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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser

Obama's nominee to be the State Department's legal adviser has ignited a fury among conservative critics who say his views are a threat to American democracy -- an accusation the White House on Tuesday called "outrageous" and "completely baseless."

Former Clinton administration official Harold Koh, who has been dean of the Yale Law School since 2004, once wrote that the U.S. was part of an "axis of disobedience" with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Koh also has long held that the U.S. should accept international law when deliberating cases at home.

Obama nominated Koh on March 23 to become the State Department's legal adviser -- an appointment that, if confirmed by the Senate, will give Koh far-reaching influence over the extent to which international norms affect U.S. law.

"This is not a desk job. This guy will be the face of American international law around the world," said Steven Gross, legal expert and fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

"The top legal adviser at State travels extensively and is involved in international legal negotiations, treaties and in major United Nations conferences.

"The president should have the right to choose the most conservative or liberal legal advisers to give them advice, but this is much more than that. The concern is that he cares as much about -- if not more about -- international law and integrating that into the American judicial system than he does about protecting American prerogatives and American sovereignty," Gross said.

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How many screw ups is this now from this piss-poor alleged president? I've pretty much lost count.

Gadget Helps Stevie Nicks Drop 60 Pounds Before 60th Birthday


Stevie Nicks doesn't need so much black frilly lace anymore.

The 60-year-old Fleetwood Mac singer says she has dropped 60 pounds off her highest weight thanks to a new workout gadget.

Plus she doesn't take so many tranquilizers.

"When I gained my [first] 30 lbs., it was because I went on tranquilizers for eight years," Nicks told People Magazine on Monday. "I don't blame myself for that. I would have stayed at 125 pounds from 1985 and [later on] probably would have weighed about 130 pounds."

The size-8 singer attributes her svelte shape in part to something called the Power Plate, which she says she uses 13 minutes every other day.

Plus she's touring with Fleetwood Mac for the first time in five years, which also helps her keep off the pounds.

Miss Universe Describes Gitmo Tour as 'Fun' and 'Relaxing'

Reigning Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza caused more than a few jaws to drop when she described her recent tour of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as "a lot of fun" and a "relaxing, calm, beautiful place," Reuters reported Tuesday.

The Venezuelan 22-year-old visited the U.S. naval facility, where approximately 240 detainees are held, from March 20-25 with Miss USA Crystle Stewart, 27.

After her USO-organized tour of the prison camp for foreign terrorists, Dayana wrote in a blog entry posted on the Miss Universe Web site that she had an "incredible experience."

"It was a loooot of fun!" Mendoza wrote of her time at the camp, a prison surrounded by barbed-wire fence and minefields. She wrote that she went to a bar on the naval base and visited the "unbelievable" beach, Reuters reported.

President Obama set a one-year deadline for shutting the prison, which has been embroiled in accusations of torture and prisoner abuse.

"We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the(y) recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting," Mendoza wrote of Gitmo. "I didn't want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful."

The USO had billed Mendoza's and Stewart's trip as a deployment to Guantanamo where they would boost U.S. troops' morale.

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There can be no doubt. In order to be a "beauty contest" winner, you must be a total and complete idiot.

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

While the USS Enterprise-D is docked at a new Starbase for routine maintenance, they are paid a visit by resident cyberneticist Commander Bruce Maddox. Maddox was on the commission that years earlier determined Data's eligibility to enter Starfleet Academy; Maddox had cast the only dissenting vote on the grounds that Data, an android, was not a sentient being. Maddox explains that he wants Data to help him understand better how his creator Dr. Noonien Soong was able to overcome certain problems when designing Data's positronic brain.

Data is intrigued until he discovers that it is Maddox's intention to download Data's memories into another computer, deactivate him, and then disassemble him. Data points out that Maddox doesn't have the necessary knowledge to carry out this procedure safely, and so he refuses to undergo it.

Maddox then issues an order backed up by Starfleet command for Data to submit himself to disassembly. Picard refuses to allow Data to go along with the order and Data concludes that only his resignation will allow him to circumvent the order. Maddox, however, contends that Data cannot resign as he is the property of Starfleet, not a sentient being with rights.

Picard persuades Starfleet Judge Advocate General Philippa Louvois, who had previously court-martialed him over the loss of the Stargazer, to hold a hearing to determine Data's status. Having to use available personnel, the JAG officer drafts Commander Riker to represent the prosecution, and Captain Picard to serve as Data's defense counsel.

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I'm currently reading a book called:

Is Data Human? The Metaphysics of Star Trek by Richard Hanley



Data is the character on Star Trek who most often struggles with what it is to be human. But why does he want to be human, and would being human make Data better or worse with regards to how he is? For that matter what *is* being human? What does it entail, and who and what can be human?

Metaphysics literally means "beyond Physics", so that Metaphysics studies everything but physics, so dealing with the questions of what is it to be human, what makes us human, and what is a person fit right under its purview.

Richard Hanley also looks at the questions of a soul, and whether one is necessary to be human. Since a soul cannot be split in two, this would beg the question of whether humans split by a transporter function had a soul. Did one of them get it? Neither of them? And if one of them did get it, which one? If the two split people were never rejoined, which is the soulless one, and how can we tell?

But that certainly isn't all that is discussed in this book. It takes on logic versus emotions, and which is better, What makes someone a person, and how can Starfleet tell when they have found intelligent life, if it is very different from themselves? And are their universals in cognition and linguistics?
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So this episode will be interesting to watch again. Can't wait. On at 10:00 PM Eastern.

Luck Indeed - SUCKER!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

And Then They Wonder Why.

Detroit Tigers' opener 'is an insult for Catholics'

DETROIT - The Detroit Tigers have upset some Roman Catholics who are unhappy that the club’s home opener is scheduled during holy hours on Good Friday on April 10.

Traditional Christian belief says Jesus hung on the cross from noon to 3 p.m. on Good Friday.

All 30 American and National League teams play April 10, but the Tigers’ 1:05 p.m. game against the Texas Rangers is the only one during holy hours.

“It’s sort of an insult for Catholics,” said Michael Ochab, a 47-year-old Tigers fan. He said he’ll miss his first opener in 20 years this year to attend services at St. Florian Catholic Church in Hamtramck. “I’m still hoping the Tigers will change the time.”

Tigers spokesman Ron Colangelo said Major League Baseball has a “monumental task” putting together a season’s schedule. Detroit’s climate makes a night game unrealistic this time of year, Colangelo told the Detroit Free Press.

“Fans have come to know that our home opener is always a day game,” he said.

The Rev. Ed Vilkauskas of downtown Detroit’s St. Mary’s Catholic Church said the game at nearby Comerica Park will keep people from services.

