Today's Quote

“I would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it.”

― Shirley Conran

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

Citizens United: One Year Later

My new favorite thing

Small (about seven inches) but mighty (made of high-carbon Japanese steel), these tough tools have chops. They deftly tackle herbs, garlic, small vegetables, and more. Available in six colors.  And at on $14 they're a real steal!  Get yours here.

Neighbors Trade Homes with Leg Amputee

Saturday’s move was the culmination of months of adversity for Wright, a 40-year-old software consultant with Associates Solutions of Lenexa. However wrenching the trauma has been, it also has showcased the charity of his friends.

“This has brought the absolute best out of people,” he said.

The ordeal began in March, when Wright broke his right femur.

“I was just crossing the street,” he said.

Doctors diagnosed osteosarcoma, a cancer more often seen in children. They amputated the leg and ordered several weeks of chemotherapy. During the treatments, Wright had to stay home from work.

But home was a multistory house, and he had lost a leg.

So friends Micki and Billy Shreve intervened.

Visiting Wright in the hospital after the amputation, the Shreves said it was God’s wish that Wright, wife Shawna and their four children, ages 2 through 13, move into their single-story home.

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On Aging

I have been on line friends with an elderly gentleman for some years. He's in his 80's and supplies me with my jokes. He sent me this and so am sharing.

'Someone asked the other day, 'What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?'

'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' I informed him.'All the food was slow.'

'C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?'

'It was a place called 'at home,'' I explained. 'Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the kitchen table, said grace, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.'

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, never wore Levis , never set foot on a golf course, never traveled out of the country or had a credit card.
In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears & Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow).

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 13. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. And there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.

I was 16 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called 'pizza pie.' When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers --my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents. He had to get up at 6AM every morning.
On Saturday , he had to collect the 42 cents from his customers. His favorite customers were the ones who gave him 50 cents and told him to keep the change. His least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.


Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

MEMORIES from a friend :
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it.. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many do you remember?
Head lights dimmer switches on the floor. (Invented by my grandfather's brother!)
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
Real ice boxes.
Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.

Older Than Dirt Quiz :

Count all the ones that you remember not the ones you were told about.

Ratings at the bottom.
1. Blackjack chewing gum  yes
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water yes
3. Candy cigarettes yes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles yes
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes yes
6 . Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers yes
7. Party lines on the telephone yes
8 Newsreels before the movie yes
9. P.F. Flyers
10.Butch wax
11.TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels [if you were fortunate] ) yes
12.Peashooters
13.Howdy Doody
14.45 RPM records yes
15.S & H greenstamps yes
16.Hi-fi's yes
17.Metal ice trays with lever yes
18.Mimeograph paper yes
19.Blue flashbulb yes
20.Packards
21.Roller skate keys yes
22.Cork popguns yes
23.Drive-ins yes
24.Studebakers
25.Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age,
If you remembered 16-25 = You' re older than dirt!

I might be older than dirt but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!
Especially to all your really OLD friends...

Chicken with Chipotle Cheese Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 large onions, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until tender-crisp, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir the soup, milk, chile pepper and tomatoes in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the cilantro, if desired.

Makes: 6 servings.

Costly Supermarket Ploys

When shopping a the supermarket, if you "assume", you may get snookered by some common grocery store ploys. For example, don't assume the big size is always the better bargain. Don't assume everything you see in a supermarket circular is reduced in price. Consumer Reports offers some supermarket savvy so you don' get taken. [video]

Here's the Jokes!

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very Sexy nightie.
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'

So he tied her up and went golfing.

*****************************************

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house..
She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'

The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'

********************************************

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

*************************************

A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license.
First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test.
The optician showed him a card with the letters

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
'Can you read this?' the optician asked.
'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'

*************************************

Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, 'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.'

'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonay.'

************************************

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.
Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen.

'Careful,' he said, 'CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them Use the! salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!'

The wife stared at him. 'What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?'

The husband calmly replied, 'I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving.'

**************************************

Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army.
On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb.
That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair.
On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush.
That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth.
On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap.
The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

Twenty-Five Arrested, Thousands Converge on Koch Brothers Billionaire's Caucus in the California Desert

Sunday's protest against the Koch brothers' right-wing pow-wow in Rancho Mirage demonstrated a growing boldness by progressive causes and activists.

