Former President and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter waves to participants in the the Peanut Festival parade in Plains, Georgia.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Peanuts and a president celebrated in Plains, Georgia
Former President and peanut farmer Jimmy Carter waves to participants in the the Peanut Festival parade in Plains, Georgia.
Young adults visit doctors least at an age when risky behavior peaks
When adolescents graduate to young adulthood, their preventive care tends to fall by the wayside.
Scalia see no seperation
Antonin Scalia has again reiterated that he basically sees no separation between church and state in the Constitution.
And you wonder why he is considered a dangerously insane anti-American wing-nut by all Real Americans.
And you wonder why he is considered a dangerously insane anti-American wing-nut by all Real Americans.
Clinton-Gore feud thawing
Clinton-Gore feud thawing
Former President Bill Clinton and his former VP Al Gore are mending a troubled relationship.
Tweak your diet to reduce cancer risk
Tweak your diet to reduce cancer risk
Adding brewed beverages and spices like cloves and tumeric can help fight off cancer.
Obama's threat to summer vacation
Obama's threat to summer vacation
The White House is mulling changes that may be very unpopular with students.
U.S. shuts down more troubled banks
U.S. shuts down more troubled banks
The federal government closes the 95th bank this year, and more are in danger.
Unusual Holidays and Celebrations
Today is
Ancestor Appreciation Day,
National Good Neighbor Day,
World Tourism Day,
and
World Heart Day
Ancestor Appreciation Day,
National Good Neighbor Day,
World Tourism Day,
and
World Heart Day
Daily Almanac
Today is Sunday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2009.
There are 95 days left in the year.
Today in History, September 27.
The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins at sunset.
There are 95 days left in the year.
Today in History, September 27.
The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, begins at sunset.
Our Readers
Some of our readers today have been in:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Moscow, Moskva, Russia
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Lahti, Southern Finland, Finland
Vishakahaptnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
Diest, Brabant Wallon, Belgium
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
London, England, United Kingdom
Flenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Moscow, Moskva, Russia
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Lahti, Southern Finland, Finland
Vishakahaptnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
Diest, Brabant Wallon, Belgium
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
London, England, United Kingdom
Flenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Are you being too idealistic about a new person in your life?
If there's someone in your social group everyone dislikes but you, then maybe you should give this person another, more objective review.
Your tendency to see the good side in people is charming and generous, but it's not always useful for keeping yourself protected against those who might not be healthy for your life goals.
Do not accept negative habits.
That I do all ready.
Are you being too idealistic about a new person in your life?
If there's someone in your social group everyone dislikes but you, then maybe you should give this person another, more objective review.
Your tendency to see the good side in people is charming and generous, but it's not always useful for keeping yourself protected against those who might not be healthy for your life goals.
Do not accept negative habits.
That I do all ready.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Uninsured Young Woman Delays Treatment, Dies From Swine Flu
Kimberly Young, 22, died from swine flu on Wednesday.Sadly, it has been reported that she delayed treatment due to a lack of health insurance. Although there's no guarantee that earlier treatment would have saved her life, it would be hard to find a more obvious example of the need to fix our broken health insurance system.
Rare Apple Is Half-Green, Half-Red
A fruit grower in England has produced a one-in-a-million apple.
Ken Morrish was stunned when he found a half-green, half-red golden delicious apple split exactly down the middle on his tree.
Rare Apple Is Half-Green, Half-Red
Ken Morrish was stunned when he found a half-green, half-red golden delicious apple split exactly down the middle on his tree.
Rare Apple Is Half-Green, Half-Red
U.S. government's Internet disaster plan
U.S. government's Internet disaster plan
Politicians want the president to be able to protect the nation against a massive cyberattack.
Can the moon really make you loony?
Can the moon really make you loony?
Learn the truth behind the myths of how the moon influences your behavior.
Cars you can't drive in the U.S.
Cars you can't drive in the U.S.
At around $2,500, the Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car — too bad you can't get it in America.
