Saturday, January 31, 2009

Today's Quote

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

— Babe Ruth

The Wayback Juke Box - Brian Wilson - Surf's Up

Spring is almost here!

Winter is almost over here in Ohio and we can see the deer wandering around now.

Here's Another Joke

In the back woods of Arkansas, Mr. Stewart's wife goes into labor in the middle of the night, and the doctor is called out to assist in the delivery.

To keep the nervous father-to-be busy, the doctor hands him a lantern and says, "Here, you hold this high so I can see what I'm doing."

Soon, a wee baby boy was brought into the world. "Whoa, there Scotty!" says the doctor. "Don't be in a rush to put the lantern down... I think there's yet another wee one to come."

Sure enough, within minutes he had delivered another little baby.

"No, no, don't be in a great hurry to be putting down that lantern, young man... It seems there's yet another one besides!" cried the doctor.

The new father scratched his head in bewilderment, and asked the doctor:

"Do ya think it's the light that's attractin' them?"

"These people are idiots."

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) tells it like it is. TARP funds are being used for bonuses, buying jets and otherwise pissing in our Kool-Aid. This is not a joke, American's are footing the bill to allow these elites to continue their lifestyles after the elites claimed the sky would fall if we didn't fork over the keys to Fort Knox.

"These People Are Idiots" McCaskill quote from within this video.

Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill

From Wikileaks

On 27 Jan 2008, the Huffington Post ran a story by Sam Stein titled "Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill". The story inclded around five minutes of an hour long recording between federal bailout funds recipiets. The call shows the firms to be involved in lobbying, effectively, with public money. The file released here is the full hour long recording.

The summary below is excerpted from Mr. Stein's story:

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

Donations of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars were needed, it was argued, to prevent America from turning "into France."

"If a retailer has not gotten involved in this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to [former Sen.] Norm Coleman and all these other guys, they should be shot. They should be thrown out their goddamn jobs," Marcus declared.

Continued...


Latest Toxic Toy Recalls

Toy Construction Sets and Necklaces

Birth of octuplets rattles fertility experts

Even as the birth of octuplets at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center drew attention and applause from around the country, questions arose Tuesday about whether the mother's doctors did enough to prevent such a risky pregnancy.

The chances that the eight babies born Monday were conceived naturally are infinitesimal, infertility specialists and doctors in maternal-fetal medicine say. Today's reproductive experts have the tools and the know-how to avoid such high-risk pregnancies -- and often try desperately to do so.

Xontinued...

Starbucks to stop continually brewing decaf coffee after noon

Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday that it would stop brewing decaffeinated coffee after noon as part of a drive to save $400 million by September.

Anatomy of a lie

Experts share tips on how to tell if someone's not telling the truth

In-flight confrontations can lead to charges defined as terrorism

At least 200 passengers have been convicted of felonies under the Patriot Act, often for behavior involving raised voices and profanity. Some experts say airlines are misusing the law.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

We are at a crossroads. It is the beginning of a new administration and the end of an old one. There are those who would like to forget the last eight years. It’s the magic-slate idea. As if you could lift up an acetate window and those eight years would suddenly vanish.

Photographs make this somewhat more difficult. They are a partial record of who we were and how we imagined ourselves. They remind us that we have a past and that we are the sum of our past experiences. They reassert that unassailable fact.

The traveling pool of press photographers that follows presidents includes representatives from three wire services — AP (The Associated Press), AFP (Agence France-Presse) and Thomson Reuters. During the last week of the Bush administration, I asked the head photo editors of these news services — Vincent Amalvy (AFP), Santiago Lyon (AP) and Jim Bourg (Reuters) — to pick the photographs of the president that they believe captured the character of the man and of his administration.

There are overlapping pictures — of the president with a bullhorn at Ground Zero, of the president looking out the window of Air Force One over New Orleans, of the president receiving the news on the morning of 9/11. It is interesting that these pictures are different. They may be of the same scene, but they have different content. They speak in a different way.

Continued...

What Are Green-Collar Jobs?

What’s the best way to give Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds a tangible stake in fighting for issues like global warming?

Easy: Make it their livelihood. Every day, about 135 million people go to work in the U.S. Imagine what would happen if millions of those jobs—plus new ones created for people who are currently unemployed—were in fields like renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and green building.

Continued...




Website of the Day - The Places We Live

A really neat slide show showing how people around the world live.

7 Fail-proof Ways to Rev Up Your Fat Burning and Get Lean

This is aimed at those who have been exercising regularly for at least a few months and who already eat fairly healthy. It’s for those who want to break through a plateau and speed up their fat-burning, lean-making progress. It’s for those who are looking for leanness and not hugeness.

If that’s you, read on.

Top 5 Myths About Closing Guantanamo

Obama has promised to close Guantanamo within a year. So lets debunk some of the most ill-informed myths that might stand in the way.

Too Cute

Better living through exposure to microbes a

America Needs a Job

By William Rivers Pitt

The GOP's adamant opposition to the jobs programs within President Obama's stimulus proposal has nothing to do with the ideological cant of the party. The Republicans want the Obama administration to fail, so they can begin to recoup the losses they absorbed in the last two elections. More than that, they don't want another historic slate of federal programs to be enacted, because those programs might actually work, and a whole new generation of voters would give credit for a revived economy to the Democrats, just as they did after Roosevelt was finished.

The GOP's argument here is a callous, crass and heartless attempt to avoid becoming further marginalized by the effects of their own deplorable stewardship. They are putting the national security of the United States at risk. We cannot defend and improve our country if we are standing in endless unemployment lines.

America needs a job. The Republicans who have jobs and are thwarting this stimulus package should be ashamed. More to the point, they should be dismissed with cause. They do not deserve to be laid off, but should be fired outright.


