Random Post Whoring (2011)

Out with the OLD (thread), and in with the NEW.....

If you remembered to put this up ten 11 days ago, I could have posted my first bowel movement of the year.

Instead of just my first one of January 12, 2010 .

I know this is a "random post whoring" thread, but PB, I dare say that's a little too much info!!


TIS

What a way to start!

A LITTLE too much information?? It's WAY too much information.

Speaking of bowel movements. I got a Juicer for Christmas. My first juice was made from 5 carrots and 5 celery stalks. Tasty and nutritious. I also learned that was a good cleanser. Mama mia!

Basta!

Et tu, MC?? I think your head has gone soft from all that playing around with those grandbabies.

Who do we actually have to fight for our right to party?

Fight the power.

If we're half way there, are we really living on a prayer?

LET'S TURN THIS YEAR UP TO 11!

We have to fight the Party to party.

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." -MLK

hee-hee

Rep. Mary Bono-Mack, sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, is the widow of singer Sonny Bono and has been in Congress since taking over her husbands seat after his death in 1998, has been allegedly photographed letting another woman lick her breast. The other woman is now being investigated by the FBI.

The woman allegedly licking Bono's, a California 45th congressional district Republican lawmaker, breast is Edra Blixseth , a former billionaire who is being investigated for fraudulently representing her financial worth to a number of banks.

The photo, was taken at an event four-years-ago, at Blixseth's $75 million Porcupine Creek estate in Rancho Mirage, California is guaranteed to have Capital Hill tongues wagging...
Article

Who cares?

I can't believe how poorly written that "article" is, then I noticed pretty much anyone can contribute content for all to see on Yahoo's network. Great, just what we need -- a bunch of illiterates getting mixed in with real news writers.

Just as long as they don't mix up "affect" and "effect" I'm good...

You guys have probably seen this video of the girl who is texting while walking in the mall and falls into a fountain. How freekin' embarrassing is that? However, she didn't seem to bothered.

TIS

Whoooooa now, there's a Like button at the bottom of threads now.

For Facebook.

In Birmingham they love the governor (boo boo boo)

Lilo, our Board members need to read this right here.

By JAY REEVES The Associated Press updated 1/19/2011

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told a church crowd just moments into his new administration that those who have not accepted Jesus as their savior are not his brothers and sisters, shocking some critics who questioned whether he can be fair to non-Christians.

"Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother," Bentley said Monday, his inauguration day, according to The Birmingham News.

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday called Bentley's remarks shocking. "His comments are not only offensive, but also raise serious questions as to whether non-Christians can expect to receive equal treatment during his tenure as governor," said Bill Nigut, the ADL's regional director.

Speaking at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Church after the official inaugural ceremony, Bentley told the crowd that he considered anyone who believed in Jesus to be his brothers and sisters regardless of color, but anyone who isn't a Christian doesn't have that same relationship to him.

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 EQUAL .... 111

I hope someone can explain this one...

Seems like it's on a scale from the year 1900 to 2011... the two digits of the birth year represent how many years it is set at, since 1900, and your age is how many years it's been from your birth year to 2011, so the total should always be the 111 years that it spans.

And I guess I'll have to wait until November to throw any fun "1" parties!

Actually, the age I will be this year will feel like 111...



Signor V.

Is anyone following the story on the NY Mafia bust? Eric Holder is speaking now and sounds like a major arrest involving all the major families.

I swear earlier (while I was half listening) they mentioned some incident at "The Satin Dolls." Holder mentioned something about an incident which started at a bar over a spilled drink???? Geoff, SC, you guys hear this?

TIS

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/01/20/feds-arrest-over-100-in-ny-nj-mob-takedown/
I am listening to 1010 WINS online and they are going to have a live news conference soon. This sounds big! Thanks for the head's up, IS!

Watching it over here as well. Big news world wide!

FYI, There is a thread on this bust in the "real life" section. I should have thought about checking there before I commented.

Anyway, more info there.


TIS

I know. I had already checked there

DVR/VCR ALERT TONIGHT

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is airing some early mob movies tonight. Two of them are relatively unknown and you may consider watching or taping them.

All times listed are Eastern time:

8:00 pm - "City Streets" (starring Gary Cooper from 1931)

9:30 pm - Paul Muni is outstanding as "Scarface" (1932)

11:15 pm - "Little Caesar" (Edward G Robinson) from 1930

12:45 am - "The Mayor of Hell" stars James Cagney in this 1933 film.

Nice lineup! Actually, I'm not familiar with "City Streets." Doesn't ring a bell. But, anything with Gary Cooper is always worth seeing, though.

"The Mayor of Hell" sounds like a good choice for Mike Bloomberg's next job.

Signor V.

I've never seen either of these two,.... "City Streets" co-stars the lovely Sylvia Sidney (LOVED her in "Dead End").

Edward G. for sure.

I actually got to meet her briefly many years ago. A lovely, charming lady. I'm happy to say my illusions weren't shattered.

Signor V.

Never seen City Streets. My old man usef to like Gary Cooper. Him, John Wayne, Alan Ladd and Audie Murphy

Marjorie Main is classic in that movie....


......."You ain't my son..."

I watched Little Ceaser last night for the first time probably in a decade. Didn't Edward G.'s performance seem a bit amatuerish, almost comical at times? I wonder if that was a function of his relatively shallow acting experieince at the time or also a functionof the way actors portrayed roles at the time.

By Kat Giantis

Nothing warms the cockles of our heart quite like seeing new parents in the throes of baby bliss. But not everyone is a fan of domestic tranquility, at least when the parents in question are Elton John and David Furnish, who welcomed son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John on Christmas Day.

The joyous couple's cover story in last week's Us Weekly, in which they debuted and discussed their "happy little soul" of a newborn son, apparently riled up some shoppers at an Arkansas grocery store, prompting employees to break out a so-called "family shield" to safeguard impressionable youth from Elton and David's happiness.

A photo of the covered-up cover was tweeted on Tuesday by a customer at a Harps Supermarket outpost in Mountain Home, who said she was "shocked and horrified" that the magazine had been censored "to protect young Harps shoppers."

Was the funeral of my wifes mother yesterday. Glad to get it over with for all concerned.

Yogi,

It is sad indeed. I do feel for your family. Now, even harder is to get adjusted to life without her and move on. Easier said than done. I guess that's where "time" comes in.

My thoughts are with you my friend.

TIS

Sometimes the return to normal is the hardest part. Please know that your friends are thinking of you.

Have you guys seen what's going on in Egypt??? It looks awful.



TIS

Has anybody ever had a heart cath. done? The Col. has to get one done on the 7th.

NATURAL BORN CITIZENS

In a Florida State University classroom, they were discussing the qualifications to be President of the United States. It was pretty simple. The candidate must be a natural born citizen of at least 35 years of age.

However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair was the requirement to be a natural born citizen. In short, her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming president. The class was taking it in and letting her rant, and not many jaws hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating "What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country than one born by C-section?"

Best of luck to the Col, Mig. Not sure what it is but I'm sure it is routine and he will be fine! Navy guys are tough!

In the words of Furio; "Atsa good one!"

hey its fat tony

Robinson had been acting for 18 years prior to that film.

Just because I'm pro-life don't mean I aint pro-choice.
Reading Dostoevsky don't mean I read Tolstoy.

Does anyone have a weird fear or paranoia?? If I'm out in public in my sweats with no makeup on, I'm convinced that Stacy and Clinton from "What Not To Wear" are filming me for my secret footage. Then they're going to leap out from behind a pillar and tell me that I've been chosen to be on the show.

Every time i leave the house i always get the feeling that i have either forgotten something or left the door open or something. The feeling usually passes when i realise i have left something at home like my phone or wallet....although i am yet to leave the front door open...plenty of time for that though

By David Sheppard Reuters updated 2/7/2011 4:10:15 PM ET

NEW YORK — An iPhone app aimed at helping Catholics through confession and encouraging lapsed followers back to the faith has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the United States.

"Confession: A Roman Catholic App," thought to be the first to be approved by a church authority, walks Catholics through the sacrament and contains what the company behind the program describes as a "personalized examination of conscience for each user".

"Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology," said Patrick Leinen of the three-man company Little iApps, based in South Bend, Indiana.

Finally, an explanation for some of the posts on this Board ... and their posters:

Pot Use Might Speed Onset of Psychosis By Amanda Gardner Health Day Reporter MONDAY, Feb. 7

Smoking marijuana might trigger an earlier onset of psychosis, a new analysis of previously published research suggests.

Among people who developed a psychotic illness, those who had smoked pot developed the illness almost three years earlier than those who hadn't, the Australian researchers said, and they speculated that marijuana may actually cause psychosis in some patients. Their report was published online Feb. 7 and will appear in the June print issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

So, how many joints do you smoke each day, oli?

Hello all! Been quite a while

Having a chance to write an honors thesis, I stupidly took it, electing something to do w/ Scorsese and Catholic guilt.
In the process of rewatching all his stuff, some of which I hadnt seen since I was around here (Who's The Knocking, mainly), which got me all nostalgic and whatnot, so I thought I'd come by and have a peek.

So..... what's new?

Hey, DSC, good to see you! Hope all's been well...

Way hey!

Nuttin' really; I wrote my dissertation on The Sopranos a couple of years ago. I'm start a Masters in 'International Film' this September. How's yours going? Which films are you focusing on?

Mean Streets is an absolute must, IMO. You could probably write a thesis on that movie alone.

Brilliant film. Definitely one of my favorite Scorcese flicks.

Signor V.

NBC, msnbc.com and news services updated 1 hour 42 minutes ago 2011-02-09T02:51:45

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives failed Tuesday to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are crucial to the United States' post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leaders who miscalculated the level of opposition.

The House voted 277-148 to keep the three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec. 8. Republicans brought up the bill under a special expedited procedure that required a two-thirds majority, and the vote was seven short of reaching that level.

The Republicans, who took over the House last month, lost 26 of their own members, adding to the 122 Democrats who voted against it. Supporters say the three measures are vital to preventing another terrorist attack like those on Sept. 11, 2001, but critics say they infringe on civil liberties. They appealed to the antipathy that newer and more conservative Republicans hold for big government invasions of individual privacy.

Yup! Right now, I'm looking at Knockin, Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver (w/ the later 2 looking at salvation through suffering, and the first more on the guilt)
I wanted to limit myself to 70s films (though Knockin is technically 69, its close enough) thus avoiding Temptation, which I already did a 15 pager on last summer for a religion class.
It actually sprung out of a much larger project, Catholic Themes in the American New Wave, which is a MUCH larger topic then I have time for right now

Capo, where are you going for your masters?

I just like the headline....

Tenn GOP lawmaker credits Hooters for success

I answered the phone at work and my earring fell out. I grabbed the back and put it on my desk. I found the earring itself under the desk and fished it out. By that time, however, the back had mysteriously disappeared. I hate it when this happens!!

SB,

I have a solution! It happened to me at the school and one of my co-workers suggested it. Get part of an eraser (a very tiny piece) and presto...an earring back. Hints from Heloise.



TIS

Thanks! I felt stupid walking around with one earring on, plus I was afraid of losing one. I know I pulled the back out of my hair, and it was on my desk. How the heck it disappeared is beyond me, though.

Wait a minute, you were on the phone 'at work' and were pulling the back of your hair and lost an earring? What 'kind' of phone call was it?

The usual...

Newcastle.

By PERRY CHIARAMONTE and DAN MANGAN in NYPOST Last Updated: 3:38 PM, February 9, 2011

Superstar Gang Green play caller Mark Sanchez "hooked up" in his New Jersey home last month with a striking 17-year-old Connecticut high-school girl -- whose preppy dad is a super-wealthy financier, a bombshell new report claims.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/jets_...M#ixzz1DXuXpaMV

NBC News and msnbc.com updated 17 minutes ago 2011-02-10T00:28:09

WASHINGTON — A married congressman from upstate New York resigned suddenly Wednesday after a scandal erupted over emails and a shirtless photo supposedly sent to a woman in response to a Craigslist dating ad.

Republican Christopher Lee had just begun his second term representing New York's 26th District. Just hours after the scandal broke on Gawker.com, Lee announced that he was quitting Congress, and a clerk read his letter of resignation on the House floor.

Can't say I really know this guy but get what a stupid thing to do. Check this quote out. LOL


"The Congressman is happily married," the spokesman told Gawker. "The only time he or his wife posted something online was to sell old furniture when they changed the apartment they keep in DC."

LMAO...evidently he was selling a little more than furniture. I saw the picture. He had his shirt off.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/09/c
hris-lee-resigns-after-c_n_821080.html


TIS

Christopher Lee...I was a big fan.

TIS, whatever happened to all those family values embedded in Republican genes?

Oli,

The family what?????? I can't believe a congressman (or anyone in political life) would be so dumb.In this day and age? I mean what was he thinking???



TIS

I have to confess that when I first heard the news I was half-distracted and washing dishes in my kitchen with the radio on. Hearing the name "Christopher Lee" and the words "sex scandal" jarred me back into semi-reality as I thought, "What?? No, it can't be!"

And, as it turned out, it wasn't. Not the actor, anyway. Thank goodness for that. And besides, he's almost 89...

But this "other" Chris Lee? Can't say I'd ever heard of him, and I'm from New York.

Still, I have to say: What a damn idiot. I just feel sorry for his wife and family.

Signor V.

I really didn't realize that "THE" Christopher Lee was still alive. But yea, this Chris Lee...what was he thinking???

TIS

What? He died years ago. There's no way he's still alive.

Ok looks like he is still alive. Good for him. Vinny Price is dead though.

Complete moron, deserves to be gone.

Regardless of political party or profession, whether it's Chris Lee or John Edwards or Vito Fiscela (another NY Republican) or Bill Clinton (before AND after his presidency) or Elliot Spitzer or...it never fails to amaze me how successful men are willing to risk everything ... for sex.

These are no longer the days of JFK. These people should really, REALLY know better and if they don't, they deserve whatever consequences come their way.

The Col's heart cath showed no blockage thank God. Now it is back to square 1 the doc has to figure out why he has having chest pain and tightness.

That's good news, Mig - I hope they figure it out and it's nothing too serious!

---

In other news, I finally got my Christmas tree down

1) Don't generalize Apple. You failed to include the word "SOME" when making that statement about successful men.

But in the spirit of what you are trying to point out, I agree. Guess that with some of these people, BOTH men and woman for that matter, they feel that they've become so powerful that they are now invincible.

2) When you say that these are no longer the days of JFK, what are you actually implying?

That is fantastic news Mig. Really glad to hear that there was NO blockage! That is great.

As for the chest pains and tightness....I think that I know what may have caused it............


HIS WIFE!!!