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Pet Photo's

CNBC anchor implies US must support dictators to keep cheap oil

And THIS dear readers, is why they really hate us. Our country supports dictators because it's in OUR interest. To hell with the people who live there. This is the reality many don't want to face. Our lifestyle comes at a great cost to others in the world.

CNBC contributor Erin Burnett said Friday that oil prices would skyrocket if countries in the Middle East broke out from under the rule of brutal dictators.

Appearing on a Friday broadcast of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Burnett said that the ongoing revolution in Egypt could threaten US interests in the region due to Egypt's history as an ally on matters pertaining to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

She added that as one of the most developed economies in the Middle East, it was surprising to see many of the society's wealthiest individuals supporting regime change. Tens of thousands of protesters across the country have taken to the streets the last few days, demanding President Mubarak resign.

"One more thing," Burnett remarked. "If this spreads, the United States could take a huge hit because democracy in a place like Saudi Arabia, you've talked about who might come in power, what that means for oil prices. They're going to go stratospheric."

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Today's Blissful Place

The GOP Plans to Redefine What Constitutes Rape, Further Chip Away at Roe v. Wade

The House GOP's Plan to Redefine Rape:

Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

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The Wayback Juke Box - Jody Watley - Lookin For A New Love

Today's Blissful Place

This is very interesting!

This year we will experience 4 unusual dates.... 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11.

NOW go figure this out....

Take the last 2 digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be THIS year and it WILL BE EQUAL TO 111

It's Gonna Get Ugly!

This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan,
Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar,
warned the United States that if military actions in
Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the Taliban authorities
intend to cut off America's supply of Convenience Store
Managers and possibly Motel 6 Managers.

And if this action does not yield sufficient results,
Cab Drivers will be next, followed by DELL, Norton, and
AOL Customer Service Reps.

Two Wolves

Good and evil, happiness and sorrow, abundance and poverty, contribution and selfishness, greatness and mediocrity lie within us all.

It's this very dichotomy that makes us human.

You can't have one without the other... but you can determine which will prevail and you can be committed to manifesting those qualities that your life will be about.

What qualities characterize who you are?

The following movie will inspire you and move you

My new favorite thing

Microwave Popcorn Popper

Craftsman Makes Holocaust Violins Sing Again

Allen Stanford's Case Highlights Prison Violence

An inmate at the Joe Corley Detention Facility, a private prison owned by the GEO Group, was on the phone in his cell. The other prisoners in his unit on that day in late September 2009 didn't like that.

"While sitting in a chair, he was grabbed from behind and fell backwards hitting the back of his head on the concrete floor resulting in a concussion and loss of consciousness," his lawyers wrote in a later court filing. "While unconscious, he was repeatedly beaten about the head resulting in severe injuries to his face, i.e., right orbital fractures, fractures of the nose, and severe trauma to the right trigeminal nerve sensory branches requiring reconstructive general anesthesia surgery."

After the violent attack, the inmate was moved to a federal prison facility operated by the Bureau of Prisons, which falls under the purview of the Justice Department. Soon he was coughing up blood and passing it in his stool. He lost 40 pounds in 90 days.

Had this been one of the many other assaults that take place in federal and private prisons each year, that would have been the end of it. But this was Allen Stanford.

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The Drug Store in Your Tap Water

You don’t have to eat cattle who have worn trenbolone ear implants to end up with the growth stimulating androgenic hormone in your body reported the Associated Press in 2008. Water taken near a Nebraska feedlot had four times the trenbolone levels

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123 US Lawmakers Support Polluters Over Health of Children

More than 24 million Americans with asthma, including over 7 million children, are at increased risk of adverse health consequences if 123 U.S. House members in 35 states are successful in preventing the US EPA from updating the Clean Air Act, according to data compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council and released with Health Care Without Harm. The lawmakers collectively have received over $27,292,000 from polluters, many of which have made stopping the EPA a high priority.

As of January 25, 123 U.S. House Members had cosponsored one or more pieces of legislation intended to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing pollution from industrial plants and other sources. By blocking the EPA, the lawmakers would be allowing polluters to continue emitting unsafe amounts of cancer-causing toxic, soot and smog pollution from cement plants as well as unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide from most industrial plants.

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Pet Photo's

Mortgage Lenders Committed Massive Fraud and Now Wall St. Wants to Escape from the Lawbreaking

Here they come looking for an out-clause and a way to keep their coffers full. We need to repeat a simple mantra: No more bailouts for Wall Street.

