Don't Worry, Be Happy … Well Maybe Worry A Little Bit

There was a movie made about them and there was a madman who tried to exterminate them. They were called: Swing Kids

Swing Kids were primarily composed of upper class teenagers who liked anything English and/or American, especially swing and jazz music. That was about it except they lived in Nazi Germany and made fun of the Hitler Youth and the Nazi regime. Also, much of the music they liked was Negro music. During the early years the Swing Kids seemed to be tolerated, but as the war began the government started to see these kids as a counterculture to the Nazi way of life. This culminated in a letter dated January 26, 1942 from Heinrich Himmler to his chief henchman Reinhard Heydrick:

My judgment is that the whole evil must be radically exterminated now. I cannot but see that we have taken only half measures. All ringleaders (...) are into a concentration camp to be re-educated (...) detention in concentration camp for these youths must be longer, 2-3 years (...) it is only through the utmost brutality that we will be able to avert the dangerous spread of anglophile tendencies, in these times where Germany fights for its survival.

And so it was that they were rounded up and shipped off to the camps.

In 2007, about 230 Iranian upper class youth and young adults were arrested for attending a 'satanic' concert. 

In 2014 Iranian authorities arrested Iranian youth for making a Happy Dance video.

Source:
Music and the Holocaust: Swing Kids Behind Barbed Wire
http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/third-reich/swing-kids-behind-barbed-wire/

Iranian morals police arrest 230 in raid on 'satanist' rave
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/06/iran.roberttait

Arrests over the happy dance video in Iran reflect hardliners' frustration
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/06/iran.roberttait

What's The News Across The Nation(s), July 8, 2014

Lots of money, high priced assets, low returns. easy loans. Sound familiar?

Paul Kruger doesn't think it's anything to worry about. In his opinion piece, Beliefs, Facts and Money, he opines that printing money is not the problem, lax regulation in the markets is the problem. When the Federal Reserve began printing money, it did not go into circulation, but was instead kept in banks. The regulators had raised the lending bar high enough to thwart the 'easy money' practices that lead to the Great Recession of 2008.

Today, Neil Irwin reports that interest rates are low, asset value is high and returns on these asset investments are low. What he portends is an 'everything' asset bubble. We see it happening in Houston. Commercial construction is booming. The price per square foot of existing commercial space is rising, yet investors are buying. Where is the money coming from to finance these acquisitions? Banks mostly. Some corporations have held onto cash also during the downtime but now the race is on and demand is exceeding supply.



Sources:
NYT: Beliefs, Facts and Money, July 6, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/opinion/paul-krugman-conservative-delusions-about-inflation.html

NYT:Welcome to the Everyting Boom, or Maybe the Everything Bubble
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/opinion/paul-krugman-conservative-delusions-about-inflation.html

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Worst Job In The World

Nearly one billion people defecated in the open. Who counted?

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United Nations Expands Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

The permanent staff of the UN Secretariat who have entered into a same-sex marriage will now be legitimized if the ceremony took place in a jurisdiction in which same-sex marriages are legal. In the past the UN only recognized the marriage if the home country allowed it.

This must be really irritating to the newly elected General Assembly President from Uganda. Speaking of Uganda and their harsh anti-gay laws let it be known that a white evangelical, named Scott Lively was instrumental in the legislation.

Mother Jones: Meet the American Pastor Behind Uganda's Anti-Gay Crackdown
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/scott-lively-anti-gay-law-uganda
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All I Want Is A Womb Somewhere

The United States is the world class destination for couples, domestic and overseas, who want a child but for whatever reasons cannot or will not conceive one the old fashioned way. Only the rich need apply however. The draw is our "sophisticated fertility clinics, experienced lawyers,  a large pool of egg donors and surrogates, and, especially, established legal precedent."

First let me say I have taken liberally from the NYT article listed under Sources. Next let me say that if you read the article, and it is a long one, you may find yourself reflecting on a few things.

Here are some that I am reflecting upon:

"How much will a surrogate be paid for a cesarean section, multiple births - or loss of her uterus?"

"What if the intended parents die during the pregnancy?"

"How long will the surrogate abstain from sex?"

