- The moron posted this comment on a post from four days ago just three hours ago.
Give it a rest ... you are incorrect on this just as you are incorrect on every single item you put forth and you will never be correct - so get over it, accept it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wing-Nut Yammering and Flap-Doodle
Yet, more nonsense from our resident troll Ted:
Give it a rest ... you are incorrect on this just as you are incorrect on every single item you put forth and you will never be correct - so get over it, accept it.
Give it a rest ... you are incorrect on this just as you are incorrect on every single item you put forth and you will never be correct - so get over it, accept it.
Obama tells GOP no compromise on tax rebates
President Obama told Republican House leaders Tuesday he plans to stand firm on the part of his $825 billion economic recovery plan that calls for tax rebates for nearly all working Americans -- including those who make too little to owe income taxes.
According to two Republican aides familiar with Obama's Capitol Hill meeting, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, the ranking member on the Ways and Means committee, asked Obama if there was room for negotiation on the structure of the biggest tax cut in the bill.
"Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part," the president replied, according to one of the aides, who requested anonymity because the member of Congress relaying information to the aide from inside the meeting wished to remain anonymous.
Obama supports the tax rebates for those who don't pay income taxes because they do pay payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.
One for the books
Baby born in Denver library
There wasn't time to look up any books on obstetrics before a woman gave birth in the Denver Public Library.
Library spokeswoman Celeste Jackson said the woman walked into the library, said she had been riding a city bus and was in labor.
She gave birth just inside the library entrance.
Staffers and security guards helped until paramedics arrived and took the mother and newborn girl to Denver Health Medical Center.
Jackson said staffers didn't yet know their names but they want to send flowers. She says, "It's never happened before."
Hospital spokeswoman Betty Rueda said the mother was in good condition Tuesday evening. She declined to release information on the baby, citing privacy rules.
Woman arrested after teaching kids how to shoplift
Lee County, Florida, authorities say a 24-year-old Lehigh Acres woman taught children how shoplift then abandoned them when the group was stopped. The woman was jailed on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child cruelty and larceny petit theft.
An investigator said the woman walked into a Lehigh Acres store with four children and showed a 12-year-old how to hide clothes underneath the other youngsters. The woman fled the scene when the investigator confronted the children. She was later arrested.
A Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said her agency will also investigate.
Police find over 100 feral animals at mobile home
More than 100 feral cats and dogs were euthanized after authorities found them living among the remains of hundreds of other dead animals that had been dumped in trash bags at a man's rented property.
Temecula police on Friday arrested a 67-year-old man on suspicion of animal cruelty after officers responded to a call that two vicious dogs were running loose at his address, Riverside County sheriff's spokesman Javier Rodriguez said.
The man had let animals breed and roam freely on his property, Rodriguez said, and the creatures had completely taken over his mobile home. Officers even found animals hiding in cupboards.
"The smell, I can't tell you how bad the smell was," said Willa Bagwell, executive director of Animal Friends of the Valleys, which provides animal control services for Temecula.
When animal control officers arrived, packs of dogs were attacking each other and killing one of their own, Bagwell said. About 70 dogs circled officers and threatened to attack, forcing authorities to euthanize them.
"They were just wild animals. They had never been touched," she told The Press-Enterprise of Riverside. "I've never seen this many animals and animals this feral."
Nine puppies and one dog were saved but authorities had to remove the bodies of 318 cats and dogs, Bagwell said. Outside the mobile home, more than 100 plastic trash bags were filled with animal feces and animal corpses.
Margaret Sturgeon, 82, said she sometimes talked briefly to the man and he seemed normal.
"He said he had three dogs," she said. "He never acted as if anything was wrong."
Suspect gets 3 bites from police dog, 2 Taser zaps
A 19-year-old suspect in northeast Nevada may not be a very good prowler but there's no denying he's one tough cookie. Elko County sheriff's deputies said the man had to be zapped with a Taser twice and bitten by a police dog three times before he stopped struggling with officers during a recent arrest.
Lt. Doug Gailey said officers were responding to a report of a prowler at 3 a.m. on Sunday when they spotted some footprints in the snow by the home's doors, windows and even on the top of an air conditioning unit.
He said they called in the police dog named "Besmo," which caught a scent and led them to the man who was sitting in his vehicle on a neighboring parkway and appeared to be intoxicated.
He said the man refused to remove his hands from his sweat shirt pocket and exit the vehicle, so the dog was ordered to jump through an open window and help extract him.
Deputies pulled him to the ground but he still wouldn't comply so the dog was ordered to bite him again.
Still unfazed, Gailey said the suspect was zapped with a Taser but still wouldn't give in. A third attack by the dog and another blast from the stun gun finally did the trick.
He's been charged with attempted burglary, obstructing an officer and destruction of private property.
Mexicans turn to voodoo to help team beat the US
Superstitions in the sports world:
A Mexican sports daily is pinning its hopes of beating the United States in a World Cup qualifying match on voodoo - with help from a U.S-based electronics chain. An advertisement in the sports daily Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip coupons and redeem them at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break a decade of futility on the road versus its northern neighbor.