Read Entire Article

Here's The Joke

The Captain called the Sergeant in. "Sarge, I just got a telegram. Private Jones' mother died yesterday. Better go tell him and send him in to see me."

So the Sergeant calls for his morning formation and lines up all the troops. "Listen up, men," says the Sergeant. "Johnson, report to the mess hall for KP. Smith, report to Personnel to sign some papers. The rest of you men report to the Motor Pool for maintenance. Oh by the way, Jones, your mother died, report to the commander."

Later that day the Captain called the Sergeant into his office. "Hey, Sarge, that was a pretty cold way to inform Jones his mother died. Couldn't you be a bit more tactful, next time?"

"Yes, sir," answered the Sarge. A few months later, the Captain called the Sergeant in again with, "Sarge, I just got a telegram. Private McGrath's mother died. You'd better go tell him and send him in to see me. This time be more tactful."

So the Sergeant calls for his morning formation. "Ok, men, fall in and listen up. Everybody with a mother, take two steps forward -- NOT SO FAST, McGRATH!"

Polar bear 'stranded' on The Thames

If you went down to the Thames today you were sure of a big surprise.

This giant sculpture of a polar bear stranded on a block of ice floated 7.5 miles from Greenwich towards the centre of London to highlight the problem of melting ice caps. The bear was also promoting the launch of a new television channel dedicated to natural history.

A total of 15 artists spent two months constructing the 20ft by 20ft square structure, which was launched at 6:30am before travelling up the Thames, stopping besideTower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. The structure weighing, 1.5 tonnes, was winched into place.

The event coincides with the Eden Channel's Fragile Earth series, presented by Sir David Attenborough.

Continued...

"Healthified" Cheesy Potato Chowder

Prep Time:30 min
Start to Finish:1 hr
makes:8 servings (1 1/4 cups each)

6 medium red potatoes (2 lb), unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 carton (32 oz) Progresso® reduced-sodium chicken broth (4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen broccoli cuts
1/3 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free (skim) milk
8 oz brick 2% milk reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)*
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
4 medium green onions, chopped (1/4 cup)

1. In 5-quart Dutch oven, place potatoes; add just enough water to cover. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are very tender. Drain. Reserve 1 cup potatoes; return remaining potatoes to saucepan. In small bowl, mash reserved potatoes with fork; return to saucepan.

2. Stir in broth, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling. Add broccoli. Return to boiling; cook uncovered 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium.

3. In small bowl with wire whisk, stir flour into milk until well mixed. Add milk mixture to potato mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens and boils. Stir in cheese until melted and smooth. Stir in sour cream and green onions; cook until thoroughly heated.

4. To serve, ladle soup into bowls.

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 240 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 6g (Saturated Fat 4g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 710mg; Total Carbohydrate 32g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 5g); Protein 13g % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 25%; Calcium 30%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Medium-Fat Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 MyPyramid Servings: 1 c Dairy, 1 c Vegetables
*% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Bill Hicks

Via VSL

David Letterman took a mulligan last night and aired a never-seen Bill Hicks monologue that The Late Show’s producers censored more than 15 years ago.

Hicks was a dark, brilliant comedian, and just 31 when this material was deemed “unsuitable” for the late-night audience. (It included bits about pro-lifers and the Easter Bunny.) Four months later, he died of pancreatic cancer. Letterman’s booked Hicks’s mother to introduce the clip. Below is a video of the routine.

Two Simple Ways to Form New Habits Without Really Trying

Forming new habits is often seen as a huge commitment that only a few fortunate souls - blessed with a naturally high dosage of willpower - can ever accomplish. The rest of us can only content ourselves with silly attempts to change, only to default to our old ways.

But the problem isn’t really with forming new habits. It’s our approach to forming new habits that makes life difficult.

To make your life much easier, here are two simple ways you can use to form new habits that will help you get great results without really trying!

Beijing to Drivers: Give Up Your Car, We'll Pay You $3,600

Beijing is so desperate to get high-polluting cars off the roads, the city has devised a scheme that will pay citizens as much as $3600 to give up heavily polluting vehicles -- and even give drivers more money to purchase cleaner cars.

Continued...

Finding Your Spirit

To begin a spiritual journey, it's important to first understand what spirituality means. Spiritual leaders from around the world want to help you start your journey by explaining what spirituality means to them.

Continued...

Friday, January 30, 2009

Today's Quote

Great necessities call out great virtues.

— Abigail Adams

Why Organics Are Better

4 Healthy Ways to Grieve

1. Recognize that there is nothing wrong with you. Whatever your feelings are, they're legitimate.

2. Find people who will understand. Search online—there are bereavement support groups for just about any type of loss.

3. Be honest about how you feel. If a well-meaning friend cracks a joke about your deceased ex-husband, says Doka, soberly explain that this loss is painful for you.

4. Develop a ritual or ceremony to commemorate the person's passing. Visit the grave after the funeral—or hold a private one—when you can take as much time as you need to express your anguish.

Read Entire Article

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Today's Quote

“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.

- Anthony Robbins

Suicides continue alarming rise in military

Suicide rates among active-duty U.S. military personnel are continuing to rise even as the Defense Department dedicates more resources to identifying troubled service members and getting them the help they need.

At least 128 soldiers were confirmed to have killed themselves in 2008, compared with 115 in 2007, 102 in 2006 and 87 in 2005, the Army said Thursday. Last year’s figure is likely to rise even higher, because the Army is investigating at least 15 other deaths as possible suicides.

The continuing rise in Army suicides was first reported Wednesday by NBC News and msnbc.com, which found that the problem is reflected across the military services. Forty-one Marines committed suicides last year, up from 33 in 2007, while the Navy and the Air Force saw smaller increases, defense officials told NBC News on condition of anonymity.

Continued...