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The Wayback Juke Box - Tony! Toni! Tone! - Thinking of You

Another Blonde Joke

A woman wants the inside of her house painted and she calls a contractor in to help her. They wander around the house, and she points out the colors she wants. She says, "Now, in the living room, I'd like to have a neutral beige, very soft and warm."

The contractor nods, pulls out his pad of paper and writes on it. Then he goes to the window, leans out and yells, "Green side up!"

The woman is most perplexed but she lets it slide. They wander into the next room. She says, "In the dining room I'd like a light white, not stark, but very bright and airy."

The contractor nods, pulls out his pad of paper and writes on it. Then he goes to the window, leans out, and yells "Green side up"! The woman is even more perplexed but still lets it slide.

They wander further into the next room. She says, "In the bedroom, I'd like blue. Restful, peaceful, cool blue."

The contractor nods, pulls out his pad of paper and writes on it. Then once more he goes to the window, leans out and yells "Green side up"!

This is too much. The woman has to ask. So she says, "Every time I tell you a color, you write it down, but then you yell out the window 'Green side up.' What on earth does that mean?"

The contractor shakes his head and says, "I have four blondes laying sod across the street."

Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower)

Last week, a recording called “Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower)” started making its way around the Internet: Someone had slowed John Williams’s score down by a factor of ten (which is all that “1000% slower” really means). And that would have been that—if the resulting music hadn’t been so beautiful

In fact, the slowed-down recording is far more compelling than Williams’s too-pretty original. It’s not what Steven Spielberg commissioned for his 1993 blockbuster, but it is a perfect soundtrack for these cold winter mornings.

Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower) by birdfeeder

Alec Baldwin: The New Olbermann?

Jack Donaghy always was a man of many talents. Sources tell PopEater that MSNBC is considering Alec Baldwin to fill the shoes left empty when Keith Olbermann abruptly announced his resignation Friday. Baldwin has long expressed an interest in entering politics, and, as a star on 30 Rock, is "already part of the NBC family, has a huge fanbase and is very respected for his long-term passions for politics," sources say.

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Facebook Spat Leads to Car Rundown

What fate awaits the man who denied the friend request here? Two cousins in Long Island got into a spat over a denied Facebook friend request—which ended with one cousin mowing the other down with her van. Melanie Spanopoulos, is accused of running her cousin, Giselle Penagos, over with a van after they began fighting when Penagos learned that a man who had rejected her friend request on Facebook had accepted a request from Spanopoulos. Penagos allegedly refused to get into Spanopoulos’s car, which led Spanopoulos to hit her with the van, twice. (After the first time, she put it in reverse and ran her over again.) Penagos required surgery Monday to fix a broken leg and shattered pelvis.

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4 Surprising Places You Should Never Buy Seafood From

Here is a quick-and-dirty list of four seafood retailers that have adopted reprehensible practices in their quest for fish-driven profit.

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Today's Blissful Place

Barbecue Slow Cooker Chicken

If it's too cold to stand outside over the grill, try making barbecue chicken in your slow cooker. The chicken comes out just as moist and tasty without all the work.

Serves: 6
Ingredients

* 2-3 lbs chicken
* 1 cup catsup
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
* 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 2 to 4 tablespoons butter, optional
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce + 2 tablespoons sugar, optional

Instructions

1. Heat all ingredients except lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil.

2. Add lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and heat until hot. Pour over skinned and cleaned chicken.

3. Cook in slow cooker for about 6-8 hours on low. 4-6 hours on high.

Fresno's urban kit foxes like hot dogs, burritos, cat food

Scientists have long known that endangered San Joaquin kit foxes live in Bakersfield, raiding dumpsters for half-eaten hot dogs, doughnuts and burritos. Now it turns out that this critter has adapted to city life, eating an essentially human diet -- and thriving.

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The Wayback Juke Box - The Sonics - The Witch

Obama: Drug Legalization 'Worth A Serious Debate'

Drug legalization is an "entirely legitimate topic for debate," President Barack Obama said Thursday during his online YouTube town hall, in response to a question from a former deputy sheriff who has turned sour on the drug war.

In endorsing such a debate, Obama went further than any president has since the start of the war on drugs, which can be traced back at least to President Richard Nixon, but more realistically to the early 20th century, when the federal government began criminalizing drugs that had long been legal.