"If she needs bed rest, how much will the intended parents pay to replace her paycheck, and cover childcare and housekeeping?"

What happens to the baby if the intended couple get a divorce before the baby's birth?

Ever heard of "selective reduction'? I sure haven't. It arises in cases of multiple births … get it, selective reduction.

The United States leaves surrogacy up to the states. Some allow it and some don't. In Canada and  Britain a surrogate can only get her expenses paid or socalled 'altruistic surrogacy'. In California surrogacy is considered a business and thus for profit. Ah those free market guys, huh?

Speaking of the business angle, one guy from China wanted 'five gestational surrogates' he planned to keep two babies and sell three.

One surrogate's fetus was found to have a brain cleft. The intended parents were not in the market for a defective child and told the surrogate to get an abortion.
There is more to this story. The surrogate could not bring herself to abort and found a couple who would take the child. Later she says, "I found them on Facebook, and there's no trace of him, so I think they gave him up for adoption ... " "I don't know where he is, and it kills me every day."

Some couples from overseas sometimes can't get their home country to accept a citizenship application for the surrogate child.

China still has a one child policy so a hukou, which is a household registration card, cannot be issued.  I don't know what that means, but I'm guessing it has something to do with enforcing the one child policy.

And finally there is something called 'social surrogacy'. This occurs when a woman wants a baby but without all the interruptions to her career and/or her figure.

Source:
Coming to U.S. for Baby, and Womb to Carry It
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/us/foreign-couples-heading-to-america-for-surrogate-pregnancies.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%5B%22RI%3A7%22%2C%22RI%3A15%22%5D

The Morons of Fernald

In 1953, the directors of the Walter E. Fernald State School in Waltham, Massachusetts sent this letter to the parents of children residing at the school:

"In previous years we have done some examinations in connection with the nutritional department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the purposes of helping to improve the nutrition of our children and to help them in general more efficiently than before.

For the checking up of the children, we occasionally need to take some blood samples, which are then analyzed. The blood samples are taken after one test meal which consists of a special breakfast meal containing a certain amount of calcium. We have asked for volunteers to give a sample of blood once a month for three months, and your son has agreed to volunteer because the boys who belong to the Science Club have many additional privileges. They get a quart of milk daily during that time, and are taken to a baseball game, to the beach and to some outside dinners and they enjoy it greatly.

I hope that you have no objection that your son is voluntarily participating in this study. The first study will start on Monday, June 8th, and if you have not expressed any objections we will assume that your son may participate."

Unbeknowest to the parents a partnership between the school, MIT, and the Quaker Oats Company was being launched for three reasons:

• The school was getting paid for supplying the kids. 

• Quaker Oats got an opportunity to prove that indeed nutrition from Quaker Oats was absorbed quicker than from their rival Cream of Wheat.

• MIT was conducting experiments pertaining to the absorption of radiation. 

Yep, all three of these entities cooperated in lacing oatmeal with radioactive material.


Sources:
Seeking Freedom From Label At Last
http://richgibson.com/radioactiveoatmeal.html

C-Span, Lectures in History: U.S. Cold War Human Radiation Experiments
http://series.c-span.org/History/Events/Lectures-in-History-US-Cold-War-Human-Radiation-Experiments/10737444323/

History of the Walter E. Fernald Development Center
http://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/walthamma/files/file/file/fernald_center_history.pdf

Task Force Reports on Fernald Studies
http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N28/fernald.28n.html

What's The News Across The Nation(s), July 4, 2014

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE VALUES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA


The New York Times published a survey by American National Election Study (A.N.E.S.) and found that the Silent Generation (age 69 to 86) were more into the symbols of our nation, i.e. the flag, than the younger generations. Not by much, but still a generational difference and the survey noted these feelings are sustained over a person's life time.

Younger generations appear to skip the symbols and value the values straightaway. If the survey is accurate the younger generations take the values more seriously and expect the nation to follow through on the ideals of equality and opportunity.

NYT: Younger Americans Are Less Patriotic. At Least, in Some Ways, July 4, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/upshot/younger-americans-are-less-patriotic-at-least-in-some-ways.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

What's The News Across The Nation(s), July 3, 2014

July 3, 2014

SHOP TIL YOU DROP

I found this site while reading about something else. It's called Chippmunk.

