Van Johnson, whose boy-next-door wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s with such films as "30 Seconds over Tokyo," "A Guy Named Joe" and "The Caine Mutiny," died Friday of natural causes.
He was 92.
Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.
With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.
He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").
During the height of his popularity, Johnson was cast most often as the all-American boy.
He played a real-life flier who lost a leg in a crash after the bombing of Japan in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo."
He was a writer in love with a wealthy American girl (Taylor) in "The Last Time I Saw Paris." He appeared as a post-Civil War farmer in "The Romance of Rosy Ridge."
Friday, December 12, 2008
Illinois Attorney General asks high court to declare governor unfit
The Illinois attorney general has filed a motion with the state's highest court asking justices to remove scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office.
Lisa Madigan took the action today (Friday, December 12, 2008), as pressure on the governor intensified to step down.
The motion challenges his fitness to serve and asks that the Supreme Court oust him.
Lisa Madigan took the action today (Friday, December 12, 2008), as pressure on the governor intensified to step down.
The motion challenges his fitness to serve and asks that the Supreme Court oust him.
Hunter injurd by wounded bear
From the "Turnabout is fair-play" Department:
A hunter was injured by a wounded black bear in Onslow county, North Carolina earlier this week.
Vince Cox was in a hunting party of four when he shot, but did not kill, the bear, said Kenny Huffman, forest wildlife manager.
“They were hunting the bear … shot him, then went to him when it happened,” Huffman said. “It was just a hunting accident. The bear was wounded. They didn't kill him right off the bat.”
Cox received bites on the leg and was airlifted for treatment to Pitt County Memorial Hospital. He was released Wednesday and is recuperating at home.
North Carolina ranks first ...
North Carolina and South Carolina continue to lead the way in the number of nationally certified teachers.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced Tuesday that North Carolina continues to rank first and South Carolina continues to rank third in the number of teachers who have earned National Board certification. More than 14,000 N.C. teachers have achieved the honor, similar to professional exams for doctors or lawyers.
*****
So, 14,000 are certified, huh? Well, where the hell are they, then? The kids are coming out of school more stupid than ever and each year is dumbed down from the previous!
The national certification means a teacher could teach anywhere in the USA. Evidently, they do not - at least not in North Carolina.
Dogfight promoters arrested
Wilkes county authorities seized 127 dogs and arrested a man who co-wrote a book on raising dogs to fight after raiding an apparent dogfighting operation in western North Carolina.
Officials of the Humane Society of the United States said Thursday the actions were the result of a three-year investigation into the group “Westside Kennels.” A news release said three people were arrested Wednesday and charged with one count each of felony dogfighting and baiting. Other charges are possible.
The Humane Society said one of the men arrested, Westside Kennels owner Ed Faron, is a known pit bull breeder and an influential figure in underground dogfighting. He co-wrote “The Complete Gamedog: A Guide to Breeding and Raising the American Pit Bull Terrier,” which includes depictions of injuries inflicted upon or suffered by fighting dogs.
*****
It's about time! Everyone knows Wilkes county is the world's Moonshine capital and we don't hold no truck with no dogfightin'!
Seriously it is about damn time!
Colonial America
Have you ever wondered what life was like in 1771 America?
Is so, here's a few clues ...
Is so, here's a few clues ...
Sorry, But I could not get rid of the F*%#ing commercial!
Hoping 2009 A Big Year For Urinary Tract Infections
News that the Onion has the nerve to let loose of ...
The nation's leading cranberry juice producers announced Monday that they are banking on a record number of Americans suffering from urinary tract infections in 2009.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, who carefully observe Ocean Spray's projections, are also optimistic that the vast increase in cranberry juice consumption will boost the sales of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications.
Cranberry Juice Industry Hoping 2009 A Big Year For Urinary Tract Infections
The nation's leading cranberry juice producers announced Monday that they are banking on a record number of Americans suffering from urinary tract infections in 2009.
"If our projections are correct and current trends in rough, dry sex continue, we'll see a spike in sales starting in mid-January," Ocean Spray CEO Randy Papdellis said during a press conference. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but several factors also indicate that bathroom hygiene amongst women is due for a significant downturn. This could be the breakthrough we've been waiting for."
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, who carefully observe Ocean Spray's projections, are also optimistic that the vast increase in cranberry juice consumption will boost the sales of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications.
Science News
Ancient brain found in England
Scientists discovered a brain northern England that is at least 2,000 years old. The brain was found inside the, er, skull of its owner at an archaeological site at York University.
They believe the skull, which was found on its own in a muddy pit, may have been a ritual offering.
Rachel Cubitt, who was taking part in the dig, described how she felt something move inside the cranium as she cleaned the soil-covered skull's outer surface. Peering through the base of the skull, she spotted an unusual yellow substance.
Actor slits own throat accidentally in suicide scene
Actor Daniel Hoevels was seriously injured on stage during a suicide scene in Friedrich Schiller's play Mary Stuart at Vienna's Burgtheater. The prop knife he used to slit his throat turned out to be real. Police are investigating whether it was an error or something more nefarious.
From The Guardian:
From The Guardian:
Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the "special effect". Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests....
The knife was reportedly bought at a local shop; one possibility is that the props staff forgot to blunt its blade. "The knife even still had the price tag on it," an investigator said.
Vatican issues major new bioethics document
From the "As if we care!" Department:
The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization.
But it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and using vaccines created from cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
In a major new document on bioethics, the Vatican also criticized "embryo adoption," whereby infertile couples adopt embryos frozen during in vitro techniques and subsequently abandoned.
It said that while the intent was "praiseworthy" the result posed legal, medical and psychological problems.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "The Dignity of a Person" to help answer bioethical questions that have emerged in the two decades since its last such document was published.
With it, the Vatican essentially confirmed in a single, authoritative instruction the opinions of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body that has debated these issues for years.
The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization.
But it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and using vaccines created from cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
In a major new document on bioethics, the Vatican also criticized "embryo adoption," whereby infertile couples adopt embryos frozen during in vitro techniques and subsequently abandoned.
It said that while the intent was "praiseworthy" the result posed legal, medical and psychological problems.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "The Dignity of a Person" to help answer bioethical questions that have emerged in the two decades since its last such document was published.
With it, the Vatican essentially confirmed in a single, authoritative instruction the opinions of the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body that has debated these issues for years.
Laid-off Chicago workers hope to inspire others
They've taken their sleeping bags and pillows back home and hauled away their protest placards after ending a nearly week-long sit-in at a Chicago factory that came to symbolize the plight of laid-off labor.
But a day after dozens of protesting workers walked out of the Republic Windows & Doors plant with their demands met, they said they hope their triumph will inspire others nationwide to take similar stands against employers if need be.
"Sometimes people are scared to say something to big companies," said Ricardo Caceres, who spent his first night in his own bed after sleeping on a flatbed truck in the plant during the six day sit-in.
"But we stood up - opened everyone's eyes."
That should include the eyes of factory executives, some business leaders said Thursday.
"I'd be the first to say to companies that what you saw with workers at Republic will be repeated over and over across the country," said Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
"We haven't seen this since the '30s."
But a day after dozens of protesting workers walked out of the Republic Windows & Doors plant with their demands met, they said they hope their triumph will inspire others nationwide to take similar stands against employers if need be.
"Sometimes people are scared to say something to big companies," said Ricardo Caceres, who spent his first night in his own bed after sleeping on a flatbed truck in the plant during the six day sit-in.
"But we stood up - opened everyone's eyes."
That should include the eyes of factory executives, some business leaders said Thursday.
"I'd be the first to say to companies that what you saw with workers at Republic will be repeated over and over across the country," said Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.
"We haven't seen this since the '30s."
France's first lady wants to block 'cheeky' bags
France's first lady is taking legal action to stop a clothing company from distributing bags bearing a nude black-and-white image of her.
Her attorney says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has exclusive ownership rights to her image.
She is seeking euro125,000 ($165,200) in damages from clothing vendor Pardon.
The firm is based on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
The first lady's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said Friday that a La Reunion court will hear the case Monday and that she will donate any damages to charity.
Pardon has been giving the bags to its clients.
Actually it is the photographer who took the pictures that has the ownership rights to her images. But that minor detail will be overlooked to be sure.
The nude photo of Bruni-Sarkozy was taken in 1993 when she was a model.
Her attorney says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has exclusive ownership rights to her image.
She is seeking euro125,000 ($165,200) in damages from clothing vendor Pardon.
The firm is based on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
The first lady's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, said Friday that a La Reunion court will hear the case Monday and that she will donate any damages to charity.
Pardon has been giving the bags to its clients.
*****
Actually it is the photographer who took the pictures that has the ownership rights to her images. But that minor detail will be overlooked to be sure.
The nude photo of Bruni-Sarkozy was taken in 1993 when she was a model.
Rocker stabbed, band members held
Those crazy Goths ...
The singer in a teen Gothic metal band and her brother allegedly stabbed the band's guitarist dozens of times because he did not play well enough, Italian police and a lawyer said Friday.
Police in Genoa, on Italy's northwestern coast, said the 16-year-old victim remained hospitalized but his life was not in danger.
