Science fail

News Mash: Climate scientists hope to improve both their short-term, and hopefully long-term, forecasts!

Climate scientists are a preciously ambitious lot…

They actually think one day?

They will be able to predict the weather “10 days out”

[via LiveScience]How do you . . . predict future weather? ~by Sonia Aggarwal and Hallie Kennan

Weather forecasts are produced by models of temperature, wind speed and precipitation. Using those models, meteorologists can offer short-term predictions about whether to expect rain or sun, clouds or bright skies. But, weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable more than ten days out. To understand the long-term behavior of the atmosphere, climate scientists look at weather patterns over many decades or even centuries. The scientists study the way energy moves through the atmosphere — measuring and modeling things like the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, the rate that the oceans absorb heat and the mix of gases in Earth’s atmosphere over time. By studying the root causes of long-term changes in Earth’s atmosphere, climate scientists can project future effects.

…[Read More]

And this is so cute?

For the simple reason that up until recently (and for the record, by “recently” I mean the past 15 YEARS)…

The temperature was vastly predictable–

(*shakes head sadly*)

–thanks to man-made global warming.

Riight. Absolutely it’s possible!

sarc off/

[via HotAir] The NYT wonders: So, what’s up with this warming plateau? ~by Erika JohnsenScience fail

That the planet has not warmed significantly in going on fifteen years is a fact that has become pretty much impossible to deny across all fronts; back in March, longtime climate fearmonger The Economist had out with it, and on Monday the New York Times opened up about some of the inconvenient truths facing the many ‘climate scientists’ whose decades of catastrophic climate models are all spectacularly failing to bear out. Granted, it was couched in the usual high-handed dismissals of those who they categorize as dismissive of their climate-change concerns, but it did include several important admissions:

The rise in the surface temperature of earth has been markedly slower over the last 15 years than in the 20 years before that. And that lull in warming has occurred even as greenhouse gases have accumulated in the atmosphere at a record pace.

The slowdown is a bit of a mystery to climate scientists. True, the basic theory that predicts a warming of the planet in response to human emissions does not suggest that warming should be smooth and continuous. To the contrary, in a climate system still dominated by natural variability, there is every reason to think the warming will proceed in fits and starts.

But given how much is riding on the scientific forecast, the practitioners of climate science would like to understand exactly what is going on. They admit that they do not, even though some potential mechanisms of the slowdown have been suggested. The situation highlights important gaps in our knowledge of the climate system, some of which cannot be closed until we get better measurements from high in space and from deep in the ocean.

Read on for much more parsing of the facts and excusing of poor policies, but here’s the really important gist: We don’t conclusively know all of the causes and effects of climate change, and we might not even know what we don’t know. This isn’t to say at all that greenhouse gases are not a thing, nor that carbon dioxide emissions are definitively unimportant, nor that we don’t have serious environmental issues that we need to consider going forward. But how is it, exactly, that the community of diehard eco-radicals and the self-proclaimed party of “science” has been proclaiming for decades that we are a heartbeat away from global catastrophe, and treating dissenting scientists as heretics, and insisting that we need to forcibly curtail our economic growth to deal with it and that people who aren’t one hundred percent on board are knuckle-draggers and/or greedy extremists, is surprised and angry that anyone is “dismissive” of them when it turns out they actually can’t be sure about it all? Because, science.

…[Read More]

Huh.

And now even the NYT is saying it…

“The temperature HAS NOT increased in 15 years, so STFU Al Gore & desperate scientists looking for grant money!”

YOU WILL NOT GET IT.

Sorry, but your “global warming” piggy bank is about all dried up thanks to…

Eek – Actual S C I E N C E always wins.

No kidding?

So, uh…

How’s all those EPA rulings that have increased just about the price of just about EVERYTHING (thank you rising gas prices!) and all those carbon taxes you’re about to be been hammered with, looking at, thanks to your silly belief in Al Gore’s mythical Pink Dragon, right about now?

Yeah…

Hmmm.

Thought that might the case.

Being Insane

News Mash: Apparently? The Queen and Alex Jones are giving the BBC a hard time!

The headline read (paraphrased) THIS:

An “idiot” disrupts a BBC political talk show!

And, my mind immediately ran its file-searching fingers to THIS (below), card filed away in my memory, of a similar article I had read…

Of another “disruption”.

“Surely,” I thought. “They couldn’t be talking about her!”

[via Guardian] Queen photobombs BBC newsroom as she opens Broadcasting House ~by Caroline DaviesPhotobomb Queen

BBC News presenters Julian Worricker and Sophie Long turn round to see their surprise guest in the newsroom of Broadcasting House. Photograph: BBC

The Queen “photobombed”the news on Friday in one of the more surreal moments in live broadcasting history as she officially opened the BBC‘s revamped Broadcasting House in central London, without her husband by her side.

While the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital where he underwent exploratory abdominal surgery and was said to be “progressing satisfactorily”, his wife found herself doing something she was quite unused to – providing the backdrop.

As BBC News presenters Julian Worricker and Sophie Long addressed viewers from their glass-windowed studio, the Queen, who was being given a studio tour, loomed into view behind them, peering intently from the newsroom.

The two turned to see her, resplendent in turquoise coat and hat, lingering for several long seconds as BBC journalists crowded behind her raised a resounding cheer.

Staff had apparently been instructed to remain in their seats during the royal visit, but ignored orders from on high and swamped the diminutive monarch, snapping away on cameraphones.

It provided one of the more bizarre spectacles during the one-and-a-half-hour visit, which was to inaugurate the extension to the broadcaster’s ­London headquarters, which has undergone a £1bn revamp.

…[Read More]

Luckily?

They weren’t.

Cause, yeah…

They meant an ACTUAL idiot.

[via Telegraph]‘Idiot’ Bilderberg conspiracy theorist… disrupts BBC politics show ~by By Hayley DixonBeing Insane

Mr Jones, who runs a conspiracy theory website, began shouting and ranting after the Sunday Politics host told him to “shut it”.

As he screamed “freedom will not stop, you will not stop freedom” Mr Neil tried to bring the show to a close, telling him he was the worst guest ever, then stifling a laugh and pulling faces as he said: “We have an idiot on the programme today.”

Mr Jones appeared on the Sunday morning show as the secretive Bilderberg Group – comprising politicians, economists, academics and business leaders – is meeting at a hotel in Watford.

But after his on-air meltdown Mr Neil claimed that it has been put on.

“The moment Alex Jones knew he was no longer on air he stopped. All an act,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Jones appeared alongside David Aaronovitch, a journalist and author who has written a book debunking conspiracy theories.

“Bilderberg is heavily involved in the EU plan and helped hatched it and it is a Nazi plan,” Mr Jones claimed.

“It is the ultimate lobbying meeting”, he said, adding that the attendees were “puppeteers above the major parties”.

Mr Aaronovitch questioned the truth of Mr Jones’ claims, asking why he had not been killed for exposing what he describes as a deadly new world order.

The radio host was told several times to be quiet and let his counterpart speak, until eventually Mr Neil can be heard in the background telling him “Oi – shut it.”