Number of layoffs since Nov. 1, 2008, at America's 500 largest public companies*

350,725

Alcohol stops men from being a flop in bed

Men might want to remember a new rhyme: a drink a day keeps erectile dysfunction away.

Despite traditional views about the effects of booze on male performance, new research suggests that moderate drinking actually protects against impotence in the long term – perhaps for the same reason a glass or two of wine a day cuts the odds of suffering from heart disease.

Continued...

Website of the Day - This is Sand

Via VSL

This Is Sand
converts pixels into digital grains of colored sand, allowing you to build any number of sand castles right now, without straying from your desktop.

Japanese Kids Show

Price is not right for many shoppers at Circuit City closeout sale


Customers are angry that many items are being discounted only 10%. Liquidators say markdowns will increase in coming weeks.

8 Steps to Conquer the Beast Within

It's been tailing you for years—depression, a hot temper, an irresistible urge for cupcakes—appearing here and there, with no rhyme or reason. Or so it seems. Martha Beck calls this a bête noire, and she's developed an easy way you can track it, tame it, and vanquish it forever.

Yard Sale Nation: The Change Required to Salvage U.S Society Runs Much Deeper Than Most Imagine

Say goodbye to the 'consumer society.' Familiar touchstones of contemporary American life have to go. No more fast money and no more credit.

Marital Bliss

A while back there was an opening in the CIA for an assassin. These highly classified positions are extremely difficult to fill, requiring an extensive background check, training, and testing before candidates are even considered for the position. After reviewing several applicants and completing all the checks and training, the field was narrowed to the three most promising candidates. The day came for the final test, which would determine which of equally qualified candidates, would get the job.

The final candidates consisted of two men and one woman. The men administering the test took the first candidate, a man, down a corridor to a closed door and handed him a gun saying, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill her." The man, looking completely shocked said, "You can't be serious! I could never kill my wife." The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home." They brought the next candidate in, the other man, and repeated the instructions. This man took the gun, walked into the room and closed the door. However, after five minutes of silence, the door opened and the man handed the CIA tester the gun, saying, "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't kill my wife. I tried to pull the trigger but I just couldn't do it." The CIA man said, "Well, then, you're obviously not the man for the job. Take your wife and go home."

Then they brought the woman down the corridor to the closed door, handed her a gun, and said, "We must be completely assured that you will complete your assignments and follow instructions regardless of the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your husband, seated in a chair. Take this gun and kill him." The woman took the gun, walked into the room, and before the door closed all the way, the CIA men heard the gun start firing. One shot after another, for thirteen shots, the noise continued. Then all hell broke loose. For the next several minutes, the men heard screaming, cursing, furniture crashing and banging on the walls; then suddenly, silence. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, "You guys didn't tell me the gun was loaded with blanks! I had to beat him to death with the chair!"

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

MP3 Player Speaker System


Speakers, fiberglas mannequin, 1/8 stereo jack, power/volume knob, hand-built solid-state stereo amplifier

10 Things Supermarkets Won't Tell You

Continuing its series of dirty little secrets of various industries, Smart Money targets grocery stores. The story talks about non-redemption of certain coupons, tricks used to raise prices less conspicuously, and more.

No Charge: In Civil-Contempt Cases, Jail Time Can Stretch On for Years

One can spend a long time in jail in the U.S. without ever being charged with a crime.

It happened to H. Beatty Chadwick, a former Philadelphia-area lawyer, who has been behind bars for nearly 14 years without being charged.

Businessman Manuel Osete spent nearly three years in an Arizona jail without ever receiving a criminal charge. And investment manager Martin Armstrong faced a similar situation when he was held for more than six years in a Manhattan jail.

All three men were jailed for civil contempt, a murky legal concept. Some scholars say it is too often abused by judges, to the detriment of those charged and their due-process rights. "These results of too many civil-contempt confinements are flatly outrageous and often unconstitutional," says Jayne Ressler, a professor at Brooklyn Law School.

Continued...

Are We Civilized Enough to Hold Our Leaders Accountable for War Crimes? The World Is Watching

Other countries are likely to take action against officials who condoned torture, even if the United States fails to do so.

Renewing a Forgotten Virtue

By Alexander Green

Reverence means understanding human limitations. It's a feeling of respect and awe about what lies beyond our control: nature, truth, fate, death.

It's also an attitude of acceptance toward life and our fellow human beings, flawed as we may be. Reverence underlies the grace and civility that make life in society bearable and pleasant. It reminds us what's important, what's sacred, what's worth protecting.

Reverence is as old as civilization itself, perhaps older. Writing in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the Greek historian Thucydides called it a cardinal virtue, existing universally across all cultures.

An irreverent man, he claimed, is arrogant and shameless, full of hubris, unable to feel awe in the face of things greater than himself. Moreover, irreverence makes it difficult to respect those who are weaker: children, prisoners, the poor, the elderly.

Many equate reverence with religiosity. Yet this is not always the case.

Continued...

Chocolate Beer

Website of the Day - myGoals.com

Welcome to the Web's leading site for setting and managing all of your personal and professional goals. myGoals.com walks you through a simple, step-by-step goal-setting process for any goal, whether it's short-term or long-term, easy or difficult, practical or lofty. We also provide pre-made GoalPlans® for popular goals, to get you started even faster.

Once you've set a goal, we'll send you email reminders that arrive precisely when you should be working on each task. myGoals.com keeps you focused and on track until you accomplish your goal.