He was attacked Saturday night after the band "Soul Cry" rehearsed in Sestri Ponente, a small town near Genoa.
He was stabbed about 50 times, mainly to his back and head, said police official Alessandra Bucci in Genoa.
The 18-year-old singer, Cristina Balzano, and her 16-year-old brother, the band's bass player, were arrested on charges of premeditated attempted murder.
During the rehearsal, band members accused the victim of playing poorly, police said.
The attack occurred moments later in a narrow alley.
Balzano was caught by police holding a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimeter) blade, her brother next to her and the victim in a pool of blood, Bucci said.
"The motive - absurd as that is - is apparently that the way my client played his instrument did not satisfy the two," said Giuseppe Maria Muscolo, a lawyer for the victim.
Police said they had seized a note that the 16-year-old suspect wrote to the victim days before the attack, which read: "I'm preparing a nice little funeral for you."
The victim has accused both suspects of stabbing him, police and the lawyer said.
Balzano initially said she was trying to stop the victim from committing suicide, Bucci said.
She later refused to answer investigators' questions.
Her brother has accused her of being the only attacker.
The singer in a teen Gothic metal band and her brother allegedly stabbed the band's guitarist dozens of times because he did not play well enough, Italian police and a lawyer said Friday.
Police in Genoa, on Italy's northwestern coast, said the 16-year-old victim remained hospitalized but his life was not in danger.
He was attacked Saturday night after the band "Soul Cry" rehearsed in Sestri Ponente, a small town near Genoa.
He was stabbed about 50 times, mainly to his back and head, said police official Alessandra Bucci in Genoa.
The 18-year-old singer, Cristina Balzano, and her 16-year-old brother, the band's bass player, were arrested on charges of premeditated attempted murder.
During the rehearsal, band members accused the victim of playing poorly, police said.
The attack occurred moments later in a narrow alley.
Balzano was caught by police holding a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimeter) blade, her brother next to her and the victim in a pool of blood, Bucci said.
"The motive - absurd as that is - is apparently that the way my client played his instrument did not satisfy the two," said Giuseppe Maria Muscolo, a lawyer for the victim.
Police said they had seized a note that the 16-year-old suspect wrote to the victim days before the attack, which read: "I'm preparing a nice little funeral for you."
The victim has accused both suspects of stabbing him, police and the lawyer said.
Balzano initially said she was trying to stop the victim from committing suicide, Bucci said.
She later refused to answer investigators' questions.
Her brother has accused her of being the only attacker.
English town names streets after Stones songs
Are you looking to live on Satisfaction Street?
Or, maybe, Ruby Tuesday Drive?
If so, Dartford is the place to go.
Streets there are being named after classic Rolling Stones hits in honor of local heroes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The ties to the town just east of London are strong: Jagger was born there and attended elementary school there, meeting Richards when both were schoolboys.
According to local legend, the two later met at the Dartford train station and talked about forming a band that went on to become the world-conquering Stones.
The new Stones streets are part of a major new housing development that will also include some businesses.
One road will be named "Sympathy Street," derived from the Stones' sinister classic "Sympathy for the Devil."
Others will be called "Cloud Close," "Rainbow Close" and "Dandelion Row" after other Stones songs.
There will also be "Stones Avenue" and "Little Red Walk" from "Little Red Rooster," the blues classic covered by the Stones in their early days.
Or, maybe, Ruby Tuesday Drive?
If so, Dartford is the place to go.
Streets there are being named after classic Rolling Stones hits in honor of local heroes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The ties to the town just east of London are strong: Jagger was born there and attended elementary school there, meeting Richards when both were schoolboys.
According to local legend, the two later met at the Dartford train station and talked about forming a band that went on to become the world-conquering Stones.
The new Stones streets are part of a major new housing development that will also include some businesses.
One road will be named "Sympathy Street," derived from the Stones' sinister classic "Sympathy for the Devil."
Others will be called "Cloud Close," "Rainbow Close" and "Dandelion Row" after other Stones songs.
There will also be "Stones Avenue" and "Little Red Walk" from "Little Red Rooster," the blues classic covered by the Stones in their early days.
George Lucas to Put Star Wars on at London Stadium
“Just when it appeared that George Lucas had finally laid to rest his epic saga of Jedis, Wookies and Ewoks, he has announced that Star Wars will return as a stadium experience. The Times has learnt that Lucasfilm has authorised Star Wars: A Musical Journey, a retelling of the story that will combine excerpts of the film with live orchestral accompaniment. Die-hard fans may dream of Jedi Knights serenading Jabba the Hutt and C-3PO singing “Don’t cry for me, R2-D2” but they are likely to be disappointed. Producers for the show, which will have its world premiere in Britain, emphasized that although actors would be used to narrate the story, it would not be a stage musical.
The production, which condenses more than 13 hours of film into 90 minutes, will be more like a classical music concert performed in front of a cinema screen, 27m (90ft) wide. The audience at the 17,000-seat O2 Arena in southeast London will watch key scenes from the film as 86 musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play extracts from John Williams’s score. The composer has reworked the music for the show, which will take place on April 10, 2009. Other shows may follow, depending on demand.”
Read the rest at The TimesOnline
Trivial One Liners
If your Christmas party is getting boring and no one is doing a tabletop strip, then throw some of these one liner's in.
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
"Lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right
or right to left (palindromes).
There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds (so do some humans!).
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain (I once knew a girl like that).
Babies are born without kneecaps.
They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
*****
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
"Lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right
or right to left (palindromes).
There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds (so do some humans!).
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain (I once knew a girl like that).
Babies are born without kneecaps.
They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,
the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Only 46 to go
Carolina Naturally is read in 150 of the world's countries now!
Welcome to all our readers in Armenia!
Welcome to all our readers in Armenia!
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MPAA to Obama ...
... censor the Internet, kick people off the Internet, break other countries' Internet protocols and laws!
Tim Jones of the Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good commentary on the news that the MPAA has asked Obama to spy on the entire Internet, and to establish a system where being accused of copyright infringement would result in loss of your Internet connection (and your VoIP line, your access to your university, your lifeline to your parents in the old country, your means of participating in civic life, your means of fighting your parking ticket, etc etc etc). The MPAA also wants Obama to lean on other countries (most notably Canada!) and force them to adopt US copyright laws.
Here, the MPAA is advocating for a number of things, the most problematic of which is a "three strikes" internet termination policy. This would require ISPs to terminate customers' internet accounts upon a rights-holder's repeat allegation of copyright ingfringement. This could be done potentially without any due process or judicial review. A three-strikes policy was recently adopted by legislation in France, where all ISPs are now banned from providing blacklisted citizens with internet access for up to one year.Because three-strikes policies do not guarantee due process or judicial oversight of whether the accusations of copyright infringement are valid, they effectively grant the content industry the ability to exile any individual they want from the internet. Lest we forget, there is a history of innocents getting caught up in these anti-piracy dragnets. (Copyfighter Cory Doctorow has wondered what would happen if the MPAA's erroneous notices were subject to a similar three-strikes law.)
Thankfully, members of the European Parliament vehemently rejected these measures, resolving that "The cut of Internet access is a disproportionate measure regarding the objectives. It is a sanction with powerful effects, which could have profound repercussions in a society where access to the Internet is an imperative right for social inclusion." Let's hope the US government's decisions on this are as wise.
And the incompetence continues ...
Just when you thought you had seen the depths of the shrub and company's incompetence this makes the news!
Company buys back shrub library domain name for $35K
The shrub's presidential library domain name has been retrieved after a Web developing company let it expire - and it apparently came at a high price.
Raleigh, N.C.-based Illuminati Karate paid less than $10 for the http://www.GeorgeWBushLibrary.com domain name and sold it back earlier this year for $35,000 to the library's contracted Web developers, Yuma Solutions, said George Huger, lead Web developer for Illuminati Karate.
Mark Mills, owner of Yuma Solutions, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday.
The Tallahassee, Fla.-based company has a history with the shrub family, hosting Web sites for the shrub's 2000 campaign and for Florida Jeb's 1998 and 2002 campaigns.
Records indicate that in March 2007, the shrub's Library Foundation, using Yuma Solutions as its contractor, bought the domain name from a private citizen for $3,000. But the registration was set to expire within a few months.
Huger said he grabbed the library name, seeing its potential, while searching through a public list of names that were about to expire.
Months later, Huger had received some offers on it, but he declined to provide details.
After it was reported that the library had lost the domain, Mills contacted Illuminati Karate and asked to buy it back, Huger said.
At the time, a library foundation spokesman said officials were unaware that the name had been lost.
Yuma finally reached a deal to buy the Web address back for $35,000, which the company, not the library foundation, apparently paid, Huger said. The site changed hands in April and won't expire until 2013.
Mark Langdale, president of the shrub's Library Foundation, said he didn't know about the Web site being lost and recovered. But, he said, he would know if the library had been stuck with a surprise $35,000 expenditure.
The shrub Center - which will include a library, museum and public policy institute - is being built at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
*****
They say laughter makes you live longer and if that is true - after the last eight years we will all live forever.
