News Clips
1) Do You Know the Real Story Behind the ‘Jefferson Bible’? David Barton Shared it With Beck... Christianity/Jefferson
2) New Purple Crab Species Found in Philippines... Nature/Interest
3) ‘Change for the Good’: Beck Explains Why Progressives Undermine the Institutions Americans Trust Most... Liberals/Government
4) ‘Justice for Trayvon’: Alabama Man in Critical Condition After Mob Beating... Racism/Anti White Violence
5) Obama Admin Proposes Ban on Farm Chores for Kids... Obama/Anti Farmers/Pro Corporation
6) Double-Dip Recession in Britain... Economy/Europe
7) Your next job: asteroid miner?... Science/Economy
8) How Bone-conducting Headphones Work... Science/Interest
9) Does This Archeological Discovery Prove That the Bible Is True?... Science/Christianity
1) Do You Know the Real Story Behind the ‘Jefferson Bible’? David Barton Shared it With Beck... Christianity/Jefferson
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/do-you-know-the-real-story-behind-the-jefferson-bible-david-barton-shared-it-with-beck/
April 19, 2012
During his Thursday evening broadcast, Glenn Beck interviewed WallBuilders founder and “The Jefferson Lies” author, David Barton. The two discussed what drove Thomas Jefferson and dispelled some long-held myths about the Founding Father.
For Jefferson, “it all goes back to God,” Barton said. This statement prompted the story of the “Jefferson Bible” and rumors that Jefferson was, in some way, anti-religious. Barton brushed off this idea as nonsense and went on to explain how history has been twisted.
The legend had it that Jefferson cut the Bible into pieces, sewing together the portions with which he agreed and discarding the rest. As it turns out, Jefferson had a long history working with missionaries and, in particular, bringing Christianity to the Native Americans. At one point Jefferson gleaned an idea to produce an abbreviated version of the Bible that only focused on the moral teachings of Jesus Christ with a view toward creating a more digestible, comprehensive volume for the Native Americans he and other missionaries were teaching. Jefferson did so and, at the beginning of the 20th century, his abridged bible was Congressionally re-printed and given to members of Congress upon taking office. The tradition lasted some some 50 years.
The fascinating lesson in history continues below. Watch and learn more about one of the most complex figures in U.S. history.
2) New Purple Crab Species Found in Philippines... Nature/Interest
http://news.discovery.com/animals/new-species-purple-crab-philippines-120423.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
Apr 23, 2012
The crabs' purple hue likely evolved thanks to female preference.
Four new species of freshwater crab, bright purple in color, have been discovered in the biologically diverse but ecologically-threatened Philippines, the man who found them said Saturday.
The tiny crustaceans burrow under boulders and roots in streams, feeding on dead plants, fruits, carrion and small animals in the water at night, said Hendrik Freitag of Germany's Senckenberg Museum of Zoology.
BLOG: Mutant Crabs Turning Up in the Gulf
Found only in small, lowland-forest ecosystems in the Palawan island group, most have purple shells, with claws and legs tipped red.
"It is known that crabs can discriminate colors. Therefore, it seems likely that the coloration has a signal function for the social behavior, e.g. mating," Freitag told AFP by email on Saturday.
"This could explain why large males of various Insulamon species are more reddish compared to the generally violet females and immature males."
Scientists began extensive investigations of similar freshwater crabs in the area in the late 1980s, when one new species was found -- the Insulamon unicorn, Freitag said.
More field work led Freitag to conclude there were four other unique species.
Antarctic Hot Springs Foster New Species
WATCH VIDEO: Antarctic Hot Springs Foster New Species
"Based on available new material, a total of five species are recognized... four of which are new to science," Freitag wrote in the latest edition of the National University of Singapore's Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
The carapace of the biggest, Insulamon magnum, is just 53 millimeters by 41.8 millimeters while the smallest, Insulamon porculum, measures 33.1 by 25.1 millimeters.
The two other new species were called Insulamon palawense and Insulamon johannchristiani.
The four slightly differ from the first find, and from each other, in the shapes of their body shells, legs, and sex organs.
US-based Conservation International lists the Philippines as one of 17 countries that harbors most of Earth's plant and animal life.
BRIEF: Antarctic Hot Springs Yields Ghostly New Species
Reptiles, birds or mammals likely prey on the crabs, and it is possible people in remote areas also collect them for food, Freitag said.
However, the main threats are the ongoing forest clearing for farming, mining or home building, since this risks drying up their small habitats and causes water pollution, he said.
"Even if the habitats are not entirely destroyed, the smaller the remaining habitats, the higher the risk of extinction for a species," he said.
3) ‘Change for the Good’: Beck Explains Why Progressives Undermine the Institutions Americans Trust Most... Liberals/Government
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/change-for-the-good-beck-explains-why-progressives-undermine-the-institutions-americans-trust-most/
April 23, 2012
For 35 years, the Gallup Organization has surveyed Americans‘ level of faith in the country’s primary institutions. The most recent poll was conducted in June 2011 and reveals that Americans overwhelmingly keep faith in the U.S. Military, followed by small business, the police force and religious institutions. Scoring on the low-end of the totem poll is organized labor, big business and HMOs, followed by Congress with a 12% rating (a rate that has since halved). But while some of these numbers might seem respectable, it is important to note that, over the last decade, faith in nearly all of the above institutions has been on a steady decline. And there may be a reason for that.
On his Monday evening broadcast, Glenn Beck weighed the institutions Americans Glenn Beck Contradicts Gallup Poll on Institutions America Trusts Moststrust most against progressive actions that seem to have been engineered with the sole purpose of undermining that very faith.
Military and law enforcement
Beck posits that Americans’ faith may have been shaken over the recent sex scandal surrounding Secret Service agents in Colombia, as many Service members are former military personnel. Occupy Wall Street’s portrayal of police officers as abusive “pigs,” along with President Obama and leftist lawmakers’ recent reaction to the Quran burning incident in Afghanistan is also an example of how progressive seek to undermine Americans’ faith in military and law enforcement.
Another instance Beck highlighted was the story of 18-year-old Alton L. Hayes III, who, along with a sidekick, brutally assaulted a 19-year-old boy simply because he was white. Hayes said he was upset over the Trayvon Martin case.
The two black teens allegedly rummaged through the victim’s pockets, threw him to the ground and punched him “numerous times” in the head and back and beat him with a tree branch.
Beck asked viewers if they could imagine how big this case would be if the perpetrators had been white.
All around doubt
When in doubt, look no further than Van Jones. The former green jobs “czar” stepped into the fray recently, casting doubt on Americans’ faith altogether when he explained what “love of country” means to him. He said [emphasis added]:
It means I love Americans-the people who actually live here, who look all kind of different ways, who pray all kind of different ways, who love all kinds of people. And I challenge the people who are the opponents of my values to explain how they get to be patriots. As I say in the book, they seem to distrust the American government. They seem to dislike most of the American people. They seem to resent most of America’s achievements over the last century, including unions and public education and environmental protection and so many of the things that made the American century the American century. So I don‘t get why we don’t just tell them to sit down and shut up. They can complain if they like, but we have another century to win.
