1/ Amusing as always, Gail Collins on some of the more inspired lunacy from the right wing gun nuts.........
On Monday, the Utah State Capitol celebrated Browning Day, honoring John Moses Browning, native son and maker of the nominee for Official State Firearm. There were speeches, a proclamation, a flyover by a National Guard helicopter, and, of course, a rotunda full of guns. “We recognize his efforts to preserve the Constitution,” Gov. Gary Herbert said, in keeping with what appears to be a new Republican regulation requiring all party members to mention the Constitution at least once in every three sentences.
It is generally not a good policy to dwell on the strange behavior of state legislators since it leads to bottomless despair. If I wanted to go down that road, I’d give you Mark Madsen, a Utah state senator who tried to improve upon the Browning Day celebrations by suggesting they be scheduled to coincide with Martin Luther King Day since “both made tremendous contributions to individual freedom and individual liberty.”
But it’s a symptom of a new streak of craziness abroad in the land, which has politicians scrambling to prove not just that they are against gun regulation, but also that they are proactively in favor of introducing guns into every conceivable part of American life. National parks. Schools. Bars. Airports.
2/ The abortion loonies are at it again - this story is about a Catholic Bishop excommunicating a hospital because they saved a womans life.....
Rather, it was a prominent bishop, Thomas Olmsted, stripping St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix of its affiliation with the Roman Catholic diocese.
The hospital’s offense? It had terminated a pregnancy to save the life of the mother. The hospital says the 27-year-old woman, a mother of four children, would almost certainly have died otherwise.
Bishop Olmsted initially excommunicated a nun, Sister Margaret McBride, who had been on the hospital’s ethics committee and had approved of the decision. That seems to have been a failed attempt to bully the hospital into submission, but it refused to cave and continues to employ Sister Margaret. Now the bishop, in effect, is excommunicating the entire hospital — all because it saved a woman’s life.
Make no mistake: This clash of values is a bellwether of a profound disagreement that is playing out at many Catholic hospitals around the country. These hospitals are part of the backbone of American health care, amounting to 15 percent of hospital beds.
Two points on this issue......
1/ The foetus seems to be sacred, but once the child is born it's on it's own. None of the debate is about making sure the precious child is brought up properly.....the politics of it are to abandon the [mostly unwed] mother and child to the vagaries of the system and charities.....
2/ There are 6.7 billion people in the world....what is so important about having more babies? Or does the abortion lunacy only apply to American babies, especially white ones.....
3/ I was reading this over breakfast and I had to put it down as it was making me so pissed. A story of how a bank foreclosed on an Army Reservist's home and how he's been fighting for 5 years through the courts to get it back. And there's specific legislation that protects the military from this situation, but Deutsche Bank went ahead and foreclosed on him anyway.....bastards.....
In violation of a law intended to protect active military personnelfrom creditors, agents ofDeutsche Bank foreclosed on his small Michigan house, forcing Sergeant Hurley’s wife, Brandie, and her two young children to move out and find shelter elsewhere.
When the sergeant returned in December 2005, he drove past the densely wooded riverfront property outside Hartford, Mich. The peaceful little home was still there — winter birds still darted over the gazebo he had built near the water’s edge — but it almost certainly would never be his again. Less than two months before his return from the war, the bank’s agents sold the property to a buyer in Chicago for $76,000.
Since then, Sergeant Hurley has been on an odyssey through the legal system, with little hope of a happy ending — indeed, the foreclosure that cost him his home may also cost him his marriage.
4/ Oh boy, it's starting again - house prices are falling across the country.....
A new slide in housing prices has begun in earnest, with averages in major cities across the country falling to their lowest point in many years.
Prices in 20 major metropolitan areas slid 1 percent in November from October, according to theStandard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index released Tuesday. The index has fallen 1.6 percent from a year ago.
Nine of the 20 cities in the index sank in November to new lows for this economic cycle: Chicago; Las Vegas; Detroit; Atlanta; Seattle; Charlotte, N.C.; Miami; Tampa; Fla.; and Portland, Ore. Only a handful of places — essentially, California and the District of Columbia — went counter to the trend and had rising prices over the last year.