Neighbors settle 16-month cat custody battle
All right, for a dog I can see this, but a cat?!
A 16-month cat fight in an Oregon court has come to an end. Portland neighbors resorted to attorneys to sort out their dispute over a 4-year-old Siamese cat named Merlin. Donella and Charles Whitacre had claimed their neighbors, RoseMarie Opp and Lawrence Hudetz, "kidnapped" Merlin.
A 16-month cat fight in an Oregon court has come to an end. Portland neighbors resorted to attorneys to sort out their dispute over a 4-year-old Siamese cat named Merlin. Donella and Charles Whitacre had claimed their neighbors, RoseMarie Opp and Lawrence Hudetz, "kidnapped" Merlin.
But Opp and Hudetz said they kept the cat because they believed he had been neglected.
Donnella Whitacre posted fliers around their neighborhood, calling Opp and Hudetz cat thieves. She reported the cat stolen, sending a police officer to retrieve it.
Opp and Hudetz countered by slapping a lien on the cat as personal property, eventually foreclosing during an auction on the front steps of the Multnomah County Courthouse.
Police concluded that it was a civil matter, so it ended up in court with attorneys on both sides.
But with a trial pending this week, the lawyers reached a settlement that sent Merlin back to the Whitacres.
Man sprays 'toilet-papering' teens with fox urine
A 50-year-old man in Willmar, Minnesota, who told authorities he was fed up with teens toilet-papering his house decided to defend his property - with a squirt gun filled with fox urine. Now, Scott Wagar is in trouble with the law.
Wagar pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court to misdemeanor assault and other charges. He was released on personal recognizance.
According to police, Wagar was on his property September 16th when he used night vision goggles to see 15-20 people running toward his place. He told police that he told them to leave, swore at them and sprayed them with the fox urine. He also allegedly struggled with one of the teens.
*****
Around here we use a shotgun filled with rock salt and we have no 'toilet-papering' teens - word gets around quick and rock salt burns like hell for weeks! That and hand packed bear-shot packs a wallop!
(and yes, for all you gun nuts out there, we use an old gun and clean it after each use)
Mom, why is there a hawk in the house?
A large raptor crashed through the window of a northern Idaho home, showering a youngster with glass and stunning itself before recovering and flying off.
Karyn Holt said her 1-year-old son was eating breakfast in his high chair Tuesday morning when the bird, possibly a Cooper's Hawk, broke through the window facing their backyard.
Holt's son, Quinn, suffered only minor cuts. Her daughter came running and asked, "Mom, why is there a hawk in the house."
Karyn Holt picked up the stunned bird and moved it into the yard, where it rested for about 90 minutes before flying off.
Jane Cantwell, a raptor biologist, says raptors like the Cooper's Hawk are ambush predators that can get so focused on prey that they don't notice sudden threats, like a glass window.
Aw, nuts. Why won't my car start?
Aw, nuts!
That's likely not what Hope Wideup of Demotte, Indiana, thought (odds are it was a bit more colorful) when her car's turn signal and windshield wipers wouldn't work. It's also what she found later when she opened the hood. "There were thousands in there. They were everywhere," she said, speculating a chipmunk found its way into her car, which had been sitting idle for several weeks, and used the engine compartment as a storage depot for a trove of black walnuts.
Wideup thinks it all started last fall when a chipmunk snatched a garden glove from her yard. She later found the glove in the engine compartment when she was trying to repair the broken turn signal. Unable to fix the problem, however, Wideup let the car sit unused for a couple of weeks and then heard a loud revving sound from the engine when she tried to start the vehicle.
That's when she looked under the hood again and found the walnuts.
"Apparently this little guy stuffed a bunch of these nuts in the accelerator throttle," said Wideup, who had to spend $242 for towing and repairs.
The chipmunk hasn't returned. But she's not taking any chances, alternating use of her two cars so neither one is sitting too long.
"It's funny, but it's not," she said.
Shoplifter waits over three hours for police ...
... and they still didn't show up!
Police, in Frederick, Maryland said a man caught stealing nearly $900 worth of Sears merchandise waited more than three hours for officers to show up before store workers let him go.
Maryland State Police said that when they finally reached the 27-year-old man by telephone later that night, he agreed to come in for questioning, showed up early and willingly confessed to the crime.
Police said the man told them he planned to sell some of the merchandise he took so he could make his car payment.
He allegedly stole two power tools along with three shirts, 11 video games and seven DVDs.
Sam can keep his therapy pony
Three year old Sam Spiteri of Caledon, Ontario can keep the miniature pony he uses in therapy for his spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The local council's granted the family a zoning exception that trumps the complaints of the family's neighbors who complained of the smell ... and they also border a cow-pasture no less!
Caledon councillor Annette Groves said that the boy should be allowed to keep the therapy pony.“While you have to enforce the rules, there are times when you have to use discretion and have to remember that you’re a human being and have to have some compassion,” she said.
“That would be the case in the case.”
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Yes, he went there
Had a fellow ask me if I wanted to hear a long political joke?!
I said, No thanks, I just heard one that was eight years in the telling!
I said, No thanks, I just heard one that was eight years in the telling!
Chatter
The chatter on the forums right now is the evolving fascist regime in Canada and the idiot that was governor of Illinois.
Canada is now suffering what we in the US have suffered for eight years.
And it is as usual in Illinois.
Political corruption is the very fabric and fiber of the state so it is no surprise that the news is a crooked politico tried to cash in on his position.
Canada is now suffering what we in the US have suffered for eight years.
And it is as usual in Illinois.
Political corruption is the very fabric and fiber of the state so it is no surprise that the news is a crooked politico tried to cash in on his position.
Bettie Page dies in LA at 85
Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controversial photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, died Thursday.
She was 85.
She was 85.
Page suffered a heart attack last week in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness, her agent Mark Roesler said.
Before the heart attack, Page had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia.
"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," Roesler said.
"She is the embodiment of beauty."
Page, who was also known as Betty, attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and see-through lingerie that were quickly tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere, where they remained for years.
Her photos included a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of then-fledgling Playboy magazine, as well as controversial sadomasochistic poses.
The latter helped contribute to her mysterious disappearance from the public eye, which lasted decades.
After resurfacing in the 1990s, she occasionally granted interviews.
The 21st century had people remembering her just as she was.
She became the subject of songs, biographies, Web sites, comic books, movies and documentaries.
A new generation of fans bought thousands of copies of her photos, and some feminists hailed her as a pioneer of women's liberation.
Gretchen Mol portrayed her in 2005's "The Notorious Bettie Page" and Paige Richards had the role in 2004's "Bettie Page: Dark Angel."
Page herself took part in the 1998 documentary "Betty Page: Pinup Queen."
Her career began one day in October 1950 when she took a respite from her job as a secretary in a New York office for a walk along the beach at Coney Island.
An amateur photographer named Jerry Tibbs admired the 27-year-old's firm, curvy body and asked her to pose.
Looking back on the career that followed, she told Playboy in 1998, "I never thought it was shameful. I felt normal.
It's just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous."
Nudity didn't bother her, she said, explaining: "God approves of nudity. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were naked as jaybirds."
In 1951, Page fell under the influence of a photographer and his sister who specialized in S&M. They cut her hair into the dark bangs that became her signature and posed her in spiked heels and little else.
She was photographed with a whip in her hand, and in one session she was spread-eagled between two trees, her feet dangling.
"I thought my arms and legs would come out of their sockets," she said later.
Moralists denounced the photos as perversion, and Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, Page's home state, launched a congressional investigation.
Page quickly retreated from public view, later saying she was hounded by federal agents who waved her nude photos in her face.
She also said she believed that, at age 34, her days as "the girl with the perfect figure" were nearly over.
Born April 22, 1923, in Nashville, Tenn., Page said she grew up in a family so poor "we were lucky to get an orange in our Christmas stockings."
In her teens she acted in high school plays, going on to study drama in New York and win a screen test from 20th Century Fox before her modeling career took off.Bettie Mae Page
Envy is a dog's life, study finds
From Reuters:
Dogs can sniff out unfair situations and show a simple emotion similar to envy or jealousy, Austrian researchers reported Monday.
Dogs can sniff out unfair situations and show a simple emotion similar to envy or jealousy, Austrian researchers reported Monday.
Dogs sulked and refused to "shake" paws if other dogs got treats for tricks and they did not, said Friederike Range, an animal psychologist at the University of Vienna who led the study into canine emotions.
"It is a more complex feeling or emotion than what we would normally attribute to animals," said Range.
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also showed dogs licked and scratched themselves and acted stressed when they were denied rewards given to other dogs.
Other studies have shown monkeys often express resentful behavior when a partner receives a greater reward for performing an identical task, staging strikes or ignoring what they view as inferior compensation.
It turns out dogs are able to show a similar, if less sensitive, response, said Range in a telephone interview.
In a series of experiments using different breeds of dogs, the researchers looked at how two animals sitting next to each other reacted to unequal rewards after handing a paw to a researcher.
Dogs not given a treat licked their mouths, yawned, scratched and showed other signs of stress and stopped performing the task, Range said.
