A Day in the Life

Men and Women Can't be 'Just Friends'

2012-10-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

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Men and Women Can't be 'Just Friends'

By Adrian F. Ward | Scientific American – 23 hrs ago

Can heterosexual men and women ever be “just friends”? Few other questions have provoked debates as intense, family dinners as awkward, literature as lurid, or movies as memorable. Still, the question remains unanswered. Daily experience suggests that non-romantic friendships between males and females are not only possible, but common—men and women live, work, and play side-by-side, and generally seem to be able to avoid spontaneously sleeping together. However, the possibility remains that this apparently platonic coexistence is merely a façade, an elaborate dance covering up countless sexual impulses bubbling just beneath the surface.

New research suggests that there may be some truth to this possibility—that we may think we’re capable of being “just friends” with members of the opposite sex, but the opportunity (or perceived opportunity) for “romance” is often lurking just around the corner, waiting to pounce at the most inopportune moment.

In order to investigate the viability of truly platonic opposite-sex friendships—a topic that has been explored more on the silver screen than in the science lab—researchers brought 88 pairs of undergraduate opposite-sex friends into…a science lab. Privacy was paramount—for example, imagine the fallout if two friends learned that one—and only one—had unspoken romantic feelings for the other throughout their relationship. In order to ensure honest responses, the researchers not only followed standard protocols regarding anonymity and confidentiality, but also required both friends to agree—verbally, and in front of each other—to refrain from discussing the study, even after they had left the testing facility. These friendship pairs were then separated, and each member of each pair was asked a series of questions related to his or her romantic feelings (or lack thereof) toward the friend with whom they were taking the study.

The results suggest large gender differences in how men and women experience opposite-sex friendships. Men were much more attracted to their female friends than vice versa. Men were also more likely than women to think that their opposite-sex friends were attracted to them—a clearly misguided belief. In fact, men’s estimates of how attractive they were to their female friends had virtually nothing to do with how these women actually felt, and almost everything to do with how the men themselves felt—basically, males assumed that any romantic attraction they experienced was mutual, and were blind to the actual level of romantic interest felt by their female friends. Women, too, were blind to the mindset of their opposite-sex friends; because females generally were not attracted to their male friends, they assumed that this lack of attraction was mutual. As a result, men consistently overestimated the level of attraction felt by their female friends and women consistently underestimated the level of attraction felt by their male friends.

Men were also more willing to act on this mistakenly perceived mutual attraction. Both men and women were equally attracted to romantically involved opposite-sex friends and those who were single; “hot” friends were hot and “not” friends were not, regardless of their relationship status. However, men and women differed in the extent to which they saw attached friends as potential romantic partners. Although men were equally as likely to desire “romantic dates” with “taken” friends as with single ones, women were sensitive to their male friends’ relationship status and uninterested in pursuing those who were already involved with someone else.

These results suggest that men, relative to women, have a particularly hard time being “just friends.” What makes these results particularly interesting is that they were found within particular friendships (remember, each participant was only asked about the specific, platonic, friend with whom they entered the lab). This is not just a bit of confirmation for stereotypes about sex-hungry males and naïve females; it is direct proof that two people can experience the exact same relationship in radically different ways. Men seem to see myriad opportunities for romance in their supposedly platonic opposite-sex friendships. The women in these friendships, however, seem to have a completely different orientation—one that is actually platonic.

To the outside observer, it seems clear that these vastly different views about the potential for romance in opposite-sex friendships could cause serious complications—and people within opposite-sex relationships agree. In a follow-up study, 249 adults (many of whom were married) were asked to list the positive and negative aspects of being friends with a specific member of the opposite sex. Variables related to romantic attraction (e.g., “our relationship could lead to romantic feelings”) were five times more likely to be listed as negative aspects of the friendship than as positive ones. However, the differences between men and women appeared here as well. Males were significantly more likely than females to list romantic attraction as a benefit of opposite-sex friendships, and this discrepancy increased as men aged—males on the younger end of the spectrum were four times more likely than females to report romantic attraction as a benefit of opposite-sex friendships, whereas those on the older end of the spectrum were ten times more likely to do the same.

Taken together, these studies suggest that men and women have vastly different views of what it means to be “just friends”—and that these differing views have the potential to lead to trouble. Although women seem to be genuine in their belief that opposite-sex friendships are platonic, men seem unable to turn off their desire for something more. And even though both genders agree overall that attraction between platonic friends is more negative than positive, males are less likely than females to hold this view.

So, can men and women be “just friends?” If we all thought like women, almost certainly. But if we all thought like men, we’d probably be facing a serious overpopulation crisis.

I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THIS TOO!!!!!

this is so totally mudinyoureyes!

MEN & WOMEN "JUST FRIENDS"

2012-10-24T06:40:00.001-07:00

Study investigates likelihood of men and women being ‘just friends’

Posted on: 7:16 am, October 24, 2012, by Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

Source: Men and Women Can’t be ‘Just Friends’

New research suggests there may be some truth to the statement men and women can’t be “just friends,” according to an article on yahoo.com.
Results of a study suggest that men, relative to women, have a particularly hard time being “just friends.” Where as women as more capable of creating platonic friendships.
The study looked at the friendships between 88 pairs of under undergraduate opposite-sex friends. In general, men overestimated the level of attraction felt by their female friends and women underestimated the level of attraction felt by their male friends.
This study, along with a followup study focused on adults,

the finding suggest that men and women have vastly different views of what it means to be “just friends.”

DUH!!!!! I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT!

Now this is true mudinyoureyes!

Are You Ready for Flu Season?

2012-10-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

http://grandparents.com/health-and-wellbeing/health/how-to-prevent-flu?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_content=LittleBrookMedia&utm_medium=511#

Stay healthy during flu season

Even if you’re the most diligent hand-washer and get your flu shot, you could still be laid low by any one of the hundreds of viruses that can cause the common cold or flu. After all, your body is assaulted by thousands of nasty germs every day.

Even the flu shot is only about 60 percent effective at fending off influenza (though the vaccine can minimize symptoms and prevent serious side effects, if you do get sick), according to a study published in 2011.

So what is the secret to staying healthy this season? Strengthen your immune system, so it can fight off those nasty bugs, say experts.

Serve protein at every meal

The older you are, the less likely you are to get enough protein, says Lisa Hark, Ph.D., R.D., a family nutritionist and the author of Nutrition for Life. The main reason: Foods high in protein, like lean meats, poultry, fish, and beans, can be time-consuming to prepare—and who wants to bother when you’re cooking for two (or one)? But eating protein-rich foods helps your body make antibodies that fight colds.

Another reason to consume lean meats, beans, or poultry at every meal: All these foods are rich in zinc, which plays a role in white blood-cell production. One easy way to sneak in some extra protein: Snack on nuts, suggests Hark. They also contain magnesium, another mineral with immune-boosting properties.

Meditate

When researchers in Wisconsin studied the effects of exercise and meditation on 149 adults over the age of 50, they were surprised at the results. Not only did the group who ran on the treadmill or biked for 45 minutes a day cut the number of colds and flu by almost half, but so did the group who meditated, did yoga, walked, or stretched for the same amount of time per day. Plus, those who meditated tended to miss fewer days at work than even those who exercised.

One reason why meditation and yoga may be cold-and-flu fenders: They reduce stress, which has a negative effect on your immune system, says Neil Schachter, MD, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of The Good Doctor's Guide to Colds and Flu. Can’t spend 45 minutes every day doing something mindful? Take ten minutes from your busy day and relax with a distraction, says Dr. Schachter—even if it’s just playing Fruit Ninja on your cellphone.