Sparkman Found Naked, Bound, Gagged: Witness
More disturbing details continue to trick out in the apparent murder of Bill Sparkman, 51, part-time census worker who some feel was killed in an anti-government act. A witness has come forward and described the body, when found, as hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery naked, gagged, with hands and feet bound with duct tape.
Full Story
Full Story
Healthy habits that can backfire
Healthy habits that can backfire
Oversleeping on the weekends may cause you to wake up with a headache.
Real jobs you can do from home
Real jobs you can do from home
These businesses can earn you cash working in your spare time — and in your own home.
Most expensive autos to insure
Most expensive autos to insure
If you own any of these models, be prepared to pay a lot more for car insurance.
Where Americans are uprooting
Where Americans are uprooting
U.S. residents are leaving two big sunny states in droves and heading to unexpected places.
Girlfriend charged in 17-year-old's murder
A 26-year-old Kannapolis, NC, woman has been charged with murder after an altercation between her father and boyfriend.
Emily Ann Howard, of 2118 Lynn Street in Kannapolis, was charged after Dustin Garren Lee, 17, also of Kannapolis, died from stab wounds he received during a disturbance at the home the two shared with Howard's father, according to the Rowan County Sheriff's Department.
Early Thursday morning, deputies were dispatched to the residance to investigate a reported disturbance, according to Capt. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff's Office.
A second 911 call came in, and deputies were advised that a person had been stabbed at the same address.
Deputies were met at the scene by Howard and her father, William Dwight Howard, 54.
Emily told deputies she stabbed Lee while defending her father.
Emily and Lee were boyfriend and girlfriend, according to Sifford.
EMS and the Mt. Mitchell Fire Department treated Lee at the scene and transported him to CMC-NorthEast, where he died from the wounds inflicted, Sifford said.
Howard is in the Rowan County Detention Center under no bond.
*****
The question is ... why does a 26-year-old woman have a 17-year-old boy for a boyfriend, anyway?
Memory and IQ studies stir the Web
Memory and IQ studies stir the Web
Six people who remember almost everything and an IQ study captivate the Internet.
Top Ten
The Prime Minister of New Zealand delivers the Top Ten Reasons to visit New Zealand on the Late Show.
"50 People Who Matter Today"
Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Kayani has been ranked higher than Pope Benedict XVI and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a list published by a British political magazine, which highlights 50 individuals who have been instrumental in having an impact in today's scenario around the world.
Pakistan Chief of Army Staff in list of "50 People Who Matter Today"
Well, ranking higher than the pope isn't hard to do ... a pile of cow-patties ranks higher.
But still impressive.
Pakistan Chief of Army Staff in list of "50 People Who Matter Today"
Well, ranking higher than the pope isn't hard to do ... a pile of cow-patties ranks higher.
But still impressive.
Ugandan gorillas get friendly on Facebook
No, it's not the ex-boyfriend. It's Muhozi, an endangered Ugandan mountain gorilla, who's appearing online as part of a fundraising program the Ugandan Wildlife Authority is launching Saturday to help save the species.
Ugandan gorillas get friendly on Facebook
Ugandan gorillas get friendly on Facebook
Woman tries to sell kid for gas
According to Melbourne, Florida, police a 37-year-old woman was arrested on a child-neglect charge Friday afternoon after a tow truck driver told police the mother offered to sell her child in exchange for gas money.
AT&T calls for FCC action on Google
This is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black
The call, which came in a strongly worded letter from AT&T to the Federal Communications Commission’s competition bureau was signed by Robert Quinn, AT&T’s senior vice president for federal regulations. It marks a significant escalation in the dispute over Google Voice and proposed new rules on “net-neutrality.”
The FCC is already investigating Apple’s decision to reject the Google Voice application for the iPhone which enables customers to send and receive calls from a single telephone number on multiple devices and access voice mail. AT&T is the exclusive provider for the iPhone in the US.
Last week, Julius Genachowski, FCC chairman, proposed new rules requiring operators to open their networks to any legitimate internet content or service without discrimination. If adopted, the move would be a victory for big internet companies at the expense of network operators.
