Today is the 65th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s death in 1948. 

Gandhi is in the top three people that I adore the most. I know everybody is familiar with Gandhi and his work, so I won’t insult you with an overview of his life. Instead, I am just going to post my favorite of his quotes: 

1. Man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.

2. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

3. Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men. 

4. It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.

5. What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

He is one of the most influential and inspiration people in history. When he was a lawyer in South Africa, he was thrown from a train (though he had a first class ticket) because Indians were seen as less than human. Despite spending 20 years in a hostile environment, or perhaps due to it, he was well known for his opposition to violence. He preached tolerance, acceptance, and love.

I took a moment tonight to remember him and his work, and to be grateful that he was in the world to begin with. 

Who is your favorite historical person?

Ok Xanga, time to make something awesome. The world needs you to stop being boring.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I love corny jokes! The cheesier the better! Here’s my favorite.

Two muffins are sitting in the oven. The first muffin reaches up, wipes the sweat from his brow, and says, “Can you believe how hot it is in here?” 

The other muffin is silent, slowly turns to the first, and exclaims, “Holy Shit! A talking muffin!!!”

I am laughing just telling it again. 

What are you favorite jokes?

Hence gout and stone afflict the human race;
Hence lazy jaundice with her saffron face;
Palsy, with shaking head and tott’ring knees.
And bloated dropsy, the staunch sot’s disease;
Consumption, pale, with keen but hollow eye,
And sharpened feature, shew’d that death was nigh.
The feeble offspring curse their crazy sires,
And, tainted from his birth, the youth expires.
(Description of lead poisoning by an anonymous Roman hermit)

Lead poisoning is nothing new. The Romans knew the direct effects of lead was madness and death, so they reserved such debilitating and backbreaking labor for slaves. They certainly weren’t going to give up the face powders they loved, nor the spermicide, chastity belts, wine preservatives, coins and dishes. The flaw in their theory was the same as the flaw in our theory, that madness and death were the ultimate result of lead poisoning. Nobody was aware of the neurotoxin that suppresses serotonin in people with high lead levels in their blood and creates behavior and intelligence disorders.   

In December 1921, Thomas Midgeley began touting this lead compound as the virtual savior of the American automobile industry. This development ended the knocking in engines and opened the door for new, high power internal combustion engines. These engines won World War II and the US dominated the auto industry until the early 70s.  Unfortunately, he was also responsible for more deaths and environmental destruction than any other human being in history. Ironically, he died of his own inventions, but I will talk about him more in another post.

Everybody has been pointing me to these articles, and I have had a great time digging through the academic journals and write ups, but there was too much information to narrow into a single post, a single answer. This post will be a very small summation of what I have found. 

Lead is one of the most useful metals we have, which makes it economically difficult to eliminate it altogether. As early as the 1850s here in America, doctors were warning against madness and death that comes from lead poisoning. This is what they knew lead poisoning would do:

1. Madness

2. Coma

3. Death

4. Convulsions

5. Abdominal pain

6. Renal failure

Thanks to the studies of Dr. Herbert Needleman, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, we now know the effects also include:

1. Suppression of serotonin

2. Impulsive behavior

3. Difficulty with attention span

4. Learning disorders

5. Lower IQ

6. Aggression

Lead poisoning can happen to anyone, but children are the most at risk. Children are putting things in their mouths, have developing brains and a capacity to absorb lead much more quickly. The damage of lead poisoning can’t be reversed, but they can be treated. 

Here’s how people get lead poisoning:

1. Breathing dust with lead,

2. Drinking from plumbing that uses lead in the pipes,

3. Working in an area that exposes you to lead dust; ie: welding, jewelry making, building demolition,

4. Ingesting lead based paint.

Here is the part you really want to know. How does this correlate with violent behavior?

There have been multiple studies on the level of lead in youth’s bones and their violent and criminal behavior. Every study came up with the very same result – the higher the level of lead, the higher the level of aggression and violence, and the lower the IQ. 