While he did not specify, it is likely the “they” to whom Jones refers are conservatives. Beck mocked Jones’ assertion that the EPA, public education and Labor Unions are among America’s “greatest accomplishments.” It should also be noted that, if one reviews the chart to the above-right, faith in both education and labor unions has declined drastically. Beck noted this point when he quipped that Jones is lauding the institutions Gallup says Americans like least.
Watch Beck explore how progressive change is always sold as being for “the greater good.”
Religious institutions
In terms of shaking America’s faith in faith, The Blaze reported that IRS records from Media Matters reveal the far-left group’s crusade against Christian institutions and Christian influential ideology is operating in full-force. Beck posited that if one wanted to destroy the country, then he or she would do so by undermining the very institutions that Americans trust most. And he believes progressives are seeking to do just that.
Dubbed by Beck as the George Soros group that has become “the ‘research arm’ for lazy news reporters across America,” Media Matters is attacking the very institution that Americans still hold in deeply high regard. Perhaps, that is precisely why the group is seeking to destroy it.
The left‘s path isn’t clear until “God is completely out of the way,” Beck said.
Supreme Court
One needn‘t look any further than the chastisement of the Supreme Court in Congress and the president’s grand display attempting to school the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Obamacare to see that our most beloved institutions are the ones the left seems most fixed on subverting.
Below is a poignant video from FreeMarketAmerica that explores some of these very issues. Beck called it one of the most intense and accurate spots he had ever seen:
“They have been working on this for about 100 years,” Beck said.
Communism in America
Reminding viewers of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto reflected in American life, Beck asked what one who wants to destroy the free market would do in order to remold it “closer to the heart’s desire.” In order for Van Jones, et al, to wipe the slate clean and “rebuild the dream” that has been in motion for the last “100 years,” progressives have had to become “more adept at duping people,” Beck noted. After reviewing the 10 tenets, he then asked viewers to examine how in-sync many of them are with current American policies. “Look at the things that you are being told are good for you.”
But it’s “all for the greater good.”
Drawing from another recent occurrence in which Communist Party of America members unveiled their long-term plans for the nation, Beck noted that Florida Congressman Allen West is on the group’s radar given his recent comments about Communist Democratic lawmakers. Communist Party leader Sam Webb said they would make it a point to defeat ”right-wing extremism” in the form of the Congressional freshman.
Of course, the media has come out in full force to assail West over his comments, despite the fact that the GOP lawmaker is, according to Beck “100%” accurate.” Reviewing various the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he then asked how many of the 76 members have “raved about Fidel Castro” and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The question was of course, rhetorical.
A matter of grave importance
Reviewing these chilling developments of late, Beck said that America is dangerously close to the precipice, with “one foot in the free market and the other in Communism.” There is no free market “as we know it” anymore and this election is of utmost importance.
He also reminded viewers that progressives will play hardball this election and that complacency through not voting simply isn’t an option if Americans wish to head down the path of the Founding Fathers and not see the destruction of the free market.
This next president will chart that course. “In four years it will be too late to decide.” Beck added that ensuring a decisive, rather than close victory is essential to sending progressives the message that Americans do not wish to discard the Constitution.
Below, Beck explores America’s two options: Communism or the Free Market. He also delves into President Obama’s Communist roots.
4) ‘Justice for Trayvon’: Alabama Man in Critical Condition After Mob Beating... Racism/Anti White Violence
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/justice-for-trayvon-alabama-man-in-critical-condition-after-mob-beating/
April 24, 2012
WKRG-TV:
Mobile police need your help to catch a mob that beat Matthew Owens so badly that he’s in critical condition.
According to police, Owens fussed at some kids playing basketball in the middle of Delmar Drive about 8:30 Saturday night. They say the kids left and a group of adults returned, armed with everything but the kitchen sink.
Police tell News 5 the suspects used chairs, pipes and paint cans to beat Owens.
Owens’ sister, Ashley Parker, saw the attack. “It was the scariest thing I have ever witnessed.” Parker says 20 people, all African American, attacked her brother on the front porch of his home, using “brass buckles, paint cans and anything they could get their hands on.”
What Parker says happened next could make the fallout from the brutal beating even worse. As the attackers walked away, leaving Owen bleeding on the ground, Parker says one of them said “Now thats justice for Trayvon.”
WPMI-TV:
A witness who wants to remain anonymous describes what he says he heard at his front door Saturday night, on Delmar Drive. ”I just kept hearing him screaming, ‘Man, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, man don’t do this,’ ” he recalls.
On the other side of that door was Matthew Owen, who, police and neighbors say, was being beaten by a group of people. The weapons? Bricks, bats, even a paint can.
At first, when he heard his friend at the door, the man thought it was a joke. ”Then I saw about 10 to 15 people from little kids and women with dresses to adult men, just flooding onto the property, surrounding the car, hollering and screaming,” he says. “And then I heard Matthew saying, ‘ I’m sorry, man, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ And then, the next thing, before I could get to the door, because we have it all deadbolted and everything, and before I could get it open, I heard all the beating and banging.”
Even family and friends of Matthew Owens admit there was some tension on this street before Saturday night’s event. And they say a lot of this has to do with basketball. Relatives of the victim, who live on the street, say local kids often block Delmar Drive when they play basketball. They say it’s lead to some confrontations. Racial comments from both sides may have made the confrontations more toxic.
5) Obama Admin Proposes Ban on Farm Chores for Kids... Obama/Anti Farmers/Pro Corporation
http://www.libertynews.com/2012/04/25/obama-admin-proposes-ban-on-farm-chores-for-kids/
April 25, 2012
Times have changed…
When I was a kid my dad used to let us ride in the back of the pickup truck from point A to point B. We never had seat belts, car seats or helmets. We just knew that if we didn’t sit down and hold tight the outcome wouldn’t be fun. And we were all about fun. I don’t recall ever hearing of a kid falling out of a pickup truck. I’m sure it happened somewhere in the world, but not in the farming areas around us in southwest Arkansas.
I occasionally hear a parent talk about how they don’t let their kids play out of sight. I suppose this makes sense in heavily populated areas. There are, after all, more nutty people around these days. But when I was a kid my little brother and I would pack a sandwich, grab our high powered pellet guns and fishing rods, and head off into the woods from morning well into the late afternoon. We built tree houses, dug tunnels and crafted multi-room bush forts. Was it slightly risky for my parents to let us go out on adventures alone? Maybe. Did we get into mischief? Occasionally. Honestly, though, I would suggest it was during these adventures that my brother and I crafted our own unique sense of creativity and drive. It was during these times that we learned basic common sense and rules of life.
I also remember feeding the chickens and gathering up the eggs with my grandpa when we visited his place (often). I remember picking fresh blackberries and working in grandma’s garden. I remember jumping from hay bail to hay bail, and swinging from ropes of the second floor of the barn, bouncing into 7 feet of hay on the next floor down.
It seems those days are all but gone. Not just for me, but for each generation that followed. I guess the car safety is understandable. I mean, my dad couldn’t control what other drivers did. And being in the back of a pickup is not the safest place to be when something goes wrong. But I don’t get the removal of an idea where kids are encouraged to go on adventures that exist outside of video games and TV’s. Video games include choices, but with predetermined outcomes. There is no true “create your own adventure and outcome” in a video game. That only exist in real life experiences.
