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More Weird News
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Apr 29, 2012 4:38 am
583 Views
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-- At a March town meeting in Embden, Maine, residents turned down proposals to rename its most notorious street "Katie Road." Thus, the name will remain, as it has for decades, "Katie Crotch Road." Some residents, in addition to being embarrassed by the name, also noted the cost of constantly replacing the street signs stolen by giggling visitors. (A Kennebec Journal report noted uncertainty about the name's origin. It might refer to how the road splits in two, forming a "Y" shape. On the low side, the name might refer to an early settler who would sit on her front porch without underwear.) [Kennebec Journal, 3-10-2012]
L. M., 36, had been sentenced in November in Houston to life in prison for armed robbery despite his vigorous protestations of innocence, and about a week later, in December, he was exonerated in fact. Although he had testified at his trial, he had not mentioned that he had an ironclad alibi -- that he had been in jail during the time the robbery was committed. Once jail records were reviewed, M. was freed. The prosecutor hadn't checked the records before trial, and neither had M.'s attorney, but then neither had M. ever mentioned it (because, he had told his lawyers, he had been in and out of jail so many times in his life that he just could not remember if he had been locked up at the time of the armed robbery). [Houston Chronicle, 12-9-2011]
-- K. M. was outraged that the local community could turn on her 26-year-old son, J., who had been charged with capital murder for killing a Chattanooga, Tenn., police officer. She told the judge in a letter that J. is a "good man," and lamented, "You do one little thing that pisses people off, and they want to hold it against you forever." [Chattanooga Times Free Press, 2-12-2012]
-- According to a municipal street sign in front of Lakewood Elementary School in White Lake, Mich. (filmed in February by Detroit's WJBK-TV), the speed limit drops to 25 mph on "school days only," but just from "6:49-7:15 a.m., 7:52-8:22 a.m., 8:37-9:07 a.m., 2:03-2:33 p.m., 3:04-3:34 p.m. (and) 3:59-4:29 p.m." [WJBK-TV, 2-15-2012]
In San Francisco, there is an annual refereed "Masturbate-a-thon," and the supposed world record, set in 2009, is held by M. S., who remained aroused for nine hours, 58 minutes. In a series of videos released recently, S. calmly explained how he "practices" for about two hours every morning while his live-in girlfriend goes about her business (in one video, ironing). S. said he trains by swimming twice a week and has "gained about (11 pounds) in muscle," which helped him with "stamina." [Huffington Post, 12-23-2012]
Police in London stepped up their search for the man who tried to rob the Halifax bank in October but escaped empty-handed. He had demanded 700,000 pounds from a bank employee and then, intending to hand over the bag that he had brought for the money, instead absentmindedly handed over his gun. Realizing his mistake, he dashed out the door. [Daily Telegraph, 1-5-2012]
Your Government Knows Best: A 2007 federal energy- independence law required companies that supply motor fuel in the U.S. to blend in a certain cellulose-based ingredient starting in 2011 -- even though (as the Environmental Protection Agency well knows) the ingredient simply does not now exist. A New York Times reporter checked with the EPA in January and found that the companies will still have to pay the monetary penalties for noncompliance (and almost certainly the even-stiffer penalties for 2012, since the ingredient is still two or three years from development). "It belies logic," said a petrochemicals trade association executive. [New York Times, 1-9-2012]
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Levon Helm of "The Band" died today at age 71.
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Apr 19, 2012 6:14 pm
838 Views
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Levon Helm, the drummer for The Band whose twangy vocals brought a poignancy and earthiness to songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Up on Cripple Creek," died on Thursday at the age of 71 from cancer, his manager said.
The three-time Grammy Award winner had been fighting throat cancer since 1998.
"Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon," Helm's manager Barbara O'Brien said in a statement.
"He was surrounded by family, friends and band mates and will be remembered by all he touched as a brilliant musician and a beautiful soul."
Although the cancer silenced Helm's crystal-clear tenor for a while, he strengthened his voice sufficiently to resume singing in 2004. He hosted a regular series of what he called "Midnight Ramble" concerts that often featured big-name stars at his home-studio in Woodstock, New York.
In addition to singing, Helm played drums, mandolin and other string instruments in The Band, one of the most revered and influential rock groups to emerge from the 1960s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, it played a brand of rustic rock that drew on country, blues and rhythm and blues and sounded quintessentially American - even though Helm was the only member not from Canada.
Helm's daughter Amy, who sang in his latest band, and wife, Sandy, announced on Tuesday the he was in the final stage of his fight with cancer.
"Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration," they said . "He has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance! He did it every time he took the stage.
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Gas Tax by State
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Apr 18, 2012 7:45 am
889 Views
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Not really any need to tell what this is, I think we all know.