AT&T and other traditional US carriers have argued that the existing net neutrality guidelines are sufficient and some have rejected the need to extend them to mobile services. Carriers argue that they want the flexibility of being able to protect their networks from bandwidth-hogging applications including video services.
In its letter on Friday, AT&T described Google as “one of the most troublesome trumpeters of so-called net-neutrality” regulation, but said it failed to abide by “level playing-field” principles “at least when it comes to its own services.”
AT&T noted that numerous press reports have suggested that Google “is systematically blocking telephone calls from consumers that use Google Voice to call telephone numbers in certain rural areas.”
By blocking these calls, AT&T claimed that Google is able to reduce its access expenses while, “other providers, including those with which Google Voice competes, are banned from call blocking” by a 2007 FCC ruling.
The dispute over Google Voice has at its core, an argument over whether Google Voice is a telecommunications service, and therefore subject to regulation or, as Google maintains, “an online software tool” and therefore outside the regulatory framework.
However AT&T contends that even if Google Voice is an application, it is still bound by the Commission’s Internet Policy Statement principles. ”To the extent ’net neutrality’ is animated by a concern about ostensible internet ’gatekeepers,’ that concern must necessarily apply to application, service, and content providers,” said Mr Quinn.
Wing nuts in apoplectic tizzy after video shows NJ elementary school kids singing President Obama's praises
A school for kindergartners through second-graders in a comfortable Philadelphia suburb has become the latest target of accusations by wing nuts that schoolchildren are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama.
Oh, and like they didn't try to have all the little kiddies perverted into thinking (not thinking, actually) that the shrub was the messiah?
President Obama's Weekly Address
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
September 26, 2009
This week, I joined leaders from around the world at the United Nations and the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. Today, I can report on what we achieved—a new commitment to meet common challenges, and real progress in advancing America’s national security and economic prosperity.
As I said at the U.N., over the past nine months my administration has renewed American leadership, and pursued a new era of engagement in which we call upon all nations to live up to their responsibilities. This week, our engagement produced tangible results in several areas.
In Pittsburgh, the world’s major economies agreed to continue our effort to spur global demand to put our people back to work. We committed ourselves to economic growth that is balanced and sustained— so that we avoid the booms and busts of the past. We reached an historic agreement to reform the global financial system—to promote responsibility and prevent abuse so that we never face a crisis like this again. And we reformed our international economic architecture, so that we can better coordinate our effort to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
We also established American leadership in the global pursuit of the clean energy of the 21st century. I am proud that the G-20 nations agreed to phase out $300 billion worth of fossil fuel subsidies. This will increase our energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, combat the threat of climate change, and help create the new jobs and industries of the future.
In New York, we advanced the cause of peace and security. I joined the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in nearly a year—a meeting that even nine months ago did not seem possible. And we resolved to move forward in the journey toward a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
We also took unprecedented steps to secure loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to seek a world without them. As the first U.S. president to ever chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, I was proud that the Council passed an historic and unanimous resolution embracing the comprehensive strategy I outlined this year in Prague.
To prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists, the Security Council endorsed our global effort to lock down all vulnerable material within four years. We reaffirmed the basic compact of the global nonproliferation regime: all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy; nations with nuclear weapons have the responsibility to move toward disarmament; and nations without them have the responsibility to forsake them.
The United States is meeting our responsibilities by pursuing an agreement with Russia to reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. And just as we meet our responsibilities, so must other nations, including Iran and North Korea.
Earlier this year, we imposed tough, new, sanctions on North Korea to stop their efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. And we will continue to stand with our allies and partners to press North Korea to move in a new direction.
This week, we joined with the United Kingdom and France in presenting evidence that Iran has been building a secret nuclear facility to enrich uranium. This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime, and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion. That is why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1st now take on added urgency.
My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open. But Iran must now cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions.
On this, the international community is more united than ever before. Yesterday, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our European allies in condemning Iran’s program. In our meetings and public statements, President Medvedev of Russia and I agreed that Iran must pursue a new course or face consequences. All of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and Germany, have made it clear that Iran must fulfill its responsibilities.
