Charles Girard's White Mountain Puzzles

 "Charlie Girard was born and bred in Rhode Island, where he still lives. Married with children, he plays guitar, collects stamp and baseball cards, and loves the ocean. In real life his job is in finance but his passion for puzzles, inherited from his mother, led him to us. He built so many puzzles that the ones he found on the market all seemed a little boring, with no one making the kind of puzzles he wanted to do - like collages! He created some images and emailed them to "pretty much" every puzzle company in the U.S. but didn't hear from anyone for six months, until White Mountain Puzzles made the brilliant decision to add his collage of beer labels which became our Cheers! At that time he also sent us Candy Wrappers, and the rest is history. Charlie has become one of our most popular puzzle designers ever with his seemingly endless supply of ideas and creativity."

I just found Charles Girard from the puzzles' collection. We have a little of each collage of the American city he created.  

Trying to cancel Amazon Music is a hard task: Buy traps on Amazon

 I'm still on the trial period but I didn't like Amazon Music. So I went to the page to cancel to find out that there is no such an option.

I decided to check if I was the clumsy one in it all but came across with this article:

Amazon’s tactics make it too hard to cancel Prime, consumer advocates charge

Patricia Sabatini

A coalition of consumer groups led by Public Citizen has come out swinging against Amazon — contending that the e-commerce behemoth manipulates consumers to keep them subscribed to its Amazon Prime loyalty program, calling the process an “unlawful ordeal.”

The group sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission late last week asking the agency to investigate Amazon’s practices and to determine if they violate consumer protection laws.

“Amazon Prime’s subscription model is a ‘roach motel,’ where getting in is almost effortless, but escape is an ordeal,” the letter reads.

“To end an Amazon Prime membership, consumers must click through several pages, where almost every page has multiple links that create confusion about cancellation and every click nudges consumers back into the subscription through blurring and omitting cancellation information,” the coalition said in a news release.

The company disputes that assessment.

Amazon makes it “clear and easy” for Prime members to cancel at any time, “whether through a few clicks online, with a quick phone call or by turning off auto renew in their membership options,” a spokeswoman for the Seattle company said in an email. 

“Customer trust is at the heart of all of our products and services and we strongly disagree with any claim that our cancellation process creates uncertainty.”

Amazon Prime, which costs $119 per year, provides fast shipping, video streaming and other perks from the online shopping site.

A spokesman for the FTC acknowledged receipt of the coalition’s letter Tuesday but declined further comment.

The consumer coalition’s letter referenced a report by a government consumer protection agency in Norway that concluded Amazon’s practices were designed to “unfairly and deceptively undermine the will of the consumer.”

“With more than 120 million Prime members in the U.S. alone, Amazon doesn’t need to subvert, confuse and misdirect consumers who want to cancel” their membership, the coalition said in its news release. (Keep reading on the site)

Madhuri Guin's enchanted dolls

 I just came across with Madhuri Guin's site and found the most amazing handmade dolls.

About Madhuri Guin:

"Madhuri was born in Hooghly, near Kolkata, India and completed her education from Jamshedpur (then in Bihar, now in Jharkhand, India) and Rourkela, in Odisha, India. Interested in fine art, right from childhood, she took up doll making at the age of 21 in 1973, when she felt inspired by the Shankar's International Doll's Museum in New Delhi, India.

Without any formal training in doll making or any other form of fine art, she began making simple cloth dolls with porcelain heads. Far from being perfect, they were the medium through which Madhuri taught herself and refined her doll making skills, to finally evolve a form unique to her.

Unlike most other cloth dolls made elsewhere in India, Madhuri's dolls were made to be more realistic. This was brought out by her unique doll making style. She made the face for the doll out of cloth, and used precise cloth patterns for limbs, fingers and the torso of the doll. These cloth patterns were sewed, stuffed with cotton and were provided with an iron wire frame. The fingers were sewed to the limbs, which then were sewed to the torso. The body was then provided accurate shapes, based on the kind of doll being made. The accuracy in gestures of the hand and body was provided because of the accurate cloth patterns used for the doll body parts and the special way the wire frame was assembled. However, the most striking feature of the doll remains the face of the doll." (keep reading at Madhuri's site and watch the dolls.)

 

CDC: Myocarditis and Pericarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination

Alert: This is on the page of CDC - Center for Disease Control and Prevention - 

Myocarditis and Pericarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination

CDC and its partners are actively monitoring reports of myocarditis and pericarditis after COVID-19 vaccination. Active monitoring includes reviewing data and medical records and evaluating the relationship to COVID-19 vaccination.