“Nobody is saying baseball isn’t big, but Good Friday is really big,” Vilkauskas told The Detroit News. “It’s 2,000 years old.”

Marg Helgenberger Files for Divorce


Marg Helgenberger, the star of "CSI," is going back on the singles market -- the actress officially filed for divorce from her husband, Alan Rosenberg.

In divorce papers filed yesterday in L.A. County Superior Court, Helgenberger cited irreconcilable differences with Rosenberg, who happens to be the president of the Screen Actors Guild -- S.A.G.

The two were married back in 1989, but separated last December.

Marg is asking for spousal support, and looking to split attorney fees.

What is PETA President Instructing PETA to Do Upon Her death

The folks at PETA are apparently concerned that there may still be a few people who aren't aware what they're all about. So the President of PETA Ingrid Newkirk posted her will on the PETA site...just to ensure we knew she's crazy. What is she instructing PETA to do upon her death?

One of my eyes be removed, mounted, and delivered to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a reminder that PETA will continue to be watching the agency.
That my pointing finger be delivered to the owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.That one of my ears be removed, mounted, and sent to the Canadian Parliament to assist them in hearing.
A little part of my heart be buried near the racetrack at Hockenheim, preferably near the Ferrari pits, where Michael Shumacher raced in and won the German Grand Prix.

So it looks like there's going to be one heck of a UPS bill, but there's more. She would like to be skinned. made into leather products, such as purses, to remind the world that human skin and the skin of other animals is the same. And to rap up the good times; That the “meat” of my body be used for a human barbecue. I guess we should say thanks for the warning. Just in case you get a surprise invite to a BBQ from a hollywood star, you'll know to avoid that.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Oh Really? II

Obama - Sir Hopenchange

Our knight has come to save us all.

olincoln


He began as a simple huckster shaking down

government agencies and scamming public funding

under the ambiguous title of community organizer.

But his ability to talk good caught

the media by their collective heart

and it was love at first sound byte.
osham
They took control of building an image for him as the man

who will reform our country into a quasi socialist nation and

change the world in the process. (Heard this before?)

Finally, his transformation is complete.

ohun

He has ascended to a glorious high that no one could have predicted…
olast

In the minds of the media, he is indeed the Messiah sent from the heavens

to deliver the world into a new era of something wonderful that will be better

than everything else that wasn't as wonderful even though it could have been

but wasn't.

clip_image001
So, here we are - Inauguration Day!

Whoddahthunkit?

onothing

We are trusting the future, or at least the next four years,

to a cult figure who brings with him a questionable background,

no executive experience and a very liberal congress

controlled in both houses by people of questionable motives,

morals and ethics.

SOMEONE, help us!

Dumb Dallas Cop?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Valerie Bertinelli Back in Bikini for 49th Birthday!


Good grief! Simply amazing. It shows what you can do if you are able to put your mind to it.

Atheist billboards going up in Texas

Two atheist billboards will be going up in north Texas on Monday. One will be erected in Dallas on I-35 near loop 12. The other one will be in Fort Worth on I-35 near Braswell.

The billboards are going up by the efforts of Metroplex Atheists. In addition, the group will be launching a new Web site to coincide with the billboards going up.

The billboards have a blue background - sky, intermingled with white - clouds. The message will read "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." The have will have the new Web site address on them in the lower left hand corner. The address is www.dfwcor.org. That stands for Dallas Fort Worth Coalition of Reason.

According to a report, Terry McDonald of the Metroplex Atheists said, "We're not trying to attract people who believe in God. We're not trying to change their minds. It's to let those people who don't believe know that they're not alone and that there are a lot of groups that they can become involved in."

Dr. Darrell Bock of the Dallas Theological Seminary said that he thinks that people may be upset at first but that they would move passed those feelings. He said that "[p]eople pretty much have their minds made up on these kinds of matters. They're either going to be for or against. A lot of people will drive by and it will be the topic of conversation for a few days perhaps, but I don't think it's going to change very much."

Oh, Really?


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Well, let me fill you idiots in: He was a mass murderer who killed over 180 people in the name of revolution and trained firing squads to kill thousands more. Still want to wear his image on your shirt? Yeah, you probably do.

Top Google execs: $1 salary, no bonus, no options


Wall Street executives feeling harassed by taxpayers outraged at their pay might take note of how Google's ruling triumvirate fared in 2008: $1 in salary each, no bonus, no stock grants, and no stock options.

Google has offered co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt "market-competitive" salaries every year since 2005, but once again in 2008, the three turned it down, according to a company regulatory filing Tuesday. "Due to their own preferences not to receive salary compensation, Eric, Larry, and Sergey each rejected these offers and continue to receive base salaries of $1," the company said.

Also in 2008, the company decided that the stock-based compensation it had awarded to top executives in 2007 was "sufficient to help us meet our retention and business objectives through 2008," so no new stock compensation was awarded to them except in the case of new Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, who was set to receive compensation worth more than $2 million along with thousands of shares and stock options in his first year.

Schmidt received perks totaling $508,764 in 2008, up from $480,561 the year before. That covered $402,562 in personal security costs and $106,201 Google paid to fly his family members and friends on paid chartered flights.

Of course, Page, Brin, and Schmidt are certainly not paupers. The 29,148,614 shares of Google's Class B common stock Page held at the end of 2008 are worth $10.1 billion at Tuesday's closing price of $347.17; Brin's 28,611,862 shares are worth $9.9 billion, and Schmidt's 9,372,740 shares are worth $3.3 billion.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

405 Freeway

Commentary: Obama a One-Term President?

By Alex Castellanos

(CNN) -- Things I learned Tuesday night from Obama's press conference:

Obama and congressional Democrats are angry that greedy Wall Street executives took $165 million in bonuses that the Obama and congressional Democrats gave them.

We have made them give it back, but they have to keep the trillion-dollar bailout.

Apparently, our education system is worse than we thought. Neither Obama nor Democrats in Congress actually read the bailout-bonus bill.

Per-family household debt more than doubled from 1989 to 2007, going from $42,000 per family to $97,000 per family, in inflation-adjusted dollars. Most of it, 85 cents of every dollar, is home equity or mortgage debt. This is not the consumer's fault for borrowing it, nor Congress' fault for legislating it, nor the Fed's fault for enabling it, nor Fannie Mae's or Freddie Mac's fault for packaging it. This is all Wall Street's fault.

It is also all George W. Bush's fault.

If there were an inheritance tax on problems, Obama could pay off any deficit.

Taxpayers living next to a toxic waste dump is a bad idea. Taxpayers buying a trillion dollars worth of toxic assets is good idea.

Taxpayers borrowing a trillion dollars to buy those toxic assets is an even better idea. Though it is still Bush's fault.

