Pence, Oh So Awkward.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) gets a haircut in Norristown, Pennsylvania on Aug. 23, 2016. (CNN).

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) gets a haircut in Norristown, Pennsylvania on Aug. 23, 2016. (CNN).

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) isn’t that recognizable outside of his home state, going by his stop for a haircut in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

According to Philadelphia Magazine, Pence went to Jones Barber & Hairstyles for a haircut, a visit that was captured on video by CNN. After discussing football, among other subjects, Pence steps out of the chair calling the haircut “perfect.”

“It’s been a pleasure, young man,” the barber replies. “Now, your name?”

“Mike Pence,” the vice-presidential candidate explains. The barber repeats Pence’s name without suggesting he recognizes it.

“Governor of the state of Indiana. I’m running for vice-president of the United States,” Pence explains, prompting surprise from the barber.

There’s video at the link. Via Raw Story. Seriously, these old white men need to stop trying to court the vote of People of Colour, it’s not only awkward, it’s downright embarrassing.

Stockpiling Piss.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock

The Intercept directs our attention to a Bloomberg report from earlier this year that reveals Robert Mercer — a hedge fund manager who is also a major funder of a pro-Trump Super PAC — has been funding the creation of a massive stockpile of human urine in Oregon.

The urine is being collected by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, a research outfit founded by Arthur Robinson, a chemist who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2010 with financial help from the Mercer family. So far, Robinson and his institute have collected and 14,000 frozen samples of human urine.

What is Robinson’s interest in urine?

It seems that he believes that analyzing urine with an expensive piece of equipment called a mass spectrometer will be able to help him predict patients’ future likelihood of contracting diseases, thus creating a whole new era in the realm of preventative medicine.

“He’ll use the spectrometer to decode the chemical patterns in urine, the red flags that warn of disease before it strikes,” Bloomberg writes. “The human life span will stretch. It’s hard to judge the credibility of his claims; although he earned a Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego in the 1960s, he hasn’t published peer-reviewed research on diagnostic medicine in decades.”

Despite the fact that Robinson hasn’t produced any recent peer-reviewed research, Mercer has spent $1.4 million funding this gigantic urine storage center.

Blood transfusions, miracle pee! Oh all the things the super rich think will magically extend life. Given the intense fright and paranoia all that wealth seems to engender, I’m glad I’m not rolling in money. Not that I wouldn’t mind having a bit more, life’s rough when you’re prone to outbreaks of stone brokeness. That said, I think all around, I’m a whole lot happier, enjoying life moment by moment and day by day, rather than constantly fretting how I can stick around longer, so no one can get my money, power, or privilege. Strikes me as a miserable way to live.

Via Raw Story.

Never Broken.

Truth.

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Shrooms!

Beautiful shrooms, from Kestrel. Click for full size.

This is the quintessential mushroom, Amanita muscaria.

This is the quintessential mushroom, Amanita muscaria.

Who is that hiding in the kinnikinnick? Oh look! It’s Suillus sibericus! Not all mushrooms have gills. Suillus are what’s called a bolete, and instead of gills they have tubes neatly stacked together.

Who is that hiding in the kinnikinnick? Oh look! It’s Suillus sibericus! Not all mushrooms have gills. Suillus are what’s called a bolete, and instead of gills they have tubes neatly stacked together.

Suillus sibericus.

Suillus sibericus.

Pleurotus ostreatus. This entire log was covered. It was amazing to see such a large fruiting. I took a photo of only one small clump.

Pleurotus ostreatus. This entire log was covered. It was amazing to see such a large fruiting. I took a photo of only one small clump.

© Kestrel, all rights reserved.

Reno Nevada: Action Alert.

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Trigger Happy Cops? Yes.

Indianapolis police shoot homeowner (Vic Ryckaert/Twitter).

Indianapolis police shoot homeowner (Vic Ryckaert/Twitter).

Officers were called shortly after 4:30 a.m. to a robbery call at a home in the Warren Woods neighborhood, reported the Indianapolis Star.

The homeowner opened his garage door when officers arrived, and they found him standing inside armed with a gun.

Police shot the man at least once in the midsection, believing he was the robbery suspect.

They soon realized their error, after initially reporting the suspect had been shot, and the man remains in serious condition at an area hospital.

Police learned the homeowner’s wife had arrived home from a work a short time earlier and was held up at gunpoint by a robber who then took her car keys.

The robber was unable to start the car and then fled on foot, but not before the couple reported the attempted carjacking.

The suspect remains at large.

Other residents of the neighborhood, which is 59 percent black according to U.S. Census records, said the shooting was outrageous.

“I think that’s really crazy,” said resident Angela Parrott, who has lived in the neighborhood for about a year. “What do we have, trigger-happy police officers out here now?”

The homeowner’s name has not yet been released, and police said the shooting remains under investigation and will be presented before a grand jury.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with him and the rest of the family,” said Randal Taylor, the assistant chief of investigations for Indianapolis police. “Just an unfortunate occurrence.”