To show this was not just because the animals were not getting food, the researchers then tested the dogs alone and found that in this situation the envious canines cooperated longer before stopping.
"It is really about the unequal distribution of the reward," Range said. "If it was only about frustration they would stop at the same time."
BIRTHDAY REMINDER
This week we celebrate a special birthday!
Monica Lewinsky turns 34.
Can you believe it?
It seems like only yesterday she was crawling around the White House on her hands and knees, and putting everything in her mouth.
They grow up so fast, don't they?
Monica Lewinsky turns 34.
Can you believe it?
It seems like only yesterday she was crawling around the White House on her hands and knees, and putting everything in her mouth.
They grow up so fast, don't they?
Recently a survey was conducted by the U.N. worldwide.
The question asked was,
The survey was a complete failure.
In Africa they did not know what 'food' meant.
In Western Europe, they did not know what 'shortage' meant.
In Eastern Europe they did not know what 'opinion' meant.
In South America they did not know what 'please' meant.
And in the U.S. they did not know what 'the rest of the world' meant.
"Would you please give your opinion about the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a complete failure.
In Africa they did not know what 'food' meant.
In Western Europe, they did not know what 'shortage' meant.
In Eastern Europe they did not know what 'opinion' meant.
In South America they did not know what 'please' meant.
And in the U.S. they did not know what 'the rest of the world' meant.
Mititary Wisdom
It is so comforting to know that we have professionals to do the dirty work ...
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least
expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your
unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
"Aim towards the Enemy."
- Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
- U.S. Marine Corps
"Cluster bombing from B-52s are very, very accurate. The bombs are
guaranteed to always hit the ground."
- USAF Ammo Troop
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just
bombed."
- U.S. Air Force Manual
"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal (special forces)
"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me."
- U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance
"Five second fuses only last three seconds."
- Infantry Journal
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least
expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your
unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
"Aim towards the Enemy."
- Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend.
- U.S. Marine Corps
"Cluster bombing from B-52s are very, very accurate. The bombs are
guaranteed to always hit the ground."
- USAF Ammo Troop
"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal
"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just
bombed."
- U.S. Air Force Manual
"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal (special forces)
"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me."
- U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance
"Five second fuses only last three seconds."
- Infantry Journal
Science News
Prehistoric bronze hoard found off Greek beach
Authorities say a hoard of 4,500-year-old copper weapons recovered off a northern beach is the largest of its kind ever found in Greece.
A Culture Ministry statement says the discovery includes at least 110 ax and hammer heads, but several more should be extracted from compacted masses of corroded metal.
The ministry says they were probably buried at a time of unrest or war.
The hoard would have represented a fortune at the time.Thursday's statement says there were no traces of a shipwreck.
The site was probably a coastal area flooded by rising sea levels.
The tools were discovered near the village of Mesi, 500 miles (800 kilometers) northeast of Athens.
Archaeologists recovered it from a depth of 3 1/2 yards (meters).
German prosecutors mull case of former Nazi guard
Germany's highest criminal court handed the case against a former Nazi death camp guard to Munich prosecutors who may seek the suspect's extradition from the United States for trial.
Munich prosecutors' spokesman Anton Winkler says his office will decide whether there is enough evidence to charge John Demjanjuk in the deaths of 29,000 Jews at Sobibor.
He says prosecutors are awaiting files from Germany's federal office that pursues Nazi-era crimes.
Winkler did not say Thursday when a decision would be made. His office had asked the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe in late November to decide whether Munich had jurisdiction.
Demjanjuk emigrated to the U.S. state of Ohio in 1952. He denies involvement in war crimes.
Munich prosecutors' spokesman Anton Winkler says his office will decide whether there is enough evidence to charge John Demjanjuk in the deaths of 29,000 Jews at Sobibor.
He says prosecutors are awaiting files from Germany's federal office that pursues Nazi-era crimes.
Winkler did not say Thursday when a decision would be made. His office had asked the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe in late November to decide whether Munich had jurisdiction.
Demjanjuk emigrated to the U.S. state of Ohio in 1952. He denies involvement in war crimes.
Pakistan cracking down on militants
Pakistan has ordered the closure of all offices of a charity linked to the militant group suspected in the Mumbai attacks.
A government official said that authorities had been ordered to close the offices of Jemaat-u-Dawa.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The moves against Jemaat-u-Dawa come on the heels of pressure on Pakistan to crack down on anyone connected to the attacks that killed 171 people in India's financial capital of Mumbai last month.
The United Nations has declared the charity a terrorist group and subject to sanctions.
Pakistan's prime minister said the country would "honor its international obligations" following the U.N. decision.
A government official said that authorities had been ordered to close the offices of Jemaat-u-Dawa.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The moves against Jemaat-u-Dawa come on the heels of pressure on Pakistan to crack down on anyone connected to the attacks that killed 171 people in India's financial capital of Mumbai last month.
The United Nations has declared the charity a terrorist group and subject to sanctions.
Pakistan's prime minister said the country would "honor its international obligations" following the U.N. decision.
Some of our readers
Some of today's readers hail from:
Uppsala, Sweden; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Dublin, Ireland; Mumbai, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; Istanbul, Turkey; Maputo, Mozambique; Ottawa, Canada; Auckland, New Zealand; Nantes, France ...
... as well as from Lompoc, Truckee, Palatine, Valhalla, Poughkeepsie, Boca Raton, Tracy, Pullman, Moncks Corner, and Saluda in the good ol' US of A.
And on our sister blog The Naked, The Nude and The Nekkid readers in:
Lahore, Pakistan; Cairo, Egypt; Liege Belgium; Reading, England; Helsinki, Finland; Vienna, Austria; Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia; Copenhagen, Denmark; Sao Palo, Brazil; Chilliwack, Canada ...
... as well as in Bedminister, Petal, Clio, Norcross, Alachula, Neenah, Owasso, Olathe, Plano , and Honolulu in the good ol' US of A ...
... dropped by today.
Uppsala, Sweden; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Dublin, Ireland; Mumbai, India; Johannesburg, South Africa; Istanbul, Turkey; Maputo, Mozambique; Ottawa, Canada; Auckland, New Zealand; Nantes, France ...
... as well as from Lompoc, Truckee, Palatine, Valhalla, Poughkeepsie, Boca Raton, Tracy, Pullman, Moncks Corner, and Saluda in the good ol' US of A.
And on our sister blog The Naked, The Nude and The Nekkid readers in:
Lahore, Pakistan; Cairo, Egypt; Liege Belgium; Reading, England; Helsinki, Finland; Vienna, Austria; Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia; Copenhagen, Denmark; Sao Palo, Brazil; Chilliwack, Canada ...
... as well as in Bedminister, Petal, Clio, Norcross, Alachula, Neenah, Owasso, Olathe, Plano , and Honolulu in the good ol' US of A ...
... dropped by today.
Man brings 11-inch knife to court in walking stick
From the "What an idiot!" Department:
Iowa City, Iowa police arrested a man who brought an 11-inch knife concealed in a walking cane to a court appointment.
Police said the man concealed the blade in a cobra-head walking stick when he was to report to the Johnson County Courthouse on charges of violating a domestic-abuse protective order on Tuesday.
Iowa City, Iowa police arrested a man who brought an 11-inch knife concealed in a walking cane to a court appointment.
Police said the man concealed the blade in a cobra-head walking stick when he was to report to the Johnson County Courthouse on charges of violating a domestic-abuse protective order on Tuesday.
Police say the man called his wife, who filed the domestic-abuse charges, and told her not to come to court on Tuesday.
An Iowa City police officer who was sent to arrest the man found the concealed blade.
The man was charged with going armed with a blade greater than 8 inches and violation of a domestic-abuse order.
Tow driver demands 'drop fee' from assault victim
Neither a bloody face nor a deputy's plea could stop a tow-truck driver from doing what he's paid to do. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said a Wilsonville, Oregon woman fled her apartment Monday night after getting assaulted by her boyfriend. With blood running down her face, she got in her car and sped across the parking lot to her grandmother's place, where she called 911.
The 25-year-old provided a statement to the responding sheriff's deputy and then stepped outside to find her car getting towed. The tow driver would not leave the car without making the woman pay a "drop fee."
"I explained to the tow driver that the woman was the victim of domestic violence," Deputy Wes Hall told The Oregonian newspaper. "I told him there was no place to park, so she left the car with its four-way flashers going, because she was trying to get away."
The deputy's arguments failed to persuade.
The driver, who works on commissions, was completely within his rights to tow the car or charge a drop fee to leave it, said Charles White, general operations manager for Retriever Towing. The amount the woman paid has not been disclosed, but White said the fees run as high as $160.
White said Retriever is under contract to patrol the parking lots at the apartment complex, ensuing that fire lanes and emergency-access routes remain unobstructed. "The deputy has no right to tell him to drop the car without charging a fee," he said.
Deputies arrested the woman's boyfriend on an accusation of assault.
*****
Talk about a Cad! First the woman is assaulted by her boyfriend, then she is robbed by the tow truck driver!
