the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 17, 2012 15:22:08 GMT -5
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 77th day of 2012 with 288 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:22 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 64ºF [Feels like 64ºF], winds calm, humidity 60%, pressure 30.26 in and falling, dew point 50ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.
Today in History: 461 (or A.D. 493, depending on sources)--St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, Christian missionary & bishop of Irelanddied in Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland. 1762--New York City's first St. Patrick's Day parade took place. 1776--British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War. 1861--Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed the first king of a united Italy. 1863--North and South clashed at the Battle of Kelly's Ford, Va. 1901--paintings by the late Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh were shown at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris and caused a sensation across the art world 11 years after his death. 1902--Bobby Jones, the American golfer who was the first winner of the Grand Slam, was born; died 1971 at age 69. 1905--Franklin D. Roosevelt married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt, in New York City. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, FDR's fifth cousin, gave his niece away. 1906--Pres. Roosevelt first likened crusading journalists to a man with "the muckrake in his hand" in a speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington. 1906--earthquakes killed more than 1,200 in Taiwan. 1910--the US National Museum, a precursor to the National Museum of Natural History, opened in Washington, D.C. 1912--the Camp Fire Girls organization was incorporated in Washington, D.C., two years to the day after it was founded in Thetford, Vt. 1941--the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C. 1942--six days after departing the Philippines, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater. 1950--scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, "californium." 1955--actor Gary Sinnise (CSI: NY)turned 57 today. 1959--the Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in the wake of a failed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule 1966--a US midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain. 1969--Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel . 1970--the US cast its first veto in the UN Security Council (a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failure to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia). 1990--Lithuania rejected the Soviet demand to renounce its independence. 1992--Sen. Alan Dixon was defeated in his primary re-election bid by Carol Moseley-Braun, who went on to become the first black woman in the US Senate. 1992--29 people were killed in the truck bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Illinois. 2000--with the release of the movie Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts became the first actress to command $20 million per movie. 2002--a grenade attack on a Protestant church in Islamabad, Pakistan, killed five people. 2005--baseball players Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa testified before Congress that they hadn't used steroids; Mark McGwire refused to say whether he had. 2007--protesters across the country raised their voices against US policy in Iraq and marched by the 1000s to the Pentagon. 2009--the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its final print edition. 2009 --US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korea while reporting on North Korean refugees living across the border in China. 2011--the UN Security Council paved the way for international air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, voting to authorize military action to protect civilians and impose a no-fly zone over Libya. 2011--targeting a heavily armed group coneected to al-Qaida, US drone missiles hit a village in Pakistan; but Pakistani said the missiles hit a community meeting, killing four Taliban fighters and 38 civilians and tribal police. World News Capsules: 1. Gulf widens between US and a more volatile Karzai.
....Ever since the Koran-burning episode on Feb. 20, the relationship between the United States and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has lurched from one crisis to another. 2. John Demjanjuk, 91, dogged by charges of atrocities as Nazi camp guard, died.
....Mr. Demjanjuk was convicted of collaborating with the Nazis at death camps, reprieved and convicted again, but steadfastly denied the accusations, 3. In Great Britain, the Archbishop of Cnaterbury to step dow at end of year. ....Rowan Williams, the spiritual head of the world's Anglicans, is stepping down at a time of shrinking congregations and divisions over social issues. 4. North Korea says it will lauch satellite into orbit. ....The US warned that a launch would scuttle a recent agreement with North Korea, intensifying diplomatic and military tensions surrounding the North's nuclear weapons program. 5. Despite bold talk on Syria, Turkey sees limits of its power. ....As the lethal crackdown by the Syrian government intensifies, Turkey has struggled to take concrete steps to contain the crisis unfolding on its doorstep.
US News Capsules: 1. An Irish tradition with an only-in-America star. ....An Ohio youth of mixed heritage was the first person of color to win the world championship for Irish dancing, and he has won the contest for three straight years. 2. Justice Dept. investigation is sought in Florida teenager's shooting death. ....Trayvon Martin, who was black and unarmed, was shot by a neighborhood crime watch volunteer who is white and Hispanic. The shooter has not been arrested and is claiming self-defense. 3. Price of gas matters to voters, but doesn't seem to sway votes. ....There is not much evidence that gas prices deserve an outsize reputation for holding economic and political influence. 4. When businesses can't stop asking, "How am i doing?" ....The onslaught of questionnaires from businesses has led to declining response rates and a condition known as survey fatigue, but it's not likely to let up soon, 5. 63 years flying, from glamour to days of gray.
....Though no one tracks seniority across all airlines, Ron Akana is widely believed to be the longest-serving flight attendant in the United States, clocking some 20 million miles along the way 6. TV: On the ice and under it, nature thrives.
....The seven-episode Frozen Planet switches between the Antarctic and the Arctic to explore nature in its cold glory. 7. THE ARTS: Artists find benefactors in web crowd. ....The prospect of financial crowd-sourcing on the Internet has been enthusiastically embraced by some as an important new model for the future of arts financing.
Today's Sports Headlines[: 1. [MARCH MADNESS: Norfolk State shocks No. 2-seeded Missouri. ....Norfolk State toppled Missouri and became the first 15th seed since Hampton in 1991 to knock off a No. 2 seed, and only the fifth since 1985. Later, Lehigh became the sixth. a. Fast and fearless Lehigh stuns Duke. ....C.J. McCollum scored 30 points and Lehigh upset Duke to become the second No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2, after Norfolk State performed the feat earlier in the day. b/ Ohio (just Ohio) ousts No. 4 Michigan. ....No. 13 Ohio pulled off its 2nd NCAA tournament upset in the past three years, leading for nearly the entire game and beating Michigan. 2. Too good to fail, Syracuse moves on to Round of 16.