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OPERATION EGYPT - ANONYMOUS PRESS RELEASE - 26/01/2011

A group of online hacker activists who go by the name "Anonymous" are threatening to cause internet chaos in Egypt.

My new favorite thing

Tea Brewer

Eva Solo bring their "less is more" aesthetic to the art of brewing tea. Designed to work in two different ways for two different sorts of tea. For long-brewing teas without tannins, the tea is poured directly into the flask, hot water is added and then the filter and lid are replaced. When the tea is poured, the filter automatically strains off the tea and the tip-lid automatically opens at the drip-free spout. With teas containing tannin or green teas, where continued exposure to the water leads to a bitter or "stewed" taste, the tea is placed inside the filter. Water is added, and after the brewing period the plunger is depressed. This seals the tea inside the filter, stopping the brewing process and allowing multiple cups to be poured without a decline in quality. Brilliant! The knitwear cover keeps the tea warm, and the brewer disassembles into three parts (heatproof flask, filter and plunger/lid) for easy cleaning.

Challenger Disaster Remembered

Like most major world events, if you were alive on that fateful day in January 1986, you remember where you were. Here is an article on the anniversary of this horrible event.

Today's Quote

“All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” 

-Proverb

Someday I’ll find a job I love. Someday I’ll spend more time with my family. Someday I’ll tell him I love him. Someday I’ll get in shape. Someday I’ll write a memoir. Someday I’ll travel more. Someday I’ll take a risk. Someday I’ll be happy.

Someday starts today. What someday will you create today–and how?

The Wayback Juke Box - The Mississippi Sheiks - I Am The Devil

I LOVE this! Enjoy!

How to Find "Lost Money" Online

Although it is really your money, it feels like you have hit the jackpot when you find some that you may have forgotten about. That can happen when an unused bank account escheats to the state, or a check goes uncashed. Here are some online resources to find "lost money".

Just Look Up

THE BUZZARD:

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and
Is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its
Ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is
That a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a
Run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit,
It will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner
For life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE:

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up! That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem! Just look up!

American cougars on the decline: 'We’re running against the clock,' says big cat expert

Cougars are threatened by habitat loss and by direct persecution by humans. The latter is primarily caused by the perceived threat of cougars on livestock, although the risk of attacks on humans is sometimes used to justify the killing of a cougar near urban areas. In reality, cougars have a minuscule effect on livestock numbers. In Texas in 1990, for example, cougar kills amounted to 445 sheep (0.02 percent of a total of the state's total of 2.0 million sheep and lambs) and 86 calves (0.0006 percent of the state's total of 13.4 million cattle and calves).

Attacks on people are incredibly rare, but are increasing due to expansion of human populations into cougar habitat. In the hundred years spanning 1890 to 1990, there were only 53 confirmed attacks by cougars on humans, resulting in ten deaths. From 1990 to 2004, the number of attacks had climbed to 88 with a total of 20 deaths. Even though the frequency of attacks on humans is relatively small, those which do happen are heavily covered by the media, effectively maligning cougars in the public eye and drawing attention away from the critical roles they play in many ecosystems.

However, the main reason behind cougar decline in the U.S. is habitat loss through degradation and fragmentation. Research shows that cougars need at least 850 square miles of uninterrupted habitat in order to persist with only a low risk of extinction. With urban areas becoming more numerous, many scientists are calling for the expansion of protected habitat corridors so that cougar populations could exist and move without needing to traverse through civilization.

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Cheesy Beef Pie

A new twist on the ole cheesy beef - in a pie! With a couple of extra spices, this meal is worth savoring.

Ingredients

* 1 1/4 pounds ground beef
* 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* 1/4 teaspoon cumin
* 8 ounces tomato sauce with mushroom
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
* 8 ounces cut green beans
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, slightly beaten
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 8 ounces can Pillsbury crescent rolls

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Brown beef, onion, green pepper; drain fat.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, green beans, cumin, garlic salt and salt. Simmer while preparing crust.

4. Separate dough and place in 9" pie plate. Press together.

5. Combine egg and cheese (1 1/2 cups). Spread over crust.

6. Spoon hot meat over cheese.

7. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and paprika.