At this point Mr Jones, who suggested the BBC were part of the conspiracy, lost his temper, shouting: “Listen, I am here to warn. You keep telling me to shut up. This is isn’t a game.”

Mr Neil responded: “You are the worst person I have ever interviewed.”

The American then began raising his voice, trying to shout over the host who was thanking his other guest.

Pointing and shouting as he plugged his website he ranted: “Freedom will not stop, you will not stop freedom. You will stop the republic. Humanity is awakening.”

…[Read More]

Good thing for them.

After all…

Don’t think the Queen would take too kindly being called an idiot.

But Alex Jones?

Yeah…

Pretty sure he’s used to it.

I just love his movies

News Mash: Russia has bigger issues than Kabayeva…We’re talking Steven Seagal here!

Oh, Russia…

What in the world are you THINKING?!?!

Your big, beautiful and lately?

Little bit crazy.

And no, in case you are wondering…

I’m not referring to THIS (below):

[via DailyMail] How Putin removed wedding ring while watching the ballet and emerged with his wife to announce their Rumours about an affair between Putin and Miss Kabayeva have dogged them for years but they have always denied itdivorce on live TV

  • Putin, 60, and 55-year-old wife announce that their 29-year marriage is over
  • President and wife Lyudmila reveal split in interview after night at the ballet
  • Pair are ‘eternally close’ and support each other through ‘civilised divorce’
  • Interview didn’t mention Putin’s alleged gymnast lover, Alina Kabayeva, 30

By Anna Edwards

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his 29-year marriage to his his wife, Lyudmila, was over – after removing his wedding band as they watched the ballet together.

The 60-year-old and his 55-year-old wife broke the news of the end of the 29-year marriage in an obviously staged TV interview after a night at the ballet.

Before the ballet at the Kremlin Palace, Putin was pictured wearing his wedding ring, but he must have removed it during the performance because he was not wearing it by the time he left and was interviewed.

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that the Putins no longer lived together, the 60-year-old Putin said: ‘That is true.’

Lyudmila Putin said it had been a ‘our common decision. And our marriage is over due to the fact that we barely see each other.’

Asked whether they were divorced, Lyudmila said it was a ‘civilised divorce’.

But neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know.

The obviously staged interview made no mention of Alina Kabayeva, a 30-year-old former gymnast who is rumoured to have been Putin’s mistress for years.

…[Read More]

No.

But instead?

Oh, yes…

I’m referring to THIS (below):

[via Guardian]Steven Seagal becomes the face of Russian arms firm ~by Alexander Winning in MoscowI just love his movies

The actor Steven Seagal has become an unlikely business envoy for a pre-Russian revolutionary arms factory after agreeing to feature in adverts marketing its weapons in the US.

Seagal, known for starring in Hollywood martial arts films, told journalists about the plans on Tuesday during a tour of the Degtyaryov weapons factory in Kovrov, a city about 160 miles (260km) from Moscow.

“My friend Igor Kesayev invited me here. On his request, I will feature in adverts for Kovrov weapons for the US,” the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Seagal as saying. “I trust Kesayev. Whatever’s put in my hands, I will advertise.”

Kesayev – who has an estimated fortune of $2bn (£1.3bn), according to Forbes magazine – controls the Degtyaryov factory, which has made weapons including machine guns and rifles since 1916.

He is one of a series of influential Russians with whom the 61-year-old Seagal, the star Hard to Kill and Under Siege, appears to have bonded with: in recent months he has been seen hobnobbing with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

…[Read More]

Seriously, Russia?

Steven Seagal.

Really?

STEVEN SEGAL [Source]

You know…

With this?

You have just lost any credibility, you know that right?

Wow.

Russia, you scary.

We're here for the tea party

News Mash: The liberal run government is spying on you & ‘The Purge’ is persecuting the Tea party? Ugh.

Government & politics annoys me…

A lot.

Wanna knows what annoys me even more?

Peoples REACTION to the government and politics:

[via YahooNews]Americans Freak Out As They Realize How Much Data The Government Collects ~By

News stories published over the past couple of days have revealed just how much information the U.S. National Security Agency collects about the communications of hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The Guardian, for example, reported thatVerizon has been sending the U.S. government “metadata” about all of its telephone records so the government can analyze who is talking to who, when, and where.

The Washington Post followed up with an even more shocking story, which said that the government “directly [taps] into the central servers” of Google (GOOG), Yahoo (YHOO), Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB), and other leading tech companies and monitors communications in real time.” One of the Post’s sources on that story, described as a “career intelligence officer,” was said to be so horrified by the power of this surveillance program that the officer voluntarily exposed it.

Other news organizations have since confirmed the existence of this surveillance program, called PRISM, but Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, and Google have since explicitly denied that the government has “direct access” to its servers. The Washington Post originally reported that the companies “knowingly” participated in the surveillance program, but it has since removed that assertion. (An earlier Wired story suggests that the government may have engaged foreign companies to collect and store information as it passed through global networks, rather than tapping into the company servers).

Not surprisingly, the revelation that the U.S. government collects and analyzes trillions of global communications has freaked out not just privacy advocates but ordinary citizens.

And now that the extent of the government’s intelligence program has been revealed, it’s certainly worth having a national conversation about how much information the government should have access to and what legal hurdles investigators should have to clear when they collect and analyze specific information about specific people.

…[Read More]

So…

The government is now spying on me?

Ooohhh. Ahhhhh.

I am so concerned about what they will find!

*no*

What am I saying here?

Simply this: “Nothing to see here, people!”

So as far as I am concerned…

The government can spy away. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

What DOES bother me?

The fact that some idiots take their politics WAY too seriously…

Enough to be actually concerned by this.

Not to mention?

They think everyone is out to get them:

[via The Blaze]Is This New Horror Flick an ‘Obvious Attack’ on Tea Party, NRA? ~by Jason Howerton

Moviegoers across the nation may be disappointed to find out that the new terrifying-looking Ethan Hawke horror film “The Purge” seems to be a thinly-veiled attack on the National Rifle Association and Tea Party.We're here for the tea party

The movie is set in the year 2022 and the United States is governed by a group of multinational corporations called “the New Founding Fathers of America.” Because the nation is overwhelmed with crime and prisoners, the society allows an annual 12-hour period where all crimes are legal: theft, violence, murder, you name it.

During the so-called “purge,” all emergency services are suspended and the only rule in place is that harming high-ranking government officials using “Class 4″ weaponry is not allowed.

It may sound like an average to good storyline, however, some critics argue that the movie is filled with subtle attacks on the NRA and Tea Party.

Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture at the Media Research Institute told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column that the director of the movie, James DeMonaco, “makes it clear the movie is a direct attack on the NRA, an organization filled with millions of law-abiding gun owners.”

“The loony left’s reflexive hatred of the 2nd Amendment is founded in the concept that people who don’t break the law are somehow evil for exercising the Constitutional rights,” Gainor added.

…[Read More]

It’s a movie, people!

And?

A very interesting looking one. And, as a horror fan? It is a movie I am very excited to go see…

One?

