Intelligent politics for savvy people: Common sense view of world politics and news. Roundup of best stories. News analysis and news opinion unfettered by media mogul ownership or agendas - and some funny political humor. - Denny Lyon
A Christmas Post: Funny Charlie Brown Christmas Flash Mob: NYC Snoopy Boogie:From Denny: Ready for some holiday fun? Nothing like a Christmas themed flash mob to make you smile. Dancing to the famous Peanuts comic strip tune, "It's A Charlie Brown Christmas" a flash mob entertained New York City this week, recreating the animated original. Schroeder banged away on his famous piano. Linus danced with his security blanket. Snoopy was truly larger than life and danced his doggy boogie, stealing the show. Get a grin and enjoy this cute video, guaranteed to melt away all that holiday shopping stress!
Spread some happiness all during the holiday season and beyond!
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Dennys Guest Bloggers: Travels to India: Experience of The Walking Meditation: From Denny: Check out this post of a woman's travel back to her ancestors' homeland in India. She and her husband decided to practice the meditation known as Vipassana. The concept is that by focusing upon every action in the moment you end up clearing your mind of clutter and worries.
It also can be quite tiring as you learn to focus that deeply for long periods of time. Trust me; you do get better at it. It's like exercising a muscle; the more you exercise the stronger you get.
This writer, Chaya Parmessur, recounts her new experience with good humor as she travels on her spiritual path.
Visual Insights: Dennys Photo Gallery: Beautiful Australia: "From Denny: What a wonderful find is this photographer from Australia. She gives us a travelogue and history of the images she recorded of her country. The landscape exhibits a wild beauty, drenched in color.
Some excellent landscape photos and some penetrating character portraits are part of her collection over at flickr. These photos of Australia go far beyond the usual tourism photos. In fact, Australian travel and tourism should employ this photographer. It sure makes me want to hop a plane and endure the excessively long ride from America just to see Australia! There is a lot more to Australia than the Great Barrier Reef so often advertised.
But if you can't get time off to see Australia, this photographer sure makes you feel like you are there. Along the way, as you view her images, you get drawn into the culture and people of Australia. Enjoy the journey through her eyes! I've included some of her observations, cultural information and comments.
All photos are from Dreamscope Photography @ flickr."
From Denny: Who would have thought that a fussing volcano in Iceland could derail your trip to Europe? Well, it did. The volcano is getting noisier and more of a drama queen diva by the minute. Obviously, "she" wants to be heard and get everyone's attention.
There was a serious earthquake in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. So far, no injuries reported but it sure shook a lot of nerves.
President Obama ordered mine safety review in the wake of the West Virginia disaster and depraved negligence of the mine owners. He also ordered gays be allowed to visit their partners in hospitals and decide for their partners like married people. Compassion for the sick and dying sure was a long time coming.
Remember that Haiti story of those 10 missionaries trying to take children out of the country for adoption in the chaos after the earthquake in January? Well, charges against the nine church members were dropped. Obviously, they were duped by a greedy business woman who planned to sell these kids for a price to adopting families when she got them back into the States. She must not possess any maternal instinct to have such a disconnect to her heart.
And get this, the latest about dark chocolate: "why chocolate is good for blood pressure is because the chemicals help the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels to relax and widen." I keep telling my husband chocolate is wonderful. Maybe now he will believe me. :)
A volcanic ash cloud that shut down airports and tied up air traffic across Europe could turn into a long, costly headache for businesses, airlines and tourists in the United States.
The ash spewed by an eruption in Iceland forced airlines to cancel flights and redirect planes around the ash. Those diversions caused jetliners to burn more fuel and created delays in the air-cargo business that could quickly run into tens of millions of dollars.
The slowdown could affect everything from package shipments to business meetings and long-planned vacations...
"This is the ultimate act of God," said Chicago-based transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman. "It's hard to imagine a weather scenario that would disrupt the entire Atlantic flight system like this..."
On an average day, U.S. airlines operate about 340 flights to and from Europe, according to the Air Transport Association. On Thursday, American carriers canceled at least 100 of those flights because of the ash.
An FAA spokeswoman said the cancellations affected at least 10 countries: England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Finland, France, Belgium and Denmark.
A bit about Polish culture as they grieve for their tremendous national loss of their President, First Lady and the other heads of government killed in a sudden plane crash:
A lawyer says Haiti has dropped kidnapping charges against nine of the 10 U.S. missionaries who were arrested trying to take a busload of children out of the quake-ravaged country.
The group's leader, Laura Silsby of Boise, Idaho, remains jailed in Haiti. The other nine were let go in February and early March and allowed to leave the country...