And now, thanks to government, kids may be banned from even the most simplest of farm related tasks and experiences.
The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.
Under the rules, children under 18 could no longer work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
“Prohibited places of employment,” a Department press release read, “would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
I work in the news business so I read a lot of stories of government over-reach each day. But this particular proposal really gets at me in the core of who I am as a free American. The proposal might end up being dead on arrival, but even if that ends up being the case, several questions remain.
How is it that we have a government that believes it’s their business to ban such activities that occur at the will of parents, on private property?
Why do we not have conservative Republicans in D.C. demanding an instant stop to such horrific proposals?
Why do liberals think this is a fruitful idea?
In my view federal government was established to regulate interstate commerce (keep it regular), protect our foreign borders (against invasion of any kind) and protect our rights as Americans. Where in the world does this kind of proposal fit in that picture?
Inquiring minds want to know.
-Eric Odom
6) Double-Dip Recession in Britain... Economy/Europe
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/business/global/uk-slips-into-double-dip-recession.html?_r=2&hpw&pagewanted=all&
April 25, 2012
LONDON - Britain has fallen into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s, according to official figures released Wednesday, a development that raised more questions about whether government belt-tightening in Europe has gone too far.
The report of an unexpected 0.2 percent decline in economic output during the first quarter of 2012 provoked an outcry in Britain and came on the same day that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, shifted his rhetoric on the debt crisis to put more emphasis on growth.
Mr. Draghi called for a “growth compact” and a re-examination of where the euro is headed.
“We need to actively step up our reflections about the longer-term vision for Europe as we have done in the past at other defining moments in the history of our union,” Mr. Draghi told members of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Yet, amid growing popular unrest, Mr. Draghi rejected calls for more deficit spending. The way to restore growth is to make economies more efficient, he said. “We have to persevere,” he added.
Britain is now in its second recession in three years. The last time the country experienced a double-dip recession was when Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the opposition Conservative Party in 1975.
In a packed British Parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron had to defend his austerity drive against critics like Ed Miliband, head of the opposition Labour Party, who called the economic numbers “catastrophic.”
The raucous scene was the latest manifestation of growing popular frustration with the strict fiscal diet that has been prescribed by the European Central Bank and German leaders in response to the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis. While Britain is not a member of the euro zone, its economic fortunes are closely linked with those of the currency union.
The discontent was on view in French elections last weekend and played a role in the collapse of the Dutch government on Monday. Greece, Spain and Italy have been the scene of mass demonstrations for months, but the turmoil now seems to be spreading to countries that were not seen as being at the heart of the crisis.
Britain joined Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in recession.
Except for Germany, most European countries do not have the financial leeway to pump up their economies with public works projects or other government spending, economists say. Leaders are groping for ways to encourage growth with the limited means at their disposal.
Mr. Draghi acknowledged Wednesday that such changes were difficult for the citizens affected.
Economic reforms “change profoundly the societies in which we live,” he said. “This is a source of pain.”
He urged national leaders to take steps to promote long-term growth even when it is politically difficult. Some leaders have raised taxes or cut infrastructure projects, when instead they should be reducing government operating expenses, Mr. Draghi said.
Mr. Draghi’s plea for beleaguered Europeans to stay the course came as the central bank released a bank survey showing a sharp decline in demand for credit by borrowers, which analysts said was further evidence that the euro zone is in recession.
In Britain, some economists had predicted a small increase in first-quarter gross domestic product after recent surveys had indicated that the economy was recovering, although very slowly. Mr. Cameron’s government had pointed to the recovery as a sign that the austerity measures it implemented were working.
“It’s too early to call for a reversal of government policy,” said Azad Zangana, an economist at Schroders. But he added, “These latest results do highlight that the economy will not withstand any further acceleration in cuts.”
The British gross domestic product numbers caused bewilderment among some economists, including Andrew Goodwin of Ernst & Young’s economic forecasting unit, the Item Club. “Our reaction to these figures is one of disbelief,” Mr. Goodwin said. “I would be very surprised if these figures were not revised upwards.”
Even if the figures are later revised, they could have a negative effect on consumer sentiment and corporate spending, said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The report could “hit consumer and business hard and make sustainable growth harder to achieve.”
Output in the British construction sector fell 3 percent in the first quarter while output from production industries fell 0.4 percent, the government statistics office said Wednesday. Manufacturing shrank 0.1 percent and the services sector grew 0.1 percent.
In Parliament, Mr. Cameron conceded that “these are very, very disappointing figures” and that Britain was in a “very tough situation that frankly just got tougher.”
Mr. Cameron’s government, a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, has been losing ground to Labour in recent polls as voters have become disillusioned with the economic outlook and the austerity plan.
But Mr. Cameron said the government would stick to its plan to eliminate most of the budget deficit by 2017.
“More debt and more spending is what got us into this problem,” Mr. Cameron said. “It can’t be the solution of the problem.”
Mr. Draghi took a similar tack, saying countries with a record of deficit spending have not seen benefits; instead their economies have “flatlined,” he said.
“If one thinks you can increase demand by increasing deficits,” he said, without naming any countries, “then how come we don’t have higher demand?”
As Mr. Draghi spoke, the central bank released its quarterly survey of bank lending, which offered probably the best data yet on the effect of the inexpensive, three-year loans that the central bank issued to commercial banks in recent months.
The survey showed that banks continue to tighten the standards they apply to borrowers, but at a more modest rate than in the last survey. In addition, banks said they were having an easier time raising money by issuing their own corporate bonds or borrowing on money markets.
Mr. Draghi said the underlying problem was not so much lack of credit as lack of demand by borrowers, which has plunged.
“Demand is subdued and therefore demand for credit is subdued,” he said.
Under sometimes hostile, sometimes sympathetic questioning in Brussels by members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Mr. Draghi avoided commenting directly on the political events of recent days. But he demonstrated he was well-aware of them.
The euro zone has arrived at “probably the most difficult phase of our process,” Mr. Draghi said.
In the first round of French presidential elections on Sunday, the Socialist candidate, François Hollande, won the most votes after promising to step up such traditional forms of government stimulus as subsidies for industry. On Monday, the Dutch government fell amid an impasse over budget cuts.
Mr. Draghi did not rule out the possibility that the European Central Bank might issue to commercial banks another round of cheap loans.
He expressed optimism that the central bank cash would begin to have a positive effect.
“Given enough time,” he said, “this money will find its way into the economy.”
Julia Werdigier reported from London, and Jack Ewing from Frankfurt.
7) Your next job: asteroid miner?... Science/Economy
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/26/james-cameron-backed-space-venture-seeks-asteroid-miners/?intcmp=features
April 26, 2012
Looking to reboot your life?
A new asteroid mining venture backed by Silicon Valley titans and filmmaker James Cameron is hiring.
Planetary Resources, Inc., announced Tuesday at a news conference in Seattle that it wants to mine near-Earth asteroids for water and precious metals like gold and platinum within the next 10 years if all goes as planned. And the brand-new company is looking for a helping hand.