In the 70s, lead was removed from gasoline, lowering the air pollution. Coincidentally, Roe vs. Wade was also in 1973. Violent crime among young people climbed and climbed through the 70s and 80s, and it was predicted the 90s would continue showing violent crime by young people in epic proportions. Contrary to the doomsday warnings of the sociologists – crime dropped, and dropped rapidly. Former Mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani credited his “get tough” administration. Freakonomics credited abortion for reducing unwanted children. Now economists and sociologists are suggesting the reduction of lead in the environment. 

“In 2001, scientists Paul Stretesky and Michael Lynch used federal Environmental Protection Agency data from 1990 that measured lead levels in the air in 3,111 counties across the United States. Comparing the data to the homicide rates for the same counties, Stretesky and Lynch found that the counties with the highest rate of lead-air pollution had four times as many homicides than the counties with the lowest. While Stretesky and Lynch concluded that their study could not make a direct causal link between lead and violence (counties containing or near large cities are more likely to have more lead-air pollution and more homicides anyway), the results supported “recent findings that there is an association between lead exposure and violent behavior.”

 ”The percentage of children with blood-lead levels greater than or equal to 10 micrograms per deciliter declined from 88 percent to 9 percent. In New York City, before the US lead phaseout began, 30,000 out of 100,000 New York City children tested had elevated lead levels; after the phaseout was complete, it was only 1,500 of 100,000 who had such high levels.”

Of course, socioeconomic variables were also difficult to gauge. The most common people who raised children in urban areas with homes likely to contain lead based paint were single mothers who live in poverty. This repeats common stereotypes about criminal behaviors: 

“There are about 19 million children in the U.S. between the
ages of 1 and 5. Of these, 4.9 million (25.6%) have blood lead
levels of 5 mcg/deciliter or higher. Among African-American
children, 46.8% have 5 or more mcg/deciliter. Among Hispanic
children, 27.9% have 5 mcg/deciliter or higher. Among whites,
18.7% have 5 mcg/deciliter or higher. These data were published
in 2003, but they were gathered during the most recent
available survey, 1988-1994.[16,17]“

The good news is this: As time goes on, there will be fewer opportunities to be exposed to lead poisoning. 

The worst news is this: People have been warning against lead poisoning since the 1800s, and it was never an economically viable choice to focus on prevention. None of this had to happen to begin with.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/lead081004.cfm

http://www.precaution.org/lib/covanta_41.pdf

http://www.leadlawsuits.com/index.php?s=699

http://www3.amherst.edu/~jwreyes/papers/LeadBehavior.pdf

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=190628#qundefined

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline

http://pic.plover.com/Nevin/Nevin2007.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/lead.html

 http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline

Today is my Xangaversary – I have been a blogger for a year now~

I am working on two posts, but I haven’t completed either one. The first is about lead poisoning linked to violence and Thomas Midgely, the inventor of leaded fuel and responsible for more deaths than any single person in history, the other is about the end of the Industrial Age and what the new era of human productivity is… Then I realized this – I am BORING!

I may just drink beer and play Small World with Corey tonight to celebrate.

Hope you all have a terrific weekend, it’s been a great year!

This was originally a post for the other site, but I thought it would be useful for my Xanga friends, too. (Sans shameless plug!) 

Necessity is the mother of invention. 

The Great Recession brought out the entrepreneurs in droves. People have been finding their own way in the world rather than relying on the workplace to provide for them. 

One of the hardest parts of chasing a dream or making a business come to life is financing. Financing is especially difficult in the arts arena, with many artists not having the business experience to inspire faith and financial support from their hometown bank.

Hence, the birth of Kickstarter in 2009. Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects, not an avenue to cover start up costs associated with starting a new business. These projects include publishing, film, music, games, technology, theater, software, dance, design, fashion, and photography.

In our experience, the most reassuring part of being a backer is the Zero Risk Model. If the project fails to reach its funding goals, we aren’t charged anything. The most gratifying part of being a backer is watching new creative projects succeed and being on the ground floor. The rewards are a perk, but being part of making someone’s dream come true is why we do it. 

