August 27, 2013

Entergy to Close Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

Source: Google Finance, Wall Street Journal

By Ryan Tracy, Saabira Chaudhuri,

Entergy Corp. said Tuesday it will close its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant late next year, the latest U.S. plant to close amid difficult economic times for the nuclear power industry.

Entergy said “a number of financial factors” were behind what Chief Executive Leo Denault called “an agonizing decision and an extremely tough call.”

The company said those factors included low natural-gas prices, the high costs of running a nuclear station with a single power-generating reactor, and “flaws” in the design of the region’s electricity marketplace that “do not provide adequate compensation to merchant nuclear plants for the fuel diversity benefits they provide.”


Read more: http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-310012/

August 27, 2013

So What? They Used Chemical Weapons. It is War. Why Is It Our Business?

War is ...well ..War.
Countries and leaders do unmentionable things during war.
So do soldiers. It is what it is. It is not new.
Why should anyone be surprised?
If the U.S attacks Syria, it is an act of war.
Syria could attack the U.S. That is what war is.
I believe war should always be avoided, if possible.
Always, if possible..

August 26, 2013

New Born Panda Cub Healthy and Vibrant says National Zoo

http://www.today.com/pets/newborn-panda-cub-vibrant-healthy-says-national-zoo-8C10996227

A new baby cub at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington is bright pink, very tiny and healthy, the zoo announced on Sunday as they released the first photos of the little bundle of joy. (hit link to view Photo)

The mama panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth at 5:32 p.m. on Friday, and according to zoo officials, after spending the past two weeks practicing for the moment by “spending extended amounts of time body licking and cradling her toys.”

Mei Xiang picked up her new cub immediately after giving birth and started nurturing it and cuddling with it, said zoo officials.

On Sunday, the zoo reported that their panda team was able to give Mei Xiang’s newborn its first neonatal examination. The team concluded that “the cub is robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink,” adding that the newborn is “active” and “vibrant.”

August 22, 2013

Movie based upon the breeding of stupid and ignorant people...Idocracy...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

Yes, there is such a movie....Idiocracy...................

Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

....have fun with the movie...this poll is almost unreal...

August 21, 2013

Antoinette Tuff: Meet The Bookkeeper Who Stopped Ga. School Shooter :News One , AP News:

http://newsone.com/2689375/antoinette-tuff-michael-brandon-hill/

from the middle of the story...
________________________________________________________________________________________________


Authorities believe Hill must have walked in behind someone authorized to be there, Alexander said. He never got past the front office, where he held one or two employees captive for a time. School bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff says she was one of the hostages.

In an interview on ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer,” Tuff said she worked to convince the gunman to put down his weapons and ammunition.

“He told me he was sorry for what he was doing. He was willing to die,” Tuff told ABC.

Speaking Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Tuff said the suspect told her he hadn’t taken his medication.

She told him her life story, about how her marriage fell apart after 33 years and the “roller coaster” of opening her own business.

“I told him, `OK, we all have situations in our lives,” she said. “It was going to be OK. If I could recover, he could, too.”

Then Tuff said she asked the suspect to put his weapons down, empty his pockets and backpack on the floor.

August 21, 2013

Tesla roof so strong it broke crush-test machine: USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/08/20/tesla-model-s-crash-test/2678557/

As crash-test boasts go, Tesla is claiming a good one: The roof of its Model S electric sedan is apparently so strong that it broke a testing machine during independent validation of its government crash-test scores.

Roof-crush strength was just one of the reasons that Tesla says its electric car just came up with a five-star rating in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing.

Five stars is NHTSA's top rating. While other plug-in electric models have overall five-star ratings, a perfect five for each of the three test scores is relatively rare. The 2014 Ford Focus electric also is rated five stars overall and in side-crash testing, but four in rollover and frontal-crash testing. The 2014 Chevrolet Volt is rated five stars overall but has a four in frontal-crash testing. Nissan Leaf is rated four stars overall

August 21, 2013

Question....does Tesla use Union Workers???