Just one more reason gas is so expensive.
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"One if by land, two if by sea..."
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Feb 27, 2012 5:23 pm
1495 Views
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That is a line from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807. An American poet and Harvard Professor, Longfellow wrote such American classics as: The Song of Hiawatha; The Courtship of Miles Standish and Evangeline.
His childhood home is in Monument Square in Portland, Maine, and there's a bronze statue of him in Longfellow Square. I've visited his home in Portland on several occasions and drive by the statue every work day.
His home in Cambridge, Massachusetts is open to visitors and is quite impressive.
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Raptor Resource Project Decorah Eagle Cam
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Feb 22, 2012 6:32 am
1596 Views
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If any of you are interested in watching a streaming eagle cam search for the site using the title of this blog.
It shows the eagle in her nest waiting the the little eagles. It's pretty interesting and is usually online 24/7, until the fledglings fly off.
It doesn't look like any eggs have hatched yet but she's sitting there waiting. The first egg was laid last Friday the 17th.
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Just In---The coveted Darwin Awards For 2011
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Jan 29, 2012 3:28 pm
1971 Views
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The Darwins are out!!!!
Yes, it's that magical time of year again when the Darwin Awards are bestowed, honoring the least evolved among us.
Here is the glorious winner:
1. When his 38 caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.
And now, the honorable mentions:
2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger.. The chef's claim was approved.
3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.
4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.
5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.
6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer... $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]
7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape...
8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."
9.. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast... The man, frustrated, walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]
10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for.. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.
In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family....unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain lost.
*** Remember.... They walk among us and they can reproduce..
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Former coach Joe Paterno dies
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Jan 22, 2012 6:26 pm
2150 Views
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STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football history who was fired in November over a child sexual abuse scandal involving an assistant that rocked America, died on Sunday of lung cancer. He was 85.
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A Big Thank You To All Of You
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Jan 12, 2012 9:08 am
2440 Views
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I can no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, nor let the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.
I can't sit down on a hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.
I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one's nose.
Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.
I can't touch any woman's handbag for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public toilet.
I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS for the email about rat poo in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.
ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
I can't have a drink in a bar because I fear I'll wake up in a bathtub full of ice with my kidneys gone.
I can't eat at KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes, feet or feathers.
I can't use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
THANKS TO YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer buy fuel without taking someone along to watch the car, so a serial killer doesn't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.
I no longer use Cling Wrap in the microwave because it causes seven different types of cancer.
AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face, disfiguring me for life.
I no longer go to the cinema because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS when I sit down.
I no longer go to shopping centers because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
And I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a huge phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan .
THANKS TO YOU I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big black snake could be lurking under the seat and cause me instant death when it bites my butt.
AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can't ever pick up a dime coin dropped in the car park because it was probably placed there by a sex molester waiting to grab me as I bend over.
I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the Violin Spider and my hand will fall off.
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, and the fleas from 120 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's best friend's beautician . .
Oh, and by the way.....
A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.
P. S. I now keep my toothbrush in the living room, because I was told by e-mail that water splashes over 6 ft. out of the toilet.
NOW YOU HAVE YOURSELF A VERY GOOD DAY… and the very BEST of New Years!!! May 2012 be your best year, yet!!
If you can't relate to almost all of these, you must have been asleep during most of 2011
Damn, I almost forgot this.
I CAN NO LONGER EAT MARGARINE because it's been determined that it's only one molecule from being plastic. Maybe I could smear it on my windows to keep the draft out.
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Math facts don't lie
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Dec 28, 2011 5:05 am
2581 Views
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I copied and pasted this so if you have a problem with that, don't read it.
As we enter 2012, the presidential candidates would do well to wrap their minds and messages around these seven mathematical facts:
Every day, the U.S. government takes in $6 billion and spends $10 billion. This means that every day the federal government spends $4 billion more dollars than it has.
The real unemployment rate is a jaw-dropping 11 percent.
Every fifth man you pass on your way to work is now out of work.
College graduates are now 34% less likely to find a job under Obama than they were under President George W. Bush.
Every seventh person you pass on the sidewalk now relies on food stamps.
The ravages of the Obama economy now mean that more Americans live under the federal poverty line than at any time in U.S. history since records have been kept.
Under President Barack Obama, every fifth child in America now lives in poverty.
These are not partisan jabs, manufactured statistics, or ideological swipes. These are mathematical facts. And the presidential candidate who can most clearly and credibly articulate them—and their concomitant solutions—is bound to win.
Why? Because these facts point toward the solutions America must implement to avert the kinds of economic and social upheaval seen in Europe and elsewhere.
