel."

The visit to Bethlehem, which lies in the occupied West Bank, had to be arranged at the last moment as plans to visit Ramallah, the de facto capital of the occupied territories, had to be cancelled for security reasons.

Diplomats feared Sir Paul could get caught up in a protest rally in Ramallah by Palestinian opponents of his Israeli concert.

See the rest of the article:

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Paul McCartney Target of Terror

2008-09-19T16:55:00.001-05:00

By Dennis Rice

SIR Paul McCartney has been threatened that he will be the target of suicide bombers unless he abandons plans to play his first concert in Israel.

Self-styled preacher of hate Omar Bakri claimed the former Beatle’s decision to take part in the Jewish state’s 60th anniversary celebrations had made him an enemy of all Muslims.

Sources said Sir Paul was shocked but refused to be intimidated.

In an interview with Israeli media yesterday he said: “I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel.”

Sir Paul McCartney's children are said to be "racked with worry" over death threats made against their father.

Mary, Stella, James and step-daughter Heather are all extremely concerned about the former Beatle's upcoming concert in Israel after he received murderous warnings from Islamic extremist Omar Bakri Muhammad.

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Contents

Are Major Oil Suppliers Manipulating the Price of Oil?

Sir Paul McCartney visits Palestinian site during Israel visit

Paul McCartney Target of Terror