"Bravo Zulu!" (You'll have to ask the Colonel what that means in Navy speak) Mig, I told you Navy guys were tough! That is good news, indeed. Perhaps over indulgence on fried squirrel and oily tangle guts may be the culprit? Just sayin'...

Re Lee, it always takes two to tango

I know the owner of this blog and found the story amusing, if indeed it happened as described.

The Col. says Amen Brother!!!

Yes, the number one cause of heart disease in American men .

I think it's fairly well known that the Secret Service AND probably even the press covered up JFK's dalliances. Even his particular situation aside...I think it was the mindset at the time. Right or wrong, I suppose what was considered the privacy of a politician was more respected back then.

Don't you think...???

Ok, that's were I thought you were going.

So then, just out of curiosity since I know you like to question people on what they mean by a particular post...

Where on earth else did you think I'd be going.

Where else would there be to go

Mig, I'm very relieved to hear that no blockage was found. Now hopefully, the cause of the problem can be determined before too long. But, at least, blockage has been ruled out.

Signor V.

Thanks SV.

Mig - what's the doctor saying is the next step?

One source says that Saudia Arabia's King Abdullah passed away, another says Rumor Of Saudi King's Death Untrue, another says Saudi minister says King in 'excellent health' while another says Saudi King suffers a 'major medical setback'

I think the server here is on the blink again, Geoffy.

What kind of issues are you having with the site?

Nothing like a couple years ago, SC. I just noticed that the Google link broke down a few times over the course of the last few days. But again, nothing like the big problems you guys had a couple years ago. It's fine now anyway.

Yes, it is true. I usually like to question people who do not have the ability to make themselves clear, choose not to make themselves clear, speak out of their backsides or just simply like to speak out of both sides of their mouth



For a split second there I thought that maybe you were actually admiring the fact that some of the Kennedy's were able to keep their extra marital affairs out of the public eye.

Well put...I'll sign up for all of the above!!! (Oh, wait though...gotta go dig my pen out of the sandbox.)



Ahhhhh, I see!! I can see how you might think that ONLY for a split second. Just as well though, that we got it clarified.

The old man is still alive..

Moments before leaving NY at JFK Airport



The day he reached Morocco, where's he's receiving physiotherapy..

Thanks for your concern Mark.

Well he wants to put that scope down his throat to see if it is his esophogas spasming. He said since it is not his heart that might be the reason for the tightness and pain and his bp going up.

Mrs. Mark had that done a couple of years ago. Very uncomfortable but they prescribed some meds and it seemed to help her out pretty well. Good luck!

Nice! Congrats

I'm hoping to do a masters in screenwriting next year at UT Austin. I've been driving down from CO to Austin at least once every 3rd weekend for the past three years now. Got really involved w/ the blues scene down there, and now I cant think of anywhere else I want to live. Moving in May when I graduate, hoping to live there a year and get in state tuition.

Okay, after a few days of hell (and a new hard drive, and installing Windows 7, and transferring most of my stuff back over)... I'm finally back in business!

Since you're posting about PC stuff, will you answer this? Have you had any experience with release candidate software. IE9RC is available. Should I download it or wait for the final version?

If I didn't need to have IE on my system, I'd delete it altogether. But I've used RC versions of software before with good results. Sometimes they never even get out of RC status. But since I hate IE-everything regardless, I won't recommend trying it, so ask someone else.

Did you get a virus?

Nah, my hard drive has been slowly going, then finally went.

I've had the beta for awhile. IE9 still sucks compared to Chrome and Firefox. The beta was pretty stable though for what it was, so the RC should be OK if you want to try it.

They have pills for that.

Ok, every morning I listen to the radio station which plays great oldies. They have this game they call Generation Gap in which you must have someone over 21 and someone under 18. Usually you have a kid around 7 -14 or so and their parent or grandparent. They ask the child which group is real and they say a real group name and make one up. The kid can ask the adult which one is real. They need to get two right. It's very easy usually.

The prize is usually something like a family pack of tickets to Disneyland or Universal Studios, or Magic Mountain or sometimes movie tickets.

Today, the caller was a 17 year old high school kid and his grandparent. The DJ said when he asked how old he was, "you know the prize is Justin Beiber movie tickets and items. What could the kid do? He said, "well, it's better than nothing" and went on to say, "it's gonna be kind of hard finding a date." He won the tickets, JB t-shirt and poster. LOL


TIS

That's funny TIS.

I don't think this was posted before.
Belinda makes a joke

New Yorkers tell you what's on their minds.
City Rant

This weather is officially nuts.

We got a new puppy on Sunday. Lily the English Springer Spaniel, she is cute,adorable,messy,nuts and much loved.

An 8 week old bundle of naughty energy

Welcome Lily! I love Springer Spaniels - they're adorable.

Our dog got sprayed by a skunk the other night. Bathed and bathed her in all sorts of home remedies like banking soda, peroxide and dishwashing detergent - even Scope! She still smelled. Finally got an appointment with the groomer at Petco who de-skunked her! Took until today to get the stench out of the house, though. We had to keep the windows open, and it was freezing outside!

SB, you didn't use the tried and true method - bathing in tomato juice. My sister had a dog who would get skunked quite often.

Everything I read on the internet said that the tomato juice thing doesn't work as well as the peroxide/baking soda/dish soap combo. And after smelling her and cleaning the tub out for the Nth time, it was worth the $40 to bring her to Petco. The problem was that she got sprayed right in the face, so we had to be very careful near her eyes with everything we used. Plus, she kept rubbing her damn snout all over the furniture!

$40.00 was a cheap fix

Figure the time and the mess and all else with your home.

Keep that number on speed dial!

It was WELL worth it, but the only reason they were able to take her so quickly was that it snowed here over the weekend, and people canceled.

A few years ago, I ran over a skunk. No matter what I did, that smell never completely disappeared. I can't tell you how many times we aired that car out, washed it, dumped box after box of baking soda inside it - on a humid day, you could still smell it! I couldn't take it any more, and traded the damn thing in.

I think I mentioned once before on these boards that I never found the odor of skunks to be offensive.

After what you said in the Prayer thread -- No lawyer jokes from me!

No, I think it's OK, Geoff. As a trial lawyer will tell you, if they open the door....

You and Geoff got me. I guess that's one of the benefits of being a lawyer. The other benefit is that we can swim in shark infested waters without danger. Sharks leave us alone out of professional courtesy.

Or fear!

Signor V.

I'm not saying that lawyers have a bad reputation, but I still haven't mustered the guts to tell my parents I'm an attorney. They think I play piano in a whorehouse.

Good lines.

I'm sure you're aware of the exchange between Tom Hanks & Denzel Washington at the end of 'Philadelphia'

You're a good sport Kly. Keeping that in mind.

A man went to see a lawyer and asked what his least expensive fee was. The lawyer replied, “$50 for three questions.”

Stunned, the man asked, “Isn’t that a lot of money for three questions?”

“Yes,” the lawyer said. “What is your final question?


TIS

Actually, I'm not, but would love to know. I've watched this movie a couple of times, but never from beginning to end.

A good one. I heard this one recently:

Q: What do you call a lawyer, who had to take the bar exam 7 times before passing?

A: Your Honor.

Same here - I've never seen the film at all. I have nothing against seeing it, but I'd have to be in the mood for it. I haven't seen all that many films in the last twenty years or so, I have to confess. But I'm not ruling out the possibility.

Signor V.

Ok. Mind you, in the movie this was told by one attorney to another:

"What do you call 50 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?"

"I don't know, what?"

"A good start."

Apple, you are showing your age with that one..

Excellent movie. Hanks and Denzel at their best. I highly recommend seeing it.

No wi-fi here at my folks now, since it's connected directly. Can leech a very weak signal a few mins/day from a neighbor on my crappy laptop, but it's futile. IPhone picks it up much better, but neither are that fun to read or type a lot on, so haven't been around much. (As opposed to Facebook app ;))

Mom's doing GREAT! Basically 99.99% and will get some therapy for the next couple weeks. Weather in Fla has been awesome compared to NJ -- 80°/60°F and mostly Sunny until Tuesday. I should be back Wednesday, then will be VERY busy going thru hours and hours of my DVR. Great thing about FiOS is I can monitor/add/delete my DVR shows directly from my iPhone so shouldn't miss anything important.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and prayers in the other thread -- I'm sure it's helped!

I'm very happy to hear the recovery is going so well.

Have a good few days of relaxing.

GREAT NEWS, JGeoff! So happy to hear mom has had such quick improvement!! Looking forward to more encouraging updates!

Enjoy the FL weather while you can...March in the Northeast awaits!!

Apple

Hooray for Mama Malta! Relax and enjoy your time with your parents.

Geoff that's wonderful news!!! Prayers with Mrs. Malta!!

Take care Geoff!!


TIS

Best news of the day.

Bring back some Fla. fruit, but not oranges-

Very good news, Geoff. And thanks for the quote, apple. That one never gets old.

yes it does-

Good news Geoff

FANTASTIC NEWS Don Geoff!

So glad to hear that Mama Malta is doing well.

Duke Snider, the centerfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers from the late '40s to the early '60s (when the team had moved out to L.A.) died today at age 84.

Snider was my favorite ballplayer of all-time (by virtue of him playing for my favorite hometown team). He hit with power and he had a quiet elegance about him.

He was a third of the three greatest centerfielders in NYC at the same time (the two others were Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays). Snider's stats for the years that the three played together in NYC were every bit as good as those for Mickey and Willie.

Some years ago Don Cardi surprised me with a gift of an autographed photo of Snider. It's been hanging on my wall since, and now has an even greater significance to me.

R.I.P. Duke. You'll always be a hero to me.

My dad was a huge fan. RIP Duke.

I REALLY wish I knew your dad, SB.

Me, too, SC. I can't tell you how much he would have loved coming to one of our weekends and meeting you all.

FYI, I'll be here another day -- the Weds flight was already full... Another day of warmth, dammit!

Hey Geoff! How's it going?


TIS

Going to Atlantic City for one of my best friend's bachelor's party all weekend...can't wait!

People who insist on taking a full grocery basket through the self-scan checkout will go to the second lowest circle of hell when they die. (The lowest circle is reserved for people who drive 55 in the left lane)

Wait a minute, you mean the self-scan is an express lane only?? I've only used it a couple times and usually for a couple items, so I am not real familiar with them. However, why would you not be able to scan all your groceries yourself????? Just wondering. I certainly don't want to go to hell. Especially not the 2nd lowest circle of hell.

I think at some places there is a sign that says 10 items or less. The people overseeing that station are supposed to divert people with too many things. Happened to me once, the lady made me get off the line.

I think well all have often stood in the express lane, behind the person who has way past the minimum number of items. That can be very very annoying. ' Oh, and what about check writers? Doesn't happen often, but doesn't that seem so "old school." today?

Equally annoying is when you have one or two items and there is no express lane. I must admit though, every now and then a nice person will let me go ahead. I try to do likewise when I see someone with just a couple items.

Anyway, as long as there are signs indicating if it's express I'd have no problem. I just think it'd be nice to have both regular and express lanes.

TIS

At the Kroger I stop by after work, there are express lanes and self-scan checkouts. Both the express lanes and the self-scans have signs that say "15 items or less" but this is hardly ever enforced on the self-scan checkout and only intermittently on the express lanes.

I was actually irritated enough by a particularly slow (and evidently greedy) shopper at the self-scan lane to complain to the clerk and the manager but the above explanation is what I got. They don't want to upset their customers. They want people to have the choice of self-scan or regular checkout.

My thought is that if you are buying groceries for the next two weeks, you should have enough common decency to go to the regular checkout where trained professionals can help you get out of the store faster and not run the risk of p*****g off a project manager with nothing to lose...

I hate almost everyone in the self-checkout. I worked through years of high school and college as a supermarket cashier. I find the people who drag their feet trying to locate the barcode, or can't figure out where the money goes. The worst are the ones who try to find their produce on the screen.

I'm with you, Lilo. Shoot them!

All I wanted after my trip was a drink. As I'm leaving the liquor store on my way home, I heard an old lady ask if they take checks, and of course the answer was no.

A CHECK?? Really?? What year is it??

Geoff, be grateful you didn't run into this woman at the liquor store. When a worker denied her the use of the store's restroom, she knocked over almost $2,000 worth of booze bottles and then hopped into her waiting taxi. She did turn herself into police after the video aired.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110304/NE...oze?odyssey=nav

This is my biggest gripe with COSTCO.

Grocery stores could be a thread in themselves. I typically go at 7 am to avoid the moronic masses. I'm a very efficient self scanner. I know where all my bar codes are and what my products are called or their code #s. I bring my own bags and what is extremely annoying is the "remove unexpected item" (or whatever the stupid message is). I feel like screaming out, "I'M USING MY OWN F***ING BAG YOU DUMB S**T". That's Shop-Rite for ya. At least Acme asks the question, "Are you using your own bag?"

I think the two key words here are probably 'old lady'.

There are a very few left who probably don't carry enough cash & don't trust debit cards...probably because of stories of identity theft, not wanting to deal w/ passwords, etc. You can really lose track of your balance, too and be overdrawn pretty quickly. People who write checks probably log them right away.

Then of course there's the other extreme which is people who NEVER use cash/checks anymore and make ALL their purchases and payments w/ debit/credit cards.

I'm somewhere in between.

I still write an occasional check. Usually when paying for something for one of my kids (school expenses, etc.). That said, I doubt the written check will ever become competely obsolete. I hope it doesn't, anyway.

Supermarkets in general drive me nuts. We've all had that lady in front of us who takes ten minutes to pull out her checkbook after bagging all of 8 dollars worth of groceries. It's maddening.

But nothing---and I mean nothing---gets under my skin like the lazy people who use the motorized handicapped carts and don't really need them. I was up in Yonkers a year or so ago and had a fat guy almost run me down with one of those things in a Stop and Shop. I kept my temper in check until I got out to the parking lot and saw the same fat bastard walking better than I do! My wife had to stop me from running the guy over with my car. It still makes me angry when I think of it .

When I woke up this morning I felt something under my toes, like a strange itch. Looks like I have a small rash there.

if i saw that i would kick that guys ass...i mean really i am disabled, and what if he took the last cart? just let him go because he is fat.

but, sadly i won't be surprised if he collects social security since they are considering being fat a disability.

I agree with just about everything in the supermarket posts. The self-checkout is made for smaller orders because the space for placing your scanned products is limited and if you start piling items on the floor, the voice from the scanner practically screams, "Please place products in the bagging area!" or "Unexpected item in bagging area!" as if I were a thief.

I enjoy the checkout line mostly because I've come to know the cashiers, and enjoy speaking with them.