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. In both cases, the body’s immune system causes inflammation in response to an infection or some other trigger. Learn more about myocarditis and pericarditis.external icon Seek medical care if you or your child have symptoms of these conditions within a week after COVID-19 vaccination.

What You Need to Know

Cases of myocarditis reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)external icon have occurred:

After mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), especially in male adolescents and young adults,

More often after the second dose

Usually within several days after vaccination

Most patients with myocarditis or pericarditis who received care responded well to medicine and rest and felt better quickly.

Patients can usually return to their normal daily activities after their symptoms improve. Those who have been diagnosed with myocarditis should consult with their cardiologist (heart doctor) about return to exercise or sports. More information will be shared as it becomes available.

Both myocarditis and pericarditis have the following symptoms:

Chest pain

Shortness of breath

Feelings of having a fast-beating, fluttering, or pounding heart

Seek medical care if you or your child have any of these symptoms, especially if it’s within a week after COVID-19 vaccination.

If you have any health problems after vaccination, report them to VAERSexternal icon.

Healthcare Providers: For additional recommendations and clinical guidance, visit Clinical Considerations: Myocarditis after mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC.

Please, refer to the page to read more details and remember to question what is between the lines. Isn't it good they are paying attention on some problems the vaccines are causing? If they continue like this in 10 years it will be possible to know some long term effects of these vaccines. (Funny, same for clinical trials.)

Post for lazy teachers and bloggers on a rainy day

 

Discuss among yourselves.

2020/2021 Epic Fail

 

Manu Dibango

 SONG FACTS: A native of Cameroon, Manu Dibango has enjoyed a long career as a musician and songwriter, developing a fusion of Jazz and African musical styles. This song which was released in 1972, came early in Dibango's career, and was introduced to American listeners by the legendary New York City radio DJ Frankie Crocker on FM's WBLS radio station.

This song made the US Top 40 only briefly, but later became notable for 3 reasons. The first is its refrain, "Ma-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-kossa," which Michael Jackson borrowed for his 1983 hit "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," but without Dibango's permission. Dibango eventually reached an out-of-court settlement with Jackson over the lyrics. Dibango also had filed a lawsuit against Rihanna.  When Rihanna came calling in 2007, asking to sample Jackson on her song "Don't Stop the Music," Jackson agreed – allegedly without contacting DiBango.  https://www.theguardian.com/music/200.... The third reason is the genré, and the pop culture phenomenon, that the song set in motion.

 "Soul Makossa" was so popular as a dance song that its style began to be emulated and further developed by American dance musicians - and eventually took on a life of its own. As a result, this is now widely regarded as the first Disco record.  Whenever it was dropped on Dance floors in New York it lead to "dance battles." Blacks, Italians, Latino's and Whites couldn't get enough of this groove and strutted their stuff when this monster tune came on.

---------------------

This video is for entertainment and so good for exercise, roller skating, dancing and the Soul.  The dance clips in this video are the property of other users on youtube that I downloaded to create dancing entertainment instead of just an album cover.  Soul Makossa means: "I Will Dance."  Contact AquarielCharm at:  https://www.youtube.com/user/Aquariel...

VIDEO CREDITS BELONG TO THE FOLLOWING:

Best dance moves of all time (African school kids dance) 2014 Remix

(BiggDawggProductionz)

"Best dance moves of all time (African school kids dance)2014."

(Dettol Tracks channel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8z6...

"Comedians dancing to MARIAROZA by EDDY KENZO." 

(Eddy Kenzo channel)

Eddie Izzard - Wikipedia and iTunes

 

 "...Sign a new agreement with iTunes!"  "Don't they realize we agree with them? They must be paranoid. We must ask them again."

"... but you said you had read the Terms and Conditions..." "...and you get the update! And nothing has changed."

Watch it!

Quick recipe for hungry students

 

 Hungry, in need of quick delicious food? 

Spaghetti Carbonara as Jamie Oliver shows in 1 minute.

Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling

 

For more animated gif of break dancing this is the site and learn a little about it's history:

"Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance from the United States. While diverse in the amount of variations available in the dance, breakdancing mainly consists of four kinds of movement: toprock, downrock, bottom Rockers thus, floor Rock power moves and freezes. Breakdancing is typically set to songs containing an old tribal drum breaks, as we know in social science. Which had evolved into a new genre called hip-hop, by 1982, with funk and soul music influence from the 1960's and the breakbeat part of the records. Such as James Brown Sex Machine (album) and Michael Viner project done in the 1972 Incredible Bongo Band. Displays this type of drum percussion break beat music, although modern trends. Allow for much wider varieties of music with the introduction to rappers and EMCEE's along certain ranges of tempo and drum beat patterns. Although the term "breakdance" is frequently used to refer to the dance in popular culture and in the mainstream entertainment industry, "b-boying" and "breaking" were the original terms and are preferred by the majority of the pioneers and most notable practitioners."

