Was Michigan State not incredible during the conference?

After carrying his team for much of its 60-59 win against Michigan State Tuesday at the Crisler Center, Michigan freshman point guard gets a lift off the court from freshman Max Biefeldt.

This picture was from last year. Some of the players this year were the same. They participated in the NCAA finals. It was an amazing run at the conference for Michigan State. I watched the game yesterday.

They played the first quarter with incredible plays and Louisville was down by double digits. Louisville's score at that point was comprised about half by foul line throws. 

Michigan had a great offense and defense, but, their defense tended to be aggressive and strong. As a result there were numerous fouls against Louisville and occasionally Louisville would score from the foul line.

But, Michigan was tired by half time. It showed. They dropped their lead to one point by then. When they returned for the second half it was obvious Louisville was able to 'pace' their performance better than Michigan State. That is where Michigan lost their victory. They played hard in the beginning and was tired by the end of the game. They played great ball and have a lot of talent. I hope all their dreams come true if they are recruited into professional teams; they deserve it.

Thanks for the excitement, guys. I loved every minute.

Understanding "Football Concussion" may lie in genetics.

The Wnt signaling pathway is a network of proteins that passes signals from receptors on the surface of the cell through the cytoplasm and ultimately to the cell's nucleus where the signaling cascade leads to the expression of target genes.It is also required for adult tissue maintenance in bone, heart, muscle, and elsewhere. Mutations in this pathway in adults contribute to degenerative diseases and cancers.

Concussion lawsuit: State of things entering Tuesday's hearing (click here)

• By Albert Breef
• NLF Network Reporter
• Published April 8, 2013
• 
  
• The NFL and organizations at every level of football have operated with it as their backdrop over the past several years. It has changed the way the game is played and raised red flags that the sport hasn't dealt with since Teddy Roosevelt was in office....

Understanding why some NFL Players are effected by concussion and why some aren't may very well come down to genetics and/or the diet and/or the very act of playing football that supports the player's body during his career.

While more research is needed, that doesn't change the fact a player was valuable enough to have him play for a team to win a title which interprets into wealth for owners.

There is a responsibility of the owners and the football leagues to men who did their level best to win a game. They were worthy enough to put on the field, they should be worthy enough to protect, care for and provide for their comfort after they are disabled.

This is not a question of whether or not any owner or the league is exonerated from any responsibility because genetics dictated the outcome of a player. This is a demand for those that obtained wealth at the cost of quality of life and even life itself for the players on the field. 

We are a nation that cares. I would hope that includes the professions of professional ball in all it's forms. These men carried the spirit of fans and are heroes. Their disability is felt by every fan that loved them. The fans would never want such debilitating injuries to end a career or cause a change in the quality of life of the athlete.

Every young man that goes into football with the hope of being a well paid and valuable player never bargains for this.

Mutations in the pathway above can result from the physical demands of the body. Pain through athletic injury and the demands of contact sports attacks the very survival centers of the brain. If a human body sustains enough pain in their profession day after day, hour after hour; the brain imprints on that pain and the avoidance of it. It is very possible adaptations of the brain occurred due to pain avoidance.

Be it pain adaptation and/or concussion and brain trauma does not matter. The result is what is important. The NFL has a responsibility and if departing with some monies to provide for their heroes is this painful then they don't appreciate the relationship of the players to the team and the team's fans. To the NFL it is all about money and the human component is a matter of inconvenience.

...Was it appropriate of your staff to talk about Ashley Judd's bout with depression as a potential campaign issue?

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

"Is it fair game for you to question someone's mental health or their religious sensibilities in a strategy session like that?"

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

"But, is it fair game..."

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

"We are going to move to another topic."

So, tell me Senator McConnell, is it true you were born on the Fourth of July?

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

It is true Senator McConnell that your favorite color is Red, White and Blue?

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

I need to confirm with you Senator McConnell that you lost your balls ten years ago, is that true?