Obama isn't on the ballot next year, but Democrats in Congress are. You can make money betting they will lose more than 25 seats, but not as much money as by purchasing toxic assets with taxpayer dollars.

The problem with America's economy is that the last bubble, the "home-mortgage, derivative, credit default swap bubble" popped, as all economic bubbles eventually do. We must never let that happen again.

It is imperative that we re-inflate this bubble immediately.

If we all loan a lot of money we don't have to each other, we will all be more prosperous.

An Obama press conference offers hope to everyone. Both those who want to drive the deficit up and drive it down receive encouragement.

A dollar when given to failed auto companies or hollow banks has great stimulative value for the economy, but there's almost no dampening cost to the economy when the dollar is taken from taxpayers, who will have to pay our debt back.

If he does not drive the deficit down, within this decade, interest on the Obama debt will total more than a trillion dollars a year.

Bush was laughed at for saying, "Yes, we are getting the job done. It's hard work," though it's OK for Obama to say only hard decisions reach his desk.

Enhanced border security was a bad idea when Sen. John McCain and Republicans proposed it but a good idea now that Obama is for it.

Trickle-down economics from Republicans got us into this mess. Trickle-down government from Democrats will get us out of it.

Washington was doing such a great job making things work before the meltdown that we should give it more to do, like running health care, the energy industry, banks, Wall Street and the car business.

Our economy is so complex that millions of Americans can't plan for it, but Timothy Geithner and a couple of other smart guys in Washington can.

Political greed is more noble than corporate greed.

We have to short-change charities that help people, so government can help people.

Wall Street and the U.S. government are too big to fail though the American taxpayer isn't.

The Barack Obama experiment, conducted by this 47-year old man, is the riskiest economic wager the world has ever seen.

Next year, when this experiment in European-style socialism isn't working, the Democrats up for re-election will panic and make the spending this year look like an appetizer. To appear responsible, they then will raise taxes on "upper-income taxpayers" to the stratosphere, paralyzing investment and the economy.

Obama's communications gifts are powerful and poetic -- but round-the-clock campaigning on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "60 Minutes" and this press conference won't save bad policy. Nothing kills a bad product quicker than bad advertising.

Obama has never built a business, created real wealth or produced tangible prosperity. His understanding of our economy is theoretical and academic.

Obama is a privileged young man who has not yet made many mistakes in his life. Having a president who belongs to the Harvard elite and the community-organizer streets is not the same as having a president who has lived a long life among middle-class Americans and understands them.

Impatience lies not deep beneath the surface of Obama. There is no shortage of self-confidence in this young man. It is a short step from such confidence to arrogance.

Arrogance in a politician is not healthy. Hubris, combined with inexperience, can be fatal. Obama could be a one-term president.

Obama is looking a little older. There would be nothing wrong with acting like it.

You Have Been Warned

Defense: Actress could have committed suicide in Spector's home


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It's impossible to rule out the possibility that an actress committed suicide in music producer Phil Spector's home, and that he is being unjustly accused in her death, Spector's defense attorney told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday.

Phil Spector's retrial in the 2003 slaying of actress Lana Clarkson is winding down this week.


"This is a circumstantial-evidence case ... no one can tell you, 'This is what happened,'" Doron Weinberg told the jury of six men and six women. But, he said, Spector "did not kill Lana Clarkson, that's what the evidence shows."

Spector, 69, is charged with second-degree murder in Clarkson's death. The 40-year-old actress was found dead of a gunshot wound through the roof of her mouth in February 2003 at Spector's Alhambra, California, home.

Prosecutors told jurors in closing arguments Monday that Spector was "a very dangerous man." deputy district attorney Truc Do told jurors Spector "has a history of playing Russian roulette with women -- six women. Lana just happened to be the sixth."

But Weinberg said everything prosecutors have done since 2003 is aimed at proving Spector killed Clarkson, and there was no "independent investigation" of the evidence. The prosecution, he said, was "so focused on making this a homicide" that everything they've done was an effort toward making that appear true.

The real question, Weinberg said, was whether prosecutors "unquestionably and clearly" excluded the possibility that Clarkson committed suicide. "On the basis of the evidence, you cannot say that has been excluded," he said.

Weinberg said he believes Spector is innocent, but even so, the only issue for jurors is whether "the government has proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt."

The case, he said, hinges on science. "The prosecution has a story. We are telling you about the facts."

In the 2007 trial, Spector's attorneys argued that Clarkson, who starred in 1985's "Barbarian Queen" and the 1987 spoof "Amazon Women on the Moon," was depressed over a recent breakup and grabbed a .38-caliber pistol to kill herself. Several people identifying themselves as Clarkson's friends testified for the defense, portraying her as a suicidal has-been despondent over her failing career. Spector was working as a VIP hostess at Hollywood's House of Blues at the time of her death

But prosecution witnesses painted Spector as a gun-toting menace. Five women took the stand to tell harrowing stories of Spector threatening them with firearms. Spector's driver testified he heard a loud noise and saw the producer leave the home, pistol in hand, saying, "I think I killed somebody."

Spector arrived at court Tuesday with his wife, Rachelle, on his arm. The courtroom was packed, with many disappointed spectators waiting in the hall for someone to give up their seat.

Spector's second trial began in October. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler ruled on Friday that jurors can consider the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter against Spector.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Spector could face a prison sentence of 15 years to life, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. A conviction on involuntary manslaughter could bring a prison sentence of up to four years.

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Lana Clarkson DID NOT commit suicide. She spent her last day alive shopping with her mother before work. She bought eight pairs of shoes, it is hard to believe that any woman with so many new shoes would then go out and commit suicide. In addition, a few days before she was on her website chatting with people happily. They need to hang Spector, period.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Is Julia Roberts Still a Box Office Star?

By Roger Friedman

This weekend’s pretty terrible opening for Julia Roberts in "Duplicity" raises a couple of good questions. Is she still a box office draw? Was she ever?Instead of ramping up, looking to develop projects or create a legacy, Roberts went in the other direction. She got married for a second time, in 2002, when she was 35, and ultimately had three children. She tried one comeback in 2007, with "Charlie Wilson’s War," that didn’t amount to much.

The total of $14.4 million for "Duplicity" for an actress who commands $15 million a picture is a scary new fact of life.

The second question is easily answered. For about four years, from 1997 to 2001, Roberts was at her peak. She had a wildly successful run of commercial films beginning with "My Best Friend’s Wedding," and continuing with "Conspiracy Theory," "Stepmom," "Notting Hill," "Runaway Bride," "Erin Brokovich," "The Mexican," and "America’s Sweethearts."