Iran’s leaders must now choose – they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people.
These are the urgent threats of our time. And the United States is committed to a new chapter of international cooperation to meet them. This new chapter will not be written in one week or even one year. But we have begun. And for the American people and the people of the world, it will mean greater security and prosperity for years to come.
Unusual Holidays and Celebrations
Today is
Fish Amnesty Day,
Hunting and Fishing Day,
Shamu the Whale Day,
and
National Public Lands Day
Fish Amnesty Day,
Hunting and Fishing Day,
Shamu the Whale Day,
and
National Public Lands Day
Daily Almanac
Today is Saturday, Sept. 26, the 269th day of 2009.
There are 96 days left in the year.
Today in History, September 26.
There are 96 days left in the year.
Today in History, September 26.
Our Readers
Some of our readers today have been in:
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tripoli, Tarabulus, Libya
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
London, England, United Kingdom
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Vienna, Wien, Austria
Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tripoli, Tarabulus, Libya
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
London, England, United Kingdom
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
Vienna, Wien, Austria
Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Hyderbad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
If you're putting negative energy into a tricky situation at work or school, then how on earth are you going to ever have a positive outcome?
You have to work for the good of everyone, not just yourself, right now.
Acting out of spite, jealousy or greed might get you an instant payoff, but farther on down the road it is going to cost you big.
So be altruistic in every situation and try to consider others.
When you do that, they will consider your needs later.
The only problem with that is they don't.
If you're putting negative energy into a tricky situation at work or school, then how on earth are you going to ever have a positive outcome?
You have to work for the good of everyone, not just yourself, right now.
Acting out of spite, jealousy or greed might get you an instant payoff, but farther on down the road it is going to cost you big.
So be altruistic in every situation and try to consider others.
When you do that, they will consider your needs later.
The only problem with that is they don't.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Question and Answer
Question: Can you kill your mother-in-law with a towel
Answer: Yes, if you wrap an iron in it.
Answer: Yes, if you wrap an iron in it.
Insurer Denies Claim: Bleeding Breast is Not An Emergency
As rumors and misstatements continue to swirl about death panels and government limitations on insurance coverage, these are the stories insurance companies do not want you to hear.
They are stories of insurance companies, their own death panels, and their own health care rationing.
Would any woman out there, waking to a shirt soaked with blood and blood coming from their nipple, not rush to the ER?
They are stories of insurance companies, their own death panels, and their own health care rationing.
Would any woman out there, waking to a shirt soaked with blood and blood coming from their nipple, not rush to the ER?
Why geography matters in health care
Why geography matters in health care
Depending on where you live and work, you can be very unlucky with health coverage.
Think you got some strange laws in your neck of the woods
Weirdest laws from around the world
In Finland's taxis, you won't hear the radio on, and in Cambodia, water guns are confiscated.
Patriot Act used mostly for drug war, very little for war on terror
In the debate over the PATRIOT Act, the Bush White House insisted it needed the authority to search people’s homes without their permission or knowledge so that terrorists wouldn’t be tipped off that they’re under investigation.
Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.
Only three of the 763 “sneak-and-peek” requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.
Hey, ACORN Opponents: Where is the Defund Blackwater Act?
Republican Congressional leaders are continuing their witch-hunt against ACORN, the grassroots community group dedicated to helping poor and working class people. This campaign now unfortunately has gained bi-partisan legislative support in the form of the Defund ACORN Act of 2009 which has now passed the House and Senate. As Ryan Grim at Huffington Post has pointed out, the legislation “could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex:”
The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to “any organization” that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.
According to the Project on Oversight and Government Reform, this legislation could potentially eliminate a virtual Who’s Who of war contractors including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and KBR to other corporations such as AT&T, FedEx and Dell.