....The Orange were led by the senior Scoop Jardine, whose dynamic second half allowed the Orange to seize control over Kansas State to win 75-59.
Thought for Today "It is my rule never to lose me temper till it would be detrimental to keep it." —-Sean O'Casey (1880-1964), Irish playwright
Today's flower: Dicentra or King of Hearts bleeding heart
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cereb
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 23, 2011 0:33:47 GMT -5
Posts: 3,904
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Post by cereb on Mar 17, 2012 19:46:13 GMT -5
Thanks Peg!
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 17, 2012 21:21:22 GMT -5
You are more than welcome, cereb.
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mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 18, 2012 10:28:41 GMT -5
It's so great to have our peg here to pull together the good, the bad, and the silly for us! Thanks, peg!
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 18, 2012 15:08:59 GMT -5
"bowing/curtseying" At your service, mmhmm.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 18, 2012 15:09:49 GMT -5
Happy Quilt Day Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 78th day of 2012 with 287 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:52 p.m., it's fair , temp 70ºF [Feels like 70ºF], winds S @ 9 mph, humidity 53%, pressure 30.21 in and falling, dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.
Today in History: 1190--Crusaders killed 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds, England. 1766--the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. 1773--Oliver Goldsmith's comedy She Stoops to Conquer premiered in London. 1813--David Melville of Newport, RI patented the gas streetlight. 1834--1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania. 1837--Grover Cleveland, the only US president who served two non-consecutive terms, was born; died 1908 at age 71. 1852--Henry Wells & William Fargo formed American Express in Buffalo, NY. 1858--Rudolf Diesel, German thermal engineer who invented the internal-combustion engine, was born: died 1913 at age 55. 1865--the Congress of Confederate States of American adjourned for last time. 1870--the 1st US National Wildlife Preserve (Lake Meritt in Oakland Calif.) was established. 1892--in Canada, Lord Stanley proposed a silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup). 1902--Enrico Caruso recorded 10 arias for the Gramophone Co. in Milan, Italy walked away with $500 for his effort. 1911--Irving Berlin copyrights the biggest po song of the early 20th century, "Alexander's Ragtime BAnd." 1915--the Allies opened an attack on the Dardanelles. 1922--Mohandas K. Gandhi was sentenced to prison in India for civil disobedience. 1931--Schick Inc. marketed the first electric razor. 1937--nearly 300 students in Texas are killed by an explosion of natural gas at their school. 1940--Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held a meeting at the Brenner Pass during which the Italian dictator agreed to join in Germany's war against France and Britain. 1942--Pres. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the War Relocation Authority, which was put in charge of interning Japanese-Americans. 1953--major-league baseball announced the first team relocation since 1903 with the Boston Braves moving west to Milwaukee, Wis. 1962--France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce after more than seven years of war. 1965--the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether. 1969--the US bombed Cambodia for the 1st time. 1974--most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the US. 2000--Taiwan ended more than a half century of Nationalist Party rule by electing opposition leader Chen Shui-bian president. 2005--doctors in Florida, acting on orders of a state judge, removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. (The brain-damaged woman died 13 days later.) 2010--Pres. Obama signed a $38 billion jobs bill containing a modest mix of tax breaks and spending designed to encourage the private sector to start hiring again. 2011--Pres. Obama demanded that Moammar Gadhafi halt all military attacks on civilians or the US would join other nations in launching military action against him.
World News Capsules: 1. Gulf widens between US and a more volatile Karzai. .... Ever since the Koran-burning episode on Feb. 20, the relationship between the US and Pres. Karzai has lurched from one crisis to another. a. Suspect's deployments put focus on war strains. ....Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan last week, was deployed four times to Iraq and Afghanistan over a decade, raising questions about the stress of combat, Karilyn Bales posted a blog about life as a military wife. 2. Belarussian is executed over attack on subway. ....Vladislav Kovalyov, 26, was convicted of helping his childhood friend carry out the April 2011 bombing, but human rights groups have cast serious doubt on the verdict. 3. Tibetans protest in northwest China. ....A demonstration that began after the death of a farmer who set himself on fire was the latest in a spate of self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese policies. 4. Coptic pope dies in Egypt amid curch's struggles. ....The death of Pope Shenouda III comes at a time of rising fears for Egypt’s Coptic Christians, who have felt increasingly vulnerable since Pres. Mubarak’s fall. 5. US faces a tricky task in assessment of data on Iran.
....Discerning the intentions of Iran's leaders on the crucial steps to building a nuclear bomb is the most covert aspect of one of the world's most difficult intelligence collection targets. 6. In Mexico, a kidnapping ignored as crime worsens. ....Six years into a mostly military assault on drug cartels, impunity across much of Mexico has worsened, and justice is harder to find. 7. Russia's scandalous 'It Girl' remakes herself as an unlikely face of protest.
....Kseniya Sobchak, a pampered fixture of tabloid culture in Vladimir Putin's Russia, has restyled herself as a leader of the opposition. 8. Spain to US divers: Give up the booty.
....Tug of war over 200 year-old shipwreck goes before federal judge. Last month, Spanish military planes flew home with nearly 600,000 silver coins and other artifacts after prevailing in a five-year legal battle over ownership with Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. Now, Spain wants the rest of it -- specifically some artifacts that Odyssey left behind in Gibraltar when it flew the coins to the United States in May 2007. 9. Two blasts strike near security agencies in Syria.
....Explosions hit intelligence and security buildings in Damascus, the capital, killing or wounding dozens of civilians and security personnel, Syrian state news media reported. 10. Two nurses suspected of killing dozens in Uruguay.