The run sort of unofficially ended in late 2001 with "Ocean’s Eleven," which really can’t be counted as a Julia Roberts movie exclusively — it starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon. But you might say it was the culmination of all Roberts’ good will with her audience.

And then, it was over.

Instead of capitalizing on her good fortune and making a run of it in her 30s, Roberts fizzed out. She made four clunkers in a row — appearances in Steven Soderbergh’s self indulgent Full Frontal and George Clooney’s poorly handled Confessions of a Dangerous Mind; starring roles in Mike Nichols’s artsy "Closer" and Mike Newell’s fussy "Mona Lisa Smile" didn’t help.

Either she simply didn’t care or wasn’t getting good advice. But the magic was gone. In most fans’ minds, the Julia Roberts Era ends in 2001, eight years ago.

In fact, Roberts got out of the game around age 33. That’s about ten years earlier than most actresses with star power in the past have shifted downward a bit as roles become harder to find.

Taking the time off didn’t help, plus choosing mediocre material. The answer to the first question is that, with the release of "Duplicity," Roberts is now in a period of re-evaluation. She takes her place in line behind Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, and yes, Jennifer Aniston, as America’s First Lady of the Movies.

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Geez...all you had to say was "NO! She is no longer a box office star." Pretty simple, 'ey? A LOT of people are tired of her. She's a one trick pony.


Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies

IMG_0185

For cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
  • 1 scant cup walnuts (3 oz), chopped
  • 1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 oz)

For frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup honey

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

IMG_0083 IMG_0085

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in carrots, nuts, and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

Makes about 13 cookies.

Substitutions: I used 100% whole wheat flour in place of the AP and only granulated sugar because I did not have any brown sugar on hand. I did not add walnuts because I prefer my cookies without nuts.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Pasta Pie


This is pretty cool. Check it out. For step-by-step pics of the recipe being made, click the link below.:
















http://noblepig.com/2009/03/18/when-the-moon-hits-the-sky.aspx

Pasta Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 pound rigatoni
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground beef
(I used ground sirloin)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (28 ounces) good quality crushed tomatoes
Butter, for pan
Salt
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 12 minutes when the box indicated 14 minutes). One pound of pasta should be cooked in 6 quarts of water, make sure you are using a big enough pot so the pasta doesn't stick together. When done, rinse in cold water and drain again. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more.

Add crushed tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end. Spread meat sauce on top of pasta.

Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up. Stuffing the meat into the holes is a weirdly satisfying task. Enough said.

Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold.

Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.

Blast From the Past (Formally Called 'Remember This?' on the Blog)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

I thought About Doing This For A While Now, And Here It Is.

A Flock of Sheep, a Bunch of LEDs, Some Well Trained Sheep Dogs and Fast-Motion Video

Art from LED-light sporting sheep. Sheepherders strapped colorful LED-light vests onto their flock of sheep and trained their sheep dogs to herd them into specific formations to create insane art in the countryside of Wales.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Reports: Natasha Richardson's Condition Deteriorates After Ski Accident

Tony-award winning actress Natasha Richardson's condition has deteriorated following a skiing accident on a beginner's trail at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, Canada, according to multiple reports.

The New York Post, citing sources close to Richardson, reported that she was brain dead. TMZ.com said the 45-year-old actress had experienced severe brain swelling.

Richardson, who is married to actor Liam Neeson, was first reported in serious condition with a head injury by Irishcentral.com.

"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," said Kika Markham, who is married to Richardson's uncle, Corin Redgrave. "We are very concerned."

Pope: Condoms 'Increase' AIDS Epidemic in Africa

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday that the distribution of condoms is not the answer in the fight against AIDS in Africa.

Benedict has never before spoken explicitly on condom use although he has stressed that the Roman Catholic Church is in the forefront of the battle against AIDS. The Vatican encourages sexual abstinence to fight the spread of the disease.

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

Some priests and nuns working with victims of the AIDS pandemic ravaging Africa question the church's opposition to condoms.

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Is this idiot totally and completely out of his mind? Of course, he doesn't give reasons WHY it can't be resolved.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers



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I can't even begin to imagine how long this must have taken to do.

Conservative Christian Site Slams Game of Life’s Gay Agenda

The Christian conservative website WorldNetDaily has got its undies in a twist over an option that permits same-sex couples in Hasbro’s The Game of Life.

WorldNetDaily recently published a hard-hitting investigative report into Hasbro’s downloadable PC title The Game of Life, an adaptation of a board game created by Milton Bradley in 1860. A WND representative left a review on the games hosting site explaining, “Many sections of society accept this as normative, but many also would consider this too mature a theme for children. Others would consider this downright offensive.”

According to the WND report, one unnamed “concerned mother” found that the inclusion of same-sex marriages raised questions in her six-year old daughter that she wasn’t ready to answer. She posted a similar review containing these concerns, which was quickly deleted by an administrator for being “inappropriate.” Her response to this censorship is where the story really jumps the shark — “I had no idea how insidious they were being with pushing the homosexual agenda,” she explained to WND.

It’s great when parents keep an eye on their youngsters’ gaming habits, especially when they play said games with them. We understand a parent not wanting to discuss sexuality with a toddler — what we don’t understand is how the mere inclusion of same-sex marriages in the PC version of Life is the same as endorsing, or insidiously pushing, an “agenda.” As WND concedes, even the original Life board game allowed players to bond two same-colored (and similarly gendered) pegs in holy plastic matrimony.

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Do you believe this shit??? And then they wonder why. Arghhhh!

Help to Identify This


When I first saw this at the salad bar of the supermarket, I though that it was mozzarella and tomatoes. Well, it wasn't. They were hot red peppers and some strange white things with a sort of meaty texture to them. I love it.

Today I went back to the supermarket for more and read the label. It said that they are Kalamata olives. The only problem is when I looked it up on the web. Kalamata olives are supposedly the color of eggplant and have seeds according to one site. The ones I have are definitely unseeded. In fact, I can't even see where a seed might go, or have been extracted from.

The person who comes up with the right answer wins a virtual Esoteric Edam tee-shirt.

We owe oldest Americans an apology

By Bob Greene

As the country frets about extricating itself from the financial mess, there is one group of Americans to whom the rest of us owe the most sincere words of apology.

That group consists of the oldest of our fellow citizens -- the men and women who went through the Great Depression when they were young, who fought and endured World War II when they were just a little older, and who had hoped for a sense of peace and tranquility in their final years on this earth.

They don't deserve what they are going through. You hear it again and again from money experts: Take the long view of the economy. If you don't need cash from your stock market accounts in the next five to 10 years, leave it in there. Time will heal our current woes -- the economy, even when it's in tatters, runs in cycles. Just wait it out and be patient. Especially young people -- fiscal stability will arrive again in your lifetime. You'll see.