"Since my early teenage years, I've wanted to be an asteroid miner. I always viewed it as a glamorous vision of where we could go," company founder Peter Diamandis told reporters at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Diamandis hopes others share his passion for space exploration: The company website is now accepting applications for a “few good asteroid miners,” to help the firm find new ways to “explore space beyond Earth orbit.”
“Bottom line -- we build spaceships and explore asteroids. If you need any other motivation to apply, don’t bother,” the site states.
Company representatives did not respond to FoxNews.com requests for specific job details, such as how much an asteroid miner will earn or what qualifies one for such an out-of-this-world job. But one insider familiar with the company's plans doubts they're looking for miners at all.
"They aren't hiring asteroid miners," he told FoxNews.com. "They're hiring aerospace engineers to design a low-Earth orbit micro-satellite space telescope to look for asteroids."
More information can be gleaned from the site, where prospective applicants must fill out a litany of short-answer questions proving their love for space, describing their soldering skills and even proffering the name they’d give to a hypothetical crash dummy.
If such plans seem fanciful or even outrageous, it’s because they very well could be.
Several scientists not involved with the project said they were simultaneously thrilled and wary, calling the plan daring, difficult -- and very pricey. They don't see how it could be cost-effective, even with platinum and gold worth nearly $1,600 an ounce. An upcoming NASA mission to return just 2 ounces (60 grams) of an asteroid to Earth will cost about $1 billion.
But the entrepreneurs behind Planetary Resources have a track record of profiting off space ventures. Diamandis and co-founder Eric Anderson pioneered the idea of selling rides into space to tourists, and Diamandis' company offers "weightless" airplane flights.
Investors and advisers to the new company include Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Cameron, the man behind the blockbusters "Titanic" and "Avatar."
"The pursuit of resources drove the discovery of America and opened the West," Schmidt said in a statement on the site. "The same drivers still hold true for opening the space frontier."
Anderson says the group will prove naysayers wrong. "Before we started launching people into space as private citizens, people thought that was a pie-in-the-sky idea," Anderson said. "We're in this for decades.”
For those serious about a career in space mining, Planetary Resources said it has "immediate needs" in the following areas: 1) guidance, navigation, and control; 2) flight and ground software; and 3) optical and laser systems.”
But remember, mining asteroids is no walk in the park.
“You will get your hands dirty,” the site warns. “If you prefer your hands clean, go somewhere else.”
8) How Bone-conducting Headphones Work... Science/Interest
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/bone-conducting-headphones.htm#mkcpgn=fbsftsl
"Let the rhythm pound!" the hiphop group Black Eyed Peas implore in a song titled "Play It Loud." And if you like pop music, chances are you'd like to listen to it that way -- loud. But whenever you crank up the volume on your portable MP3 player and shove those little buds into your ears, you're exposing yourself to sound levels as high as 120 decibels -- a level that's comparable in intensity to a jet engine [source: Science Daily]. And you may well be paying a high price for your pleasure. A study published in 2010 in Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly one in five U.S. teenagers already has some degree of hearing loss, probably as a result of listening to loud music while wearing those buds [source: Ostrow].
But if you think you'll never again be able to listen to your favorite Foo Fighters or U2 songs while jogging, don't despair. What if you had a way to listen to music on a portable player without putting anything in your ears? As it turns out, it can be done. All you need is a set of bone-conducting headphones, a gadget designed to transmit sound directly to the innermost part of the ear that sends nerve impulses to the brain -- even while bypassing portions of the ear. Folks call these magical devices "bonephones."
9) Does This Archeological Discovery Prove That the Bible Is True?... Science/Christianity
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/does-this-archeological-discovery-prove-that-the-bible-is-true/
May 9, 2012
Archaeological discoveries tell us a great deal about our ancestors. And now, in light of some recent discoveries in Israel, they may also provide corroboratory evidence for descriptions presented in the Old Testament. For quite some time, Biblical historians have been working diligently to better understand the city of Judah during the time of King David.
Interestingly, Professor Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other archeologists have been digging in the ancient city of Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Valley, Israel), where they recently unearthed some fascinating findings. The researchers there uncovered three cultic shrines that date back to the time of King David, The Atlantic reports.
Archeological Discovery In Judah Sheds Light on Biblical Statements
This is Khirbet Qeiyafa from the air (Image Credit: Khirbet Qeiyafa Archeological Project)
In addition to the shrines, the site also offered up stone and metal tools, pottery, art and other items that purportedly belonged to a cult during the time of King David’s reign. But what has the archeologists most intrigued is that the cult’s practices, based on expert analysis, match what is outlined in the Old Testament - or so they say. Naturally, this is a captivating find.
The Atlantic has more regarding just how important - and unprecedented - it may be:
“This is the first time that archaeologists uncovered a fortified city in Judah from the time of King David. Even in Jerusalem we do not have a clear fortified city from his period. Thus, various suggestions that completely deny the biblical tradition regarding King David and argue that he was a mythological figure, or just a leader of a small tribe, are now shown to be wrong,” Garfinkel told Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He explained that radiometric measurements performed at Oxford dated the artifacts to around 1020 to 980 BC, 30 to 40 years before the construction of King Soloman’s temple. “Over the years, thousands of animal bones were found, including sheep, goats and cattle, but no pigs. Now we uncovered three cultic rooms, with various cultic paraphernalia, but not even one human or animal figurine was found. This suggests that the population of Khirbet Qeiyafa observed two biblical bans - on pork and on graven images - and thus practiced a different cult than that of the Canaanites or the Philistines.”
“For the first time in history we have actual objects from the time of David, which can be related to monuments described in the Bible,” the archeologist continued in a press release announcing the find.
Here’s more from the university’s web site:
This discovery is extraordinary as it is the first time that shrines from the time of early biblical kings were uncovered. Because these shrines pre-date the construction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem by 30 to 40 years, they provide the first physical evidence of a cult in the time of King David, with significant implications for the fields of archaeology, history, biblical and religion studies. [...]
The biblical tradition presents the people of Israel as conducting a cult different from all other nations of the ancient Near East by being monotheistic and an-iconic (banning human or animal figures). However, it is not clear when these practices were formulated, if indeed during the time of the monarchy (10-6th centuries BC), or only later, in the Persian or Hellenistic eras.
The absence of cultic images of humans or animals in the three shrines provides evidence that the inhabitants of the place practiced a different cult than that of the Canaanites or the Philistines, observing a ban on graven images.
While Garfinkel speaks with certainty, not everyone is convinced. Some, like Hershel Shanks of The Biblical Archeology Review, want to see more evidence before arriving at such definitive conclusions. That being said, he is openly intrigued by the research and archeological discoveries. Despite his healthy skepticism, in an interview with The Christian Post, Shanks offered Garfinkel “warm, good wishes for the spectacular things he’s uncovering.”
“The unfortunate thing is we don’t have enough information … to be all confident of the conclusions that Yosef Garfinkel is drawing,” he proclaimed. ”This may well have been Davidic, but it’s hard to come down hard on it. But within that range, yes … we have a lot of confidence in the date of it.”