....Two hospital nurses in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, have been arrested as police investigate allegations that they killed critical care but not terminally ill patients, possibly up to 200, over several years at two hospitals. They are suspected of using some sort of poison brought in from neighboring Brail. 11. In Yemen, new leader faces threates in the south. ....Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Yemen's new president, faces many challenges, but possibly none as daunting as that in the south, where many are eager for secession. a. Gunman kills US charity worker in Yemen.
....Group linked to al-Qaida claims responsibility for shooting.
US News Capsules: 1. monument to a Sioux warrior, its completion date somewhat unclear. ....The Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota, which was to be the largest sculpture in the world, has turned out to be a multigenerational commitment. 2. In new office designs, room to roam and to think.
....The 21st-century workplace extols the value of open space, background noise and outside light — and questions the worth of private offices and other signs of hierarchy. 3. Defiant St. Louis church wins archdiocese suit. ....A dispute between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and a local parish has taken a step forward with a state judge’s ruling that the parish has rightful control of its assets and property. 4. Can stock market rally keep chugging along? ....Investors are beginning to wonder if this Energizer Bunny of a rally can just keep going without taking a break or a fall, as the VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, has plunged to a 5-year-low. POLITICS: 1. All odds aside, GOP girding for floor fight.
....With Mitt Romney struggling to hold off Rick Santorum, the campaigns and party leaders are preparing for a delegate fight unlike any since 1976. 2. Romney brushes off criticism over Bain purchase in China . ....Mitt Romney reacted to Bain Capital’s purchase of a Chinese video surveillance company, while the Obama campaign accused him of “utter hypocrisy” on China. 3. GOP primary hits Puerto Rico, continues in Missouri caucuses. ....The Republican primary process rolls on nearly eleven months after it kicked off in Iowa, and with no definitive end in sight as Missouri began its process of awarding delegates and the campaigns of Romney and Santorum aggressively contested Puerto Rico. 3. Santorum: If I win Illinois, I win nomination.
....Rick Santorum guaranteed that a win in the Illinois primary will result in his nomination as the Republican presidential nominee.
Today's Sports Headlines: 1. March Madness: Indiana holds off VCU 63-61 as resurgence continues.
[/img] ....Will Sheehey hit the game-winning jumper with 12.7 seconds remaining and Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade. a. A Missed shot and an unlikely star lift Wisconsin 60-57 over Vanderbilt. ....The Badgers' Ben Brust had been the forgotten man on the Wisconsin squad, but he was instrumental in helping the Badgers squeak by Vanderbilt. b. Southern upstart, New York swagger. ....An influx of talent from the New York City area has bolstered Norfolk State, which knocked second-seeded Missouri out of the N.C.A.A. tournament. c. Siva rights the Cardinals ship. ....Guard Peyton Siva calmed the Cardinals and quelled the comeback by New Mexico, winning 59-56. 2. Women's March Madness: Prized recrit happy back home i Delaware. ....Elena Delle Donne, who left Connecticut after two days, has led Delaware to a No. 3 seed with an average of 27.5 points a game. 3. MLB: Petitte drawn back into a brotherhood. ....Andy Pettitte, self-proclaimed homebody, spent one summer with the family in Houston and that apparently was all he could bear to be away from the special club within the clubhouse. Even before Andy Pettitte’s announcement, the Yankees were already sorting through four starters — Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes and Michael Pineda — for three rotation spots. a. Closing the book on an October epic, the Ragers' bullpen moves on. ....The Texas relief corps collapsed in an extra-inning loss to the Cardinals in the 2011 World Series. Now the Rangers want to put it in the past. 4. Avalanche's goalie masters the Rangers 3-1. ....New York struggled to get the puck past Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov, despite carrying the play for most of the game. 5. NBA: Knicks ride defense and bench to 3rd straight win. ....Mike Woodson, the team’s interim coach, stretched his record to 3-0 as the Knicks revived memories of Linsanity. Thought for Today"What annoyances are more painful than those of which we cannot complain?" --[/i]Marquis De Custine (1790-1857), French aristocrat & writer.
Today's flower: Iris ensata or Japanese iris mix.
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Don Perignon
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2, 2011 18:46:42 GMT -5
Posts: 2,024
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Post by Don Perignon on Mar 19, 2012 19:22:40 GMT -5
I always appreciate high-quality content when I see it.
It's a shame how so many message boards get drowned in mindless rubbish.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 19, 2012 20:11:12 GMT -5
:)Thanks Don. I'm glad that you appreciate my effort. It takes me usually at least 4 hours to compile my daily bulletin. As you might guess, I'm sort of a news junkie. I like to see what's going on in the world, not just the US. But I also believe that the news often needs a little leavenng with things not as serious. And then I'm a former librarian with a degree in history, so I do the Today in History for my own enjoyment.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 19, 2012 20:28:22 GMT -5
Let's Laugh Day Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 79th day of 2012 with 286 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:08 p.m., it's fair , temp 66ºF [Feels like 66ºF], winds WSW @ 5 mph, humidity 70%, pressure 30.18 in and steady, dew point 56ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.