Perhaps one of the most jarring comparisons here is the fact that ACORN is now being attacked while the Obama administration continues to contract with Blackwater, the favorite mercenary company of the Bush administration, which is headed by Erik Prince, who was a major donor to Republican causes and campaigns, including those of some of the Defund ACORN bill’s sponsors, including Indiana Republican Mike Pence, one of the key figures in hunting down Van Jones. Prince, of course, was recently described by a former employee as a man who “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
Rash of terror arrests puts many on edge
Rash of terror arrests puts many on edge
Foiled bomb plots in Texas and Illinois add to a growing list of terror-related activity.
$10 million for a better light bulb
$10 million for a better light bulb
The Energy Department will award a big prize for a new version of America's most popular bulb. Not fluorescent
Also:
Unsafe drinking water plagues U.S. schools
Unsafe drinking water plagues U.S. schools
Lead, pesticides, and dozens of other toxins turn up at schools in all 50 states.
Timely freebies for the jobless
Timely freebies for the jobless
Many laid-off workers are surprised by what they are being offered for free.
Mom attacks son for eating last pork chop
A California mother is charged with felony child abuse after she attacked her son for eating the last pork chop.
Top 25 Censored Stories for 2010
1. US Congress Sells Out to Wall Street
2. US Schools are More Segregated Today than in the 1950s
3. Toxic Waste Behind Somali Pirates
4. Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina
5. Europe Blocks US Toxic Products
6. Lobbyists Buy Congress
7. Obama’s Military Appointments Have Corrupt Past
8. Bailed out Banks and America’s Wealthiest Cheat IRS Out of Billions
9. US Arms Used for War Crimes in Gaza
10. Ecuador Declares Foreign Debt Illegitimate
11. Private Corporations Profit from the Occupation of Palestine
12. Mysterious Death of Mike Connell—Karl Rove’s Election Thief
13. Katrina’s Hidden Race War
14. Congress Invested in Defense Contracts
15. World Bank’s Carbon Trade Fiasco
16. US Repression of Haiti Continues
17. The ICC Facilitates US Covert War in Sudan
18. Ecuador’s Constitutional Rights of Nature
19. Bank Bailout Recipients Spent to Defeat Labor
20. Secret Control of the Presidential Debates
21. Recession Causes States to Cut Welfare
22. Obama’s Trilateral Commission Team
23. Activists Slam World Water Forum as a Corporate-Driven Fraud
24. Dollar Glut Finances US Military Expansion
25. Fast Track Oil Exploitation in Western Amazon
The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)
Two sunspots are visible on our star’s face for the first time in more than a year, possibly ending an unexpected lull in solar activity.
Solar flares rise and fall on an 11-year cycle, so scientists thought sunspot activity would pick up some time in 2008. It didn’t. And this year has been quiet, too. No sunspots have been visible on the sun for 80 percent of the days this year.
Sunspot activity is correlated with the total amount of energy we receive from the sun. If the sun’s activity were to change remarkably, it would have an influence on global climate. So, in the context of climate change, the fact that the current solar minimum has been the longest and deepest in more than a century has been of special interest.
Where home prices are hitting bottom
Where home prices are hitting bottom
These markets are seeing signs of recovery as the frenzy of price slashing slows.
Bank fees you don't know you're paying
Bank fees you don't know you're paying
Banks impose sneaky charges on their customers in ways that add up to real money.
'Secret' uncovered in Pollock painting
'Secret' uncovered in Pollock painting
Jackson Pollock wove his name into a legendary mural, an art expert contends.
Fake Video Can Convince Witnesses to Give False Testimony
People believe what they see, and they’re willing to punish each other for it — apparently even when what they’re seeing is a fake video that doesn’t jibe with real-life experience.
Psychologists have long known that our memories of past events can be influenced by misleading information, but now they’ve proven that doctored video evidence can convince people to offer false eyewitness testimony. In a study of 60 college students performing a computerized gambling task, nearly half were willing to testify that they saw their partner cheat in real life after watching fabricated video evidence. Of students who were told that video evidence existed but didn’t watch the footage themselves, only 10 percent gave false testimony. [...]