Since Kickstarter’s inception, more than 30,000 projects have been backed with more than 2.5 million people. Music has had the most projects funded, followed by film, then art.. Overall, a total of 44 percent of all Kickstarter projects have been funded. According to the Huffington Post, only 13 percent of small business loans were approved at 100 percent last year. 

What we are seeing is a shift from financing to alternate ways of fund raising. Etsy is an avenue where artists can promote and sell their products. Crowdfunding sites (such as Rockethub, Kickstarter and Indigogo) are avenues of funds and support for launching a project on a backer level, but may grow to more with the JOBs law being passed last April (and still being worked out). Industry leaders are stepping up with new start-ups loans and coaching, such as Samuel Adams Brewing company.

The shift in funding alternatives are offering hope. Now entrepreneurs, dreamers, and people venturing out on their own have support and different avenues to find success. The banks no longer have the final word, and as long as you can find an interest in your project and a pool of people who will support you, you can chase your dream. 

There are also a plethora of coaching and support options when beginning your project. In our case, we found a site and a podcast called “Funding the Dream” hosted by Richard Bliss. He is very specialized and focuses solely on crowdfunding projects, and he has provided a wealth of information for us. 

 It seems coincidental to me that these Crowdfunding avenues are newly available after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Muhammad Yunus in 2006 for his work in Bangladesh and his pioneer work in micro-credit and micro-financing. Whether his work inspired these new avenues or not, I would still like to recognize and appreciate him. It’s rare that an economist is recognized for humanitarian work, but it shouldn’t be.

Whatever your dream, there’s likely a way to chase it with one of the above resources. If there is nothing available that meets your specific needs, I bet there will be shortly. 

@Plantinthewindow- This would be a great way to launch a book of your photography.

@Kellsbella – There’s an avenue for theater (or theatre, if you prefer) projects.

@GodFatherofGreenbay – Podcast? Wanna? 

@Unstoppable_Inner_Strength – CD? 

Anybody else?

Manti Te’o, star linebacker for Notre Dame, fell in love with a beautiful Hawaiian woman named Lennay Kekua. He met her at Stanford and  was so taken in by her they continued a long distance relationship. They talked everyday and their relationship grew into something serious. They met each other’s families and Te’o would talk to them and text as much as his own family.

Unfortunately, Kekua was diagnosed with Leukemia.  Te’o spent even more time on the phone with her, being supportive.

“I talked to my girlfriend every single day,” Te’o told Themel. “I slept on the phone with her every single day. When she was going through chemo, she would have all these pains and the doctors were saying they were trying to give her medicine to make her sleep. She still couldn’t sleep. She would say, ‘Just call my boyfriend and have him on the phone with me, and I can sleep.’ I slept on the phone with her every single night.”

Te’o girlfriend died right before the season started. He played his heart out for Notre Dame all year long, grieving the girl he loved in Hawaii. He carried those stories through the season, gaining national attention alongside Notre Dame’s undefeated season. Unfortunately, Lennay isn’t real, and never was. 

Now, I don’t know if this was an elaborate hoax as he claims or not. He claims it was an elaborate, multi-character prank that went on for years on him. Part of me wants to believe that, but some things just point the other direction. He never went to see her in the hospital. He never attended a funeral. He lied to everybody, stating they had actually met in person.

The whole scandal makes me grateful for Britt, (Flight of the Conchords). He openly addresses the issues faced with having an imaginary wife and children, such as rogue unicorns. 

What do you think? Imaginary girlfriend or elaborate hoax on an innocent victim?

I have tried so very hard to stay out of the gun control argument for many reasons – primarily because I am so divided myself. I am evenly split on which way I lean. Another reason I have stayed out of the discussion is because I have friends whom I adore on both sides, seeing them fight on my page will make me insane. But I feel like I need to express my opinions, as I want to make sure everyone knows where I am coming from so they don’t think I am taking their side or their opposition’s side. Here is how my thinking works, you can see it goes back and forth.