8. Bake 20-25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

The Olbermann Era

By William Rivers Pitt

"When 'Countdown' first began in 2003, I watched it almost every night - the only cable 'news' show I consistently tuned in to - but quickly soured on the whole experience. I just can't stand it, any of it. I can't stand the emotional manipulation that comes with all forms of televised 'news,' and have for many times many a day now refused to let them in my head. I also never saw the point in getting all riled up at eight o'clock at night. What was I supposed to do with all that rage after nine? Punch the walls and kick the cat, maybe indulge in a little firebombing? Didn't seem prudent.

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My new favorite thing

Silver Necklace- Hand Stamped I Have a Dream

U.S. Officials Have No Link Between Bradley Manning and Julian Assange, But They Continue to Imprison, Torture Manning Anyway

Well this is an unfortunate development for the officials who decided imprisoning Private Bradley Manning would be a sure-fire way to take down WikiLeaks: according to NBC, "investigators have been unable to make any direct connection between [Manning] and Julian Assange, founder of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks."

Although Manning has admitted to downloading tens of thousands of classified government documents to draw attention to wrongdoings by the U.S. government, there is apparently "no evidence he passed the files directly to Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure."

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Watch Uplifting "Learning to Dance in the Rain" movie

Pet Photo's

America's Culture of Cruelty

By Henry A. Giroux

"The recent murderous acts of violence committed by Jared Lee Loughner in Arizona cannot be reduced to the mental instability of a young man out of touch with reality. Nor can such a horrendous act be reduced to a breakdown in civil discourse. Such rationales are too easy, and emulate what Frank Rich has called 'classic American denial.' There is a deeper order of politics behind this murderous act, one that the American public is inclined to ignore. More specifically, the general responses to this violent act are symptomatic of a society that separates private injuries from public considerations, refusing to connect individual acts to broader social considerations."

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Today's Blissful Place

Building Your Financial Bulge

Fruits, veggies, low-fat, low-sodium…We all know what we're supposed to eat to stay healthy, but that doesn't make a triple fudge brownie sundae any less enticing. Managing your calories is very similar to managing your investments; the options that are the best for you are often the least exciting. So as you work on your health and finance resolutions for the new year, take a look at your investments and see what you can do to increase your financial bulge.

Your investment portfolio has four key levels of investments: the foundation, conservative, growth and speculative.


Foundation: Just like every diet needs a solid plan to keep you on track, every investment strategy should start with a strong foundation of low risk investments, like insured certificates of deposit (CDs), traditional savings accounts and treasury bills.

Conservative: A level up from the foundation sits your conservative investments. These investments offer a greater potential reward with a slightly higher risk, such as balanced funds, high grade corporate and municipal bonds and U.S. government notes and bonds.

Growth: Growth investments tend to be some of the more popular portfolio additions, due to their increased potential reward. However, before you fill your portfolio with stock, stock mutual funds (blue chip and growth) and investment real estate, make sure you are aware of the risk of each, and make sure it is a risk that you are willing to take should the investment fall through. The amount of growth investments you include should reflect your risks, your goals and the amount of time until you need the money. Since you are trying to build your financial bulge, it may require carefully increasing this level of investment.

Speculative: At the top of the investment structure are speculative investments. Speculative investments are the most risky, but draw people in with their high potential reward. Art, coins, precious metals, options, penny stocks, commodities and venture capital are all common varieties of speculative investments.

Think of your portfolio like the food pyramid, the majority of your calories (investments) should come from the largest, bottom section since they have the lowest risk, and, consequently, the lowest return. While on the other hand, you want to have a limited quantity of speculative investments (fats and oils), since they pose the biggest risk, even though they offer the tastiest potential reward. Check out a visual investment pyramid here.

For more information on creating an investment portfolio, click here.

Visit www.feedthepig.org for more money-saving tips.

Today's Quote

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

― James Arthur Baldwin

RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles

This is about the show we went to see tonight.  This was the second time I've gone to this show.

Today's Quote

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Swiss physicist

Can you say UNDEFEATED?

The Wayback Juke Box - Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta Strut

Hanna Trailer (2011) HD

Obama may get power to shut down Internet without court oversight

A bill giving the president an Internet "kill switch" during times of emergency that failed to pass Congress last year will return this year, but with a revision that has many civil liberties advocates concerned: It will give the president the ability to shut down parts of the Internet without any court oversight.

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Driving Straight Into Catastrophe

Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent. According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions.

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Website of the Day

Extreme Planet Makeover lets visitors create new worlds, instantly, online.