Limit how much wine you drink.

There are many ways that drinking too much alcohol can wreck your body. For one, it lowers your ability to absorb nutrients, says Hark, which makes it harder for your immune system to stay in fighting shape. Another reason: Overindulging can suppress your cough reflex, which is your body’s way of expelling germs and bacteria before they can borrow too deeply in the lungs and make you sick, says Dr. Schachter.

To reap the healthy benefits of a glass of red wine, don’t go beyond the recommended limits—one glass for women, two for men.

Carry your Kindle

How do cold and flu viruses make their way into your body? One way is through hand-to-hand contact. Someone who’s sick touches a surface, and you touch it, too—and then transfer those bugs to your mouth, nose, or eyes whenever you touch your face (which the average person does about 16 times a day).

Stashing hand sanitizer in your purse or pocket can keep infections at bay, but so will carrying your own reading material the next time you visit the doctor or dentist.

The reason: Public surfaces are teeming with germs—and that’s true for the magazines in waiting rooms as well as “elevator buttons, handrails, light switches, pens on credit card machines, cash-machine buttons, airplane and train seats, and poles and straps in buses and trains,” says Dr. Schachter.

Gargle

When you’ve got a cold, the mucus in your respiratory system turns thick and sticky, making it tougher to expel. That’s why gargling with salt water is such a popular home remedy for soothing sore throats—gargling can liquefy the mucus, so you can get rid of germs more easily.

But one study, done in Japan, showed that gargling might prevent colds and flu too. Researchers tracked nearly 400 healthy people during one winter season and found that the group who gargled regularly decreased their chances of coming down with a respiratory illness by 40 percent. Try a simple salt-water solution: Mix half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water, and gargle for a few seconds before spitting it out.

Watch your weight

The more fat cells you have, the lower your ability to fight off infections, notes Dr. Schachter. That’s because fat cells have fewer T-cells, a type of white-blood cell that searches out and destroys the many pathogens that invade your body.

Being overweight also makes you prone to inflammation. Normally, inflammation is a good thing, a sign that your body is fighting off an infection. But when fat cells release too many infection-fighting cells, it throws your immune system off balance and ups your chances of catching a cold—or developing a host of serious conditions, from diabetes to Alzheimer’s.

Plus, “the more overweight you are, the more sedentary you’re likely to be,” adds Dr. Schachter. Any type of exercise can boost your immune system by reducing stress and helping antibodies circulate through the body more quickly.

Load up on whole foods

Eating a varied diet is something that people can do every day, notes Hark. That way you are bound to consume the many nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants your body needs to keep the immune system in its best shape—from iron to selenium to vitamins A, C, B6, and E.

Even though processed foods have added vitamins and minerals, they’re synthetic—“and there’s not a lot of data that shows that synthetics work as well on the body,” says Hark. So mix and match your fruits and veggies, whole grains, and a variety of protein. And when a fruit or vegetable isn’t in season, buy frozen. “They’re cheap and convenient—there’s no chopping or cutting required,” she adds.

Stay away from school-age grandchildren

Of course you can’t (and wouldn't want to) stay away from them all the time, but here’s why you might want to pass up a visit when there’s a cold going around the classroom, especially if you suffer from COPD or emphysema.

While experts have long known that being around school children ups a person’s chances of catching a virus, a new study, which looked at people with lung disease, found that an infection was twice as likely to turn into a full-fledged cold—runny nose, coughs, sore throats—after people came in contact with germy kids.

Researchers speculated it might have something to do with the nature of kids’ colds, which are nastier and last longer than adult ones. Even if you aren’t suffering from a pulmonary disease, think twice before babysitting your sick grandkid. And if you can’t say no, wash your hands and teach your grandchild to sneeze and cough into his elbow.

Drink warm liquids

While it won’t prevent an upper respiratory infection, a bowl of chicken soup or mug of hot tea and lemon will relieve the worst of your symptoms and shorten the duration of your cold or flu, says Dr. Schachter.

Like gargling, hot liquids can help thin out infected mucus, and make it easier for you to cough or blow it out. And the oils in chicken soup stimulate the release of cytokines, molecules that play a role in clearing up infections. Plus, the very act of sitting down to enjoy a steaming bowl or mug can be a soothing stress-buster—and just what the doctor ordered.

What's the Matter with the World Today?????

2012-10-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

CLICK BELOW FOR WEDDING RECEIPT ION GONE BAD

http://gma.yahoo.com/1-man-dead-heart-attack-3-arrested-hotel-070608925--abc-news-topstories.html

LIVE WEBCAM PEACE LOVE & GUACAMOLE 2012

2012-10-05T14:18:00.002-07:00

http://www.livefrom.com/avocado/

IF YOU CAN'T BE THERE, YOU CAN SEE WHAT YOUR MISSING!

Sons of Anarachy Ashley Tisdale

2012-10-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

I follow Sons Of Anarchy & received this retweet

Ashley Tisdale has over 8MILLION Followers!

And I didn't know who she was..... Well you can't know everyone.

Click on link @ end for full story from Yahoo/OMG

Ashley TisdaleVerified‏@ashleytisdale1 Oct

Running with the big boys now....#sonsofanarchy tomorrow night!!! pic.twitter.com/RlvH4slu

http://ca.omg.yahoo.com/blogs/crush-ca/ashley-tisdale-racy-sons-anarchy-role-prostitute-165737770.html

the final food requests of 247 individuals executed in the United States

2012-09-21T08:29:00.001-07:00

WIERD FUCKING STORY!

Death Row Nutrition: Curious Conclusions to Last Meals

Brian Wansink

Cornell University

Kevin M. Kniffin

Cornell University - School of Applied Economics and Management

Mitsuru Shimizu

affiliation not provided to SSRN
August 26, 2012

Appetite, 2012, vol. 59, pp. 837-843
Abstract:
The growing macabre fascination with “last meals” offers a window into one’s true consumption desires when one’s value of the future is discounted close to zero. But in contrast to popular anecdotes and individual case studies, we created an empirical catalogue of actual last meals – the final food requests of 247 individuals executed in the United States during a recent five-year period. Our content analyses reveal three key findings: 1) The average last meal is calorically rich (2,756 calories) and proportionally averages 2.5 times the daily recommended servings of protein and fat, 2) the most frequent requests are also calorie dense: meat (83.9%), fried food (67.9%), desserts (66.3%), and soft drinks (60.0%), and 3) 39.9% requested branded foods or beverages. These findings are respectfully consistent with a model of environmentally contingent temporal discounting, and they are consistent with studies of how food is used to mediate feelings of stress and distress. Given that some people who are warned about the ill effects of obesity might counterintuitively engage in unhealthy overconsumption, the findings also suggest further study relating to the artificial use of mortality salience in campaigns against obesity.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 37

Keywords: brand names, comfort food, last meals, mortality salience, obesity, death row, execution, death penalty, health discounting, behavioral economics

JEL Classification: I12, D90

Accepted Paper Series

At least 18 dead in Pakistan anti-American rioting Friday

2012-09-21T08:23:00.002-07:00

OMG
YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS!