President Barack Obama ordered an exhaustive federal review of coal mine safety Thursday and asked Congress to strengthen existing laws "riddled with loopholes."
"We can't just hold mining companies accountable. We have to hold Washington accountable," the president said in response to the April 5 underground explosion at a Massey Energy Co. mine in West Virginia where 29 miners were killed.
"We need to take a hard look at our own practices and our own procedures," Obama told reporters in the Rose Garden.
"I refuse to accept any number of miner deaths as simply a cost of doing business," he said.
The president directed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to work closely with Congress to strengthen existing laws and to work with the Justice Department "to ensure that every tool in the federal government is available in this investigation."
"Owners responsible for conditions in the Upper Big Branch mine should be held accountable for decisions they made and preventive measures they failed to take," Obama said.
But while that mine, in Montcoal, W.Va., had a history of safety violations, "this isn't just about a single mine," Obama added.
There are far too many mines in the country whose operators aren't doing enough to protect their workers' safety, Obama said. He cited "endless litigation" on the part of mining companies "to evade their responsibility."
Obama said the government would act to quickly get inspectors into mines across the nation with "troubling safety records."
"This tragedy was triggered by a failure at the Upper Big Branch mine — a failure first and foremost of management, but also a failure of oversight and a failure of laws so riddled with loopholes that they allow unsafe conditions to continue," Obama said.
"If a tragedy can be prevented, it must be prevented," Obama said...
It's amazing it took this long for compassion to reach all segments of society. Kudos to President Obama for doing the obvious.
President Obama on Thursday signed a memorandum requiring hospitals to allow gays and lesbians to have non-family visitors and to grant their partners medical power of attorney.
The president ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation. The memo is scheduled to be made public Friday morning, according to an administration official and another source familiar with the White House decision.
An official said the new rule will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding.
The decision injects the president squarely into the debate over gay marriage by attempting to end the common practice by many hospitals of insisting that only family members by blood or marriage be allowed to visit patients.
Gay activists have argued for years that recognizing gay marriages would ease the emotional pain associated with not being able to visit their partners during a health crisis...
Obama says the new rules should require that hospitals not deny visitation privileges on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
"Every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay," Obama says in the memo.
Affected, he said, are "gay and lesbian American who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated..."
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake rattled parts of Utah, Wyoming and Idaho on Thursday evening. There were no immediate reports of significant damage or injuries.
University of Utah officials say the quake hit just before 6 p.m. MDT. The epicenter was about five miles east-northeast of Randolph, a tiny town about 73 miles northeast of Salt Lake City.
The quake was the largest in Utah since a magnitude 5.9 temblor hit near St. George in 1992, according to Relu Burlacu of the University of Utah seismograph stations...
Yet another good reason for the chocolate addicted to enjoy their chocolate! :)
Cocoa-rich dark chocolate could be prescribed for people with liver cirrhosis in future, following the latest research to show potential health benefits of chocolate.
Spanish researchers said on Thursday that eating dark chocolate capped the usual after-meal rise in abdominal blood pressure, which can reach dangerous levels in cirrhotic patients and, in severe cases, lead to blood vessel rupture.
Antioxidants called flavanols found in cocoa are believed to be the reason why chocolate is good for blood pressure because the chemicals help the smooth muscle cells of the blood vessels to relax and widen.
A study of 21 patients with end-stage liver disease found those given a meal containing 85 percent-cocoa dark chocolate had a markedly smaller rise in blood pressure in the liver, or portal hypertension, than those given white chocolate.
"This study shows a clear association between eating dark chocolate and (lower) portal hypertension and demonstrates the potential importance of improvements in the management of cirrhotic patients," said Mark Thursz, a professor of hepatology at London's Imperial College.
The results were presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Vienna and follow a number of earlier scientific studies suggesting that dark chocolate also promotes heart health.
Cirrhosis is scarring of the liver as a result of long-term damage. It is caused by various factors, including hepatitis infection and alcohol abuse.
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From Denny: Canada's population - in such a vast country - is only 34 million compared to its southern neighbor America of 300 million. Canada is a place where a strong sense of duty toward others, once called small town values in America, still prevails.
Many Americans are unaware of how much Canada has worked shoulder to shoulder with us over the decades. American media also has done a lousy job of covering consistent news about Canada - so much so that Americans have no clue about their neighbor to the North unless they live along the border.
Fortunately, since Canada has hosted this Winter Olympics, American news crews have been crawling all over the place to find out "just who are these people called the Canadians?" Well, it's about time, guys! This news segment was a wonderful tribute to the military who have served with our military. What is also notable is the public who acknowledge and respect their sacrifices. Take a look:
Canada's strong sense of military duty and sacrifice:
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