Top 11 compounds in US drinking water

The 11 most frequently detected compounds - all found at extremely low concentrations - were:

• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease

• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour

• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things

• Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish

• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug

• Meprobamate, a tranquiliser widely used in psychiatric treatment

• Naproxen, a painkiller and anti-inflammatory linked to increases in asthma incidence

• Phenytoin, an anticonvulsant that has been used to treat epilepsy

• Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic used against the Streptococcus bacteria, which is responsible for tonsillitis and other diseases

• TCEP, a reducing agent used in molecular biology

• Trimethoprim, another antibiotic

Source/details

Love Poems

Women's Love Poem

Before I lay me down to sleep,
I pray for a man, who's not a creep,
One who's handsome, smart and strong,
One who loves to listen long.
One who thinks before he speaks,
One who'll call, not wait for weeks.
I pray he's gainfully employed,
When I spend his cash, won't be annoyed.
Pulls out my chair and opens my door,
Massages my back and begs to do more.
Oh! Send me a man who'll make love to my mind,
Knows what to answer to 'how big is my behind?'
I pray that this man will love me to no end,
And always be my very best friend.


Men's Love Poem

I pray for a deaf-mute nymphomaniac with
Huge boobs who owns a bar on a golf course,
And loves to send me fishing and hunting. This
Doesn't rhyme and I don't give a damn.

Another Blonde Joke

Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop."

Customer: "Ok."

Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?"

Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"

Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?"

Customer: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote click'."

25 Most Promising Green Businesses

From Business Pundit

Going green was big news for a while, then the collapsing economy put a cloud over the movement. Nonetheless, a derth of reporting doesn’t mean that the scientists, entrepreneurs, and business brains behind the burgeoning industry have slowed down. If anything, their products are growing in maturity and potential. We waded through hundreds of eco-oriented companies to pick out the ones with the most promise, in terms of product potential and marketability.

Mercy dash family denied entry to US

AN AUSTRALIAN family on a mercy dash to a dying relative in the United States were detained without food or water before being sent to a detention centre and forced to spend the night with criminal suspects. Their ordeal finished with them being deported.

Mr Fazle Rabbi, his wife, Rokeya, and their two sons, Rakin, 14, and Raiyan, 8, left Sydney on Tuesday, January 13 to visit Mr Rabbi's ailing 84-year-old father in Los Angeles.

However, instead of the emotional reunion they expected, the family was detained at Los Angeles International Airport by US Customs and Border Protection officers.

Over the next 24 hours, officers questioned the Thornleigh taxi driver and his aged-care worker wife, patted them down and searched their luggage before sending them to a detention centre in a caged van. They were then taken to a hotel with other detainees at 2.30am to sleep with armed guards by their bedside before being woken at 4.30am and put on a flight back to Sydney.

Continued...

Garbage Warrior

Happy Wednesday

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
401 AM EST WED JAN 28 2009

..SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER EVENT TO CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY...

LOW PRESSURE WILL LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY THIS
MORNING. THE LOW WILL THEN MOVE OFF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST TONIGHT.
SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW ACROSS THE
ENTIRE REGION THIS MORNING. SNOW WILL THEN TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO
EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
..WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...

THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON.

FREEZING RAIN...OCCASIONAL MIXED WITH SLEET AT TIMES...WILL CHANGE
TO SNOW BY SUNRISE. SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES DURING THE MORNING
RUSH. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST THIS AFTERNOON.

ADDITIONAL ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE BETWEEN ONE AND TWO TENTHS
OF AN INCH. ADDITIONAL SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE
BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES.

STORM TOTAL SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION FOR THE ENTIRE EVENT IS
EXPECTED TO BE 8 TO 10 INCHES. STORM TOTAL ICE ACCUMULATION FOR
THE ENTIRE EVENT IS EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN TWO TENTHS TO ONE
HALF INCH.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

"I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything."

Abraham Lincoln
1809-1865, Sixteenth President of the United States

Snow Day

We had more snow overnight last night. I woke up to 3" of additional snow and it was still coming down. I left the house at 6:40AM - about 20 minutes earlier than usual. I got to the office 2 hours and 10 minutes later. (It normally takes me about 25 minutes to get to the office.) The roads were passable - the traffic was a nightmare. People in Ohio know two speeds - 85 or 15 with no in-between.

When I got into the office, I popped my head into my bosses office to let her know I had made it in OK, told her that my head was about to explode and advised her I wanted to take a paid day off tomorrow as we are supposed to get more bad weather overnight tonight. The good times just keep coming.

I left the office for lunch and it was like a different world outside. The temperature was around 29 degrees, the road was clear and traffic was minimal. At 3PM the next wave of the 'White Death' moved into the city. The snow was coming down fast and furious and by 5PM the busy roads in front of our office building were snow covered and traffic was at a crawl. I turned on my radio to hear of the horror that was rush hour traffic. There were reports of accidents all over the place and the freeways were packed once again. I decided to stay in the office and work until 6:30 and then drive home. My logic was that I would rather get home from work late because I left late than to spend another 2 plus hours in traffic with my head spinning in circles like something out of 'The Exorcist'. At least this way I could be productive.

I called my 'snow man' at 5PM (some folks have a pool guy - I have a snow man who I lust after on days like today :) and he said he'd have my drive and sidewalks done by the time I got home. (Ahhhh the service that good tips gets you.)By the time I left the office, cleaned my car off and got out of the parking lot it was 6:40. After stopping at the ATM to get some cash, I rolled into my drive 1 hr and 10 minutes after leaving the office. Normally takes me about 40 minutes to get home so it took twice as long. Was still better than the 2+ hours I spent driving in. The roads were treacherous, but passable. The freeways were snow packed and slick and the snow turned to sleet as I was driving home. The biggest difference between the AM commute and the PM commute was that there was far less traffic enabling me to maneuver around those idiots driving 20 miles per hour in the fast lane.

Folks if you are too scared to drive over 20 miles per hour in the snow - then #1 you shouldn't be on the freeway and #2 you probably shouldn't be driving. Geeze. I want my next car to be equipped with missile launchers in front so I can move these folks out of the way and open up the roadways.