A Mexican sports daily is pinning its hopes of beating the United States in a World Cup qualifying match on voodoo - with help from a U.S-based electronics chain. An advertisement in the sports daily Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip coupons and redeem them at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break a decade of futility on the road versus its northern neighbor.
"Help end the losing streak so Mexico advances," the ad read.
An illustration showed a pair of scissors slicing off the leg of a doll in a U.S. jersey that was bruised, crying out in pain, leaking stuffing, and stuck with pushpins.
"We imagine a group of young people gathered around the TV supporting Mexico and applying punishments to our rivals so that the team can qualify," Record said in a statement.
Daniel Paz, marketing manager for the newspaper, told The Associated Press the promotion was a lighthearted attempt to make next month's rivalry game more enjoyable for fans.
"It's a toy," Paz said. "There's no intention of being anything serious."
The press office of Radio Shack in Fort Worth, Texas, did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment, but the company's Mexico office confirmed its participation.
Mexico plays the United States on Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, in the first match of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The "Tri" has not won in the U.S. for 10 years.
Record said it has created 10,000 dolls and plans to expand the promotion to include effigies representing the other CONCACAF finalists: Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago.
Employees and patron subdue robber with serving spoon
Two supper club employees and a patron subdued a robber with their might - and a spoon.
Joey Geraci, 39, was charged Monday with felony armed robbery.
Geraci was accused of entering Williams Supper Club through a kitchen door, grabbing a teenage female employee and demanding money at about 10 p.m. Friday.
Joey Geraci, 39, was charged Monday with felony armed robbery.
Geraci was accused of entering Williams Supper Club through a kitchen door, grabbing a teenage female employee and demanding money at about 10 p.m. Friday.
Lt. Andrew Kraus said Geraci wore a motorcycle helmet and claimed he had a weapon.
Kraus said the chef then hit Geraci in the helmet with a large serving spoon and put him in a headlock. The three held the man on the ground. Police eventually had to shock him with a Taser.
Geraci is also charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.
There’s Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup, and the FDA Has Known for Years
Another thing the shrub and cabal tried to hide because it adversely effects their buddies profits
But as it turns out, the HFCS industry has been hiding some major skeletons in its closet — according to the IATP study (pdf), over 30% of products containing the substance tested positive for mercury.What makes this news truly shocking is not just that the manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup would put consumers’ health at risk, but that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew about the mercury in the syrup, and has been sitting on this information since 2005.
Here’s the connection, according to the IATP press release (pdf): The IATP study comes on the heels of another study, conducted in 2005 but only recently published by the scientific journal, Environmental Health, which revealed that nearly 50 percent of commercial HFCS samples tested positive for the heavy metal. Renee Dufault, who was working for the FDA at the time, was among the 2005 study’s authors. In spite of Dufault’s involvement in the study, the FDA sat silent on this one for three years, and in fact last August, allowed manufacturers to call the sweetener “natural.”
America's foundations step up aid in downturn
America's biggest charitable foundations are stepping up their giving to help the homeless and the hungry during the recession, according to a group that studies institutional giving.
As of mid-January, 50 of the nation's largest foundations had committed more than $100 million in grants aimed at reducing foreclosures, keeping food bank shelves stocked and providing services to the homeless and financial counseling for others.
The donations announced so far are just the beginning, said Steven Lawrence, the Foundation Center's senior director of research and author of a report on emergency giving in response to the economic downturn.
And they are also just one aspect of the way foundations are responding to the economic downturn, Lawrence said.
Foundations have seen their assets drop dramatically during the past year, just like everyone else, but many are committing to keeping their giving steady.
The nation's largest foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced this week it would increase its giving from 5 percent to 7 percent of its assets in 2009, despite a 20 percent drop in the value of its assets.
"The vast majority of foundations are trying to hold their giving level," Lawrence said.
That means many foundations are increasing their giving beyond the 5 percent of assets required by the Internal Revenue Service, to keep their promises to the causes they support.
Lawrence said he was not sure what will happen next year if the stock market does not recover: "2010 may be really challenging."
As of mid-January, 50 of the nation's largest foundations had committed more than $100 million in grants aimed at reducing foreclosures, keeping food bank shelves stocked and providing services to the homeless and financial counseling for others.
The donations announced so far are just the beginning, said Steven Lawrence, the Foundation Center's senior director of research and author of a report on emergency giving in response to the economic downturn.
And they are also just one aspect of the way foundations are responding to the economic downturn, Lawrence said.
Foundations have seen their assets drop dramatically during the past year, just like everyone else, but many are committing to keeping their giving steady.
The nation's largest foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced this week it would increase its giving from 5 percent to 7 percent of its assets in 2009, despite a 20 percent drop in the value of its assets.
"The vast majority of foundations are trying to hold their giving level," Lawrence said.