Whether the long-predicted double dip is looming or has already arrived is a quibble of semantics.
5/ Fawlty Towers - "The Germans".....9 minutes of the best comedy ever made......
6/ So here's an interesting one - 8 nightmares that could happen to the country and the world in 2011........actually the #2 prediction, Egypt becoming unstable, has already started.....
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq fall apart; the U.S. economy sinks back into recession; Keith Olbermann gets into politics—Leslie H. Gelb on the disasters that beckon at home and abroad this year, plus a few bright spots.
Disasters have been brewing for years all over the world, and this might well be the year where some or many just erupt. The bad signs far outweigh the good ones. Too many problems have gone unattended and unfixed for too long, and one just gets the sense of things preparing to pop. It won’t be as bad as say, 1939 with nations on the edge of World War II. But it could be worse than 1968, when the Vietnam War was reaching a crescendo and America appeared to be coming apart at the seams. Here are some of the sprouts to watch.
1. The U.S. Economy Fails to Improve
An American economy will look bright for six months only to start tanking or leveling off again. There is almost $1 trillion in stimulus spending that came on the eve of Christmas (extending unemployment benefits and tax breaks) to keep the economy looking brighter for a while. But now the congressional mania to cut, cut, cut will dominate. Worst of all, Congress, mainly the Republican-controlled House, won’t pass President Obama’s request for “investment” spending on transportation, public schools, and energy innovation. America’s future will be flushed down the drain of indiscriminate debt reduction. The real horror here is that so much else depends on an improving U.S. economy.
2. Hosni Mubarak Is Threatened in Egypt
Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, America’s good friend and key to Mideast peace, could be toppled in a wave of public discontent with his regime’s corruption and inefficiency.
7/ Ah Florida.....idiots ruled by crooks......
Governor Rick doesn't care we voted for redistricting by a 63% margin, he's going to make sure it doesn't happen...
The latest news broke Tuesday when it was revealed that Gov. Rick Scott had secretly blocked paperwork needed to make the Fair Districts laws take effect.
He did so on Jan. 7 — three days after he took office and without letting any of his constituents know.
Democrat Corrine Brown wasn't any better. The November votes had barely been counted when she filed a lawsuit, along with South Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, trying to nullify them.
And then Republican House Speaker Dean Cannon decided he wanted to help Brown out by asking the state House to join her lawsuit.
Yes, Republicans and Democrats coming together for the noblest of causes — to protect their own rear ends and fiefdoms.
The gist of Brown and Cannon's claim: Florida voters didn't really have the right to pass Fair Districts.
Apparently these guys think you got it right when you voted theminto office — but were way off-base when you supported a constitutional amendment they didn't like.
I guess you're just selectively stupid.
The big Las Vegas casino companies are smelling blood in Florida - they are setting up lobbyists and getting in front of key lawmakers......I'd say it's a guarantee they'll win the rights to open lots of casinos - can you imagine the campaign contributions [aka bribes] the boys will be able to get from these giant corporations?
Under the proposal being pushed by Sands, the state would allow for exclusive operation of five casinos within a 75-mile radius. Voters in each of the regions would have to approve the casino and then a five-member commission would choose which casino operator gets the bid. The casinos would pay a $50 million application fee and be taxed at a rate lower than the state's parimutuels, which now pay 35 percent of their earnings.
Abboud told the committee, "We clearly understand the politics of this state and, to be perfectly honest, we know we have to be financially more attractive than what is here today."
Meanwhile, the players are staffing up to influence lawmakers to pass the bill. Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, the chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, will sponsor the Senate bill. Rep. Steve Bovo, R-Hialeah, has been asked to sponsor the House bill.
The Sands has hired six lobbyists and paid an undisclosed amount to become a member of Associated Industries of Florida, whose president Barney Bishop is now lobbying on behalf of destination gambling resorts.
Wynn Casinos has hired Al Cardenas and two members of his lobbying team, including Lanny Wiles, a former aide to Gov. Rick Scott.