Nice words. Yet they leave out that one group of people -- the people who have a right to be terrified when they are told the economy will only be brutal in the short term. They leave out the people to whom the short term is all they have: our parents. Our grandparents. The men and women who never should have had to worry about their personal security again.

It's never wise to generalize, yet it is safe to say that, as a group, the men and women who endured the Depression and World War II played it straight when it came to putting their trust in financial institutions. They didn't try to game the system; they didn't believe in esoteric money schemes. As a group, they were cautious, because the two defining national events of their lives taught them that you can never really count on anything. They watched their own parents suffer during the Depression, they went overseas for years on end when our nation asked them to save the world, and when they came home, to the prosperity of the Eisenhower years, they crossed their fingers and hoped the good times were not an illusion.

The mistakes and tricks and reckless gambles of the supposedly sophisticated masters of Wall Street have wounded these men and women, many of whom, before the last year, had never even heard the names of the men who ran the biggest investment banks and brokerage firms. Which is why what those oldest Americans are going through is so unfair. Once more, in a lifetime that has been filled with sacrifices, they are having to pay the terrible price for decisions in which they had no say.

====================
Amen, brother.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Administration Open to Taxing Health Benefits

By Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.

The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” Most Americans with insurance get it from their employers, and taxing workers for the benefit is opposed by union leaders and some businesses.

In television advertisements last fall, Mr. Obama criticized his Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain of Arizona, for proposing to tax all employer-provided health benefits. The benefits have long been tax-free, regardless of how generous they are or how much an employee earns. The advertisements did not point out that Mr. McCain, in exchange, wanted to give all families a tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage.

====================
Typical politician, Typical hypocrite. Back down on yet ANOTHER promise.

They Had a Hit Show - But Left Too Soon

David Caruso

In perhaps the most notorious, ego-driven prime-time exit ever, David Caruso left "NYPD Blue" after the first season because he wanted to focus on his film career. What followed were the flops "Jade" and the aptly named "Kiss of Death." With his tail between his legs but his head held high (and, of course, adorned with sunglasses), Caruso finally found success once again by returning to the small screen with the hit show "CSI: Miami." This time, he's been smart enough to stick around for seven seasons and counting.

Delta Burke

Delta Burke played the ex-beauty pageant queen Suzanne Sugarbaker on "Designing Women" for five seasons. But as the series progressed, Delta started to gain a little weight. What happened next will forever be a case of he-said/she-said. Delta says the show's producers started to pressure her to lose weight. Producers say they didn't care but were bothered by Delta's public statements to Barbara Walters that they were unhappy with her appearance. But no matter how you slice it, Delta left the show. She and "DW" creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason would make up a few years later for a delayed spinoff called "Women of the House." But that show lasted just one season, and Delta would never be as big a star (no pun intended) again.

Courtney Thorne-Smith

Like Delta Burke, Courtney Thorne-Smith asked to get out of her "Ally McBeal" contract at the end of the third season because of weight issues. But Courtney's problem was that she was getting too thin. Trying to keep up with waiflike costars Calista Flockhart and Portia de Rossi meant that Thorne was dieting too much, working out too hard, and pushing herself to exhaustion. So she chose health (and husband) over stardom, and left the show at its peak. She and her next costar, Jim Belushi, were much less competitive about their weight on "According to Jim."

Chevy Chase

In perhaps the lamest-ever reason for leaving a hit show, Chevy Chase quit "Saturday Night Live" at the beginning of the second season for a girl who lived in Los Angeles. Jacqueline Carlin did marry Chevy (she was his second wife), but they divorced four years later. "SNL" celebrates its 34th anniversary this year. You do the math.

Farrah Fawcett

Whether Farrah Fawcett quit the hit TV show "Charlie's Angels" because she thought the scripts were too lightweight and she wanted to be a movie star or because her then-husband, Lee Majors, wanted her home to cook dinner every night is still open for debate. But one thing's for sure — neither turned out to be a good reason to go. America's favorite poster girl never landed that credible feature film role and aside from the TV flick "The Burning Bed," she never had much success on the small screen again either. As for Majors, she left him a few years later to cook dinner for his best friend, Ryan O'Neal, who she's lived with on and off ever since.

Sherry Stringfield

Sherry Stringfield has left so many shows too soon that she's known as the "Goodbye Girl" in Hollywood circles. First there was the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light." Sherry spent three years there before she must have realized she missed everyone else's post-college trip, so she quit the show to spend a year traveling around Europe. When she got back, she landed a choice role on "NYPD Blue" as the ex-wife of fellow hit show bolter David Caruso. This time she just wasn't satisfied with her experience and was released from her contract early. Then came the mother of all hit shows you shouldn't leave: "ER." Stringfield was riding high, as producer John Wells had just introduced a romantic storyline between Sherry and Anthony Edwards. But she pulled a runaway actress move yet again, this time, she said, to have a normal life with boyfriend Odell Lambroza and get away from the grueling schedule of network TV. She ended up with lots of time on her hands before returning to "ER" in 2001. She and Lambroza broke up one year after she quit the show to be with him.

Wayne Rogers

When Wayne Rogers signed up for "M*A*S*H" he thought he was going to take over the juicy part created by Elliott Gould in the feature film version. But instead, he became Hawkeye Pierce's sidekick. He wasn't pleased. To add insult to injury, producers put a morals clause in his contract that stated that they could fire him if they didn't like his off-screen behavior. As a result, Wayne quit the show and was sued for breach of contract. The only problem? He never signed the contract to begin with. Wayne later expressed regret for leaving the show when he did, saying if he knew how long the series would last he would have sucked it up, shut his mouth, and stuck around.

Shelley Long

Diane Chambers was not the best-liked person at the Cheers bar. The snooty ex-grad student and would-be author was just a little too pretentious for regular barflies Norm and Cliff. It took Sam Malone a long time to warm up to her. And no-nonsense barmaid Carla Tortelli never liked her. In a case of life imitating art, the story goes that no one really liked Shelley Long that much either. So there probably weren't a lot of people crying in their beers when Diane left Sam at the barstool/altar to finish her novel. But we're sure Shelley could have used a few drinks after seeing the reviews for her "Cheers" follow-ups, the disastrously disappointing films "Hello Again" and "Troop Beverly Hills."

Shannen Doherty

After four years at West Beverly High, Brenda Walsh graduated and moved back to Minnesota to go to college. At least that's what the writers said to explain the absence of "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Shannen Doherty. In real life, everyone says Shannen was tardy a lot and didn't play well with others. Not the report card for a successful career in an ensemble cast. Shannen went off, got into a bar fight, allegedly trashed a rental house, married George Hamilton's son Ashley just two weeks after meeting him, and split-up with Ashley two years later... oh, and she had her obligatory stint in "Playboy" too. But no one seemed to care much about her until she returned to the remake of "90210" this season. It seems you can go back home again.

