Saturday, July 05, 2008

The quality of mercy

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice", Act 4 scene 1

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Freegan.info

Freegan.info
Strategies for Sustainable Living Beyond Capitalism

http://freegan.info/

Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.

After years of trying to boycott products from unethical corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse, many of us found that no matter what we bought we ended up supporting something deplorable. We came to realize that the problem isn't just a few bad corporations but the entire system itself.

Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider. Thus, instead of avoiding the purchase of products from one bad company only to support another, we avoid buying anything to the greatest degree we are able.

The word freegan is compounded from "free" and "vegan". Vegans are people who avoid products from animal sources or products tested on animals in an effort to avoid harming animals. Freegans take this a step further by recognizing that in a complex, industrial, mass-production economy driven by profit, abuses of humans, animals, and the earth abound at all levels of production (from acquisition to raw materials to production to transportation) and in just about every product we buy. Sweatshop labor, rainforest destruction, global warming, displacement of indigenous communities, air and water pollution, eradication of wildlife on farmland as "pests", the violent overthrow of popularly elected governments to maintain puppet dictators compliant to big business interests, open-pit strip mining, oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, union busting, child slavery, and payoffs to repressive regimes are just some of the many impacts of the seemingly innocuous consumer products we consume every day.

winning the lottery

So whats with winning the lottery all the time? I play the random quick pick numbers and then win... whats with that? I win even if I go to different places to get the tickets. I dont understand it....

I think its a plot against me....

but lets just release that thought... :) ahhhh... much better now....

Thursday, May 15, 2008

jesus zombie

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Nazi check points

Whats with all the Nazi like check points? I feel like I am in the Forth Reich.
State and local Police checking Driver Licenses and tags all over the place.. a very large increase in the past 6 months.

Every time I pull up I hear this voice in my head from a old WWII movie...
"Papers Please" ... oppressive control with a smile how nice...

Yea we dont have control check points to go from state to state, why bother when i cant even go from work to home without hitting one every other week...

but lets just release that negative thought... :) much better now....

More Americans are taking prescription medications

More Americans are taking prescription medications
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_he_me/medication_nation

By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer

TRENTON, N.J. - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows.

The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol — problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

The numbers were gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.

Experts say the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For example, more people are now taking blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

In addition, there is the pharmaceutical industry's relentless advertising. With those factors unlikely to change, doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow.

"Unless we do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ... things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical school.

Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. But it was unclear how their prescriptions compare to those of insured people elsewhere. Comparable data were not available for Europe, for instance.

Medco's data show that last year, 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often.

The company examined prescription records from 2001 to 2007 of a representative sample of 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly.

Medication use for chronic problems was seen in all demographic groups:

• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.

• One in four children and teenagers.

• 52 percent of adult men.

• Three out of four people 65 or older.

Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medicines regularly.

Karen Walker of Paterson, N.J., takes 18 prescription medicines daily for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic back and shoulder pain, asthma and the painful muscle disorder fibromyalgia.

"The only way I can do it and keep my sanity ... is I use pill boxes" to organize pills for each morning and night, said Walker, 57, a full-time nurse at an HIV clinic. Her 69-year-old husband, Charles, keeps his medicines lined up on his bureau: four pills for arthritis and heart disease, plus two inhalers for lung problems.

Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco, said he sees both bad news and good in the findings.

"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill" than to exercise regularly or diet.

On the good side, he said, researchers have turned what used to be fatal diseases into chronic ones, including AIDS, some cancers, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease.

Yet Epstein noted the biggest jump in use of chronic medications was in the 20- to 44-year-old age group — adults in the prime of life — where it rose 20 percent over the six years. That was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention-deficit disorder and seizures.

Antidepressant use in particular jumped among teens and working-age women. Doctors attributed that to more stress in daily life and to family doctors, including pediatricians, being more comfortable prescribing newer antidepressants.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen's Health Research Group said the increased use of medications is partly because the most heavily advertised drugs are for chronic conditions, so most patients will take them for a long time. He also blames doctors for not spending the time to help patients lose weight and make other healthy changes before writing a prescription.