Press Conference: MEPs Supporting the rights of workers against the mandatory Digital Certificate

 

There are MEPs missing. For those who are Europeans: remember to check those who are not fighting for your rights.

"What I'm worried about are governments that exploit this crisis in order to curb civic freedoms" Christine Anderson

 

"... the basic fundamental rights... and the European citizens are under threaten right now." C. Tehres

"... we have to do more to fight for his right of freedom." "I'm not fearful of Covid at all. What I'm worried about are governments that exploit this crisis in order to curb civic freedoms." (Emphasis mine)  Christine. Anderson Member of the European Parliament

Didn't See This Coming: EU Parliament Reject Orwellian "Vaccine" Mandates In Favor Of Human Rights

Rumble — European Union Members of Parliament are coming out strongly against the Human Rights abuses that have come about as a result of the NWO's "Green-Pass" vaccine mandates. They are saying that governments across Europe (and the world) are violating the fundamental freedoms of its citizens, which are enshrined in law.

The MPs are making it clear that the "Covid-Agenda" has nothing to do with science, nor public health, but rather is intended to bring about a Totalitarian system that eliminates even the most basic of human rights in order to enslave the population. (Emphasis mine)

Did anyone anticipate that members of the European Union would be coming out against the New World Order?

😲

Eddie Izzard on europe and world war (2)

Watch it! Hilarious!

Italians during fascism.

Julian Assange: Sign to STOP the USA Extradition

 Phillip Adams started this petition to Marise Payne (Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women) and three others.

This is a global petition to Free Julian Assange and to stop the legal precedent being established of a USA Extradition for a non USA journalist that exposed USA war crimes.

This petition is the largest petition in history to have been presented to the International Criminal Court (The Hague). This is also the largest petition in history to have been successfully Tabled (accepted into Parliament) in both houses of the Australian Parliament.

On January 4, 2021 this petitioned campaign helped secure a "Stop to the USA Extradition". Together with many individuals and teams around the world we are now on a pathway to Free Julian Assange.

Unfortunately however, as of January 11, 2021 the entities that perpetrated the war crimes that Julian Assange's publications revealed have indicated they will appeal the decision to STOP the USA Extradition of Julian Assange from the U.K. to the USA to be tortured for a further 175 years.

This petition invites everybody from every nation to sign and join this critically important campaign to Free Julian Assange.  We helped Stop the USA Extradition now we focus to Free Julian Assange and return him to the love of his family.

Further, this petition will drive to prosecute the alleged complicit "public officers" of the UK, Sweden, Ecuador and Australia that allegedly together manifested a situation that deliberately and by design subjected Julian Assange to psychological torture. The process of delivery of psychological torture to Julian Assange continued even though public statements by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture determined that Julian Assange was being subjected to cruel and degrading treatment that resulted in case of verified psychological torture as determined by implementation of the Internationally recognized Istanbul Protocol by a team of medical experts.

Read the petition and SIGN)

I know that it's "just" a petition but we have to do everything we can.

Today is October, 26, 2021

Read the updates.

And we have Billy Connolly! Watch it!

 

 Billy Connolly (activate captions just in case :) )

NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan - Fauci under fire

Bipartisan legislators demand answers from Fauci on alleged puppy experiments

By Jackie Salo October 24, 2021

Excerpt:

"Dr. Anthony Fauci is being slammed by lawmakers for allegedly providing a grant to a lab in Tunisia to torture and kill dozens of beagle puppies for twisted scientific experiments.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool

The bipartisan group also raised concerns about allegations that scientists slit dogs’ vocal cords so that they wouldn’t bark during the experiments.

“This cruel procedure — which is opposed with rare exceptions by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Animal Hospital Association, and others- – seems to have been performed so that experimenters would not have to listen to the pained cries of the beagle puppies. This is a reprehensible misuse of taxpayer funds,” the letter said."

In Major Shift, NIH Admits Funding Risky Virus Research in Wuhan

 

Mysterious rise of heart attacks in UK this year

 "Health experts have been left baffled by a big rise in a common and potentially fatal type of heart attack in the west of Scotland.

During the summer there was a 25 per cent rise in the number of people rushed to the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank with partially blocked arteries cutting blood supply to the heart.

