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.
Maybe, maybe not. Here is an article on just that point.
It would be an interesting twist on history and would rewrite an awful lot of it and rather dramatically as well if it proves to be the case. There is a theory floating out among the ether about how we've done all this before and 'blew it all to hell' around 14,000 years ago ... Atlantis is but one of the elements of this train of thought. Now, if this idea holds credence about pyramids in in Europe - in this particular case - Bosnia it could lend some credence to the idea that 'we've done it all before'. There is more than we know about our history and our world, so maybe, maybe not.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was arrested this morning for driving while impaired, the department said this afternoon.
Officer Karen Dula, 27, was arrested after a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. by a trooper with the N.C. Highway Patrol near the intersection of Seventh and McDowell streets, police said in a news release. Dula was off-duty at the time.
The department said Dula, who was hired by CMPD in September 2003, will be placed on administrative duties pending an internal investigation.
“It is unfortunate that a member of the CMPD has been arrested for driving while impaired, but we will continue to hold our officers responsible for their actions on and off-duty,” Police Chief Rodney Monroe said in the news release.
During an interview with George Stephanopolous this morning, president-elect Barack Obama was faced with a final, tough question. It came via Malia and Sasha Obama, who wanted George to ask their daddy: "What kind of dog are we getting and when are we getting it?"
Apparently, even the Obama girls don't know exactly when or what kind of pooch will be a part of the new First Family. But, it will definitely be a shelter dog because that's what Malia and Sasha want too. (Those girls are so smart!)
They seemed to have narrowed it down to a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound....[a] medium sized dog, and so, we're now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up. --Barack Obama on January 11, 2009
Obama said they are are "closing in" on finding a dog, but that the process has been "tougher than finding a commerce secretary." (Oh, what a sense of humor our new president has; he was referring to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's withdrawal from consideration for the post because Richardson is the subject of a pending grand jury investigation into a state contract that was awarded to his political donors.)
With this morning's announcement specifying the breeds being considered by the Obamas, they will surely be deluged by shelters and rescue groups across the country. Maybe it will help them find that lucky dog that will go from homeless, shelter pup to First Dog.
From the "Tell us something we didn't know" Department:
In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Faux news Sunday, the shrub admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Three Canadian adventurers have broken the world record for the fastest unassisted journey to the South Pole.
Ray Zahab of Chelsea, Richard Weber of Cantley and Kevin Vallely of Vancouver reached their destination yesterday morning.
They traveled across Antarctica from Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole in 33 days, breaking the previous record of 39 days set earlier this winter.
Mr. Zahab traveled on foot and on snowshoes, while Mr. Weber and Mr. Vallely skied the more than 1,130-kilometre distance.
The trio filed regular updates via satellite phone to their website, www. southpolequest.com, which was tracked by about 3,000 schoolchildren in Canada and the U.S.
“So the great news is we have arrived in world-record time at the geographic South Pole, in 33 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes,”
Mr. Zahab wrote in a blog. “We are here, guys, and in the coming next 24-48 hours you’ll get a lot of photos.”
They survived altitude sickness, enormous blisters, countless frozen snowdrifts, known as sastrugi, and blinding whiteouts.”
A staple of traditional martial arts training is focusing of mind, helpful in achieving physical goals. Now that the sugar-shock of the 2008 holiday season is behind us, stress has taken over. Stress, like sugar, can create a false sense of increased productivity at first. However, like the after-effects of eating too much sugar at once, stress can have long-lasting, harmful effects on the body and mind. Meditation can help tackle the effects of stress on our lives. It is a technique useful to martial artists and non-martial artists alike.
Encognitive.com is a natural heath website with a series of videos designed to explain what meditation is, why we need it and how to do it. Begin with their "How to meditate" video and explore those that follow at the Encognitive.com website meditation page.
In these economic times - should you be attempting to sell your house you might want to take these four things to heart ...
1. That distinctive something
You love to walk into your home and smell the scent of orchid air freshener or apple pie baking, but will other folks? -- not so much. Fragrance is a very individual thing, and most experts will tell you that no smell is better than one that might be offensive. Even strong "clean" odors can be a turnoff, so don't spray everything with Febreze or clean with harsh chemicals right before buyers visit. Don't play "welcoming" tunes, either. Your taste in music, whether it's Van Morrison or Van Halen, may not jive with buyers' and is likely to be a distraction.
2. The wallpaper you love
Anything that "dates" your house -- that makes it seem not modern, in need of a re-do, or too aggressively personal -- can make a negative impression on a stranger seeing your house for the first time. Wallpaper and artwork are both seriously subjective, but at least the buyer knows the artwork is going with you; they'll be stuck with removing the wallpaper. These three mini makeovers can make a difference: Remove wallpaper and paint walls a fresh neutral color, replace old linoleum with modern tiles, and edit accessories -- artwork, family photos, and collections -- to a few not-in-your-face pieces.
3. That squeaky door
The little things you may have overlooked (or simply think are charming) may really bother potential buyers. We're talking doors that squeak, don't close completely, or bang against the wall when you open them, or floors that creak ominously when you cross them. What are those bangs, squeaks, or creaks telling people? A) That you don't care enough about your home to do basic maintenance, or B) Your house is so old that major repairs could be around the corner. The lesson: oil your doors, install doorstops, and get a professional in to de-creak your stairs and floors. Sometimes a few well-placed nails can diminish the scariest-sounding creaks.
4. Your hidden treasure
Real estate agents and stagers are often amazed at how home sellers can't see the forest for the trees: they literally do not know the top selling points in their home. Layers of curtains will cover the beautiful lines of an arched window or obscure an amazing city or country view. A couch will be blocking sight lines to the fireplace, which can be an obvious focal point -- or there is so much clutter in the kitchen that no one can see the beautiful polished concrete counter tops. Sellers who take the time and effort to look past their own personal taste and lifestyles to see their home through buyers' eyes, can edit their furnishings so that their home will really shine. If you don't, some buyers will have enough imagination to see past your decorating mistakes, but most won't -- and you'll have missed an opportunity to impress them.
Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama Radio Address Saturday, January 10, 2008 Washington, DC
We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs – a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008. Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs. And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.
These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path. If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits – and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.
It’s not too late to change course – but only if we take immediate and dramatic action. Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again. This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why I’ve taken the extraordinary step of working – even before I take office – with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create – and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.
The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector – the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.
The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.
We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.
We’ll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care – transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won’t just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors. And we’ll create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.
We’ll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure – our crumbling roads, bridges and schools. And we’ll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband l
ines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.
Finally, we won’t just create jobs, we’ll also provide help for those who’ve lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve been hardest-hit by this recession. That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.
Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy. Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.
But we have come through moments like this before. We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself – each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate. That is the spirit that has always sustained us – that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination. Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story.
The wife of a leading Saudi human rights activist says authorities have released her husband after more than seven months in jail.
Jamila al-Faleh said her husband, Matrook al-Faleh, was released Saturday and is in good health.
Al-Faleh was arrested in May at King Saud University, where he taught political science. His arrest was condemned by Saudi and international activists and human rights groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said al-Faleh's arrest came after he publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other human rights activists were serving jail terms.