Today in History: 1286--Alexander III, King of Scots, was killed accidentally at Kinghorn, Fife. 1524--Giovanni de Varrazano of France sighted land around area of Carolinas . 1563--in France, the Peace of Amboise ended the First War of Religion, granting the Huguenots a limited amount of toleration. 1644--200 members of Peking imperial family/court commit suicide. 1687--Explorer Robert, Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, was murdered by his own men. 1702--James II's daughter Anne Stuart became the reigning queen of Great Britain after the death of her brother-in-law William III. 1748--English Naturalization Act passed granting Jews right to colonize thr American colonies. 1822--Boston, Mass. was incorporated as a city. 1831--the first bank robbery in the US was reported at the City Bank of New York City, which lost $245,000. 1848--Wyatt Earp, American frontiersman; became lawman and gambler, was born; died 1928 at age 80. 1853--during the Taiping Rebellion in China, the rebels captured Nanking and renamed it T'ien-ching (Heavenly Capital). 1855--the vehicular suspension bridge across the Niagara River Gorge (built in 1848) was strengthened for the passage of railway trains. (The original wooden trusses were replaced by steel in 1880.) 1861--the First Taranaki War, a Maori insurrection in New Zealand, ended when they finally surrendered. 1865--after the Battle of Bentonville, Confederates retreated from Greenville NC., failing to stop the Yankee advance. 1891--Earl Warren, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1953-1969), was born; died 1974 at age 82. 1915--Pluto was photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a planet. 1916--eight US planes took off in pursuit of Pancho Villa, the first US air-combat mission. 1917--the US Navy Department authorized enrollment of women in the US Naval Reserve. 1917--the US Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroad workers (Adamson Act). 1918--the US Congress approved daylight-saving time. 1920--the US Senate rejected for the second time the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 49-35, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for approval. 1931--Nevada legalized gambling. 1933--Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Philip Roth (Portney's Complaint) turned 79 today. 1941--Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded Decca Records’ all-time greatest hit, "Green Eyes", featuring vocalists Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly. 1944--under pressure from Hitler, Hungary allows German troops to cross the border into the country. 1945--Adolf Hitler issued his so-called "Nero Decree" ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands. 1947--3-time Oscar-winning actress Glenn Close turned 65 today. 1949--in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the American Museum of Atomic Energy opened. 1949--East Germany approves a new constitution. 1950--writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, died. 1951--Herman Wouk's novel, The Caine Mutiny, was published and later won the Pulitzer Prize. 1957--Elvis Presley put a down payment on Graceland. 1964--the Great St. Bernard Tunnel under the Alps between Switzerland and Italy was opened to traffic. 1969--British troops took over the island of Anguilla following internal political wranglings. 1970--the heads of the West and East German governments, Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph, met at Erfurt, the first east-west meeting since Germany was divided. 1971--an earthquake sets off a series of calamities—a landslide, flood and avalanche--that results in the destruction of the town of Chungar, Peru, and the death of 600 of its inhabitants. 1977--the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show aired on CBS, after seven seasons. Many critics feel that it is the benchmark to judge quality TV entertainment. 1978--the UN Security Council voted to send an Interim Force to Lebanon. 1982--N Argentine scrap metal dealer landed on South Georgia and planted an Argentinean flag. The situation escalated and eventually led to the Falklands war with Great Britain. 1983--the hit single, "Beat It," recorded by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney and featuring lead guitar work by Eddie Van Halen, entered Billboard's popular record charts, eventually becoming #1 for 3 weeks. 1987--televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex-and-money scandal involving a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn. 1988 --two British soldiers were shot to death after they were dragged from a car and beaten by mourners attending an Irish Republican Army funeral in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1991--in Iraq, Kurdish rebels captured the northern oil town of Kirkuk. 1994--a powerful bomb blast tore through a crowded metro train in the Azerbaijan capital Baku, killing 12 people and injuring 53. 1995--Britain's Queen Elizabeth II started an historic state visit to post-apartheid South Africa. 1996--Sarajevo became a united city again after four years when Moslem-Croat authorities took control of the last district held by Serbs 2001--California officials declared a power alert, ordering the first of two days of rolling blackouts. 2003--Pres. Bush announced the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom that included coalition forces primarily from the United Kingdom.. 2003--Mahmoud Abbas accepted the new position of Palestinian prime minister. 2011--the US fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea while French fighter jets targeted Moammar Gadhafi's forces from the air, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising.
World News Capsules: 1. New details emerge of a top Chinese official's removal. ....Bo Xilai, removed last week as the party chief in Chongqing, plotted to remove the head of police to shut down a corruption case involving his family, a leaked report states. a. Chinese activist is missing, rights group says. ....Liu Ping, who has angered officials in China, has been missing since she was detained in Beijing on March 6, an advocacy group says. 2. France hunts drive-by shooter linked ot three attacks.
....French President Nicholas Sarkozy orders security to be stepped up at Jewish and Islamic centers across France after police link three attacks to a drive-by gunman, including one at a Jewish school. a. Prominent French families battle over a missing Monet.
....Ginette Heilbronn Moulin, 85, the chairwoman of the Galeries Lafayette, contends that the Wildensteins, a dynasty of art dealers, is concealing information about a stolen Monet landscape. 3. A tale of Greek enterprise and olive oil, smothered in red tape. ....Despite the government's promises to improve, starting a business in Greece remains discouragingly complicated, as is demonstrated by one man's effort to sell olive products online. a. Finance minister takes over Greece's Socialist Party. ....The change of power at the party, Pasok, comes as Greece prepares for a national election this spring. b. In Greek crisis, a little-known adviser with outsize influence..
....BlackRock is helping to determine how much capital Greece's banks will need to raise in the coming months, a crucial step as Greece tries to fix its banking industry and its broader economy, but a risky one. 4. Israeli hawks steeing debate on how to take on Iran. ....Clear fissures have developed among pro-Israel groups, including among hard-liners themselves, over just how aggressively to confront Iran. 5. Mauritania - slavery's last redoubt.