That means many foundations are increasing their giving beyond the 5 percent of assets required by the Internal Revenue Service, to keep their promises to the causes they support.
Lawrence said he was not sure what will happen next year if the stock market does not recover: "2010 may be really challenging."
Daily Funny
"Tell me," said the personnel director of a large corporation, "are you an honest attorney?"
"Honest?" the lawyer replied. "Let me tell you something. My father lent me ten thousand dollars for my education, and I paid him back in full after my first case."
"I'm impressed," he said. "And what case was that?"
The attorney squirmed slightly. "He sued me for the money."
"Honest?" the lawyer replied. "Let me tell you something. My father lent me ten thousand dollars for my education, and I paid him back in full after my first case."
"I'm impressed," he said. "And what case was that?"
The attorney squirmed slightly. "He sued me for the money."
Activists gather for World Social Forum
An afternoon jungle downpour could not drown the spirits of those who came from all corners of the globe to participate: Socialists, environmentalists, anarchists, Indians, communists and even a fellow dressed as a pirate.
The massive meeting - coming amid the worst global economic crisis in decades - was being held for the first time in the Amazon region, an especially poignant fact for attendees.
"During a financial crisis, the environment is the first thing to be pushed off the agenda of most governments," said Andrew Riplinger, 22, of Chicago.
"I think having the social forum here in Belem, surrounded by the rain forest - it's keeping environmentalism on the table."
The streets of Belem were overflowed - by both water and the activists, who came wearing homemade shirts extolling every social cause under the sun.
Massive banners were unfurled, trumpets blared a chaotic chorus as Indians from across the Amazon performed traditional dances, barefoot, bodies ornately painted and heads adorned with the feathers of exotic birds.
"I'm here to fight for land, health and education," said one parading Indian, an older man who gave his name only as Miguel.
Attendees see this year's forum as more vital than ever, with participants saying the world's economic crisis gave legitimacy to their demands for alternative development models.
The celebration in the Amazon was geographically half a world away - and ideologically on another planet - from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where a dour mood and a decidedly slimmer list of global luminaries prevailed.
The social was forum first held in 2001 in southern Brazil as a direct response to that economic meeting in Europe.
Standing on the deck of the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, docked in Belem, the environmental group's top Amazon campaigner Paulo Adairo said this year's social forum was being held in the perfect locale.
"The destruction of the Amazon is being propelled by the globalization of the Brazilian economy - cattle and soy for export," he said.
"Socio-economic problems and the environment are interconnected. That is why it is very important to have the forum here, so we can highlight both issues."
Authorities find driver two days after crash
Authorities say a North Carolina man who spent two nights in his vehicle after crashing down a steep embankment along Interstate 77 has been found.
Jonesville Police Chief Roger Reece said 84-year-old Miles Grady Brooks was alive but unresponsive when crews reached his white Cadillac today.
Motorists reported on Sunday night that a white Cadillac was traveling the wrong direction on I-77.
Officers searched along the highway but couldn't find any sign of the car, and they issued a public alert for help.
Reece said a farmer feeding his cows saw the car early this morning.
Jonesville Police Chief Roger Reece said 84-year-old Miles Grady Brooks was alive but unresponsive when crews reached his white Cadillac today.
Motorists reported on Sunday night that a white Cadillac was traveling the wrong direction on I-77.
Officers searched along the highway but couldn't find any sign of the car, and they issued a public alert for help.
Reece said a farmer feeding his cows saw the car early this morning.
Cold Hearted Bastard
Over at MojoBlog I found this shocking post.
And the Award for the Biggest Cold-Hearted Bastard in America Goes To...
Bay City (Michigan) Electric Light & Power manager Robert Belleman. Upon learning that 93-year-old Marvin Schur froze to death—"a slow, painful death" according to the medical examiner—in his home, Belleman defended the utility's decision to cut off the man's power, without warning, during last week's subzero cold snap. Installing "limiters" which put a cap on power usage and shuts off the juice altogether if an owner exceeds the limit, is company policy, noted Belleman, and he saw no reason to change it in the light of Schur's death. As for the utility's failure to inform Schur?
"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."
Schur, who was $1,000 behind on his utility bill, was indeed found by his neighbor—four days after the limiter was switched on, in a sub-freezing room that had icicles on the insides of its windows.
Update: Wow, this is worse than I thought. Bay City Electric Light & Power is a community-owned utility (one of the nation's 2,000 such utilities). And Robert Belleman is not just the manager of the utility, he's the manager of Bay City itself. So I guess when he meant that citizens had a duty to report that their neighbors were freezing to death due to the reckless disregard of utilities to the proper government officials, he meant himself!
*****
For this Belleman should have his testicles moistened with ice cold water and then placed against a flagpole in those same sub-freezing conditions to where his only hope for relief from the cold is to rip his own balls off and leave them attached to the pole (frozen to it actually) to get into the warmth of any shelter he could find with all access to any such shelter denied him.