ABOUT FICTIONAL EVENTS THAT HAVE NO HOPE OF EVER ACTUALLY HAPPENING!

I like you, Tea Party people, indeed I do. I like, for the most part, how you stand for the Constitution…

Of which I am a HUGE fan.

What bugs me about you, however?

The sheer magnitude of your paranoia.

Get over yourself already.

Jeez.

Even if it were an absolute jab at the imagined “evils” of both you and the NRA by the opposing party…

So freakin’ what?!

That fact doesn’t make it any LESS a movie.

The people who will be going to see this type of movie are not looking to have any type of political belief system validated…

They are just looking to be entertained.

Plain and simple.

radically amplified human overlords

News Mash: It’s come to this? AI vs IA!

Hmmm.

Just when one thinks there is hope for humanity yet…

Thanks to this special U.N. investigator, who is declares we need a moratorium on “killer robots”…?

(duh)

[via Ca.News.Yahoo]U.N. investigator seeks world moratorium on ‘killer robots’n By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – A United Nations human rights investigator called on Thursday for all states to declare a moratorium to prevent so-called “killer robots” being deployed on the battlefield.

Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on executions, said that unmanned robotic weapons systems with varying degrees of autonomy and deadliness were being tested or used by the United States, Britain and Israel without debate on moraI and legal issues.

“Moratoria are needed to prevent steps from being taken that may be difficult to reverse later,” Heyns said in a 22-page report on “lethal autonomous robotics”, due to be discussed at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on May 29.

“Their deployment may be unacceptable because no adequate system of legal accountability can be devised and because robots should not have the power of life and death over human beings.”

…[Read More]

And let me just interject a “DUH!” once more at that last sentence.

Along with a womanly huff.

Because oh, but…

Now?

Humanity gets THIS bit of good news.

That being?

Autonomous “killer robots” are probably NOT the ones we need to be worrying about:

[via io9]Humans With Amplified Intelligence Could Be More Powerful Than AI ~by George Dvorsky

With much of our attention focused the rise of advanced artificial intelligence, few consider the potential for radically amplified human intelligence (IA). It’s an open question as to which will come first, but a technologically boosted brain could be just as powerful — and just as dangerous – as AI.

As a species, we’ve been amplifying our brains for millennia. Or at least we’ve tried to. Looking to overcome our cognitive limitations, humans have employed everything from writing, language, and meditative techniques straight through to today’s nootropics. But none of these compare to what’s in store.

Unlike efforts to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), or even an artificial superintelligence (SAI), the human brain already presents us with a pre-existing intelligence to work with. Radically extending the abilities of a pre-existing human mind — whether it be through genetics, cybernetics or the integration of external devices — could result in something quite similar to how we envision advanced AI.

Looking to learn more about this, I contacted futurist Michael Anissimov, a blogger at Accelerating Future and a co-organizer of the Singularity Summit. He’s given this subject considerable thought — and warns that we need to be just as wary of IA as we are AI.

…[Read More]

Fan–

–Freaking– (!!!!!)

–Tastic.

*shakes head sadly*

Jeez.

Why do we seem bent, as a species, to completely obliterating our race?

I tell ya…

I will never fully understand it.

radically amplified human overlords

How about you?

Look how cute I am, please don't eat me

News Mash: The UN wants the world to start eating bugs? Pffft, yeah, that’s just not gonna happen!

Apparently?

The UN is really pushing hard for you to go on a new diet, in order to help fight poverty, reduce pollution and increase your nutrition.

Bugs!

No, really…

They want you to eat those now:

[via MyFoxy]UN says: why not eat more insects? ~By FRANCES D’EMILIO

ROME (AP) — The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now: edible insects.

The Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday hailed the likes of grasshoppers, ants and other members of the insect world as an underutilized food for people, livestock and pets.

A 200-page report, released at a news conference at the U.N. agency’s Rome headquarters, says 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diets with insects, which are high in protein and minerals, and have environmental benefits.

Insects are “extremely efficient” in converting feed into edible meat, the agency said. On average, they can convert 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of feed into 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of insect mass. In comparison, cattle require 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of feed to produce a kilo of meat.

Most insects are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases, and also feed on human and food waste, compost and animal slurry, with the products being used for agricultural feed, the agency said.

Currently, most edible insects are gathered in forests and what insect farming does take place is often family-run and serves niche markets. But the U.N. says mechanization can ratchet up insect farming production. The fish bait industry, for example, has long farmed insects.

Insect farming is “one of the many ways to address food and feed security,” the food agency said.

“Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,” the agency said, adding they leave a “low environmental footprint.” They provide high-quality protein and nutrients when compared with meat and fish and are “particularly important as a food supplement for undernourished children,” it said.

Insects can also be rich in copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc, and are a source of fiber.

The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions, although they are not strictly speaking insects.

University biologists have analyzed the nutritional value of edible insects, and some of them, such as certain beetles, ants, crickets and grasshoppers, come close to lean red meat or broiled fish in terms of protein per gram (ounce).

…[Read More]

Don’t know about you?

But I can’t really figure out why I find that so very disturbing.

*snaps*

No, wait…

I just figured out ONE reason:

[via Listverse] 10 Photos of Bugs That Are Actually Cute ~by S. Grant

For most of us, the cute animals of the world fall strictly into the mammal or bird category. Bugs, insects, and other creepy crawlies are viewed with disgust, and most often end up squished on the bottom of our shoes. But this is a photo list which aims to change your perception of the little nasties, by showing you ten bugs that even the biggest insect-haters can agree are at least a little adorable.

10

Praying Mantis

Screen Shot 2013-05-11 At 3.55.19 Pm

Sure—if you enlarged this guy to, say, elephant size, he’d be more than a little horrifying. But at his tiny scale, he has kind of a sweet, Yoda-esque vibe about him. Despite their delicate appearance, praying mantids are voracious hunters, disguising themselves as leaves before darting out at lightning fast speeds to ensnare moths, grasshoppers, crickets, flies, and other insects.

9

Saddleback Caterpillar

Stinging Caterpillar 2

Venomous spines are a little intimidating—we’ll concede that—but what’s cuter than a bug with his own saddle? Admittedly, attempts to find a rider have so far proved unsuccessful. These interesting critters live in the eastern half of the United States, and develop into an ordinary looking brown moth.

8

Ladybug

Ladybug On Yellow Iv By Dalantech

A ladybug’s bright, cheerful color is actually used to warn off predators. Ladybugs secrete an awful tasting fluid in their legs, and their distinctive markings remind predators (who have sampled their kind before) that they taste disgusting.

7

White-lipped Snail

Screen Shot 2013-05-11 At 4.00.40 Pm

Even though snails are mollusks rather than bugs or insects, they tend to hang out in the same areas—and they’re far too cute to refrain from putting on this list. Interestingly, white-lipped snails act as their own cupid before mating, as they literally shoot their partner with a “love dart” before getting it on. Scientists believe that the dart helps to improve their chances of reproduction.

…[Read More - See All 10 HERE!]

Another major reason being?