It's good to be a high school senior. My son went to the Hershey Arena (where Wilt Chamberlain scored his 100 points) as his school was playing for a hockey championship. A big group from his class planned a tailgate party with grilled burgers and hot dogs before the game. Problem is that grills aren't permitted in the lot, so after the game, which we lost, he got home around midnight with some friends, set up a couple of charcoal grills in the backyard and patio. I was just coming home at that time too.

Well, right now I have close to a hundred kids in the back. I went out to check when I saw police lights out front, but as I looked out from the deck I saw the two policemen eating burgers with the kids, and one of the cops, whom I know pretty well, asked me in all sincerity, "Are you trying to sleep? We'll keep it down." The hockey team just arrived with another grill, and my neighbor dropped by with a case of frozen burgers.

I'm going to have a tough time topping this for his graduation party.

sounds like party of the year...well legal party of the year

Sounds like a lot of fun, klyd! (besides, sleep is over-rated).

The party's breaking up now. I have to hand it these kids; they grabbed trash bags and made a respectable effort to clean up.

Best part of the whole story! Klyd, I love when my kids bring their friends over to hang out, although I don't believe we've ever had 100! Sounds like a great time!

First day at the new job tomorrow. Very nervous!

I sure hope you're not quizzical tomorrow, Pat.

Good luck, and just "be yourself". You'll do fine.

Lol thanks SC. :-p

Agood night's sleep can reduce some of that anxiety. ich proves that worrying works.

Where will you be working Patrick? Good luck to you. I am sure you'll do just fine. Let us know how it goes.


TIS

God bless, if you can get to sleep with so much on your mind.

Good Luck and watch, learn and for heaven sake LISTEN.

Lol thanks guys. I will be all ears tomorrow. I'm gonna wear a suit and I have everything ready to take.

TIS - It is an administrative assistant position. I have to be there @ 7:30 AM. I train the first 3 weeks. It is a lot of data entry into their database.

Pat..not for nothing but are you the guy who said Tupac was possibly better than Shakespeare?

Congrats on the new job, and best of luck!

Al, make the IRS an offer they can't refuse.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/07/al-pacino-...e-service-debt/

Okay PB. You've finally found the ultimate excuse!

A Little Alcohol May Stave Off Alzheimer's - Study suggests benefits for light to moderate daily drinking by Alan Mozes

WEDNESDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking light to moderate amounts of alcohol may actually lower the risk for developing both Alzheimer's and some forms of age-related dementia, new German research suggests.

Hey Patrick! How's the new job going??? They must be working you pretty hard. We haven't heard from you.



TIS

I guess I'm quite safe then! lol

City Island Waterfront home for "only" $1.475 million.



Rarely does a house have so much to say. From the front yard to the backyard to original 1958 appliances, and even underneath, 75 Ditmars St. on City Island is one of the most interesting waterfront homes ever built in the city of New York. Angelina Jolie slept here, too.

The tour starts in the backyard. With a sprawling grass lawn leading to stone steps descending to a private beach, the house has the feel of a small Kennedy compound on the water’s edge. The owner’s husband used to launch kayaks from there. The Harlem Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the city, is next door. Loose lanyards from nearby sailboats sound like chimes on windy days. There’s even an old shipwreck stuck in wetlands yards from the shore. The Manhattan skyline is visible in the distance.

Somehow, the front yard is just as special. It’s a full garden with 68 rose bushes and wildly diverse perennials that give it the feel of an organized jungle. The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, used to work at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden...

City Island Bronx Home

Wow!! A pool, a workout room, a gym & a cafe/bar??? Looks like a nice house. Let me go get my checkbook.



TIS

I live 10 minutes south of City Island. I'm there fairly often, but I'm unfamiliar with that house.

Believe it or not, million dollar homes are not that rare on City Island. It's one of the few NYC neighborhoods where the subway doesn't run. Plus, it's one road in, one road out. So all-in-all, it's an extremely safe area. And it's beautiful, too. The best way to describe it is as a New England fishing village in the heart of the Bronx.

That's ten bucks for the geography lesson, Lilo. Now tell me something about Motown .

Did I ever tell you I was the 4th Supreme? Don't let it get around though.


TIS

I knew you were really a British man.

Motown rocks!!!!! I'm glad I lived thru that era at the best time (teenage years). Lots and lots and lots of great music.



TIS

1) You can't get anywhere without a car in Detroit or its suburbs. Public transportation is most definitely second rate. The Bus system is slow, is not shared between the city and suburbs and tends to be used by people with no $$$.

2) The defining motif of Detroit is faded beauty. For whatever reason the Art-Deco style was really popular here and so places like the Guardian Building,the Fisher Building and the Penobscot Building remain the best examples of that bygone style.

3) Virtually all of the major streets in Detroit fan out from downtown like the spokes on a tire so it's really hard to get lost if you are of reasonable intelligence.

My personal favorite Motown song

Battle of the Bands (The Temptations vs. The Four Tops), from "Motown 25," back in 1983.

I remember this special like it was yesterday.

Lilo, I would kill to own that house. What a lovely home, and in such a great place.

Yup. City Island sounds like the place to be. Unfortunately I just checked my money market account and I'm a little short of $1.475 million.

Soldier killed, dog dies of broken heart?

Money Makeover

Everyone makes mistakes but these folks sound more than a little stupid. If I were in their situation I would be ashamed of having made such a mess of things-not for my sake but for the children's sake. So it goes.

The first week went well. I am still in training and learning about their computer software and how to enter patient's data into the system. We work for over 1,500 hospitals and have information on nearly 42 % of patients in hospitals across the US!

Another NY home that I can't afford. People built for permanence back in the old days.

At first, they were five adult siblings and their widowed mother, Lucy, all college educated and opinionated, civic-minded and characterful, all living together in the brick-and-stone, late-1920s house perched like a beached ocean liner high on a hill overlooking the river here.

Maud, Mattie and Jacqueline were schoolteachers like their mother. Charles, a social worker, had been an Air Force officer during World War II. Randolph, named for their grandfather Randall Bell, who had been born a slave, was an electrical genius who worked in shipyards.

They were all single — Maud and Jackie, as she was known, had been married and divorced — in 1966, the year they pooled their resources and bought the estate. With 30-odd rooms, a 45-foot-long living room and nearly 20 acres of land, the place cost $155,000, ample change for the times, but it solved a unique problem: how to house six singular adults and one child, Jackie’s 2-year-old son. In the late 1960s, another sister, June, a former model who had been in the Air Force, moved in after her divorce, and then there were eight. (Their brother James, a noted adolescent psychiatrist who had worked at West Point, also invested in the place and spent weekends there.)

“Growing up, I always thought I wanted a ‘normal’ family, a mom and a dad in the same house,” James Moorhead was saying the other day, wandering through rooms that still wear their period costumes: a ’40s bedroom set in June’s suite, a silver go-go dress in Mattie’s closet, a stack of Look magazines in the octagonal paneled library (and on the same table, three folded American flags from three military funerals). Mr. Moorhead, now 47, was Jackie’s son, but all the siblings doted on him. Mattie taught him French and science; Maud focused on current events and ancient Greece. Charles loved politics and pop culture. And Randolph (Rand for short) was Mr. Moorhead’s constant companion, driving him to music lessons and to school, talking with him as he worked on the house. Rand was the systems guy, the tinkerer, fixer-upper and landscaper, bright, patient and kind to a small boy...

Full Article

Slideshow of house

Are the Religious Prone to Obesity? By Randy DotingaHealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News)

-- New research finds that people who frequently attend religious services are significantly more likely to become obese by the time they reach middle age.

The study doesn't prove that attending services is fattening, nor does it explain why weight might be related to faith. Even so, the finding is surprising, especially considering that religious people tend to be in better health than others, said study author Matthew J. Feinstein, a medical student at Northwestern University in Chicago.

"It highlights a particular group that appears to be at a greater risk of becoming obese and remaining obese," he said. "It's a group that may benefit from targeted anti-obesity interventions and from obesity prevention programs."

Scientists have been studying links between religious behavior and health for years, and have found signs that there's a positive connection between the two. The studies suggest that religious involvement -- whether it's private or public -- is linked to things like better physical health, less depression and more happiness, said Jeff Levin, director of Baylor University's Program on Religion and Population Health.

I think I'll give up religion long enough to drop 15 pounds. I should also give up Cheez-Its.

Especially the white cheddar Cheez-Its.

Isn't there something in the Bible about how the Apostles gathered up several bushels of Cheez-Its scraps after the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus and 11 of the apostles always bought Cheez-Its. Judas would get the Funyuns. Traitor bastard.

I blew off an appointment Tuesday and hustled cross town to catch my son's high school game on Tuesday. I set up my chair just as the game was starting. He's a sophomore, who starts at third base and pitches for JV. He hit his first high school homerun, a line drive to left field over the 325 Ft sign. I was thrilled to have seen it. He's 4 for 6 with a triple this season, and has thrown 2 innings of hitless ball with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

My advice to him is to stay grounded because baseball has a cruel way of dealing with hot starts and overconfidence. .

every cub fan knows about that

Congrats to your son, Klyd! I bet he was thrilled you were there!

The company [GE] didn't pay any US taxes in 2010. In fact, it got a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. With video updates By Kim Peterson on Fri, Mar 25, 2011 1:02 PM

Slogging through your taxes right now? Maybe you could hire someone from General Electric (GE) to help.

The company has beaten Uncle Sam. It paid no U.S. taxes for 2010, The New York Times reported. In fact, it received a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. It's not that GE can claim poverty. The company rang up $14.2 billion in profits last year, including $5.1 billion from U.S. operations.

How did GE do it? Through what the Times describes as "innovative accounting" and fierce lobbying, GE has been cutting its tax bill for years. In a stroke of genius, it hired a former Treasury official to lead its tax department and filled its team with former IRS employees and Congressional tax specialists.

The top corporate tax rate is supposed to be 35% -- one of the highest in the world. But few companies actually pay that rate, since there are myriad loopholes and other ways to get breaks. Now, the Times reports, only 6.6% of Uncle Sam's tax revenue comes from corporations (down from 30% in the 1950s).

The workers and the Japanese Nuclear Power plant say they expect they will die. Duh! What was their first clue.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42371032/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

turn into giant size monsters and fight Godzilla

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Amir Shah, Associated Press – 25 mins ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – Anger over the burning of the Muslim holy book at a Florida church fueled a second day of deadly violence half a world away in Afghanistan, where demonstrators set cars and shops ablaze Saturday in a riot that killed nine protesters, officials said.

The church's desecration of the Quran nearly two weeks ago has outraged millions of Muslims and others worldwide, fueling anti-American sentiment that is further straining ties between the Afghan government and the West.

The uproar even brought violence to the normally peaceful northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday, when a crowd of protesters — apparently infiltrated by insurgents — stormed a U.N. compound in an outpouring that left four Afghan protesters and seven foreign U.N. employees dead.

Typical Flori-duh. The rednecks in the central part of the state give the whole state a bad name.

Asshole, hillbilly Terry Jones. Guy knows there aren't many Muslims to speak of in Central Florida, what does he care, as long as they aren't burning down his backyard?

Jerkoff .

wait a minute...this son of a bitch decided to go ahead with this?! i guess he doesnt give a damn about the solders over their.

"Stupid is, as stupid does" - Forrest Gump

From what I heard on the television news reports, Jones did this (the Koran burning) a couple of weeks back, but at the time it got very little press coverage. This was quite unlike all the uproar Jones caused a few months back when he threatened to burn the Koran, but backed off at the last moment once he got nationwide media coverage of his intentions.

Now, in a sort of delayed-reaction retaliation, comes the riots, murders, etc.

Let me say right here and now, that I am no fan of Jones. Quite the opposite. I feel he is a dangerous idiot. For him to say to the media the other day that he is not responsible for the riot and murders in Afghanistan seems a bit disingenuous to me. That said, his statement (and I'm paraphrasing) that radical Muslim extremists will use any excuse to kill has, IMO, more than a few grains of truth in it.

Signor V.

Can't argue with that, SV. At all. But you don't want to give the maniacs any extra incentive. And that's exactly what Jones did.

It's like hanging a pork chop around your neck and getting into a cage with tiger. Chances are, the tiger's going to be thinking that lunch has been served. Why give him added incentive??

Don't even try to pull out a scale and toss a copy of the Koran on one side and the life of a single human being on the other — the comparison is obscene. Those people make Terry Jones (who should be tried for manslaugher IMO) seem quite sensible.

Give an idiot an excuse and you can count on them to do the most crazy things.

and it doesn't take a whole lot to find an idiot to say or do anything you want them to do.
They put them on the news every day!.

You tell 'em Betty. Love her.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/04/08/betty-whit...iew-daily-mail/

Ashley Judd labels rap as rape music

http://www.complex.com/music/2011/04/ashley-judd-calls-hip-hop-a-rape-culture

Kinda extreme though I can see where she's coming from. It's not my thing but I wouldn't use that description.

Albom and co-host were talking about the dumbest guests they've had on the show. The co-host brought up William Hung and said there's no way he was as dumb as he seemed. There was radio silence for about 3-4 seconds and Albom responded "No, no he really was that dumb".

She has since apologised for her comments apparently.

For the record, I don't see where she's coming from at all. To label an entire genre off some commercialised "Gangster Rap" from years ago.

She's an educated white woman from the south. Such women are not known for their street smarts. I'm 51 years old and not really a fan of most modern rap music, but I respect its origins. I love all the old Bronx stuff from the late '70s and early '80s. To label the whole genre as "rape" music was kind of ignorant of her (although most of the videos I've seen do tend to objectify women). I see that she's since apologized. I'm glad. I like Ashley. She ain't too hard to look at, either .

Don Imus said Hung was the only Asian who ever failed math .

Hahah yeah she is nice on the eyes.

I was juts more shocked that people her position still make comments like that in this day and age. I remember late 80's early 90's when groups like N.W.A burst onto the scene, you could see why certain people would feel the need to speak out, But in this day and age, I found it a bit odd as even a large majority of Commercial American Rappers are all about "clubbing" and dressing up like "metrosexuals" while driving nice big "vehicles". If anything, they've gone all soft. (Not an advocate for promoting debauchery and illegal behaviour by the way haha)

It's nice to see you back here, Whisper. Where have you been?

I hope you weren't on an unplanned "vacation."

Hey PB, yeah it's been a while and No, no more of that bullshit life for me any more. I finally grew up.

Just being a good father and working away on my goals and plans.

Thought I'd pop past this old place and see what's news.

Glad to hear it, son .

How's your little girl doing?

Man charged with burglarizing Bon Jovi's NJ home

Almost as good as the police chief of Toms River having his home burglarized. It was on the news last night (they caught the burglar because the chief had a video surveillance system in his driveway and it caught the thief on film).

You sure it wasn't our Beth, and the stalking got a little out of control???

That's what I'm saying. Then again, Beth would have been nabbed for kidnapping. Maybe it was Geoff. Isn't that his neck of the woods?

