Month: October 2016

Donna Brazile sends debate questions to Clinton Campaign

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Donna Brazile sends debate questions to Clinton Campaign

Respected journalist Donna Brazile has, it seems, betrayed the trust of her colleagues at CNN, and the American People, by e-mailing a debate question to the Clinton campaign before a debate in March, and promising to send more. This bombshell was discovered in a Wikileaks hack. CNN is greatly concerned about the incident, and has cancelled her contract as a contributor to the news organization. In July her contract had been suspended temporarily, after she was appointed Interim DNC Chair, which was a great honor, but this separation is a complete severing of ties that doesn’t reflect well on the journalist.

Brazile’s apparent actions are extremely troubling to those concerned about the quality and integrity of journalism, and our political process. After all, journalism, and our political system, are only as good as the people, the journalists, politicians and administrators, who comprise the system and get the work done. Of course, let’s not be naive. Political antics, and abuses by journalists, have been happening for a long time. But in a landmark election like this one, the American people deserve better, especially from the very best and brightest. And Donna Brazile has been of CNN’s leading, and most respected, contributors.

This revelation certainly doesn’t help Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which has been dogged by concerns over the candidate’s integrity, and the legality of her practices. And it follows the FBI Director’s letter to congress, in which he informs top law-makers that the Bureau is reopening the Clinton e-mail investigation. All of this comes as welcome relief to Donald Trump, struggling for weeks now with his own scandal in the media regarding his atrocious treatment of women.

The election is now very close. Polls indicate that only a few percentage points separate the two candidates in the popular vote, and often by an amount within the margin of error. So will recent news flashes, like the Donna Brazile controversy, win Donald Trump the White House? It’s still a tough hall for the Republican Nominee. Clinton leads in the delegate count, so Trump will need to perform superlatively on November 8th to turn that lead around. It’s still possible, but a very challenging tasks, and unlikely. For now, the real estate mogul who doesn’t like to lose is still the underdog in this race. But the Clinton Campaign needs to avoid any hint of wrongdoing or scandal for the next week. Her campaign can’t afford more dark revelations like this latest Wikileaks release.

Learn more about Donna Brazile’s alleged ethical breach (CNN)

 

 

Photo: By Photo by Ron Aira. Copyright holder Brazile & Associates LLC. – The uploader on Wikimedia Commons received this from the author/copyright holder., CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

FBI Director Comey Reopens Clinton E-mail Investigation

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FBI Director Comey Reopens Clinton E-mail Investigation

In an unprecedented move, FBI Director Comey has written congressional leaders, informing them that the Bureau has reopened the Clinton e-mail investigation after discovering new e-mails to review. The move was quite a surprise, since longstanding FBI and Department of Justice policies recommend against commenting about ongoing investigations shortly before a major election.

But Comey was free, as the FBI Director, to go against these traditions, and he chose to do so because he felt this was a very special case. He’d already spoken before Congress several times, assuring them that the investigation was closed, so he felt compelled to set the record straight with the latest information. So evidently he felt it was the honorable thing to do to update the congressional leadership on the latest turn of events. But some question his motives, citing that the revelation plays right into Donald Trump’s hands, rescuing the controversial candidate from a long stint of bad press following his very own sordid misogyny scandal. With great glee Donald Trump has been exaggerating the latest news for maximum dramatic effect, trumpeting news of Hillary’s criminal enterprise, as though she’s actually been convicted of a criminal conspiracy.

In reality, no wrong-doing has been determined at this stage. Some e-mails were found on a device during another investigation, which may be pertinent to the Clinton e-mail investigation, so the FBI reopened the investigation in order to be thorough. These new e-mails could be absolutely nothing. Or they could be a smoking gun. We will have to wait to see what the investigators find, and what conclusions they draw.

Of course, it doesn’t help the Clinton camp that the device in question belonged to her long-time aid, Huma Abedin, the estranged wife of Anthony Wiener, the former congressman embroiled in several sexting scandals, most recently with an underaged girl. Abedin apparently shared this device with her husband, so now questions are flying about. Did the now disgraced congressman have access to classified e-mails through the shared device?

To be sure, Director Comey was caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. If he sat tight and said nothing about the investigation, then down the road a piece angry republican voters and politicians might have been accused him of a coverup, especially if Clinton took the White House on November 8th. On the other hand, he’s currently suffering angry accusations that his decision to inform congress (which promptly leaked the news) is tantamount to a form of election tampering.

And on that note, perhaps the real culprit here is Congress. After all, can’t they keep a confidential briefing to themselves?

Learn about Director Comey’s decision to write congress (CNN)

 

 

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (Wikimedia Commons)

Small Bird can fly for 10 months without stopping!

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Small Bird can fly for 10 months without stopping!

Swedish scientists studying the common swift have discovered a truly incredible thing: these small birds, with lifespans less than six years long, can spend up to 10 months flying, without touching down on the ground. Even birds that did land spent 99.5% of their migration (from Europe to Africa) in the air.

The birds that flew the entire duration may have slept while gliding, as other species are known to do. They also molted and grew new feathers while in the air, unlike their counterparts that spent some time on the ground.  The scientists fitted the birds with tiny backpacks, equipped with electronic sensors, to take their measurements.