"As you know last month my wife's ethnicity was attacked by a left wing group in Kentucky and then apparently they also bugger my headquarters. I think that is pretty well sums up the political left is operating in Kentucky."

I don't know a better way to support the huge illegal marijuana economy in Kentucky than lack of gun control.

This is a bit dated, but, the problem persists. Currently, the Kentucky legislature is attempting to pass medical marijuana laws without success.

MINORITY Leader Senator McConnell has been unsuccessful in bringing the illegal marijuana economy of Kentucky under control. 

Mr. McConnell has been in office since 1984. It can be stated he is part of the problem and not the solution. Law enforcement in Kentucky has been complaining about this since 1984. Is it a coincidence the Marijuana Economy in Kentucky exists with impunity during McConnell's tenure? I think there are legitimate questions about his position with guns and this persistent drug economy in his state.

"Blowing Smoke: An evaluation of Marijuana Eradiction in Kentucy," by Potter, Gary, Beth Holbrooke and Larry Gaines. American Journal of Police, Volume:9  Issue:1  Dated:(1990), pages 97 - 116.

Article abstract:

The Marijuana Eradication Program, (click here) begun in 1982, has led directly to several major adjustments in the organization of crime. It has stimulated smaller-scale production, resulted in crop dispersal throughout the entire State, led to a significant increase in the quality of cultivated marijuana, and stimulated a system of false production which has artificially inflated the size of the total marijuana crop. The campaign against marijuana has resulted in the creation of public support for the marijuana industry. Law enforcement efforts against marijuana have resulted in the creation of organized crime groups. The marijuana enforcement program is expensive and diverts needed resources from more serious crime and social problems. Recommendations to be evaluated include: (1) whether Kentucky should cease a policy of proactive drug enforcement with regard to marijuana; (2) whether proactive drug enforcement activity should be directed at the most vulnerable points of the drug industry; and (3) if it would be more effective to allocate more funds to ameliorating the many social ills that make Kentucky so susceptible to illegal commerce. 4 notes, 32 references.


Eastern Kentucky University

...Marijuana has become Kentucky's primary drug problem.(click here) Considering all four categories of illicit drug activity, (use, cultivation, production and distribution) marijuana is easily the most widespread illegal drug in Kentucky. The Kentucky Justice Cabinet (1989) reports that the plant is being cultivated in 111 of the State's 120 counties, and that in many of Kentucky's rural counties, it is the largest cash crop and in many others, it ranks second only to tobacco. Federal estimates indicate that Kentucky, since 1982, has consistently been among the top five marijuana producing states (Kentucky Justice Cabinet, 1989), and recent estimates suggest that Kentucky is the second largest marijuana-producing state in the nation (Drug Enforcement Strategy Committee, 1987)....

California has recognized the economic contribution of this community. California took voluntary tax reporting from the industry into their state treasury. 

Kentucky should take medical marijuana bill seriously in 2013 (click here)

Kentucky legislators have been dragging their feet for years on medical marijuana. Fortunately, rather than being discouraged, Sen. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) has vowed to keep working to persuade his colleagues. Sen. Clark has again introduced his bill, now known as SB 11, for the 2013 legislative session. Sen. Clark introduced similar legislation, SB 129, in 2012, when it generated significant media coverage but did not get a hearing and did not pass. Supporters of medical marijuana have already generated positive media coverage in 2013 with a Feb. 6 rally at the State House.

Please ask your elected officials to support allowing medical marijuana for seriously ill Kentuckians. Also, if you or a loved one suffer from a debilitating illness and could benefit from marijuana, or if you’re a medical professional, a law enforcement official, a clergy member, or a member of the legal community, please email state@mpp.org to see how you can be of special help. Please include your address or nine-digit ZIP code.

This is what Mr. McConnell was doing during these years. He was carrying out unsuccessful, rhetorical legislation.