At least they caught the guy.


TIS

Wish I was 21 again!

Duke lacrosse accuser indicted on murder charge By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Mike Baker, Associated Press – 51 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – The woman who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 was charged Monday with murder in the death of her boyfriend.

Crystal Mangum, 32, was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder and two counts of larceny. She has been in jail since April 3, when police charged her with assault in the stabbing of 46-year-old Reginald Daye. He died after nearly two weeks at a hospital.

An attorney for Mangum and officials in the district attorney's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Mangum falsely accused the lacrosse players of raping her at a 2006 party for which she was hired to perform as a stripper. The case heightened long-standing tensions in Durham about race, class and the privileged status of college athletes.

well there goes here life...and to tell the truth (being a duke fan) i am pleased to hear that.

Anyone plan on watching the Royal Wedding next week?

If I have the time correctly, it'll start at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. here. No way will I be waking up to watch, but I'd be interested in watching parts of it. Weddings are always nice.



TIS

I'd rather go to a hanging.

No word yet on whether any of the prisoners had ever watched "The Shawshank Redemption" .

The great escape

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Taliban militants tunneled at least 480 inmates out of the main prison in southern Afghanistan overnight, whisking them through a 1,000-foot-long underground passage they had dug over months, officials and insurgents said Monday.

Officials at Sarposa prison in the city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, say they only discovered the breach at about 4 a.m., a half hour after the Taliban said they had gotten all the prisoners out.

Happy Birthday to Al Pacino -- can't believe he's 71 !!

At least someone around/associated withy the BB is older than me. Happy Birthday Don Michael Corleone.


TIS

Things that are older than Tis .

PB,

And dirt may be a little older than me as well.



TIS


Oh, and SC......don't you even think of chiming in. Do I know you or what??

I will if Charlie Sheen bursts into the church in a drunken rage and shouts profanities at everyone in sight.

Sleeping upstairs sucks a little... turned the AC on for the first time this season (at 2AM)...

Get a good exhaust fan for the upstairs. It'll work well on early spring and fall nights and save you some a/c bills.

It ended up being over 80 deg at the thermostat, despite it being pleasantly cool and nice outside. Windows open, but not enough airflow I guess. Have to at least bring the temp/humidity down for a little while to be able to sleep. But no huge deal...

That's exactly why you need to exhaust the air... heat rises and your house is well insulated. Under normal conditions the temperature will dive (inside) about 5 a.m. in this kind of weather. With a good exhaust fan you can speed uop that process by a few hours.

We gonna get some BIG t-storms tomorrow.... batten down your hatches.

Thing is, my upstairs (bedroom, office, other bedrooms) is above everything else (no real attic to speak off), but I'll keep it in mind -- of course you're right! There is a little attic above all this, so that might help...



Pffft. Is that all?? lol

My bedroom (second floor right under the eaves) is currently 75°. I have my window fan going otherwise I'd need to put on my a/c. I'm not ready for that yet... I hate sleeping with the a/c on.

Here, there's a huge temp diff between floors (split level). Upstairs it's significantly warmer than ground level, and, downstairs, it's significantly cooler. I LOVE downstairs in the summer -- no AC necessary. But it's also cooler in the Winter. I'm always changing clothes lol....

Yeah, but unlike your apartment you now have a washing machine. No more six foot piles of clothes.

I'm an A/C guy ... LOVE it!! I'd rather chill in a meat locker in the Summer than sweat my arse off. But I've found a difference in tolerance for some reason. If I'm at someone else's house, and it's like 75+ I hate it. Mostly because there's no air flow. Here, I can tolerate up to about 80-82, but there HAS to be some airflow. But I'm an A/C guy, so a nice and dry 72-74 is just fine by me.

AMEN!

WOW, a big difference now (not only laundry, but also a garage to hide everything lol)

BTW, invite yourself over sometime!! (I just need 2 days' notice to go shopping and cook up something special ;))

Brownies?

Well, how's Saturday??

JG, we have an attic fan, and in spring and fall, when the temp cools significantly at night, it makes a HUGE difference in the upstairs temp. We put it on while we're eating dinner, and by bedtime the upstairs is extremely comfortable.

Sounds like you've been watching GoodFellas again!


Signor V.

Not quite that much, but, pretty damn close!!!

Sounds like a topic in itself. I'm with you JG. Give me air flow in the summer; dry air flow. 75 dry flowing degrees is better than 72 humid stagnant air.

A little music trivia I learned today. What was the shortest record ever to hit the charts, lasting a total of 1:38?????? I always thought it was too short. Love this song.

TIS

Listen how unpolished that production is, yet what a great song. Jackson Browne did a great rendition and it was part of the sound track to "Dirty Dancing". Cool, TIS thanks for a walk down memory lane. You and I probably did the "Stroll" to that song back in junior high. Of course at different schools.

Yes MC and no doubt had we been on Bandstand we would have given it at least an 85 because it "had a good beat and was easy to dance to."


TIS

Scott Pelley to replace Katie Couric. At least he's better on the eyes.

http://newyorkpost.com/p/entertainment/tv/scott_pelley_named_katie_couric_EQ2rZ9D9AhTRHAwPMA0v9H

Happy 193rd birthday Karl Marx.

Well RR is slipping on the latest "Beatle" news.


Paul McCartney is going to marry his girlfriend of 4 years, Nancy Shevell. I wish him well. I don't know this lady but she can't possibly be another Heather could she?


TIS



http://ibnlive.in.com/news/paul-mccartney-to-wed-for-third-time/151568-45-75.html

I guess Maria won't be baaaack.

Maria Shriver and Ahnuld separated.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20110510/US.Schwarzenegger.Shriver.Separation/

For some reason this news really surprises me. Then again, if he managed his marriage like he did California, it's totally understandable.

Seriously though, it's too bad, especially after being married for so many years.


TIS

Manage California? He couldn't even pronounce California. haha.

He's such a "girly man."


I heard just this morning that Maria has been out of the house for months now. I wonder if opposite political views had any part of the problems.


TIS

Maria has been contemplating the divorce for 2 years.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/05/10/maria-shri...ed-split-hotel/

I heard a report this morning on the radio that Maria is miserable and conflicted. I didn't know (although nothing surprises me) of Arnold's infidelities. According to the article posted here, he's being really "sweet" now trying to win her back. Yea right!!! Whore around and then kiss-up.

Of course every situation is different, but generally it IS really sad to end a marriage after so long, especially with children. I sort of have a feeling though that they will reunite. The fact that she lost her mother, then father, in a short time can put a strain on any marriage as you sort through your grief.


TIS

Maybe not, but she is on the board of NYC's MTA. And that is definitely not something to cheer about - especially when you consider how the MTA has been screwing people in this town left and right.

Signor V.

I love you, Signor V.

You're a jaded, fifty something, angry, burnt out, New York City lifer. Just like me .

The Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is closing after 59 years. This was where the Rat Pack played in the golden years along with later, Elvis & The Beatles and a long list of talented people.

It "is" very old and dated and for my taste not quite central enough to be around the other casinos. I'm not surprised it's closing but it is kind of sad. Everything is new and modern in Vegas. I just hope they don't get rid of The Flamingo. I like that they are keeping that more or less original. They've refurbished it, but it still is older.

I stayed at the Sahara a few times. One time in particular back in the 80's, I'll NEVER forget the time pushed the elevator button to go to my room and who comes out???? A naked man! I kid you not. I'll never forget it.

TIS




http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...osing-down.html

I told you 100 times that I'm sorry! Sheesh. I was just 18 and having some fun...

My sister's in LV and staying at the Flamingo. I checked it out on Google Earth and the web and it sure has changed since Bugsy owned it.

Ha ha ha ha!! I told you not to drink so much.


Oli,

Yea, the Flamingo has changed BUT it still has the older feel to it compared to all the high tech modern newer casinos and since it was the FIRST (at least I think it was), it would be nice to keep it. I wanna stay there next time I visit. I never have.



TIS

Probably in larger cities/areas this would not be big news at all but in Michigan there tends to be a premium placed on politeness, even if you don't mean a word of what you're saying. So to have Albom and Beckmann lose it (by MICHIGAN standards) did make the news..

Mitch Albom cites 'regret' over WJR spat with Frank Beckmann
Susan Whitall / / The Detroit News

Two titans of the WJR-AM (760) airwaves, Frank Beckmann and Mitch Albom, went at each other on Beckmann's show this morning over what Albom felt was unfair commentary by Beckmann over his advocacy for the state tax credit for the film industry.

There were some preliminary gentlemanly murmurings about respect, but then things got heated very quickly.

"I know I'll never convince you of the benefit of the tax credit Frank, but to spend eight minutes of your show talking about me, and my (lack of) transparency ... I thought if I could spend just three minutes answering that, that's all I need," said Albom, a Detroit Free Press columnist and author.

Beckmann complained on the air and in a MichiganView.com column that Albom didn't disclose that with a film project about to start based upon his book "Have a Little Faith," he had a financial interest in having Michigan retain its generous tax credit for the film industry, something Gov. Rick Snyder has said is not sustainable.

Albom insisted that he's neither an investor nor a producer of the film. The Hallmark production just received approval for a Michigan tax credit, something Beckmann felt was no coincidence.

"I am not involved in negotiations," Albom kept insisting, as Beckmann hammered away at him.

"But you benefit from this, Mitch, as a screenwriter," Beckmann said. "Won't Hollywood look kindly upon you because they know you're advocating for the industry?"

"No!" Albom retorted. "They can get that tax credit anywhere."

The writer insisted that he was thinking of the 225 Michiganians who would get jobs as a result of "Have a Little Faith" filming here. "Or, 225 Pennsylvanians can get those jobs."

Beckmann countered that Michigan lost money on the tax credit, and if the state subsidizes the film industry, why not subsidize horse racing or countless other industries.

Albom's tenor went airborne a few times, and when he commented that Beckmann "wasn't knowledgeable" about the issue, Beckmann's baritone boomed out, "Oh, so I'm stupid?"

Then: "Of course, you're knowledgeable, Mitch. It must be a burden to carry that around."

But in the end, nobody budged from their position, and even the thin veneer of collegiality seemed to be in doubt...

Albom-Beckmann Spat

OMG, You guys remember Jeff Conway (from Taxi & Grease). He's in critical condition after a drug overdose. The guy has had serious problems and I saw most recently on some reality show I believe. The guy looked awful and sadly I'm not surprised. I sure hope he makes it though and straightens out.



TIS

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/jeff-conaway-in-critical-condition-after-apparent-overdose/63283

updated 5/18/2011 4:55:59 PM ET 2011-05-18T20:55:59

For some, it's Judgment Day. For others, it's party time. A loosely organized Christian movement has spread the word around the globe that Jesus Christ will return to earth on Saturday to gather the faithful into heaven. While the Christian mainstream isn't buying it, many other skeptics are milking it.

A Facebook page titled "Post rapture looting" offers this invitation: "When everyone is gone and god's not looking, we need to pick up some sweet stereo equipment and maybe some new furniture for the mansion we're going to squat in." By Wednesday afternoon, more than 175,000 people indicated they would be "attending" the "public event."

The prediction is also being mocked in the comic strip "Doonesbury" and has inspired "Rapture parties" to celebrate what hosts expect will be the failure of the world to come to an end

There's actually some atheist who started a business for believers who want their pets taken care of after Judgment Day. Yeah, and this guy has these people sign a contract for $135 up front and then additional $20 per pet. The contract is necessary because obviously you can't pay him after Judgment Day. Now, the amazing thing is over 260 people have signed up this year. That's $35,000 in your pocket. That's $35,000 because people are stupid.

Oops! I just posted this over in the Dead Pool thread before I read your post here! Sorry TIS - I wasn't trying to "jump the gun" on Conaway, honest!

Signor V.

My goodness, of course not. I just thought instead of starting a new thread that I'd randomly post it.

TIS

I'm convinced that Target is the worst company in the world to work for...

Why do you say that, X?

Hmmm...where to begin:

1) The leadership (or lack of) @ my store is horrendous. None of the execs talk to each other, no one knows what ANYBODY is doing. I'm pretty sure 90% of the execs at my store are qualified on paper only, and not through experience.

2) The realization that no matter how hard you work, unless you have your lips planted squarely on the boss's ass, you get no recognition, shitty end of year reviews full of bullshit marks against you, and there is no chance of advancing. But maybe that's just corporate America in general.

3) So I got taken off the schedule for today's shift. They called me yesterday to let me know. Well...at 4:15 this morning, I get a call from my supervisor asking me why I'm not at work. Are you kidding me?! So I remind him, as kindly as one can after being woken up at 4:15 a.m on your day off, that I had been taken off the schedule for this particular shift. Then he has the audacity...the unmitigated GALL, to cop a pissy attitude with me. Motherfucker, you just WOKE ME UP AT 4:15 IN THE MORNING ON MY DAY OFF, A DAY OFF THAT YOU AND MY ETL SAW FIT TO GIVE ME...and you get pissy with me? So I hung up on the bastard.

That really sucks, X! But it doesn't sound much different than other places, especially #1.

Sounds like you're still working for your friends from Bentonville.

Don't burn any bridges behind ya. Hang in there, X.

Things are run the same way in Minneapolis as they are in Bentonville, it seems.

I keep telling myself that this is all a means to an end. Target is temporary, a pit stop to my career.

...okay, the Jack Daniel's helps, too!

Yeah, my job drove me to drink. I was forever grateful for that.

My doctor wants me to wear a bp cuff for 24 hours. It's been inflating every 20 minutes. It's gonna keep me awake all night. UGH!!!!

Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Bob, and thanks for all the GREAT music.

What's your favorite Dylan song??

Boy or Girl

We have good news! It's a brand-new baby ... something?
Mitch Albom

It's the first question asked when a baby is about to arrive:
"Boy or girl?"

And in the case of a Toronto couple, the answer has been, essentially, "Whatever."
Kathy Witterick and David Stocker have decided that their third child, named Storm and born on New Year's Day, will decide its gender when it is ready. In the meantime, they are keeping it secret, and making their two other children, both boys (at least as far as they're telling us), keep the secret as well.

"If you really want to get to know someone, you don't ask what's between their legs," Stocker told the Toronto Star.
Added the mother in an e-mail to that paper: "Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s(he) wants to be?!."

Never mind that the question can be answered with one peek down the diaper. What I don't get is the motivation. The parents, in their late 30s, seem to feel a terrible injustice is done by identifying something that goes back to Adam and Eve, namely, well, whether you're an Adam or an Eve.

"What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children," Stocker told the Star. "It's obnoxious."

Hmm.
Lack of schooling is no way to learn.
Calling a boy a boy is not making a choice for your child. But calling a boy genderless is.