No, it's not Santa
Burglar gets stuck in chimney
Santa aside, that trip down the chimney doesn't work so well after all. Police arrested a burglar early Wednesday who spent a harrowing three hours stuck inside the chimney of a St. Louis pawn shop.
Authorities were called to the location at 3 a.m., and found the man wedged in the chimney, unable to move. After about three hours, rescuers were able to knock away bricks and free him.
He was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The man's name has not been released.
Happy Valley man tackles masked robbery suspect
The Happy Valley southeast of Portland doesn't have much in common with the Happy Valley that's home to the Penn State Nittany Lions. But they both produce good linebackers.
Clackamas County authorities said a Happy Valley resident chased a masked robbery suspect through a bank parking lot Tuesday afternoon and then brought him down with an NFL-style tackle.
Sheriff's Detective Jim Strovink identified the money-saving tackler as 50-year-old William Roger Onstott.
The suspect allegedly lunged at a woman walking toward a Bank of America entrance and yanked a bank bag from her hand.
The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries to her nose, hand and chest.
Deer crashes into Michigan 4th-grade classroom
A fourth-grade class in Coopersville, Michigan learned firsthand about animal behavior when a deer crashed through a window and into its classroom.
The six-point buck sent chairs, desks, books and shards of glass flying. A boy suffered a small cut to his head, but there were no serious injuries.
Marty Alexander, the principal of Coopersville East Elementary School, says the unexpected guest dropped by Monday afternoon.
He says the teacher stayed cool, instructing her 23 startled students to drop to the floor as the deer bounded across the room. She then led the children into the hallway.
After a twitchy, 30-second visit, the buck jumped back through the window and ran away.
Heavy Rains and Flooding
From the "Like we need THIS" Department:
Wednesday's warm temperatures may come at a price – heavy rain and potential flooding Thursday.
Wednesday's warm temperatures may come at a price – heavy rain and potential flooding Thursday.
The heavy rain Wednesday was south of Charlotte by 9 p.m., but it's likely to return late this morning and could create significant flooding, said Doug Outlaw, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Greer, S.C.
By Wednesday evening, the weather service had posted a flood watch for several Charlotte-area counties, including Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Gaston, Lincoln, Catawba and Iredell counties.
Outlaw said some spots could see as much as three inches of rain.
“That much rain will cause streams and creeks to rise rapidly and lead to potential flooding,” he said. “Folks in low-lying areas need to be very cautious of rising water on Thursday.”
The heaviest rain will be north of Charlotte, but parts of the city could receive up to three inches, particularly if storms line up and pass over the same area, he said.
The framework for the rain and storms is warm weather. Temperatures climbed from the 50s Tuesday evening into the lower and middle 60s by daybreak. It lingered in the 60s Wednesday and is expected to climb back into the low 60s today.
That's a big departure from the colder-than-normal temperatures in November and early December. Last month was the fifth-coldest November in Charlotte weather history. Until Wednesday, December had started as the coldest in eight years.
*****
To top it off it's supposed to dip back down Friday into the lower 40s. Can you say Cold and flu season!
Jerry Lewis to receive Oscar's humanitarian award
Jerry Lewis has never been nominated for an Oscar, but he's going to get one anyway.
The 82-year-old will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscar ceremony in February.
The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their selection Wednesday.
The Hersholt Award recognizes humanitarian efforts that have brought credit to the film industry.
An actor, director, writer and producer, Lewis made his big-screen debut in 1949's "My Friend Irma."
He has been national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1952 and has raised more than $2 billion for the cause through his annual Labor Day telethon.
The Oscars will be presented February 22, 2009.
The 82-year-old will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscar ceremony in February.
The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their selection Wednesday.
The Hersholt Award recognizes humanitarian efforts that have brought credit to the film industry.
An actor, director, writer and producer, Lewis made his big-screen debut in 1949's "My Friend Irma."
He has been national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1952 and has raised more than $2 billion for the cause through his annual Labor Day telethon.
The Oscars will be presented February 22, 2009.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A Space Oddity
This is the original 1969 version and 'video' (short film) for David Bowie's classic song A Space Oddity.
And I Quote
"A CNN poll finds 79% of Americans approve of Obama's performance
so far during transition, with just 18% disapproving. ."
~ Political Wire, Link
when the public rallies around a leader after a national disaster.
To many Americans, the Bush administration was a national disaster."
~ CNN's Bill Schneider, Link
Leap second to be added to the official world time
On December 31, at 23:59:59 UTC, a leap second will be added to the official timekeeping clocks of the world. That's because the timescales of atomic clocks and the earth's rotation aren't perfectly in sync. The last leap second was added in 2005.
From Smithsonian:
From Smithsonian:
Earth’s rotation is the traditional form of timekeeping. It is what defines a day. However, while we call a day 86,400 seconds, it is really 86,400.02 seconds. All those .02 seconds add up over time. In addition, the earth’s rotation is not constant (it has been slightly slowing, and 900 million years ago a day was only 18 of our hours). Time as we know it changes.
Talk about stupid ...
His career in shreds, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich clung defiantly to power Wednesday, ignoring a call to step down from President Barack Obama and a warning that Senate Democrats will not let him appoint a new senator from the state.
UK TV station plans airing man's death
A British television channel plans to show a film about an American man who commits assisted suicide at a Swiss clinic, reigniting debate over an issue that strongly divides opinion in Britain.
Opponents called the broadcast a ratings-grabbing stunt.Feelings about the issue ran so high Wednesday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was asked about the program in Parliament.
The 2006 suicide of 59-year-old Craig Ewert was to be shown Wednesday evening in a documentary on the Sky Real Lives digital channel.
Ewert had degenerative motor neuron disease and died at a clinic in Zurich run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas, with his wife Mary at his side.
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland in some circumstances and organizations there provide suicide services.
This is a wee bit too far. Showing this man's death for entertainment is not a 'cool' thing to do.
Opponents called the broadcast a ratings-grabbing stunt.Feelings about the issue ran so high Wednesday that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was asked about the program in Parliament.
The 2006 suicide of 59-year-old Craig Ewert was to be shown Wednesday evening in a documentary on the Sky Real Lives digital channel.
Ewert had degenerative motor neuron disease and died at a clinic in Zurich run by the assisted suicide group Dignitas, with his wife Mary at his side.
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland in some circumstances and organizations there provide suicide services.
*****
This is a wee bit too far. Showing this man's death for entertainment is not a 'cool' thing to do.
Defending cognition-enhancing drugs
A commentary in this week's issue of the journal Nature argues that cognitive performance-enhancing drugs should be made widely available, and sets out an ethical and legal framework for doing so in a way that maximizes the social good of being able to choose what state of mind you're in.
Contributors to the article include a Stanford law prof, a Cambridge research psychiatrist, a Harvard med-school prof, and other distinguished personages.
To wit:
Contributors to the article include a Stanford law prof, a Cambridge research psychiatrist, a Harvard med-school prof, and other distinguished personages.
To wit:
Human ingenuity has given us means of enhancing our brains through inventions such as written language, printing and the Internet. Most authors of this Commentary are teachers and strive to enhance the minds of their students, both by adding substantive information and by showing them new and better ways to process that information. And we are all aware of the abilities to enhance our brains with adequate exercise, nutrition and sleep. The drugs just reviewed, along with newer technologies such as brain stimulation and prosthetic brain chips, should be viewed in the same general category as education, good health habits, and information technology — ways that our uniquely innovative species tries to improve itself.Of course, no two enhancements are equivalent in every way, and some of the differences have moral relevance. For example, the benefits of education require some effort at self-improvement whereas the benefits of sleep do not. Enhancing by nutrition involves changing what we ingest and is therefore invasive in a way that reading is not. The opportunity to benefit from Internet access is less equitably distributed than the opportunity to benefit from exercise. Cognitive-enhancing drugs require relatively little effort, are invasive and for the time being are not equitably distributed, but none of these provides reasonable grounds for prohibition. Drugs may seem distinctive among enhancements in that they bring about their effects by altering brain function, but in reality so does any intervention that enhances cognition. Recent research has identified beneficial neural changes engendered by exercise10, nutrition11 and sleep12, as well as instruction13 and reading14. In short, cognitive-enhancing drugs seem morally equivalent to other, more familiar, enhancements.
Many people have doubts about the moral status of enhancement drugs for reasons ranging from the pragmatic to the philosophical, including concerns about short-circuiting personal agency and undermining the value of human effort15. Kass16, for example, has written of the subtle but, in his view, important differences between human enhancement through biotechnology and through more traditional means. Such arguments have been persuasively rejected (for example, ref. 17). Three arguments against the use of cognitive enhancement by the healthy quickly bubble to the surface in most discussions: that it is cheating, that it is unnatural and that it amounts to drug abuse.
Stem-cell trachea transplant was endangered by EasyJet: "your cell culture is a security risk"
"... your cell culture is a security risk ..."
Do you remember the woman who got a new trachea grown from her own stem cells?
Well, she almost didn't -- because the discount airline EasyJet decided that flying with stem cells presented a "security risk" and wouldn't let the scientists carrying them onto the plane.
