TampaYankee

'Chaser' Star Max Rhyser, Director Sal Bardo On Controversial Barebacking MovieSee article and interview here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/18/chaser-movie-bug-chasing_n_4808846.html

Anybody surprised at the rank hypocrisy?

'Joe The Plumber' Gets A Union Job The Huffington Post | by Samantha Lachman Read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/18/joe-the-plumber-union_n_4808043.html

If you add affordability to the criteria then I'd say Montreal. Certainly true ten years ago and I suspect still true today though not as much. For those desiring a deep-pockets experience, it seems hands down Thailand and/or Colombia. Colombia still concerns me about potential safety and definite language issues but the potential benefits argue strongly for succumbing to temptation.

I did and I'll never forget it. It roared and the ground shook and low frequency compression (sound) waves too long to hear pounded my body and I was ten miles away across water and marshes.

If that were the only criterion then George Bush would be first. No other President as done as much to fight HIV/AIDS.

As I reflect on this in my later years I have decided that of this group LBJ belongs second from the top. Shocking I know, for me too. Kennedy, hated widely in the South and West and doubtful for reelection as I recall it, goes at the top for his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His leadership and actions saved us and the world from a terrible destruction that would be felt for a century if not centuries and very well could have ended the Union as we know it. LBJ deserves second place by a mile. A flawed man and President, he nevertheless was the second most consequential domestic policy president behind Roosevelt. He personally, through the force of sheer will, moved the most important social legislation of our time: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 - outlawing most forms of racial segregation The Voting Rights Act of 1965 - outlawing discrimination in voting The Civil Rights Act of 1968 - which provided for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin Medicare Medicaid The War on Poverty - Head Start, Food Stamps & Work Study The Higher Education Act of 1965 - funding for lower income students and much much more. It can be argued that most of these things would happen eventually, as of course the end of slavery did some 90 years after the founding of the country and The Civil War. There is no reasonable argument that under one President so much wide-ranging precedent-shattering social changes could have or would have taken place, even by the end of the 20th Century as witnessed by the Affordable Health Care struggle. It took the confluence of the transference of sympathy for an assassinated Kennedy through a landslide election, a President with intimate knowledge of the Congress and how to work his will with that Congress, a ruthless politician, one willing to forsake his cultural heritage and home community to move the entire country to a more socially egalitarian standing. Could anyone else have done that at that time or any other time? I'm sure the answer is no. Some view his record as a zero sum game. The Viet Nam War detracts from his record which diminishes his contributions below that of lesser accomplished presidents. I'm sorry but that doesn't wash. All one has to do to is to compare state of the nation if that President had not held office. Based on that Kennedy is the sure winner for the reason stated and LBJ is an exalted second for the same reason. Yes, Viet Nam was a mistake, one he was persistently committed to. It might never have continued if he had not been elected President. Doubtful though as George McGovern and Gene McCarthy could attest to. I put Reagan at third. He was a mixed bag with significant failures but deserves third for two reasons. He broke the back of the Soviet Union by spending them into oblivion. I firmly believe this. This alone secures hims a solid third. Second he broke the back of stagflation with the runaway inflation and interest rates of the late 70's. Those were miserable times with grocery store can goods carrying six or seven layers of price tags stuck on each other reflecting rampant inflation on weekly and often daily basis. Mortgage interest rates of 17% - 19%. Again, the test is simple. How would the country have faired if he had not been the President. On these two counts very much poorer. For those too young to remember The Cold War and the toll it took on our resources, attentions and lives, brush up on that history. Korea and Viet Nam were Cold War proxies to name just two. Moving to the bottom: The Worst: George Bush. IRAQ and Katrina just two of a long list. Again, how would the country have faired had he never been President. For the very very very much better IMO. Second Worst: Jimmy Carter, ineffective. Iran, Middle East Oil Crisis, Stagflation come to mind immediately. A Special Case: Nixon. I'm undecided exactly where to place Nixon. Aside from his paranoia and bigotry he was a very effective President -- the tall pole in the tent being the Opening to China. He was very good in foreign policy excepting Viet Nam and not too bad in domestic policy as exemplified by offering a GOP plan for Universal Health Care which Ted Kennedy turned down and regretted for the next 40 years. Certainly he would be viewed by his party as a RHINO today. Watergate was a dark blot on the man and his view of Presidential power, yet I'm not sure we aren't better off for him having held office. For those who view Viet Nam as the alpha and omega of concerns I'm sure they disagree. As for the others, they all have secure places in the middle of the pack. That is not a bad thing.