After eating some dinner and relaxing for a few moments I ran out to the store to pick up some odds and ends - too crowded on the way home to do so. I was in and out of there in half an hour. Another example of good planning on my part. I am such an efficiency expert!

We are supposed to get hit with 3" to 9" of snow overnight - perhaps more. After tapering off during the morning hours we are supposed to get hit with another 1-2" during the day tomorrow. I just got in about 1/2 an hour ago and we were still have freezing precipitation. My car was ice covered after 1/2 an hour in the grocery store and I can hear the sleet hitting the windows as I sit and type this.

I've decided I don't care how much snow we get because I'm working from home tomorrow and this year I have a "snow man" so my ass isn't going to be out there shoveling it.

Hope things are better where you are!

212 Degrees -- The Extra Degree

Hate your neighbors? Get one of these!

Israeli troops shot and killed zoo animals

The Gaza Zoo reeks of death. But zookeeper Emad Jameel Qasim doesn't appear to react to the stench as he walks around the animals' enclosures.

Watch Gaza zoo Video

A month ago, it was attracting families - he says the zoo drew up to 1,000 visitors each day. He points at the foot-long hole in the camel in one of the enclosures.

"This camel was pregnant, a missile went into her back," he tells us. "Look, look at her face. She was in pain when she died."

Around every corner, inside almost every cage are dead animals, who have been lying in their cages since the Israeli incursion.

Qasim doesn't understand why they chose to destroy his zoo. And it's difficult to disagree with him. Most of them have been shot at point blank range.

"The first thing the Israelis did was shoot at the lions - the animals ran out of their cage and into the office building. Actually they hid there."

Continued...

Are frogs being eaten to extinction?

We're used to hearing about how disease, climate change, and habitat degradation are endangering amphibians, but conservationists are warning that frogs could be going the same way as the cod. Gastronomic demand, they report, is depleting regional populations to the point of no return.

David Bickford of the National University of Singapore and colleagues have called for more regulation and monitoring in the global frog meat market in order to avoid species being "eaten to extinction".

Continued...

Monday, January 26, 2009

Today's Quote

All grown-ups were once children. (But few of them remember it.)

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Wayback Juke Box - Screamin' Jay Hawkins: "I Put A Spell On You"

Some do's and don't for helping to avoid and fight cancer

Your Mental State
  • Be positive.
  • Resolve stress and past traumas.
  • Accept yourself and your emotions, including the negative ones.
  • Practice meditation, yoga, tai chi or some other form of relaxation.

Your Diet
  • These vegetables have great cancer fighting characteristics: beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, garlic, kale, leeks and scallions.
  • Also good are onions, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, red wine, soy.
  • Increase your intake of omega-3s, typically found in fish (herring, trout, sardines, mackerel, halibut) and flax seeds and oils.
  • Avoid sugar, white flour, vegetable oils, white rice and non-organic animal fat (meat, eggs, milk, cheese).
  • Filter your tap water.

Your Activity
  • Spend 20 to 30 minutes a day on physical activity like tennis, swimming or walking.
  • Be out in the sun for 20 minutes every day.

And...
  • Avoid being surrounded by people who smoke.
  • Use cosmetic products that don't contain parabens or phthalates.
  • Use skin-care products without estrogens or placental by-products
  • Use cleaning products without synthetic chemicals.
  • Don't prepare food in a scratched Teflon pan.
  • Reduce the influence of cell phones by using a headset consistently.

Source: David-Schreiber, Anticancer Nov 08 Issue ODE pg 53

Karl Rove Subpoenaed By John Conyers: 'Time To Talk'

On Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) issued a subpoena to Karl Rove, requiring him to testify regarding his role in the Bush Administration's politicization of the Department of Justice, including the US Attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. The subpoena calls for Rove to appear at deposition on Monday, February 2, 2009.

Rove has previously refused to appear in response to a Judiciary Committee subpoena, claiming that even former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. That "absolute immunity" position was supported by then-President Bush, but it has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates. President Obama has previously dismissed the claim as "completely misguided."

Continued...

What I Have to Look Forward To

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
501 PM EST MON JAN 26 2009

..SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER EVENT EXPECTED TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY
WEDNESDAY...

A DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TONIGHT
WILL LIFT NORTHEAST ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THROUGH TUESDAY
NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
..WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO
12 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM
EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND
CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY MORNING. THE LIGHT SNOW WILL MIX WITH SOME
LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. A MORE
SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA TUESDAY
EVENING AND CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY. THE SNOW WILL THEN TAPER OFF
TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.
ANOTHER 5 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO
WEDNESDAY.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION FOR THE ENTIRE EVENT IS EXPECTED TO BE 6
TO 9 INCHES.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF
SNOW...SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE
TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OF
WEATHER INFORMATION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. ADDITIONAL DETAILS CAN

Awesome 30's

Website of the Day

Send Your Heartfelt Goodbye Letter to George W. Bush

Gone but not forgotten: Goodbye.us knows that the world still has plenty to say to Mr. Bush. We welcome you to express yourself here in the form of an open letter. Soon, we will gather, publish, & send your letters to citizen Bush. We are not here to tell you how to feel, but to give you a place to make your feelings known. Some obvious rules: make no threats, avoid profanity, and please respect your fellow bloggers.

How to Live a Life of Purpose

What do you want the epitaph on your tombstone to say when you die? Many would be satisfied, if not relieved, if their epitaph proclaimed, “I Survived.”

Others, perhaps you, want more out of life than just going through the motions, day after day, and simply surviving.

To live a life of purpose, and on purpose, empowers you to be whatever you want to be and to do whatever you want to do. When your life’s purpose is powered by passion, you are able to stay on course even when you experience obstacles and setbacks. Purpose is the engine that moves you forward in life; passion is the fuel for the engine.