Gabe Kaplan

At the end of Season 3 of "Welcome Back, Kotter" everyone expected that John Travolta would leave the show — he was the break-out star and had a hit movie with "Saturday Night Fever." No one expected that Gabe Kaplan, aka Mr. Kotter, would decide to split too. After all, he was the title character, and he'd created the series based on his own childhood friends. But creative differences with producer James Komack were more than Gabe could take, so he decided to pack it in and go back to stand-up comedy. He made only a handful of appearances in the fourth and final season of the series and has barely been seen on TV or in movies since. But don't cry for Mr. Koh-ter; he's now a professional poker player whose tournament winnings total over $1.3 million as of 2008.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

This Was Idiotically Banned From Youtube For a Time

Is It Just Me, or...

Obama - the New Coke?

By John Tantillo
Marketing and Brand Expert

Folks, first some history. In the early eighties, one of Jimmy Carter’s bright young political advisers, Pat Caddell, landed the plum marketing gig of guiding Coca Cola into the future–and he almost ran that venerable brand into the ground

I’m talking about the “New Coke” debacle. Threatened by Pepsi’s growing market share and driven by data that said that the consumer wanted sweeter drinks, Coca Cola scrapped its time-honored soda formula and introduced New Coke.

The outrage was deafening. People couldn’t believe that their soda was being taken away from them. Coca Cola listened and New Coke is now just a distant memory.

How could all of the polls, surveys and consumer data have been wrong?

Well, they didn’t take into account what really mattered to the consumer: choice and continuity. One more thing –and it’s a biggie– Coke was thinking about cola drinkers not Coke drinkers. It forgot its target market.

So I ask, is Obama the New Coke?

The electorate seemed to want change in 2008 and Obama seemed to represent the change they wanted. This change was about politicians moving beyond partisanship to get things moving again in Washington –it was not about big government solving everyone’s problems. It wasn’t a Democrat or a Republican that the electorate wanted. No, it was a person of change who would not put the same old practices into political play.

In the early eighties, the cola consumer seemed to want change too, but when they got change, they didn’t like what they got. The people drinking Pepsi didn’t start drinking New Coke. And Coke drinkers stopped drinking the New Coke. This is the worst possible marketing outcome for any product or political brand — you end up pleasing none of the people all of the time.

There are two basic scenarios for Brand Obama at this point.

One, the electorate thought they were getting one thing in Obama and instead got something very different. In other words, they wanted the change he said he would bring, but dislike the change he is actually bringing and actually believes in. In this scenario, Obama is what he is and simply won’t be able to adapt to what the Target Market demands –this spells a short stay — one term — in the White House.

Two, Obama is the change the electorate wants and he is capable of embodying this change. But the president has lost sight of his Target Market’s needs and is falling prey to inside-the-Beltway realities and left-leaning pieties and interest groups.

This is the New Coke scenario. Instead of subtly altering the ingredients of the product to adapt to changing tastes, you make a big product change, bring people’s attention to that change and alienate your Target Market. Go ahead and do that Mr. President –but only if you want to squander the marketing success that brought you to the show and got you elected president of the United States!

The problem for Brand Obama is that once you become the New Coke, it’s very hard to become “Classic Coke” again. Every compromise, every pork-filled, partisan program, every pro-big government, anti-free market message drives his brand farther and farther from the Target Market that elected him.

Presidents Reagan and Clinton both knew this about their Target Markets: the American people could be stretched, but in the end political marketing was the order of the day: Americans’ fundamental needs and beliefs cannot be forgotten.

Even though these men came from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, as a political marketer each president remained true to the fundamentals of the American electorate that has always believed in basic fair play, the power of individual freedom and the limited uses of government.

The first 100 days in office are tricky for all presidents. In this short testing period, Kennedy went a long way to losing the South to the Republicans for a quarter century.

But if Brand Obama doesn’t want to remain the New Coke, he must make some strong statements that drive home that he is not merely a more of the same liberal Democratic brand.

Stay tuned.

And remember, it’s always easier to understand politics when you keep marketing and branding in mind.

Friday, March 13, 2009

6 Things That I Don't Like About Julia Roberts


====================
Sheesh! Someone please throw her a fish! Does she have to do that in EVERY movie that she's in? Give it a rest!

What Has An Invisible Head and Swims Like a Fish?

You Have A Friend Who Is Atheist

By David SwansonImage

If you live in the United States, you are almost certainly friends with at least one atheist, agnostic, nonbeliever, skeptic, or unaffiliated humanist, whether you know it or not. And your friend almost certainly endures prejudice and unequal treatment, whether you know it or not. And your friend is roughly as decent, good, loyal, honest, courageous, and generous as your other friends, and you know it.

Those who get along without God are not lynched or stoned in this country, but neither do they have equal rights or acceptance. They encounter prejudice and cruelty on a personal level often. They pay taxes that support "faith based" programs and discriminatory organizations, as well as proselytization in the military, they see religion and religious based pseudo-science imposed on their children in public schools, and the stigma attached to their free-mindedness restricts their participation in public life. There are probably 20 atheists in Congress, but only one who admits it, and he won't use the word. President Obama's parents were both atheists, whether or not they used that word for it, and he got along fine without religion but would not have gone far in politics had he not adopted it.

There is a parallel in the campaign for equal rights for atheists with the campaign for equal rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people, but it is inexact. The more atheists can come out of the closet, the more they will be accepted, and the more they will then be willing to come out of the closet, etc. But, unlike the myth of gay proselytization, there really is a significant danger / promise that in opening society to atheism, more people will be converted to atheism who were never atheists before. From a broad view of society this would likely be a good thing. Less religious nations than ours tend to be more charitable, less violent, less accepting of suffering at home or abroad, and less prone to war. But from the point of view of the religious proselytizer, there is a danger here that is more real than the danger of the "gay agenda." A closer analogy is the danger that accepting African Americans might lead to your child marrying one. Fewer and fewer Americans view that as a danger. But check out this statistic: A 2003 survey asked Americans what group they would not want their child to marry a member of. Twenty-seven percent said African-American, 34 percent said Muslim, and 48 percent said atheist.