Bush Was a Big-Government Disaster
He expanded the state, and the idea that the state is incompetent
Now that George W. Bush has finally left office, here's a challenge to a nation famous for its proud tradition of invention: Can somebody invent a machine capable of fully measuring the disaster that was the Bush presidency?'The day the music died'
It's been 50 years since a single-engine plane crashed into a snow-covered Iowa field, instantly killing three men whose names would become enshrined in the history of rock 'n' roll.
The passing decades haven't diminished fascination with that night on February 2, 1959, when 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens performed in Clear Lake and then boarded the plane for a planned 300-mile flight that lasted only minutes.
All three musicians influenced rock and roll in their own way.
Holly's career was short, but his hiccup-vocal style, guitar play and songwriting talents had tremendous influence on later performers.
The Beatles, who formed about the time of the crash, were among his early fans and fashioned their name after Holly's band, The Crickets.
Holly's hit songs include "That'll Be The Day," "Peggy Sue" and "Maybe Baby."
Richardson, "The Big Bopper," is often credited with creating the first music video with his recorded performance of "Chantilly Lace" in 1958, decades before MTV.
And Valens was one of the first musicians to apply a Mexican influence to rock 'n' roll.
He recorded his huge hit "La Bamba" only months before the accident.
The plane left the airport in nearby Mason City about 1 a.m., headed for Moorhead, Minnesota, with the musicians looking for a break from a tiring, cold bus trip through the Upper Midwest.
It wasn't until hours later that the demolished plane was found, crumpled against a wire fence. Investigators believe the pilot, who also died, became confused amid the dark, snowy conditions and rammed the plane into the ground.
The crash set off a wave of mourning among their passionate, mostly young fans across the country.
Then 12 years later the crash was immortalized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's 1971 song, "American Pie."
This year a huge gathering is expected for a series of concerts and seminars and the designation of the hall where the three last played as a historic building in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on this fiftieth anniversary weekend.
The passing decades haven't diminished fascination with that night on February 2, 1959, when 22-year-old Buddy Holly, 28-year-old J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and 17-year-old Ritchie Valens performed in Clear Lake and then boarded the plane for a planned 300-mile flight that lasted only minutes.
All three musicians influenced rock and roll in their own way.
Holly's career was short, but his hiccup-vocal style, guitar play and songwriting talents had tremendous influence on later performers.
The Beatles, who formed about the time of the crash, were among his early fans and fashioned their name after Holly's band, The Crickets.
Holly's hit songs include "That'll Be The Day," "Peggy Sue" and "Maybe Baby."
Richardson, "The Big Bopper," is often credited with creating the first music video with his recorded performance of "Chantilly Lace" in 1958, decades before MTV.
And Valens was one of the first musicians to apply a Mexican influence to rock 'n' roll.
He recorded his huge hit "La Bamba" only months before the accident.
The plane left the airport in nearby Mason City about 1 a.m., headed for Moorhead, Minnesota, with the musicians looking for a break from a tiring, cold bus trip through the Upper Midwest.
It wasn't until hours later that the demolished plane was found, crumpled against a wire fence. Investigators believe the pilot, who also died, became confused amid the dark, snowy conditions and rammed the plane into the ground.
The crash set off a wave of mourning among their passionate, mostly young fans across the country.
Then 12 years later the crash was immortalized as "the day the music died" in Don McLean's 1971 song, "American Pie."
This year a huge gathering is expected for a series of concerts and seminars and the designation of the hall where the three last played as a historic building in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on this fiftieth anniversary weekend.
Economic Meltdown Continues
From the "Bend over and spread'em" Department:
The nation's current recession is likely to be the longest since World War II, and by some measures could be the worst since the Great Depression, a new congressional budget office forecast said Tuesday.
The nation's current recession is likely to be the longest since World War II, and by some measures could be the worst since the Great Depression, a new congressional budget office forecast said Tuesday.
Read more in the McClatchy Newspapers
The "Southern Resident" Orcas.
The most contaminated wildlife on earth
Three pods of Killer Whales in the Pacific Northwest have now earned the most unfortunate title of being the most contaminated wildlife on earth, according to a new study.
These Killer Whales, known as Southern Residents, live in the coastal waters near the U.S. /Canadian border and survive almost exclusively on contaminated Chinook salmon.
The salmon contain high levels of polychlorinated biphenols (pcbs) and other industrial chemicals, which accumulate in even higher levels in the killer whales.
More at Discover
Interesting Open Courseware Classes That Anyone Can Take
The web site actually says “weirdest” but they’re really aren’t that weird. Granted I have a much more sophisticated sense of what is weird and what is not than some.