1. The gun related homicides in America are higher than any other developed country, with 3.2 gun related intentional homicides per 100,000 people. Canada has .5.

2. America’s overall homicide rate is 5.22 percent whereas the global average is 6.9 percent. That may be a little misleading (though factual) because the homicide rates are so high in some areas that it swings the numbers. 

3. In the US, there are 88.8 civilian guns per 100 people. That’s nearly a gun for every person. If we were going to support a ban, how would we collect all the firearms?

4. If we start collecting firearms now, and that is the right decision, maybe in 30 years the streets will be safer and guns harder to access. Maybe my grandkids will be safer.

5. Prohibition has proven to fail at every turn.

6. Those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat it. I read a blog today that illustrated methodical exterminations on a large scale once the country was disarmed. Now, I know there is controversy around that due to circumstances, timeline, etc. But, as I mentioned there, the only story I know to be completely true about the US government disarming people is the Battle of Wounded Knee. The government went in to disarm, something went wrong, nearly 300 men, women and children were massacred. Remember, this isn’t the only bloody battle during the Indian wars and technically, the Indians were not considered citizens. That doesn’t prevent the hair on my neck from standing up when I think of it.

7. Children die every single day from firearm homicide. Not just in schools, but from drive by shootings, parents who are depressed or trying to hurt the other spouse, from other kids throwing tantrums who don’t understand the permanence of their decision. Everyday we lose our babies to people losing control of their emotions and having access to guns.

8. We are living in a time called The Great Peace, and from a historical perspective, violence has never been lower in developed nations.

9. Gun control laws will further divide the country, red and blue, and stirrings of discontent in citizens may grow to extremes. It would also cause much more dissent in Congress preventing progress in other areas, such as mending the rift that has taken over our nation.

10. What changes if we do nothing about gun control? Nothing. Is that acceptable?

So, as you can see, my schizophrenic mind is making me crazy with this. I cannot avoid all the debates, they are everywhere I look and everywhere I listen. At least now you can see where my divide is, my confusion, and I bet that I am not the only one that is in between. I am pretty sure there are other people who are undecided as well.

Remember, on my page, you can say whatever you like about me and my ideas. You can argue ideas and politics until you are blue in the face. But if you start attacking one another I am going to kick you out, regardless of how much I love you.

Do you have any ideas how we can work together, both sides, and come up with any answers? I want to be part of the solution, but I have no idea what it is. What are your suggestions? 

Don’t be one. It’s Friday.

I hope to come post something of quality tonight, if not, I leave you with Sad Pony! 

Hi guys! Most of you know that my husband is starting a new job speaking about educational gaming and using technology and gaming as an educational tool, but to do this he has to have a presence in both the education and the gamer world. Long story short, he created a card game and launched it on Kickstarter last week. As I am not the gaming guru he is, I have not been terribly involved with this project until now – and now he needs help getting the word out so this can be funded for him. 

Because of this, I am blogging on WordPress about the project and the ups and downs of launching a new business in an effort to find people interested in the game, and if not interested in the game, interested in a stumbling Kickstarter project. That doesn’t mean I will be there forever, Xanga is my home. I do need to focus on finding readers and a following there, however, to support my distraught husband and get the word out, grassroots style.

So, please don’t think I am abandoning ship for other blog sites, I promise this is only temporary. I will come post about something more fun when I absolutely can’t stand missing Xanga anymore and this project either sinks or swims. 

For those of you with a wordpress account, please add me. It would be nice to see some familiar, friendly faces. 

http://scribelifegames.wordpress.com/

For any gamers out there, here is a shameless plug and link to his Kickstarter campaign. If you aren’t a gamer (which few of you are) pass it on to anyone who you know that would like to play Goblin Pit Fight.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1284196867/goblin-pit-fight

I will check back here every few days or week or so to see what you are all up to. Thanks for being a home base for me!