Pretty simple…

The “Gak and spew!” reason:

It’s just freaking disgusting!

Really, UN?

hate to tell you guys, but uh…

Eating bugs?

Not gonna happen.

Ever.

At least not THIS girl.

Yuck!

Look how cute I am, please don't eat me

The research suggests

News Mash: KIm Jong Un, is a little fish in a big pond & the fact that he is? Might be bad for us!

North Korean’s “Great Leader”…

Definitely has that little man syndrome thing going for him.

And to the rest of the world’s detriment.

Should we be worried?

Join The PogoTribe on Reddit!

http://www.reddit.com/r/pogobat/

Oh…

We should definitely be worried for more reasons than you think.

Because sometimes…

Especially in nature?

It’s the little guy IS capable of defeating the bigger one.

[via LiveScience]In Fish Fights, The Little Guy May Have Best Odds ~by Denise ChowSmall fish big pond

When fish fight over food, don’t count the little guy out.

In hostile situations, a fish’s personality — including how aggressive it acts — may matter more than size, according to new research.

The researchers from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and Texas A&M University in College Station studied how small fish managed relative to their larger peers when it came time for feeding. They found that small fish that exhibited aggressive behavior fared well in the feeding contests, regardless of their smaller stature.

“We wondered if we were witnessing a form of Napoleon, or small man, syndrome,” Alastair Wilson, an evolutionary ecologist in the department of biosciences at the University of Exeter, said in a statement.

The findings, published in the April 2013 issue of the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, indicate that the strength of a fish’s personality may be crucial when food is scarce.

“Certainly our study indicates that small fish with an aggressive personality are capable of defeating their larger, more passive counterparts when it comes to fights over food,” Wilson said. “The research suggests that personality can have far-reaching implications for life and survival.”

…[Read More]

Some to think about & consider, World…

When it comes to North Korea.

Follow your instincts…

Casually dismissing Kim Jong Un as “harmless” would be n extremely dangerous move.

Because?

The research suggests

The dude, Alastair has a point…

We’re not just talking fish here, and you know it.

US Headed For The Coldest Spring On Record

News Mash: People lie to themselves, this helps them lie to others. Huh. This explains the EPA!

Irksome.

And you know they are…

People who often lie to themselves.

As a result, it makes them ever so much easier to lie to others:

[via DiscoverMagazine]Lying to Yourself Helps You Lie to Others ~By Paul Raeburn

Why do we lie to ourselves?

That’s what evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers has spent 30 years trying to figure out.

“Our sensory systems are organized to give us a detailed and accurate view of reality,” he says, “but once this information arrives in our brains, it is often distorted and biased to our conscious minds.” We repress painful memories, create false ones, rationalize immoral behavior and jack up our self-esteem. We deny ourselves the truth.

Trivers, a professor of anthropology and biological sciences at Rutgers University in New Jersey, is not as well-known to the public as, say, Harvard’s Steven Pinker or E.O. Wilson. Evolutionary biologists, however, put him in a class by himself.

Pinker has called him “one of the great thinkers in the history of Western thought.” In the early 1970s, Trivers did for evolutionary biology what Einstein did for physics: He revolutionized the field with a handful of brilliantly original papers that reshaped the research agenda for decades.

The task he set was to construct a theory of social behavior based on natural selection. And his landmark papers went a long way toward explaining how parents behave with children, and males with females, and how we differentiate between people like us and others whom we see as different.

But one problem remained — the problem of self-deception. Trivers found that one difficult to explain.

According to the principles of natural selection, we wouldn’t have that curious ability unless it gave our ancestors a competitive edge. What, Trivers wanted to know, is that competitive edge? What do we gain by deceiving ourselves?

In his latest book, The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life, Trivers wanted to shake up evolutionary biology once again. After three decades of pondering how self-deception might have given our predecessors an evolutionary advantage, Trivers has come up with a theory: We often deceive ourselves because it then becomes easier to deceive others.

…[Read More]

And yes, just in case you are wondering…

In the instance of this post?

Definitely talking about a certain group in particular.

Namely?

Certain scientists who push political agendas to further THEIR OWN cause.

[via Scientific American]Extending current energy policies would reduce U.S. energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions ~by David Wogan

Extending current energy and efficiency laws past their sunset dates could reduce U.S. carbon emissions by an additional 5 billion metric tons by 2040. An analysis in the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2013 compares energy and carbon savings between existing policies, which have provisions that will expire, and an Extended Policies scenario where the laws are carried out indefinitely.

Total energy consumption is projected to follow a similar pattern. By 2040, cumulative energy savings are projected to reach 55 quadrillion BTUs (1 quad = a thousand trillion British Thermal Units), or over half the energy consumption for any given year in the United States.

…[Read More]

Sadly…

This cause has very real-time effects?

On millions Americans…

EVERY day.

[via DailyCaller]Bill would force EPA to report costs of regulations ~by Michael BastaschEver wonder how much new environmental regulations add to your power bill? Newly introduced legislation aims to increase the transparency surrounding the costs of environmental regulations through detailing their impact on costs, jobs, and energy prices.

The bill introduced by Louisiana Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy would require the Environmental Protection Agency to submit a report detailing certain economic impacts to Congress before finalizing new energy-related rules that cost more than $1 billion.

“The EPA’s power to regulate is also the power to destroy,” said Cassidy. “It makes no sense for the EPA to issue burdensome regulations that will hurt our energy economy and cost American families thousands of jobs. It’s time to stop the EPA from hurting job creation and American families.”

The bill also requires the energy secretary to examine the rule to ensure that it won’t be too damaging to the economy. If the energy secretary rules that it would be, the EPA would not be permitted to finalize the rule.

EPA regulations have had significant effects on manufacturing and the energy industry, in particular coal.

According to congressional testimony by Paul Cicio, president Industrial Energy Consumers of America, the EPA imposes 972 regulations on the manufacturing sector alone and imposes regulatory costs totaling $117 billion.

A study done last year by National Economic Research Associates examining the impact of just seven major EPA regulations on coal-fueled electric generation found that up to 69,000 megawatts of coal-fueled electric generation will be shut down due to those regulations, and up to 887,000 jobs would be lost per year. NERA also found that total compliance costs for the electric sector could be as high as $220 billion, or $16.7 billion per year.

…[Read More]

And pretty much?

For no darn good reason.

How much warmer is it outside…

Really?

[via Forbes]As Carbon Dioxide Levels Continue To Rise, Global Temperatures Are Not Following Suit ~by James TaylorUS Headed For The Coldest Spring On Record

New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are continuing to rise but global temperatures are not following suit. The new data undercut assertions that atmospheric carbon dioxide is causing a global warming crisis.

NOAA data show atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose 2.67 parts per million in 2012, to 395 ppm. The jump was the second highest since 1959, when scientists began measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Global temperatures are essentially the same today as they were in 1995, when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were merely 360 ppm. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose 10 percent between 1995 and 2012, yet global temperatures did not rise at all. Global warming activists are having a difficult time explaining the ongoing disconnect between atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures.