I wonder what other choices these folks will leave to the baby. For example, why not let it decide to change its own diaper? Why impose your view? Maybe the kid likes sitting in poo-poo -- who are we to judge?
Why decide when to do a feeding? Put the bottle on the counter and let the kid go after it. Schooling? The child can decide. Go. Don't go. Whatever. What's important, after all, is that parents aren't "obnoxious" about it.

What you have here is a classic case of people saying one thing and causing the opposite. By trying to ignore gender, they have made gender the most important thing. There are now online polls as to whether Storm is a boy or a girl (most say boy), and TV shows and talk shows nationwide have been buzzing with it.
Meanwhile, Storm's two older brothers -- Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2 -- are being raised without formal schooling and taught to choose whatever behavior they like. Jazz, according to the Star, dresses in pink, paints his nails and wears a stud in his ear.

This, we are to believe, is his "choice." Of course, Mom or Dad made the choice to buy the nail polish, the clothes and the stud. What happens if the child points to a chain saw? They get him that, too?

Mother Nature makes her decision.
This is all part of a new self-loathing that defines anything traditional as bad, and any decision you might make as "judgmental" -- even to a crying infant.

I try to imagine telling my parents, when I was in the crib, that they were too judgmental. My father would still be laughing.
The Toronto couple believe they are giving their child a "choice" -- even though that choice was made by nature and was evident in the first pee-pee. Meanwhile, it seems pretty unfair to tell a 5- and a 2-year-old to keep a secret. Isn't that imposing something on them?

Personally, I am all in favor of a little imposition. It's time to eat. Time to sleep. Time to stop crying. Time to go to school. Don't treat others that way. Don't say rude things.

It's called parenting. If the child, later in life, prefers football to lipstick, or boxer shorts to dresses, or one day asks a doctor to mangle its private parts in an effort to be something else, it still will be unable to deny that it was born one way.
It's not a judgment. It's a fact.

So is this. When your child asks, "Am I a boy or a girl?" and you answer, "Whatever you want," you're not being wise, hip, progressive or nonjudgmental, you're just being a fool.

i am guessing its a baby alien

You should treat your children like The Godfather http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkDon?feature=mhee

Or a hermaphrodite.

Signor V.

Don't let your daughters visit Kuwait

Politician's Proposal

We have yet another insight into what passes for Sharia-based feminism in the Middle East. This week we already saw a Obedient Wives’ Club calling for women to service their husbands like “high-priced prostitutes” to fulfill their duties under the Koran (Qu’ran). Now, Kuwaiti politician Salwa al Mutairi has called for the use of sex slaves, or Jawari, to satisfy the needs of “decent, devout and virile Kuwaiti men” and discourage adultery....

Because the use of a sex surrogate is NOT adultery?? Hmmm...must be what Tiger, Weiner and Ah-nuld were reading, just to name a few.

By Jonathan Stempel and Jessica Wohl Reuters updated 6/13/2011

NEW YORK/CHICAGO — Wal-Mart Stores Inc has lost its appeal of most of a $187.6 million verdict for Pennsylvania hourly workers who accused the world's largest retailer of denying them meal and rest breaks.

A three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on Friday said there was sufficient evidence for Philadelphia jurors in 2006 to conclude that Wal-Mart's practices violated state wage and hour laws. It also said Wal-Mart's own internal review uncovered violations regarding "off-the-clock" work.

The case was brought on behalf of about 187,000 current and former Wal-Mart workers in Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2006.
They contended that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company's engaged in improper practices to enhance productivity, boost profit and cut costs. "The record reflects testimony and documentary evidence suggesting that because of pressure from the home office to reduce labor costs and the availability of significant bonuses for managers based on store profitability, Wal-Mart's scheduling program created chronic understaffing, leading to widespread rest-break violations," the appeals court said.

Not a surprise, but wait... is that $1M per person??? I am NOT condoning Walmart's actions (tho I still can't help but shop there), and I'm NOT belittling their workers' gripes at all... but are work breaks really worth a million dollars a person??

No, it is more like $1,000. each.....

Okay, wow... I shouldn't do math late at night

I haven't been paid for two weeks; me and the whole company. We were told to be patient; we will be paid. Fifty percent of our work is through a sub-contract. The main contractor is having some "accounting issues" and its the end of their fiscal year, or so we've been told. I will get by for a month, but I feel sorry for some of the young guys in our company who live paycheck to check. I'm debating on whether to call-out on Monday and say I can't make it to work, I have a job interview.

Thanks Lilo, I might try that.

This is how people talk. I mean, let's be honest.
Of course you can't be CAUGHT on tape talking about your co-workers like this but evidently I'm not the only person that occasionally wonders whatever happened to the babe stewardesses. Maybe that was just in the movies..

But you just can't say stuff like that over an open mike.
Good night in the morning!!!! Hello...Human Resources...Umm yeah we have a candidate for separation...

Pilot rants about ugly and gay flight attendants

Albany, New York (CNN) -- New York's Republican-controlled legislature cleared the way Friday to legalize same-sex marriage with a 33-to-29 vote, sending the bill to the governor's desk for his approval.

It's about time.

20-30 years from now, if Earth is still around, people will wonder what the big fucking deal was.

Finally after 1 year and 1 month of searching I got my first official job

Para Legal at the Union. I can start monday! I'm so happy.

Congrats and good luck, MMF.

Thanks.

That's great MM Floors. I always have found the legal profession very interesting. Good luck to you.

TIS

I hope next year they pass the same-family marriage. I really want to marry my cousin.

Move to Arkansas.

last time i checked FDR did not move to Arkansas to marry his cousin Elenoir

Where first cousin marriage is banned and where it is allowed in the US.
State Laws

Nothnin' says lovin' like marryin' your cousin.

Yep...gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Rollin' your own."

Signor V.

Wonderwall, Friday, July 1, 2011, 4:21pm (PDT)

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Six weeks after Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed he had fathered a child out of wedlock, his wife, Maria Shriver, filed divorce papers Friday to end their marriage of 25 years.

The former television journalist and Kennedy family heir cited irreconcilable differences but offered no additional details about the breakup

Yes I saw it on the news today. I can't say I'm surprised. She's also asking for child support (also no surprise). What a sad situation.


TIS

http://vimeo.com/23607973

These kids are adorable. I love how the girl laughs way too much compared to the boy.

So cute! That's awesome... But I think she got bored with it before he did, so that must say something (she's smarter)

This is from Slate.com:

Q. Slow Boyfriend: I want to marry my boyfriend, but there is one issue that always holds me back. To put it bluntly, he is, well, slow. I don't mean to sound condescending (I'm not exactly a rocket scientist either), but that is what he is. He has zero general knowledge. He thinks hamsters lay eggs, and Greece is a continent, and Beijing is a country in Greece. If I encourage him to read a book, he boasts that he's never read a whole book in his life. He doesn't know a lot of words that most high school graduates know. For instance, I was watching the news and remarked, "That politician always contradicts himself." He asked me what "contradict" means. This happens several times a week, even with my average vocabulary. Although he was born here, his mom is from Chile, so at first I thought it was because Spanish is his dominant language. It turns out he doesn't even speak Spanish, even though all of his siblings speak at a basic conversational level. He managed to graduate college without any special help, so I don't think he has any kind of cognitive disabilities. Would this impact our marriage negatively?

That's the part of the story that is truly frightening.

Signor V.

Why would you date someone that you consider "slow", much less want to marry them?

Then 25% of the population (low-average IQ and lower) shouldn't date/procreate? Maybe you're right...

if that was the case then al gore would have been our 43rd president

Bad boy, twisting my words. I said, Why would you date someone YOU consider slow. If you're dating someone that you think is stupid, what does that make you?

And, yes to your statement. That's why they have The Darwin Awards.

i believe this guy will win the award this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/ny-motorcyclist-dies-ride-protesting-helmet-law-143217859.html

Smarter

Just think, you could actually wear one of those shirts that says: "I'm with stupid." LMAO


TIS

They are closing the 405 freeway next week for a couple days to add a lane or widen the road or whatever. Fortunately I don't use this freeway but it's gotta be the busiest or at least one of the busiest freeways in SoCal. It is constantly busy and I understand 5:00 traffic is a daily horror. That along with the fact that most Californians don't know how to drive has a potential nightmare scenario. They are calling it "Carmageddon." Why they even have Erik Estrada doing public service announcements telling people to avoid the freeway and "stay home."

TIS


http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/07/local/la-me-405-freeway-20110607

If I lived in California I would just buy a helicopter and call it a day.

Mississippi, where 34.4 percent of the people are obese, has the highest obesity rate. Other states with obesity rates above 30 percent include: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Thirty-eight other states have obesity rates above 25 percent.

For the second year in a row, obesity rates rose in Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Rhode Island and Texas.
And, for the third year straight, more residents of Florida, Kansas, Maine, Oklahoma and Vermont tipped the scale toward obesity.

http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100275061&GT1=31036

Unfortunately people's sense of attractiveness and self-worth is tied up in weight so you have to be careful in how you talk to people about weight gain. But generally speaking obesity just isn't good for anyone. We have to start treating it like any other public health problem. Because it's costing lives and money.

Hey TIS, what do ya think?

By Erika Okano NBCBayArea.com NBCBayArea.com updated 7/11/2011 4:02:04 PM ET

-A Southern California Republican says it is time to split California in half. Jeff Stone, a Riverside County supervisor from Temecula, says he wants 13 of the state's mostly conservative counties to break away and become "South California".

The proposed South California would be made up of Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tulare and Riverside counties. That totals about 13 million people.

Riverside County's Board of Supervisors will consider the proposal tomorrow, according to the Los Angeles Times. If the board approves the plan, leaders will create a framework for secession and then host a statewide summit on the issue.

i guess arnold could run for mayor of south california

Hey Oli,


I am in Riverside County so I would be included. I feel fairly confident saying, it'll never happen. I say "no thanks." We've got other things to take care of here besides the splitting CA into two states. Things like "Carmageddon coming this weekend."


TIS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) The anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church has announced plans to picket this week's funeral services for former first lady Betty Ford in California and Michigan.

The website of the Topeka, Kansas-based church said the fringe group will demonstrate at Ford's funerals because she divorced her first husband William Warren prior to marrying the late president Gerald R. Ford.

In Westboro's eyes, that makes Ford an adulterer who "loved to sit with tawdry reporters and blather about sex."

The group plans to picket at services at Saint Margaret Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, Calif. on Tuesday (July 12) and at Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids on Thursday when her casket will travel by motorcade for burial at the Ford Museum.

The extremist church -- mostly a collection of Fred Phelps' extended family and friends -- formally won the right to picket funerals in March after an 8-1 Supreme Court decision ruled it is protected by the First Amendment.

"She couldn't wait to have an audience with a reporter to titter about premarital sex, and how much she loved to teach it to her daughters," the church's website said. "The trashy reporters encouraged her to say more! So she urged all the women of this doomed foul nation to engage in extramarital sex. Then she pushed for abortion, because when you teach a nation's women to be whores, it's inevitable pregnancies will inconvenience the selfish strumpets! That is the legacy of Betty Ford."

Why don't they all go picket in an electrical storm carrying their signs on metal posts???

They're waiting for Michele Bachmann to give them the order. God, I hope they endorse her. Hateful bitch that she is.

i hope somebody silence these ignorant bastards...and i wish the supreme court made picketing a funeral a crime just like yelling 'fire' in a crowed theater.

They were going to picket a local high school's production of "The Laramie Project", the story of Mathew Shepard and the town where he lived and was murdered. Several religious leaders in my area promised to bring their congregations and stage a counter-protest. The Baptists never showed up.

What I would like to know is how these 70 people have all the time and money to travel around the country staging protests?

Please don't call them Baptists. There's nothing religious about that hateful group of mongrels. Just call them morons. Don't paint my whole religion on those idiots. There's not a Baptist bone in their body.

You're right, Beth. They wouldn't know the true meaning of Christianity if it hit them over the head. Christ taught that we must love one another, we're all God's children, and we must never judge each other. Hmmmmm...that doesn't sound like anything I've heard from so-called Christians lately.

every group has their rotten eggs

I have been pulled over three times by the same cop in the past 12 months.

Speeding? No.

Busted tail-light? No.

Crossing a double yellow? No.

Krispy-Kreme's in my backpack? No.

This cop has pulled me over three times...while I am riding my bike to work. I ride my bike in the street, I have a headlight and a taillight for my bike, and for fuck's sake, I'M HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT BY NOT DRIVING MY CAR!! This last time he pulled me over, he demanded I get off my bike, put my hands on my head, sit down on the curb with my legs crossed out in front of me, and, to quote: "Keep your fuckin' mouth shut unless you want me to crack your head."

I ask him what I did wrong, and he tells me to shut the fuck up.

I ask him if I can call my boss to let him know I'll be late, he says "WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST TELL YOU?!"

Finally, after about 10 minutes of nothing, I tell him "Look, you can either tell me what I did wrong and cite me or place me under arrest, or let me go. Either way, I'm not staying here another second. I have rights."

He proceeds to shout at me like a lunatic, saying "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE SO LATE, RIDING A BICYCLE?! YOU KNOW WE GOT PEOPLE REPORTING CAR BREAK INS DOWN THIS STREET?! I'M JUST DOING MY JOB, AND ALL YOU'VE BEEN GIVING ME IS FUCKING ATTITUDE!!!"

Um...me giving YOU attitude?!

Finally, he lets me go, I get to work 20 minutes late and get an earful from my boss. I tell him what happens, and he says "Well you should have left earlier. You gotta anticipate things like this."

I have to anticipate that my local law enforcement officers are a bunch of assholes that have nothing better to do than pull over a guy riding his bike to work?

I love my life.

another group with rotten eggs, and its sad too. if you don't mind me asking what state do you live in?

I live in Orange County, California. The police around this area are notorious for pulling people over and fabricating reasons as to WHY they pulled them over. A buddy of mine (who is Mexican and has that "cholo" look, even though he is not a gang banger) was pulled over a while back because of how he looked. Eventually, the cop said he pulled him over because he had a busted taillight. My friend said "No I don't", to which the cop went around to the back of his car and smashed in his taillight with his baton. He then wrote my buddy a ticket for the smashed taillight.

I think due to the fact that the city of Fullerton (where I live) is considered one of the safest communities in Orange County, the cops are bored and have nothing better to do, so they harass people. I see it all the time.

X,

That's awful. Their are dicks in every profession I guess, including policemen.

A tad off topic regarding bicycle riding here in CA. I was and still am amazed at the rights bicycle riders have here. First, many streets have bicycle lanes which cars can't drive on unless you are turning right and IF of course nobody is riding in that lane. Ok, I guess, but when there is so much sidewalk I can't see why use the street. Also they ride the same direction as traffic. When I was a kid IF you did you in the street you were advised to go opposite of traffic.