I really don't know ..just asking...

August 20, 2013

Iowa GOP Polk County Chairman Resigns.- Says " Party is Headed in Wrong Direction"

Source: Talking Points Memo

Catherine Thompson - 2:34 PM EDT, Tuesday August 20, 2013

The co-chairman of Iowa's Polk County Republican Party has stepped down and registered as an Independent, writing in a resignation letter that the GOP is "headed in the wrong direction," the Des Moines Register reported Tuesday.

Chad Brown told the newspaper he resigned his post on Aug. 5. Brown cited Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) recent comments comparing undocumented immigrants to drug mules as an example of his disagreement with the party, along with its positions on gun control and climate change.

From Brown's resignation letter, as quoted by the Register:
"In 2012, the Polk GOP lost Polk County by over 32,000 votes. Until 2002, Republicans were elected to the State House from Des Moines. In 2012, Republicans lost 2 State House seats in suburban, Republican-leaning districts and came two dozen votes from losing a third. Facts are stubborn things. I think we are now headed in the wrong direction on several fronts and regretfully must step aside.

It’s my opinion that rather than fix the problems that led to such a massive 2012 defeat, the GOP does not seem to seriously want to fix the issues. I think helping a dysfunctional Party that does not want to address its problems is enabling. I do not believe in enabling. I debated this for weeks and am certain this is the only course."



Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/iowa-gop-county-chairman-resigns-says-party-headed

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Although this happened two weeks ago, it is being reported now. Nothing on this resignation on the internet before today.

August 18, 2013

Don't Use Dallas Compounding Pharmacy Products..FDA Warns : NBC News

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/dont-use-dallas-compounding-pharmacy-products-fda-warns-6C10937607


Maggie Fox , NBC News

Aug. 16, 2013 at 6:24 PM ET

The Food and Drug Administration took an unusual step on Friday, warning patients and health care providers to stay away from sterile products made by a Dallas-based compounding pharmacy called NuVision.


It’s a new twist in an ongoing fight the FDA has had with compounding pharmacies, which are supposed to make individual products to order on a prescription-by-prescription basis. The FDA says these companies often act as large-scale manufacturers, but evade FDA oversight because of glitches in the law.

The FDA says its inspections show the sterility of products made by NuVision cannot be guaranteed, but the pharmacy says it doesn’t have to meet FDA standards.

The FDA forced a showdown in a battle that almost perfectly illustrates the agency’s complaints that it doesn’t have the powers it needs to regulate such pharmacies.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This story suggests that FDA may have some power that it claims it does not have. Further down, it tells that hundreds of people
were infected as a result of a similar situation with a New England company. Sad indeed that the FDA cannot stop these crooks....

I don' ever recall reading about this from that story:...
.....
"FDA has redoubled efforts to check on compounding pharmacies after an outbreak of fungal infections linked to a single Massachusetts pharmacy last year killed 63 people. So far, 749 people in 20 states have been sickened in that outbreak, the worst cases with meningitis or stroke, with some local abscesses and similar infections as well."....

You would think that some company that "killed 63 people" would get huge nation wide coverage. I don't remember a word..

Here is a link from Boston.com..but this appears to be somewhat obscure..(also there is no date to this article..although comments on it seem to be from last February..:

http://www.boston.com/whitecoatnotes/2013/02/05/just-massachusetts-compounding-pharmacies-passed-surprise-health-inspections/zFT7FKklNPfj6EdW4tYu1L/story.html

August 16, 2013

Joke: Little Johnny in the Science class

Little Johnny watched the science teacher start the experiment with
the worms. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a jar of alcohol. The second worm was
put into a jar of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put into a jar
of sperm. The fourth worm was put into a jar of soil.
After one day, these were the results:

The first worm in alcohol - dead.


Second worm in cigarette smoke - dead.


Third worm in sperm - dead.


Fourth worm in soil - alive.


So the Science teacher asked the class, "What can you learn from
this experiment?."


Little Johnny quickly raised his hand and said "As long as you
drink, smoke and have sex, you won't have worms."