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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Monday, February 16, 2009

Think Debt Can't Bury You? Think Again

Just a few years ago when Melody Brooke applied for credit in anticipation of co-signing a loan for one of her adult children, she was told she had such good credit that she could buy a jet.

Today, she couldn’t buy a toy truck. The combination of a weak economy, which forced her to close her private counseling practice and caused her husband to lose a lucrative contract, has taken her family from a six-figure income to barely any income at all. To add to the constant barrage of debt collectors calling them, her husband hasn’t been able to obtain a job. "He’s only gotten two interviews and one offer," says Brooke, who lives in the Dallas area with her husband. "But when they ran our credit, they told him they couldn’t hire him."

The current financial crisis has brought about many economic anomalies, including throwing a whole new subset of the population on the radar of debt collectors – upper-middle class and affluent consumers like Brooke.

Read the rest here.

HOW TO: EAT FOR HEALTH

Fixing these common mistakes will help many people be healthier, says Dr. Phillip Snider, a family physician in Virginia Beach, Va.:

-Not enough breakfast. One recent study showed that obese dieters who had a 600-calorie breakfast with healthy proteins and carbohydrates - such as scrambled eggs, diced turkey, fruit and whole-wheat toast or oatmeal - lost significantly more weight than those who ate only half as much. They also ate less at other meals and had fewer junk food cravings.

-Not enough fruit. Eat fruit at least twice a day. On average, one serving is a half-cup of chopped fruit, a baseball-sized apple or orange, half a banana or 10 grapes.

-Not enough vegetables. The goal for fruit and veggies should be a minimum of five servings a day; nine is ideal. Aim to have vegetables covering at least a third of your dinner plate.

-Too much hidden sugar. Juices, meal bars, low-fiber cereals and snack foods often are more sugary than people think. Read labels and try to limit your daily intake to 100 grams.

-Too much hidden trans fat. Any food with "partially hydrogenated oil" on its ingredient list contains these unhealthy fats. Even if the label says zero grams of trans fat, there may still be some because companies can round down if there's less than half a gram. As little as two grams a day is harmful.

-Hidden saturated fats. Limit full-fat dairy products, high-fat meats - especially beef and pork - and foods cooked with butter or cream. Go for broth-based soups, for example.

-Extreme dieting. Pick one bad eating pattern to tackle each week, not all of them at once. You're more likely to have long-term success.

Did you know ...

US combat fatigues, Kevlar vests, military tool kits, weapons, and laptops loaded with restricted US military information are all available at discount prices on the black market in Pakistan.

More in the Global Post.

Science News

In Today's Science news:

Rote memorization of historical facts adds to collective cluelessness

Louisiana boycotts science; scientists boycott Louisiana

Warmer than usual winter, almost everywhere

Health News

In today's Health news:

Bad teeth can cause heart attacks, and may be as dangerous to your health as smoking

Smoking prevention campaign saving billions in smoking-related care

Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet

Typical repugicans

To repugicans, deficits are the problem that must be addressed immediately ... when Democrats are in power, but must be completely ignored when repugicans are in charge.
Details here.

And as soon as the stimulus passed, repugicans in Congress began singing a different tune, bragging about how the bill would help in their local districts.
Details here.

Senator Susan Collins (r-Maine) successfully stripped protection for government whistleblowers from the stimulus bill. So as the bill's billions of dollars are spent, government workers understand that any attempt to bring graft, waste, and fraud to light could cost them their jobs.
Details here.

Former corrupt Congressman Newt Gingrich is long gone, but he's still effectively running repugican strategy in the House.
Details here.

Corporate America

General Motors is considering a bankruptcy filing that would leave unions and retirees utterly screwed, but would allow incompetent executives to continue receiving their absurd salaries.
More at Reuters News Agency.

Peanut Corporation of America, the company that knowingly shipped salmonella tainted peanut butter, has declared bankruptcy.
More in the Washington Post.

Liars and Fools

U.S. Muslim TV network founder charged with beheading wife

From the "Yeah, that'll put a positive light on it all right!" Department:

Josh Ellis sums it up: “Guy founds a TV network to show Muslims in a more positive light then beheads his wife when she files for divorce.”

The founder of a U.S. Muslim television network has been arrested and charged with murdering his wife by beheading her, the network’s Web site and local media reported.