The website—a collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Caltech—lets you adjust your planet’s size and age, its distance from the sun, and the kind of star that sun is. You can make gas giants or tiny, Pluto-like rocks, or aim for the sweet spots in between. When you’re done, visit the Planet Gallery and stack your world up against other planets in our own solar system—or a few that lie far beyond it.

Today's Blissful Place

Exit Deal Blocks Olbermann from TV

Don’t expect to see Keith Olbermann on another news network in the near future or to watch him pull a Conan on MSNBC: He agreed to stay off television for six to nine months as part of an early exit from the network, and he is also forbidden to discuss his departure. The deal should give him the freedom to be back on TV in time for the 2012 election. “Give us a bit of credit for getting eight years out of him. That’s the longest he’s been anywhere,” one NBC executive tells The New York Times. Olbermann was fired from UPI early in his career for telling his boss they were “minor leagues”; had a stormy brief stint at CNN; called his own departure from ESPN “nuclear war”; and was called “crazy” by Rupert Murdoch, who fired him from Fox Sports.

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U.S. to Close Thousands of Post Offices

It was attacked by Sen. John McCain as a "model of inefficiency". Now, the U.S. Postal Service wants to close as many as 2,000 post offices beginning in March, amid increased competion from Web bill paying, email and text messages, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Postal Service is also seeking a change in U.S. laws to allow it to close the worst of the 16,000 post offices operating in a deficit—half the total post offices in the country. The postal service has cut staff by a third since 1999, and it lost a record $8.5 billion in 2010. Closures will hit rural and small suburban areas particularly hard.

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Panda Therapy

Today's Quote

Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy.

- Henri de Lubac

The Wayback Juke Box - Little Feat - Willin

Top 100 Personal Finance Tips

Bankrate's top 100 money tips include advice in these categories: taxes, credit cards, real estate, borrowing, car buying, and more.

The 2010 Stella Awards

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head.


*SEVENTH PLACE*
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her
peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running
inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised
by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son


*SIXTH PLACE*

Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

*FIFTH PLACE*

Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish

*FOURTH PLACE*

Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the
Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being
bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as
much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been
provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over
the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

*THIRD PLACE*

Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

*SECOND PLACE*

Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city
because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her
two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the
ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.........Go figure.

*FIRST PLACE*

This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv
Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot
Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game,
having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and
calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make
herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway,
crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued
Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't
actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury
awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.

Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

What the Hell Happened to Keith Olbermann?

MSNBC's parent company, General Electric, never seemed comfortable with some of Olbermann's material.

READ MORE

Today's Blissful Place

20 Questions That Could Change Your Life

If you're like most people, you became obsessed with asking questions around the age of 2 or 3. Now, scientists have found that continuing to ask them can help keep your mind nimble at every age. But, finding the answers starts with posing the right questions.

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Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

1	teaspoon oil
1	lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2	cups sliced celery
1 1/2	cups fresh baby carrots
1	cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1	(1.8-oz.) pkg. dry leek soup mix
4	cups water
1	(10.8-oz.) can (5 biscuits) Pillsbury® Grands!® Refrigerated Flaky Biscuits
1	tablespoon cornmeal
1 1/2	cups Green Giant® Frozen Sweet Peas
1/4	teaspoon pepper

	Print these coupons...
	About Concordance™

1. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook and stir until browned.
2. In 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, combine chicken, celery, carrots, mushrooms, soup mix and water; mix well.
3. Cover; cook on low setting for 7 to 9 hours.
4. Separate dough into 5 biscuits; cut each into 8 wedges. Sprinkle wedges with cornmeal. Stir coated biscuits pieces into hot chicken mixture.
5. Cover; cook on high setting for an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until biscuits are no longer doughy in center.
6. About 10 minutes before serving, microwave peas in covered microwave-safe dish on HIGH for 3 to 4 minutes or until hot. Just before serving, stir peas and pepper into chicken mixture.

Triple Berry Cookie Crumble

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold butter or margarine, cut into pieces





1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch round (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In small bowl, mix 1/2 cup cookie mix and 1/2 cup sugar. In large bowl, toss together strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Sprinkle with cookie mix-sugar mixture. Toss gently until berries are well coated. Place fruit mixture in baking dish.
3. In medium bowl, mix together remaining cookie mix and cinnamon. Using pastry blender or fork, cut butter into cookie mix until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over fruit.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or room temperature.