Month: July 2019

Can holding in your pee really kill you?

We’ve all had that desperate urge to pee but not been in the most convenient place to go. But turns out holding it in is actually quite bad for your health. Now, we aren’t suggesting you just relieve yourself the instant you feel the need to go – occasionally holding it shouldn’t do any damage. It’s when you’re consistently avoiding going to the bathroom when your body tells you to that you could cause yourself problems. You might not feel like it, but your bladder holds up to half a litre of urine. There are tiny receptors on the bladder wall that can detect how much is in there and send a message to your brain when it’s full. Thankfully, your brain also sends a signal back telling your bladder to hold on – otherwise things could get really messy. But if you decide to ignore those signals from your body and hold on for too long it could have some serious consequences. Worst-case scenario, urine could back up into your kidneys and could cause them to fail, which could be fatal. The good news is you are much more likely to lose control of your muscles and wet yourself way before that happens. Click here to see some of the more likely reasons to never hold in your pee…

You’re welcome..      🙂

Black Moon is coming tonight: What that means

We’ve seen all kinds of interesting phases of the Moon, from “Super blood Moons” to “full worm supermoons” to even the stunning Strawberry Moon. But July 31 will mark a rare occurrence for Earth’s natural satellite — a phenomenon known as a black Moon. The sparse celestial event will be seen in North America, marking the first occurrence since 2016. The rest of the planet will see the black Moon on Aug. 30. Although there is no one single definition of a black Moon, according to Time and Date, it is most commonly used to represent the second new Moon of a month. This rarely happens outside of leap years, as lunar cycles largely take 29 days to complete. But every 32 months or so, there are two full Moons in a month, with the first being known as a blue Moon. Officially, the black Moon will occur at 11:13 p.m. EDT, for the Western Hemisphere according to Space.com. For the Eastern Hemisphere, it will occur after midnight on Aug. 1, but it is not the second new Moon, so it does not count as a black Moon. New Moons are not able to be seen, as they travel “across the sky with the Sun during the day,” according to EarthSky.org. “But the gravitational influence of the new moon and sun combine to physically affect our water planet, which people along the ocean coastlines may notice in the coming days.” Other meanings of a black Moon include a third new Moon in a season of four new Moons; no new Moon in February; and no full Moon in February. Tomorrow’s black Moon will also be a supermoon, which means the new Moon happens at the closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit.

Very cool!  So, again, it’ll be at 11:13pm EDT, or 9:13pm for those of us here in sunny Colorado.    🙂

Alan Dershowitz: Mueller wrongly introduces dangerous concept of ‘exoneration’ in review of Trump actions

The word of the day, following the confusing and confused testimony of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller before two House committees Wednesday, is “exonerate” – or more precisely, “not exonerate.” Exoneration is not the job of our legal system. Mueller’s attempt to introduce it is an extraordinary and dangerous innovation that would endanger the presumption of innocence we all have under the law. During and following Mueller’s testimony, much of the media went into overdrive highlighting one sentence in the former special counsel’s 448-page report on Russian interference in our 2016 presidential election, as if it were breaking news. The sentence, which Mueller reiterated in his testimony, said: “Accordingly while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” But this sentence from the Mueller report, which was completed in March, was not news at all. Mueller simply repeated that formulation Wednesday and some Democrats treated it as a breakthrough invitation to begin impeachment proceedings. There is a grave and frightening danger in introducing the concept of exoneration into our legal system. It suggests that a person may still be presumed guilty even if the decision was made not to prosecute him or her, or even if a jury rendered a verdict of not guilty. Surely, this is the impression that the Mueller report and Mueller himself intended to convey by the sentence, which is the last one in his report. Surely, this is the impression that the Democrats are trying to convey to voters. But the truth is that even a full trial doesn’t exonerate or not exonerate anyone, since the rules of evidence limit the testimony and other evidence that can be heard by a jury. Exoneration is for God, historians and other non-legal institutions that have access to the totality of information. It should never become part of our legal system and it should never be used as a partisan political weapon by politicians. Mueller should never have spoken of exoneration in his report or in his testimony. Under Mueller’s concept of exoneration, a criminal investigation would become a three-part multiple-choice test with “guilty,” “not guilty” and “exonerated” as the three choices. In the context of a prosecutorial decision, the choices would be “prosecute,” “don’t prosecute,” “exonerate” and “not exonerate.” But these choices are not part of the American legal system. Our system operates on a binary approach, not a multiple-choice one. When a prosecutor decides not to prosecute, or when a jury renders a verdict of not guilty, that has to be the last word when it comes to the criminal law. By introducing the concept of “not exonerated” the special counsel exceeded his own powers and even those of the Justice Department. There is absolutely nothing in the Justice Department rule book or in the regulations governing the role of a special counsel that gives him or her the power to exonerate or not exonerate. And for good reason Prosecutors and special counsels only hear evidence on one side of the case. Their job is to determine whether there is probable cause to send the case to a judge or a jury for a full trial, with cross-examination, defense witnesses and zealous defense lawyers. Mueller should have been questioned hard about the use of the term “exonerate.” He was asked a few questions, which he studiously avoided answering. There should be a separate set of hearings, both in the House and Senate, to deal, as a matter of principle, with the idea of introducing the dangerous concept of exoneration into our legal lexicon. Scholars and others should be invited to testify about the implications of prosecutors or special counsels using that term in their reports or public statements. To illustrate the dangers of public officials using this term, think back to what disgraced former FBI Director James Comey said with regard to Hillary Clinton’s handling of emails when he held a news conference in the closing days of the 2016 presidential election campaign. Though Comey didn’t use the term “not exonerated” – instead he expressed his opinion that although Clinton would not be prosecuted, she displayed extreme carelessness – he basically told the world that she had not been exonerated. Democrats, including me, railed against Comey for going beyond the traditional statement that a decision had been made not to prosecute Hillary Clinton. But today, some of these same Democrats are exulting about Mueller’s statements that President Trump was not exonerated. This double-standard fails the “shoe on the other foot test,” which demands that the same standards be applied regardless of party affiliation. So let’s redact the words “exonerate” and “exonerated” from the Mueller report, from the vocabulary of prosecutors and from our legal system. These words set an absurd standard that wrongly casts a shadow of suspicion over people who are not charged with crimes or found not guilty after a trial.

