Category Archives: Musings

Fukushima Through the Roof Cancer Statistic

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From http://www.zerohedge.com

Fukushima Children Thyroid Cancer Rate Continues To Rise

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/24/2014 – 21:05

Fukushima prefecture has been conducting regular checkups of over 360,000 people who were in Fukushima in March 2011 and were age 18 or under when the nuclear crisis struck. As WSJ reported in August, a study by researchers in Fukushima prefecture found 57 minors in the prefecture have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer so far and another 46 are showing symptoms that suggest they may also have the disease. Today, as The Japan Times reports, four more children are suspected of suffering from thyroid cancer in the latest survey bringing the total to 107 out of 385,000 now surveyed. This is dramatically higher than the normal “between 5 to 11 cases per million people,” that Okayama University professor Toshihide Tsuda cites for national statistics between 1975 and 2008.

The Nature of Truth

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“Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.”  – Thomas Paine

Got Corruption?

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Vietnam -Rising Discontent over Corruption

Posted on April 3, 2014 by

Vietnam-Bankers

The global trend that is brewing against corruption is absolutely everywhere. Vietnam is dealing with rising public anger over corruption that has unfolded in and out of government. Duong Chi Dung (C-front), 56, is the former chairman of Vinalines, and his accomplices stand in the local People’s Court in Hanoi. The top two executives were sentenced to death for embezzlement as authorities try to allay rising public anger over corruption. Where US bankers got bonuses after 2007, the story is very different elsewhere.

FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI

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The Marine’s Hymn begins “From the Halls of Montezuma, To the shores of Tripoli.” Yet most people have no idea what Tripoli in Libya has to do with the Marines. American sailors were no longer under British protection after the Revolution and were being captured and sold into slavery by North African pirates from Tripoli. In 1785, pirates from Algiers captured an entire crew from an American merchant ship off the coast of Portugal.

Quoted from Armstrong Economics

Now there’s a historical twist we don’t often hear, that North African pirates made slaves of white American sailors after the American Revolution.

 

 

Is China’s GDP Going to Zero?

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China is rapidly approaching ZERO growth. This is not less growth, but
ZERO growth as in full-scale economic collapse from the days of 12% GDP growth
per year.

Chinese growth numbers are manufactured by the Chinese government and have no basis in truth. Over 99% of “analysts” are missing this, but it is a fact.

If that happens, could it mean a resurgence of manufacturing in the USA as Chinese enterprises collapse or quality of manufactured goods plummet due to system collapse?

from zerohedge.com

Fay says:

MADE IN AMERICA could  help bring back the national pride we lost when we sent all our jobs overseas. The environment in the US is ripe for resurgence of American manufacturing. Globally, the US is competitive again. Our falling dollar makes our goods and services cheap to international customers.

Wages are low. Energy costs are low. The cost of money is low. In business school they teach that you only need two out of three of those factors for financial viability. Right now America has all three working for it. It’s time to bring manufacturing home.

 

Did You Know?

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A little historical tidbit from Armstrong Economics:

The number ONE item of value is ALWAYS food. In Japan where money became extinct and no coins were even minted for 600 years because people no longer trusted government, the medium of exchange became a standard bag of rice.

Bees Attack and Kill Climber

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I love the outdoors. Sometimes the outdoors can be deadly in an unexpected way. The summer season is upon us, so take heed from this news story from Reuters. Be safe out there, nature lovers. An Arizona counselor pays a high price for his excursion into the wild.

Johnson was reported missing on Monday by co-workers after he failed to show up for work. A Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team found his body that afternoon, Estrada said. “He had been stung repeatedly and he was dangling there,” he said.

“He was climbing the cliff and was about 70 feet up and still had about 80 feet to go, so he really didn’t have anywhere to go when he was attacked by this swarm of bees,” Estrada said.

He said Johnson’s dog had also been attacked by bees and was found dead nearby.

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office was conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of Johnson’s death.

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Scott Malone, Toni Reinhold)

Head Over Heels in Love with a Horse

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAToday’s weather was too perfect. I couldn’t stand it. I saddled up Jake and had a talk with him about taking care of me and being the “perfect” horse so I could take my first horseback ride since shoulder surgery in late January. No one else was around to watch us. No one knew I was going riding. It was a calculated risk. I was trusting my horse.

Normally in spring, a horse is frisky. If the horse hasn’t been ridden in a while, he’s even more frisky.

In the field, Jake acted like any other horse with spring fever: he bucked, reared, pawed the ground. At feeding time, he bolted from the pasture to the feed bucket quicker than a Kentucky Derby colt running for the finish line.

But today, Jake listened to my request. Jake walked without incident on our first jaunt around the neighborhood. He was absolutely perfect, just as I asked him to be. Even when a motorcycle passed about ten feet away from him. Even when three noisy vintage sports cars rumbled close by.

Getting off wasn’t so bad. It was the getting off part that I didn’t know how to do with a bum shoulder. The fear of re-injuring myself while dismounting kept me out of the saddle. Instead, it turned out the hardest part was getting the heavy saddle up on him. He stood perfectly still while I awkwardly pushed the saddle up onto his back, mostly with my left hand. I struggled to tighten the girth.

Several years ago I fractured my tailbone and the T-12 vertebrae in a fall from a horse’s back. Due to that injury, now I have to mount a horse using a step ladder. It can be precarious, but if that is what it takes to get me hoisted into the saddle, so be it. That’s why it is important to have a good horse.

My arm is a bit sore now after the workout. I don’t care. I am a happy camper. I had my first horseback ride in months. I am head-over-heels in love with my horse. My Jake; what a good boy he is.

Weird Works Sometimes

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Recently I met a lovely woman from Switzerland. She taught me something profound: to receive, one must ask.

As a consequence of our conversations, I followed the directions of this lady and placed nine sticky notes on the wall next to my desk with my intentions for achievement for the coming year. Then I asked the Universe (the greatest power as I know it) for the most benevolent outcome surrounding these intentions.

I am going to give you an example–albeit a silly one–of how this process works. I was visiting Zion National Park in Utah. I wanted to see the elusive Big Horn Sheep in the wild. Big Horn Sheep hate human intrusion, so they place themselves at the top of cliffs or mountain ravines where humans have a hard time going. I asked the Higher Power to let us see sheep.

On this excursion, the Swiss woman and I were about to leave the park. We stopped at a pretty scenic area on the edge of a box canyon.

I said aloud, “Where’s my sheep?” I was feeling disappointed.

No lie. Immediately, at the top of the closest canyon wall, I saw a head pop into view, followed by neck, shoulders, front legs, then full torso. In silhouette at the top of the cliff stood a magnificent Big Horn Sheep. Other people were milling around–foreigners. I began calling out and pointing toward the animal, who remained posed on the precipice.

For several minutes, cars came and went. The sheep stood frozen. I kept calling out to other sightseers and pointing, but no one looked up, except my travelling companion. I turned to her.

“Do you think the sheep is really there? No one else but us seems to be able to see it.”

At that moment, four other sheep appeared, as if from nowhere, lower down the canyon wall. The small group began to work its way toward the sheep standing alone at the top. The small group had lain among the brush, hidden from human view, until they decided to rise and move.

For about 15 minutes, I watched the sheep, overcome with joy and gratitude at getting my silly wish. Then the press of time of keeping to a schedule forced us to move on.

I’ll never understand why no one else saw the sheep. They were right there in front of all of us.

Did I see them because I asked? Because I was looking for them? Or because they were a gift?