....Mauritani's endless sea of sand dunes hides an open secret: An estimated 10% to 20% of the population lives in slavery. 6. North Korea invites nuclear inspectors to return. ....North Korea has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to return, nearly three years after it kicked U.N. nuclear inspectors out of the country, the IAEA said Monday 7. Drones at issue as US rebuilds ties to Pakistan. ....The CIA's pilotless planes hurt militants, but in Pakistan, public discourse rings with thunderous condemnations of breached sovereignty and civilian casualties. 8. UN panel seeks vote on carnage in Sri Lanka. ....The United Nations Human Rights Council will vote this week on an American-led initiative calling on Sri Lanka to account for the carnage that ended its civil war three years ago 9. Fighting intensifies in Damascus, Syria as an upscale neighborhood becomes a battleground.
....Rebels fought government forces in a wealthy and well-protected area of Damascus on Monday, in the most violent gun battles the Syrian capital has seen since the start of the year-long revolt against Pres. Assad, opposition activists said. a. Peace march in Damascus is cut short by authorities. ....The Syrian authorities briefly detained 11 members of one of Syria’s most moderate opposition groups, which has opposed the use of violence in the yearlong uprising.. 10. Zimbabwe convicts 6 who viewed revolt news.
....Six political activists who gathered last year to watch and discuss television news broadcasts of the Arab Spring protests were convicted Monday of plotting to overthrow the government
US News Capsules: 1. 'Kratom' leaf makes presence felt in US emergency room.
....In addition to its possible medicinal uses, kratom is beginning to show up in U.S. emergency rooms, with doctors saying they are dealing with people sick from taking it — especially teens who try it to get high. 2. Side effects of synthetic pot - aka 'Spice' - may be missed by ER doctors. ....Teens who use synthetic marijuana, also called K2 or spice, could end up in the emergency room experiencing some serious side effects, according to a new case report. 3. Modern-day gold rush creates new mining jobs in Nevada.
....In almost every way Nevada is still reeling from the recession with the highest unemployment rate in the country at almost 13%, and one of the highest foreclosure rates. But in the northeast corner of the state, almost 500 miles from the Vegas strip, life is suddenly very good. In Nevada's gold country the global boom that’s pushed gold prices to an all-time high – currently hovering around $1,700 per ounce -- brought an influx of jobs to mining towns like Elko, Nev., population 18,000. 4. At home, asking how 'our Bobby' became war crime suspect. ....Family and friends of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, say he was a solid young man who was changed by war, but there are also glimpses of a darker story line. 5. Gender gap persists in cost of health insurance. ....Research shows that most women still pay more for health insurance than men, though the 2010 health care reform law will prohibit such "gender rating" beginning in two years. a. At center of health care fight, a farmer's 1942 case. ....Both sides believe that a 70-year-old precedent involving the Constitution’s commerce clause supports their arguments. 6. Mortgages for drilling properties may face hurdle. ....The Department of Agriculture may require an extensive environmental review before issuing mortgages to people who have leased their land for oil and gas drilling. 7. Surprise increase in rates is credited to signs of recovery. ....Bond yields had their biggest move since October last week, with a sell-off that lifted the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds to 2.31%. 8. NY Mets' owners agree to settle Madoff suit for $162 million.
....Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz settled the lawsuit brought against them by Irving H. Picard, the trustee for the victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s fraud, for $162 million. 9. A vision of reviving tribal ways in a remote corner of California. ....The Yurok Indians are building a traditional village from scratch, with plank houses and a ceremonial dance pit where young tribe members can connect with their cultural heritage. 10. The downside of a balmy winter: Long walks with the dog aren't carefree. ....Entomologists say that an explosion of the tick population is unlikely, but just like humans and dogs, ticks appear to be enjoying the great outdoors a little earlier this year. 11. Pentagon finds perils for US if Israel were to strike Iran. ....A classified war game held this month forecast that such an attack would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the US, officials said. 12. Wendy's overtakes Burger King as #2 US burger chain.
....Dave Thomas's restaurants became the No. 2-selling hamburger chain in the country last year, industry research firm Technomic said, pushing Burger King back to the No. 3 spot. Burger King had been No. 2 spot since at least 1972, the earliest year for which Technomic has data. 13. ARTS: Another pint of melancholy. ....Once, based on a hit movie about two musicians, an Irishman and a Czech, who fall in love, reaches Broadway after an Off Broadway run. POLITICS: 1. Ron Paul , the incredible shrinking candidate, falling behind - in social media.
....Accusations that news organizations are ignoring Paul's presidential campaign are an organizing principle of his supporters, who take to Facebook and Twitter to complain that the only reason Paul isn't leading is a "media blackout." 2. Drifting right, Illinois is test for Romney. ....Illinois has traditionally favored moderate Republicans, but as voters there prepare to go the polls for tomorrow's Republican primary, Mitt Romney has a fight on his hands. 3. In Santorum's writings, a consistently conservative voice. ....Rick Santorum has been a prolific writer of articles, letters and columns, all displaying many of the traits that define him as a presidential candidate. a. Santorum: Illinois surprise would guarantee the GOP nod.
.....Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum launched a final campaign blitz across Illinois, where a poll gave Romney a solid lead going into Tuesday's Republican primary.
#1056048gfr2ahr4mi#Today's Headlines of Interest:
Terror attack? At least four shot dead at Jewish school in Toulouse, France.