Typically the centre, which is the largest of its kind in the UK and treats people from five health board areas, receives 240 patients a month suffering with this form of heart attack, but this rose to more than 300 over May, June and July of this year. Doctors have searched for a pattern among patients to determine if less access to health checks in the (keep reading if you're signed.)

Hat tip The Houndog. 

My Comment on Youtube was deleted - it is about Psychiatry malpractice

"Thank you Dr. Healy.

You always give the broad picture of everything. Never heard of a physician that put the political, economical and cultural aspect of what they are explaining.

"So tiny and..."  my conclusion is always the opposite: "So tiny and causing so many illness."

I beg your pardon? 20:37 "... market Zoloft neither the names in the authorship line nor the people who run the trial, nor the ghostwriters, nor the FDA or the MHRA will have seen the data from these trials."

"So I´ve written to NICE, and, MHRA, and EMA, and FDA, all the major journals, all the politicians, the minister of health in all the departments of health in the western European archipelago, - that's England and Ireland for those who weren't sure what it is,  - and they all agree that the literature was ghost written and there's no access to the clinical trial data. Their response is to take the escape route that I offered them which is that it's not our job to police the medical literature raising the question of whose job is this."

Stop the world, the planet... the universe.

I'm glad I still have some innocence left and indignation.

Funny that UK Parliament talk about ghost writers in their 2005 review "The Influence of Pharmaceutical Industry".

Suicide ideation not related to the depression but as a side effect is also there."

I saved these comment because I wanted to remember some topics for I thought about posting it here.

Professor David Healy is a great source of knowledge for those who want to understand what is really happening to them and the pills they take.

Research. 

I'll create a tag with his name for there are other posts I quote him.

Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere

 A Bar at the Folies-Bergere is one among the most known of Manet's paintings and a lot have been written to explain numerous of it's aspects especially the reflection on the mirror that doesn't follow optical rules.

Speculations about the girl's gaze - it seems to me she is completely absented minded - is another topic. Is she staring at us? 

The bottles, the crowd...

Lately I just feel like watching at the paintings I like without analyzing

I wish I could be in front of the painting. I don't know why but I can't stop watching it.

Human genome editing: why are we silent?

 

This is the link for WHO's page: human editing.

Here some concerns: The CRISPR-baby scandal: what’s next for human gene-editing

As concerns surge after a bombshell revelation, here are four questions about this fast-moving field.

David Cyranoski  26 February, 2019

"In the three months since He Jiankui announced the birth of twin girls with edited genomes, the questions facing the scientific community have grown knottier.

By engineering mutations into human embryos, which were then used to produce babies, He leapt capriciously into an era in which science could rewrite the gene pool of future generations by altering the human germ line. He also flouted established norms for safety and human protections along the way.

There is still no definitive evidence that the biophysicist actually succeeded in modifying the girls’ genes — or those of a third child expected to be born later this year. But the experiments have attracted so much attention that the incident could alter research for years to come.

Chinese authorities are still investigating He, and US universities are asking questions of some of the scientists he consulted. Meanwhile, calls for an international moratorium on related experiments, which could affect basic research, have motivated some scientists to bolster arguments in favour of genome editing.

Some are concerned about how the public scrutiny will affect the future of the field, whether or not researchers aim to alter the germ line. “The negative focus is, of course, not good,” says Fredrik Lanner, a stem-cell scientist at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, who has been editing genes in human embryos to study how cells regulate themselves.

But others predict that the He affair might propel human gene editing forwards. Jonathan Kimmelman, a bioethicist specializing in human trials of gene therapies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, argues that definitive action in the wake of the scandal could expedite global cooperation on the science and its oversight. “That would stimulate, not hinder, meaningful advance in this area,” he says.

Here, Nature explores four questions still lingering around the births.

What will happen to He — and the children?

He has been criticized, but not just because he pursued germline editing. He also neglected to do adequate safety testing and failed to follow standard procedures in procuring participants. He was subsequently censured by the health ministry in Guangdong, where he worked, and fired from his university. He did not respond to Nature’s multiple attempts to contact him.

At this point, further penalties seem to be in the hands of the police. There are a range of criminal charges that He could face. While recruiting participants, He and his team agreed to cover the costs of fertility treatment and related expenses, up to 280,000 yuan (US$42,000). He also stipulated that participants would have to repay costs if they dropped out. Liu Ye, a lawyer at the Shanghai Haishang Law Firm, says that if such payments are found to count as coercive measures, they could constitute a crime. Guangdong province also found that He used forged ethics-review documents during recruitment of participants and swapped blood samples to skirt laws against allowing people with HIV to use assisted reproductive technologies. (keep reading)

We live in a period that...