Africa |Americas | Asia | Europe | Middle East

At least 18 dead in Pakistan anti-American rioting Friday

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fiery anti-U.S. demonstrations swept through Pakistan's capital and several other cities Friday as thousands of people furious over an anti-Islam film privately produced in America clashed with police in one of the worst waves of violence to hit the nation in recent years.
In Islamabad, protesters turned the city’s tree-lined boulevards and avenues into a battle zone as they toppled freight containers set up as barriers and pelted riot police with rocks while unsuccessfully trying to storm a heavily guarded enclave housing the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic missions. Across the country, at least 18 people were killed in the violence and more than 100 more injured.
In the northwest city of Peshawar, protesters torched a movie house and clashed with police, who used tear gas to turn back demonstrators. There were reports of police opening fire to disperse protesters, and at least one person, a driver for a Pakistani television channel, died of a bullet wound, authorities said.
Photos: Protests over anti-Islam film spread
In Karachi, scene of one of the worst spasms of violence Friday, protesters set ablaze cars and several gas stations and movie houses. Pakistani media reported that at least 15 people had died in the violence and an additional 100 injured.
The Pakistani government had sanctioned Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, as a day to honor Islam’s prophet Muhammad and as a day to peacefully protest the release of a crudely made production whose trailer was posted on YouTube that portrayed Muhammad as a womanizer and a fraud. The release of the 14-minute film trailer sparked violent protests in the Arab world and several Muslim countries.
While furor over the video has waned to some degree in Arab nations, it has revved up in Pakistan, where hardline Islamist parties have seized on it to organize virtually daily demonstrations. The fervor peaked Friday, forcing the government to deploy soldiers to defend Islamabad’s diplomatic enclave and block cellphone service in the capital and other large cities. Freight containers were positioned on streets leading to the enclave to bar the way of protesters.
On one street leading to the enclave, throngs of demonstrators toppled two freight containers and clashed with police by the Serena Hotel, which regularly accommodates visiting diplomats and international dignitaries.
“We can never tolerate any blasphemous words against our beloved prophet,” said Shakeel Ahmad, a young shopkeeper, his eyes reddened from clouds of tear gas. “We are ready to sacrifice our lives for our prophet. And we want the Pakistani government to shut down the U.S. embassy, expel all Americans and end all relations with the U.S.”
ALSO:
Panetta lifts ban on New Zealand naval ships
In Spain, an amusingly botched fresco is now a moneymaker
French missions abroad on alert after cartoons mock Muslims
-- Alex Rodriguez

Photo: Pakistani Muslim demonstrators disperse after police fired tear gas during a protest against an anti-Islam film in Karachi on Friday. Credit: Rizwan Tabassum / AFP /GettyImages

Reuters, Duchess of Cambridge

2012-09-16T10:32:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/topless-kate-photos-french-magazine-upset-uk-royals-094731733.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's royal family began legal action against a French magazine on Friday for a "grotesque" breach of privacy after it published topless photographs of Prince William's wife Kate Middleton.

Celebrity gossip magazine Closer published a dozen shots of the Duchess of Cambridge on holiday in southern France as she slipped off her bikini top, relaxed on a sun lounger and at one point pulled down the back of her bikini bottoms while William rubbed sun cream on her lower back.

"St James's Palace confirms that legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced today in France by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge against the publishers of Closer Magazine France," the couple's office said in a statement.

A court in Nanterre near Paris said the royal couple's lawyer had filed a motion to expedite the procedure, and Closer's publishers would be heard on Monday.

Under the headline "Oh my God!", the photos show the couple, whose regal yet natural conduct since their April wedding has won them fans worldwide, soaking up the sun on the balcony of a 19th century hunting lodge, oblivious to lurking paparazzi.

The spread is a blow to Buckingham Palace as it tries to move on from a scandal over naked shots of Prince Harry that tarred an image bolstered by William and Kate's wedding, the Queen's 2012 Diamond Jubilee and her Olympic Games appearance.

While Closer defended its decision to publish the photographs, a royal spokesperson said it had upset the royal couple, who are currently touring southeast Asia.
"Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner," a spokesperson for St James's Palace said.
"Their Royal Highnesses had every expectation of privacy in the remote house. It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them."
British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokeswoman also said the royal couple should be entitled to their privacy.
Closer's editor-in-chief Laurence Pieau described the photos as a "beautiful series" that showed a couple in love and were in no way degrading. She said the magazine had more intimate shots from the same series that it opted not to publish.
"There's been an over-reaction to these photos. What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid," Pieau told French BFM television.
"She's a real 21st century princess," she added: "It's a young woman who is topless, the same as you can see on any beach in France or around the world."
WINDSORS TAKE THEIR CLOTHES OFF
Closer is published by Mondadori, an Italian company partly owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and chaired by his daughter Marina. Lawyers said it is likely to find the case difficult to defend, although profits from the issue would likely far exceed any fine faced, probably just a few thousand euros.
"It's without a doubt an invasion of privacy," said Christopher Mesnooh, a U.S. lawyer who practices in France.
"They were on vacation in a friend's chateau. There was no expectation the press would be there. So visibly they have been damaged by the fact the pictures were taken and it is likely a French court would rule in that direction."
The publication -- which set off a stream of mostly angry commentary on twitter -- reopens a debate over the privacy of Britain's royal family and the freedom of the press weeks after a U.S. website published grainy photos of William's younger brother Harry cavorting naked in a Las Vegas hotel room.
"Harry started the fashion: these days the Windsors take their clothes off," the French magazine quipped in the photo spread, which it claimed as a world exclusive on the couple's mini-vacation in early September.
William and his younger brother Harry are the sons of heir-to-the-throne Charles, whose 86-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth has enjoyed enormous popularity in her diamond jubilee year.
Many in Britain felt there was a difference between exposing laddish antics by a royal in Las Vegas and intruding on William and Kate's private holiday.
"If she had taken her top off during a public engagement, it would be fair game, but they were on holiday, having personal time and so deserve privacy," said Shelley Brunton, 22, an office receptionist in London's financial district.
The editor of the Sun tabloid, the only British paper to run the nude Prince Harry photos, said that for the same reason it would not publish the shots of Kate. "The Sun has no intention of breaching the royal couple's privacy by publishing these intrusive pictures," editor Dominic Mohan said.
A torrent of twitter commentary on both sides of the Channel mostly chided Closer for running the shots.
"Utter disgrace that a mid-market French rag has invaded Kate Middleton's privacy like this. Gutter press morality," tweeted billionaire media magnate Evgeny Lebedev, who owns British daily The Independent and London's Evening Standard.
"ANGER AND DISBELIEF"
The photos of Harry stained a positive image the Royal family has carefully crafted as it worked to turn the page on Princess Diana's death in 1997 and a raft of scandals at the time including Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson having her toes sucked by a U.S. businessman as she sunbathed topless.
Royal sources said the photo spread felt like a flashback to the paparazzi chases of Princess Diana, William's mother, making it even more painful for him. "There is a feeling of anger and disbelief," one source said. "We feel there has been a red line crossed with regard to publishing these images."
"Have the paparazzi learnt nothing from Diana's death," Britain's MailOnline tweeted.

William and Kate were staying at the Chateau d'Autet near Aix-en-Provence in the Luberon region, whose picture-postcard villages, rolling lavender fields and vineyards have made it a favorite getaway spot for wealthy foreigners.

At one point the Duchess, clearly recognizable in the slightly fuzzy images, stands up and partly peels down her bikini bottoms as William rubs sun lotion on her back.

"The last time we saw Kate and William on a balcony it was for their wedding. But they had more clothes on," reads one photo caption. Another says: "People always say she doesn't need to dress up to look good. Well ... Kate is proving this."

Many in France -- where topless sunbathing is commonplace and Britain's royals are regarded with a mixture of fascination and bemusement given the French deposed their last monarch in 1870 -- could not see what all the fuss was all about.

"It doesn't shock me at all," said a newspaper vendor called Sylvie, selling the magazine in central Paris. "Like any woman in a private place, she should be able to do what she likes."