At least four people, including three children and a rabbi, were shot dead by a gunman at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, on Monday, officials said. The shooter fled the private Ozar Hatorah school -- located in Jolimont district of Toulouse -- on a black scooter; other reports described the vehicle as a motorbike. Several other people were injured, two of them seriously, Reuters said. The killings – described as “a vision of horror” by a parent of a child at the school – happened just days after three French soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in the area and a French government minister noted “similarities” between the incidents. Paris prosecutors said in a statement that they were opening anti-terrorism investigations into all three incidents. France's Le Monde newspaper, reported that the gunman had two weapons. Witnesses said the shooter opened fire from the scooter, but this gun jammed. The gunman then left the scooter and ran into the school yard and started shooting with another weapon, the witnesses added. Monday's shootings come days after three soldiers were killed in two separate shootings in the same area by a man who also escaped from the scene by scooter, Reuters reported. French TV station BFM said that the gun used in the attack at the school was of the same caliber as that used in the soldiers' shootings. Investigators said that the murders of two French paratroopers in southwest France Thursday were linked to the killing of another soldier in Toulouse at the previous weekend, after they discovered the same weapon was used in both crimes. Two uniformed French soldiers were shot dead and a third seriously injured by a masked gunman Thursday as they tried to withdraw money from a cash machine in Montauban, close to the barracks of the 17th paratroop regiment. In the first shooting, a 30-year-old soldier in civilian clothes was shot dead in Toulouse. Good grief, what's going on here? Are all the incidents linked or is the school shooting a copycat scenario? Why two incidents of shooting soldiers and then shooting up a Jewish school. Are they linked or is it a coincidence? Whatever it is, it is very definitely a horrible incident and it's natural to thnk of it as a hate crime. UPDATE: The police have determined that the same gun was used in all three shootings.
Thought for Today "Diplomacy--the art of saying "Nice doggie" till you can find a rock." --Woody Allen[], comedian & film director (b. 1935)
Today's flower: [/i]Gerbera jamesonii or mixed gerbera daisies
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 20, 2012 11:47:23 GMT -5
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN DAY
It was on March 20th in 1852 that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic book was published. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, subtitled Life Among the Lowly became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year. It has since been translated into twenty languages and performed as a play the world over. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was even spotlighted in the Broadway musical and film, The King and I. Maybe you remember the haunting chant from the show, “Run Eliza, Run!” Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel remains a must-read for school children -- and a reminder to all of us of an ugly time in the history of the United States.
The antislavery novel and the adapted plays all feature the elderly, kind slave, Uncle Tom; the slave child, Topsy; Little Eva, the daughter of Tom’s owner; Eliza, a young mulatto woman and the cruel, northern-born overseer who beat Tom to death, Simon LeGree.
The book brought much sympathy from around the world toward the American “peculiar institution” of slavery. In fact, Abraham Lincoln told Harriet Beecher Stowe she was “the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war,” referring of course, to the Civil War.
’Til this day, we refer to an employer or any other with slave-driving tendencies as a ‘Simon LeGree’.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 20, 2012 17:16:05 GMT -5
FIRST DAY OF SPRING Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 80th day of 2012 with 285 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 12:52 p.m., it's partly cloudy , temp 66ºF [Feels like 66ºF], winds SSW @ 7 mph, humidity 70%, pressure 30.27 in and falling, dew point 56ºF, chance of rain 20%.
Today in History: A1345--according to scholars at the University of Paris, the Black Death was created from what they call "a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius," The Black Death, also known as the Plague, swept across Europe, the Middle East and Asia during the 14th century, leaving an estimated 25 million dead in its wake. 1413--England's King Henry IV died; succeeded by Henry V. 1727--physicist, mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died in London. 1778--Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee presented themselves to France's King Louis XVI as official representatives of the United States. 1815--Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule. 1816--the US Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions. 1852--Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential novel about slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was first published in book form after being serialized. 1854--the Republican Party was founded by former Whig Party members in Ripon, Wis. 1861--Presi. Lincoln's sons, Willie and Tad, were diagnosed with the measles, adding to the president's many troubles. 1912--a coal mine explosion in McCurtain, Okla., claimed the lives of 73 workers. 1917--Dame Vera Lynn, British songstress, turned 95 today. 1922--producer-director-comedian Carl Reiner (and father of actor Rob REiner) turned 90 today. 1933--Florida executed Giuseppe Zangara for the shooting death of Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak at a Miami event attended by President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, the presumed target. 1946--British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar) from the Japanese. 1952--the US Senate ratified, 66-10, the Treaty of Peace with Japan. 1953--Nikita Khrushchev began his rise to power. 1954--the US was alarmed about the impending defeat of the 16.000 French troops in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu. 1965--Pres. Johnson sent federal troops to Alabama to supervise a planned civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. 1977--voters in Paris chose former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac to be the French capital's first mayor in more than a century. 1982--Joan Jett topped the op charts with :L Love Rock 'n' Roll." 1985--Libby Riddles of Teller, Ala., became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race. 1987--the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of AZT, a drug shown to prolong the lives of some AIDS patients. 1995--Aum Shinrikyoa, a doomsday cult, released sarin nerve gas in five Tokyo subway stations, killing 12 people and injuring more than 5,500. 1996--a jury in Los Angeles convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their millionaire parents. 1997--Liggett Group settled 22 state lawsuits by admitting the industry markets cigarettes to teenagers and agreeing to warn on every pack that smoking is addictive. 1999--Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain became the first aviators to fly a hot-air balloon around the world nonstop. 2002--the US Congress approved the most far-reaching changes to the nation's campaign finance system since the Watergate era. 2002--the accounting firm Arthur Andersen pleaded not guilty to charges it had shredded documents and deleted computer files related to Enron. 2002--seven Israelis died when an Islamic militant blew himself up in a packed bus. 2002--a car bomb exploded outside the US Embassy in Lima, killing 10 people, three days before a visit by Pres. Bush. 2004--the US military charged six soldiers with abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. 2007--Saddam Hussein's former deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was hanged in Baghdad, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites. 2011--AT&T Inc. said it would buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $39 billion (however, AT&T later dropped its bid following fierce government antitrust objections.)