About Us

Online Savings. Re-imagined

ChippmunkTM is a savings search engine that will help you shop smarter — and save you time and money.

We get savings information from stores and compile it right here so you can quickly see which stores are offering the best deals for you. We do this with something called the CouponRankTM algorithm. (And you thought your high school calculus course was a waste of time.)

We publish only valid, working coupons and offers so you don’t have to wade through a bunch of duds before finding the mother of all deals. When you know what’s out there, you can be confident that you’re really getting the best deal. And who knows, you might even discover a new favorite place to shop!

We want Chippmunk to be the first place you look when you begin shopping. Try it! We think you’ll like it.

http://www.chippmunk.com/tst/h3/


RIP CURRENT; RIP TIDE; UNDERTOW

What with Arthur coming to your July Fourth picnic as an uninvited guest I thought you on the East Coast might want to know the difference of several water dynamics that can propel you and your loved ones out to sea. Don't get cocky if you live on the Gulf Coast, because our turn is coming.

AP: Arthur's widest effects, July 3, 2014

http://hosted2.ap.org/MAGRE/4e06196a1f11442a96197ec8174afd24/Article_2014-07-03-Arthur-Rip-Currents/id-81c04a1c73654f2c9dcfe1830df9abe0

SOCCER IS FOR BITCHY LITTLE GIRLS

I think Ann chuckles as she writes some of this stuff. I remember when George Will of the Washington Post trashed blue jeans and was inundated with violent and very few witty responses. I suspect George is not as media savvy as Coulter, so he probably hid out at an 'undisclosed location'.

POLITICO: Ann Coulter strikes again on soccer hate, July 3, 2014

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/ann-coulter-soccer-world-cup-response-108551.html?hp=l5

WAIT A MINUTEMAN

As we are on the eve of Independence Day, I thought the status of readiness to defend and protect the nation was appropriate.

Willing but unable, that's what the Army increasingly is finding among potential recruits. It's not only physical, it's also intellectual. Too much weight and too little education makes for 'unfit to serve'.  So much remedial preparation would be necessary for recruits to even get into condition for boot camp (physically and mentally), that the Army doesn't want to expend the effort. As the article points out diet and education is now in the national interests.

ARMY TIMES: Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show, November 3, 2009
http://www.armytimes.com/article/20091103/NEWS/911030311/Most-U-S-youths-unfit-serve-data-show

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Unfit for service, July 2, 2014
http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Unfit-for-service-5596682.php

What's The News Across The Nation(s) - July 2, 2014

HUH?

Facebook’s disclosure last week that it had tinkered with about 700,000 users’ news feed
as part of a psychology experiment conducted in 2012 inadvertently laid bare what too few tech firms acknowledge: that they possess vast powers to closely monitor, test and even shape our behavior, often while we’re in the dark about their capabilities.
NYT, July 2, 2014, The Bright Side of Facebook's Social Experiments on Users

Fat Cats

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's not just a people problem: Growing rates of obesity in pets have led to the emergence of fat farms offering "pawlates," "doga" and "Barko Polo," doggie versions of Pilates, yoga and Marco Polo to help slim down man's best friend. In the U.S., 53 percent of dogs are overweight or obese, up from 45 percent four years ago. In cats, the figure is almost 58 percent, said Dr. Ernie Ward, a veterinarian and founder of the Association of Pet Obesity Prevention in Calabash, North Carolina. Overweight pets can suffer diabetes, joint problems, heart disease and decreased life expectancy, just like obese people, he said.

Associated Press, July 2, 2014

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PETS_DOG_FAT_CAMP?SITE=TXHOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-07-02-10-56-16

Tech High

The Guardian, July 2, 2014

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/jul/02/technology-tattoo-body-art-sega-myspace-apple-facebook-google-in-pictures

FREE BLAGO! … WELL, MAYBE

“any criminal conviction in U.S. history” other than Blagojevich’s in which a politician was convicted for trying to trade one job for another.

Politico, July 1, 2014

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/will-rod-be-spared-108478.html#.U7Q8ZRbi_Rc