I Own Your Genes

This is nuts!


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Happy Monday

A piano that uses musical notes to mimic a human voice was presented at at the World Venice Forum this year. The segment's in German, but fortunately the piano speaks English.

No.

I'm not kidding.

Nobel, Maddow Style

Context.

Its a wonderful thing:

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The Case Against Death

Last night Keith devoted his entire show to a Special Comment making the case for health reform. It was as impassioned I've ever seen the man, and that's saying something. He related powerful anecdotes relating to his mother dying in the spring and his father being confined to the hospital right now. He speaks from the perspective of a man that has the money to pay for the best care anywhere for anyone he wants to. He then tried to imagine the horror that millions face daily when they have to figure out if they have enough money to live.

He also asks: "What is more valuable than our health? If we agree that the government should provide for the common defense, how much more the common health???" (paraphrase)

Good question, Keith.

This is 45 minutes well spent.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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Part 5

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Happy Monday

Happy to be alive? This guy would say he was... This video captures his burial and rescue from an avalanche. Amazing stuff. He was only buried for four minutes. He's a very lucky man...

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

A full account of his ordeal can be found here.

A sample:

This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 - 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier's right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn't break any bones and obviously didn't hit anything on the run out.

He was only buried for 4 and a half minutes which is incredibly short. I cannot stress these next sentences enough; that in and of itself to be unburied in ONLY 4:28 is miraculous if you have any understanding of being caught in an avalanche and what it takes to be found. It could literally be some kind of "world record" just on how good the guide and supporting cast of other skiers was in getting to him. It also shows why you should ALWAYS be going with people trained in avalanche rescue / first aid....as well as why you'd want to be going with a guided heli operation. Sure this was terrifying for him, but he would've probably been dead if not for going with a guide.

He also got very lucky to be honest. In the time that he's buried, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air since the avalung wasn't fully in his mouth and instead just to the corner of his mouth. Still sends chills up the back of my neck. Oh...the luck? They located him so fast because his right glove came off just before he came completely to rest and there was an excellent visual of course.

Consider yourself indoctrinated...

This is what the nutty fringe was all worked up about. Madness...

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When even Newt can't find a bad thing to say about an Obama speech, you know he hit it out of the park...

Rachel Interviews Tom Ridge

Must see stuff.

First off, hats off to Tom. Most republicans want no part of Maddow. You may be tempted to think that is because she's unapologetically liberal, but that's not what I think. I think its because she's very smart, very well prepared and forces you to know what you're talking about if you're going to disagree with her. She won't be snowballed.

Secondly, I love how civil their conversation is. Even when debating really touchy things, they maintain a mutual respect that I've learned to crave in my public discourse. Kudos to both of them for that.

A couple of stand out moments in this interview: 1) He contradicts his own book's desk jacket, which is supposed to be a description of what is in the book. Rachel actually gets him to denounce it. 2) While he's defending the Iraq, Rachel looks him in the eye and tells him "That's why people won't trust you. Because of what you just said." Gutsy.

Enjoy.

(I've only posted 2 of 3 parts. The 3rd segment on Katrina can be found here.)

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A Eulogy

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Standout passage:

We cannot know for certain how long we have here. We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way. We cannot know what God's plan is for us.

What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and with love, and with joy. We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves. We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures. And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of others.

-President Barack H. Obama

Amen.

Birthers

Ok. This is getting out of control. I wasn't going to touch this issue because those who prop up this kind of silliness are usually shunned and dismissed as most crazies should be, but then the story shifted. This story isn't about the nutty Americans who refuse to believe that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, this story is about the elected officials who are willing to deny indisputable fact and all reason for the sole purpose of courting the vote of those nut-bags.

Now, typically I try to be more gracious with my words when there is an issue that is up for debate. This one is not. If you want to see his birth certificate here it is. If you don't like the factcheck.org guys and you like your verifications a little more stately, then this from state officials in Hawaii should do you just fine.

OK. Now that is out of the way, can someone explain these videos to me please?

The first one came out two days ago and I didn't post it because I thought it was too much ambush-journalism and I'm not a fan of that stuff. But when coupled with the second video it becomes clear that the reporter is just looking for a yes or no answer, and he's more than willing to stand and talk like a rational person, but the people that he's dealing with have another agenda altogether (most anyway, there are some shining stars in there.).

You be the judge:

(Part 1)


(Part 2)


After seeing this I have concluded that these people are more interested in courting voters, no matter how demonstrably out of touch they may be, than they are in dealing with facts. And that, in this day and age, is outrageous.

These are elected officials! We pay their salaries! Why can little old Jack Bisase find the truth but they cannot?!?!

Am I wrong?

Farewell, Michael.

I thought this would be an over-done, dramatized media circus. But it actually turned out to be quite fitting, I thought. The man was a living legend and deserved a mighty sendoff. He got one:

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Don't Mess With Obama

He'll kill you.

I Once Was A Police Officer.

And then....



To protect and serve.

Happy Monday

Media bias at its finest:



Or was it....

"Mission Accoplished" 6 Years Later

Friday was the 6th anniversary of the now infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech by our previous president.

Rachel commemorates the event:

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We actually re-elected this guy.

Stunning stuff.

You Think You Know....

I don't care what you think of magic tricks or Criss Angel, after you see this, you will have to tip your hat to the man.

This is one of the top-3 best tricks I've seen.

Awesome.

No Debate

There has been a lot of debate nationally over the actions that were taken under the Bush administration to extract information from accused terrorists. Last week CIA memos were released documenting what we did and who authorized it. The defenders of the techniques used argue two things: 1) What we did wasn't torture and 2) Even if it were, it worked. So, stop complaining. The second point is absurd on its face. If it worked is hardly the point. Torture isn't only illegal when fruitless. But the first point is worth examination. What has the position on Water-boarding (The most famous of the many tactics used) been historically? Have we always been cool with it? What happened to people (Foreign and domestic) who did it in the past?

As it happens, those who say Water-boarding isn't torture are arguing against about a century's worth of a little thing lawyers call "legal precedent".

Take it away Keith:

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Now you know. Act accordingly.

The Daily (Must See) Show

Stewart, again, invaluable stuff:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
We Don't Torture
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

A Lesson For Us All

Susan Boyle is all of us in a way. A heartwarming moment.

Happy Monday

It may be monday, but at least you weren't struck by a truck that was struck by a train today, right?



The guy, you'll be happy to learn, sustained only minor injuries.

From Soup to Nuts

This is quite amazing to watch:


Reggie Watts: Lost in the Options from Jakob Lodwick on Vimeo.

Be inspired to use your gifts, whatever they may be.