Cheney Proposed Smallpox Vaccination

I was reading and excerpt from “The Bush Tragedy” by Jacob Weisberg. This is scary stuff. I’ve re-written and condensed the story.

Soon after 9/11, during the time the government was shoring up defenses against terrorism, Dick Cheney was planning something a little crazy. The Bush administration was convinced that biological warfare would be the next means of terrorism in the United States – leading that fear was Cheney. After several anthrax outbreaks and a noticed attempt to target the White House, the administration began developing contingency plans for different types of biological attacks. Some intelligence suggested the smallpox would be one of the most terribly effective means of attack, and that stores of the disease were not as controlled as once believed. Cheney proposed a mass vaccination of the US population.

The smallpox vaccine has not been widely given since 1972 in this country, due to the horrible side affects that can occur. These includes scabs, lesions, pustules and even death. Despite the best medical advice the Bush administration sought, the order to give a mass-vaccination was moving forward – medical preparations has already begun. At the last moment, Bush overruled Cheney on this matter and it sank quietly away. Cheney himself chose not to vaccinated.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this scared the crap out of me. Can you imagine the military coming to your town to give small pox vaccinations to everyone? Can you imagine the mass-hysteria that would be caused, even though there was no outbreak! What the fuck was this guy thinking?

Staying Up-to-date on Iraq

-Iraq war total cost. $484,134,001,000 (That's just what congress has given) and this increases by 275 million per day.

-About 4,000 US Soldiers killed and 60,000 wounded.

-About 700,000 Iraqis killed

-The war is coming up on 5 years in March.

I wish we could have taken just a fraction of this money and invested in infrastructure...

The One Thing I Agree With Romney About

Romey has proposed to eliminate the Capital Gains tax for the middle class. I know there is much left unsaid here, who defines the middles class, etc. But this is a good idea.

This should encourage a good number of middle class to commit a bit more money to the market and start saving more money. Stock prices should see some upward pressure as well, there will be more money flowing into the mutual funds and othe average joe investment vehicles. If they start making money, it may not even affect consumption / spending too much.

Democrats, this is a good way to show some middle class support!

Prevent Lower Back Pain (from sitting all day)

My first old man post... Sad sad day.

I analyzed the ergonomics of my workspace and discovered why my back has been killing me. I sit all day long and haven't taken the proper care to adjust my chair and sit with the correct posture. I just assumed I was strong and healthy and that strength training and fitness would take care of me. Don't underestimate to detriment of sitting for 12 hours a day.

Quick Facts:
-Despite everything we know about back pain, ninety percent of us are going to have a disabling episode at some point in our lives. This often happens to people in their early 20s and above.
-Low back pain is the #2 reason that Americans see their doctor -- second only to colds and flus.

Recommendations:
-Adjust your seating position (See links below)
-If injured avoid a sedentary lifestyle, you need to get your blood moving to heal.
-Exercising daily (getting your heart rate up for at least 20 min) will help you heal.
-Move around often when you are at work, take little walks and stretch.

This is really common sense, but there is a lot of good information below. It's worth reading and acting on if you work in an office all day.

Good information.
http://www.spine-health.com/topics/cd/ergo/ergo05.html
http://www.drbookspan.com/SittingHealthy.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003108.htm

Obama's Iowa Victory Speech

This is a moving speech. It gives me hope for America.


It's only 13 min and worth your time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZaq-YKCnE

Radiohead: Hour Long Private Taping

Radiohead's Scotch Mist, brought to you by Current TV. It's well worth your time.
http://current.com/items/88803042_radiohead_s_scotch_mist

Cyprus and Malta Adopt the Euro

It is interesting to see how the European Monetary Union continues to grow. I don't know that much about Cyprus or Malta, but I do know that the EMU has just added another 1.2 million participants (CIA). Which should bring it in the neighborhood of 316 million people total (World Bank). More on the Cyprus and Malta conversion here.

Europe and the Euro are continuing to strengthen. 2008 may not look like a year for strong growth and Euro Market returns, but there's no generally accepted decline in their future economic strength --seemingly opposite of the US. Despite the price of the Euro in dollar terms, Europe still exports a considerable amount more products than the US. They also make up about 30% of the world economy, but most American portfolios don't have near that exposure. It seems like their years of slow growth while investing in infrastructure paired with low inflation might make for a stable environment, who ever would think that?...

Immigrants Leave Oklahoma

Oklahoma's new law to combat illegal immigration has had a significant affect on the immigrant populations in Oklahoma. The new law makes it a felony to harbor, transport or aid an illegal immigrant. This is having an affect on both legal and illegal immigrants.

Listen to the NPR report here.

Anti-Spyware Application Recommendations

Spyware is evolving. Just AdAware will no longer take care of your machine. Developers laugh at the common virus and go straight for more effective spyware and rootkits. These programs will help out:

AdAware (a standard)

PC Tools Spyware Doctor (Free as part of the Google Updater software pack).

AVG Spyware Detector

AVG Anti-RootKit

Helps my machine run smooth. I'm sure there's even more I could do...

iPhone Password Manager

Having one device for everything, and having all that info backed up on my computer makes me kind of excited. Phone / camera / music / podcasts / internet (you get the point). Now I want the connection with all of these products to be seamless and I want a guarantee that I won't lose all the hard work. 2 external hard drives for media is a must. I also use every feature on Google Mobile as well. (Search, Maps, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, News, Photos, Reader, Blogger, Notebook). Brilliant job Google.

The Password Manager
I often have problems remembering all of my passwords and login names and want to add this to the list of things my iPhone can do for me.

The most promising app is from eWallet.
See a good blog post on it here.

I feel comfortable enough with this app to upload my credit card and financial info. Unfortunately it is only in beta at this time, but I will keep an eye on its progress.

For now I found jkpassword.com. It is a nice web app and seems secure. I couldn't find any internet complaints on it, but I don't trust it as much as eWallet. One downside is that it only allows 8 free entries. I'm using it for now and just putting multiple passwords in each entry. It works quite well for your everyday password storage, and it loads like a breeze on a mobile device.