This isn’t the first time in recent years that global temperatures have disobeyed the models presented by global warming activists. From the mid-1940s through the mid-1970s, global temperatures endured a 30-year decline even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose nearly 10 percent. From 1900 through 1945, by contrast, global temperatures rose rapidly despite a lack of coal power plants, SUV’s, and substantial carbon dioxide emissions.

Remarkably, global warming activists are spinning the ongoing rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, along with the ongoing lack of global temperature rise, as evidence that we are facing an even worse global warming crisis than they have been predicting.

“The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air jumped dramatically in 2012, making it very unlikely that global warming can be limited to another 2 degrees as many global leaders have hoped,” the Associated Press reported yesterday.

Actually, the fact that temperatures remain flat even as carbon dioxide levels continue to rise is a devastating rebuke to assertions that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are causing a global warming crisis.

…[Read More]

Let me break it down for you…

I, live in Texas. And for the past two nights and the temps have been bottoming out around freezing.

Its. May.

Now, ask me if I am more concerned with rising bills prices, or a two degree rise in the temperature?

I would hope the answer is obvious.

Unless you are a politically driven scientist in need of grant money?

Yeah…

Then it might take you a minute.

That’s cool, I’ll just wait here, wearing my big winter coat (In. MAY!), I’ve got noting but time. But do you mind if I turn on the heat while I wait?

It’s freakin’ cold outside?

Brrrrr.

I can be poor too

News Mash: Rich people aren’t as awful as you thought, they can pretend to know what you feel!

Quick…

Think of any wealthy person you know.

They’re jerks, right?

But what might surprise you…

The fact that they aren’t entirely as awful as they may seem.

At least…

According to science:

[via PopSci]Rich People Aren’t Entirely Awful And Selfish: Study

Investment bankers raking in the dough on Wall Street may get a bad rap for being selfish, but a desire to make boatloads of money won’t automatically turn you into Scrooge McDuck, according to new research. A study published in the April issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that many people primarily driven by a desire for wealth are still willing to help someone in need.

Previous research has shown the people are more likely to help others if they aren’t in a hurry, and might be less likely to help others if they love money. Yet in a recent experiment with a group of 50 wealth-driven college students in an intro economics course at Loyola University, mostly business majors, 78 percent displayed a willingness to stop and lend assistance to someone in trouble regardless of whether they were in a hurry.

First, the students filled out a questionnaire measuring their religiosity and desire for wealth. Later, they were given one of two passages to read–either one about career paths for economics students or a version of the parable of the Good Samaritan. They were asked to go down the hall to another room where they would give a short speech related to the passage they had read. Some were told they were running late and the researcher in the other room would be waiting on them, while others were told they didn’t need to rush.

On their way to the other room, the participants encountered someone in distress who would approach the subject and explain that his cell phone had just died and one of his family members had been in an accident. The “victim” would rank each student’s helpfulness on a scale from 0 to 5–from not noticing or offering them any help to indirectly helping by telling the waiting research assistant about the situation to providing them with a cell phone or money for a pay phone.

After the students proceeded to the room and gave the speech, they answered a questionnaire about how likely they would be to help someone in need, whether they would participate in insider trading if they could get away with it and receive $2 million, and whether accumulating material wealth was one of their major goals in life.

The majority of the participants offered some form of aid to the victim, either directly or indirectly. Only 22 percent (11 people) did not help at all, and 66 percent stayed with the victim and/or gave them a cell phone to use.

Helpful, but these people weren’t angels: the authors write “the preliminary data suggests the majority of the participants were somewhat ethically challenged.” A little more than half (56 percent) admitted they would take the $2 million for insider trading, and 72 percent said accumulating wealth was a top life priority.

…[Read More]

However…

According to evidence to the contrary?

Yeah…

Rich people still seem like total douchebags to you.

And given their abject display of their pretty disgusting plays of condescension?

[via EW]Ben Affleck takes poverty vow: Eat on $1.50 a dayI can be poor too

Newly-anointed World’s Most Beautiful Woman Gwyneth Paltrow has famously dismissed the plebs who criticize her extravagant lifestyle. “F— the haters!” she told Elle UK in 2009. “I am who I am. I can’t pretend to be somebody who makes $25,000 a year.”

But apparently, the same isn’t true for Paltrow’s old flame Ben Affleck. The Oscar-winning director recently signed on to participate in the Global Poverty Project’s Live Below the Line, a campaign that challenges average (and above-average) people to live on just $1.50 a day for five days. The initiative is meant to simulate what it’s like for the 1.4 billion people worldwide who live in extreme poverty. Getting by on that pittance every day would actually mean spending just $547.5 per year — which makes $25,000 look like a pretty princely sum.

Affleck is following in the footsteps of Hugh Jackman, who first started working with Live Below the Line in 2011. Stars including Josh Groban and The Avengers‘s Tom Hiddleston are living below the line this year as well. Here’s a clip of the Wolverine star promoting the initiative in 2012:

…[Read More]

Well…

[Sorry, Ben!]

You wouldn’t be wrong.

Rich people, no how much they might “feel” for us poor folk?

We all know, that on the inside…

They are happy they can do so from a distance.

But firsthand?

They want nothing to DO with economic challenges.

And  yeah, brother (Looking at YOU, Ben), we all know it.

presidential approval ratings

News Mash: People dislike government & politicians, until they get out of government. *hint, hint*

Few like the government.

And…

Everyone knows this?

EXCEPT for those who actually work in the government.

Well, usually…

Given a culmination of our present turmoil?

That’s all a’changin’

[via HotAir] Poll: Faith in federal government hits new low ~by Mary Katharine Ham

Turns out, Democrats don’t think the federal government is worth a damn under George W. Bush or President Obama, but they still want it getting ever bigger and imposing its shoddy solutions on every conceivable problem from now until the end of time. Super.

The percentage of Democrats expressing a favorable opinion of the federal government has declined 10 points in the past year, from 51% to 41%. For the first time since Barack Obama became president, more Democrats say they have an unfavorable view of the federal government in Washington than a favorable view (51% unfavorable vs. 41% favorable). Favorable opinions of the federal government among Republicans, already quite low in 2012 (20% favorable), have fallen even further, to 13% currently.

Pew notes that partisanship, of course, plays a role in the favorability ratings of the federal government, with Republicans rating it higher during the Bush years than Democrats, and vise versa during the Obama years. So, the president most marked by his advocacy of a federal government that can and should do pretty much everything is sitting atop said federal government…

However, there has been a steep decline in the share of Democrats expressing a favorable opinion of the federal government since Obama took office, from 61% in July 2009 to 41% currently.

According to Pew’s graph, that puts Democrats’ estimation of the federal government under Obama at about the same level it was during the last bit of Bush’s second term. Ouch. Their dissatisfaction no doubt has several factors— the critique from the Left that Obama’s not using his power to do enough, their general annoyance with Congressional Republicans, on whom the president is happy to blame, well, everything, and their anger at the fact that Obama seems so frequently foiled by them. This is where you see the frequent declaration that democracy just doesn’t “work” these days because it doesn’t allow the president of their choosing to do whatever he wants whenever he wants to. No one ever seems to stop to consider why the president of their choosing is so very bad at making things happen in Congress.