The study highlights a surge in children's use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.

"A scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Jones, of the heart association.

Dr. Richard Gorman, an American Academy of Pediatrics expert on children's medicines, said more children are taking medicines for "adult conditions" partly because manufacturers now provide pediatric doses, liquid versions or at least information to determine the right amount for a child.

The Medco study found that among boys and girls under age 10, the most widely used medication switched from allergy drugs to asthma medicines between 2001 and 2007. Gorman said that's because over the last decade, asthma care has gone from treating flare-ups to using inhaled steroids regularly to prevent flare-ups and hospitalizations.

___

On the Net:

http://www.medco.com


------------------------------

Feed the sheeple lifeless food mixed with a healthy dose of mind controlling TV, making their minds feeble, their will docile, sucking the money from their pockets as they get sick, or just prescribe something for a minor condition or make one up, with side effects that snowball into a pit of pharmaceutical hell. The pharmaceutical companies have interests in the food industry, and vise versa. They make money by making you sick from the food and drugs YOU buy, and with such strong influence over government regulations (codex alimentarius, GMO's, etc...) its not going to get better soon. Unless you don't buy into the brainwashing they try to sell you, don't buy their poisoned food, don't allow the doctor (that conveniently gets kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies for prescribing(pushing) their drugs) to give you the prescription for unnecessary drugs. They do not care about you... just your money in their pockets. The love of money. Maybe you are not stuck in that delusional rat race, but many other people are, and they see your money as THEIR money in YOUR pocket...

Start them young, and you will have a lifetime subscriber - isnt that how the tobacco industry did it? worked for them...

I could go on and on, but I have to at least look like I am working... right?

Was going to say sorry for the rant but this blog is called Rantings of a Maverick Scientist... :)
Az







Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Invitational Blues Jam



Friday, April 25, 2008

`costly mistakes'

Actor Snipes gets 3 years, apologizes for `costly mistakes'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080425/ap_on_en_mo/snipes_tax_trial

OCALA, Fla. - After haggling with revenue agents, criminal investigators and eventually U.S. prosecutors for almost a decade, Wesley Snipes finally caught them by surprise.

Hours before he was to be sentenced Thursday for failing to file income taxes he insisted he never had to pay, the action star cut the federal government three checks for $5 million, delivered in court.

So taken aback were prosecutors that they first declined the cash. But by the end of the day, the government took the money and more — a maximum three-year sentence for its highest-profile criminal tax target in decades.

"The sentencing court sends the right message to the American taxpayer — you've got to pay your taxes," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill told reporters outside the usually quiet central Florida courthouse. "Rich, poor, it doesn't matter. We all pay our taxes."

Though Snipes was convicted of three counts of willfully failing to file returns, his trial was held by some as proof of victory for the tax protest movement. Snipes was acquitted of five other charges, including felony tax fraud and conspiracy, that would've exposed him to 13 more years in prison.

Criminal tax prosecutions are relatively rare — usually the cases are handled in civil court, where the government has a lower burden of proof.

Snipes' attorneys argued the sentence was too stiff for a first-time offender convicted of three misdemeanors, and recommended he be given home detention and ordered to make public service announcements.

But U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges said Snipes exhibited a "history of contempt over a period of time" for U.S. tax laws.

"In my mind these are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors," Hodges said.

The action star of the "Blade" trilogy, "White Men Can't Jump," "Jungle Fever" and other films hasn't filed a tax return since 1998, the government alleged. Snipes and the IRS still must determine how much he owes, plus interest and penalties. The government alleged Snipes made at least $13.8 million for the three years in question, owing at least $2.7 million in back taxes on them alone.

Snipes read aloud from a prepared apology, calling his actions "costly mistakes" but never mentioning the word "taxes." He said he was the victim of crooked advisers, a liability of wealth and celebrity that attract "wolves and jackals like flies are attracted to meat."