They include:
Magic, Witchcraft, and the Spirit World: You’ll learn all about the spiritual, magical, and “occult” aspects of human behavior in this course. [MIT]
Street-Fighting Mathematics: This course will teach you the art of guessing and solving problems without doing proofs or exact calculations. [MIT]
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil: This course examines the roots of depravity and cruelty. [MIT]
Democratizing Innovation: This resource examines the trend of user-centered innovation and what that means for the future. [MIT]
Brutal damage to football players' brains
Upper Left is an image of healthy brain tissue. Lower Left is brain tissue of a middle-aged football player. It reveals the intense damage from repeated concussions received on the field. According to Dr. Ann McKee, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE), the damage looks similar to that of an 80-year-old with dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. The CSTE have found the condition, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in the donated brains of dead NFL players John Grimsley, Mike Webster, Andre Waters, Justin Strzelczyk and Terry Long.From CNN:
"What's been surprising is that (the damage is) so extensive," said Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, and co-director of the CSTE. "It's throughout the brain, not just on the superficial aspects of the brain, but it's deep inside."
The damage affects the parts of the brain that control emotion, rage, hypersexuality, even breathing, and recent studies find that CTE is a progressive disease that eventually kills brain cells.
Auschwitz survivors mark camp's liberation
Dozens of Nazi death camp survivors gathered today in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim - which the German occupiers called Auschwitz - to remember the horrors they lived through and celebrate the acts of humanity or randomness of fate that kept them alive.
Survivors and government officials marked the 64th anniversary of the day the advancing Soviet army liberated the camp in 1945.
The anniversary has been established as an annual Holocaust remembrance day by the United Nations.
Bronislawa Horowitz-Karakulska, 78, credited her survival to destiny - and to Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist whose story was told in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
He shielded more than 1,000 Jews from Nazi death camps by hiring them to work in his factories.
"The fact that I am alive - for this I thank Oskar Schindler and the fact that he was able to get me and 300 women out of here and get us to the camp in Brunnlitz,"
Horowitz-Karakulska said, speaking in a school gymnasium to a group of local high-school students.
Survivors and government officials marked the 64th anniversary of the day the advancing Soviet army liberated the camp in 1945.
The anniversary has been established as an annual Holocaust remembrance day by the United Nations.
Bronislawa Horowitz-Karakulska, 78, credited her survival to destiny - and to Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist whose story was told in Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List."
He shielded more than 1,000 Jews from Nazi death camps by hiring them to work in his factories.
"The fact that I am alive - for this I thank Oskar Schindler and the fact that he was able to get me and 300 women out of here and get us to the camp in Brunnlitz,"
Horowitz-Karakulska said, speaking in a school gymnasium to a group of local high-school students.
Thailand detains 78 more migrants caught at sea
The Thai navy has detained a boat filled with 78 illegal migrants, many of whom had lacerations and burns they said were inflicted by Burmese soldiers, authorities said.
A navy patrol spotted the ethnic Rohingya migrants Monday in the Andaman sea off the country's southwest coast in a rickety boat with a broken engine, said navy Capt. Manat Kongpan.
They were put in police custody, but a senior Thai navy official said the migrants would be expelled once their boat was fixed.
The plight of the Rohingyas - a Muslim ethnic group who fled persecution in Burma - was highlighted earlier this month following accusations some of them have been abused by Thai authorities.
Human rights groups say that the Thai navy has twice intercepted boats filled with hundreds of Rohingyas and sent them back into the high seas, where hundreds later died.
A navy patrol spotted the ethnic Rohingya migrants Monday in the Andaman sea off the country's southwest coast in a rickety boat with a broken engine, said navy Capt. Manat Kongpan.
They were put in police custody, but a senior Thai navy official said the migrants would be expelled once their boat was fixed.
The plight of the Rohingyas - a Muslim ethnic group who fled persecution in Burma - was highlighted earlier this month following accusations some of them have been abused by Thai authorities.
Human rights groups say that the Thai navy has twice intercepted boats filled with hundreds of Rohingyas and sent them back into the high seas, where hundreds later died.
Blowfish poisoning sends seven to hospital in Japan
Blowfish testicles prepared by an unauthorized chef sickened seven diners in northern Japan and three remained hospitalized after eating the poisonous delicacy.
The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence.
Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.
The seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant Monday night.
Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness - typical signs of blowfish poisoning - and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.
A 68-year-old diner remained hospitalized in critical condition with respiratory failure and two others, aged 55 and 69, were in serious condition.
Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association.
It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.
Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 - most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home - according to the Health Ministry.
The owner of the restaurant in Tsuruoka city, who is also the chef, had no license to serve blowfish and was being questioned on suspicion of professional negligence.
Blowfish, while extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets.
The seven men ordered sashimi and grilled blowfish testicles at the restaurant Monday night.
Shortly after, they developed limb paralysis and breathing trouble and started to lose consciousness - typical signs of blowfish poisoning - and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.
A 68-year-old diner remained hospitalized in critical condition with respiratory failure and two others, aged 55 and 69, were in serious condition.
Blowfish poison, called tetrodotoxin, is nearly 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide, according to the Ishikawa Health Service Association.
It can cause death within an hour and a half after consumption.
Three people died and 44 others were sickened by blowfish poisoning in 2007 - most of them after catching the fish and cooking it at home - according to the Health Ministry.