There are five important fundamentals for living a life of purpose:

Humans

HUMANS! - watch more funny videos

Global Warming Caused Death Rate of Forests in West to Double


The mortality rate of old-growth forests across the West has more than doubled in recent decades, and those forests are now losing more trees than they gain, according to a new study that identified the most probable cause as warming temperatures.

The trend is happening at every elevation, in trees of different sizes and of various species, researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey and universities reported in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

Continued...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Today's Quote

"One-half of life is luck; the other half is discipline — and that's the important half, for without discipline you wouldn't know what to do with luck."

— Carl Zuckmayer

In Memoriam

The Wayback Jukebox - Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

We’re Sorry, America. Really sorry.

On behalf of the State of Texas, I’d like to apologize for giving you George W. Bush.

You have to understand, he really wasn’t that bad as Governor of Texas. Sure, he didn’t do much, but we rather like that down here.

He actually seemed like something of a uniter, working with both the Republicans and the Democrats in office. He certainly didn’t come across as a Big Government Republican, war-mongering, spying-on-Americans, torturer.
Sure, we thought sending him to Washington would increase the average intelligence of both Texas and Washington. Who knew he’d be so grossly incompetent? Heck, even The Economist endorsed him! And they’re British.



Continued...

From Atrios

First full week of the failed Obama presidency is about to begin.

Flood of foreclosures: It's worse than you think

Banks are moving slowly to list repossessed homes for sale, which could mean that housing inventory is even more bloated than current statistics indicate.

The One Man Living Cartoon Factory

Ennio Marchetto

Do You Remember?

5 Cent Postage Stamps























Gum Wrapper Chains










Chatty Cathy Dolls





















5 Cent Coca-Cola


Speedy Alka Seltzer

You May Need Anger Control If....

1. You easily fly off the handle if criticized.

2. Being frustrated makes you feel like hitting someone.

3. You think of yourself as hot-headed.

4. Being annoyed causes you to say nasty things.

From Consumers Reports/July 08/pg 46

Website of the Day -NFB.ca

Welcome to the NFB's new online Screening Room. Here you can watch full-length films, clips and trailers - all free for home viewing.

Oh yes he did!

"I won."

-- President Obama, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, in response to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on why he's not including more Republican ideas in his economic stimulus plan.

The Secret to Being Insanely Creative

What’s the secret to unleashing your creativity?

I’ll tell you, but it’s not what you think…

China’s Fur Industry Contemplating Artificial Insemination

China is a major exporter of fur garments and the number of fur farms have mushroomed in the past ten years, especially in the cold, northern region of Heilongjiang.

A group of scientists is now helping locals improve the breeding rates of animals such as mink and fox through artificial insemination and other means, according to Liu Zhiping, who heads the university research team helping the farmers.

"A group of foxes does not give birth naturally to many cubs a year, so if you want to see a lot of fur in the market from a certain breed of furry animals, we need to introduce the technology of artificial insemination," said Liu, a professor at the Northeastern Forestry University of China.

Continued...

389 Years Ago


Click to enlarge.
Get the poster HERE

ADIOS MOTHER F&#@ER T-SHIRT


GET A LIMITED EDITION ADIOS MOTHER F&#@ER T-SHIRT

Official: UN May Prosecute Bush Administration, Regardless Of US Action

The UN's special torture rapporteur called on the US Tuesday to pursue former president George W. Bush and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of Guantanamo prisoners.

"Judicially speaking, the United States has a clear obligation" to bring proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak said, in remarks to be broadcast on Germany's ZDF television Tuesday evening.

He noted Washington had ratified the UN convention on torture which required "all means, particularly penal law" to be used to bring proceedings against those violating it.

Continued...

First Steps on a Long Road

By William Rivers Pitt

Confronting every American citizen is the existence of three dominant factors which have become part of the nation's DNA over the course of the last century and a half. Each of these factors holds muscular sway over the doings of government and has a direct effect upon all our lives. None of them are going away any time soon, and that is fact.

One of these three is the existence of something called "corporate personhood," the legal theory established by a number of Supreme Court cases, including the 1886 Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad, which grants 14th Amendment rights to corporations. In essence, it is a legal shield that grants the same rights and privileges of citizenry enjoyed by you and me to faceless, on-paper corporate constructs. This has given rise to what can only be described as corporate super-citizens, entities with our rights but with the enormous financial ability to press, and indeed distort, those rights for their own purposes.

Another factor we currently endure is the lingering existence and aftereffect of the establishment of legalized political bribery, best represented by the 1976 Supreme Court decision in Buckley v. Valeo. In short, due to decisions like the one in Buckley, the payment of millions of dollars to political parties and candidates amounts to "free speech." Combined with the existence of corporate personhood, the result was corporate super-citizens pressing their "rights" by purchasing politics wholesale. Corporations seeking the dismantling of media ownership rules, the deregulation of banking and financial strictures, and the denuding of environmental protections merely purchased enough politicians via "free speech" contributions, and they got what they wanted.

The third factor takes us all the way back to World War II, and is where the confluence of those first two factors truly came together to form a juggernaut that marks every part of our national landscape. In order to gear up for the kind of colossal manufacturing output required to defeat two massive military powers on opposite ends of the globe, President Roosevelt placed our national economy on a wartime footing. With the establishment of the Truman Doctrine to confront Soviet communism, and the passage of the National Security Act in 1947, America's wartime economic footing became a permanent thing that remains at the nucleus of our national economy to this day.

Put plainly, much of the health of the American economy today requires the permanent preparation for and fighting of wars.
The corporate persons who profit from defense spending have made sure, by way of their "free speech" spending on pet politicians and acquirement of major media outlets, that nothing interferes with the financial processes of this arrangement. Their politicians and media spokesmen terrify the people with the golems of imminent national doom, the money rolls in, and the world gets more dangerous by the day.