SoBe is good for sight seeing to view the zoo or if you wish to mingle with the hoi polloi -- like a visit to an adult Wally World -- but FTL is the place to hang for the gay set. Thankfully much more affordable too.

LOL File this under 'Duped Again'

Bon Voyage Townie. Please share your experience with us on your return.

Absolutely disgusting!! Yecht!!

And who held a gun on you to read this thread. One might have thought the Subject would have alerted you.

The Supreme Court May Soon Take Away This Important Right By John Maxfield | More Articles | Save For Later February 15, 2014 Source: Thinkstock by Getty Images. If the controversial oil-services company Halliburton (NYSE: HAL ) has its way, then small investors may soon lose one of their most potent weapons against corporate fraud: the ability to file class-action lawsuits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. At the end of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Halliburton's appeal in a class-action case brought by investors against it and former CEO David Lesar for "knowingly or severely recklessly misleading" the public more than a decade ago about the company's liability for asbestos claims. Indeed, it's no exaggeration to say that the very existence of securities fraud class actions hinges almost entirely on the outcome of this case. The facts of the case The facts involve statements made by Halliburton in 2001 about the extent of exposure to asbestos litigation assumed in its acquisition of Dresser Industries. In January of that year, the company reported that "prospective asbestos liabilities ... should have minimal adverse impact on the company going forward." In August, it claimed that "asbestos exposure concerns appear to be overblown." And in November, it stated that "open asbestos claims will be resolved without a material adverse effect on our financial position or the results of operations." Yet less than a month after the last statement, Halliburton was hit with a $30 million asbestos verdict, causing investors to lose faith in the company's assurances and fear the worst. Shares in the oil services company proceeded to plummet, dropping by 42.7% on the day of the announcement. The current class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors soon thereafter and has made its way through various courts ever since. A critical legal wrinkle The specific issue before the Supreme Court is a nuanced one. Halliburton isn't simply professing its innocence or asking the justices to hold that it didn't mislead investors. Instead, it's moving the court to bar plaintiffs from litigating the case as a class action as opposed to separate lawsuits. On the surface, this doesn't seem like a big deal. Who cares if investors have to sue Halliburton individually as opposed to as a class? What difference does it make to people who didn't own Halliburton stock when the alleged misrepresentations took place? The answer is that it makes a huge difference. This is because Halliburton is asking the court to overturn a legal doctrine known as the "fraud on the market" theory, which creates a rebuttable presumption that investors rely on statements of material fact made publicly by corporate executives. Without this presumption, securities fraud cases would be far too complicated to litigate as class actions, leaving individual investors to fend for themselves against deep-pocketed corporations. The implications of this would be considerable. Most importantly, for nearly three decades, the securities laws have been predicated on both public and private enforcement -- the former by the SEC and Justice Department and the latter by private class-action lawsuits. Without the latter, in turn, the market would lose a critical overseer and, one can only assume, be far more susceptible to deceit. See the original article at: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/15/the-supreme-court-may-soon-take-away-this-importan.aspx

Fisherman catches rare footage of marlin attack A 600-pound blue marlin jumps completely out of the water while chasing a 25-pound dorado off Costa Rica; seasoned skippers had never seen anything like it February 15, 2014 by David Strege See the video and read the remainder of the article here: http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/fishing-fisherman-catches-rare-footage-of-marlin-attack/

I hated the show. A paragon of contrived stupidity, incompetence and never ending frustrations. On the cleverness scale it completely failed to register. Ordinarily this genre is my kind of meat. I tried to watch several episodes spanning a couple of months. For the above reasons I couldn't take it. It got boring and frustrating predicting, without fail, how the episode would let the bad guys get away. I'm ok with the the guys getting away, that's how the show moves through the season. It was just the lack or creativity in how that was crafted. One would think the main character would get smarter about tracking and apprehending his target as the failures accumulate through the season. One of my brother's favorite shows he sent me a complete season on DVD for Xmas one year. The package remains shrink wrapped on my DVD shelf.