Agreed!  And well said, professor!  For our new readers, Dr. Alan M. Dershowitz is Felix Frankfurter professor of law, emeritus, at Harvard Law School. His latest book is “The Case Against Impeaching Trump.” Follow him on Twitter: @AlanDersh Facebook: @AlanMDershowitz.  Dr, Dershowitz is also a loyal Democrat, and was a big Hillary supporter.  So, that gives him even more credibility in this discussion.  Thanks Sir!    🙂

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs as Google, McDonald’s, 2Q GDP lift stocks

Stocks Opens a New Window. soared Friday, with the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite notching record highs, as an important economic growth report Opens a New Window. came in better than expected while McDonald’s and Google turned in robust quarterly reports. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.1 percent pace, faster than Wall Street Opens a New Window. expected during the second quarter, driven by consumer spending. That topped the estimate for 1.8 percent growth, but slowed compared to first-quarter growth of 3.1 percent. The Department of Justice Opens a New Window. on Friday approved the long-awaited $26 billion merger of T-Mobile US Inc. Opens a New Window. and Sprint Corp., cutting a deal with a number of state attorneys general who had sued to block the deal and setting the stage for faster implementation of 5G service. Under terms of the department’s approval, T-Mobile and Sprint must divest Sprint’s prepaid business, including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid, to Dish Network Corp., a Colorado-based satellite television provider. Markets are also being helped by earnings from several companies, overcoming the disappointment of the European Central Bank’s hinting at future interest rate cuts, but not acting immediately. McDonald’s topped quarterly sales expectations helped by the 2 for $5 Mix and Match offer, sending shares higher. Amazon shares fell after the company reported its first profit miss in two years. The company also forecast lower income in the current quarter due to costs associated with one-day delivery. Shares of Google’s parent Alphabet’s shot higher after quarterly revenue and earnings came in far stronger than expected, easing growth concerns. Revenue rose 19 percent to $38.94 billion. Twitter shares jumped on better-than-expected second-quarter revenue, plus more users saw ads on the site. Almost 40 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings and so far the results are better than expected, with three-quarters beating profit forecasts and nearly two-thirds topping revenue estimates. A deal that had been talked about this week was finally made official as Apple purchased the majority of Intel Corp.’s modem business in a deal valued at $1 billion. Oil prices rose on Friday and were on track for a weekly increase. U.S. crude is heading toward a weekly gain of 1.1 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.07 percent, and the price of crude oil rose 0.36 percent to $56.22 per barrel.

