Month: March 2015

1,000-year-old onion and garlic remedy kills antibiotic-resistant bugs

A 1,000-year-old Anglo-Saxon ‘eye salve’ made from onion, garlic, wine and part of a cow’s stomach has been shown to wipe out 90 percent
of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, otherwise known as MRSA. And it works better than modern antibiotics in both lab and mouse models.

The
9th Century ‘eye salve’ recipe was originally found in Bald’s Leechbook
– an old English manuscript held by the British Library.

It was translated from ancient Anglo-Saxon by researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK, in the hopes of finding new solutions to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance – which a recent report has predicted will kill 300 million people by 2050. But the team wasn’t expecting to find something so potent.

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brightwalldarkroom:

A young Christopher Walken—drawing on a childhood filled with tap-dance lessons and a background in musical theater—performs the strangest and most wonderful tap dance striptease lip-sync version of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Misbehave” that you’ll ever see, in Pennies from Heaven (1981), the last movie musical ever released by MGM. Walken plays Tom, the local pimp.

—-

“I consider Pennies From Heaven, the musical, as a turning point in my career. I’m very happy to have done that…I remember I dubbed my taps on the same little parquetry floor that Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor—all those people—used.”

—Christopher Walken

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

espanya:

since it is trans day of visibility, we should do more than just post selfies (and essentially copy blackout). today i will try to be posting resources, history, and transition stories. there’s nothing wrong with posting some selfies today, but please don’t make that the only thing we do today— this is a very important day, and is more than just selfies. blackout was a celebration of beauty our society often deems unworthy; trans day of visibility should be about making our community, history, and siblings known. 

a small list of resources for the moment: 

i will try to have more soon!! including stuff to good places to get things like binders and breast foams, clothes, make up, etc. 

lokislittlediva:

jossisgod:

the-haven-of-fiction:

a-n-g-i:

All four Tom as Indiana Jones manips in one post. =)

Individual posts: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Can we have Mr.Hiddleston as the young Dr.Jones Sr.?  Please?

Hell why not have Colin Firth play his dad?  Or bring Sean Connery back!  He is Scottish like Tom’s dad.  These are fantastic.  Tom would, I think, get a kick out of these.

OMG!!!! These are fantastic! The cartoon bubbles on “Raiders of Your Poor Heart” are the perfect touch. 

Why Is Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law Different From All Other Religious Freedom Laws?

The new state law has been publicly sold with the claim that it is “nothing new,” but shows every sign of having been carefully designed to put new obstacles in the path of equality.

…

There’s a factual dispute about the new Indiana law. It is called a “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” like the federal Religious
Freedom Restoration Act, passed in 1993.* Thus a number of its defenders have claimed it is really the same law. Here, for example, is the Weekly Standard’s John McCormack:
“Is there any difference between Indiana’s law and the federal law?
Nothing significant.” I am not sure what McCormack was thinking; but
even my old employer, The Washington Post, seems to believe that if a law has a similar title as another law, they must be identical. “Indiana is actually soon to be just one of 20 states with a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA,” the Post’s Hunter Schwarz wrote, linking to this map created by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The problem with this statement is that, well, it’s false. That
becomes clear when you read and compare those tedious state statutes.  
If you do that, you will find that the Indiana statute has two features
the federal RFRA—and most state RFRAs—do not. First, the Indiana law
explicitly allows any for-profit business to assert a right to “the free
exercise of religion.” The federal RFRA doesn’t contain such language,
and neither does any of the state RFRAs except South Carolina’s; in
fact, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, explicitly exclude for-profit businesses from the protection of their RFRAs.

The new Indiana statute also contains this odd language: “A
person whose exercise of religion has been substantially burdened, or is
likely to be substantially burdened, by a violation of this chapter may
assert the violation or impending violation as a claim or defense in a
judicial or administrative proceeding, regardless of whether the state or any other governmental entity is a party to the proceeding.” (My italics.) Neither the federal RFRA, nor 18 of the 19 state statutes cited by the Post, says anything like this; only the Texas RFRA, passed in 1999, contains similar language.

What these words mean is, first, that the Indiana statute
explicitly recognizes that a for-profit corporation has “free exercise”
rights matching those of individuals or churches. A lot of legal
thinkers thought that idea was outlandish until last year’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, in
which the Court’s five conservatives interpreted the federal RFRA to
give some corporate employers a religious veto over their employees’
statutory right to contraceptive coverage.

Second, the Indiana statute explicitly makes a business’s “free
exercise” right a defense against a private lawsuit by another person,
rather than simply against actions brought by government. Why does this
matter? Well, there’s a lot of evidence that the new wave of “religious
freedom” legislation was impelled, at least in part, by a panic over a
New Mexico state-court decision, Elane Photography v. Willock. In
that case, a same-sex couple sued a professional photography studio
that refused to photograph the couple’s wedding. New Mexico law bars
discrimination in “public accommodations” on the basis of sexual
orientation. The studio said that New Mexico’s RFRA nonetheless barred
the suit; but the state’s Supreme Court held that the RFRA did not apply
“because the government is not a party.”

Remarkably enough, soon after, language found its way into the
Indiana statute to make sure that no Indiana court could ever make a
similar decision.  Democrats also offered the Republican legislative
majority a chance to amend the new act to say that it did not permit businesses to discriminate; they voted that amendment down. 

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Why Is Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law Different From All Other Religious Freedom Laws?

knitmeapony:

“This is crap, Hardison.”

“I kinda like it.”  Parker turned the bronze medal over in her hands again; it wasn’t gold, but it was real metal and the weight of it was soothing. She glanced up at Eliot and tilted her head to one side.

Hardison adjusted his black leather jacket with an absolutely delighted grin. “C’mon, Eliot, you said you wanted a costume with dignity.  This has dignity.”

“This is a heavy wool coat in the middle of a thousand geeks,” Eliot returned, scowling at his reflection.  

“Look, man, I gave you lots of options.  First you said no superheroes, even though I would make an amazing Captain America….”

“… I’m not doin’ the thing with the arm.”

“I wanted a new costume,” Parker added.  “Black leather catsuit?  Please. I’m not going to wear work clothes all day.”

Eliot and Hardison had a moment of truce, meeting each other’s glance with a flicker of a grin. Work clothes.  “I love my job,” Hardison said under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.  Anyway,  you said no to Star Trek…”

“…it’s the principle of the thing…”

“… and also to Star Wars, even though Han/Leia/Lando is the unsung OT3 of that universe…”

“… he sent us links,” Parker said, solemnly.  “You wouldn’t even open them.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Eliot said again, crossing his arms.

"Right, right,” Hardison rolled his eyes.  “We’re running out of three-person costumes.  As long as you put your hair up under the hat we’re perfect.”

“Fine, whatever,” he said, and Parker beamed as she jumped up off the hotel bed and slung an arm around his shoulders.  “Let’s get this over with.”

Hardison pulled his screwdriver out of his pocket and aimed it at the door.  A soft buzz, and then the door clicked.  “See, the hotel has RFID keys in the doors so it can actually unlock them…”

“We’re inside the room, Hardison,”  Eliot jerked the door open and stormed out.  Parker linked her arm with Hardison’s and grinned.  “I like your sonic screwdriver,” she offered.

“Thanks, babe,” Hardison grinned warmly back.  “It is pretty fantastic.”