The strange thing is that while there are more non-theists now in the United States than gays, Hispanics, Jews, and perhaps African Americans, there is less of a movement on their behalf. One problem is, of course, the greater stigma and prejudice. Another is that atheists look exactly like everyone else. But a movement is growing, and the relatively newly formed Secular Coalition for America (http://secular.org ) is leading the way. Seventy-five percent of secularists who voted, voted for Obama, so alliances are likely with Democrats, as opposed to Republicans. But "likely" is an overstatement, of course. Democrats are not exactly known for their courageous stands on behalf of freethinking, although they do have a tradition of standing up for some types of minorities. There is also the problem of disagreements over and misinterpretations of the agenda shared by the godless. For example, the National Journal highlights the longing to clone human beings, something I have no longing for at all.


Test Your Awareness: Do The Test

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Praying for a miracle: Girl to meet pope in hopes of healing her tumor

By Yadira Betances
ybetances@eagletribune.com

METHUEN — After undergoing chemotherapy for 15 months and having 25 blood transfusions, 8-year-old Caroline Hamilton is looking for a miracle to cure the tumor lodged in her brain.

So the second-grader, her parents and her brothers are heading to the Vatican to meet Pope Benedict XVI in hopes of making that wish come true.

"I want to see him so he can heal my brain tumor," Caroline said confidently about her reason for wanting to meet the pontiff. "I want it to be gone. It's no fun that other people don't have to go through this."

Once in Rome, the Hamiltons will be part of a papal audience for sick pilgrims from across the world. During the service, Caroline, who will sit in the front row, will receive a personal blessing from the pope.

The trip is made possible through the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts.

Caroline was referred to the foundation by her doctor at the Jimmy Fund Clinic in 2007. Going to Rome was not her first choice, however.

An animal lover who wants to be a veterinarian, she wanted a hamster as her wish. Her mother said that was out of the question.

When a fellow patient at the Jimmy Fund Clinic returned from a trip, it piqued her interest to travel. Caroline chose Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI, whom she admired since he was elected in 2005 to replace Pope John Paul II.

"This is a first for our chapter. It's a very unique wish," said Lauren Cotter, wish program manager for the foundation. "We're extremely happy for her."

Her parents and teachers were not surprised by Caroline's wish to meet the pope, as she enjoys reading the Bible and books on the saints of the Catholic Church.

"You wouldn't know she has that beast in her head because she's a miracle," her mother, Sarah Hamilton, said. "I'm excited to see her happy. This is a dream come true for my husband and I to see her happy because she deserves it."

At her mother's suggestion, Caroline will bring a set of rosary beads for each of her classmates at St. Michael School in North Andover to be blessed by the pope. Those classmates will then carry those beads when they receive their First Communion May 2.

"It's the least we can do because the school and the parish community have been incredibly loving and supportive," Sarah Hamilton said.

Caroline has her own reason for bringing the beads.

"I want him to make them holy because he's very special," she said.

The past two years have been a nightmare for Rick Hamilton, a major in the National Guard, and Sarah Hamilton, a criminal defense attorney who has been staying home with the children since Caroline's brain tumor was diagnosed.

The tumor, which is the size of a plum, was discovered when Caroline had difficulty with a portion of her kindergarten vision test. Her parents then noticed a "jerking movement" in their daughter's left eye in April of that year. While the ophthalmologist said the girl's eyes were both healthy, doctors concluded there was a possible brain lesion.

The tumor is incurable and inoperable, and Caroline went through toxic chemotherapy treatments designed 25 years ago to keep the tumor from growing.

The first treatments caused her to lose some of her vision and an MRI showed the tumor had grown. The second round of chemotherapy made her nauseous, lose her appetite and her black hair.

"Losing my hair was something I didn't like. I just missed it. I cried and I was angry when I lost it," said Caroline, now sporting two ponytails tied with a silk white ribbon.

"The problem is still there, but we're giving her body a break," her mother said.

In addition to the Vatican, Caroline, her parents, and brother William, 9, and Aidan, 4, will go on a sightseeing trip. The Hamiltons have been learning about the Vatican and other landmarks, including the Colosseum, through the Internet and books they borrowed from the public library. To prepare for the trip, the family also has been learning key phrases in Italian and German, the pope's native tongue.

"It's going to be interesting to see a different culture," Caroline said.

Caroline has several euros and American coins which she is ready to throw in the Trevi Fountain. It is said that a person who uses their right hand to throw the coins over their left shoulder into the fountain will assure a return to the city.

Caroline has faith Pope Benedict XVI can cure her.

"He is the head of the church and the power comes from God," she said.

====================
I don't know which is worse, giving this child false hope, or..."An animal lover who wants to be a veterinarian, she wanted a hamster as her wish. Her mother said that was out of the question." Say what? She'd have just as much chance of being cured by the hamster as the pope! And why not have a hamster waiting when she returns? You know what's going to happen, don't you? Eventually, this child, during her last days on earth, will realize that she wasn't cured, and die in despair and wondering why she was "unworthy." Outrageous!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Finally Tonight, Jesus

Ghostly apparitions... or just a trick of the light?

A dossier of ghostly apparitions is being compiled by scientists in a bid to solve the mysteries of the paranormal.

Experts are inviting members of the public to send them pictures of alleged ghosts to allow them to examine them in greater detail.

Hundreds of paranormal pictures are expected to be submitted online as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival.

They will be posted on a website and examined to see if any defy explanation.

ghost

One of the strangest submissions was taken on a mobile phone by 17-year-old Matthew Summers last year, showing what appears to be the face of a girl poking between the legs of a group of friends

Ghosts

The photograph was taken at a house where there have been sightings of a ghostly child aged three or four

Ghost-debunking psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman, who is heading the experiment, said: 'About once a month I get sent a fairly good ghost photo where it's not immediately obvious what's going on.

'Often you might see what looks like a face in semi-darkness but its just a trick of the light. The human brain is hard-wired to see faces, for instance in clouds. That's because faces are the most important thing we can see around us.

'I'm pretty skeptical, and usually there's a rational explanation, but it could be that someone out there is sitting on something really interesting.'

One of the strangest appears to be the face of a little girl poking between the legs of a group of friends. It was taken at a house where there have been sightings of a ghostly child aged three or four.

'Believe it or not it's just a very odd configuration of the light,' said Prof Wiseman. 'These are always the hardest ones to explain.'

Double exposure? This photograph taken at a castle 22 years ago appears to show the transparent figure of a headless ghost in an army coat

Double exposure? This photograph taken at a castle 22 years ago appears to show the transparent figure of a headless ghost in an army coat

Another taken at a castle 22 years ago appears to show the transparent figure of a headless ghost in an army coat standing in front of two children playing on a cannon.

Prof Wiseman said: 'The person who took it is absolutely convinced that it's a photo of the headless ghost who walks around the castle walls. Maybe he's angry with the kids playing around. This one might be a double exposure.'

