October 22, 2009 archive

Pony Party

Hai!  I’m at work again…hope you’ll enjoy this & I’ll check in as soon as I get home.

–Youffraita

poot6

Pony Party is an Open Thread.  Please do not rec the party…and please leave your own favorite lols, vids, or whatever in the comments.

Bush protested, booed loudly in Canada.


     While former U.S. president George W. Bush talked about democracy inside a downtown Edmonton conference centre on Tuesday, hundreds of protesters were outside exercising their right to free speech with signs, songs and screams.

    “Stop the killing, stop the war,” the protesters chanted to the beat of a drum. They held signs that said “Bush is a war criminal;” “Bush lied, 1,000s died;” and “Canada is not Bush Country.”

    Several dozen police officers kept protesters away from the front of the Shaw Conference Centre and as the crowd grew, metal barricades went up between the police and the crowd.

    Marilyn Gaa, who holds both American and Canadian citizenship, held a three-metre-tall black-clad Grim Reaper with a sign on his back that said: “GWB I am your biggest fan” and on the front, “Thanks for 8 great years.”

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A Paid Message on DK?

I noticed a diary over at the GOS came up titled, “Flu Hype?”  I checked it out and it was clearly written to warn of the dangers of the Swine flu, particularly as it is hitting younger people, and to encourage people to take the H1N1 vaccine.

Now I’ve read alot of the conspiracy stuff about the vaccine.  How it hasn’t been properly tested, how the side effects may be worse than the flu itself, how it can cause autisim, etc.  I watched the videos of the 1976 Swine Flu scare and how President Ford urged the entire country to get vaccinnated.  I’ve read where the pharmaceutical companies pay bloggers and others to spread the word so their profits are maximized.

I don’t know what to think really.  I most probably won’t get the shot as I’m not that fricking old yet and I rarely get a cold let alone the flu.  I also don’t work around people and my kids are out of the house so my susceptibility and possible transfer quotients are fairly low.  

But I couldn’t help check out the person behind that diary.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

The person who wrote it appears to have just signed on to GOS on 10/19.  He freely lists his own blog on his DK page.  So I went to his blog, ScienceBlogs, to see what was there.

http://scienceblogs.com/whitec…

OK, strangely or not, sometimes I’ll follow the money on these things.  So I googled, “ScienceBlogs funding”, and I found that the blog was part of the Seed Media Group.  I then googled “Seed Media Group conspiracy”, and this came up.

http://www.ageofautism.com/200…

This blog, Age of Autism, had an article up explaining where the Seed Media Group gets its money.  It appears they get healthy doses (pun intended) of money from pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Shering-Plough and the CEO is a player with those companies and Dupont.  

Why did I write this?  Hell if I know.  We all know there are people who are paid to spread disinformation or special interest propaganda on the tubes.  This one seemed so obvious that I couldn’t help do a little research.  Of course, I haven’t proven my case, and don’t really care to proceed further.  Just wanted to warn others that we shouldn’t take for granted that the blogs are clean from the same propaganda in the MSM.  

New Beginnings

I stepped away from my computer yesterday, and decided instead to enjoy myself. As someone wrote to me yesterday, stop digging. So I did, and I thank you. My celebrating had already started early, and even I knew better than to continue on my present course, especially after a couple of pitchers of sangria. An intoxicated me would not have been excellent in any imaginable way, as my last comment shows all too clearly. loose lips sink ships, so I zipped it, and had some fun.

Since it was my birthday, I turned off my computer for a while, and I spent my time in the company of friends, family and even shared good times online later in the evening with a few new friends that I’ve made here at DD. But more than just a good time, though it definitely was, it was time spent reflecting on what’s really important in my life, focusing on those closest to me, and thinking about how best to move forward … to become better than I was yesterday, and to try and be better tomorrow.

When I woke up early this morning, I was greeted by a beautiful horizon, and I made the decision to simply enjoy it. Instead of my regular morning routine, if I was going to make a change, then I’d best get on with it. I grabbed my camera, decided the animals could wait a bit for just one morning, and I repeated my determinations made yesterday with the new dawn.

Though I’m neither a photographer nor a poet, what follows is just what came out of my decision to make each new day count, starting with today. One year and one day older, and so much left to do.

Many of you here have been on my mind, and I thank you for even the harshest criticisms. And no matter how much I tried to avoid it, you forced me to take a good hard look at myself and make the determination to do better, be a better person. I can’t imagine a better birthday gift. This essay is my thank you.

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