Also, and this one kills me, there have been times that I am in a left turn lane and there is a bicyclist in line with the cars waiting to turn as well. I still think that's dangerous. I guess I'm getting use to it but it blew me away when I first moved here. Then again CA has a whole lot of bicycle riders compared to Michigan.

TIS

One of the times I was pulled over, it was for riding on the sidewalk. The officer told me that cyclist's must use the road just like cars, because a bicycle is considered a vehicle. First off, I never would have known that because I have ridden my bicycle on the sidewalk past hundreds of police officers in my life time, and none of them stopped me (except for this douche).

Secondly, it was 3 in the friggin' morning!! How many pedestrians do you think are taking a stroll down the sidewalk that early? Furthermore, I know for a fact that he didn't pull me over for riding on the sidewalk, he pulled me over because I was riding a bicycle at 3 in the morning (with a backpack on). He probably thought that I might have drugs or something, and so decided to stop me, and then threw out some bullshit reason as to why he pulled me over when he found out I wasn't transporting drugs.

I hate Orange County police officers!

has anybody try to videotape or voice record any of the police officers?

That is utterly ridiculous, X!!

WTF?? I know most cops are good, but there are some REAL douchebags out there as well! Fucking disgrace to the badge!!! There should be someone you could complain to....but that'd probably be an even bigger nightmare.

Well Carmageddon officially starts tonight in which they are closing the 405 freeway for the weekend. Thankfully I never use that freeway but it is one of the busiest in the L.A. area. I've not been following all the details but the news here is really building this closure up. I heard that there might be "block" parties on/by the off-ramps. Don't know if that's true.

The radio station is giving away Carmageddon survival kits" including, snacks, water and a road map circa 1950's to help you get around using side streets. They are actually encouraging people to stay home and relax the weekend because evidently that freeway is extremely busy even during the weekends. God, I'm glad I don't travel anywhere near it. It's gonna make every other freeway in the area and even nearby side streets extra busy.

Btw, Jet Blue was offering $4.00 fares (sold out now) to/from the L.A. - Long Beach area. And, several bicyclists said they can ride that same distance in the less time than it takes to fly Jet Blue. So Jet Blue offered a plane seat for another passenger to fly and see if that person arrives at the destination before or after the bicyclists.

I don't have any links because I just hear these tidbits on the news. I'll try to find some though and add to this post to anyone who might be interested.

TIS

Here on the East Coast, I just watched a feature on ABC's "Nightline" about the 405 closure. They said that ten miles of the road would be out of commission. Seems like this is going to affect a lot of people.

But they never actually said why the freeway is being closed. There was a reference at the beginning of the story to summertime being the time for road construction, so I'm assuming that's the reason. But nothing at all was specifically said in the news report. Just sloppy reporting, I guess.

Paris Hilton tweeted that she will be staying home this weekend. Tom Hanks advised people to avoid the 405. Erik Estrada filmed a public service TV commercial.

In addition to avoiding the freeway, alternative forms of transportation are also being encouraged.



Hmmm... Looks like the end of civilization as we know it!

Signor V.

SV,

It's my understanding that the 405 is closed because they are tearing down the Mullholland bridge to eventually widen the freeway. The reports today have everything quite quiet with no major "freakouts".

Take a look at this clip from a BBC broadcast. It's short, it's self-explanatory and it's hilarious. What an embarrassment for the reporter.

TIS



http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_lea...urn=mlb-wp12777

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN, WILL WEISSERT The Associated Press 2011-07-17

LOS FRESNOS, Texas — Police wearing berets and bulletproof vests broke down the door of a Guatemala City apartment in February hunting for illegal drugs. Instead, they found a different kind of illicit shipment: 27 immigrants from India packed into two locked rooms.

The Indians, whose hiding space was furnished only with soiled mattresses, claimed to be on vacation. But authorities quickly concluded they were waiting to be smuggled into the United States via an 11,000-mile pipeline of human cargo — the same network that has transported thousands of illegal immigrants from India, through Central America and Mexico and over the sandy banks of the Rio Grande during the past two years.

Indians have arrived in droves even as the overall number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. has dropped dramatically, in large part because of the sluggish American economy. And with fewer Mexicans and Central Americans crossing the border, smugglers are eager for more "high-value cargo" like Indians, some of whom are willing to pay more than $20,000 for the journey.

So how many of you are roasting in the triple digit temps? I heard on the news where somebody baked chocolate chip cookies on the dashboard of her car.

It's been beautiful but unseasonably cooler with temps in the high 80's. Normally we are well into the 90's and 100's. Fingers crossed we can continue with this. I won't hold my breath though. Our summer heat goes well into September so I'm sure it's coming.

To those of you in the boiler room, I hope it ends very soon.

TIS

It's in the high 90s this week - a cooling trend.

No relief in New York until Sunday, when it finally goes below 90 degrees. It's 100 now, with a "heat index" of 110.

Very dangerous heat, but my lunatic 82 year old father was in my yard this morning robbing my tomatoes. Crazy old goat. Arthur Spooner has nothing on my Pop.

It was briefly over 100 degrees. One person died.

Power Outages and Heat

Did you guys hear about the bombing in Oslo?? Also, a man opened fire at a youth camp and the police think it is related to the bombing.

Wow, I don't know much about Norway but you never hear any kind of issues in the news about Norway of all places. At least not that I'm aware of.

TIS


http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-rocks-central-oslo-norway-pms-office-134903379.html

I heard there could be over 80 dead. This is a terrible tragedy. What's really sad is that nobody has mentioned this story, but Amy Winehouse's death gets a thread of its own. A crack whore celebrity grabs the headlines from this incident that resulted in the most deaths in Norway since World War II.

85 at the youth camp.

I have to agree with you about the Winehouse story. It is a shame where our interests sometimes lead us.

Wasn't Heath Ledger's death due to a combination of prescription drugs??? Or was he a known "druggie?" His death did surprise me.


TIS

My mom got a new laptop yesterday and my sister is saying she's messed it up already. haha. She said her screen is like a quarter inch column and she doesn't know how she did it. Any suggestions?

Just try rebooting or go to the Control Panel and access the system and security troubleshooter.

looks like you posted in the wrong thread lol. anyways though as far as i can remember, i never heard that ledger was a druggie.

SUNDVOLLEN, Norway (Reuters) - Norway mourned on Sunday 93 people killed in a shooting spree and car bombing by a Norwegian who saw his attacks as "atrocious, but necessary" to defeat liberal immigration policies and the spread of Islam

Such a terrible waste. All those lives cut short, and for no reason, simply the random act of a mad man.

A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows a 49 percent increase in emergency department visits for drug-related suicide attempts for women aged 50 and older.

And women aged 40-69 are more at risk of killing themselves than other women, according to new research on age-specific suicide rates between 1998 and 2007. In 2007, this age group made up 60 percent of the 7,328 suicides reported among women.

But why middle-aged women? It could just be a question of numbers: One in four adults in the U.S. has a treatable mental health condition, and middle-aged women are one of the fastest-growing populations in the country.

So remember a couple weeks ago when I told my story about being harassed by my local police department, so bad that the last time I got stopped, the officer threatened to "crack my skull" if I didn't keep my mouth shut? Well, they have struck again...only this time they literally cracked a man's skull. I'll post the story and let the video and photo speak for themselves:

Source: Huffington Post





Let me warn you, this photo is EXTREMELY graphic, so I will embed it within a spoiler for those who don't wish to see the devastation these animals rained upon this poor man:



I was very familiar with Kelly Thomas, as he liked to hang around the Target I work at, as well as the 7-Eleven right across the parking lot from my Target. I've given him some spare change on more than one occasion, and despite some eccentricities, he was harmless for the most part. And even if he was guilty of breaking into cars and stealing stuff, does that warrant a death sentence, courtesy of the men and women sworn to protect and serve? This dude was small, about 5'8, and 120 lbs, at most. I cannot believe that 6 police officers were unable to detain him, and that they needed to repeatedly hit him with their Tasers and batons. Apparently, in Fullerton, California, being in possession of stolen property is punishable by death at the hands of our police department. I am disgusted...

i hope that those bastards lose their badge, and end up being in jail for years.

Freakin' disgusting abuse of authority!

I'm sure most cops are just fine, but sometimes I really think an IQ & Psych eval should be required for jobs of authority (if they aren't already)

NO special treatment should be granted to the scumbags involved!

Must have been like a pack of hyenas. "What a field day for the heat." Manslaughter charges seem appropriate.

Al Pacino's 21 year old daughter, Julie, was charged with DWI after getting caught in a NYC checkpoint near the Holland Tunnel.

Pacino admitted to cops that she had three beers and smoked some weed.

Oh no, really? Not funny I guess, but part of me wants to laugh for some reason. I wonder if dad smoked the weed with her. LOL

I don't know that I ever saw a picture of Julie. Does she look anything like her dad?


TIS

Here's a recent photograph - I'm just not exactly sure how recent.

Signor V.

Thanks SV. She's a nice looking girl but I can't say she looks like her dad, do you think?


On a similar note, did you hear that Clark Gable's grandson was arrested in L.A. for shining a laser light at a police helicopter? Nice looking boy. Do you think he resembles his grandfather?

TIS

http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/07/30/california.gable.grandson/index.html

Frankly TIS, I don't give a damn!

Is she one of Al's twins? I know that he had twins with Beverly D'Angelo, but I'm not sure how old they are. They used to live nearby, and, although you never saw Al, she would often come into town with the babies. She might still have the house, but he left after they split up.

SB,

I'm sure it's not the twins. They are way younger. Although it seems like last year, and considering how fast time flies, I'm guessing the twins are at least 5 (maybe older). LOL Don't feel like checking at the moment.

TIS

TIS, I'm wounded. You didn't acknowledge my witty quote above from GWTW.

Well Fiddle-dee! Very clever Rhett...I mean Oli.


TIS

TIS, I checked. The twins were born in January of 2001, making them 10 1/2. Time does fly. I couldn't find out if they are living with Al or Beverly, although I found an article from 2003 that reported he was suing her for custody. Also, their house in the NY suburbs burned down, so I guess she moved away.

Wow, 10 years already??? Geez, see what I mean?


On a side note, I heard today is the 30th anniversary of the first airing of MTV. Does anyone still remember the very first video played?

Remember "I want my MTV.."


TIS

MTV and VH1. And remember the VJs like Downtown Julie Brown??

It was Video Killed the Radio Star.

Thirty years ago...now I really feel old.

And now when people think of MTV, they're not thinking of music videos anymore, they're most likely thinking of...

Snooki.

(Who, BTW, I heard just got her nose pierced. BFD.)

Signor V.

That's right SV! You win the prize. The big check is in the mail (don't hold your breath)

Yea, remember when MTV actually played music? Snooki? It doesn't take much at all to be in a tv show anymore, evidently.


TIS

We got cable pretty early on (early 80's, I was barely in high school). I remember that our first HBO "cable guide" had JAWS on the cover. I also remember MTV, and my first remembrance of it was when J. Geils Band's "Love Stinks" aired, and my mom said how terrible of a message that was.

(BTW - I was watching other, similar music on TV then -- Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and full live concerts on UHF (Billy Squier, Quarterflash, and others))

A few years later, in college, I remember they aired many (24? 48?) hours of back-to-back USER-SUBMITTED versions of the Madonna video "Papa Don't Preach" "True Blue" which I watched quite a bit of. THAT was very cutting-edge, not just for the time, but of all-time! Video cameras weren't all THAT common yet, but they looked great and were entertaining.

Around the same time I remember seeing The Monkees series rerun 24/7 -- was that MTV? Awesome, regardless.

Anyway, MTV should rename itself at this point. They have nothing whatsoever to do with M(usic) anymore. But I'll give them one thing - they practically invented the modern version of "Reality TV" (The Real World), for better or worse....

No one thought the title of this was a bit off? lol

Cooking with Pooh?? Ewwww! Yea, one would think a person would think twice about that title.

As far as MTV, Geoff are you thinking about the Madonna's "True Blue" video? I don't know about "Papa Don't Preach" but I do know my girls who were in middle school at the time, made their own video of True Blue for the MTV contest.

They practiced with a couple other neighbor girls. It was a like a constant 24/7 over and over again dance routine. They dressed in garage sale type clothes (not far from how Madonna dressed at the time LOL.) They bickered over who would be the main "Madonna" character. We tried to work it out where everyone had their "Madonna" moments. LOL This went on for weeks in my garage. Imagine hearing that song over and over and over.

We rented a video camera and shot the video. It wasn't professional looking at all but it was the best we could do. It came down to the wire and we only had a couple days to send it in by the deadline. Well, we overnighted it so it would get there the day before due. We got it back a day or so later saying it didn't make it in time.

We couldn't tell the girls after their hard work. We watched, as they watched eagerly to see if their video would be played, knowing it wouldn't. To this day, the STILL think it was sent in and that it was possible it was played while they were in bed or not watching. A long kept secret. Ha ha


TIS

Yeah, you're right, TIS -- it was "True Blue". How I could forget which song it was after it being ingrained in my head I don't know. And too bad about the girls' video!

MTV, in the beginning use to have some unique contests. Another one I remember is when John Mellencamp (John Cougar at the time I think), released "Pink Houses." There was a contest to actually "win" a pink house. LOL I didn't enter that one LOL, but if I recall the house was in Bloomington Indiana where Mellencamp resides.


TIS

Yuck.

So, why didn't you post this in the Food & Drink forum?

Of course, the real question is: Where's Pizzaboy??

Signor V.

Saw this quote this morning. I can't believe how quickly time flies. I think I'll use the quote tho.

"And here's to you Mr. Hoffman..." Happy Birthday

I don't like the fact that I have to get older, but I like the fact that I'm ageing so well" – Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman, 74 today


TIS

While covering the Rangers at MSG during the 70s,80s Hoffman had season tickets to games with seats behind goal against the glass below Press Section where I worked and he couldn't help making himself known waving or stopping by the press always exiting the game early. He was pleasant, smiley guy.

With all the serious news domestically and around the world these days, one item stands out for its sheer... well, you decide.



Seems there's an online petition that's pushing for longtime pals Bert and Ernie to get married. I guess it was inevitable. Click here.

Just this once, I'd say, "Don't ask, don't tell."

Signor V.

SV, I'm with you. Why is this even an issue? And who is going to perform the ceremony? Tinky Winky??

Sorry they are to late....Bert and Ernie where one of the first couples married here in New York State when the law changed a few weeks ago.
The Governor was there, so was Miss Piggy who was flirting with a girl from the View. There was Neil Patrick Harris who told Hermit the frog that it was alright to be green, but Rainbow was the color of the day!