"On arrival they said it couldn't go on because it would be a security risk - but I had been talking to people on a regular basis," he said."I was so furious, trying to explain months of work.
"The clock was ticking. We'd taken the cells out of their culture media an hour before.
"We thought about driving to Barcelona, but that would have taken too long..."
The professor paid the 14,000 pounds it cost to charter a private jet out of his own pocket, though the cost was later reimbursed by Bristol University.
A spokesman for EasyJet said: "We do not have any record of the passenger's request to carry medical materials on board the flight.
"However as a gesture of goodwill EasyJet has refunded the passenger for the cost of his flight."
Pakistanis confirm Mumbai arrests
Pakistan has detained a second alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the prime minister said Wednesday, apparently making good on pledges to pursue the perpetrators.
The announcement of the arrest of Zarrar Shah - following Sunday's detention of another alleged Mumbai plotter, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other alleged militants - could deflect intense U.S. and Indian pressure on Pakistan following the attack.
But much will now depend on whether Pakistan's young civilian government keeps up the pressure on the militant groups that are believed to have been fostered by the country's powerful security agencies.
Pakistan has targeted militants in the past, detaining some leaders only to quietly release them later, bolstering critics who claim Islamabad is not serious about fighting extremists.
The announcement of the arrest of Zarrar Shah - following Sunday's detention of another alleged Mumbai plotter, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other alleged militants - could deflect intense U.S. and Indian pressure on Pakistan following the attack.
But much will now depend on whether Pakistan's young civilian government keeps up the pressure on the militant groups that are believed to have been fostered by the country's powerful security agencies.
Pakistan has targeted militants in the past, detaining some leaders only to quietly release them later, bolstering critics who claim Islamabad is not serious about fighting extremists.
Drowning, other accidents kill 800,000 kids a year
Simple things like seat belts, childproof medicine caps and fences around pools could help prevent up to half of the 2,000 accidental deaths of children that happen each day around the world, according to UN officials.
More than 800,000 children die each year from burns, drowning, car accidents, falls, poisoning and other accidents, with the vast majority of those deaths occurring in developing countries, according to experts and a report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Tens of millions more suffer injuries that often leave them disabled for life, said the report which was launched at a meeting of global health experts in Hanoi.
The World Report on Child Injury Prevention 2008 does not include injuries caused by domestic violence.
The problem is most acute in Africa and Southeast Asia, but no country is immune, conference participants said, issuing an urgent call for action.
More than 800,000 children die each year from burns, drowning, car accidents, falls, poisoning and other accidents, with the vast majority of those deaths occurring in developing countries, according to experts and a report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Tens of millions more suffer injuries that often leave them disabled for life, said the report which was launched at a meeting of global health experts in Hanoi.
The World Report on Child Injury Prevention 2008 does not include injuries caused by domestic violence.
The problem is most acute in Africa and Southeast Asia, but no country is immune, conference participants said, issuing an urgent call for action.
Officials arrest 23 in Las Vegas ID theft scheme
State and federal authorities said Tuesday they arrested nearly two dozen people, many with ties to Eastern Europe, in a credit card fraud and identity theft scheme that cost Las Vegas businesses and consumers about $1.5 million.
Greg Brower, U.S. attorney for Nevada, said 13 people were arrested on federal charges Monday in southern Nevada and Los Angeles.
Las Vegas police said 10 were arrested on state charges, including forgery, credit card fraud and weapons and drug possession.
The arrests were the first for a Eurasian organized crime task force based in Las Vegas.
The task force was formed two years ago in response to "the influx and influence and activity of Eurasian-based gang-type criminals" in southern Nevada, Brower said.
Greg Brower, U.S. attorney for Nevada, said 13 people were arrested on federal charges Monday in southern Nevada and Los Angeles.
Las Vegas police said 10 were arrested on state charges, including forgery, credit card fraud and weapons and drug possession.
The arrests were the first for a Eurasian organized crime task force based in Las Vegas.
The task force was formed two years ago in response to "the influx and influence and activity of Eurasian-based gang-type criminals" in southern Nevada, Brower said.
Workers win a big round in Chicago factory sit-in
The creditor of a Chicago plant where laid-off employees are conducting a sit-in to demand severance pay said Tuesday it would extend loans to the factory so it could resolve the dispute, but the workers declared their protest unfinished.
A resolution seemed nearer as Bank of America, which yanked the plant's financing last week, announced it sent a letter to Republic Windows and Doors offering "a limited amount of additional loans" to resolve its employee claims.
About 200 of the 240 laid-off workers had responded to their three days' notice of the plant closing by staging a sit-in and vowing to stay put until assurances they would get severance and accrued vacation pay.
Lawmakers have criticized Bank of America for cutting off money to the plant after it exhausted its credit line, even though the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank itself received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package.
A resolution seemed nearer as Bank of America, which yanked the plant's financing last week, announced it sent a letter to Republic Windows and Doors offering "a limited amount of additional loans" to resolve its employee claims.
About 200 of the 240 laid-off workers had responded to their three days' notice of the plant closing by staging a sit-in and vowing to stay put until assurances they would get severance and accrued vacation pay.
Lawmakers have criticized Bank of America for cutting off money to the plant after it exhausted its credit line, even though the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank itself received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Malaysia frees 3 militant suspects
Officials say the Malaysian government has freed three alleged Islamic militants held without trial since 2002, including a former army captain accused of helping the Sept. 11 hijackers.
Human rights activist Nalini Elumalai says the three men were released separately from a northern prison camp between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2.
The most prominent among them is Yazid Sufaat, an ex-army captain who allegedly let several senior al-Qaida operatives, including two eventual Sept. 11 hijackers, use an apartment he owned for meetings in Malaysia in January 2000.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar confirmed the release and said Wednesday that the men were no "longer a threat."
Human rights activist Nalini Elumalai says the three men were released separately from a northern prison camp between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2.
The most prominent among them is Yazid Sufaat, an ex-army captain who allegedly let several senior al-Qaida operatives, including two eventual Sept. 11 hijackers, use an apartment he owned for meetings in Malaysia in January 2000.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar confirmed the release and said Wednesday that the men were no "longer a threat."
Search of 32 graves ordered at Florida reform school
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has ordered an investigation to determine whether the remains of 32 students were buried decades ago in shallow graves on the grounds of a former reform school for boys. 
Authorities are investigating whether boys were beaten decades ago in this building, known as the White House.
The governor's action came at the urging of four former residents of what was known as the Florida School for Boys. The four alleged that students were abused and killed by guards decades ago at the school in Marianna, Florida, just south of the Georgia border.
In a letter Crist asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the graves and determine whether any crimes were committed.
Read the rest at here.
Trampled Wal-Mart Employee's Family Sues Company
The family of 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour is suing Wal-Mart for creating the unsafe atmosphere in which he was trampled to death by a crowd of shoppers on Black Friday.
Police arrest man on 'mission' in bathroom ceiling
Yes ... it's in Arkansas. Surprised?
Bare footprints on a toilet seat led sheriff's deputies to find a man hidden away inside a Baxter County gas station ceiling, apparently "on a mission" to steal, officials said Tuesday.
Jeremy J. Fleming, 34, of Midway, initially refused to offer his name to sheriff's deputies after his arrest early Tuesday morning, Sgt. Bob Bushbacher said. Fleming later told deputies his name was "Jason Solo," though fingerprints later gave his identity away, Bushbacher said.
Fleming entered the Triangle Citgo Mini-Mart in Midway barefoot around 1:30 a.m. and walked into the women's bathroom, Bushbacher said. After 20 minutes, Fleming walked into the employee's bathroom and later returned to the women's.
An hour passed and an employee decided to check on Fleming. The bathroom was empty, but the employee found footprints on the toilet seat and a ceiling tile torn down, Bushbacher said. The employee called police after hearing rustling into the gas station's ceiling.
A sheriff's deputy arrived and called out to Fleming, asking him to come down from the ceiling. Fleming initially refused, but crawled out of the ceiling in the men's room 30 minutes later, Bushbacher said.
When asked what he was doing, Fleming told the deputy he was "on a mission" to steal, Bushbacher said. Though he acted irrational, Fleming did not have an odor of alcohol about him at the time of his arrest, the sergeant said.
"The officer this morning said that the guy was somewhat irrational," Bushbacher said. "Well, yeah. The guy comes into a business at 1:30 in the morning with no shoes on and is going from bathroom to bathroom crawling around in the ceiling. I can see how you could classify that as irrational or somewhat unusual behavior."
Fleming faces criminal mischief and criminal trespassing charges. He was being held Tuesday at the Baxter County Jail on $710 bond.
Panthers-Giants game moved to Sunday night on NBC
The Panthers' game on Dec. 21 against the New York Giants has been moved to the NFL's Sunday night time slot on NBC. The league considers the Sunday night game its premiere matchup each week -- even ahead of Monday Night Football on ESPN (where the Panthers just beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-23).
The game, with an 8:15PM kickoff at Giants Stadium, will feature the teams with currently the NFC's two best records -- the defending Super Bowl champ Giants at 11-2 and the Panthers at 10-3 -- and will likely have huge ramifications for home-field advantage in the playoffs.