Great news in this Trump economy going into the weekend!!     🙂

National Ice Cream Day: Why we celebrate, and where to get the day’s best deals

I scream, you scream, we’re all screaming for National Ice Cream Day. Whether you prefer to jump for joy or silently savor the dessert, bringing people together is what ice cream is all about, according to Carla Noboa, the owner and founder of BIVE Ice Cream Shop in New York City. “I feel that ice cream is a way to make people happy and a to-go product that consumers are wanting as a dessert and treat to share with others,” said Noboa, who shared her passion for the delectable dessert with Fox News — and helped to deliver the scoop (pun intended) on the day dedicated to ice cream. National Ice Cream Day was first recognized by President Ronald Reagan, but it was never meant to be celebrated annually. “National Ice Cream Day was only supposed to be one day — in fact, Ronald Reagan actually signed a resolution to make National Ice Cream Day on July 15, 1984,” explained Noboa. “Despite the resolution only mentioning that specific day in 1984, Americans love ice cream and continued to celebrate it every year on the third Sunday in July.” But while President Reagan put a day dedicated to ice cream in the history books, he was not the first president to enjoy the sweet dessert. “George Washington apparently loved ice cream, and in one summer, he literally spent $200 on ice cream,” Noboa said. Unfortunately, however, America’s first president did not get to enjoy his ice cream in a cone, largely because the ice cream cone wasn’t invented until 1904. “Ernest Hamwi, who participated in the St. Louis World’s Fair, had a waffle booth next to an ice cream seller,” explained Noboa. “The ice-cream seller ran out of dishes, so Hamwi actually rolled a waffle to hold his neighbor’s ice-cream and then the cone was born.”

For more, and to see some ice cream deals today, click on the text above.  Happy National Ice Cream Day!!     🙂

Greg Gutfeld: Sanders campaign staff wage complaints expose ‘socialist millionaire’ as ‘hypocrite’

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., routinely slams corporate executives and makes calls for wage hikes, a stance that comes across as hypocritical thanks to a new report, according to Greg Gutfeld. The self-described democratic socialist is reportedly taking heat from campaign staffers upset they are being paid “poverty wages” and not the $15 per hour that is a hallmark of the Sanders campaign, Gutfeld claimed Friday on “The Five.” “He is, just by existing, a hypocrite,” he said. “He’s a socialist millionaire with three homes. Wealth is good for him but not for others.” Sanders reportedly has a net worth of about $700,000, but has made more than $1 million annually in recent years. He and his wife Jane own a house in Burlington, Vt., he purchased a $575,000 lakefront property in the Green Mountain State in 2016, and the couple owns a 19th-century townhouse in the District of Columbia. On “The Five,” Gutfeld said it is important that Sanders, “appl[y] the damaging policies that he wants to do to Americans onto his staff.” “But why won’t he?” he asked. “Because he knows when you raise wages… you have to reduce the number of jobs because ‘the pie’ doesn’t grow. “The purpose of the minimum wage is it’s the first rung on the employment ladder. The problem with the left is… they see the first rung as the last rung because they’re not economically competent.” In recent weeks, Sanders has called for a $15 per hour minimum wage on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and at campaign rallies in Rock Hill, S.C. and in Augusta, Ga. Adding to Gutfeld’s remarks, host Juan Williams claimed the wages Sanders staffers are making average out to $13 per hour. The staff is also unionized, Williams said.

Greg is definitely right..  Regardless of your personal politics, or party affiliation, Bernie is clearly a spectacular hypocrite.  But, then again, so are most socialist leaders.  They’ll want to impose their failed economic/political system on everyone, but themselves.  Socialism keeps people in mediocrity, except those at the very top who are millionaires (some even billionaires) with multiple mansions and so on.  And, that’s been true throughout history.  Bernie is just the most glaring, brazen example in American politics.  Kudos to Greg for calling out that self-righteous hypocrite on his bs.  For more, click on the text above.

Ben Carson defends Trump amid feud with House Dems: ‘He’s not a racist’