(Writing by Catherine Bremer; Additional reporting by Tim Castle in London and Pauline Mevel and Gerard Bon and Nick Vinocur in Paris; Editing by Paul Casciato)

Dutchess Having to Hang Tough?

2012-09-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

Revealing Photos of Kate Stir Memories of Diana Tragedy

By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger | Love + Sex – Fri, Sep 14, 2012 2:35 PM EDT
Do people no longer have the right to a private life once they become famous?
Fans and detractors alike apparently have a limitless appetite for dirt on any kind of celebrity from movie stars to "real" housewives to presidents.
But that doesn't mean the incessant buzz of paparazzi hovering over their every move, like flies on a wounded animal, is ethical.

On Friday, the French magazine Closer released topless pictures of Kate Middleton and both the royal family and 10 Downing Street (the office of the prime minister) are accusing the media of "having crossed a red line."

Moreover, they have pointed out, the incident is doubly painful because of the late Princess Diana's tortured relationship with the press, which ended in her death in a high-speed car crash while being chased by photographers.

"The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales," reads the official statement out of St. James Palace, "and all the more upsetting to The Duke and Duchess for being so."

The statement also called the publication of the photos "grotesque" and "unjustifiable."

The images were taken while Prince William and Kate were sunbathing on vacation in France at a chateau owned by Lord Linley, the Queen's nephew.

When Lady Diana Spencer became engaged to Prince Charles in 1981, she was a shy 20-year-old kindergarten teacher. Immediately thrust into the spotlight, she later said that dealing with the press was the greatest challenge of being a part of the royal family. "The most daunting aspect was the media attention, because my husband and I, we were told when we got engaged that the media would go quietly, and it didn't," she told BBC reporter Martin Bashir in 1995, "and then when we were married they said it would go quietly and it didn't; and then it started to focus very much on me, and I seemed to be on the front of a newspaper every single day, which is an isolating experience, and the higher the media put you, place you, is the bigger the drop." In the same interview, she suggests that the constant scrutiny, especially after she suffered from a bout of post-natal depression and was labeled "unstable," battered her self-esteem. Her confidence low, she admits she resorted to self-harm (which she calls "hurting my arms and legs") and bulimia as an escape.

The Independent UK reports the Royal Highnesses reacted to the publication of the revealing Kate photos with "anger and disbelief" and were "hugely saddened." Still, they proceeded with their duties on an official tour of Southeast Asia. In stark contrast to the photo fracas, Middleton donned a modest pearl grey dress and veil when she attended a public ceremony at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and comported herself with mind boggling poise given the controversy. According to Sky News, the future Queen of England chatted with her husband and warmly greeted the gathered crowds.

Laurence Pieau, the editor-in-chief of Closer is defending the magazine's choice to publish the photos and is brushing it off as a tempest in a teacup—presumably one containing English Breakfast. "There's been an over-reaction to these photos. What we see is a young couple, who just got married, who are very much in love, who are splendid…" "she told French BFM television. "It's a young woman who is topless, the same as you can see on any beach in France or around the world." Of course, if Kate Middleton were a regular young woman on any beach, the pictures would be worthless.

According to the Guardian UK, the photos breach French privacy laws, which are some of the strictest in the world (and which is why so many celebrities including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as well as Johnny Depp choose to live there). A spokesperson for the palace told the BBC that legal proceedings have been launched against the magazine for breach of privacy. Privacy lawyer Thomas Roussineau tells the Guardian the magazine knew full well it was breaking the law, but was betting that the revenue gained would be worth the risk.

Suing Closer won't help Middleton much. Images of her at her most intimate will have already circulated around the Internet millions of times. While she's hanging tough now, we hope that, unlike Diana, she will be able to cope as the press picks at the bones of the hundreds of personal events that are yet to come in her life as a member of the royal family.

Having to hang Tough..... Really? Royal or not, Every Person has the right for private, intimate moments. Right?

happy the Royals are suing the Fuckers!

Now that's true mudinyoureyes!

Getting Ready for Garage Sale!

2012-09-10T07:33:00.001-07:00

First Clean Out Garage!

TOOK ALL DAY!

MY CREATURE COMFORTS

Ears for Luck!

this is mudinyoureyes!

Follow me on Twitter

2012-09-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

@1msgarcia

Dont Mess With the Queen Mum Or You'll get Sent to Afghanistan!

2012-09-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Prince Harry in Afghanistan to fly Apache copters

Associated Press – 9/07/12

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan (AP) — Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, began a four-month combat tour Friday in Afghanistan as a gunner on an Apache attack helicopter, fresh from a vacation that included strip billiards in a Las Vegas hotel.

It was the second tour in Afghanistan for Harry, 27, who will start flying missions within 10 days in the country's restive Helmand province, the British military said. In 2007-08, he served in Helmand as an air traffic controller.

Looking relaxed if slightly tired, Harry gave a thumbs-up Friday after a long journey on a troop carrier flight from England to Britain's Camp Bastion, a sprawling desert base near the southern Afghan town of Lashkar Gah.

Capt. Harry Wales, as he is known in the military, wore his combat uniform and joined his 100-strong unit — the 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps.
As part of the Apache's two-man crew, Harry will be both a co-pilot and the gunner responsible for firing the Apache's wing-mounted aerial rockets, Hellfire laser-guided missiles and 30mm machine gun.

Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mainly based in Helmand province, and has suffered 425 deaths since the start of operations there in 2001.

"Prince Harry, like any soldier, considers it a great honor to represent his country in her majesty's armed forces wherever it chooses to deploy him," St James's Palace said in a statement.
Harry did not speak as he arrived in Helmand, and was not expected to comment publicly on his work for several weeks.
The prince's previous posting as a battlefield air traffic controller in Afghanistan in late 2007 and early 2008 lasted only 10 weeks. It was cut short after his deployment was made public.
Britain's defense ministry had asked the news media not to report information surrounding the prince's deployment, saying the publicity could put him and his colleagues in greater danger, but an Australian magazine not aware of the agreement broke the news. It was picked up by both the Drudge Report website and a German publication.
With his typical humor, Harry joked at the time about his nickname "the bullet magnet." His job was to direct attack helicopters and fighter jets to targets on the ground.

But with that time in Afghanistan, Harry became the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands war with Argentina.

Next Saturday, the prince will celebrate his 28th birthday at Camp Bastion — but he won't be able to raise a toast with one of his beloved cocktails. The desert compound, which is next door to the U.S. military's Camp Leatherneck base, is an alcohol-free zone.
Before leaving for Afghanistan, Harry said farewell to his immediate family at Queen Elizabeth II's private estate in Scotland, Balmoral, and stopped to see his brother Prince William at his Kensington Palace home in London earlier this week.
St James's Palace said Prince Charles was "immensely proud of his son" and he and the queen had been briefed on the details of Harry's deployment.
Harry was met Friday at Camp Bastion by Royal Navy Capt. Jock Gordon, commander of the Joint Aviation Group.

"Working alongside his colleagues in the squadron, he will be in a difficult and demanding job," Gordon said.

Britain's defense ministry decided to confirm Harry's deployment this time after a threat assessment concluded that making the details public would not put Harry or his colleagues at any additional risk.

In an interview last March, Harry insisted he was eager to return to combat after training to fly Apache helicopters, including at U.S. bases in California and southern Arizona.

"I've served my country. I enjoyed it because I was with my friends. And, you know, everyone has a part to play," he told CBS News.

"You can't train people and then not put them into the role they need to play. For me personally, as I said, I want to serve my country. I've done it once, and I'm still in the Army, I feel as though I should get the opportunity to do it again," he said then.