Start with mathematical fact number one—deficit spending. No person, family, business, or nation can spend more than it takes in and remain sustainable; it defies the simple laws of math and reason. And yet even as Washington hemorrhages $4 billion more than it has each day, citizens have watched as the farce that is “Super Committee” has proven it cannot even shave $1.2 trillion from America’s $15 trillion debt.
The time for carping over the appropriate size of government is over. The laws of math have settled the argument: either we return to limited government or we face economic collapse. Those are the choices. Period. As Robert Samuelson noted yesterday, “We are shifting from ‘give away politics’ to ‘take away politics.’”
Mathematical facts two and three—11% real unemployment and 20% male unemployment rate—focus the nation on the priorities of spurring economic growth, eliminating Obamacare, and adapting to the realities of the digital economy. Why aren’t employers hiring? As a September 2011 report by UBS explained, “arguably the biggest impediment to hiring (particularly hiring of less skilled workers) is healthcare reform.” And lest one forget, Obamacare hasn’t even gone into full effect and won’t until 2014. Even still, under Mr. Obama, the average family’s health insurance premiums have risen $2,393.
As for the male unemployment rate, the problem is threefold. First, male graduation rates continue to lag behind those of women. Second, American manufacturing, which used to be a primary source of male employment, is dying a quick death. Third, incarceration rates of males continue to skyrocket. In 1982, there were 500,000 people in prison (the majority of them males). Today, that figure stands at a towering 2.5 million. And that is to speak nothing of those whose crimes do not warrant jail time but will nonetheless permanently appear on their record when applying for a job.
Once former inmates and those with arrest records attempt to enter the workforce, they will be slapped by the new reality of the digital economy: no longer can people with blights on their record fudge or fib on job applications; employers can and do run national background checks for a few dollars and the click of a mouse.
What this means is that the old days when a kid could mess up and rebound are rapidly evaporating as competition among job applicants becomes fiercer by the minute. Couple this with fact number four—a drop in college graduate employment from 90% under Mr. Bush to 56% under Mr. Obama—and the fierce competition of a digital age comes into sharp relief.
Facts five, six, and seven—1 in 7 Americans on food stamps, 46 million under the poverty line, and historic childhood poverty rates—speak to the failures of Mr. Obama’s entire economic approach. Again, the argument over whether government should spend more on social programs has already been settled by the laws of math. Mr. Obama has added more to the national debt than all presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan–combined. The Keynesian experiment has been a miserable failure. Math doesn’t lie.
These seven facts mean that all presidential candidates must speak to a singular reality: America is a debtor nation. Indeed, America has $15 trillion less than the homeless man you see on the street. Put another way, that homeless man is $15 trillion richer than the United States of America. All the presidential candidates–including Mr. Obama–should stop and ponder that reality for a moment.
After all, it’s a mathematical fact.
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'Twas The Night Before Chroistmas (at Rock-Away-Rest)
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Dec 23, 2011 7:29 am
2582 Views
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Twas the night before Christmas at Rock-Away Rest,
and all of us seniors were looking our best.
Our glasses, how sparkly, our wrinkles, how merry;
Our punchbowl held prune juice plus three drops of sherry.
A bedsock was taped to each walker, in hope
That Santa would bring us soft candy and soap.
We surely were lucky to be there with friends,
Secure in this residence and in our Depends.
Our grandkids had sent us some Christmasy crafts,
Like angels in snowsuits and penguins on rafts.
The dental assistant had borrowed our teeth,
And from them she'd crafted a holiday wreath.
The bed pans, so shiny, all stood in a row,
Reflecting our candle's magnificent glow.
Our supper so festive -- the joy wouldn't stop --
Was creamy warm oatmeal with sprinkles on top.
Our salad was Jell-O, so jiggly and great,
Then puree of fruitcake was spooned on each plate.
The social director then had us play games,
Like "Where Are You Living?" and "What Are Your Names?"
Old Grandfather Looper was feeling his oats,
Proclaiming that reindeer were nothing but goats.
Our resident wand'rer was tied to her chair,
In hopes that at bedtime she still would be there.
Security lights on the new fallen snow
Made outdoors seem noon to the old folks below.
Then out on the porch there arose quite a clatter
(But we are so deaf that it just didn't matter).
A strange little fellow flew in through the door,
Then tripped on the sill and fell flat on the floor.
Twas just our director, all togged out in red.
He jiggled and chuckled and patted each head.
We knew from the way that he strutted and jived
Our social- security checks had arrived.
We sang -- how we sang -- in our monotone croak,
Till the clock tinkled out its soft eight-p.m. stroke.
And soon we were snuggling deep in our beds.
While nurses distributed nocturnal meds.
And so ends our Christmas at Rock-Away Rest.
Before long you'll be with us, We wish you the best!
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