Optical illusion crane

For the past few weeks, workers have assembled, used and dismantled a large crane across the street from my office building in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Several of the attorneys at my office have found ourselves checking on the crane several times a day. A reason I find it interesting is that it seems like it is too big and heavy to lifted from the fulcrum next to the cab--it's a naturally occurring optical illusion. When it was laid out on the ground, the crane was considerably more than a block long. Only when one walks close to the crane can one appreciate the mass and thickness of the metal and the steel cables of the crane. Even the turnbuckle (if that is the right word) looks like it weighs many hundred of pounds. Somehow, though, the crane was able to lift off the ground, and then, once it's in the air, it was capable of carrying extremely heavy looking equipment to the roof of the building across the street. Just for fun, I'm sharing a few of the images of the crane. Click on the images to enlarge them.

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James Randi puts spotlight on five promoters of nonsense

The James Randi Educational Foundation has "honored" what it terms to be the "Five Worst Promoters of Nonsense" for the past year. Among the honorees is CVS Pharmacy:

for their work to support the manufacturers of scam “homeopathic” medications who sell up to $870 million a year in quack remedies to U.S. consumers. Homeopathic remedies contain none of the active ingredient they claim, and homeopathy has been shown to be useless in randomized clinical trials. CVS/pharmacy sells these quack products in thousands of stores across the U.S., right alongside real medicine, with no warning to consumers. Instead of giving their customers the facts about homeopathy, CVS/pharmacy executives are cashing in themselves by offering their own store-brand of the popular homeopathic product oscillococcinum. Oscillococcinum is made by grinding up the liver of a duck, putting none of it onto tiny sugar pills—that’s right, none of it—and then advertising the plain sugar pills as an effective treatment for flu symptoms.

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Transparent President award given behind closed doors

This week, President Obama "received an award from transparency and good-government advocates in a closed-door Oval Office meeting that wasn’t on his public schedule — a snub that’s angering the folks who met with him." This story was reported by Ed O'Keefe at Federal Eye. O'Keefe reports that some groups "believe Obama has done more in two years than any of his predecessors did to open wide the often-closed doors of government." For instance, President Obama publishes his daily schedule. Despite various actions take by Mr. Obama to open up the federal government, he has nonetheless caused concerns with other actions he has taken. And see here.

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Farmers preemptively sue Monsanto

Monsanto is notorious for suing farmers whose fields have been contaminated by patented Monsanto seed blowing over onto their fields. This infuriating issue was discussed in the documentary, Food, Inc. Now a group of farmers is collectively fighting back, suing Monsanto to protect themselves from being sued by Monsanto. The issue has been reported by the Cornucopia Institute:

This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto’s transgenic seed or pollen should land on their property,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s [Public Patent Foundation]. Executive Director. “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.
What is the Cornucopia Institute?
The Cornucopia Institute will engage in educational activities supporting the ecological principles and economic wisdom underlying sustainable and organic agriculture. Through research and investigations on agricultural issues, The Cornucopia Institute will provide needed information to consumers, family farmers, and the media.

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