Winds topple Marie Antoinette's tree at Versailles
The 82-foot (25-meter) high purple beech, one of the last trees in a hamlet dedicated to the former queen in the vast palace park, was felled Friday by an unusually fierce winter gust, the park's head gardener said.
The 223-year-old tree's collapse, which also exhumed a jumble of roots, earth and grass, was the latest blow to the ex-queen's Versailles vegetation after her most cherished oak tree died in a 2003 heat wave.
The beech, a facus sylvatica purpura, featured its own plaque showing that it was planted in 1786.
A decade ago, it had been damaged but survived an even more destructive storm that knocked down thousands of trees at Versailles.
Following that tempest, the beech's roots had grown moldy and shrunk so much that they could no longer counterbalance the weight of its 22-meter (72-foot) span of branches, Baraton said.
The beech will get an unceremonious finish: It will be cut up and sold to paper makers. Sort of like what happened to Marie Antoinette herself when she was guillotined and dumped into a wagon to be carted off.
Medvedev orders precise Soviet WWII death toll
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered officials to determine the precise Soviet death toll in World War II as the nation marked the 65th anniversary of the battle that broke the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
Russia, which suffered hugely in the conflict it calls the Great Patriotic War, places substantial importance on commemorating its sacrifices.
An estimated 27 million Soviet civilians and soldiers died in the war.
Much of the western part of the country was ravaged during four years of epic battles.
"Data about our losses haven't been revealed yet," Medvedev said at a meeting with officials and veterans in the Konstantin Palace near St. Petersburg.
"We must determine the historical truth."Medvedev said that a special panel involving officials from various government agencies will be created for the purpose.
He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action.
Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified, he said.
The meeting marked the anniversary of the battle that broke the siege of Leningrad on January 27, 1944.
The siege killed an estimated 1.5 million people.
Medvedev also used the occasion to condemn what he described as efforts to rehabilitate Nazis in some neighboring nations.
He didn't identify any specific nation, but Russia in the past has harshly criticized authorities in the ex-Soviet Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia for allowing gatherings of local veterans of Nazi SS units.
"We must toughen our stance on the issue," Medvedev said.
"There is no room here for delicate diplomatic wording. Our stance must be more combative."
He also urged the government to provide free apartments to some 50,000 war veterans before Russia marks the 65th anniversary of the end of the fighting in Europe next year.
Russia, which suffered hugely in the conflict it calls the Great Patriotic War, places substantial importance on commemorating its sacrifices.
An estimated 27 million Soviet civilians and soldiers died in the war.
Much of the western part of the country was ravaged during four years of epic battles.
"Data about our losses haven't been revealed yet," Medvedev said at a meeting with officials and veterans in the Konstantin Palace near St. Petersburg.
"We must determine the historical truth."Medvedev said that a special panel involving officials from various government agencies will be created for the purpose.
He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action.
Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified, he said.
The meeting marked the anniversary of the battle that broke the siege of Leningrad on January 27, 1944.
The siege killed an estimated 1.5 million people.
Medvedev also used the occasion to condemn what he described as efforts to rehabilitate Nazis in some neighboring nations.
He didn't identify any specific nation, but Russia in the past has harshly criticized authorities in the ex-Soviet Baltic nations of Estonia and Latvia for allowing gatherings of local veterans of Nazi SS units.
"We must toughen our stance on the issue," Medvedev said.
"There is no room here for delicate diplomatic wording. Our stance must be more combative."
He also urged the government to provide free apartments to some 50,000 war veterans before Russia marks the 65th anniversary of the end of the fighting in Europe next year.
Obama tells Arabic network US is 'not your enemy'
President Obama chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message today to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy."
The interview taped yesterday underscored Obama's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.
The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel
The interview taped yesterday underscored Obama's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.
The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel
Sicilian Pasta
You Need: 1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a food processor bowl combine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Cover and process until chopped. Add about half the basil and all of the oil; process until basil is chopped, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape the sides. Add remaining basil and repeat. Add tomatoes; process with several on/off turns; the tomatoes should remain chunky. (If the mixture is too smooth, add some fresh chopped tomato.) Season to taste with pepper.
3. If you prefer warm sauce, pour the sauce into a saucepan; heat through. Serve sauce over pasta. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
4. Make-Ahead Tip: Store sauce, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Heat or bring to room temperature to serve.
1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped almonds
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
1/4 cup grated firm cheese: Pecorino or Parmesan
1-1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
8 ounces dried pasta: Mostaccioli or Penne
How To:
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a food processor bowl combine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Cover and process until chopped. Add about half the basil and all of the oil; process until basil is chopped, stopping the machine occasionally to scrape the sides. Add remaining basil and repeat. Add tomatoes; process with several on/off turns; the tomatoes should remain chunky. (If the mixture is too smooth, add some fresh chopped tomato.) Season to taste with pepper.