Genting Berhad, the growing Malaysian casino giant, is in negotiations to hire a lobbyist who works with another Scott aide, Chris Kise.
8/ Some of Jon Stewarts best moments are when he nails Fox News, as he does in this clip from this week.....Nazis anyone?
9/ Fun story from Wednesday - noone knows how a 650 pound grand piano ended up on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay in Miami, but there it is above the high tide mark.....
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — From the shore, it looks like an oddly shaped buoy. But as residents here have discovered on closer inspection, it is in fact a grand piano perched upright on a narrow sand bar in Biscayne Bay — a sight that has inspired wordsmiths to compete to name South Florida’s newest curiosity (“piano bar” seems to have won).
The more relevant question, of course, is who might have left the 650-pound piano atop the highest point of the sand bar, about 200 yards from shore, and why.
From Friday's Times - mystery solved - it was, of course, a 16 year old kid who wanted to make aYouTube video....
10/ The beautiful and talented Taylor Swift in "Back to December"......lovely......
11/ A real story from the Daily Beast this week about Taco Bell being sued for only having 36% actual meat in their "meat".....and the article continues with horror stories about the garbage the big food companies put into packaged foods....OK, ho hum, you know this stuff already - fast food is junk for people on a budget......so what's new?
See the next video......
Taco Bell is being sued for allegedly using beef that's only 36 percent meat. From blueberry-free blueberry muffins to nutty cereals with no nuts, how foodmakers hoodwink their customers.
No one orders a beef-and-cheese-filled Gordita for a health kick. Still, when the ingredients list for Taco Bell's "taco meat filling" was recently exposed through a lawsuit, even fans of the Tex-Mex chain were shocked to learn how far outside the bun it was.
The ground beef used in Taco Bell products adds up to only about 36 percent meat, alleges the lawsuit recently filed against the company by a Florida woman. The rest of the meat filling, the lawsuit states, consists of things like isolated oat product, modified corn starch, caramel color, and the ever mysterious "natural flavors."
But should we be so surprised? As it turns out, food producers and sellers have access to all sorts of loopholes that allow them to present their products in ways that don't always feel entirely above board. Perhaps the most recent example came when Mike Adams, a natural foods advocate, reported that many of the “blueberries” found in cereal, granola, and muffins are more likely to be a combination of hydrogenated oils, flavors, and food coloring than actual fruit.
What seem like whole ingredients are sometimes instead combinations of processed and reconstituted additives, flavors, and ingredients.
I found this story on Onion News from last year with a [satirical] interview with a Taco Bell spokesman proudly announcing all of their ingredients in their new "Green" Menus are synthetic - nothing from nature is used.....talk about seeing the future......
12/ Which then leads into this article, about vitamin supplements and how taking too much of some vitamins can actually be counterproductive. It's all about balance - these large doses of nutrients can have side effects, and the point is if you eat properly and sensibly you don't need megadoses of anything....
Ladies should read this one anyway as it's about osteoperosis.....
The institute’s expert committee, which included bone specialists, concluded that most people don’t need supplements of these critical nutrients and warned of serious health risks from the high doses some now take — includingkidney stones and heart disease linked to calcium supplements, and the very falls and fractures that vitamin D is meant to protect against.
For bone health, vitamin D and calcium go hand in hand, because the vitamin must be present for calcium to be absorbed from the digestive tract. But who, if anyone, needs supplements — and how much? Can you get enough from foods naturally rich in these nutrients or fortified with them?
These are important questions, given the steady increase in life expectancy and the already epidemic levels of osteoporosis and fractures among older Americans, men and women alike. (Women are especially vulnerable, because estrogen loss at menopause can cause a precipitous decline in bone density.)
The answers depend on three things, not to mention which experts you happen to ask: the foods and drinks you regularly consume, your personal and family history of broken bones, and habits that influence bone health.
13/ David Pogue, the tech guy discusses apps for internet calling for free from your smartphone.....read it - save some money!!!
“Hi David! Am I the only one getting really confused by all the free/cheap Internet calling options? Would you mind clearing the steadily occluding waters of Skype, Google Voice, Line2, FreePhone2Phone, and so on? Your fan, Caroline C.”
