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Democrat convention organizers claim $500K of lost electronics. “Organizers of the Charlotte, N.C., convention have filed a police report for lost and stolen electronics, some of which they appear to have valued at as much as 62 times the listed market prices. A reportedly stolen 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop? $75,537. The price listed on the Apple website is $1,199. A lost iPhone? $30,503. A lost Blackberry? $54,250.” Leopards, spots, yada yada yada.

By now, everyone knows about the secret NSA program called PRISM, which allegedly allows the U.S. government to access user data on sites such as Facebook, Google and Yahoo. Internet users continue to be concerned about their privacy, but is there potentially a good side to all of this?

In this Sunday comic, our friends Nitrozac and Snaggy at The Joy of Tech show that maybe the NSA cares more about us than some of our friends. How ... sweet?

Comic illustration provided by The Joy of Tech. Published with permission; all rights reserved. Read more...

Looking for poutine in all the wrong places...or, at least you are if you're looking for it outside of Canada. If you do happen to live in Canada, you have your choice of tasty poutine dishes, including this Pizza Hutt cheesy beef poutine pizza topped with mozzarella, fries, gravy, beef and tomato sauce.

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Editor's note: Each Saturday morning we bring you a Sunday Brunch recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.

[Photograph: Sydney Oland]

This breakfast mash up takes basic skillet potatoes to the next level with some gooey soft-cooked eggs and melted cheese. Shredded cheddar gets tossed with the potatoes and onions and toasts along the bottom of the skillet, giving you plenty of golden brown cheese reminiscent of a crispy-edged grilled cheese that's oozed out onto the pan. Needless to say, if you're feeling a bit tender from last night's festivities, this will go a long way toward setting you straight.

Feel free to throw other things into this basic hash—chopped peppers, Brussels sprouts, or even spinach make great additions. And don't even get me started on bacon and sausage. Dot with hot sauce and some fresh sliced scallions, and brunch is on the table in about half an hour.

Get The Recipe!

Soft-Cooked Eggs on Cheesy Skillet Hash »

About the author: Sydney Oland lives in Somerville, Mass. Find more information at sydneyoland.com (or read eatingnosetotail.com)

American History has never been sexier!

[Source: Publius-Esquire / via Incredible Things]

What do Sarah Murnaghan and Obamacare have to do with each other?

If some political commentators are correct, the Sarah Murnaghan lung transplant saga might be a preview of Obamacare.

The Sarah Murnaghan lung transplant fight began with a 10-year-old girl with end stage cystic fibrosis. Sarah Murnaghan desperately needed a lung transplant in order to survive, but the government health laws stated that Sarah Murnaghan was one year too young to be on the waiting list for an adult lung, which was enforced by Kathleen Sebelius.

The Sarah Murnaghan and Obamacare comparison comes in because Kathleen Sebelius is being compared to the hypothetical Obamacare death panels. This idea comes from the belief that government-determined decisions on health care under Obamacare may determine who gets to live and who dies. Government officials of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which is designed to contain Medicare costs, are dismissive of claims of Obamacare death panels, but fears still remain of rationed health care and treatment denials.

Kathleen Sebelius made the Sarah Murnaghan, Obamacare connection when she pronounced death on Sarah Murnaghan by saying, “Some people live. Some people die.” Congress member Elijah Cummings said something similar, saying, “In life, there is death, and in death there is life. Death is a part of life.”

Represenative Lou Barletta (R-PA) told Kathleen Sebelius, “Time is running out, please suspend the rules until we look at this policy, which we all believe is flawed.” Sibelius responded,  “Forty people in your home state are waiting for a lung.” Fortunately, Sarah Murnaghan won in court and judge Michael Baylson suspended existing organ allocation rules to give Sarah Murnaghan a chance at life.

Critics of comparing the case of Sarah Murnaghan to Obamacare claim Kathleen Sebelius was correct in her decision because “adult lungs don’t fit well in children’s bodies, and that makes it hard to transplant them.” The IPAB is reportedly prohibited by law from making “any recommendation to ration health care … or otherwise restrict benefits.” They’re not supposed to make recommendations on individual cases, only on broad cutbacks and policy changes. Even if it does happen, Congress can overrule them.

Do you think the Sarah Murnaghan, Obamacare comparisons are accurate?

Sarah Murnaghan Lung Transplant Fight A Preview Of Obamacare? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester in England. It is traditionally by and for the people who live in the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take part.

In recent years, it has been managed in a quasi-official manner, but since 2010 the event has taken place spontaneously without any management

From the top of the hill a 7 lb round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled, and competitors race down the hill after it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. In theory, competitors are aiming to catch the cheese, however it has around a one second head start and can reach speeds up to 70 mph, enough to knock over and injure a spectator.

Due to the steepness and uneven surface of the hill there are usually a number of injuries. A first aid service is provided by the local St John Ambulance at the bottom of the hill, with a volunteer rescue group on hand to carry down to them any casualties who do not end up at the bottom through gravity. A number of ambulance vehicles attend the event, since there is invariably at least one, and often several injuries requiring hospital treatment. Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling has been summarised as “twenty young men chasing a cheese off a cliff and tumbling 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital.”