3. If you prefer warm sauce, pour the sauce into a saucepan; heat through. Serve sauce over pasta. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
4. Make-Ahead Tip: Store sauce, covered, in refrigerator up to 2 days. Heat or bring to room temperature to serve.
Senate OKs 4-month delay to digital TV changeover
The Senate voted unanimously yesterday to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 - setting the stage for Congress to pass the proposal as early as Tuesday.
Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled February 17, 2009 changeover.
The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.
"Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline.
"I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time."
Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled February 17, 2009 changeover.
The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.
"Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline.
"I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time."
Unusual Holidays and Celebrations
For those who don't know ... today is Thomas Crapper Day.
Just what is Thomas Crapper Day and who is Thomas Crapper that he should have a day?!
Glad you asked.
Every time you flush the toilet you can thank Mr. (actually Sir) Thomas Crapper that you didn't have to make that long walk to the little building at the edge of the woods in sub-freezing or asphalt melting weather to get splinters in your posterior while hoping the Sears and Roebuck catalog wasn't all used up, yet.
Thomas Crapper is the man who invented the flushing toilet.
And his day is in celebration of the fact splinters are a thing of the past or at least those long walks are, that is.
That is what Thomas Crapper day is and who Thomas Crapper was.
Just what is Thomas Crapper Day and who is Thomas Crapper that he should have a day?!
Glad you asked.
Every time you flush the toilet you can thank Mr. (actually Sir) Thomas Crapper that you didn't have to make that long walk to the little building at the edge of the woods in sub-freezing or asphalt melting weather to get splinters in your posterior while hoping the Sears and Roebuck catalog wasn't all used up, yet.
Thomas Crapper is the man who invented the flushing toilet.
And his day is in celebration of the fact splinters are a thing of the past or at least those long walks are, that is.
That is what Thomas Crapper day is and who Thomas Crapper was.
Rabbit Hole Day
Being as today is Rabbit Hole Day let's see what we can find to post that isn't want we normally post, shall we!?
Man's MP3 player holds US military files
In another case in point on why ridding ourselves of the shrub and the cabal was a good thing ... their incompetence is showing again.
A New Zealand man who bought an MP3 player from a thrift shop in Oklahoma found it held 60 U.S. military files, including names and telephone numbers for American soldiers.
TV One News said the 60 files contained personal details of U.S. soldiers, including some who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A New Zealand security expert said the information should not be in the public domain, but that it did not appear likely to affect U.S. national security.
The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on the incident.
Similar breaches occurred in Afghanistan in 2006, when U.S. investigators reportedly bought back stolen flash drives that contained sensitive military data from shops outside a main U.S. base in the Afghan city of Bagram.
Chris Ogle, 29, from the northern New Zealand city of Whangarei, said he bought the music player at a thrift shop in Oklahoma, and that he found the files when he linked the $18 device to his computer.
The private information about troops included U.S. Social Security numbers and even which female troops were pregnant.
Details of equipment deployed to bases in Afghanistan and a mission briefing were also found on some files, displaying names like "Bagram," a main U.S. base in Afghanistan, from the files on screen.
A TV One News reporter called some of the phone numbers listed in the files and found that some of them were still active.
Some of the files included a warning that the release of its contents is "prohibited by federal law."
Most of the files are dated 2005 so are unlikely to compromise U.S. national security, said Peter Cozens, director of Victoria University of Wellington's Strategic Studies Department.
"This is just slack administrative procedures which are indeed a cause of embarrassment," Cozens said.
"It's the sort of thing which ought not really to be in the public domain."
Ogle told TV One News he would hand the files to U.S. officials if asked.
"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be" looking, Ogle said.
Janine Burns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Wellington said, "We have nothing to add at this time."
She had no response to Ogle's offer to hand over the electronic files.
It's not the first time such data files have surfaced in public.
n 2006, shopkeepers outside the Bagram base said they were selling flash drives with U.S. military information that had been stolen by some of the 2,000 Afghans employed as cleaners, office staff and laborers at Bagram.
Included on some memory drives at the time were the Social Security numbers of hundreds of soldiers, including four generals, and lists of troops who had completed nuclear, chemical and biological warfare training.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that some drives had classified military secrets, including maps, charts and intelligence reports that appeared to detail how Taliban and al-Qaida leaders had been using southwestern Pakistan as a planning and training base for attacks in Afghanistan.
And remember folks these were the people who claimed they 'were keeping us safe' ... hell, my granddaughter has better 'security' on her MP3 player than these bozos had on sensitive military information ... then again you can't be too careful with your Hannah Montana songs you know!
A New Zealand man who bought an MP3 player from a thrift shop in Oklahoma found it held 60 U.S. military files, including names and telephone numbers for American soldiers.
TV One News said the 60 files contained personal details of U.S. soldiers, including some who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A New Zealand security expert said the information should not be in the public domain, but that it did not appear likely to affect U.S. national security.
The U.S. Embassy declined to comment on the incident.
Similar breaches occurred in Afghanistan in 2006, when U.S. investigators reportedly bought back stolen flash drives that contained sensitive military data from shops outside a main U.S. base in the Afghan city of Bagram.