So, it seems the jury is still out and that more research and explanatory efforts will help to fill in the gaps. Read more about these findings on Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s web site.
2) New Purple Crab Species Found in Philippines... Nature/Interest
3) ‘Change for the Good’: Beck Explains Why Progressives Undermine the Institutions Americans Trust Most... Liberals/Government
4) ‘Justice for Trayvon’: Alabama Man in Critical Condition After Mob Beating... Racism/Anti White Violence
5) Obama Admin Proposes Ban on Farm Chores for Kids... Obama/Anti Farmers/Pro Corporation
6) Double-Dip Recession in Britain... Economy/Europe
7) Your next job: asteroid miner?... Science/Economy
8) How Bone-conducting Headphones Work... Science/Interest
9) Does This Archeological Discovery Prove That the Bible Is True?... Science/Christianity
1) Do You Know the Real Story Behind the ‘Jefferson Bible’? David Barton Shared it With Beck... Christianity/Jefferson
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/do-you-know-the-real-story-behind-the-jefferson-bible-david-barton-shared-it-with-beck/
April 19, 2012
During his Thursday evening broadcast, Glenn Beck interviewed WallBuilders founder and “The Jefferson Lies” author, David Barton. The two discussed what drove Thomas Jefferson and dispelled some long-held myths about the Founding Father.
For Jefferson, “it all goes back to God,” Barton said. This statement prompted the story of the “Jefferson Bible” and rumors that Jefferson was, in some way, anti-religious. Barton brushed off this idea as nonsense and went on to explain how history has been twisted.
The legend had it that Jefferson cut the Bible into pieces, sewing together the portions with which he agreed and discarding the rest. As it turns out, Jefferson had a long history working with missionaries and, in particular, bringing Christianity to the Native Americans. At one point Jefferson gleaned an idea to produce an abbreviated version of the Bible that only focused on the moral teachings of Jesus Christ with a view toward creating a more digestible, comprehensive volume for the Native Americans he and other missionaries were teaching. Jefferson did so and, at the beginning of the 20th century, his abridged bible was Congressionally re-printed and given to members of Congress upon taking office. The tradition lasted some some 50 years.
The fascinating lesson in history continues below. Watch and learn more about one of the most complex figures in U.S. history.
2) New Purple Crab Species Found in Philippines... Nature/Interest
http://news.discovery.com/animals/new-species-purple-crab-philippines-120423.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
Apr 23, 2012
The crabs' purple hue likely evolved thanks to female preference.
Four new species of freshwater crab, bright purple in color, have been discovered in the biologically diverse but ecologically-threatened Philippines, the man who found them said Saturday.
The tiny crustaceans burrow under boulders and roots in streams, feeding on dead plants, fruits, carrion and small animals in the water at night, said Hendrik Freitag of Germany's Senckenberg Museum of Zoology.
BLOG: Mutant Crabs Turning Up in the Gulf
Found only in small, lowland-forest ecosystems in the Palawan island group, most have purple shells, with claws and legs tipped red.
"It is known that crabs can discriminate colors. Therefore, it seems likely that the coloration has a signal function for the social behavior, e.g. mating," Freitag told AFP by email on Saturday.
"This could explain why large males of various Insulamon species are more reddish compared to the generally violet females and immature males."
Scientists began extensive investigations of similar freshwater crabs in the area in the late 1980s, when one new species was found -- the Insulamon unicorn, Freitag said.
More field work led Freitag to conclude there were four other unique species.
Antarctic Hot Springs Foster New Species
WATCH VIDEO: Antarctic Hot Springs Foster New Species
"Based on available new material, a total of five species are recognized... four of which are new to science," Freitag wrote in the latest edition of the National University of Singapore's Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
The carapace of the biggest, Insulamon magnum, is just 53 millimeters by 41.8 millimeters while the smallest, Insulamon porculum, measures 33.1 by 25.1 millimeters.
The two other new species were called Insulamon palawense and Insulamon johannchristiani.
The four slightly differ from the first find, and from each other, in the shapes of their body shells, legs, and sex organs.
US-based Conservation International lists the Philippines as one of 17 countries that harbors most of Earth's plant and animal life.
BRIEF: Antarctic Hot Springs Yields Ghostly New Species
Reptiles, birds or mammals likely prey on the crabs, and it is possible people in remote areas also collect them for food, Freitag said.
However, the main threats are the ongoing forest clearing for farming, mining or home building, since this risks drying up their small habitats and causes water pollution, he said.
"Even if the habitats are not entirely destroyed, the smaller the remaining habitats, the higher the risk of extinction for a species," he said.
3) ‘Change for the Good’: Beck Explains Why Progressives Undermine the Institutions Americans Trust Most... Liberals/Government
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/change-for-the-good-beck-explains-why-progressives-undermine-the-institutions-americans-trust-most/
April 23, 2012
For 35 years, the Gallup Organization has surveyed Americans‘ level of faith in the country’s primary institutions. The most recent poll was conducted in June 2011 and reveals that Americans overwhelmingly keep faith in the U.S. Military, followed by small business, the police force and religious institutions. Scoring on the low-end of the totem poll is organized labor, big business and HMOs, followed by Congress with a 12% rating (a rate that has since halved). But while some of these numbers might seem respectable, it is important to note that, over the last decade, faith in nearly all of the above institutions has been on a steady decline. And there may be a reason for that.
On his Monday evening broadcast, Glenn Beck weighed the institutions Americans Glenn Beck Contradicts Gallup Poll on Institutions America Trusts Moststrust most against progressive actions that seem to have been engineered with the sole purpose of undermining that very faith.
Military and law enforcement
Beck posits that Americans’ faith may have been shaken over the recent sex scandal surrounding Secret Service agents in Colombia, as many Service members are former military personnel. Occupy Wall Street’s portrayal of police officers as abusive “pigs,” along with President Obama and leftist lawmakers’ recent reaction to the Quran burning incident in Afghanistan is also an example of how progressive seek to undermine Americans’ faith in military and law enforcement.
Another instance Beck highlighted was the story of 18-year-old Alton L. Hayes III, who, along with a sidekick, brutally assaulted a 19-year-old boy simply because he was white. Hayes said he was upset over the Trayvon Martin case.
The two black teens allegedly rummaged through the victim’s pockets, threw him to the ground and punched him “numerous times” in the head and back and beat him with a tree branch.
Beck asked viewers if they could imagine how big this case would be if the perpetrators had been white.
All around doubt
When in doubt, look no further than Van Jones. The former green jobs “czar” stepped into the fray recently, casting doubt on Americans’ faith altogether when he explained what “love of country” means to him. He said [emphasis added]:
It means I love Americans-the people who actually live here, who look all kind of different ways, who pray all kind of different ways, who love all kinds of people. And I challenge the people who are the opponents of my values to explain how they get to be patriots. As I say in the book, they seem to distrust the American government. They seem to dislike most of the American people. They seem to resent most of America’s achievements over the last century, including unions and public education and environmental protection and so many of the things that made the American century the American century. So I don‘t get why we don’t just tell them to sit down and shut up. They can complain if they like, but we have another century to win.
