Why is it Still Acceptable to Scapegoat Gay Americans?

Triggered by the $7.7 billion pledged to "fix" the financial and credit crises, Michael Savage went on the following tirade,

"...We're probably 50 leagues below the degeneracy that brought about Hitler. We are the sickest, most disgusting country on the earth, and we are psycholo -- psychotically -- we are psychotic as a nation." - Michael Savage

Now, you would think a remark like the aforementioned would get the bumper-stickered, flag-waving, patriots in a tailspin. What is holding them back?

The answer is simple. Gay marriage. Because Savage blames what he calls the "degeneracy" of this country, not on the greedy bankers, not on corrupt government officials, not on an overly materialistic or indifferent culture, but on gay marriage - the same gay marriage, just defeated across the board, on November 4 - that justifies calling America,the most disgusting country on earth,, in the minds of those who would normally label anyone, who described the U.S. as the most disgusting country on earth, traitors.

Savage's show is unfortunately influential as it is supposedly heard on more than 350 radio stations, reaching over 8 million listeners each week, making it one of the most listened to talk shows in our nation, following closely behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Focusing the blame, for all the problems this country is facing, on gay Americans, is like blaming the problems that faced Weimier Germany on Jewish people, and we all know where that lead. So, who is responsible for any resemblance this country has to Nazi, Germany? Who is imitating Hitler's tactics?

What if Michael Savage had blamed African Americans instead? Jewish Americans? Asian Americans? The disabled?

Historical accounting has taught us that scapegoating is a slippery slope. Offering up an individual or group of people, based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, etc., to bear blame is the reason Hitler succeeded in creating the most evil regime in documented history.

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Did You Know Eyeglasses Cost $1.25 to Make?

Yep, according to commentator Daniel Pinkwater, it's fairly simple to get really well-made glasses online at a fraction of the cost of over-the-counter ones. All you need is your prescription and your pupillary distance, that is the distance from the center of the pupil (black circle) in one eye to the center of the pupil in the other eye. This is needed to accurately center the lenses in the frame that you have selected. You can measure the distance yourself using a millimeter ruler, however; to ensure accuracy it's better to have the Optometrist measure.

After Mr. Pinkwater's eyeglasses arrived he had them checked out by his Optometrist, who said they were "right on". He then asked his Optometrist, "How does the commercial enterprise justify a 90% markup? "

His Optometrist responded, "The lens cost maybe a quarter to make, the frame, maybe a buck but there is rent, advertising and all that overhead and then there is the issue of patriotism..." I'll let you listen to the rest.

39DollarGlasses.com and Frames Direct are supposed to be very good. Mr. Pinkwater may have bought his eyeglasses at ZenniOptical, but I'm not sure as he did not specify which optical online site he purchased his eyeglasses from... unTECHy posts an unbiased review. of ZeniOptical.

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Execution For Loving the Wrong Person

What kinds of people murder other people for loving another person? What kinds of people base their laws on hate, intolerance, discrimination and injustice? What kinds of people make laws allowing children to be raped?

"As marital rape is not illegal, a man who rapes a nine-year-old girl is exonerated if her father agrees to let her rapist marry her".

The answer is far too many countries around the world. Many people take these horror stories and turn them on those of us who choose to be vigilant and guard the precious gift our founding fathers left us. These people imply that we, who dare to criticize our current government, are unpatriotic and ungrateful. Nothing can be further from the truth. It is far more unpatriotic and ungrateful to back up men and policies that go against the United States Constitution.

Granted, this group of men, our founding fathers, did not exactly "walk the walk"; nevertheless, they left us with a system of fundamental laws and principles to govern ourselves that no other country has succeeded in carrying out. Now is the time to prove we deserve to live in a country this great. Instead of pretending everything is copasetic and blinding ourselves to what is really happening, we need to earn our citizenship, guaranteeing that what is happening in Iran today will never happen in this country.

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Put Away Your Flags and Bumper Stickers....

...this is the stuff we need to be concentrating on, making it as easy as we can for our soldiers who get paid very little to do what most of us could never imagine.

A backpack that reduces the forces on your body when carrying heavy loads could help prevent injury, allow soldiers to carry more equipment and even speed up the response time of emergency services, its designer claims.

When people walk, they tend to raise and lower their bodies by between 5 centimetres and 7 cm with each step. If they are carrying a backpack, the extra load must also be raised by the same amount and this puts extra strain on the body.

Now Larry Rome, a muscle physiologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, US, has worked out a way to reduce these forces by fundamentally changing the design of the backpack.

His new design consists of a frame which a person wears like an ordinary backpack. However, the load is suspended from the frame by elasticated bungee cords which lengthen as the wearer takes a stride, thereby keeping the load at a constant height. A video (AVI format, 6mb) of the backpack is available here.

“By suspending the load, you knock out 86% of this extra force, making it comfortable to run with a heavy load,” says Rome, who has published his results in the journal Nature. The principle is similar to that used by traditional Asian merchants who carry their wares using flexible bamboo poles.
Pile on the pounds

Rome says being able to run comfortably while carrying a heavy load could make life easier for many groups of people. He points out that children often suffer bone and muscle injuries from carrying heavy schoolbooks and believes his backpack could help. And first responders in the emergency services also often have to carry heavy loads.

The backpack also reduces the total energy needed to carry heavy loads by around 40%. That may make it possible for people such as soldiers to carry heavier loads. “You can carry 60 lbs in our backpack for the same metabolic cost as 48 lbs in a normal backpack, hence you can carry 12 lbs for free,” he says.

The load can also be locked in place to function as a conventional backpack, which might be useful when the wearer is not walking in a rhythmic way, Rome suggests, such as when crossing a stream.
Military use

Rome was initially approached by the US Office of Naval Research to design a backpack that could generate power from the wearer’s body movements (see Backpack generates a powerful punch). The military had found that soldiers’ ever increasing reliance on electronic equipment such as GPS systems, night-vision sights and computers meant they were replacing food and medical equipment in their backpacks with batteries. The ONR was looking for a way for soldiers to generate their own power on the move.

“My knowledge of biomechanics made me realise that the way people were trying to do it – with heel strike devices – was not the best way,” says Rome. Instead he came up with an electricity-generating backpack in which a sliding action between the load and the backpack frame generates power.

He suspected that the mechanism also reduced the forces on the body and further development of the idea led to the new ergonomic backpack. Rome has set up a company called Lightning Packs to bring the backpack to market.

Others agree that the work will have a significant benefit. Rodger Kram, a specialist in body movement at the University of Colorado in Boulder, US, says: “The biggest advantage will be for people who need to run with heavy loads, such as marines and fire fighters. It can be much more comfortable and less injurious. I would buy one.”

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