But hasn’t Obama’s go-to defense—nothing can possibly get done with my opponents in charge of one half of one House of Congress— always had the potential downside of an increase in nihilism about the federal government? As Democrats might see it, if the most inspirational orator in modern politics, the most intellectual man to hold the office in decades, a man of Ivy league insight and Hyde Park breeding cannot make the favored vehicle of Democratic policy work, what’s the point?

…[Read More]

In fact…

The best thing one can do when one has such a crappy job?

Quit. Retire…

GET OUT of politics altogether!

Honestly…

A little space?

Always a good thing.

[via WT]George W. Bush gains poll favor as presidential library sets to open ~by By Cheryl K. Chumleypresidential approval ratings

Former President George W. Bush is finally finding the love.

Recent poll numbers put the previously unpopular president — his second term poll numbers were the lowest for any second term president since World War II, ABC reported — back in the golden graces of the public. And the good news comes at a good time: Mr. Bush is about to open his presidential library for public viewing.

Now, 47 percent of ABC News/Washington Post survey participants say they approve of Mr. Bush’s job performance during his entire eight years in the White House. [<<<<<Tied with Obama>>>>>>] Fifty percent still say they disapprove — but that’s still an improvement.

When he left office, his approval rating was only 33 percent, ABC reported. His disapproval rating, meanwhile, was 66 percent — tied with disgraced Richard Nixon, ABC reported.

Put in context: Most presidents do gain in public favor in the years after leaving office. But it’s not a given: In the years following President Bill Clinton’s exodus from the White House, he actually dropped in public favor by 4 percentage points, ABC reported.

The George W. Bush Presidential Center is set to open May 1, 2013.

…[Read More]

Something to remember, President Obama…

For when your term is up.

After all, I have a feeling once your reign is finally over?

The American people might need a bit of distance from you themselves.

Something to think about, and hopefully consider, Sir.

phenomenalists

News Mash: The parents boycotting new, harder state tests for their kids are phenomenalists? Yup, you bet they are!

apparently…

Some parents in new York?

Practicing phenomenalists, as it were:

[via MyFoxNY]Some NY parents to boycott new, harder state tests By CAROLYN THOMPSON & KAREN MATTHEWS

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – New York state education officials have been sounding the alarm for months: English and math tests that students will take this week and next will be harder than before and scores will drop.

A video from the state Education Department warns, “We expect them to be lower.”

Statewide, students in third through eighth grades have spent hours studying for the tests, but some parents are planning to boycott them.

They will be harder because they are aligned with the Common Core standards, which are intended to boost academic rigor.

New York adopted the Common Core in 2010, but schools have not fully implemented the guidelines.

Education officials say students must master the harder exams to compete in the global economy.

…[Read More]

And just what, you ask, is a phenomenalists?

Well…

Basically?

It’s a very specific way one views reality.

[via ListVerse] 10 Mind-Blowing Theories About The Universe and Reality ~by Michael Allison

Reality isn’t as plain and simple as we often like to think. Several things we take for granted as true are, in reality, patently false. Scientists and philosophers have done their best to overthrow the theories of common sense—as you’ll see by the ten examples below:

1 Phenomenalism

phenomenalists

Ever wondered what happens to things behind your back? Philosophers have studied this problem intently, and some have reached a simple conclusion: they vanish. Well—not exactly. Some philosophers, known as “phenomenalists”, believe that things only exist insofar as they are perceived. In other words, your cheese sandwich only exists so long as you are aware of its existence. So as for trees that fall in forests with no one around to hear them; they don’t. No perception, no existence. That’s phenomenalism in a nut-shell.

…[Read More - See all '10 Mind-Blowing  Theories About the Universe & Reality' HERE!]

Because when you get right down to it…

Reality?

Not as cut and dried as it may seem.

Especially?

If you are the parents to the stupid children you never bothered to read to growing up.

Then, reality?

Is all about perception.

sheer terror

News Mash: North Korea? Scary. NASA lasso’ing an asteroid? Scarier. A newly discover giant spider? Holy $#*%!!!

When it comes to fear…

It’s all about personal perspective, isn’t it?

And how it relates to the individual.

Take North Korea.

Scary bunch of freaky, bat-crap crazy dudes, for sure.

And their possible threat to nuke us all come April 10th?

Worrisome.

But lets face it…

Those psychos have always been whack-jobs.

So, on a personal level?

The chances of these coo-coo birds effecting any of us?

Pretty slim:

[via The Sun]North Korea tells Brit diplomats to get out — then sets chilling April 10 deadline ~By JACK LOSH

ROGUE state North Korea today sparked fears that it could trigger a nuclear strike as early as next WEDNESDAY.

Crackpot Kim Jong-un’s regime today issued a chilling threat to British diplomats warning them to get out of Pyongyang.

Alarmingly the North Korean government said it would not be able to guarantee the safety of embassies from April 10.

Russian diplomats have also been advised to evacuate.

Today the Foreign Office added that it is “considering next steps” after the threat.

It is still unclear why next Wednesday has been set as a deadline – but it is sure to spark fears despot Kim Jong-un will launch an attack after that date.

This week South Korean workers employed in factories in the North were also told to leave by April 10.

The dramatic development came as North Korea moved a second missile to its east coast in a further threat to Japan, South Korea and US Pacific bases.

The rogue state has already transported a Musudan missile with a range of 1,800 miles (3,000km) to the same area.

…[Read More]

So this new: ‘We are going to destroy the tyranny of the West!” hokum, is just that…

A load of bull.

Nothing to be REALLY concerned with.

However NASA scientists new “fantastic” idea to lasso an asteroid, in order to bring it CLOSER to us?

A tad more worrisome, and it should be for all of us.

And only because?

Even as much as I dearly love & adore scientists, they always only consider IF they could do something…

Not necessarily if they SHOULD.

Especially if one considers the dangerous ramifications should the asteroid (not much smaller than the rock that hit Russia with the force of an atomic bomb, cause it only takes a rock about 10 meters to do that) get out of their control and barrel towards Earth, impacting somewhere NOT just water.

So, yeah…

A tad more worrisome, and it should be:

[via YahooNews] Senator: NASA to lasso asteroid, bring it closer ~By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top senator said Friday.

The ship would capture the 500-ton, 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration, according to a government document obtained by The Associated Press.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the plan would speed up by four years the existing mission to land astronauts on an asteroid by bringing the space rock closer to Earth.

Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said Friday that President Barack Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week. The money would be used to find the right small asteroid.

“It really is a clever concept,” Nelson said in a press conference in Orlando. “Go find your ideal candidate for an asteroid. Go get it robotically and bring it back.”

This would be the first time ever humanity has manipulated a space object in such a grand scale, like what it does on Earth, said Robert Braun, a Georgia Institute of Technology aerospace engineering professor who used to be NASA’s chief technology officer.