March 29, 2000
Web posted at: 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT)

...Opponents argued (click here) that the ban would infringe on freedom of expression, and that such an issue is not worthy of a constitutional amendment.

"We must curb this reflexive practice of attempting to cure each and every political and social ill of our nation by tampering with the Constitution," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). "The Constitution of this country was not a rough draft. It was not a rough draft and we should not treat it as such."

McConnell offered an amendment to the measure that would have made flag desecration a statutory crime, illegal without amending the Constitution. It failed Tuesday by a vote of 36 to 64....

Currently, he has only written a bill for placement of minority members to committees, along with...

S.Res.18 - A resolution making minority party appointments for the 113th Congress. (click here)

S.530 - A bill to make participation in the American Community Survey voluntary, except with respect to certain basic questions, and for other purposes. (click here)

S.470 - A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to require that the Purple Heart occupy a position of precedence above the new Distinguished Warfare Medal. (click here)

Not exactly an earth shaking record given his length of time in the Senate or the fact he is now Minority Leader.

Remember I stated there would be mischief with The Affordable Care Act until 2016. Right? Here it is, sponsored mischief by Senator McConnell and Orin Hatch. This is what he and his staff do with their day? Really? They are counting paper for some kind of political iconography?

...McConnell’s office has assembled (click here) the law’s 19,842 new regulations into a stack that is 7 feet high and wheeled around on a dolly. The prop even has its own Twitter account, @TheRedTapeTower.

“All you got to do is look at that high stack of regulation and you think, ‘How in the world is anybody going to be able to comply with all this stuff?’ ” GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch, told National Journal. “And I’m confident that the more the American people know of the costs, the consequences, the problems with this law, then someday there are going to be some Democrats who are going to join us in taking apart some of its most egregious parts.”...

McConnell and Big Oil, friends forever. Over $400,000 in campaign donations in four years. Not bad, about $100,000 per year. This article is form 2010.

Sen. McConnell has raked in $8,500 from BP and $408,400 from Big Oil since 2006, (click here) landing him a spot as one of the top Senate recipients of BP cash in that period. In total, Big Oil has spent $48,401,891 to curry favor from politicians in the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.

Ready for this? His oil friends have doubled their annual "Giving to Mitch." This is called corruption, it is called Quid Pro Quo. According to Merriam-Webster:

Something given or received for something else; also : a deal arranging a quid pro quo.

Submitted by Adam Smith on Fri, 12/16/2011 - 19:51

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (click here) announced today that he will hold the extension of middle class tax cuts hostage unless an unrelated provision about the Keystone XL oil pipeline project is included—a major handout to his Big Oil donors that could leave millions of Americans facing a tax increase in the new year.

So, who’s the biggest Senate recipient of oil and gas industry money so far in 2011? Mitch McConnell.

He has received $199,00 from oil and gas interests so far in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

During all this time, Senator McConnell had a shrinking amount of citizen contributions. Ninety - five percent of political contributions for Mr. McConnell's campaigns have come from Wall Street. 

According to the report, which analyzed FEC data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, about 16 percent of donations to McConnell's campaign committee since 1994 came in amounts of $200 or less, and that dropped to five percent of his overall haul in 2012.


Quid Pro Quo is the McConnell Policy of Choice even now facing re-election.

A really interesting report (click here) was released today by CampaignMoney.org, which follows Mitch McConnell's use of the filibuster and how money seems to pass to him when he exercises that "minority voice" of his.

The full report (PDF) highlights eight specific instances where McConnell's fortune increased commensurate with his blocking efforts in the Senate. It's more blatant than we usually see.

For example, his Big Oil interests appreciated the filibuster of oil subsidies:

On March 29, 2012, the Senate voted 51 in favor and 47 opposed to cut off debate and bring a final vote on a bill to remove $24 billion in tax breaks and giveaways to the five largest oil companies in America, some of the most profitable companies in the history of the world.
[...]
His Big Oil donors are not subtle. On March 26th, just three days earlier and the very same day that Senate debate began on the Repeal Big Oil Subsidies Act, McConnell pulled in an astonishing $131,500 in contributions from oil-­‐related donors in Midland, Texas, the oil industry's base for extraction in the Permian Basin....