While he did not specify, it is likely the “they” to whom Jones refers are conservatives. Beck mocked Jones’ assertion that the EPA, public education and Labor Unions are among America’s “greatest accomplishments.” It should also be noted that, if one reviews the chart to the above-right, faith in both education and labor unions has declined drastically. Beck noted this point when he quipped that Jones is lauding the institutions Gallup says Americans like least.
Watch Beck explore how progressive change is always sold as being for “the greater good.”
Religious institutions
In terms of shaking America’s faith in faith, The Blaze reported that IRS records from Media Matters reveal the far-left group’s crusade against Christian institutions and Christian influential ideology is operating in full-force. Beck posited that if one wanted to destroy the country, then he or she would do so by undermining the very institutions that Americans trust most. And he believes progressives are seeking to do just that.
Dubbed by Beck as the George Soros group that has become “the ‘research arm’ for lazy news reporters across America,” Media Matters is attacking the very institution that Americans still hold in deeply high regard. Perhaps, that is precisely why the group is seeking to destroy it.
The left‘s path isn’t clear until “God is completely out of the way,” Beck said.
Supreme Court
One needn‘t look any further than the chastisement of the Supreme Court in Congress and the president’s grand display attempting to school the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Obamacare to see that our most beloved institutions are the ones the left seems most fixed on subverting.
Below is a poignant video from FreeMarketAmerica that explores some of these very issues. Beck called it one of the most intense and accurate spots he had ever seen:
Click to view“They have been working on this for about 100 years,” Beck said.
Communism in America
Reminding viewers of the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto reflected in American life, Beck asked what one who wants to destroy the free market would do in order to remold it “closer to the heart’s desire.” In order for Van Jones, et al, to wipe the slate clean and “rebuild the dream” that has been in motion for the last “100 years,” progressives have had to become “more adept at duping people,” Beck noted. After reviewing the 10 tenets, he then asked viewers to examine how in-sync many of them are with current American policies. “Look at the things that you are being told are good for you.”
But it’s “all for the greater good.”
Drawing from another recent occurrence in which Communist Party of America members unveiled their long-term plans for the nation, Beck noted that Florida Congressman Allen West is on the group’s radar given his recent comments about Communist Democratic lawmakers. Communist Party leader Sam Webb said they would make it a point to defeat ”right-wing extremism” in the form of the Congressional freshman.
Of course, the media has come out in full force to assail West over his comments, despite the fact that the GOP lawmaker is, according to Beck “100%” accurate.” Reviewing various the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he then asked how many of the 76 members have “raved about Fidel Castro” and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The question was of course, rhetorical.
A matter of grave importance
Reviewing these chilling developments of late, Beck said that America is dangerously close to the precipice, with “one foot in the free market and the other in Communism.” There is no free market “as we know it” anymore and this election is of utmost importance.
He also reminded viewers that progressives will play hardball this election and that complacency through not voting simply isn’t an option if Americans wish to head down the path of the Founding Fathers and not see the destruction of the free market.
This next president will chart that course. “In four years it will be too late to decide.” Beck added that ensuring a decisive, rather than close victory is essential to sending progressives the message that Americans do not wish to discard the Constitution.
Below, Beck explores America’s two options: Communism or the Free Market. He also delves into President Obama’s Communist roots.
4) ‘Justice for Trayvon’: Alabama Man in Critical Condition After Mob Beating... Racism/Anti White Violence
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/justice-for-trayvon-alabama-man-in-critical-condition-after-mob-beating/
April 24, 2012
WKRG-TV:
Mobile police need your help to catch a mob that beat Matthew Owens so badly that he’s in critical condition.
According to police, Owens fussed at some kids playing basketball in the middle of Delmar Drive about 8:30 Saturday night. They say the kids left and a group of adults returned, armed with everything but the kitchen sink.
Police tell News 5 the suspects used chairs, pipes and paint cans to beat Owens.
Owens’ sister, Ashley Parker, saw the attack. “It was the scariest thing I have ever witnessed.” Parker says 20 people, all African American, attacked her brother on the front porch of his home, using “brass buckles, paint cans and anything they could get their hands on.”
What Parker says happened next could make the fallout from the brutal beating even worse. As the attackers walked away, leaving Owen bleeding on the ground, Parker says one of them said “Now thats justice for Trayvon.”
WPMI-TV:
A witness who wants to remain anonymous describes what he says he heard at his front door Saturday night, on Delmar Drive. ”I just kept hearing him screaming, ‘Man, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, man don’t do this,’ ” he recalls.
On the other side of that door was Matthew Owen, who, police and neighbors say, was being beaten by a group of people. The weapons? Bricks, bats, even a paint can.
At first, when he heard his friend at the door, the man thought it was a joke. ”Then I saw about 10 to 15 people from little kids and women with dresses to adult men, just flooding onto the property, surrounding the car, hollering and screaming,” he says. “And then I heard Matthew saying, ‘ I’m sorry, man, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ And then, the next thing, before I could get to the door, because we have it all deadbolted and everything, and before I could get it open, I heard all the beating and banging.”
Even family and friends of Matthew Owens admit there was some tension on this street before Saturday night’s event. And they say a lot of this has to do with basketball. Relatives of the victim, who live on the street, say local kids often block Delmar Drive when they play basketball. They say it’s lead to some confrontations. Racial comments from both sides may have made the confrontations more toxic.
5) Obama Admin Proposes Ban on Farm Chores for Kids... Obama/Anti Farmers/Pro Corporation
http://www.libertynews.com/2012/04/25/obama-admin-proposes-ban-on-farm-chores-for-kids/
April 25, 2012
Times have changed…
When I was a kid my dad used to let us ride in the back of the pickup truck from point A to point B. We never had seat belts, car seats or helmets. We just knew that if we didn’t sit down and hold tight the outcome wouldn’t be fun. And we were all about fun. I don’t recall ever hearing of a kid falling out of a pickup truck. I’m sure it happened somewhere in the world, but not in the farming areas around us in southwest Arkansas.
I occasionally hear a parent talk about how they don’t let their kids play out of sight. I suppose this makes sense in heavily populated areas. There are, after all, more nutty people around these days. But when I was a kid my little brother and I would pack a sandwich, grab our high powered pellet guns and fishing rods, and head off into the woods from morning well into the late afternoon. We built tree houses, dug tunnels and crafted multi-room bush forts. Was it slightly risky for my parents to let us go out on adventures alone? Maybe. Did we get into mischief? Occasionally. Honestly, though, I would suggest it was during these adventures that my brother and I crafted our own unique sense of creativity and drive. It was during these times that we learned basic common sense and rules of life.
I also remember feeding the chickens and gathering up the eggs with my grandpa when we visited his place (often). I remember picking fresh blackberries and working in grandma’s garden. I remember jumping from hay bail to hay bail, and swinging from ropes of the second floor of the barn, bouncing into 7 feet of hay on the next floor down.
It seems those days are all but gone. Not just for me, but for each generation that followed. I guess the car safety is understandable. I mean, my dad couldn’t control what other drivers did. And being in the back of a pickup is not the safest place to be when something goes wrong. But I don’t get the removal of an idea where kids are encouraged to go on adventures that exist outside of video games and TV’s. Video games include choices, but with predetermined outcomes. There is no true “create your own adventure and outcome” in a video game. That only exist in real life experiences.