Ghosts

An image taken in a vault by an American tourist during a walking tour of Edinburgh in 1998. Prof Wiseman estimates that ten per cent of the population have had a ghostly experience

A survey of people's ghostly experiences is also being launched at the Edinburgh Science Festival.

'Ten per cent of the population have had a ghostly experience, but no-one yet has carried out a survey of what kind of experiences they have,' said Prof Wiseman. 'We know ghosts tend to be seen as solid figures, which only reveal themselves as ghosts when they do something like walking through a wall.'

A number of ghost pictures can already be seen on the site http://scienceofghosts.wordpress.com.

Ghost

This strange apparition appeared in the background of a holiday picture taken last April in Ankara, Turkey

Ghost

A close-up shows a bright angel-shaped light hovering above a milling crowd

Ghost

The ghostly shape of a woman is visible in this image of a painting of Charles II, taken at Edinburgh Castle in 2003. The photographer believes that the woman has her hand on the king's shoulder

Ghost

A movement in this woman's hair reveals what resembles a human face. A survey of ghostly experiences is to be launched at the Edinburgh Science Festival

Pelosi Made Repeated Requests for Military Aircraft, Documents Show


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly requested military aircraft to shuttle her and her colleagues and family around the country, according to a new report from a conservative watchdog group.

Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents from a Freedom of Information request, said the correspondence shows Pelosi has abused the system in place to accommodate congressional leaders and treated the Air Force as her "personal airline."

Pelosi's office disputed the claim, pointing to White House policy enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks allowing for the House speaker to travel to his or her congressional district via military aircraft whenever possible for security reasons. Her office said she typically uses the same kind of aircraft used by her predecessor, Dennis Hastert.

But Judicial Watch said that Pelosi was notorious for making special demands for high-end aircraft, lodging last-minute cancellations and racking up additional expenses for the military.

The e-mails showed repeated attempts by Pelosi aides to request aircraft, sometimes aggressively, and by Department of Defense officials to accommodate them.

"I think that's above and beyond what other members of Congress are doing and what is expected of our elected officials," said Jenny Small, a researcher with the group.

In one e-mail, aide Kay King complained to the military that they had not made available any aircraft the House speaker wanted for Memorial Day recess.

"It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are," King wrote.

In another, when told a certain type of aircraft would not be available, King wrote: "This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset Speaker."

Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said the report seemed to be based on only "a few e-mails," and defended the requests for military aircraft for her colleagues as a "function of the speaker's office." Elshami said at least one of the requests in the above e-mails referenced requests made for other members.

Pelosi's office noted that the Department of Defense ultimately makes all decisions on use of military aircraft for travel, and that Pelosi is "extraordinarily appreciative" of the department's effort to accommodate Congress.

====================
Once again, the privileged get a free "ride."

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

This IS True About Polygraphs - Lie to Me

The Ten Commandments - Well...Maybe

Are there dead bodies on Mount Everest?

Of the 189 people who have died in their attempts, an estimated 120 of them remain there. This is a gruesome reminder to those who attempt to reach the summit of just how perilous it can be. The simple reason that the bodies of dead climbers are scattered about Mount Everest is that it's too dangerous and difficult to try to remove them. Reaching the summit of Everest is a physical challenge unlike any other on Earth. To attempt to bring a dead body or a stranded climber down would take too long and likely leave the climbing team stranded overnight. This makes rescue attempts virtually suicidal.

Most of the bodies are located in the "Death Zone," the area above the final base camp at 26,000 feet (8,000 meters). No one has ever studied the cause of death, but fatigue and the elements certainly play a large part. Many of the bodies are frozen in time, the corpses in tact with climbing rope still around their waists. Other bodies lie in various states of decay. Because of this, some experienced Everest climbers have made efforts in recent years to bury some of the more accessible bodies on the mountain. Climbing teams from China have led expeditions to clean up some of the estimated 120 tons of trash left behind each year. During these clean up efforts, the team plans to remove any bodies it can safely reach and carry back down.

In 2007, Ian Woodall, a British climber, returned to Everest to bury the bodies of three climbers he passed on his way to the summit. One of the climbers, a woman named Francys Arsentiev, was still alive when Woodall reached her during his initial ascent. Her first words to him were "don't leave me behind." The grim reality, though, is that Woodall could not have done anything for her without jeopardizing his own life or the lives of his team members. He was forced to leave her to perish alone.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Bicycle Helmets and Legislated Common Sense

Have a problem that needs a solution? Just ask the United States Government. Chances are they have an agency who's mission statement is to provide you, the American Citizen with an answer. If there is not an entire agency, then there is at the very least a federal law.
A commercial for bicycle helmets prompted me to do some research. Of the 9,686 people who have died in an accident involving a bicycle from 1994-2006, 24% were considered legally intoxicated (A blood alcohol level of .08 or higher), and the majority of the accidents occurred between the hours of 6-9pm in the summer. In 17% of these cases the deceased was wearing a helmet for safety. (Figures from www.bhsi.org). We have laws in 22 states that say you must wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, but no laws saying that you may not ride a bicycle while you are drunk between the hours of 6-9 pm during the summer.
How about all these laws stating that you have to wear a seat belt or not smoke tobacco products in public? And while we're at it, how about where all these stupid laws that waste your time, my time, and both of our taxpayers' dollars stem from anyway? From lawsuits, that's where.
America has become such a ridiculous society. The public at large cannot accept the responsibility for their actions, or the consequences those actions bring. Your kid rode his bike in the middle of the street when a car was coming?You could always sue the driver, the bike manufacturer, and the helmet maker. Or you could accept that because you were the bad parent who didn't take the responsibility to instill very basic safety concepts in your child (because you assumed that the public school system would do it for you) they are now hurt.
Because we are now a lawsuit nation, nothing is ever our fault. It is not the crimnal's fault, it's the weapons manufacturer. It's not my fault I smoked, it's the tobacco company's fault. The list goes on and on.
Bottom Line: Think before you act, take responsibility, and can someone please make a law against frivolous lawsuits?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Edam,
I decided to indulge you in my latest rant. :)

Obama to Lift Restrictions on Stem Cell Research Funding

President Obama plans to sign an executive order Monday lifting restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, in the latest reversal of his predecessor's policies.

The move fulfills a campaign promise, and supporters say it will open up a broad front of research to find better treatments for ailments from diabetes to Parkinson's disease.

The goal, administration officials told FOX News, will be to allow federal researchers access to more available lines of embryonic stem cells than currently exist.

Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases.

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Hey, he finally got something right! (and yes, the strike-through on "President" was deliberate. I didn't vote for the guy, nor do I want him as President.)

Help STOP the Idiotic Time Change

Springing forward is tough on the ticker



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I wish that "they" would do away with this nonsense once and for all!