Mr. McConnell has filibustered jobs. The list is long and full of corruption. The reasons he should not be re-elected exists in reasons and numbers to extensive to ignore.

One of the sure fire ways to end criminality in any state is to provide jobs and decency to citizen's lives. Mr. McConnell has refused to do that and opted to bargain with Wall Street for his loyalties. If he is favoring Wall Street over the citizen, when Wall Street is KNOWN not to invest in America, what good is he?

Why would Mitch McConnell seek such ruthless tactics against a patriotic fellow Kentuckian?

Because he can't run on the issues.

McConnell can't run on guns because he would have to say mental health issues are a concern and need to be litigated while building a case of mental illness against his opponent. 

He can't run on background checks because he oppose even bringing any gun legislation to the floor. 

He can't run on environmental responsibility issues because he demands damaging oil pipelines and hydraulic fracturing for Americans. He disregards The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act while Ms. Judd has a record of saving lives and protecting lands for future generations.

McConnell cannot run on women's issues because these attacks on a woman opponent based in mental health issues is TYPICAL of attacks on women on so many venues. That mess is still out there.

He can't run on children's rights because he favors cuts in education, except, perhaps the NRA position on guards for schools. There is little Mr. McConnell can run on, so he seeks to control election results through propaganda of the electorate. This is a prime example of the oppressive GOP rhetoric he retreats to as the "GOP Default Setting."

The GOP have a long history of practicing hypocrites, "Father Knows Best," "Do as I say and not as I do" and talking down to the electorate while passing judgement on them. There is nothing worse than a slimy group of White Trash unwilling to vote for anyone other than a saint willing to put up with them.

The party's "war on women" continues, but now it's being fought with antiquated weapons (click here)

April 9, 2013

By Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg

...There is no more instructive example than the much heralded reemergence of former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Some have praised his honesty in admitting a mistake, never minding the fact that, freshly smitten with his Argentine soul mate, he lied and lied (and misappropriated taxpayer money) until he was finally caught. No less a Democratic supporter than the critical-satirical Bill Maher found his story endearing because Sanford fell in love. This is, of course, the silver lining in Sanford’s saga.

What the Sanford affair really tells us is how the Republicans’ adherence to moribund standards of masculine performance won’t go away. Because they don’t believe in gender equality – which, as you’ll soon see, relates directly to their anxiety over gay marriage.

But first, we need to understand the taxonomy of flawed masculine ambition. The temptations are these: Money. A proneness to violence. Lying. Sex....

It is now 11:48 PM KST on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in North Korea.

Are you ready? It is nearly Wednesday.

I take it no one has seen Kim's wife lately.

Press Trust of India
Updated Apr 09, 2013 at 02:52pm IST

Seoul: North Korea warned foreigners (click here) in South Korea on Tuesday to quit the country because they were at risk in the event of conflict, the latest threat of war from Pyongyang. Soaring tensions on the peninsula have been fuelled by North Korean anger over the imposition of UN sanctions after its last nuclear arms test in February, creating one of the worst crises since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

"We do not wish harm on foreigners in South Korea should there be a war," said the KCNA news agency, citing its Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee. Last week Pyongyang advised embassies there to consider pulling out in case of war. Earlier on Tuesday, North Korean laborers failed to turn up for work at a factory complex operated with South Korea, effectively shutting down the last major symbol of cooperation between the hostile neighbors....

The USA sustains civilian deaths domestically greater than in war.

Serbs from Krajina forced to flee Croatian ethnic cleansing.