I loved this e-mail message for two reasons. First, I knew that the answer might make a great column.
Second, you so rarely encounter the word “occluding.”
All right, Caroline, here’s the story.
The world of phone calls is changing fast. Any time some service is both essential and expensive — like phone service — you can bet that somebody will invent less expensive alternatives.
As faster Internet connections caught on, it didn’t take long for clever programmers to realize that the Internet could transmit voices.
The world was suddenly full of programs (Skype, iChat, Google Talk, various Messenger programs) that let you make free “phone calls” to anywhere, as long as you and your callee were both sitting at computers.
Todays video - Ping Pong in Antarctica
Todays blonde jokes
A blonde & her husband are lying in bed
listening to the next door neighbor's dog..
It has been in the backyard barking for hours & hours.
The blonde jumps up out of bed and says,
"I've had enough of this".
She goes downstairs.
The blonde finally comes back up to bed
and her husband says, "The dog is still barking,
what have you been doing?"
The blonde says,
"I put the dog in our backyard,
let's see how THEY like it!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Two Blondes With Hammers...
Lynn & Judy were doing some carpenter work
on a Habitat for Humanity House.
Lynn was nailing down house siding,
would reach into her nail
pouch, pull out a nail & either toss it
over her shoulder or nail it in.
Judy, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, '
Why are you throwing those nails away?'
Lynn explained, 'When I pull a nail out of my pouch,
about half of them have the head on the wrong end
& I throw them away.'
Judy got completely upset & yelled,
'You moron! Those nails aren't defective!
They're for the other side of the house!'
listening to the next door neighbor's dog..
It has been in the backyard barking for hours & hours.
The blonde jumps up out of bed and says,
"I've had enough of this".
She goes downstairs.
The blonde finally comes back up to bed
and her husband says, "The dog is still barking,
what have you been doing?"
The blonde says,
"I put the dog in our backyard,
let's see how THEY like it!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Two Blondes With Hammers...
Lynn & Judy were doing some carpenter work
on a Habitat for Humanity House.
Lynn was nailing down house siding,
would reach into her nail
pouch, pull out a nail & either toss it
over her shoulder or nail it in.
Judy, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, '
Why are you throwing those nails away?'
Lynn explained, 'When I pull a nail out of my pouch,
about half of them have the head on the wrong end
& I throw them away.'
Judy got completely upset & yelled,
'You moron! Those nails aren't defective!
They're for the other side of the house!'
Todays seniors joke
George Phillips, an elderly man, from Walled Lake, Michigan, was going up to bed, when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light, but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.
He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"
He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.
Then the police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available"
George said, "Okay."
He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.
"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both, the dogs are eating them right now." and he hung up.
Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.
One of the Policemen said to George, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"
George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
(True Story) I LOVE IT! Don't mess with old people.
He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?"
He said "No," but some people are breaking into my garden shed and stealing from me.
Then the police dispatcher said "All patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available"
George said, "Okay."
He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.
"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I just shot and killed them both, the dogs are eating them right now." and he hung up.
Within five minutes, six Police Cars, a SWAT Team, a Helicopter, two Fire Trucks, a Paramedic, and an Ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence, and caught the burglars red-handed.
One of the Policemen said to George, "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"
George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"
(True Story) I LOVE IT! Don't mess with old people.
Todays Irish joke
An Irishman is sitting at a bar in New York City and looks at his watch several times in the space of a few minutes.
The woman sitting nearby notices this and asks, 'Is your date running late?'
'No,' he replies, 'I have this state-of-the-art watch. I was just testing it.'
The intrigued woman says, 'A state-of-the-art watch? What's so special about it?'
The Irishman explains, 'It uses alpha waves to talk to me telepathically.'
The lady says, 'What's it telling you now?'
'Well, it says you're not wearing any knickers.'
The woman giggles and replies, 'Well, it must be broken because I am wearing knickers!'
The Irishman smirks, taps his watch and says,
'Bloody thing's running about an hour fast'.......'Can I buy you a drink?'
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