No. No Mr. Taylor, this was not an unfortunate occurrence. An unfortunate occurrence is something like dropping your keys in a deep puddle of mud, when you’re running late and dressed up. Shooting someone in the abdomen? That’s intentional. It’s also bloody stupid, because the way cops are trained to act is bloody stupid too. You cops know damn well that just about every person in uStates is armed, you know that very well, given the sheer amount of cops who are against gun control, so cops going on autoshoot is especially stupid. Stupid isn’t strong enough. Words, need better, newer words for the depth of this ongoing malicious paranoia. What happened to “drop your weapon” before opening fire? Is that passé now? What about all that chemical spray, tasers, all that stuff? It would seem that every cop out there has decided to go full on scaredy pants and just open fire on anything and anyone.

Oh, I know the answer, pick me! The answer is 59 percent black.

Via Raw Story.

Sadness.

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Los Angeles: Action Alert.

If you’re in the LA area and can make this, please, please do! Get in the face of mainstream media, ask why we aren’t worth news? We promote protection, peace, responsibility for and allegiance to our earth, the water that is our life, and the protection of all the lives which go forward from here, all the children, all the grandchildren. If we do not stand, if we do not resist, if we do not say no, then the black snake gets to devour us all, leaving us with a dying earth and poisoned water. We must not be resigned, we must care.

As for media, why is peaceful protection not worth a story? Why is an obligation to our earth boring? Why is a commitment to non-violence so non note-worthy? Why do Native lives never matter?

We can change this. Stand with us. Join us. Add your voice. Whatever can be done, please do it. We need everything. We need you.

Support Sacred Stone Camp. Legal Fund Help. Rezpect Our Water.  Sign the Petition. Sign urgent petition.

Tanka’s Mark Tilsen Speaks.

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Mark A. Tilsen, Sr., President, Native American Natural Foods.

We are proud to be able to share our Tanka Bars with true water warriors. I just got back from delivering another 5,700 Tanka Bars to the Standing Rock water protectors. Spending four days at the camp, you realize that we are at a historic moment!

The unity and deep commitment to peaceful, nonviolent protest and the respectful way in which people of many nations – native and non-native – are living together to form a solid resistance is a very moving and powerful statement from which I think we can all learn. While some have expressed a willingness to die to protect their communities, Tribal President Dave Archambault asked in a speech to the entire camp that the young people make a commitment to live! Fight and work for Native communities by being great fathers, mothers and grandmothers. He recognized that this fight is part of a long history to stop exploitation of the Standing Rock community and a new movement toward building a healthy, sustainable future. He expressed his love and appreciation for to every tribal member and supporter there.

President Archambault’s open expressions of love of his people was refreshing to hear from a politician and is in sharp contradiction to the governor and state government of North Dakota, which is completely controlled by the oil industry. The state pulled out all water and safety services without notice to the more than 2,000 people at the camp on a day when temperatures were hitting 100 degrees, and is preparing to remove the water protectors when given the first excuse!

The next 72 hours will be critical. Please read the following New York Times article and share it with your friends. Contact the White House, the Army Corps of Engineers and give donations of money, water, food or your talents to help.

Occupying the Prairie: Tensions Rise as Tribes Move to Block a Pipeline

Join us in saying it’s no longer OK to keep oppressing and threatening the Indian communities that we have and let us all stand together and support those who are leading the transition from a petroleum-dependent economy that is threatening our planet to a new economy that can provide true sustainability and full employment.

Other progressive natural foods companies who would like to join Native American Natural Foods, and over 80 tribes, organizations and other food companies from across the country help feed the over 2,000 water warriors at Standing Rock, send your full pallets to:

Water Defenders of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
Blg # 1 North standing Rock Ave
Fort Yates, ND 58538

If you are sending perishables or frozen products, please notify Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Executive Secretary Johnelle Leingang at 701-854-8524 or jleingang@standingrock.org

They have a major need for fresh fruits and vegetables but prepackaged healthy foods will be great as well.

Via the Tanka blog. Tanka’s products are absolutely delicious, by the way, all of them.

Support Sacred Stone Camp. Legal Fund Help. Rezpect Our Water.  Sign the Petition. Sign urgent petition. And Washington DC people, don’t forget – the hearing is tomorrow! Susan Sarandon has tweeted that she will be there, among many others.

New Orleans Snags 2017 All Star Game.

2017-all-star-game-x750

Nearly a month after the NBA announced that it would move the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, N.C., in the wake of the state’s anti-LGBT law, league leadership announced today that the game will take place in New Orleans.

CNN reports that the February 19 game will be played in New Orleans’s Smoothie King Center, marking the third time the Big Easy has hosted the All-Star Game.

“New Orleans is a world-class destination for sports and entertainment and we are very appreciative that the city is once again hosting our All-Star festivities,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement today. “We are grateful to Tom and Gayle Benson and the Pelicans organization and to Governor John Bel Edwards, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation for inviting us back for what promises to be another exciting and memorable celebration of the game.”

The news comes as tens of thousands of Louisiana residents work to rebuild after historic flooding that has destroyed an estimated 40,000 homes in the southern part of the state, killed at least 13 people, and prompted more than 86,000 to seek federal disaster assistance. The NBA and its National Basketball Players Association have promised to contribute financially to the recovery effort, in addition to volunteering time and resources during the weeks leading up to the game.

“Even in the midst of a historic crisis, I am excited that the NBA has recognized how great the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana are,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a Friday statement. “In Louisiana, one of the strongest bonds that unites all of us is our passion for sports. Not only will NBA fans be able to participate in the All-Star Game events, they will also be a part of our world-famous Mardi Gras festivities. The fan experience can’t get any better than that.”

Full Story at the Advocate.