Deja Vu - Another Weiner Moment

We've seen this before. (click on the link to see how this is Congressman Weiner's habit to avoid the question).

It's funny with O'Reilly, but I'd be too afraid that Megyn would slap the crap out of me to try this with her. But she keeps her cool.

Perspective is Everything

Look at the picture above and you can see where this driver broke through the guardrail, on the right side of the culvert, where the people are standing on the road, pointing.

The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph from right to left when it crashed through the guardrail.

It flipped end-over-end bounced off and across the culvert outlet, and landed right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling.

The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt except for minor cuts and bruises.

Just outside Flagstaff , AZ , on U.S. Hwy 100.

Click here to see the rest of the story.

Erie ranked among Brainiest Bastions -- sort of

By VALERIE MYERS

valerie.myers@timesnews.com

Erie has made the list of the 200 "Brainiest Bastions" in the country.

The bad news is that the city made the bottom half of the list -- for "negative brainpower."

That assessment by online business journal Portfolio.com is based on educational attainment. Most Erie area residents are not college-educated, according to U.S. Census data used in the study.

Erie is ranked at 143 on the "Brainiest" list. Cities ranked at 99 through 200 had negative scores for a minority of college-educated residents.

Erie County Executive Barry Grossman called the new rankings "not surprising" and said that they underline previous studies with similar findings and underscore the need for a community college.

"Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, both with very active, very successful community colleges, are ahead of us in this ranking," Grossman said. "Here, we commission these kind of reports, pay money for them, and they all say we need a community college. Then we ignore them, as if, what do they know. And we're behind."

Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia are ranked among the nation's "Brainiest" cities by Portfolio.com. College graduates outnumber high school-only graduates and high school dropouts in all three cities, according to census data.

In the Erie area, 8.61 percent of residents have a graduate or professional degree; 15.35 percent have bachelor's degrees; and 23.83 percent have associate degrees or some college education, according to census data.

More area residents, a combined 52.21 percent, have not earned a high school diploma or did not continue their education beyond high school.

That's bad news economically as well as educationally, said Jim Kurre, associate professor of economics at Penn State Behrend and director of the Economic Research Institute of Erie.

You Smile, I Smile

Michelle's "Two Years Old" Picture

And when you smile

The whole world stops and stares for awhile

Cause girl, you're amazing

Just the way you are

*Credit to Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars, a couple of Michelle's favorite artists, for the lyrics.

Study May Show How PTSD Changes the Brain

Army News - News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
Study may show how PTSD changes the brain
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer   Posted : Tuesday Mar 24, 2009


For the first time in US history, instead of
ignoring it or hoping it just goes away,
the government is trying to get in front of
the wave of ptsd which follows the return
of those who serve their country. 



A new study shows that brain circuitry may actually change for people diagnosed with post traumatic stress symptoms, according to researchers from Duke University and the Durham, N.C., Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Beyond the symptoms most-associated with PTSD — nightmares, flashbacks and hyper-awareness — combat troops also often suffer from an inability to think clearly or remember things well, which makes performing basic daily tasks difficult. While these same symptoms have been connected to traumatic brain injuries as a result of amnesia and short-term memory loss, some researchers began to wonder if service members’ brains had reorganized themselves to respond immediately to potentially dangerous information. According to the study, printed in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging journal, all of a person’s attention goes to an immediate, life-or-death situation, rather than letting other information filter in.

In one study, several words related to trauma were printed in different color inks. The combat veterans took longer to name the colors than non-combat veterans did, possibly because the combat veterans’ brains registered the words’ meanings as too important to allow the color information to process.

So researchers decided to look at neuroimaging to see if the way a person processes tasks changes if he is exposed to an emotional stimulus. They worked with 26 veterans of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan who had a history of combat trauma.

To test their reactions, the researchers had the veterans look at photos of mutilations, burn victims, aimed guns, starving children, severed hands or dead bodies. They also showed them pictures of neutral photos, such as a picture of a square or apple. Two groups of veterans — those with high levels of symptoms and those with low — were asked to push the same button for both emotional and neutral photos, but push a different button for a specific neutral photo. All had longer reaction times, compared to nonveterans, to the pictures that were negative.

However, the people in the two groups processed the information at higher levels in different parts of their brains and at different rates. The researchers already knew that people without mental health disorders process tasks in the dorsal — the back — regions of the brain. But in this study, the veterans with higher levels of PTSD symptoms had less activity in the dorsal regions. Instead, researchers saw the most activity for people with high levels of PTSD in the middle frontal gyrus of the prefrontal cortex. That could mean that those with fewer symptoms paid more attention to the task of looking for the specific photo so they could push the correct button, while those with higher levels of symptoms concentrated more on the emotional content of the photos.

Lead author Jasmeet Pannu Hayes of Duke’s Brain Imaging and Analysis Center wrote that it may be possible to determine from neuroimaging whether someone is suffering from an inattention disorder.



According to military studies, one out of five soldiers and Marines has PTSD three to four months after they return home from deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan.



Using brain imaging, some combat veterans were found to have an
8% reduction in right hippocampal volume (i.e., the size of the hippocampus),
measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
while no differences were found in other areas of the brain.

Additional Info:
The Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD website
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/

Prayer for Election Day

I know that my taxes will go up whether I vote Democrat or Republican.  The past 4 years of Democratic control and the 6 years of Republican control before that has taught me I can expect more legal plunder.

I can live with it if Reid or Angle wins.  I don’t make enough to see that my life really changes if Murray defeats Rossi or Boxer takes down Fiorina.

Barking Moonbat

But please, if there is any justice in the universe, just don’t let Alan Grayson win another term. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Some of Grayson’s greatest hits:

·   “The Republican plan is don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly."

·    Linda Robertson (aide to Fed Chair, Ben Bernanke) is a "K Street whore."

·    Sarah Palin is a “half-baked Alaskan.” Actually, that’s kind of funny.

·    “Taliban Dan.”

Happy Great Pumpkin Day

Michael and Michelle at Mason Farms

Steph and Michelle (Pocahontas)

Michael as Optimus Prime

This kid is just too dang cute!

Pay off!  Remember kids, the house gets 15%!