Continued...

Organizing for America

Girls

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls had begun to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the maintenance man who had to clean the mirrors every night (You can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult it was to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers.... and then there are EDUCATORS.

Supplementing Your Income

If you've reduced your monthly expenses but still find it hard to save each month, consider additional sources of income—which doesn't always mean working a second job on the side. Look for income sources that are flexible, sustainable and enjoyable. Here are some ideas:

Become a virtual assistant – Virtual assistants are individuals hired to perform duties online that don't require a physical presence, such as conducting research, designing websites, writing articles and making reservations.

Start a home business – Turn your skills and hobbies into an additional income source. Home businesses are often inexpensive to start and easy to grow and promote via the Internet.

Write a blog – Earning a little extra money can be as easy as blogging from your home. With free or low-cost blog publishing tools, you could turn a small time investment into extra savings.

There will always be opportunities to earn extra cash. Research these and other methods of earning supplemental income to help feed your emergency fund and retirement savings. Read more on keeping an emergency savings account.


Check out the new Feed the Pig Podcast #23 - The Financial
Literacy Quiz (Round 2).

Saturday, January 24, 2009

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."

Carl Jung
1875-1961, Psychiatrist

The Wayback Juke Box - Starpoint - All Night Long

Obama's First 100 Hours

From Think Progress

REGULATIONS


The Bush Record: In his final months, the Bush administration issued a series of “midnight regulations” that gutted safeguards protecting health, safety, the environment, and the public’s general welfare.

Obama’s Clean Break: Hours after his inauguration, Obama ordered a freeze on new regulations at all government agencies and departments and the withdrawal of all final or proposed regulations not yet published in the Federal Register.

IRAQ

The Bush Record: After using false intelligence to launch the war, Bush “surged” 30,000 troops to Iraq in 2007 and vetoed all attempts to end the war.

Obama’s Clean Break: Two days into his presidency, Obama called on U.S. military leaders to start to plan for a responsible withdrawal.

DIPLOMACY

The Bush Record: In his first term, Bush — in contrast to President Bill Clinton — “generally avoided robust efforts” to resolve the Middle East conflict. Bush demeaned diplomacy with “terrorists and radicals,” likening it to the “appeasement” of Nazi Germany.

Obama’s Clean Break: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rejected the “rigid ideology” of Bush and pledged to exercise “smart power.” Stressing diplomacy, Obama and Clinton “appointed high-level emissaries to handle the Arab-Israeli issue and Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

TORTURE

The Bush Record: Torture began with the drafting of a secret legal memo holding that Bush could authorize interrogators to violate anti-torture laws. Bush’s senior-most officials approved torture that, in some cases, lead to death.

Obama’s Clean Break: Obama signed executive orders ending the CIA’s secret prisons and ending torture by requiring interrogations to abide by the Army Field Manual.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Used to be S.R. now it's just ice cream. What's yours?

The Herd - 2020

The Herd's second single from their 2008 album 'Summerland'.

Here's Another Joke

Three immigrants to the U. S. were just mastering the language. One was telling the others about the difficulty they were having in attempting to start a family. He said, "I think my wife must be impregnable." The second said," that's not the right word, she is inconceivable". To which the third replied, "You are both wrong she is unbearable."

Two Doors

New Orleans Mardi Gras King Cakes

Baked daily from our gourmet cinnamon dough and delivered fresh, these traditional cakes will bring a little bit of that New Orleans Mardi Gras Magic to your doorstep! We also carry a line of Cajun and Creole mixes and spices sure to delight even the most discriminating of palates, as well as a wide selection of New Orleans and Mardi Gras themed gifts and keepsakes. Order two...one for the office and one for your family to enjoy!

To Each His Own Obama

E.J. Dione

President Barack Obama intends to use conservative values for progressive ends. He will cast extreme individualism as an infantile approach to politics that must be supplanted by a more adult sense of personal and collective responsibility. He will honor government’s role in our democracy and not degrade it. He wants America to lead the world, but as much by example as by force.

And in trying to do all these things he will confuse a lot of people.

Continued...

President Obama's First Weekly Radio Address

Jell-O Magic Milkshakes

I love these!

Pour 1 cup milk into blender; add 1 pkg (4-serving size) Jello-O gelatin
Cover and blend 30 seconds. Add 1 pint softened vanilla ice cream; blend 1 minute longer.

Pour, enjoy.

Antarctic ice shelf set to collapse due to warming

A huge Antarctic ice shelf is on the brink of collapse with just a sliver of ice holding it in place, the latest victim of global warming that is altering maps of the frozen continent.

Continued...

10 Things You Can Do to Keep Your Resolutions from Slowly Fading Away

If you are like most people, 77% of New Years’ resolutions are a thing of the past within six months of setting them. So what happens to the 77%, and more importantly, what happens with the 23% who keep their resolutions?

What is it that each group does that sets them apart from the other group? The group that is not successful does not just wake up one day and say, “What was I thinking, I can never obtain this goal.”

Continued...

Easy Ways to Organize Your Paperwork

Bills, credit-card receipts, ATM slips, investment records, bank statements— they pile up and multiply faster than dirty dishes after a holiday meal. It's easy to feel buried under an avalanche of paper and too stressed and guilty to deal with it.

Fortunately, there are solutions short of hiring a full-time financial manager. Getting clear of the paper chaos will save time (no more scrambling through drawers to find that overdue bill), -money (fewer late charges and no lost deductions), and psychic energy (no more feeling out of control of your own financial life).

The experts say you can organize your records in five simple steps. Here's what they recommend:

Continued...

'We have only four years left to act on climate change - America has to lead'

Jim Hansen is the 'grandfather of climate change' and one of the world's leading climatologists. In this rare interview in New York, he explains why President Obama's administration is the last chance to avoid flooded cities, species extinction and climate catastrophe.