Hermit the frog? Y'know, FS, I think you may be onto something here. Speaking for myself, the thought of the Bert/Ernie nuptials would certainly be enough to drive me into indefinite hiding in a secluded cave somewhere.

As a matter of fact, it was reported that one resident of Sesame Street, upon hearing the news, was positively inconsolable.



More on this breaking story as it develops.

Signor V.

Nah, Bert likes chicks.

Interviewed Johnny Cougar prior to performance at Univeristy in Bloomington in mid 70s; before going onstage place was packed, band tunning up;
just he (quite small) and I behind curtain chatting as girls screamed for him to step out. He was babbyish, shy, unsure, filled with excitement and hope. Having just signed big label contract he spoke about them requiring dues be paid; travel the local curcuit jammed on busses with band and crew playing smaller venues under whatever arrangements possible.

Anyone heard from Apple?

She's hard at work on President Obama's re-election campaign.

man that picture is so funny!

Yes, in case you didn't know Hermit is Kermit the frogs Gay name....but Miss Piggy outed him after they broke up. Turns out that his bi side got way to crazy, even for Miss Piggy!

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID updated 2 hours 21 minutes ago 2011-08-11T22:35:16
The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is considering cutting as many as 120,000 jobs. Facing a second year of losses totaling $8 billion or more, the agency also wants to pull its workers out of the retirement and health benefits plans covering federal workers and set up its own benefit systems.

Congressional approval would be needed for either step, and both could be expected to face severe opposition from postal unions which have contracts that ban layoffs.

The post office has cut 110,000 jobs over the last four years and is currently engaged in eliminating 7,500 administrative staff. In its 2010 annual report, the agency said it had 583,908 career employees.

Well, it's official: Bert and Ernie will not be making it legal.

So says Sesame Street.

Gee, I was envisioning them walking down the pink carpet, having their wedding service performed by our own Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and the whole thing ending up as one of those Ken Burns PBS documentaries during one of their all-too-numerous Pledge Drive Beg-a-thons - you know, where you get ten minutes of the show followed by twenty minutes of begging and whining. Another missed opportunity.

Sesame Street says "No!"

Actually, this would have been good publicity, and deflected attention away from Elmo, who, until his recent act of self-destruction (see above), had been Sesame Street's secret train-wreck, the Lindsay Lohan of the Children's Television Workshop. All the damage control behind the scenes could not prevent some of the information about Elmo's ongoing substance abuse problems and many stints in rehab from reaching the public:





But the real unanswered questions will, more than likely, center around Elmo's own ambiguous sexual orientation:



Somehow, I feel like we've all lost our innocence.

Signor V.

A Brazilian soap opera star has accused George Soros, one of the most renowned billionaires, of breaking her heart and going back on his promise to give her an Upper East Side apartment worth $1.9 million as a gift.

The New York Post announced on Thursday that the woman has filed a lawsuit against Soros.
The trial will take place at the Manhattan Supreme Court where 28 year old Adriana Ferreyr filed a $50 million suit. The woman claimed that the two had discussed the real estate deal while in bed. The mogul, whose wealth is estimated at $14.5 billion, and the actress have been dating for four years, before the man dumped Ferreyr a year ago.

After they had briefly reconciled, the man told the actress that he had given her apartment to another woman.
"While still in bed, Soros slapped Ferreyr across the face and proceeded to put his hands around her neck in an attempt to choke her," her lawsuit explained. After that the 80 year old man apparently tried to hit her with a glass lamp. He missed, but the actress cut her foot in the shards and the wound required three stitches.

A police report stated that she had called the officers, but no charges have been made. One of the billionaire’s friends stated that Soros "denies throwing the lamp and totally denies trying to choke her.”

"Mr. Soros did have an on-again, off-again and non-exclusive relationship with Ms. Ferreyr," Soros' lawyer, William Zabel said. "The complaint is riddled with false charges and is obviously an attempt to extract money from my client, who is a very wealthy man. The police investigated the ... incident referred to and concluded that no assault occurred ... George Soros did not slap, choke or throw a lamp at her."

hi

Hey there Smitty! Where the heck have you been? Hope all is well with you and your family.


TIS

Yeah, Smitty - I'll echo what TIS said!

Hope all is well with you - and stop by more often.

Signor V.

So I take it the BB made it thru this migration server?? GF and SF didn't get effed-up????



TIS

Re: The Kardashian wedding.

I'm rooting for an earthquake .

I still don't get what they are famous for but they were talking about it on the radio today (making lots of jokes). Evidently for your viewing pleasure, E will have a four hour broadcast of the event sometime in Oct. Mark your calendar.


TIS

The way they flaunt their wealth during the worst of economic times is beyond tacky, it's downright mean spirited. Now I ask you, if you're a single mother struggling with five kids living in a rental apartment, do you really want to hear about a 20 MILLION dollar wedding?

I really don't get it. I guess people just want to live vicariously through these nitwits.

Oh yeah, I give the marriage two years at the most.

I think it's "famous for being famous." Other than that, I'm drawing a blank. For years, I thought they were one of the alien races from Star Trek: The Next Generation. At least that would have meant something!



Optimist!

Signor V.

I'm going to blame this whole gaggle of people are famous for no reason other than they are famous on Larry David.

He started this nonsense by making a smash hit series about nothing. It was a short leap from that concpt to the concept of becoming famous for nothing.

Kardashian is famous for spreading her legs for any guy who flashes something of value at her.

I thought that was Paris Hilton.

I think the family first got into the public eye during the O.J. case. The father (Robert) was one of the scumbags who got him off.

Have you ever seen the two of them together at the same time?

Paris doesn't need a man to give her "valuables". She's worth a fortune, and it's not only inherited money. She's made a heck of a lot just being Paris.

Btw, anyone see the article in today's Wall Street Journal about Abercrombie & Fitch? They offered money to The Situation from "Jersey Shore" if he would stop wearing their clothes. It's a ridiculous publicity stunt considering that last year they carried a line of tops that said "GTL" (from the cast members list of Gym, Tan, Laundry) and another proclaiming it was "The Fitchuation".

Unemployment benefits got extended until November. In November it'll be a year I've been out of work.

Molly is doing great, she's 2 years old already somehow. I think she's flipping the calenders ahead or something.

Adderall has helped me a lot. I do things and I fix things and I like it. The garage is my sanctuary and my palace. Where I am the unquestioned King of the World. My World's Greatest Dad hat is my crown.

I want to be a farmer. I figured back breaking work that will keep me busy 7 days a week for the rest of my life would be great. But I need things like land and whatnot. You know, details.

Bought my first pistol the other day. Sure is purdy. And fun to shoot. Went with a .22 since I am not rich and you can get about 1650 .22 caliber bullets for the same price as 250 9mm. I'm not sure I've heard anyone talk about guns on this forum.

And there's a dead frog in my daughter's pool.

LN, considering the avatar you are currently using, should we be very afraid?

Signor V.

Nice to see you back LN. Molly is really two already? Holy cow. She must be getting into everything hu?

Don't know anything about guns. Are you a hunter or is this a protection gun?


TIS

Not at all, just give me your support. And by that I mean your wallet.



Molly is beautiful and cute and wonderful and amazing.

Molly sure can be a handful sometimes (all the time) but I still wonder how something can be so awesome and wonderful as watching her be cute or giving me a hug and a kiss. And how could I ever make her as happy as she makes me?

Here's a picture of my gun:
http://oi56.tinypic.com/makufd.jpg

It's a Sig Sauer Mosquito .22LR. My Skeeter. It was used, but it doesn't look like very much. The price was $350 and they knocked it down to $320 on sale, but I got them to come down to $300. Basically I got the sales tax knocked off.

It's a .22LR, which is just about the smallest caliber they have so it won't do a whole lot as far as protection (but still better than nothing). So I am just shooting targets, or making cans of pop explode, and having fun doing it.

My motivations for getting a gun are both for personal protection and because it is a fun hobby to shoot. I think hunting would be fun, and I like deer meat, but I'd need to get a rifle or shotgun. I do want to get a .22 rifle just for "plinking" and Walmart has one for $107. I'm finding that guns are like Lays chips, they taste a little salty and you can't have just one.

I am going to get a carry permit soon though. Indiana has a Lifetime Personal Protection option so instead of having to renew it every 4 years you can do it once. Go to the police department and sign the application from online and get fingerprinted and then hand over two money orders... $75 goes to Federal government and $50 to state (or vise versa) and then wait for it in the mail.

I probably won't carry my .22 but it's nice to have the option to, and it would be another layer of legal protection for things like transporting it from home to the range or a farm. My next pistol will be a 9mm. I went with a .22 first since you can get about 1,650 .22 caliber bullets for the same price as 250 9mm bullets. It's a lot cheaper, which means I can shoot a lot more for the same price. 9mm is the cheapest of the defense calibers. Kind of like looking at ink prices before buying a printer...

.22s are good to start off with too as far as practicing but I used to shoot BB guns all day long way back when (and I still got both my eyes) so I picked it up pretty quickly. I have a natural ability for it, an eye for angles at the pool table comes in handy here too.

The first response most people have is telling me to make sure Molly doesn't hurt herself with it. I think people who don't have a lot of experience around guns fear them either because they aren't familiar with them or because the only things you ever hear in the media about guns are negative, maybe both.

A gun will never decide to shoot anyone, or anything, even a target. I mean seriously, targets are just begging to be shot at. Those circles all piled inside of each other...

Guns today have more safety features than you might know about. Many guns (including mine) have an internal lock that requires a key to turn it to the right place or it won't fire. You wouldn't even know it was there unless someone told you. My gun won't fire if there is no magazine in it (so you can't put a bullet in the chamber and fire it). It has a double action trigger which requires 12 pounds of force to fire the gun, you can cock the hammer back to make it single action and then it only takes 4 pounds. But if you are carrying the gun in a holster or whatnot the 12 pounds is a nice safety feature. There's the usual safety switch too. Along with all kinds of locks and so on and so forth for miles and miles.

The best safety feature ever though is knowledge/education. I think it's important not to fear guns, but to respect them. I will teach Molly about guns and what to do and not do with it to use it safely. I'll take her to the range and let her shoot if she wants. There will be no mystery behind guns. She will know full well the dangers of them too. But my responsibility doesn't end there. Keeping the guns locked up and away from the ammo and so on all falls onto me.

Having and carrying a gun is a huge responsibility and I think it's worth it.


If you have any other questions I'll do my best to answer them.

Dating site OkCupid has tapped into their data to determine which cities across the U.S. have the most promiscuous residents. By analyzing how many people have profiles with "Casual Sex" marked as a type of relationship they're looking for and then tallying where those users live, OkCupid has found the cities with the highest percentage of bed-hoppers.

Who else made the list? Here's the top 10:

1.Portland (That would be Oregon. Sorry, Maine!)
2.Seattle
3.Pittsburgh
4.Miami
5.San Francisco
6.Dallas
7.San Bernardino, Calif.
8.Denver
9.San Diego
10.Houston


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/08/19/over.../#ixzz1VbsBuIOZ

According to Geoff's announcement (which you can't directly reply to, dammit!), we're all gonna become migrants on Monday.

Yep, we're going to experience the Great Server Migration in two days. Sorta like a giant herd of wildebeests thundering across cyberspace... or maybe it's more like waiting for The Rapture.


Personally, I think this whole migration thing sounds very Sci-Fi...



But, what the hell do I know?

We'll see if we're all still here Monday night...or on Tralfamadore (which wouldn't be so bad if Valerie Perrine is still there).

Signor V.

So tomorrow is the server migration issue? Or in "our" world here, it's know as....BB-A-Geddon.



TIS

Just what I love to hear.....Must be nice.

Stay home and relax, enjoy the kids, have enough extra money to go out and buy a gun, Pop soda cans and have a good time....

and shit the best part is they send you a check!


For up to a year? ? ? No wonder we have so many people trying to get into this country!

Apparently, Libyan rebels have taken Tripoli. Hopefully, Libya is another country that will turn toward democracy.

Yes, I posted in the news thread. Pretty interesting.

On the same note, someone on twitter posted this:

Michele Bachmann is still cheering the fall of Libya because that's where all the Libs live


TIS

Watch closely...



30 Amazing Stanley Kubrick Cinemagraphs

How pathetic is this: we dropped A T & T as our phone land line. We got a refund check from them for .09cents. Really? Why even bother?

Pretty interesting (and kind of creepy) Gina. I still get a kick out of (and cringe) at Jack Nicholson at his very best. He looks so damn scary, even when he smiles.



TIS

Gi, you always find the coolest things to share!

Yeah, not for nothing, but you can't even find employment at a place like Walmart or Walgreens?!? Or Grocery stores who are ALWAYS hiring in some capacity or another???

Of course, as long as Barry's in office you've nothing to worry about, so milk it as long as possible, I guess.

Really? Because someone is out of work that means they're "milking the system"?? How ridiculous. I work in real estate, but my business is down significantly over the last few years. Because of that, I've been looking for work for some time now. I check monster.com each and every day. I've also registered with temp agencies. I've applied for jobs that I'm ridiculously over-qualified for, but I still haven't found a permanent job. The one position I've been offered was 10 hours a week for $12 per hour.

There was an editorial in our local paper this weekend about how employers are taking advantage of the economy. They don't hire, they have employees doing the work that used to be done by several people, despite the fact that US corporate profits are up 22% since 2007. People put in dozens of extra hours per month because they're terrified of losing their jobs, so they put up with ridiculous demands. McDonald's had approximately 62,000 job openings last year. They received over One Million applications.

Still think those that are out of work are just milking the system?

Yes, a young man who's perfectly healthy and fit to work should never be unemployed for an entire YEAR. That's completely ridiculous and does indeed equate to milking the system. I mean, I see 16 yr olds with zits and glasses flipping hash or sweeping floors all the time at malls or restaurants and you're telling me a grown-ass man can't find ANYTHING for 365 days???

What about waiting tables or bartending??? I know waiters and bartenders who bring in over a grand a week. Construction sites??? Whatever. There's plenty of work for a virile young guy who wants it.

LN isn't stupid, either. He's obviously a bright guy, and that's where some people get in trouble. They don't want to work jobs that they feel are beneath them or their qualifications.

As far as your situation, SB, again, it's about not being afraid to perform jobs you feel are beneath you or your expectations. It's not easy for someone who once made 6 figures to go to working the Clinique counter at your local department store, but those jobs ARE available, IF you truly want them.

Frank, perhaps you think I'm some sort of snob about what kind of work I do. My husband and I have worked clerical jobs, retail jobs, temp jobs, landscaping, anything to make ends meet when we've had to. And I can tell you that those jobs are no longer available as they once were.

The biggest problem is the way that you have to apply for jobs today. It used to be that you could go door-to-door in shopping centers to try and land a retail job. Today, they won't even talk to you. They tell you to go home and apply on the website. Guess what? The companies are so overwhelmed with applicants they don't even bother reading them after the first fifty or sixty.