The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., but the league has the flexibility to change attractive late-season games with playoff implications to more optimum TV times.
The Panthers' home game this Sunday against the Denver Broncos has already been changed from 1PM to 4:15PM.North Carolina to lose 96,000 jobs
For the first time in five years, North Carolina will see a loss in total jobs this year – more than 58,000, according to an economic forecast released today.
The state will lose almost 38,000 more jobs in 2009, the forecast said, with the biggest employment declines coming in construction, manufacturing and the finance, insurance and real estate industries.
John Connaughton, a UNC Charlotte economist, presented the forecast to business leaders in uptown Charlotte. After several years of growth – including 2.4 percent in 2007 – the N.C. economy will decline by 0.2 percent this year, Connaughton said.
The economy should start to recover in the late spring, he said, making the current recession longer than recessions that started in 1990 and 2001. But Connaughton said he didn't think this recession would be as devastating as the one in 1981-82.
N.C. unemployment likely will hit 7.1 percent this month, he said, and peak at 7.6 percent next December, even though the recovery is expected to start about six months earlier.
“Jobs and job growth don't come back right away,” Connaughton said.
Canadians being screwed
From breadwithcircus.com
All hell, or at least a little part of it, has broken loose in Ottawa and Canadians are all riled up. We’re hearing our Prime Minister go into full attack mode, manufacturing a unity crisis where there need not be one. There is a lot of noise and bluster, but I think that we’ve lost sight of the issue that put us here.
Ignore the red herrings. The issue is that the Conservative Party has lost its mandate to govern.
A little reminder now about the way things are supposed to work. When Canadians vote, they vote to elect a local MP, not the broader government. Add all 308 MP’s together and you’ve got a House of Commons. Whichever political party or collection of political parties has the support of the majority of MP’s in the House makes up the government, because in order to pass legislation, you have to win votes. The issue at hand is that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have lost the confidence of the House of Commons. They can’t win a vote, which means that they can’t pass legislation, which means that they can’t be the government.
The Prime Minister’s rhetoric is designed to get you all worked up emotionally. By talking about treason and sedition, invoking the image of evil separatists legislating the breakup of the country, or evil socialists running the treasury, Harper is obfuscating the real issue and playing the fear card. This is cynical, divisive, and shameful.
In order to survive, Harper needs to make a deal with one of the other parties. This has worked for him in the past. In the previous session of parliament, Harper passed legislation with the support of the same separatist bloc that he is now demonizing. Harper is going to need their support again if he is to govern, but given the way that he has burned all his bridges, that seems very unlikely to happen. In the last election, just eight weeks or so ago, Canadians elected a minority parliament. A minority parliament is dependent upon a coalition (at least informally) among different parties in order to function. What we need is a block of MP’s capable of getting 155 votes on any given issue. They can “prorogue” or delay parliament from taking any votes but that is a measure designed solely to buy time for the Conservative propaganda machine to try to scare the hell out of you. Don’t forget what the real issue is here. The Conservatives are incapable of governing. We really ought to see if any other combination of elected MP’s is up to the task.
Wonder how our brothers to the north are feeling about that stinging sensation in their anal cavities about now?! Because they are feeling the hot poker up the arse we have had for the last eight years
We do not need any more of this crap
We do not need any more of this crap in politics. Especially after the last eight years!
He should join his predecessor, the former Illinois governor Ryan in prison. They could have adjoining cells!
Illinois govenor Rod Blagojevich was roused from bed and arrested Tuesday after prosecutors said he was caught on wiretaps audaciously scheming to
"I've got this thing and it's (expletive) golden," the 51-year-old said of his authority to appoint Obama's replacement, "and I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I'm not gonna do it."
He should join his predecessor, the former Illinois governor Ryan in prison. They could have adjoining cells!
SEIU wants to unionize workers at bailed-out banks
The powerful and innovative Service Employees International Union is trying to unionize bank workers, saying that if the banks are going to get a public bailout, workers should have a seat at the table.
"We believe there is special responsibility for companies who receive taxpayer dollars to ensure their workers have a voice on the job," SEIU's Lynda Tran said. "And those workers should have a seat at the table at the companies where decisions that impact the future of their families and the companies that employ them" are made.
Carolina sets record in win
By running over, around and through one of the league's top defenses, the Carolina Panthers staked their claim as one of the NFL's top teams.
They also set a NFL league record of two running backs having over 100yds each and two rushing touchdowns each for the first time ever in the same game.
DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart proved a dominating tandem, and the Panthers seized control of the competitive NFC South with a 38-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
Williams rushed for a career-high 186 yards and two touchdowns, Stewart added 115 yards and two more scores and the Panthers set a team record for yards rushing for the second time in a month.
Carolina finished with 299 yards rushing, surpassing the team-record 264 it had last month against Detroit.They also set a NFL league record of two running backs having over 100yds each and two rushing touchdowns each for the first time ever in the same game.
Hajj makes Muslims more tolerant
The pilgrimage that brings more than 2 million Muslims to Mecca every year tends to make them more religiously observant and also more tolerant, a huge study of Pakistani pilgrims suggests.
Muslims who undertake the hajj "return with more positive views towards people from other countries," are more likely to say "that people of different religions are equal," and are twice as likely as other religious Muslims to condemn Osama bin Laden, a study has found.
"People become more orthodox yet more tolerant," one of the study's authors, Asim Ijaz Khwaja of Harvard University, said of hajjis -- those who make the pilgrimage.
He described the study's findings yesterday (Monday December 8, 2008), as this year's annual pilgrimage reached its climax, the symbolic stoning of the devil on the festival of Eid al-Adha, an Islamic holiday that traditionally marks the end of the hajj.
This year's hajj ends today.
Habib Allah, a 24-year-old Pakistani who never left his home country before undertaking this year's hajj, echoed sentiments expressed by many people in the study, which surveyed pilgrims from 2006. The Pakistani said he felt like he had seen "the whole world" in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
"I felt like we are all brothers," he said. "I never thought about this before. The hajj has changed my thoughts about other Muslims from other countries. The hajj has united us as Muslims and as brothers."
And that feeling extended to non-Muslims as well, he said.
"After I performed the hajj, I felt that the world is small and we all sharing one place ... the earth. We should all live in peace with each other, whether with Muslims or non- Muslims," he said
Hamoud al-Massri, a 29-year-old teacher from Cairo, Egypt, expressed similar thoughts about his hajj journey this year.
"The hajj taught me that at the end we are all human beings [who] need each other. From now on I will start reading more about other cultures, and not only Muslim cultures but all others," al-Massri said.
Thinking Makes You Hungry
A study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine contends that intellectual work—that’s right, I’m calling writing this stuff, ya know, intellectual—induces a big increase in caloric intake. The research had 14 Canadian students do three things at different times: sit and relax; complete a series of memory and attention tests; and read and summarize a text. (It was that last activity that disqualified rodents and U.S. students as study subjects.) After 45 minutes at each task, the kids were treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch. Because Canada has a truly advanced code of human-subject research ethics.
Read more from Science of Snacks: Thinking Makes You Hungry
Getting high on HIV drugs in South Africa
Anti-retroviral drugs used to treat HIV/Aids are being bought and smoked by teenagers in South Africa to get high.Reports suggest that the drugs are being sold by patients and even healthcare staff for money.
Schoolchildren have been spotted smoking the drugs, which are ground into powder and sometimes mixed with painkillers or marijuana.
Aids patients themselves have been found smoking the drugs instead of taking them as prescribed.
Phlox on you ...
Police in Great Britain kicked in the front door of this house and ransacked it because they smelled marijuana growing. Turns out the sharp-nosed officers mistook phlox flowers in the garden for marijuana. The 77-year-old homeowner doesn't want any more trouble, so he dug up his phlox.Drug raid over smelly flowers
The cities with the biggest jump in poverty
The poverty rate increased in 70 percent of the nation's cities and towns with populations of at least 20,000, from 1999 to 2005-2007.
| Kinston, N.C. 23.0 to 36.6 |
| Milledgeville, Ga. 24.0 to 35.0 |
| Kannapolis, N.C. 10.5 to 21.5 |
| Asheboro, N.C. 15.8 to 26.7 |
| Muskegon, Mich. 20.5 to 31.2 |
| Chester, Pa. 27.2 to 37.8 |
| Portsmouth, Ohio 23.6 to 33.9 |
| Emporia, Kan. 17.9 to 8.1 |
| McMinnville, Ore. 12.9 to 23.0 |
| Dolton village, Ill. 8.4 to 18.3 |
| Myrtle Beach, S.C. 12.0 to 21.9 |
| Charleston, Ill. 30.1 to 40.0 |
The 10 cities with the largest drops in income,
| Median household income dropped in 79 percent of the nation's cities and towns with populations of at least 20,000, from 1999 to 2005-2007. |
| Charleston, Ill. 20,811 -31% |
| Milledgeville, Ga. 26,448 -30% |
| Oxford, Ohio 21,930 -30% |
| Canton, Ga. 35,617 -29% |
| Passaic, N.J. 29,697 -29% |
| Hamtramck, Mich. 23,689 -28% |
| Auburn Hills, Mich. 46,080 -28% |
| Bensenville,Ill. 49,080 -28% |
| Portsmouth, Ohio 20,740 -28% |
| Asheboro, N.C. 28,927 -27% |
A blond goes fishing
A blond decides she wants to go ice fishing.