And now, thanks to government, kids may be banned from even the most simplest of farm related tasks and experiences.
The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.
Under the rules, children under 18 could no longer work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
“Prohibited places of employment,” a Department press release read, “would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
I work in the news business so I read a lot of stories of government over-reach each day. But this particular proposal really gets at me in the core of who I am as a free American. The proposal might end up being dead on arrival, but even if that ends up being the case, several questions remain.
How is it that we have a government that believes it’s their business to ban such activities that occur at the will of parents, on private property?
Why do we not have conservative Republicans in D.C. demanding an instant stop to such horrific proposals?
Why do liberals think this is a fruitful idea?
In my view federal government was established to regulate interstate commerce (keep it regular), protect our foreign borders (against invasion of any kind) and protect our rights as Americans. Where in the world does this kind of proposal fit in that picture?
Inquiring minds want to know.
-Eric Odom
6) Double-Dip Recession in Britain... Economy/Europe
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/business/global/uk-slips-into-double-dip-recession.html?_r=2&hpw&pagewanted=all&
April 25, 2012
LONDON - Britain has fallen into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s, according to official figures released Wednesday, a development that raised more questions about whether government belt-tightening in Europe has gone too far.
The report of an unexpected 0.2 percent decline in economic output during the first quarter of 2012 provoked an outcry in Britain and came on the same day that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, shifted his rhetoric on the debt crisis to put more emphasis on growth.
Mr. Draghi called for a “growth compact” and a re-examination of where the euro is headed.
“We need to actively step up our reflections about the longer-term vision for Europe as we have done in the past at other defining moments in the history of our union,” Mr. Draghi told members of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Yet, amid growing popular unrest, Mr. Draghi rejected calls for more deficit spending. The way to restore growth is to make economies more efficient, he said. “We have to persevere,” he added.
Britain is now in its second recession in three years. The last time the country experienced a double-dip recession was when Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the opposition Conservative Party in 1975.
In a packed British Parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron had to defend his austerity drive against critics like Ed Miliband, head of the opposition Labour Party, who called the economic numbers “catastrophic.”
The raucous scene was the latest manifestation of growing popular frustration with the strict fiscal diet that has been prescribed by the European Central Bank and German leaders in response to the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis. While Britain is not a member of the euro zone, its economic fortunes are closely linked with those of the currency union.
The discontent was on view in French elections last weekend and played a role in the collapse of the Dutch government on Monday. Greece, Spain and Italy have been the scene of mass demonstrations for months, but the turmoil now seems to be spreading to countries that were not seen as being at the heart of the crisis.
Britain joined Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in recession.
Except for Germany, most European countries do not have the financial leeway to pump up their economies with public works projects or other government spending, economists say. Leaders are groping for ways to encourage growth with the limited means at their disposal.
Mr. Draghi acknowledged Wednesday that such changes were difficult for the citizens affected.
Economic reforms “change profoundly the societies in which we live,” he said. “This is a source of pain.”
He urged national leaders to take steps to promote long-term growth even when it is politically difficult. Some leaders have raised taxes or cut infrastructure projects, when instead they should be reducing government operating expenses, Mr. Draghi said.
Mr. Draghi’s plea for beleaguered Europeans to stay the course came as the central bank released a bank survey showing a sharp decline in demand for credit by borrowers, which analysts said was further evidence that the euro zone is in recession.
In Britain, some economists had predicted a small increase in first-quarter gross domestic product after recent surveys had indicated that the economy was recovering, although very slowly. Mr. Cameron’s government had pointed to the recovery as a sign that the austerity measures it implemented were working.
“It’s too early to call for a reversal of government policy,” said Azad Zangana, an economist at Schroders. But he added, “These latest results do highlight that the economy will not withstand any further acceleration in cuts.”
The British gross domestic product numbers caused bewilderment among some economists, including Andrew Goodwin of Ernst & Young’s economic forecasting unit, the Item Club. “Our reaction to these figures is one of disbelief,” Mr. Goodwin said. “I would be very surprised if these figures were not revised upwards.”
Even if the figures are later revised, they could have a negative effect on consumer sentiment and corporate spending, said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight. The report could “hit consumer and business hard and make sustainable growth harder to achieve.”
Output in the British construction sector fell 3 percent in the first quarter while output from production industries fell 0.4 percent, the government statistics office said Wednesday. Manufacturing shrank 0.1 percent and the services sector grew 0.1 percent.
In Parliament, Mr. Cameron conceded that “these are very, very disappointing figures” and that Britain was in a “very tough situation that frankly just got tougher.”
Mr. Cameron’s government, a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, has been losing ground to Labour in recent polls as voters have become disillusioned with the economic outlook and the austerity plan.
But Mr. Cameron said the government would stick to its plan to eliminate most of the budget deficit by 2017.
“More debt and more spending is what got us into this problem,” Mr. Cameron said. “It can’t be the solution of the problem.”
Mr. Draghi took a similar tack, saying countries with a record of deficit spending have not seen benefits; instead their economies have “flatlined,” he said.
“If one thinks you can increase demand by increasing deficits,” he said, without naming any countries, “then how come we don’t have higher demand?”
As Mr. Draghi spoke, the central bank released its quarterly survey of bank lending, which offered probably the best data yet on the effect of the inexpensive, three-year loans that the central bank issued to commercial banks in recent months.
The survey showed that banks continue to tighten the standards they apply to borrowers, but at a more modest rate than in the last survey. In addition, banks said they were having an easier time raising money by issuing their own corporate bonds or borrowing on money markets.
Mr. Draghi said the underlying problem was not so much lack of credit as lack of demand by borrowers, which has plunged.
“Demand is subdued and therefore demand for credit is subdued,” he said.
Under sometimes hostile, sometimes sympathetic questioning in Brussels by members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Mr. Draghi avoided commenting directly on the political events of recent days. But he demonstrated he was well-aware of them.
The euro zone has arrived at “probably the most difficult phase of our process,” Mr. Draghi said.
In the first round of French presidential elections on Sunday, the Socialist candidate, François Hollande, won the most votes after promising to step up such traditional forms of government stimulus as subsidies for industry. On Monday, the Dutch government fell amid an impasse over budget cuts.
Mr. Draghi did not rule out the possibility that the European Central Bank might issue to commercial banks another round of cheap loans.
He expressed optimism that the central bank cash would begin to have a positive effect.
“Given enough time,” he said, “this money will find its way into the economy.”
Julia Werdigier reported from London, and Jack Ewing from Frankfurt.
7) Your next job: asteroid miner?... Science/Economy
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/26/james-cameron-backed-space-venture-seeks-asteroid-miners/?intcmp=features
April 26, 2012
Looking to reboot your life?
A new asteroid mining venture backed by Silicon Valley titans and filmmaker James Cameron is hiring.
Planetary Resources, Inc., announced Tuesday at a news conference in Seattle that it wants to mine near-Earth asteroids for water and precious metals like gold and platinum within the next 10 years if all goes as planned. And the brand-new company is looking for a helping hand.