In May 2007, the British military prevented Harry from heading out on a planned six-month tour of duty to Iraq because the risks to his safety were deemed too great.

___

AP reporter David Stringer in London wrote this story with information based on a pool report from Afghanistan.

Casualties of suicide bombings in Iraq, 2003-2010

2012-09-05T08:11:00.001-07:00

INTERESTING!

Casualties of suicide bombings in Iraq, 2003-2010

Iraq Body Count data in new study in The Lancet shows huge and disproportionate toll on Iraqi civilians

3 September 2011
A new study, Casualties in civilians and coalition soldiers from suicide bombings in Iraq, 2003—10 (free access) published Sep 3 2011 in the British medical journal The Lancet provides the first detailed account of the impact of suicide bombs in Iraq since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The study reveals that at least 1003 suicide bombings caused civilian casualties in Iraq from 2003 to 2010. Despite their high frequency and devastating impact, this is the first time that their effects have been rigorously examined in their own right.
For the first time, researchers describe the impact of suicide bombs on both Coalition military forces and Iraqi civilians. They found that that the disparity between the numbers killed has been vastly different between the two cases, with 60 times as many civilians killed as soldiers (12,284 vs. 200). This disparity is extreme by any standard, and evidence that civilians are not just the "collateral damage" of suicide bombers in Iraq but an intended target.
The findings in this study were made possible thanks to an analysis comparing detailed, weapon-associated deaths as found largely in two separate databases, the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count (for Coalition forces) and Iraq Body Count (for Iraqi civilians), allowing a specific focus on suicide bombings.
Other notable findings include that:

Suicide bombs have injured no fewer than 30,644 Iraqi civilians.

This is particularly concerning as suicide bomb injuries tend to be the terrible injuries typical of blast wounds: injuries that cause damage to multiple internal organs, bone fractures, burns, eye injuries often leading to blindness, parts of missing limbs or treatment that requires amputation, and multiple penetrating wounds from embedded fragments of metal, wood, and even pieces of the bomber.
Moreover, these severe and complex injuries typically require complex treatment and later physical rehabilitation, which is unavailable to many Iraqis, so their chances of later dying or being disabled or disfigured by their injuries is substantial. The implied clinical impact of this finding on the number of injured is alarming, particularly in view of Iraq's ongoing shortage of doctors and medical supplies.

Children are less likely to survive their suicide bomb injuries than adults.

For example, if a suicide bomber in a car detonates in a marketplace, the children who are injured are more likely to die of their injuries than the adults (i.e. civilians are highly vulnerable to suicide bombs, and children more so). Reviews of the medical literature indicate that lower survival of children than adults from wounds has been found in small clinical studies (e.g. from gunshot wounds) and from clinical observations by surgeons. But this has not been shown, prior to this study, for suicide bomb injuries specifically, or for wounds from armed violence using a substantial dataset.
Many of the treatments for children who survive a traumatic injury (e.g. a suicide bomb injury) must be specialized for children. In Iraq's healthcare system, which is starved of resources, this more highly specialized care and equipment is particularly hard to get.

For a another summary of the full study, please see Lancet's press release below:

The Lancet: Suicide bombs in Iraq have killed at least 12,000 civilians and 200 coalition soldiers between 2003 and 2010

The devastating impact of suicide bombs on both Iraqi civilians and coalition troops is detailed in an Article in this week’s 9/11 special issue of The Lancet. The Article is by Dr Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, UK, and Iraq Body Count, London, UK, and colleagues.
The researchers analysed and compared suicide bomb casualties in Iraq that were documented in two datasets covering March 20, 2003, to Dec 31, 2010—one reporting coalition-soldier deaths from suicide bombs, the other reporting deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians from armed violence. Documented suicide bomb events caused 19% (42 928 of 225 789) of overall civilian casualties, 26% (30 644 of 117 165) of injured civilians, and 11% (12 284 of 108 624) of civilian deaths. The injured-to-killed ratio for civilians was 2·5 people injured to one person killed from suicide bombs. Suicide bombers on foot caused 43% of documented suicide bomb deaths, while suicide bombers using cars caused 36%. Suicide bombers who used cars caused 40% of civilian injuries.
Of 3963 demographically identifiable suicide bomb fatalities, 75% were men, 11% were women, and 14% were children. Children made up a higher proportion of demographically identifiable deaths from suicide bombings than from general armed violence (9%). The injured-to-killed ratio for all suicide bombings was slightly higher for women than it was for men, but the ratio for children was lower than it was for both women and men, indicating lower survival of children than adults from suicide bombings. An Iraqi child died in at least 159 (16%) of 1003 suicide bombing events recorded, and the death of a woman or child in occurred in at least 211 (21%) of 1003 bombing events. Police officers, an occupational category overlapping with the demographic category of men and to a small extent women, constituted 14% of documented civilian deaths.
200 coalition soldiers were killed in 79 suicide bomb events during 2003–10. More Iraqi civilians per lethal event were killed than were coalition soldiers. These were recorded as follows: 175 US soldiers killed in 76 events, 16 Italian soldiers killed in one event, three British soldiers killed in one event, and four Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers killed in one event.
The authors say: “Rapid access to adequate hospital treatment is crucial for survival of blast injuries, but such access can be difficult for civilians in Iraq. Survival and recovery of Iraqis injured by suicide bombs could possibly have been worsened by Iraq’s severe shortage of adequate emergency rooms, diagnostic equipment, trained paramedics and doctors, senior and specialty surgeons needed for complex blast injuries, intensive care units, rehabilitation, and supplies.”
They conclude: “Our findings suggest that the Iraqi civilian population suffers a substantial public health burden because it is a primary chosen target of suicide bombers and those who deploy them… Our findings about the likelihood of surviving injuries, which was particularly low for children recorded in our dataset, need further study and draw attention to the need for improved monitoring, prevention, and interventions to reduce mortality from suicide bombs in Iraq.”

Now this is mudinyoureyes!

THE WAR IS NOT OVER!!!!!

2012-09-05T07:54:00.001-07:00

2 soldiers die in Afghanistan attack

Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Sep 4, 2012 18:19:57 EDT

Two soldiers were killed Sept. 1 when enemy forces attacked their unit with small-arms fire in Batur Village, Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
Staff Sgt. Jeremie S. Border, 28, of Mesquite, Texas, assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Torii Station, Japan; and Staff Sgt. Jonathan P. Schmidt, 28, of Petersburg, Va., assigned to 192nd Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group, 20th Support Command (CBRNE), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Further information was not immediately available.

TAMMY DUCKWORTH DNC SPEECH

2012-09-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

WOMEN YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7420510n

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, SHE'S THE WOMAN!!!!

2012-09-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tammy Duckworth calls crewmen who helped her heroes

BY NATASHA KORECKI Political Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com September 4, 2012 9:22PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the aid of a cane, wounded veteran Tammy Duckworth walked out onto the stage of the Democratic National Convention using her two prosthetic legs Tuesday night, then told the nation that others were the heroes:

CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 04: Illinois nominee for Congress Tammy Duckworth speaks during day one of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on September 4, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The DNC that will run through September 7, will nominate U.S. President Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The crew members who pulled her to safety after her helicopter was shot down in the Iraq War.

“In that moment, my survival — and the survival of my entire crew — depended on all of us pulling together,” Duckworth said. “And even though they were wounded themselves, and insurgents were nearby, they refused to leave a fallen comrade behind. Their heroism is why I’m alive today.”