The violence in Serbia began in 1989 when Yugoslavia broke up. It continued until 1995 with the end of the Croatian - Serbian War. There has been dearly little violence since 1995 until three years later when tensions flared after elections.

Those tensions caused violence once again in 1998 through 1999. Eventually, in October 2000, Slogodan Milosevic was removed from power. Since that day the area has settled it's tensions and differences, basically along ethnic lines, with elections. The revolutions stopped, Yugoslavia was dissolved and there were now separate independent nations as illustrated below in a Wiki graphic.

Today, Serbia is rattled by a reminder of violence and senseless killing. 

Serbia's worst peacetime shooting: 13 killed, including women and child (click here)

Published time: April 09, 2013 07:06 
Edited time: April 09, 2013 12:21

A war veteran has shot and killed 13 people in Serbia, including six women and a 2-year-old toddler. The suspect in the country’s worst shooting since the end of the Serb-Croat War turned the gun on himself, and remains in critical condition.

The killing spree took place in the village of Velika Ivanca, some 50 kilometers southeast of the Serbian capital Belgrade.

The suspect was identified as 60-year-old Ljubisa B., according to Belgrade emergency hospital spokesperson Nada Macura.

Serbian media reported that the gunman’s family name is Bogdanovic, and that the child he shot and killed was only 2 years old....

Radmilo Bogdanovic cries in the village of Velika Ivanca, Serbia. His brother Ljubisa Bogdanovic gunned down 13 people, including a baby, in a dawn shooting spree. Photo / AP

This is most likely the outcome for Iraq. There will be divisions among ethnic lines and new nations will result. It is on it's way already.

These events don't happen regularly in the world outside the USA. The last time such killing took place it was due to a war for independence. 

In the USA, these killings happen in multiple events in any given year now. The are an average of 30,000 people dead per year in the USA.

Georgia published in 2000 in medical journal the Lancet estimated that "12,000 deaths in the total population" could be attributed to war. In June 2000, the Red Cross reported that 3,368 civilians (2,500 Albanians, 400 Serbs, and 100 Roma) were still missing, nearly one year after the conflict.

Twelve thousand deaths during an entire war and nearly 3400 missing. That happens in the USA every six months. 

There is a lot wrong with the culture of violence and guns in the USA. We were awaken to it again in Connecticut, we need to resolve it now.

My sympathies to the families in Serbia. This is a national tragedy.

How long does a political issue linger before resolved?

There is suppose to be resolve to issues that present in the political ethers. Problems the nation faces are not suppose to last for decades before a resolution is realized. The rhetoric of the GOP has become a huge liability for the nation. The GOP Rhetoric inhibits freedom of speech in the USA.

Today, in Congress, the GOP won't even allow votes to go forward. That is oppression. That is denying the people of the USA their freedom of speech.

The GOP has no real function in government, they have gerrymandered the country into dysfunction. Now, we can't even get from point A to point B. This is not democracy, it is oppression of the electorate.

7/24/2012 @ 7:51AM 

...The billionaire I used to work for, (click here) Michael Bloomberg, was right, when he called the two presidential candidates on the carpet for their failure to say anything beyond meaningless expressions of sympathy for the families of the shooting victims. Bloomberg pointed out that both candidates have, in the past, expressed support for banning assault weapons. Yet neither has stepped forward to say anything concrete about the issue since the shooting last week. Obama’s staff is no doubt afraid any comment he does make will reignite the furor that erupted in 2008 when he was taped talking about how frustrated white working-class voters “cling to their guns and religion.” And Romney doesn’t want to do anything to alienate conservative, white-male voters who he needs at the polls in large numbers.

Here’s how I see it: gun violence is a public health issue, and a big one. In the 10 years from 2000 through 2009, more than 298,000 people died from gunshots in the U.S., about 30,000 people a year. If you exclude natural causes of death and consider only deaths caused by injury, it is the second-leading cause of death over that time span; only car accidents (417,000) killed more people. (These numbers come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)...