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson defended President Trump from charges of racism Wednesday, saying the Commander-in-Chief is not a racist and loves his country. “I have an advantage of knowing the president very well, and he’s not a racist and his comments are not racist,” Carson said on “America’s Newsroom.” “But he loves the country very much and, you know, he has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well.” The former neurosurgeon was referring to Trump’s Sunday Twitter spat with the four progressive House Democrats known as “the squad.” Trump didn’t directly refer to them by name at first, but it quickly became apparent he was targeting Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rashida Tlaib D-Mich., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. Carson said Trump’s policies speak for themselves and have lifted minorities out of poverty by expanding employment opportunities and providing affordable housing. He also said a racist wouldn’t be interested in helping poor, minority communities whatsoever. “Look at his policies, you know, under this president you see the rising tide lifting all boats. You see low unemployment … record-low for blacks, for Hispanics … for all the demographics of our nation,” he said. The former presidential candidate touted the administration’s support for “opportunity zones,” which he spoke about alongside Trump at a cabinet meeting Tuesday. “What’s happening in some of these places is just astonishing. And talking to some of those people there … they say I didn´t think this could ever happen,” said Carson. “And just a couple of weeks ago, the president signed an executive order establishing a council on eliminating the barriers to affordable housing. Who’s going to benefit from that? So when you have somebody who’s spending this much time and this much effort, trying to elevate those who are vulnerable and who are suffering in our society — I think we should pay a lot more attention to what they are doing than what anybody is saying.” Carson also decried the idea of victimhood and said the beauty of America is the ability to overcome financial struggles to rise up and be the best you can be. “I have to look at my own situation, born and growing up in dire poverty with a lot negativity around me, but also, recognizing that I lived in a place where, you know, through the help of my mother, who helped me to realize that I wasn’t a victim, that I had access to all kinds of things. And [I] was able to go on, become a neurosurgeon, now a cabinet member, and these are things that we want people to recognize in our nation and that’s why we want to create opportunities for them,” he said. “All the policies that we’re now espousing deal with creating self-sufficiency in people and in those people who cannot become self-sufficient, making sure that we take care of them in the most efficient and effective manner.”

A very salient detail left out of this article is the fact that Sec. Carson is black.  For those of you who didn’t know that, go back and re-read what he just said about President Trump with that detail in mind.

19 MS-13 gang members indicted in ‘medieval-style’ California slayings were in country illegally, officials say

Nearly all of the members and associates of an MS-13 gang charged in the “medieval-style” slayings of seven people in California were in the country illegally, officials said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles charged 22 people linked to a subset of the vicious gang that’s known as the Fulton clique, members of which are suspected in nearly 200 crimes in several states over 9 years, according to a federal indictment released Tuesday. “We have now taken off the streets nearly two dozen people associated with the most violent arm of MS-13 in Los Angeles,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said. Of the 22 defendants, 19 had entered the country illegally in the past three or four years, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Federal prosecutors allege the suspects operated in the San Fernando Valley, an area that recently absorbed an influx of young immigrants from Central America. “Under the influence of these young gangsters, younger associates who wanted to become members of MS-13 were ‘required to kill an MS-13 rival or someone perceived to be adverse to MS-13 to be initiated into MS-13,’ according to the indictment,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. “In Los Angeles, a clique added new members through an initiation ritual known as ‘jumping in,’ during which several existing MS-13 members beat up a prospective MS-13 member for 13 seconds while the shot caller counted aloud for 13 seconds,” the indictment read. “Beginning in 2017 in Los Angeles, MS-13 members who identified with ‘503’ had been required” to murder a rival or other enemy of the group. Authorities said “503” represents the sub-group of MS-13 and is the telephone country code for El Salvador. The brutality involved in some of the alleged killings was also disclosed in graphic detail by authorities. Four of the killings took place in Angeles National Forest. The slayings were carried out using machetes, bats and knives, according to the indictment. In one case a member of a rival gang who had been believed to have defaced MS-13 graffiti was targeted and had his heart cut out of his chest, authorities said. On March 6, 2017, the victim, identified as “J.S.,” was driven to Angeles National Forest, where six MS-13 gang members attacked him with a machete, killing him, the indictment claimed. “The victim was dismembered and his body parts were thrown into a canyon after one of the defendants allegedly cut the heart out of the victim’s body,” a news release from Hanna’s office said. “Taking violent offenders off the street should send a message to MS-13 members and their associates that medieval-style violence and senseless murder will not be tolerated in Los Angeles,” said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office. Hanna released photos showing MS-13 members displaying a machete, gang signs and guns in various poses. Sixteen of the 22 people indicted are charged in connection with six slayings, which officials said were so “heinous, cruel or depraved” that the defendants are eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek capital punishment, however. All 22 of the alleged MS-13 members and associates are in custody. Eighteen had been apprehended during the last year on a range of federal and state charges, authorities said. Three were arrested in recent days in the Los Angeles area by a task force that included FBI agents, Los Angeles police officers and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. Another alleged MS-13 affiliate was arrested over the weekend in Oklahoma. Authorities also filed two more cases under seal against juvenile defendants in federal court. “The collaborative law enforcement effort solved several murder cases and dealt a severe blow to members of the gang who engaged in acts of brutality not seen in the region for over 20 years,” Hanna said.