Duckworth’s personal account of losing her legs while copiloting a Blackhawk helicopter in Iraq eight years ago proved to act as a compelling narrative the first night of the convention, winning the 8th Congressional District candidate three standing ovations.

The crowd jumped to its feet as Duckworth took the stage.

“On November 12th, 2004, I was copiloting my Blackhawk north of Baghdad when we started taking enemy fire. A rocket-propelled grenade hit our helicopter, exploding in my lap, ripping off one leg, crushing the other, and tearing my right arm apart,” she said. “But I kept trying to fly until I passed out.”

Duckworth, an Army veteran, said she owed her life to her crew.

When she told the crowd: “Their heroism is why I’m alive today,” the audience jumped to its feet and erupted into a roar of applause, then began chanting “USA! USA! USA!” briefly interrupting her remarks.

Duckworth’s address wove in a personal tale of her life growing up in a military family and how together the family endured the roughest of financial times.

“Thank God for the food stamps, public education and Pell grants that helped me finish high school and college,” she said. “In time, we pulled through.”

She also spoke of veterans issues, and touted Illinois as leading the nation when it came to those concerns. Duckworth, the former assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs under President Barack Obama and the onetime director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, is in a tough battle for the 8th Congressional District, facing Republican Tea Party incumbent Joe Walsh, of McHenry County.

Walsh has cast Duckworth as an insider and criticized her for traveling to Charlotte, accusing her of ducking opportunities to debate him. Walsh did not attend last week’s Republican convention in Tampa. “I’m not sure that he was invited to his,” Duckworth shot back at him in an interview Tuesday.

“Ms. Duckworth has continued to show more interest in rubbing elbows with big name party insiders, then staying home and tackling the tough issues facing voters in the district,” Walsh said in a statement on Tuesday. “It has become abundantly clear that at this point the only debate Ms. Duckworth is actually interested in having is which outfit she’ll be wearing for her big speech.”

Early in the day, Duckworth, in a wheelchair, was wearing a yellow suit jacket and her usual protective sleeve over one of her prosthetic legs. The sleeve is in the design of the American flag.

Walsh ribbed Duckworth’s speech after it concluded.

“Ms. Duckworth thanked God repeatedly for the existence of government programs like food stamps,” Walsh said in a statement. “A record 46 million Americans are now on food stamps. That’s not greatness — that’s decline.”

Walsh grabbed national attention this July, when, at a campaign event, he questioned Duckworth’s heroism, instead holding up Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, as a true war hero. Walsh praised McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, for his modesty about his ordeal.

“Now I’m running against a woman who, I mean — my God — that’s all she talks about,” Walsh said. “Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about.”

Duckworth, a major in the Illinois Army National Guard, was honored with the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, and the Combat Action Badge for her actions as an assistant operations officer.

Earlier Tuesday, in a morning address to the Illinois delegation, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) highlighted the Duckworth-Walsh race as among the biggest in the state this November.

“Her opponent, I believe, is an embarrassment to the United States Congress and to the Republican party,” Schakowsky said of Walsh. “We can win this race. Joe Walsh is really an accidental member of the house of Representatives, winning by only 200 votes.”

Schakowsky said: “we have a better district now,” referring to the congressional remap, redrawn favorably to the Democrats.

DON'T USE YOUR CELLPHONE & DRIVE IN TUJUNGA!

2012-08-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

LAPD commander removed in probe of rough arrest

Associated Press – 11 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/lapd-commander-removed-probe-rough-arrest-054751139.html

Caught On Camera: 2 LAPD Officers Investigated For Use Of Force During ArrestCBS 2 / KCAL 9 Los Angeles Videos 2:17
Two LAPD officers are under investigation for allegedly
slamming a handcuffed woman to the ground

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles Police Department commanding officer has been removed amid an internal investigation into a videotaped beating in which officers tackled a handcuffed registered nurse to the ground, police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday.

Beck said previously that he had "serious concerns" about the use of force against Michelle Jordan, 34, who was arrested in the Tujunga area on Aug. 21 after being stopped for talking on a cellphone while driving, police said.

Jordan got out of the car and cursed the two officers who stopped her, witnesses and Jordan's husband told KNBC-TV.

Fast-food restaurant surveillance video obtained by the TV station (bit.ly/NVptHP ) showed officers taking her to the ground. After she is handcuffed and walked to a police car, the 5-foot-4 woman is tackled a second time by an officer who lands on top of her.

"She made some unwise moves," her attorney, Sy Nazif, told the station. "But certainly nothing that warranted a physical assault from the LAPD."

Photos show scrapes on Jordan's face, shoulders and chest.

The officers involved in the incident have been removed from patrol duty until an LAPD investigation is complete. One is a 22-year veteran and the other is a probationary officer with 10 months on the force.

Beck said at a news conference Wednesday that Capt. Joseph Hitner of the department's Foothill Division was "severely deficient in his response," Beck said.

"Proper steps were not taken, including appropriate notifications and the removal of the involved officers from the field," Beck said. "Because of these issues, I have removed him from his command and initiated downgrade procedures. Every Los Angeles police officer, regardless of rank, will be held accountable for their actions."

THIS IS TRUE MUDINYOUREYES!

Kid Rock's T-shirts Made OUTSIDE the USA

2012-08-29T14:15:00.001-07:00

Susan Tompor: Kid Rock's clothing line says 'Made in Detroit' --
but isn't!!!!!

Sure, many clothes are no longer made in the U.S.A. But sadly, you'd have to wish that a Made in Detroit T-shirt wasn't one of them.

When it comes to doing Detroit proud, Kid Rock hits all cylinders with his song "Times Like These."
Some days, driving north or south on Woodward, I get a bit choked up when I hear him sing: "I heard them say they're shuttin' Detroit down. But I won't leave cuz' this is my hometown."
Those are fightin' words, the kind of don't-you-go-there spirit that keeps this town kicking. And yes, the kind of words that make Kid Rock a popular personality here.
Made in Detroit.
So why in the world are Kid Rock's high-end "Made in Detroit" T-shirts made in the Dominican Republic? Or some other country?
Oh, really? Sort of takes a knife right to the heart of the whole thing.
On top of that, many of the adult-sized Made in Detroit shirts no longer have any labels to tell you exactly where the T-shirts themselves are made.
The design originated in Detroit, but the blank T-shirts aren't from here. The Clarkston company buys the cotton canvases from suppliers and then adds the design.
But where are those unlabeled Made in Detroit shirts made? And where are some other notable shirts made, including others bearing prideful slogans such as "Say Yes to Michigan" or "Imported from Detroit"?

Susan Tompor finds Detroit-pride gear is made worldwide -- and even worse, in Ohio

The Made in Detroit brand has a heart-tugging story to make you want to believe that this brand now owned by Kid Rock is doing what it can. The brand, launched in 1991, hit the skids in 2005. The Motor City rock star later bought the brand out of bankruptcy.
"Today, Made in Detroit is more than a Kid Rock brand, it's the official mark of a movement that belongs to all of us," says the website at www.madeindetroit.com. "Born to represent, this is Made in Detroit."But many of the T-shirts are missing a mark -- a label telling exactly where garments are made.
I first heard this T-shirt manufacturing issue raised by a Free Press editor who read critical remarks online. I'll admit my first reaction was: Who has any clothes that aren't made somewhere else, outside the U.S.?