In the study, each student was paired with a member of the research team disguised as another participant. The pair sat side-by-side and played a computerized gambling game, which involved betting fake money based on the likelihood of answering a multiple choice question correctly. Each person was in charge of keeping track of their own wins; when a subject correctly answered a question, they got to take money from a shared “bank,” and when they incorrectly answered a question, they had to put money back. Participants were told that at the end of the game, the person who made the most money would win a prize.
After the gambling concluded, the researchers used Final Cut Pro to alter a video recording of the game and make it look like the partner had cheated. Five to seven hours after the first task, students were called back to the lab and told that their absent partner was suspected of cheating. One-third of the students were also told that the researchers had video evidence of the cheating, and another one-third got to watch the doctored video themselves.
Before asking participants to sign an eyewitness testimony, the researchers emphasized that no one should testify unless they were 100 percent sure they had seen their partner cheat, and they emphasized that the cheater would be punished. Students who watched the fake video were far more likely to give false testimony than students who heard about the video or were simply told that their partner was suspected of cheating.
1.7 sextillion dollar suit filed against B of A
A lawsuit against Bank of America on uncertain grounds is seeking nearly two sextillion dollars in damages:
A billion trillion, also known as a "sextillion," could be written as a 1 followed by 21 zeros. I know the dollar has weakened lately, but a sextillion dollars would still be a lot of money. The gross domestic product of the entire world in 2008 was only $60 trillion, so even if Chiscolm won it might be a little hard to collect."These are the kind of numbers you deal with only on a cosmic scale," said Sylvain Cappell, who is New York University's Silver Professor at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and so presumably can count really high. "If [Chiscolm] thinks Bank of America has branches on every planet in the cosmos, then it might start to make some sense."
Boo Hoo
Glenn Beck's tough week
The insane wing-nut was mocked like a nerd, accused of frog cooking, and made fun of on "SNL."
And more
And more
Also:
IRS tries to stop unusual deduction
IRS tries to stop unusual deduction
Some people have their homes burned down in exchange for a tax write-off.
As the Fortune Cookie crumbles
Last evening the Mrs., and I went to eat Chinese and our fortune cookies were interesting ...
Mine: Genius is the capability to take infinite pains.
(Need to chew on that one a while)
Hers: Come back later ... I am sleeping. (Yes, Cookies need their sleep, too.)
(Thus proving the Fates have a sense of humor after all)
Mine: Genius is the capability to take infinite pains.
(Need to chew on that one a while)
Hers: Come back later ... I am sleeping. (Yes, Cookies need their sleep, too.)
(Thus proving the Fates have a sense of humor after all)
Al Franken reads the Fourth Amendment to DoJ official at PATRIOT Act hearings
Al Franken's Senate career just keeps getting better and better. This week he read the Fourth Amendment ("no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.") aloud to a high-ranking Department of Justice official who was making the case for renewing the PATRIOT Act's provision for roving wiretaps.
"That's pretty explicit language," noted Franken, asking Kris how the "roving wiretap" provision of the Patriot Act can meet that requirement if it doesn't require the government to name its target.Kris looked flustered and mumbled that "this is surreal," apparently referring to having to respond to Franken's question. "I would defer to the other branch of government," he said, referring to the courts, prompting Franken to interject: "I know what that is."
Kris explained that the courts have held that the law's requirements that the person be described, though not named, is sufficient to meet the demands of the Constitution. That did not appear to completely satisfy Franken's concerns.
New Airline Fee
British Airways has broken new exciting new ground in the race to make flying as awful as possible: they have announced a fee (ranging from £10-60 per passenger) for advance seat selection, explaining that this will be the only way that families and other groups traveling together can be assured that they'll be sitting next to each other. I wonder what happens if you don't pay it while flying with a two-year-old in her own seat; do they seat her at the other end of the plane from you and explain to the strangers on either side of her that they're responsible for her well-being for the duration?
Best part: BA is billing this as a way of improving the flight "experience" because you can now be certain you'll get the seat that you want. War is peace, love is hate, the airline industry cares about passengers.
A BA spokeswoman said: "Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we've only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day."We know people want to secure them in advance and have real control over their flying experience. This will allow them to do that."
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