So, to recap..  19 of these 22 animals were here illegally; illegal aliens.  Keep that in mind the next time you hear some bleeding heart Dem say how cruel it is for us to be securing the border and deporting criminal aliens.

Gutfeld on Trump’s tweets

Did you hear? President Trump tweeted. The tweets are being called racist because Trump told critics of the United States to go back to their country. Now those critics are holding a press conference to respond. Trump’s comment sounds bad, if you leave the rest of it out. He actually said, “Go back to your countries, fix the problems there — and then come back, and show us how you did it!” How many racists say “leave,” and then say, “please come back and help us?” Probably zero. But Trump messes with the media’s reading comprehension, so they only digest half. See, Trump’s mistake is to assume everyone sees the whole picture. Fact is, the media and Democrats wish him ill and read his tweets with ill-intent. The rest of us are left to explain it all. It’s like doing stand-up while your friends are sitting at the tables explaining your jokes. That’s where I step in — I read the whole thing. My summary? After he said “leave,” he said, “please come back!” If anything, it’s a challenge. But why quibble with context? Still, the president could work harder on the details. Like the fact that only one of the Squad is from somewhere else. Also, maybe don’t tweet about the Democrats while they’re eating each other alive? So, yeah, I could’ve worded the tweets better than Trump. But, unlike his critics, at least I could read them.

Hahaha!!  Greg, as usual, absolutely nails it here! The liberal media is SO gullible.  I agree with Greg that Trump’s timing probably wasn’t that good.  He should have waited til AFTER the 2020 election, and then if he wins re-election, THEN go after these idiots and say this sorta thing, and watch their heads explode.  As it is, the Dems are in a circular firing squad eating each other for lunch, and by Trump doing this, he gave them something to unit against.  But, nothing racist here, as Greg clearly shows.  More fake news from the dominantly liberal mainstream media.  Typical…  Greg Gutfeld currently serves as host of FOX News Channel’s (FNC) The Greg Gutfeld Show (Saturdays 10-11PM/ET) and co-host of The Five (weekdays 5-6PM/ET).   🙂

Swedes are getting implants in their hands to replace cash, credit cards

Thousands of people in Sweden are having futuristic microchips implanted into their skin to carry out everyday activities and replace credit cards and cash. More than 4,000 people have already had the sci-fi-ish chips, about the size of a grain of rice, inserted into their hands — with the pioneers predicting millions will soon join them as they hope to take it global. “It’s very ‘Black Mirror,’” Swedish scientist Ben Libberton told The Post of the similarity to the TV series highlighting futuristic scenarios. Like glorified smartwatches, the chips help Swedes monitor their health and even replace keycards to allow them to enter offices and buildings. They have particularly caught on, however, by enabling owners to pay in stores with a simple swipe of the hand, a big deal in a forward-looking country that is moving toward eliminating cash. The microchips were pioneered by former body piercer Jowan Österlund, who calls the technology a “moonshot” — and who told Fortune magazine that he’s been hit up by hopeful investors “on every continent except Antarctica.” “Tech will move into the body,” the Biohax International founder told the mag. “I am sure of that.” Österlund insists the technology is safe — but that has not stopped alarm bells from ringing, with some fearing a link to a doubling in cybercrime in the country over the last decade. Libberton, a British scientist based in Sweden, praised the “definitely exciting” potential health benefits of accurate health metrics taken from inside the body. “Think if the Apple Watch could measure things like blood glucose,” he told The Post. But he also fears the mass of highly personalized data and how it could be used. “The problem is, who owns this data?” he asked. “Do I get a letter from my insurance company saying premiums are going up before I know I’m ill? If I use the chip to buy lunch, go to the gym and go to work, will someone have all of this info about me? Is this stored and is it safe?” Libberton added, “It’s not just about the chip, but integration with other systems and data sharing.” And he fears Swedes are not giving enough thought to the potential dangers. “People have shown they’re happy to give up privacy for convenience,” he said. “The chip is very convenient, so could we accept our data being shared very widely before we know the risks?” The trend coincides with Sweden’s march toward going cashless, with notes and coins making up just 1 percent of Sweden’s economy. At the same time, the country has seen a dramatic decrease in some crimes — with just two bank robberies last year compared to 110 in 2008.

Look for this to come to America at some point..  But, hopefully not anytime soon.  Don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of this on oh so many levels.  There are the security and privacy concerns.  But, also..  How about big brother?!?  Way too many risks.  I guess let the Swedes be the guinea pig on this one for now..