Continued...

The Hopefull Hearts Club

Where the hell is Matt? Video Game Edition

Watch more videos of TF2

Fighting a cold? Every bit of sleep counts

Even a little bit of sleep deprivation can keep your body from staving off the cold virus, a new study shows.

The "Middle Wife"

by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday."

"First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord."

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

"My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this." (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

"And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

"Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest.. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another "Middle Wife" comes along.

Now you have two choices...laugh and close this page or pass this along to someone else to spread the laughs. I know what I did!!!

Clean the Slate for a New Year

With the start of a new year comes the chance to leave behind any bad money habits from 2008 and start fresh with your financial goals. One of the most important things you can do to jumpstart the New Year is to take time to assess your finances. Here are some simple tips to set you on track for a financially successful year:

If you can't afford it, don't buy it.

Create a monthly budget and stick to it.

Live within your means: evaluate your finances, and cut back on unnecessary expenditures. This can dramatically reduce your incurred debt.

Keep up to date with your monthly payments, such as those for a student loan and mortgage. Missing a single month could cost you thousands of dollars in interest down the road.

Reassess your life and car insurance policies. You could potentially save money by switching to a different company.

Commit to these and other positive financial behaviors. In one year from now, you'll look back and commend yourself for setting those goals for a successful financial future. For more information, read eight steps for rebuilding your finances.

Share your ideas! Visit www.FeedthePig.org and sign-in or create
a new profile to post your 2009 Financial Resolutions.

Dogged Determination

Grab hold of that bone and never let it go!


"Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it, and work it until it's done and done right."

- Walt Disney


Have you ever witnessed a dog with a bone? No matter how hard you try to wrench it out of that pooch's mouth, she won't let go. As a matter of fact, the more you attempt to take the bone away, the deeper the dog will sink her teeth in. That is sheer, dogged determination, a quality that is absolutely required if you want to achieve any goal, no matter how large or small-that is, regardless of the size of the bone.

The late Maurice Richard was a dog with a bone when it came to pursuing his dream of playing hockey. It was very clear what he wanted to do with his life early on, even though he incurred a large number of injuries at a young age. While he was ultimately accepted to play with the Montreal Canadiens, very early in his career he was labelled a "frail" player. He was also challenged by a lack of support from those around him, except for his devoted wife. Maurice's passion for the sport took him past these obstacles, however, and led him to a record-breaking career of more than 20 years. He had a bone and would not let go!

When you know what you want, and you have no doubt that you want it, you need to become just like Maurice Richard. Clench your teeth firmly on your bone and don't let it go. Be determined not to allow anyone or anything to take it from you.

Many circumstances can make it difficult to hold on, such as health challenges or your own doubts and fears. Other people, even well-meaning loved ones, may also try to yank that bone away from you. When you face these obstacles, you just need to turn up the volume on your determination and feel the passion of your desire, the force that will propel you toward your goals.

While being determined is crucial, it's also important to open yourself up to receive new ideas and expand your thinking. You must be ready to let go of those limiting thoughts that feature the words should and ought to, such as, I should be realistic and not make such a lofty goal for myself, or I ought to do what the people I love want me to do instead of pursuing my own passion. Go for what you really want!

Challenge yourself to scratch out a new path and chase your dream, but be careful of the route you take. Be willing to explore new paths; after all, if you travel the same route that you've been taking thus far, you'll end up at the same destination. Is that where you long to go?

Peggy McColl

Excerpt taken from New York Times Best-Selling Author Peggy's McColl's new book: Be a Dog With a Bone (Always Go For Your Dreams)

Friday, January 23, 2009

Today's Quote

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

~ John Lennon

Three Ways to Jumpstart Your Personal Growth

In order for growth to occur, you must first acknowledge what’s not working and then be open to change. The acknowledgement can be the hardest to do because it forces you to admit you are unfulfilled, stuck, or just plain struggling.

This conscious recognition can bruise your ego and cause your confidence to wane a bit, but it is necessary to begin moving in the direction of what you want most. In order to move forward; to get jumpstarted, you must first have a solid foundation to step from in life. The following three personal growth strategies provide this foundation:

Continued...

Lose Your Job, Lose Your Health Insurance

As more people lose their jobs, they may have to rely on COBRA or the individual insurance market to get health insurance for themselves and their family. But with insurance companies raising premiums by double digits, most will not be able to afford it.

COBRA is the federal law that allows people who were working for employers that have 20 or more employees to keep their employer-sponsored group coverage after they leave their job by paying the full premium themselves (plus an administrative charge). Ironically, COBRA is unaffordable to many people who lose their jobs and thus have no income.

Continued...

Why Elections Matter

A major step forward in the controversial practice of stem cell research occurred today as the FDA approved a leading bio tech company, Geron Crop, to conduct experiments on up to 10 patients with spinal cord injuries. The historic decision marks a reversal of ethics-driven policy restricting the study and medical application of embryonic stem cells; critics complain it destroys human life. Its proponents, however, look forward to capitalizing on the untapped potential of stem cells to regenerate vital tissue and organs: "This is the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics," said the CEO of Geron. He stressed that the medical benefit of the practice "goes beyond what pills and scalpels can ever do."

Website of the Day - The Cheat Sheet

The Cheat Sheet is a whip-smart, bite-size gloss on the daily news cycle, curated and distilled — down to its essence — by the editors of the Daily Beast. Breaking stories and brainy analysis that tell you what you need to know — and what to make of it. Each dispatch is compiled at the crack of dawn and updated throughout the day.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Today's Quote

"You will find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people. Why not make earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy."

Lydia M. Child
1802-1880, Abolitionist and Writer

Whistleblower Reveals Surveillance Target