"I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance," Snipes said.

His lawyers said he was no threat to society, and offered three dozen letters from family members, friends and even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington attesting to his compassion, intelligence and value as a mentor. They called four character witnesses Thursday, including television's Judge Joe Brown, who incited applause from the gallery by suggesting Snipes was no different than "mega-corporate entities" that legally avoid taxes.

Hodges twice halted the proceedings to quiet the crowd, threatening to clear everyone out if they made another outburst.

Snipes' co-defendants, Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn, were convicted on both felony counts on which the actor was acquittal. Kahn, who refused to defend himself in court, was sentenced to the maximum 10 years, while Rosile received 4 1/2 years. Both will serve three years of supervised release.

Snipes and Rosile remain free and will be notified when they are to surrender to authorities. Defense attorney Carmen Hernandez signaled in court that Snipes would pursue an appeal.

Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators, and a successor group, Guiding Light of God Ministries, that purported to help members legally avoid paying taxes. Snipes was a dues-paying member of the organization, and Rosile, a de-licensed accountant, prepared Snipes' paperwork.

The actor maintained in a yearslong battle with the IRS he did not have to pay taxes, using fringe arguments common to "tax protesters" who say the government has no legal right to collect. After joining Kahn's group, the government said, Snipes instructed his employees to stop paying their own taxes and sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes he legally paid.

Defense attorneys Hernandez and Daniel Meachum said Snipes was unfairly targeted because he's famous. Meachum called prosecutors "big game hunters," selectively prosecuting the actor while Kahn's some 4,000 other clients remained free.

Hodges was not swayed.

"One of the main purposes which drives selective prosecution in tax cases is deterrence," the judge said, while denying it had anything to do with his sentence. "In some instances, that means those of celebrity stand greater risk of prosecution. But there's nothing unusual about it, nor is there anything unlawful about it. It's the way the system works."

-------------------------------------

Aaron Russo AMERICA Freedom To Fascism
www.freedomtofascism.com
This documentary covers many subjects, including: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the income tax, Federal Reserve System, national ID cards (REAL ID Act), human-implanted RFID tags (Spychips), Diebold electronic voting machines,globalization, Big Brother, taser weapons abuse,and the alleged use of terrorism by government as a means to diminish the citizens' rights.

Some of the premises of the film include:

* The Federal Reserve System is unconstitutional and has maxed out the national debt and bankrupted the United States government.
* Federal income taxes were imposed in response to, or as part of, the plan implementing the Federal Reserve System.
* Federal income taxes are unconstitutional or otherwise legally invalid.
* The use of the Federal income tax to counter the economic effects of the Federal Reserve System is futile.

The film has been critiqued as factually dubious by some reviewers.It has, however, developed a "cult following among the politically disaffected."

America: Freedom to Fascism - Director's Authorized Version
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173

video search for "AMERICA Freedom To Fascism"
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=AMERICA%20Freedom%20To%20Fascism&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv

Thursday, April 24, 2008

is it $ thats evil or what people do to get it?

If you hold an idea that money is the root of all evil, you may unconsciously keep it from you.

You are invited to drop that thought now.

All the money you need is coming to you now. Do you believe that? You must, you know...

You will not have to think but a second to understand exactly why you received this message today.


It is NOT money that is evil BUT what people do to get it, and they how they allow it to change them once they do have it. Its peoples actions that is the problem... always has been... you dont put a car in jail for a drunk driver killing someone? or a gun for holding up a bank? or a machine for polluting the earth. it is the PERSON behind the actions that is the problem. - Az

Free Bumper Stickers!

Thanks to the generous support of Maureen Jones, the Fluoride Action Network is now offering free bumper stickers!

The bumper sticker is simple and to the point. On a white background, it reads:

www.FluorideAlert.Org

To receive your free bumper sticker (up to 5 of them), email Maureen at: maureen@fluoridealert.org .

By posting the sticker on your car, you can educate hundreds of thousands of people simply by driving your car:)

http://www.fluoridealert.org/bumper.htm