So she goes to the library and reads and researches ice fishing.
Then she goes to the sporting goods store and buys everything she needs.
Then she finally thinks she is ready so she goes out to the ice and starts drilling a hole.
Suddenly she hears a voice from up above.
It says: "There are no fish under the ice."
So she decides to go farther down on the ice.
She starts drilling and she hears the voice again.
"There are no fish under the ice."
So she packs up her things and moves down the ice again.
She starts drilling and she hears the voice again.
"There are no fish under the ice."
"Is that you Lord?" she says.
"No," says the voice, "I'm the manager of the ice hockey rink."
So she goes to the library and reads and researches ice fishing.
Then she goes to the sporting goods store and buys everything she needs.
Then she finally thinks she is ready so she goes out to the ice and starts drilling a hole.
Suddenly she hears a voice from up above.
It says: "There are no fish under the ice."
So she decides to go farther down on the ice.
She starts drilling and she hears the voice again.
"There are no fish under the ice."
So she packs up her things and moves down the ice again.
She starts drilling and she hears the voice again.
"There are no fish under the ice."
"Is that you Lord?" she says.
"No," says the voice, "I'm the manager of the ice hockey rink."
Monday, December 8, 2008
Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve
In what must have been a stunner to the neo-cons who think their stacked court will still march in lockstep with them ...
The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
... man that's got to hurt.
Who would have thought ... a court actually adhering to the law ... wow!
The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
... man that's got to hurt.
Who would have thought ... a court actually adhering to the law ... wow!
Youthfulness a costly American obsession
It's one of those photos that make you do a double-take. Dr. Jeffry Life stands in jeans, his shirt off. His face is that of a distinguished-looking grandpa; his head is balding, and what hair there is is white. But his 69-year-old body looks like it belongs to a muscle-bound 30-year-old.
The photo regularly runs in ads for the Cenegenics Medical Institute, a Las Vegas-based clinic that specializes in "age management," a growing field in a society obsessed with staying young. Life, who swears that's his real last name, also keeps a framed copy of the photo on his office wall at Cenegenics.
Read the rest here.
And I Quote
The solution to all of Life's problems is learning the difference between need and desire.
~ Myself
(Yes, it is that simple)
~ Myself
(Yes, it is that simple)
John Lennon Died 28 Years Ago Today
John Lennon died 28 years ago today. We lost a voice of hope. We lost a voice of love ... that night on a sidewalk in New York City.
But more than that the world - especially the United States - lost its way.
After John's death the world mourned ... at least the part that has a heart. Yet just in the darkness of the shadows lurked the foulness that we now know and refer to as the neo-cons.
The blackness that has plagued the world sallied forth that night convinced their evil was the correct path as Ronnie Raygun was made president and the downward spiral of the world began in earnest.
Today, 28 years later, the voices of hope and the voices of love are reasserting themselves and driving the foul and loathsome back into oblivion.
John's belief in and hope for mankind, while hidden by the foulness, never was - or could be - extinguished ... such a flame can never be dimmed for long ... and is a shared belief and hope by most people in the world. We just have to strive to keep the haters in their dank, dark holes a bit harder.
Thank you John Lennon for being a light illuminating the world.
But more than that the world - especially the United States - lost its way.
After John's death the world mourned ... at least the part that has a heart. Yet just in the darkness of the shadows lurked the foulness that we now know and refer to as the neo-cons.
The blackness that has plagued the world sallied forth that night convinced their evil was the correct path as Ronnie Raygun was made president and the downward spiral of the world began in earnest.
Today, 28 years later, the voices of hope and the voices of love are reasserting themselves and driving the foul and loathsome back into oblivion.
John's belief in and hope for mankind, while hidden by the foulness, never was - or could be - extinguished ... such a flame can never be dimmed for long ... and is a shared belief and hope by most people in the world. We just have to strive to keep the haters in their dank, dark holes a bit harder.
Thank you John Lennon for being a light illuminating the world.
Imagine
Harp-Piano
This is only one of two remaining harp-pianos, the hybrid of a harp and a piano:
A rare harp-piano by Dietz, Austria or Germany, ca. 1840. The strings are plucked as on a harp, operated through a piano keyboard.
Obama Supports Chicago labor Sit-In
A weekend sit-in by laid-off workers at a Chicago window factory drew high-profile support from President Barack Obama ahead of a Monday meeting between union leaders and the plant's major creditor.
About 200 workers from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America have conducted what they call a "peaceful occupation" of the Republic Windows and Doors plant since Friday, when their abruptly announced layoffs were supposed to take effect.
"Number one, I think that these workers, if they have earned these benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments," Obama said during a news conference Sunday.
"And, number two, I think it is important for us to make sure that, moving forward, any economic plan that we put in place helps businesses to meet payroll so that we're not seeing these kinds of circumstances again."
*****
Well, what do you know a president who actually stands up for the people he represents. How novel is that!?
Pakistan arrests suspected Mumbai plotter
Security forces overran a militant camp on the outskirts of Pakistani Kashmir's main city and seized an alleged mastermind of the attacks that shook India's financial capital last month, two officials said Monday.
The raid was in response to demands by India and the United States that Pakistan target the alleged perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, which have sharply raised tensions between South Asia's two nuclear-armed powers.Backed by a helicopter, the troops grabbed Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi among at least 12 people taken Sunday in the raid on the riverbank camp run by the banned group Laskhar-e-Taiba in Pakistani Kashmir, the officials said.
After brief gunfight in the camp near Muzaffarabad the militants were subdued, the officials said.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Guns for food
A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy look under the bed and in closets to find items to trade for groceries.
The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gun and gang violence.
In a program similar to ones in New York and San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.
Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount.
In years past, Target and Best Buy were the cards of choice, with residents wanting presents for the holidays.
This year, most asked for the supermarket cards, said sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods.
"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," he said.
The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gun and gang violence.
In a program similar to ones in New York and San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allows residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.
Turning in assault rifles yields double that amount.
In years past, Target and Best Buy were the cards of choice, with residents wanting presents for the holidays.
This year, most asked for the supermarket cards, said sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods.
"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," he said.
Blood alcohol tester charged in Nevada with DUI
Talk about Life's twists and turns ...
A contract worker for a Nevada sheriff's department is accused of driving drunk to a jail to test a suspect's blood alcohol content.
A contract worker for a Nevada sheriff's department is accused of driving drunk to a jail to test a suspect's blood alcohol content.
Fifty-three-year-old Kathleen Cherry told a Carson City sheriff's deputy who smelled alcohol on her breath that she had one margarita before driving Friday night.
She's accused of failing field sobriety tests and registering a blood alcohol content over the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Cherry is a phlebotomist, trained to draw blood for lab tests. She was booked on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge, and her bail was set at more than $1,000.
Bridges arrested, charged with assault
On the eve of the Carolina Panthers' biggest game of the season, offensive lineman Jeremy Bridges was arrested Sunday night and charged with simple assault and battery and communicating threats.
The charges stemmed from an incident Saturday night involving Dom Perignon champagne and a bouncer at Villa Antonio Restaurant in Ballantyne, according to Bridges' attorney, George Laughrun, and the restaurant's manager.
Bridges turned himself in Sunday night and was expected to be released after posting $2,500 bond. Laughrun said he expected Bridges would plead not guilty.
Panthers spokesman Charlie Dayton said Carolina team officials were aware of the charges and were trying to get more information.
Other Panthers' players were gathered Sunday night in a local hotel awaiting their Monday Night Football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium.
Bridges, 6-foot-5, 325 pounds, is a reserve lineman for the Panthers who started four games at right tackle earlier this season when regular starter Jeff Otah was injured.
The manager at Villa Antonio, Miguel Rullier, said the incident started when Bridges ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon from the restaurant bar Saturday night and shook it up, causing the champagne to spew and get other patrons wet.
Rullier said Bridges was asked to leave and politely agreed to do so.
He said a female customer who had been doused then pursued Bridges, complaining loudly.
“I don't know what she told him, but it made him irritable,” said Rullier.
Rullier said Bridges became angry and had to be restrained by a bouncer. He said Bridges pushed the bouncer out of the way, but did not strike anyone else.
“He was yelling and out of control,” said Rullier. “He's a big guy and we couldn't handle it anymore, so we called the police.”
Rullier said Bridges left about 10 minutes later, before police arrived.
Laughrun said Bridges doesn't dispute the part of the story about the wine bottle erupting, but denies that Bridges pushed a bouncer or threatened anyone.
“He left his credit card there and had to go back and get his credit card,” said Laughrun. “There was a woman who evidently got irate. But we adamantly disagree that he pushed or shoved anybody, or communicated threats to anyone.”
*****
No matter what the details are, this was a dumb move.
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