"Since my early teenage years, I've wanted to be an asteroid miner. I always viewed it as a glamorous vision of where we could go," company founder Peter Diamandis told reporters at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Diamandis hopes others share his passion for space exploration: The company website is now accepting applications for a “few good asteroid miners,” to help the firm find new ways to “explore space beyond Earth orbit.”
“Bottom line -- we build spaceships and explore asteroids. If you need any other motivation to apply, don’t bother,” the site states.
Company representatives did not respond to FoxNews.com requests for specific job details, such as how much an asteroid miner will earn or what qualifies one for such an out-of-this-world job. But one insider familiar with the company's plans doubts they're looking for miners at all.
"They aren't hiring asteroid miners," he told FoxNews.com. "They're hiring aerospace engineers to design a low-Earth orbit micro-satellite space telescope to look for asteroids."
More information can be gleaned from the site, where prospective applicants must fill out a litany of short-answer questions proving their love for space, describing their soldering skills and even proffering the name they’d give to a hypothetical crash dummy.
If such plans seem fanciful or even outrageous, it’s because they very well could be.
Several scientists not involved with the project said they were simultaneously thrilled and wary, calling the plan daring, difficult -- and very pricey. They don't see how it could be cost-effective, even with platinum and gold worth nearly $1,600 an ounce. An upcoming NASA mission to return just 2 ounces (60 grams) of an asteroid to Earth will cost about $1 billion.
But the entrepreneurs behind Planetary Resources have a track record of profiting off space ventures. Diamandis and co-founder Eric Anderson pioneered the idea of selling rides into space to tourists, and Diamandis' company offers "weightless" airplane flights.
Investors and advisers to the new company include Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Cameron, the man behind the blockbusters "Titanic" and "Avatar."
"The pursuit of resources drove the discovery of America and opened the West," Schmidt said in a statement on the site. "The same drivers still hold true for opening the space frontier."
Anderson says the group will prove naysayers wrong. "Before we started launching people into space as private citizens, people thought that was a pie-in-the-sky idea," Anderson said. "We're in this for decades.”
For those serious about a career in space mining, Planetary Resources said it has "immediate needs" in the following areas: 1) guidance, navigation, and control; 2) flight and ground software; and 3) optical and laser systems.”
But remember, mining asteroids is no walk in the park.
“You will get your hands dirty,” the site warns. “If you prefer your hands clean, go somewhere else.”
8) How Bone-conducting Headphones Work... Science/Interest
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/bone-conducting-headphones.htm#mkcpgn=fbsftsl
"Let the rhythm pound!" the hiphop group Black Eyed Peas implore in a song titled "Play It Loud." And if you like pop music, chances are you'd like to listen to it that way -- loud. But whenever you crank up the volume on your portable MP3 player and shove those little buds into your ears, you're exposing yourself to sound levels as high as 120 decibels -- a level that's comparable in intensity to a jet engine [source: Science Daily]. And you may well be paying a high price for your pleasure. A study published in 2010 in Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly one in five U.S. teenagers already has some degree of hearing loss, probably as a result of listening to loud music while wearing those buds [source: Ostrow].
But if you think you'll never again be able to listen to your favorite Foo Fighters or U2 songs while jogging, don't despair. What if you had a way to listen to music on a portable player without putting anything in your ears? As it turns out, it can be done. All you need is a set of bone-conducting headphones, a gadget designed to transmit sound directly to the innermost part of the ear that sends nerve impulses to the brain -- even while bypassing portions of the ear. Folks call these magical devices "bonephones."
9) Does This Archeological Discovery Prove That the Bible Is True?... Science/Christianity
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/does-this-archeological-discovery-prove-that-the-bible-is-true/
May 9, 2012
Archaeological discoveries tell us a great deal about our ancestors. And now, in light of some recent discoveries in Israel, they may also provide corroboratory evidence for descriptions presented in the Old Testament. For quite some time, Biblical historians have been working diligently to better understand the city of Judah during the time of King David.
Interestingly, Professor Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other archeologists have been digging in the ancient city of Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Valley, Israel), where they recently unearthed some fascinating findings. The researchers there uncovered three cultic shrines that date back to the time of King David, The Atlantic reports.
Archeological Discovery In Judah Sheds Light on Biblical Statements
This is Khirbet Qeiyafa from the air (Image Credit: Khirbet Qeiyafa Archeological Project)
In addition to the shrines, the site also offered up stone and metal tools, pottery, art and other items that purportedly belonged to a cult during the time of King David’s reign. But what has the archeologists most intrigued is that the cult’s practices, based on expert analysis, match what is outlined in the Old Testament - or so they say. Naturally, this is a captivating find.
The Atlantic has more regarding just how important - and unprecedented - it may be:
“This is the first time that archaeologists uncovered a fortified city in Judah from the time of King David. Even in Jerusalem we do not have a clear fortified city from his period. Thus, various suggestions that completely deny the biblical tradition regarding King David and argue that he was a mythological figure, or just a leader of a small tribe, are now shown to be wrong,” Garfinkel told Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He explained that radiometric measurements performed at Oxford dated the artifacts to around 1020 to 980 BC, 30 to 40 years before the construction of King Soloman’s temple. “Over the years, thousands of animal bones were found, including sheep, goats and cattle, but no pigs. Now we uncovered three cultic rooms, with various cultic paraphernalia, but not even one human or animal figurine was found. This suggests that the population of Khirbet Qeiyafa observed two biblical bans - on pork and on graven images - and thus practiced a different cult than that of the Canaanites or the Philistines.”
“For the first time in history we have actual objects from the time of David, which can be related to monuments described in the Bible,” the archeologist continued in a press release announcing the find.
Here’s more from the university’s web site:
This discovery is extraordinary as it is the first time that shrines from the time of early biblical kings were uncovered. Because these shrines pre-date the construction of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem by 30 to 40 years, they provide the first physical evidence of a cult in the time of King David, with significant implications for the fields of archaeology, history, biblical and religion studies. [...]
The biblical tradition presents the people of Israel as conducting a cult different from all other nations of the ancient Near East by being monotheistic and an-iconic (banning human or animal figures). However, it is not clear when these practices were formulated, if indeed during the time of the monarchy (10-6th centuries BC), or only later, in the Persian or Hellenistic eras.
The absence of cultic images of humans or animals in the three shrines provides evidence that the inhabitants of the place practiced a different cult than that of the Canaanites or the Philistines, observing a ban on graven images.
While Garfinkel speaks with certainty, not everyone is convinced. Some, like Hershel Shanks of The Biblical Archeology Review, want to see more evidence before arriving at such definitive conclusions. That being said, he is openly intrigued by the research and archeological discoveries. Despite his healthy skepticism, in an interview with The Christian Post, Shanks offered Garfinkel “warm, good wishes for the spectacular things he’s uncovering.”
“The unfortunate thing is we don’t have enough information … to be all confident of the conclusions that Yosef Garfinkel is drawing,” he proclaimed. ”This may well have been Davidic, but it’s hard to come down hard on it. But within that range, yes … we have a lot of confidence in the date of it.”
So, it seems the jury is still out and that more research and explanatory efforts will help to fill in the gaps. Read more about these findings on Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s web site.