Definitely the pic of the litter.

The GOP base. Don't forget: the age of the Earth, evolution, climate change, where Obama was born... the list goes on and on.

For those interested, Amazon has Season Three PreRelease on sale for $29.99. It won't last long. Get it now or pay $10 - $30 more later.

Marijuana May Stop The Spread Of HIV, Study Finds The Huffington Post | by Carly Schwartz Posted: 02/11/2014 12:11 pm EST Updated: 02/11/2014 5:00 pm EST Marijuana has long been used to effectively treat symptoms associated with HIV, such as chronic pain and weight loss. But a growing body of research suggests the plant may be able to stop the spread of the disease itself. Adding to these findings is a Louisiana State University study published last week in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. For 17 months, scientists administered a daily dose of THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, to monkeys infected with an animal form of the virus. Over the course of that period, scientists found that damage to immune tissue in the primates' stomachs, one of the most common areas in the body for HIV infection to spread, decreased. "These findings reveal novel mechanisms that may potentially contribute to cannabinoid-mediated disease modulation," Dr. Patricia Molina, the study's lead author, wrote. The report goes on to explain that while HIV spreads by infecting and killing off immune cells, the monkeys that received the daily THC treatments maintained higher levels of healthy cells. Similar research spearheaded by Molina in 2011 found that infected monkeys treated with THC had a better chance of surviving. And a report published in 2012 pointed to evidence that marijuana-like compounds can fight HIV in late-stage AIDS patients. Last year, an oncologist from the United Kingdom found that marijuana compounds can kill cancer cells in leukemia patients, and scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco have conducted research that suggests those compounds can also effectively combat other forms of aggressive cancer. See original article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/marijuana-hiv_n_4767901.html

Sorry to hear that you are laid up as opposed to just laid. Best wishes that you get a nice twink orderly to help bathe and otherwise attend to your needs. If not then get well quick.

Turkey Approves Harsh New Internet Law Joshua Hersh joshua.hersh@huffingtonpost.com ANTAKYA, Turkey -- Turkey's Parliament approved a law on Thursday that would grant sweeping new powers to the government to censor and monitor the Internet traffic of citizens. The law, which still requires final approval by the country's president, would permit the government to quickly shutter a website deemed inappropriate, and orders Internet companies to store traffic and other data for two years. The user data storage provisions of the bill are reminiscent of plans discussed by the Obama administration to require cellular phone companies to store the "metadata" of citizens for a set period of time. That data could later be ordered to be turned over to investigating government agencies, and could be used to track or otherwise monitor phone users. In the U.S., those discussions came in the aftermath of the revelations leaked by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. In Turkey, the new law comes amid a difficult period for the country's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has faced challenges to his rule from a popular protest movement, as well as a murky powerbroker with ties to the security state. The government has increasingly responded to attacks on its authority with crackdowns, especially on free speech and the press. Earlier this week, the U.S.-based democracy organization Freedom House issued a report that strongly condemned Turkey for its harsh new restrictions on the press. The report, released on Monday, accused the Erdogan government of undertaking a "frantic crackdown" on the media, particularly in the aftermath of a series of dramatic popular protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park. “The crisis in Turkey’s democracy is not a future problem,” David Kramer, the president of Freedom House, said in a statement. “The media face tremendous pressure from the government, and the government now has widened its attacks to other institutions.” See original article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/06/turkey-internet-law_n_4736389.html

Great announcement video kicks off his campaign. Saw it on Lawrence last night.

Shakespeare... definitely a man of the people.

Emerging from the back alleys of the macabre... More JFK Jr, late 70s Hyannisport.