Muzzammil Hassan, founder and CEO of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Bridges TV which launched in 2004 with a mission to show Muslims in a more positive light, was charged after reporting the death of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, 37, on Thursday night.

After Hassan, 44, told police his wife was at the Bridges TV offices, in the village of Orchard Park, they found her body there, beheaded, The Buffalo News reported.

Authorities said Aasiya Hassan, with whom Hassan had two children, had recently filed for divorce and had an order of protection mandating that he leave their home as of February 6.

Full Story at Reuters

Older Than Dirt Quiz

Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about.
Ratings at the bottom.

1 Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with table side juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines on the telephone
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were
there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels [if you were fortunate])
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H green stamps
16 Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

Chinese blogger stabbed

A Chinese blogger whose satirical postings have gained a wide following was stabbed in the stomach at a Beijing book store after giving a reading, witnesses and friends said.
Xu Lai, who writes under the pseudonym Qian Liexian, was attacked Saturday evening at the Wanda branch of the Beijing Danxiangjie Book Store.
He was meeting readers "and it happened after that".

Xu, who is also culture editor at the Beijing News paper, was apparently stabbed in the store's bathroom by two men who later fled, according to friends and fellow bloggers who posted the news online.
The motive was unclear for the assault, which was the first known physical attack on a prominent blogger.

Xu's blog, entitled "Qian Liexian Wants to Speak," offers witty, satirical observations on society and politics.
At times provocative, he has also commented on government corruption and the recent scandal of milk contaminated with an industrial chemical.Last year, he was listed among the "20 Most Influential Figures in China's Cyberspace" by Southern Metropolis Weekly.

Xu was in a Beijing hospital Monday recovering after surgery for his wounds, which were not life-threatening, according to postings by friends on the bullogger.com Web site.
"According to the doctor, there was only a small hole in his stomach, and no other injuries were found in his other organs," one post said.
"The doctor said it seemed that he was in a good condition. So people who care for him should not worry."

Xu's blog was one of many hosted on the Chinese blogging Web site bullog.cn, which was shut down in January as part of a government crackdown on the Internet.
The successor site, bullogger.com, is hosted overseas.Online writers and commentators in China are often censored and sometimes persecuted by authorities over controversial postings.

*****

Censoring and persecution just isn't enough it seems now they resort to physical assaults!

Islamic law to be imposed in parts of Pakistan

In what can only be termed as the BIGGEST MISTAKE POSSIBLE ...

The Pakistani government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend a military offensive across a large swath of northwest Pakistan in concessions aimed at pacifying a spreading Taliban insurgency there.

This is so huge of a mistake - Pakistan has forfeited its right to sovereignty. Pakistan should have actually began a military offensive rather than the show they have called an offensive and rid their nation of the extremist wackos because like extremist wackos everywhere those in Pakistan will not be satisfied with these concessions to their lunacy and will continue on as they have been ... one would think the people of Pakistan would know this.

Waxing Poetic


Keith Olbermann tells us just what Sean Hannity is!

The Life of Maurice Dribble


From the King of 'Eighth Grade Humor' Benny Hill

Health News

When toddlers point a lot, more words will follow ...

Don't just talk to your toddler - gesture, too. Pointing, waving bye-bye and other natural gestures seem to boost a budding vocabulary. Scientists found those tots who could convey more meaning with gestures at age 14 months went on to have a richer vocabulary as they prepared to start kindergarten. And intriguingly, whether a family is poor or middle class plays a role, the researchers report Friday.


Read the rest here.

Man with anti-DWI device in car crashes rental

From the "Some people are just idiots" Department:

Police on Long Island say a convicted drunken driver whose car was equipped with anti-drunken driving technology has crashed a rented vehicle while intoxicated.

Suffolk County police say Marvin Rice Jr. lost control of his rental car and hit a utility pole Sunday morning in Brentwood.

Police say the 27-year-old driver agreed after a previous DWI conviction to have his car equipped with a device that tests for alcohol in a driver's breath before starting the car.

It was unclear when he rented another car that had no such device.

Police say Rice is being treated for multiple injuries. He is expected to be arraigned on a DWI charge.

Our Readers

Some of our readers today have hailed from:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Menomonie, Wisconsin, United States
Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Daily Horoscope

Today's horoscope says:

Continue to learn from a person who can help you save your money.

You got it.