Shopping for clues

Are the "Made in Detroit" shirts made in China?
I did some shopping and later reached out to Made in Detroit, a trademark owned by an entity called Bobby Moscow.
Oddly, it's not tough to find plenty of Detroit shirts.
I examined my "Imported from Detroit" T-shirt at home. What's on that label?
"Made in USA, The Track Shirt American Apparel."
The original Imported from Detroit T-shirts, which rose out of the popular Eminem Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler last year, are indeed made in the USA.
"The Chrysler brand team felt that it was important that the products were produced here," said Dianna Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for Chrysler. What about other shirts?
I visited the Pure Detroit store in downtown Detroit, where Pure Detroit shirts had labels showing they were made in the Dominican Republic, Peru and the U.S.A.
I took a spin to trendy Caruso Caruso in Birmingham, one of many official retailers for the Made in Detroit brand listed at www.madeindetroit.com .
On the shelves, I found vintage-inspired t-shirts, including a Boblo Island T-shirt, $28, made in the U.S.A.
There was a "Say Yes to Michigan" shirt, $28, made in Ohio by Homage, a small- to medium-sized company based out of Columbus. That's kinda ironic.
And I found a Made in Detroit shirt, selling for $40, with a label that said it was made in the Dominican Republic.
When I took a ride to Incognito in downtown Royal Oak, I found a Made in Detroit baby onesie priced at $22 and made in India. And I saw a toddler Made in Detroit pink shirt priced at $18 made in Honduras.
But I did not find any label for where an adult-sized Made in Detroit shirt at Incognito was made. Sort of keeping that manufacturing process incognito, I guess?
I later took a drive and met with Tommy Dubak, who runs operations for the Made in Detroit brand out of a rural area of Clarkston. Kid Rock's brother, Billy Ritchie, who is a teacher, joined us.
"We're trying to do as much as we can to help Detroit," said Ritchie, who said he is not on the payroll for Made in Detroit.
In 2008, Kid Rock and Wayne State University established a partnership that involved a limited-edition Made in Detroit T-shirt. The proceeds funded a $25,000 student scholarship.
The Made in Detroit brand also is proud of building sales for smaller, mom-and-pop retailers in suburban towns, including Berkley, Plymouth, Royal Oak and Roseville.
What about that labeling?
Dubak knows some critics ask: "Why do you guys cut the 'Made in China' tags out?"
Dubak said the T-shirts aren't made in China, noting that higher-end clothing lines are made in China, not T-shirts for a smaller company.
Some shirts sold with the Made in Detroit designs are made in the U.S., he said, but others can be made elsewhere.
Dubak said it sometimes can be hard to know where a T-shirt will be made. One manufacturer can have the same shirts made in one or two different countries. He said right now the Made in Detroit operation, which has seven full-time employees, uses eight or 10 different manufacturers.
I asked Dubak about the lack of some labels in some shirts.
Dubak said he has cut out labels from some T-shirts that are bought from suppliers as part of the design choice.
He wanted to use an imprint near the neck that lies flat on the material and uses a screen-print process. Why cut out the tag?
"I hated tags in my shirts," he said.
Are companies, such as Made in Detroit, allowed to cut out labels and eliminate the country of origin? Dubak said he believes he can, and that the country of origin would be needed if he was shipping the items internationally.
Labeling rules are complicated. But T-shirts are not exempt from labeling, and failure to disclose where a T-shirt is manufactured can lead the Federal Trade Commission to take action, according to Matthew Wilshire, staff attorney at the FTC.
Goods covered by FTC textile regulations, including t-shirts offered for sale to the general public, must have a label disclosing country of origin. Companies can substitute new labels for old labels, but those labels still must disclose country of origin, Wilshire said.
Regulators did not address the specifics of the Made in Detroit shirts.
Like Kid Rock, the T-shirts are popular.
The Road Show in Roseville says it appreciates the traffic that the Made in Detroit website brings the store, which sells snakes, spiders, rock 'n' roll items and T-shirts.
"It's a pride thing. People are proud to be 'Made in Detroit,' " said Josh Hoffman, 29, manager for the Road Show. His father Bruce Hoffman, 61, the store's owner, said he thinks people who buy the Made in Detroit brand don't focus on where the T-shirt itself is made.
Not everyone is happy about the Made in Detroit style. Robert Stanzler, who worked to build the Made in Detroit brand in 1991 and later worked as a consultant when the brand was bought out of bankruptcy, now has a new brand, Detroit Manufacturing. He charges that the Kid Rock operation is "just an ATM to them."
Dubak said the Made in Detroit brand is proud of what it's done so far and wants to do more.
"We're a small company, and we're trying to do good for Michigan," Dubak said, noting that Kid Rock does not take a salary or expense anything.
"He's never charged a tank of gas to these companies," Dubak said.

Would it take a heroic effort to get a T-shirt made in the U.S.?

Dubak -- who used to run the parts and service department for the Lincoln Mercury dealership once owned by Kid Rock's father -- said it would cost more for Made in U.S.A. shirts but said the company is working toward using more U.S.A.-made shirts.

I hope that works out.

Sure, many clothes are no longer made in the U.S.A. But sadly, you'd have to wish that a Made in Detroit T-shirt wasn't one of them.

Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-8876 or stompor@freepress.com

Malcolm W. Browne

2012-08-29T13:38:00.001-07:00

Malcolm W. Browne, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Reporter, Dies at 81

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

Published: August 28, 2012

Malcolm W. Browne, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter whose four-decade career included covering the Vietnam War — and taking one of the most memorable photos of the conflict — and a lively second act as a science writer who explained chemical weapons and described the rise of synthetic body parts, died on Monday in Hanover, N.H. He was 81.

The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, said his wife, Le Lieu Browne.

Mr. Browne, who lived in Thetford Center, Vt., and Manhattan, spent most of his career writing for The New York Times, which sent him to Argentina, Vietnam, Bosnia, Pakistan and wherever else his curiosity called him after he became a science writer in the late 1970s.

“My life is terrific,” Mr. Browne said in a 1993 interview. “It affords the greatest possible variety of experience. That, after all, is why I became a journalist.”

But his career path was something of an accident.

Mr. Browne had been working as a chemist in New York in the 1950s (among his tasks: finding a substitute for chicle, then the main ingredient in chewing gum) when he was drafted to go to Korea in 1956. He drove a tank for a time, but the Army later assigned him to write for Stars and Stripes, a decision he said was their idea, not his. After he was discharged, Mr. Browne found a job in Baltimore with The Associated Press. Less than a year later, in 1961, The A.P. made him their Saigon bureau chief.

Mr. Browne was among several reporters who became skeptical of the American effort to prop up the Saigon government.

Neil Sheehan, who joined The Times after serving as Saigon bureau chief for United Press International, said Tuesday that Mr. Browne was a “fierce competitor” but also a friend. Mr. Browne often wore a gold belt buckle and carried a money belt so he would have cash “to get out of a tight situation.”

“But,” Mr. Sheehan added, “I don’t think he ever had to use it.”

While reporters in Vietnam often clashed with American officials, Mr. Browne later singled out Henry Cabot Lodge, who arrived in 1963 as the United States ambassador to South Vietnam, as “more honest than most of the U.S. officials that I had known.”

It was Mr. Lodge who told Mr. Browne that he had played an important role in elevating awareness of the problems in Vietnam to the highest levels at the White House through a photograph he took in 1963.

When a Buddhist monk set himself on fire in public that year in protest of the government of South Vietnam, Mr. Browne was the only reporter there, and he captured the stunning moment in a photograph. Several papers, including The Times, chose not to run the disturbing image, but Mr. Lodge told him he had seen a copy of it on President John F. Kennedy’s desk.

I SAW THIS ON TV WHEN I WAS A KID.
WE NEED TO SEE THESE PICTURES
SO YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY
GOES ON AROUND THE WORLD!