World News Capsules: 1. General tells Congress that o sudden Afghan drawdown is planned]. ....Gen. John R. Allen told Congress that he had no intention of recommending further American troop reductions until late this year. 2. Mining tax clears, but Gillard on shaky ground in Australia. ....Prime Minister Julia Gillard celebrated the passage of a controversial tax on profits generated by Australia's mining boom/ 3. In China, call to end to physicals for government applicants. ....A civil rights group called for an end to physical examinations that the government administers to applicants for civil service posts to determine whether they have sexually transmitted diseases. a. China quietly releaxes controls on foreign capital. ....Chinese officials are making it easier for foreign investors to put money into China’s stock market, indicating that they are eager to counter an accelerating flight of capital. b. US to place tariffs on solar panels from China . ....The Commerce Department decided to impose the tariffs after concluding that the Chinese government provided illegal export subsidies to manufacturers in China. 4. Thousands mourn Coptic Pope in Cairo.
([/i]A woman faints as crowds converge on Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo [/size]) ....Pope Shenouda III was remembered as both a wit and a “wise captain” who strengthened the identity of the Coptic Orthodox church. 5. Gunman reoortedly filmed lethal shooting spree at French Jewish school. ....French authorities offered new details of an assault that has stunned the nation, saying the lone gunman seemed to be filming his actions as he shot his victims to death. Paris Chief Prosecutor Francois Molins warned Tuesday. that the killer is determined and is targeting victims based on race or religion. The soldiers killed were of North African and Caribbean origin. 6. Obama exempts Japan and 10 European nations from Iran sanctions law. ....The Obama administration exempted Japan and 10 European nations from biting sanctions intended to punish those who continued to purchase oil from Iran. a. Duelng Iranian New Year greetings from Obama and Khamenei. ....The leaders issued starkly divergent New Year messages on their respective web sites to Iran’s home audience. 7. Dozens killed in string of bomb attacks across Iraq. ....Ahead of a meeting next week of Arab leaders, at least 43 people were killed in attacks on police stations and civilian targets in half a dozen cities across Iraq, security officials said. 8. Vatican inquiry finds progress in Irish abuse scandal. ....The investigation was part of the Vatican’s response to a series of scathing reports by the Irish government that found cases of sexual abuse by priests and evidence of a widespread cover-up. a. Library recovers tome missing for 100 years. ....A book missing from Archbishop Marsh's Library in Dublin for 100 years has been returned. It was published in Basel, Switzerland, in 1538, and had been in the Dublin library's collection since 1701. The hero of the story is an Irish barrister who plucked the tome from a junk shop. The attorney paid the princely sum of €90 (about $119), picking up an antique mirror into the bargain. Realizing there was something rather special about the book, he brought it to Marsh's Library, where the librarians recognized it as their own. 9. US war game sees perils of Israeli strike against Iran. ....A classified war game held this month forecast that such an attack would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the US, officials said. a. Israel criticizes EU official for comments on French school attack. ....Remarks by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, were perceived as equating the murders of three children at a Jewish school in France with the death of children during the fighting in Gaza. 10. Weight of pension obigations threaten to sink small companies in Japan. ....A program from the 1960s allowed companies to borrow government money to leverage their pension investments, but decades of deflation have left weaker firms unable to repay the debt. 11. Malaysians living abroad want a say in next election. ....Under Malaysian law, only limited categories of Malaysians can vote while living abroad. But with an election expected sometime this year, many are asking why they can't cast a ballot 12. Strong, long 7.4 quake shakes Mexico City. ....A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico, shaking central and southern parts of the country, collapsing a pedestrian bridge and swaying buildings in Mexico City. Plaster fell from ceilings and windows broke in the center of the capital, but the president said there were no immediate reports of major damage. 13. Pakistani Parliament demands end to US drone strikes. ....A major parliamentary review of relations with the US opened with calls for an end to drone strikes and an unconditional apology for an American attack on Pakistani soldiers last November. 14. Syrian insurgents accused of rights abuses. ....A human rights group offered a more complex vision of the Syrian insurgents, accusing them of a catalog of abuses including kidnapping, detention and torture. US News Capsules: 1. Grand jury to investigate shooting of Trayvon Martin. ....Outrage grows over killing of teen by volunteer watchman. a. Florida shooting focuses attention on 'Stand Your Ground' law. ....Outrage over the death of a Florida teenager has focused attention on a state law permitting the use of deadly force in self-defense. 2. The military path to justice could be lengthy, ....Once preliminary charges are announced against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, suspected of killing 16 Afghans, the military justice system will proceed deliberately. 3. BP settlement, milestone for some victims, a setback for others. ....Some people whose livelihoods were affected by the gulf oil spill will not be helped by the proposed settlement with BP, and others have had their own settlements affected. 4. In Texas tradition, museums that enshrine the quirky. ....Devil's Rope Museum, which showcases barbed wire, is part of a Texas tradition of institutions dedicated to niche interests, many curated by hobbyists. 5. Behind the blood money. ....Certain minerals, mined in strife-torn Africa and used in products like cellphones, are part of a debate before the Securities and Exchange Commission. 6. For 2nd years, a sharp drop in Law School Admission Tests. ....The Law School Admission Test was administered 16% fewer times than a year ago, the largest decline in more than a decade. SCIENCE: 1. A drumbeat on profit takers. ....Dr. Arnold S. Relman and Dr. Marcia Angell, both former editors of The New England Journal of Medicine, continue to advocate against the “commercial exploitation of medicine.” 2. In search for alien life, researchers enlist human minds. ....With new Web-based software called SETILive, an army of independent citizen-scientists are being recruited to detect unusual signals in space. 3. Honeybees benefit from queen's promiscuity. ....Queens that mate with many males have more “good” bacteria in their hives, a study finds, probably improving the health and nutrition of their colonies. 4. Ferns fling their spores with a one-two catapult. ....Using high-speed cameras, researchers see that ferns catapult their spores by unfurling and then closing on two different time scales, ensuring that spores are ejected up and away 5. Rocket plunge to deep end of the planet. ....James Cameron plans to ride a vertical torpedo into the planet’s deepest recess, the Challenger Deep in the western Pacific, nearly seven miles down POLITICS: 1. Illinois votes in rare turn in spotlight. ....The Illinois primary has largely come down to a battle between Mitt Romney, who leads in delegates, and Rick Santorum, and in recent days the two campaigned furiously across the state. 2. House GOP lays down mrker with new budget plan. ....The Republicans, believing that worries over the deficit will outweigh affection for Medicare and other popular programs, will unveil a budget blueprint with deep cuts. 3. Fed nominees face Senate committee. ....Harvard University economist Jeremy C. Stein and Jerome H. Powell, a former private equity executive and Treasury official, moved closer to confirmation after the Banking Committee hearing. Thought for Today"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes." —-[/i[Ralph Waldo Emerson , writer & poet (1803-1882).