I registered with my temp agency right after the new year. They love me, tell me I'm extremely professional and are thrilled with my performance. You know how many assignments I've gotten? Two, and they've both been short term. The jobs are simply not there. The woman at the temp agency told me that their clients just aren't bothering.

However, you're so ridiculously intransigent, so blinded to any opinion but your own, that I'm sure I just wasted whatever time it took me to type this response.

To add to SB's points, I heard several times that more and more employers don't want to hire people who have been unemployed for a long time. They'll go for those who are "new" to the job search for some reason. And too, in this job market, if you're over 50 that works against you too.

You're right tho SB, some people have their minds made up, so why bother.

TIS

Before real estate, I worked for the local economic development agency. One of our directors went to work for a client of ours. After being there about 10 years, the company went under. She has been out of work for 15 months. She even went back to school under the Workforce Investment Act and became a certified phlebotomist, figuring that healthcare was a better field than business right now. She still hasn't been able to find a job.

Let me chime in here. Since the only info we have is that which was supplied by LN, we can't be sure if he is arduously pursuing employment or not. But, his stating that he is spending what I guess is part of his unemployment benefits on a firearm when he apparently has never had one before and has not stated his need for one does concern me. His post lends itself to a sense of casualness about his job search.

Haha. You have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

It's amazing what you can do when you save up money for a year. You might even be able to spend $300! I can't remember the last time I ate out for a meal or went to a movie or just went out in general. We save at least $20 each week using coupons, that number sounds low to me though, sometimes it's $50 in 1 trip.

I've been a stay at home dad this entire time taking care of the house, the yard, and the garden, oh and my daughter while my wife works full time as a Registered Nurse.

I've sent out at least 3 applications a week since November and I've gotten maybe 10-15 responses, a lot of times that's a "we've hired someone else."

I don't think you have any idea what the current job market is like right now.



When you factor in things like having a small child, having 1 car and a spouse that works full time, a job needs to pay a certain amount of money in order to just break even.


So yeah, a 16 year old with no bills or responsibility has an easier time taking any job that is available because they don't have to get another car, which raises their car insurance costs and gas, and pay for a babysitter, and they don't need health insurance because their parents give it to them.


It seems just about every job wants you to have a lot of experience and more and more companies are phasing out full time jobs so they don't have to offer benefits the retail stores you mentioned are a great example of this. Employers can afford to be extremely picky, and they know it.


Everything is slowed down as far as hiring (and the amount of work) everywhere. I didn't graduate college, and I don't have any experience in doing skilled jobs. I applied for a plumbing apprenticeship which involves picking up an application in the 3 hour window one day a month they give them out, filling that out, scheduling work keys tests, taking the tests for about 3 hours in a different city, and then waiting for those results to come in the mail, then you take them to the union hall and set up your interview, do the interview and then wait... I got the 25th best out of about 300. They took 2 people in for the program.

It is really rough out there right now. I read that there were something like 4-5 people for each job opening. Companies can and are being very picky. Many companies are avoiding full time hiring. They don't need to do that because there's not the demand and they can squeeze so much out of current workers.

I think this particular newspaper might have had a wee bit of bias...

Scottish men are the manliest

Scots men have been named the manliest in the world in a survey, with our English neighbours trailing badly in third place....

I can't believe there's not more discussion of this, but is anyone following the Lybia story?

Richard Engle (who's a great/brave "on the scene" reporter) is saying that the Rebels are now on the Gaddafi compound and that there WAS a lot of shots fired from inside. He says now however, there is no fire coming from inside the compound and thinks maybe the Rebels might be in the process of getting control.

They say Gadhafi has been in power for what? 42 years? Holy crap!(btw, how many different ways are there to spell Gadhafi? I've seen it Khadafi as well.

TIS

LN, there's no need to explain yourself to anyone, especially to people who will not listen, so why bother?? Unless you are in those shoes, nobody understands.

My daughter applied for a job as a part-time receptionist with a local arborist. Not only was the job part-time, but it was seasonal. Being a student, she figured this way she wouldn't have to work when classes were in session. The ad in the Sunday paper said to fax in her resume. When she called on Monday morning to confirm that her resume had been received, she was told that they had already received almost 200 resumes.

LN

Hang in there. Things are really really tough right now. For those who have jobs, I guess it's hard to imagine what it is like to be without one in this hard economic time. Sounds like you're doing all the right things though. I hope something breaks for you soon.

TIS

I'm on top of it TIS. Hopefully, democracy continues onthe march. I just wish NATO could figure out a strategic way to aid the people in Syria. But since Syria is landlocked and more urbanized than Libya, there are few if any overflight options and targets available to NATO.

These middle eastern uprisings being so close together seem like a CIA op to spread democracy and (more importantly) allies to a hostile region. Like Sadaam but without all the bombs. And you thought Whisper was the rapper...

Oli,

Richard Engle himself is now inside the compound. That guy is so brave. There is looting within, with the rebels taking guns/weapons, distroying statues and what not. There is no looting on the streets.

I hear Gadafi made an announcement of some kind saying that he would either be the victor or a martyr or something to that effect. Evidently he's not in the compound.

TIS

The arthritis in my back hurts 96 days out of 100. My knees are frequent too. My left wrist is on and off but it sure seems constant. Right now it's bad again, and in yet another google search for answers I wonder if maybe it's wrist tendonitis. It's like it never fully heals before the next flare up. I wonder about all these problems in my joints and how they might be connected but tests have shown nothing so far.

Last gasp by Ghadaffi. Why can't these dictators get it through their heads that the times they are achanging?

Well they Gotta Serve Somebody and they think they'll be Forever Young and that they are Masters of War. They don't realize the change Blowin in the Wind and that A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall like a Hurricane. Don't Think Twice It's Alright, they'll be no Changing of the Guards. They'd be all Tangled Up In Blue if they thought they were headed to Desolation Row.

Least Active Cities in America:

Lexington, KY
Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, MS
Charleston, WV
Oklahoma City, OK
Tulsa, OK
Little Rock, AR
Nashville, TN
Laredo, TX
Birmingham, AL

For those following, the Lybians rebel (Per MSNBC) claim they have Gaddafy surrounded in his apartment. Geez, I can imagine the temptation to blow his head off, but if would be nice if they could capture him and put him on trial.

Anyway I still can't get over 40 some years of the SAME leader. Holy crap! Definitely time for change.


TIS

Hi all, I just got back in town and am sorry to say that I feel a need to respond to a few posts I have just read....












With these types of posts and these types of attitudes no wonder there are less and less people posting here!

Seems like the only opinions that matter are ones own opinions I guess. What happen to everyone having a right to say or express what they feel. Without being chewed up if it differed from each other?

As always, feel free to repond but lets NOT keep this negative attitude towards one another going. If your opinion differs they just use facts, not put downs to make your point or feeling known.

Nobody is saying you (or anybody) doesn't have a right to his/her opinions. The fact of the matter is, you can't make assumptions just because someone has not worked for a year. Each case is different. It IS tough out there.

You can give your opinion but others can't respond?????


TIS

FS, We did give facts to support our views, which were ignored (62,000 job openings receiving over 1 million applications, for example). Therefore, I decided that some people prefer not to listen to reason. Secondly, don't quote out of context and ignore every other word in those posts. Third, if there's any reason there are less and less posts, it's because people like you can't ever post unless you're putting down other members.

Sounds llike your family is doing a great job trying to save on things. I know it can't be easy with things going up each and every day.




Of course we all know what the the current job market is, we are in it! Why is it that people who are out of work think that no one else knows any thing about the work place? or that we can't understand what it is like not to have a job? Or that we don't know how hard it is to find a job? Only three a week?, send out as many as there are job openings if you must. Read on ....




Welcome to the new world market. Jobs are fewer and fewer as things go overseas. Pay scare is going down and benifits are being cut right and left. Some companies started doing this years ago, others are just staring to do it , but one thing is for sure, it isn't going to change any time soon. As we have so few jobs around. And yes those jobs will go to people who are the best in their field. So were does it leave others? At the bottom of the pile...LOOKING!

Your right, it sure can be tuff to go thru all that without getting something. When you factor in the people who are leaving their fields because the job market sucks, and are jumping into a new or other job markets to find work makes it even more crowded, then it becomes even harder.


But you can give every excuse in the world why you are sitting home and collecting a check. In fact that is what the check is for. PEOPLE who are not working. AND belive me, I am not knocking you for not having a job. Not that I like the guy who makes ever excuse why he doesn't have a job when we all know he just doesn't want to work. Lets face it....we all know these types, right?

But let's be trueful here. I for one think that you may have come across as one who made a poor choice in some way. You are getting a check for the system, while you wife is working hard to bring the money you need to live. Saving all you can ....and you think it was a wize thing to go out and buy a gun so you have something to shot pop cans with?

You spent a long time talking about this new toy....when maybe you should have saved that money in case something comes up, like an auto repair or an unseen bill that may happen at the worst time. Fixing the car that helps you get to work would be way more important if it happen to break then having a new play thing.

Even if the funds went to buy something like extra food or a movie rental would make more sense then that. Something to pamper the working lady would have been more special to her? How in the world did the wife not bitch?

Well I have to go do some work, If I get the chance I will post some ideas that may help you land a job.....

OUCH...I guess you don't like my posts...
and you call me the one that puts people down...
It is a shame you feel that way....

Maybe all three of the posters where wrong in their feeling towards the gun purchase.....and maybe some are afraid of you to now comment further....
Not me so I will just keep posting, without attacks to a person in general....


By the way it wan't the facts, just the put downs that I quoted.

Pot calling the kettle black? is an old expression that comes to mind after reading your latest post....

Enjoy your afternoon.....

You're a negative person who enjoys popping in here now and then to post nasty things. It must be very sad to see life that way.

Since your chosen profession was to work in a recession-proof industry in a family business that was already established for you, I'm sure we all eagerly await the career advice that you intimated in your earlier post was forthcoming.

This is so interesting. Ever since I was a kid, people on welfare have been targets for scorn. However, it's only been within the last year or two that people receiving unemployment benefits, as a class, have been under attack. I think it's because many Americans are under the impression that things are just "supposed" to be okay, that things are just "supposed" to go right. Now that they are not okay and not going right, many Americans look for someone, some group, some class, some organization to blame, to make the target of their scorn. By the way FS, among the many things I've learned as a Board participant is that I will have some of that scorn directed at me from time to time and be "chewed up." Such is part of the nature of the Board.

There's something of value in FS's posts on this subject. As I posted above, I do have a concern that LN used some of his scarce funds to buy an optional item - a gun. Unless there is some urgent need which has not so far been stated, I think it should have been the last thing on his purchase list. Maybe it was.

By the way, I just tuned in Fox's Megyn Kelly and she is asking a panel of citizens "who do you blame for the economy?"

We have tons of food, shelter, water, electricity, and everything else we need, so what need did I sacrifice? What Great Important Thing? I saved up a lot of money bit by bit to buy something that should last a very very long time while not losing value.




I'm not sure if that was supposed to be towards me or if SB recently bought a gun, but that sounds pretty silly either way.





That's an awful lot of words to use to say nothing.

You don't just get unemployment for any reason, you have to have been laid off or fired through no fault of your own to qualify.

On a slightly different note, why isn't being a stay at home parent considered working?

Because apparently sexism is alive and kicking, LN. You're the MAN! You are experiencing something that few parents get to enjoy, so love every second of your time with Molly. These are very precious moments, and this baby stage is all too brief. Treasure every second.

Believe me, I enjoy every second with her. She's talking more and more each day and finding new ways to be amazing and surprise me. She loves to help me "fix it" and has her own tools and she likes to unload the dishwasher with me and she knows where the stuff goes!

Someone did a study on the value of a "stay at home mom" who is a housekeeper, a cook, a chauffer, a personal assistant, a child care specialist, a laundry person, a courier....to name a few....and I believe the economic value was around 75K a year.

Sounds wonderful. I remember those days well. I loved actually being able to converse with my girls and listen to them express their thoughts.

Molly letting my wife and I talk is another matter... haha. Always LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA or something when we start talking.

See You just made my point once again!


and you keep saying that I pop in and out...since when does how much you post mean that your opinions are worthless?
Gee I am so sorry that I can't sit here day in and day out and post on here to keep you company

Still the personal attacks are You not me.... just reread your last few posts!

and I guess the only reason you think other peoples posts are nasty are because they are opposite of yours... and you just can't seem to deal with that can you....

Oh and the best part is.... you feel that I have the silver spoon in my mouth- so I have no idea about things- huh?

So what about the other two business I started and run with over sixty five other employees that I deal with?


maybe that could be just the reason I'm not here that often....
One thing you are right on tho.."ridiculously intransigent" but lets also add Naive too!

so the career advice would only fall upon deaf ears!

and I will tip my hat to you and your great knowledge.

OK, Cami and Babe .... knock it off already. Either get a room somewhere or take it to the sandbox!!

FS responds to

So really like 100K since men get paid more?

My personal favorite is when they're occupied playing or watching a video UNTIL the phone rings. Then it's "Mom! Mom! Mom!" or "Dad! Dad! Dad!" non-stop!

My daughter brings her baby doll to me and says "Ride." She wants me to help put the baby on her back so she can run around giving it a piggyback ride.

Ok, never mind she's sex starved and looking for love, can you believe this is Sinead O'Connor???


TIS

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/30/sinead-oconnor-looks-for-love-online/

Wowee! Try the New York Magazine link for her graphic comments.

at first i had no clue who this whack job was until i got to the description of her ripping a photo of the pope. i only saw that when they had a 101 countdown of SNL moments.

Yams and bananas?? I get that bananas are phallic, but yams?? Really? When I worked in a supermarket, we called the cucumbers "widow's delights", but never had a nickname for the yams.

As Popeye said, "I yam what I yam."

I wonder if there's an Internet acronym for Waaaaaaaay Too Much Information????

Definitely looking for love in all the wrong places.

Bleeccchhh.....

Signor V.

Holy crap! Ok fellas, she's all yours.

I am still amazed at how different she looks. I would have never guessed who it was. Still, can you say weirdo?




TIS

In the words of Joe Pesci: "I would give her such a smack."

Are we sure that isn't Susan Boyle?

The years weren't kind to her. But that's what happens to some people. Too bad.

Buddy Holly is finally getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in honor of what would be his 75th birthday. According to the article there are rumors that Paul McCartney may show up. I have yet to be there when someone is getting honored, but damn, if I knew for sure McCartney would be there, it would be worth the trip. At least per the article they will show it on our local stations.


TIS

http://www.kcbd.com/story/15394470/buddy-holly-2011-birthday-bash-includes-new-star-on-walk-of-fame