“It’s a great combination of our robotic and human capabilities to do the kind of thing that NASA should be doing in this century,” Braun said.

Last year, the Keck Institute for Space Studies proposed a similar mission for NASA with a price tag of $2.6 billion. There is no cost estimate for the space agency’s version. NASA’s plans were first reported by Aviation Week.

While there are thousands of asteroids around 25-feet, finding the right one that comes by Earth at just the right time to be captured will not be easy, said Donald Yeomans, who heads NASA’s Near Earth Object program that monitors close-by asteroids. He said once a suitable rock is found it would be captured with the space equivalent of “a baggie with a drawstring. You bag it. You attach the solar propulsion module to de-spin it and bring it back to where you want it.”

…[Read More]

There are fearsome things and events that exist in our world today, but from an individual, personal perspective the chances of them affecting us DIRECTLY?

Not likely.

However, with that said…

One thing, one oh-my-gawd-Mother-Nature-what-have-you-done thing, on a personal level we should ALL fear, and quite honestly have every right to, because darn-tootin’ it WILL affect us all?

And by saying ‘it will affect us all’, I mean it will eat your freakin’ FACE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brace yourself…

A new venomous, giant spider has been discovered:

ARRGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[via YahooNews] Newly Discovered Giant Spider is of the Nightmare-Inducing Variety ~By

Of all of the creepy and crawly things that you can think of, tarantulas probably are near the top of the list when it comes sheer terrorto scariness. Well, get ready to add another terrifying arachnid to your list, because a new type of tarantula has been discovered in northern Sri Lanka.

Ranil Nanayakkara, a local researcher, and his team found the tiger spider and named it Poecilotheria rajaei, after a local police investigator, Michael Rajakumar Purajah. Purajah helped the team of scientists navigate the remote area where the spider was found.

The genus Poecilotheria is known for being fast, colorful, and venomous. But why does this newly discovered species stand out from all the rest in its genus? It’s huge, for one thing. Its leg span is up to 8 inches across, about the length of your face. It also has distinctive markings on its underside and legs that are geometrically patterned and described as daffodil-yellow and gray.

So what do these spiders eat? They have a taste for small snakes, birds, and mice. Nanayakkara explained why they were able to find P. rajaei in an unusual place — an old doctor’s office. “They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation, the number have dwindled and due to lack of suitable habitat, they enter old buildings.”

…[Read More]

And so, although the news of North Korea threatening to nuke us, barely made me blink?
The off-putting NASA plans caused me to look up at the stars in the sky and, regarding scientists, re-think?
Oh, but it was the newest spider discovery, which very well had for me a heart attack…On the brink!

Fears.

We all have them.

Some of them, however…

Far more personal than others.

Eek.

the root of the problem

News Mash: What is the actual root of the problem, guns or powerful psychotropic drugs?

Huh.

So…

The crazy, psychotic Aurora shooter, was on a dangerous mix of powerful psychotropic drugs.

Who would have saw this one coming?

[via LATimes]James Holmes’ psychiatrist warned he may pose threat ~By Jenny Deam

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — About a month before the Aurora movie theater rampage left 12 dead and at least 70 injured in July, James E. Holmes told a psychiatrist he was having homicidal thoughts and she concluded he could pose a danger to the public, according to documents released Thursday.

University of Colorado-Denver psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Fenton told a campus police officer about her concerns June 12, the day after she met with Holmes for their only session. Her fears were revealed Thursday when the new judge presiding over the case unsealed a host of search warrants and arrest documents.

Fenton also told Lynn Whitten, a campus police officer, that after she stopped seeing Holmes he “threatened and harassed her via email/text messages,” the documents said.

…Details about the case have been tightly sealed from the earliest days of the investigation. Yet on Thursday, District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. reversed previous rulings on public access and made public the arrest affidavit and 12 search warrants.

Samour took over from Chief Judge William Sylvester on Monday after Dist. Atty. George Brauchler of Colorado’s 18th Judicial District announced he would seek the death penalty.

Sylvester withdrew because of the time constraints that come with a capital punishment trial, which would leave him little time for administrative duties. Holmes’ trial, initially scheduled to begin Aug. 5, has been pushed back to February at the earliest.

Holmes’ attorneys are widely expected to use an insanity defense. They had offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence without possibility of parole.

The newly unsealed documents give glimpses not only into the early hours of the investigation but into Holmes himself. A search warrant for his apartment — which had been booby-trapped, presumably to kill anyone who entered — revealed a student’s life that seemed at once mundane and bent on destruction.

Along with chemicals used for explosives, rounds of ammunition, pistol cases and paper targets, police seized movie posters, video games, apartment lease papers, numerous computers, 48 containers of beer and other liquor and stacks of school textbooks. They found prescription medication for sertraline, a generic version of Zoloft used to treat depression, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder; and Clonazepam, usually prescribed to treat anxiety and panic attacks.

…[Read More]

Oh, that’s right…

*snaps*

Everyone saw this coming, that is if by “everyone” I mean those who chose not to be distracted by mainstream media, screaming that its guns that are a problem…

AND NOT THE PSYCHOS WHO ARE USING THEM.

Cause lets just ignore THAT problem altogether.

After all, I am sure Big Pharma would greatly appreciate that:

(NaturalNews) The following is a republishing of an important article written by Dan Roberts from AmmoLand.com. It the root of the problemreveals the real truth about mass shootings that bureaucrats and lawmakers are choosing to sweep under the rug: psychiatric drugs. If you want to know the real reason why mass shootings are taking place, this is the “inconvenient truth” the media won’t cover.

As part of a collective grassroots effort to defend the Bill of Rights against usurpers and tyrants, Natural News is republishing this article without asking for permission first. When it comes to fighting tyrants and defending liberty, the unstated agreement across the entire liberty-loving grassroots community is, “Use our articles; help spread the word!” Every article I write here on Natural News, for example, may be reprinted with credit and a link back to the original source article on NaturalNews.com.

Here’s the full article by Dan Roberts:

(Ammoland.com) Nearly every mass shooting incident in the last twenty years, and multiple other instances of suicide and isolated shootings all share one thing in common, and its not the weapons used.

The overwhelming evidence points to the signal largest common factor in all of these incidents is the fact that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point in the immediate past before they committed their crimes.

Multiple credible scientific studies going back more then a decade, as well as internal documents from certain pharmaceutical companies that suppressed the information show that SSRI drugs ( Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors ) have well known, but unreported side effects, including but not limited to suicide and other violent behavior. One need only Google relevant key words or phrases to see for themselves. www.ssristories.com is one popular site that has documented over 4500 ” Mainstream Media ” reported cases from around the World of aberrant or violent behavior by those taking these powerful drugs.

The following list of mass shooting perpetrators and the drugs they were taking or had been taking shortly before their horrific actions was compiled and published to Facebook by John Noveske, founder and owner of Noveske Rifleworks just days before he was mysteriously killed in a single car accident. Is there a link between Noveske’s death and his “outting” of information numerous disparate parties would prefer to suppress, for a variety of reasons?