Chris Ogle, 29, from the northern New Zealand city of Whangarei, said he bought the music player at a thrift shop in Oklahoma, and that he found the files when he linked the $18 device to his computer.
The private information about troops included U.S. Social Security numbers and even which female troops were pregnant.
Details of equipment deployed to bases in Afghanistan and a mission briefing were also found on some files, displaying names like "Bagram," a main U.S. base in Afghanistan, from the files on screen.
A TV One News reporter called some of the phone numbers listed in the files and found that some of them were still active.
Some of the files included a warning that the release of its contents is "prohibited by federal law."
Most of the files are dated 2005 so are unlikely to compromise U.S. national security, said Peter Cozens, director of Victoria University of Wellington's Strategic Studies Department.
"This is just slack administrative procedures which are indeed a cause of embarrassment," Cozens said.
"It's the sort of thing which ought not really to be in the public domain."
Ogle told TV One News he would hand the files to U.S. officials if asked.
"The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be" looking, Ogle said.
Janine Burns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Wellington said, "We have nothing to add at this time."
She had no response to Ogle's offer to hand over the electronic files.
It's not the first time such data files have surfaced in public.
n 2006, shopkeepers outside the Bagram base said they were selling flash drives with U.S. military information that had been stolen by some of the 2,000 Afghans employed as cleaners, office staff and laborers at Bagram.
Included on some memory drives at the time were the Social Security numbers of hundreds of soldiers, including four generals, and lists of troops who had completed nuclear, chemical and biological warfare training.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that some drives had classified military secrets, including maps, charts and intelligence reports that appeared to detail how Taliban and al-Qaida leaders had been using southwestern Pakistan as a planning and training base for attacks in Afghanistan.
*****
And remember folks these were the people who claimed they 'were keeping us safe' ... hell, my granddaughter has better 'security' on her MP3 player than these bozos had on sensitive military information ... then again you can't be too careful with your Hannah Montana songs you know!
Boy dies years after Disneyland ride accident
A 13-year-old boy who never fully recovered after he fell from a Disneyland children's ride in 2000 died yesterday.
Brandon Zucker was 4 when he fell from the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride in September 2000.
The boy was dragged underneath the car, causing serious internal injuries, cardiac arrest and brain damage.
While pinned under one of the ride's cars for several minutes he suffered a ruptured diaphragm, a collapsed left lung, a torn liver and spleen, and a fractured pelvis.
He was in a coma for several weeks.
Sunday morning, Brandon was found unresponsive at his father's home in Anaheim, and died early Monday at Children's Hospital of Orange County, according to sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
Brandon's family reached a settlement with Disney about 17 months after the accident, which did not require Disney to assume blame.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but ensured the youngster would receive medical care for the rest of his life.
In December 2000, a state agency investigating the accident concluded that a likely cause was a lap bar that had malfunctioned and Brandon's placement next to an opening in the car.
The Roger Rabbit ride was reopened in July 2001 after changes recommended by the state were made, including the addition of bumpers around each car to prevent anything from getting caught underneath.
Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown said that Disney was saddened about the boy's death.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time," she said in a statement.
What she doesn't say is the relief Disney feels not having to pony up for the boys medical care any longer.
Brandon Zucker was 4 when he fell from the Roger Rabbit Car Toon Spin ride in September 2000.
The boy was dragged underneath the car, causing serious internal injuries, cardiac arrest and brain damage.
While pinned under one of the ride's cars for several minutes he suffered a ruptured diaphragm, a collapsed left lung, a torn liver and spleen, and a fractured pelvis.
He was in a coma for several weeks.
Sunday morning, Brandon was found unresponsive at his father's home in Anaheim, and died early Monday at Children's Hospital of Orange County, according to sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
Brandon's family reached a settlement with Disney about 17 months after the accident, which did not require Disney to assume blame.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but ensured the youngster would receive medical care for the rest of his life.
In December 2000, a state agency investigating the accident concluded that a likely cause was a lap bar that had malfunctioned and Brandon's placement next to an opening in the car.
The Roger Rabbit ride was reopened in July 2001 after changes recommended by the state were made, including the addition of bumpers around each car to prevent anything from getting caught underneath.
Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown said that Disney was saddened about the boy's death.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time," she said in a statement.
*****
What she doesn't say is the relief Disney feels not having to pony up for the boys medical care any longer.
Our Readers
Our readers today have hailed from:
Vilnius, Vilniaus, Lithuania
Bettendorf, Iowa, United States
Coltoes, New York, United States
Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany
Blackburn, England, United Kingdom
Vilnius, Vilniaus, Lithuania
Bettendorf, Iowa, United States
Coltoes, New York, United States
Hanover, Niedersachsen, Germany
Blackburn, England, United Kingdom
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Follow through with what you said you'd do, even if it costs you more than expected.
Dang it, I hate it when it costs me more than I expect it to!
Follow through with what you said you'd do, even if it costs you more than expected.
Dang it, I hate it when it costs me more than I expect it to!
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