Learn more about the common swift’s remarkable flight (Science Alert)

 

 

Photo: Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 2.0

The New Three Stooges: The Noisy Silent Movie, an episode by David Detiege (as Dave Detiege), Edward Bernds (as Eddie Bernds) 1965

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The New Three Stooges: The Noisy Silent Movie, 1965

The New Three Stooges: The Noisy Silent Movie, 1965

An episode by David Detiege (as Dave Detiege), Edward Bernds (as Eddie Bernds)

“Moe, Larry and Curly Joe get hired to play the organ in a silent movie theater, but none of them know how to play and their attempt to serenade the audience only results in wrecking the theater.” (IMDB)

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Messiah of Evil (aka Dead People) a film by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (uncredited) 1973

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Messiah of Evil (aka Dead People) a film by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz (uncredited) 1973

Messiah of Evil (aka Dead People,) 1973

A film by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz (uncredited)

“A young woman goes searching for her missing artist father. Her journey takes her to a strange Californian seaside town governed by a mysterious undead cult.” (IMDB)

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HELP FIGHT BACK AGAINST WOLF KILLING

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HELP FIGHT BACK AGAINST WOLF KILLING

The Management Team of Face Activities believes we should protect animals and the habitats where animals live, world-wide. Animals like the gray wolf. Wolves are in trouble, and there’s state sanctioned wolf hunting in Idaho that’s killing whole families. Please read the following from the Center for Biological Diversity, and consider giving to their cause.

 

“47 wolves have already died this year in Idaho’s deadly wolf-hunting season. We can’t allow any more of these intelligent, social animals to be killed. That’s why we need your help fighting back. We’ll put your gift to the Center’s Predator Defense Fund right to work fighting to ensure a safe future for all wolves.

We are a Charity Navigator Four Star Charity with more than two decades of success in saving endangered species and wildlands. You can trust us to make the most of your tax-deductible contribution.” (Center for Biological Diversity)

Learn more and donate now to save wolves (Center for Biological Diversity)

 

 

Photo: Center for Biological Diversity

Casper: The Friendly Ghost, an animated short by Izzy Sparber, 1945

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Casper: The Friendly Ghost, an animated short by Izzy Sparber, 1945

Casper: The Friendly Ghost, 1945

An animated short by Izzy Sparber

“Depressed by the antics of the other ghosts, Casper leaves home to make friends. After unintentionally scaring several potential pals, Casper befriends two young children. They take him home, where Casper frightens their mother. Casper is again upset because he believes that he will always scare away his potential buddies. However, Casper scares away a banker who is coming to foreclose on the woman’s house, and this wins her heart for Casper.” (IMDB)

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English Speaking Teenager Wakes from Coma Speaking Fluent Spanish

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English Speaking Teenager Wakes from Coma Speaking Fluent Spanish

The brain is a delicate instrument. And sometimes it breaks in remarkable ways. An American teenager has awoken from a coma, after a serious head injury following a collision during a soccer game, speaking fluent Spanish, even though his native language is English, and he only studied Spanish a little bit in school—-he was not fluent. (Contribute to his medical expenses here.)

This is a rare event, but as strange as it seems, it’s not unheard of. There have been a few historical incidents in which people, following a head trauma, have temporarily lost the ability to speak their native language, but had apparently gained the ability to fluently speak a language they only had a passing familiarity with. And a related condition, perhaps even more bizarre, called “Foreign Accent Syndrome,” leaves afflicted people speaking their own language in a strong foreign accent, as though they weren’t native speakers. In fact, one young woman was even suspected of being a German spy during World War II, when she suddenly started speaking with a strong German accent.

Medical experts aren’t entirely sure what’s going on, but they believe the brain attempts to rewire itself after serious trauma, and sometimes this rewiring process can affect language significantly. In the case of Foreign Accent Syndrome, it may not be a true foreign accent at all. Instead, after the head injury, the patients may lose partial control of the body parts necessary for speech, and the sounds they produce, in some rare cases, seem very similar to the sounds of a foreign language. It’s also possible this may happen with the people who wake up speaking a second language with apparent fluency. They really aren’t fluent, but their new pseudo-accent makes them sound more fluent.

Other experts hypothesize that the injury may suppress their speech in their native language, but not affect their second language, and since they are speaking without spending effort consciously suppressing their native language, as new language learners often do, their speech in the second language suddenly seems much better. These strange effects tend to be temporary, and slowly fade, as the patients return to their normal speech patterns.

What ever is happening, it’s clear that the human brain holds some fascinating mysteries that science has just begun to plumb. In recent years we’ve learned that the brain is much more plastic than we once thought, capable of changing and rewiring itself in unexpected ways, and repairing damage that previous generations of physicians and biologists had thought to be permanent. With this in mind, and with further scientific study along these lines, it may be possible to heal patients with brain damage from head injuries and strokes much more quickly and effectively than ever before—-perhaps completely! So as we continue to learn more, the future seems more promising than ever for accident victims, stroke patients, and other victims of traumatic brain injuries.

Learn about teenager who woke up speaking Spanish (Science Alert)

 

 

Photo: Go Fund Me

The She Beast, a film by Michael Reeves, 1966

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The She Beast, a film by Michael Reeves, 1966

The She Beast, 1966

A film by Michael Reeves

“A young woman is driving alongside a lake. She has an accident and the car plunges into the water. Her body is then possessed by the spirit of an 18th-century witch who was killed by local villagers, and is bent on avenging herself on them.” (IMDB)

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