I leave that to the individual readers to decide. But there is most certainly a documented history of people who “knew too much” or were considered a “threat” dying under extraordinarily suspicious circumstances.

From Katherine Smith, a Tennessee DMV worker who was somehow involved with several 9/11 hijackers obtaining Tennessee Drivers Licenses, and was later found burned to death in her car, to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Webb, who exposed a CIA Operation in the 80′s that resulted in the flooding of LA Streets with crack cocaine and was later found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, but was officially ruled as a “suicide”, to Frank Olson, a senior research micro biologist who was working on the CIA’s mind control research program MKULTRA.

After Olson expressed his desire to leave the program, he was with a CIA agent in a New York hotel room, and is alleged to have committed “suicide” by throwing himself off the tenth floor balcony. In 1994, Olson’s sons were successful in their efforts to have their fathers body exhumed and re examined in a second autopsy by James Starrs, Professor of Law and Forensic science at the National Law Center at George Washington University. Starr’s team concluded that the blunt force trauma to the head and injury to the chest had not occurred during the fall but most likely in the room before the fall. The evidence was called “rankly and starkly suggestive of homicide.” Based on his findings, in 1996 the Manhattan District Attorney opened a homicide investigation into Olson’s death, but was unable to find enough evidence to bring charges.

As I said, I leave it to the individual readers to make up their own minds if Noveske suffered a similar fate. On to the list of mass shooters and the stark link to psychotropic drugs.

• Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold’s medical records have never been made available to the public.

• Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather’s girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.

• Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.

• Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.

• Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.

• Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.

• Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.

• Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.

• A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.

• Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..

• A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

• Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.

• TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.

• Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.

• James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.

• Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania

• Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California

• Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.

• Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.

• Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.

• Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.

• Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.

• Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.

• Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.

• Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family’s Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.

• Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara’s parents said “…. the damn doctor wouldn’t take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil…”)

• Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002, (Gareth’s father could not accept his son’s death and killed himself.)

• Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family’s detached garage.

• Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.

• Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.

• Woody __, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.

• A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.

• Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.”

• Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.

• Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.

• Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.

• Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.

• Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his New York high school.

Missing from list… 3 of 4 known to have taken these same meds….

• What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21…… killed 6 people and injuring 14 others in Tuscon, Az?

• What drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24….. killed 12 people and injuring 59 others in Aurora Colorado?

• What drugs was Jacob Tyler Roberts on, age 22, killed 2 injured 1, Clackamas Or?

• What drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown Ct?

Those focusing on further firearms bans or magazine restrictions are clearly focusing on the wrong issue and asking the wrong questions, either as a deliberate attempt to hide these links, or out of complete and utter ignorance.

…[Read More - Show THIS Site Some LOVE Folks, They Deserve It, Click HERE!]

And sadly?

There are far more who bask in, as well as showcase their ignorance, when it comes to their lack of gun knowledge, than there are those who do not suffer it’s ill effects.

A majority of whom?

Hold some of the highest ranking positions in our government.

Lucky for US however, there exist a few, a slim, knowledgeable few, who refuse to stand idle while their basic constitutional rights are under attack.

Thank goodness for these amazing, intelligent few!

No matter their age.

I stand in aw.

“Bravo, girl!”

*stands clapping*

Take your bow, you deserve it.

One can only hope, The Powers That Be?

They listen.

Good to know

News Mash: Poverty rates spike for all Americans… Who are NOT Tony Romo!

No matter what the White house might say to the contrary?

If you actually LIVE in the U.S. & do not benefit from making 400K a year…

Oh, excuse me, I mean 380K a year? (Cause yeah, Obama took a whopping 5% salary cut to “help out”. *rolls eyes* Woo freaking hoo.)

YOU know just how hard times are, these days:

[via YahooNews]Help shrinks as poverty spikes in the US ~by Steven r. Hurst, Associated Press

…The U.S. Census Bureau puts the number of Americans in poverty at levels not seen since the mid-1960s when President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the federal government’s so-called War on Poverty.

As President Barack Obama began his second term in January, nearly 50 million Americans — one in six — were living below the income line that defines poverty, according to the bureau. A family of four that earns less than $23,021 a year is listed as living in poverty. The bureau said 20 percent of the country’s children are poor.

…[Read More]

That is…

Unless you are a crappy quarterback who can’t get his team to the super bowl.

Cause then?

Oh, yeah…

Economic times are just coming up ROSES for you!

[via ATR.org]Tony Romo New Highest Paid NFL Player After Taxes

Texas Further Demonstrates Its Economic Prosperity With No State Income Tax

Over Easter weekend, franchise quarterback Tony Romo signed a 6-year $108 million contract extension to remain with the Dallas Cowboys. While the estimated $18 million per year makes Romo the fifth highest paid player based on salary, he is actually the new highest paid player after taxes in the NFL.

The Cowboys QB now claims the top spot previously held by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints because of no state income tax in Texas. With Romo’s income tax burden being 39.6 percent – the top marginal federal income tax rate in the U.S. – and estimated tax liability of $7.12 million, he still stands to earn $752,000 more than Brees.

…[Read More]

My, oh my.

How wonderful it must be for those precious few, who can totally FAIL at your job?

And yet still you are rewarded.

Jeez.

Good to know [Source]

Hermonie Granger Survivor

News Mash: Sure, North Korea has nukes, but the rest of the world…? Has Hermione Granger!

Must say?

All this crazy talk from North Korea…

Making me FAR MORE?

Than a tad bit worried:

[via CBSLocalHouston]Officials To Take ‘Whatever Precautions’ Needed After North Korea Threat

AUSTIN, Texas (CBS Houston) – In response to perceived threats against the city from the North Korean government, officials in Austin have said they are willing to do whatever federal officials feel may be necessary to protect civilians.

Several images recently appeared in the Rodong Sinmun, the North Korean newspaper run by the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the most read paper in the nation, under the headline, “Kim Jong Un Convenes Operation Meeting, Finally Examines and Ratifies Plan for Firepower Strike.”

Many have been on heightened alert after the North Korean newspaper published the photos on March 29 on the English version of their website.

“After receiving a report from [Lt.] General Kim Rak Gyom on the technical conditions of the strategic strike means of the KPA, he made an important decision,” the accompanying article noted. “He said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation.”

The report added, “If they make a reckless provocation with huge strategic forces, the KPA should mercilessly strike the U.S. mainland, their stronghold, their military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in south Korea, he said.”

According to NK News, some text written on a map in the background of one image reads “U.S. Mainland Strike Plan,” and their digitally enhanced version of the image show missile strikes planned for areas surrounding Austin, as well as Washington D.C. and San Diego.

…[Read More]

But?

I am definitely taking consolation from Seth Rogan.

Survival, in the face of the end of the world?

Is possible.

[WARNING: Trailer (below) contains Graphic Language!]

Especially if?

You are on Team Hermione’s side.

Cause?

She takes all the s**t!

Haha, best quote ever.

So, in the face of a possible end of the world scenario, thanks to the nutbags in North Korea?

I only laugh at the prospects.

Bring it on, North Korea…

Hermione Granger has our backs!

Hermonie Granger Survivor