In 1964, while working for The A.P., Mr. Browne shared the Pulitzer for international reporting with David Halberstam, who was covering the war for The Times.

Mr. Browne returned to the United States and later joined The Times, which eventually sent him back to Vietnam. He continued to find that the sources he had developed on the front lines refuted the Saigon government’s optimistic accounts.

“A South Vietnamese military spokesman said at a briefing in Saigon yesterday afternoon that sizable elements of airborne soldiers, supported by tanks, had entered Quangtri city early yesterday morning,” he wrote in a 1972 report. “But authoritative sources at the front said that was not true.”

Mr. Browne also worked for The Times in South America, Europe, South Asia and elsewhere before he began writing about science. He had studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College.

His assignments ranged widely: the dangers posed by toxic debris from the crash of the space shuttle Challenger; an effort to build a robotic flying pterosaur; an effort to rid Antarctica of garbage accumulating there.

He left The Times in the 1980s to work at Discover magazine but returned a few years later and continued writing about science.

Malcolm Wilde Browne was born in Manhattan on April 17, 1931. His mother was a pacifist Quaker, and Mr. Browne attended Quaker schools through college. His grandfather’s first cousin was the writer Oscar Wilde and Mr. Browne, like Wilde, was something of a wit. His autobiography, “Muddy Boots and Red Socks,” takes its title from the socks he started wearing while serving in Korea as a break from the Army’s olive drab.

Besides his wife, whom he met in 1961 when she was working in the information ministry for the Saigon government and married in 1966, his survivors include a daughter, Wendy Sanderson; a son, Timothy; a brother, Timothy; a sister, Miriam Poole; and two grandchildren. Two previous marriages ended in divorce.

In 2000, after retiring to Vermont, Mr. Browne wrote an essay for The Times on the dual nature of his journalistic career.

“After a time, a news writer may begin to sense a kind of sameness in most of the events that pass as news,” he wrote. “When that happens a lucky few of us discover that in science, almost alone among human endeavors, there is always something new under the sun.”

Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.

Happy Voting Date Ladies!

2012-08-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

August 26, 1920

The Day the Suffrage Battle Was Won

By Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com Guide

Finally, the long battle for the vote for women was won when a young legislator voted as his mother urged him to vote.

Votes for women were first seriously proposed in the United States in July, 1848, at the Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

One woman who attended that convention was Charlotte Woodward. She was nineteen at the time. In 1920, when women finally won the vote throughout the nation, Charlotte Woodward was the only participant in the 1848 Convention who was still alive to be able to vote, though she was apparently too ill to actually cast a ballot.
Some battles for woman suffrage were won state-by-state by the early 20th century. Alice Paul

and the National Women's Party began using more radical tactics to work for a federal suffrage amendment to the Constitution: picketing the White House, staging large suffrage marches and demonstrations, going to jail. Thousands of ordinary women took part in these -- a family legend is that my grandmother was one of a number of women who chained themselves to a courthouse door in Minneapolis during this period.
In 1913, Paul led a march of eight thousand participants on President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration day. (Half a million spectators watched; two hundred were injured in the violence that broke out.) During Wilson's second inaugural in 1917, Paul led a march around the White House. Opposed by a well-organized and well-funded anti-suffrage movement which argued that most women really didn't want the vote, and they were probably not qualified to exercise it anyway, women also used humor as a tactic. In 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller wrote,

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote

Because man's place is in the army.
Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

During World War I, women took up jobs in factories to support the war, as well as taking more active roles in the war than in previous wars. After the war, even the more restrained National American Woman Suffrage Association, headed by Carrie Chapman Catt, took many opportunities to remind the President, and the Congress, that women's war work should be rewarded with recognition of their political equality. Wilson responded by beginning to support woman suffrage. In a speech on September 18, 1918, he said,

We have made partners of the women in this war. Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of right?

Less than a year later, the House of Representatives passed, in a 304 to 90 vote, a proposed Amendment to the Constitution:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on Account of sex.
The Congress shall have the power by appropriate legislation to enforce the provisions of this article.

On June 4, 1919, the United States Senate also endorsed the Amendment, voting 56 to 25, and sending the amendment to the states. Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan were the first states to pass the law; Georgia and Alabama rushed to pass rejections. The anti-suffrage forces, which included both men and women, were well-organized, and passage of the amendment was not easy. When thirty-five of the necessary thirty-six states had ratified the amendment, the battle came to Nashville, Tennessee. Anti-suffrage and pro-suffrage forces from around the nation descended on the town. And on August 18, 1920, the final vote was scheduled. One young legislator, 24 year old Harry Burn, had voted with the anti-suffrage forces to that time. But his mother had urged that he vote for the amendment and for suffrage. When he saw that the vote was very close, and with his anti-suffrage vote would be tied 48 to 48, he decided to vote as his mother had urged him: for the right of women to vote. And so on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and deciding state to ratify. Except that the anti-suffrage forces used parliamentary maneuvers to delay, trying to convert some of the pro-suffrage votes to their side. But eventually their tactics failed, and the governor sent the required notification of the ratification to Washington, D.C.
And so on August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution became law, and women could vote in the fall elections, including in the Presidential election.

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2012-08-23T08:18:00.003-07:00

@1msgarcia

Happy 100 B-day Julia Child!

2012-08-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Celebrate w/ Julia's decadent Blueberry Clafoutis

This simple French dessert recipe is from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We like it because it really highlights the delicious fruits, which are cooked in a light batter that shows them off rather than taking the credit for itself.

3 cups fresh blueberries
1 ¼ cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup flour
Powdered sugar for top before serving

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Use a blender to combine everything except for the blueberries.
Pour ¼ inch of the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.
Place in the oven for 5 or so minutes, or until the bottom has set slightly.
Remove from the oven, spread the blueberries across the dish, and pour over the rest of the batter. Smooth over the top.
Place in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for about 1 hour, or until set. It will puff and brown, and a knife inserted into the middle will come out clean.
Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar before serving.

Serves 6.

Have Fun! Cook Good Food! Share!

Visit Julia's site below.

http://www.wgbh.org/Blogs/Home.cfm?topicID=371&

Take my Love Not my Life!

2012-08-22T08:31:00.002-07:00

Hey, get off the Abortion Wagon & get on the RESPONSIBLE SEX Wagon & teach your children well!!!! New flash people, pregnancy is preventable!

Fetus Says " Take my Love

Not my Life"

YAHOO! Naked Photos of Prince Harry!

2012-08-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Prince Harry
Naked Photos
During Vegas Rager & i'm glad he did.....

8/21/2012 4:45 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

(Well, where else are you suppose to get naked?)

Prince Harry put the crown jewels on display in Vegas this weekend ... getting BARE ASS NAKED during a game of strip billiards with a room full of friends in his VIP suite.
It all went down Friday night during a raging party in a high rollers hotel suite.

We're told Harry, along with a large entourage, went down to the hotel bar and met a bunch of hot chicks ... and invited them up to his VIP suite.

Once in the room, things got WILD ... with the group playing a game of strip pool that quickly escalated into full-on royal nudity.

Some of the partiers snapped photos of the madness. In one photo, a fully nude Harry cups his genitals while a seemingly topless woman stands behind him.
In another photo, a naked Harry is bear-hugging a woman who appears to be completely naked as well.

No word on who the women are ... or if they got Harry's phone number.

A rep for the Royal Family tells us, "We have no comment to make on the photos at this time."

I love this story. This bloody bloke has some good looking legs.....
I ask you: Have you been to Las Vegas? Have you been naked in Vegas? Well of course you have..... or you Should have been!