Today's flower: Verbena canadensis or homestead purple verbena - Its low-growing, spreading form makes this verbena variety the perfect ground cover from spring until frost.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 20, 2012 17:17:27 GMT -5
20 March 2012 Headline of Interest:
New GOP budget carries risk for 2012 candidates.
Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) plan could force them to embrace or reject proposals that have little chance of becoming law, but carry some political risk. His second official budget as the chairman of the committee overseeing fiscal matters contained proposals for sweeping reforms to entitlement programs, along with other cuts in spending. “I would tell them to support it,” said Gretchen Hamel, the executive director of the right-leaning Public Notice, of her advice to the GOP hopefuls. “I think that they have a lot to gain by supporting a bold proposal on Capitol Hill. They also find a way to speak to the base through this.” Mitt Romney hedged for months on the Ryan's first budgt plan. "I appreciate what Paul Ryan has done," Romney said last May, per an Associated Press account. "I'm going to have my own plan." He eventually said he would sign the Ryan budget if he were president, and his campaign embraced the plan more fully last fall as a means of attacking Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker had famously decried the Ryan budget at first as “right-wing social engineering,” precisely because of its bold changes to entitlements. Gingrich backtracked on that criticism after Ryan publicly quipped, “With friends like that, who needs the left?” Democrats will be attentive to how Romney and the other hopeful nominees react to the new proposal, though they believe Republicans had already made their beds with support for last year’s budget. "There’s a reason they call them the third rail of politics,” said Eddie Vale, a spokesman for Protect Your Care, a group dedicated to promoting the president’s health reform law. “After the backlash they faced last year, even from Newt Gingrich, it’s amazing that they’re going to take another whack at it.” Ryan argued \that it was incumbent on the GOP to offer a contrast with Obama on major spending programs in this fall's election — a kind of referendum on the reforms he and other Republicans have proposed. "Let's give the country the choice of very clear two futures, let the people of this country decide in the fall and whoever wins that referendum gets to implement that plan," Ryan said. A firm embrace of the Ryan plan would also carry some political benefit for any of the GOP hopefuls.Ryan is considered one of the GOP’s rising stars, and his name is on many short lists to become the running mate of the eventual nominee. And he's one of the few Republican figures of note yet to make an endorsement in the presidential race, and his support would help any of the candidates firm up their fiscal conservative credentials.. Liberal groups will largely wrap the new Ryan plan and any of its proposed changes to Medicare into their overall defense of the president’s health care law during the next two weeks, which features the anniversary of President Barack Obama signing that bill into law, and Supreme Court arguments challenging the constitutionality of its reforms. The GOP plan released by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan would, if enacted into law, wrestle the deficit to a manageable size in short order, but only by cutting Medicaid, food stamps, Pell Grants and a host of other programs that Obama has promised to protect. To deal with the influx of retiring Baby Boomers, the GOP budget reprises a controversial approach to overhauling Medicare that would switch the program — for those under 55 today — from a traditional "fee for service" framework in which the government pays doctor and hospital bills to a voucherlike "premium support" approach in which the government subsidizes purchases of health insurance. Republicans say the new approach forces competition upon a wasteful health care system, lowering cost increases and giving senior more options. But Democratic opponents of the idea say the new system — designed by Ryan and liberal Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon — cuts costs too steeply and would provide the elderly with a steadily shrinking menu of options and higher out-of-pocket costs. Naturally, the Democrats differed. "The House budget once again fails the test of balance, fairness, and shared responsibility," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a written statement charging that the GOP proposal would dole out tax cuts to rich while protecting tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers.. "What's worse is that all of these tax breaks would be paid for by undermining Medicare and the very things we need to grow our economy and the middle class — things like education, basic research, and new sources of energy," Pfeiffer said. The resulting political battle is sure to spill beyond the Capital Beltway into the presidential race and contests for control of the House and Senate this fall. As if to underscore that reality, Ryan released a campaign-style video Monday evening telling viewers that "Americans have a choice to make" in a none-too-subtle appeal to voters. The budget's lower deficit figures build on cuts to annual agency budgets imposed last year and rely on new savings comes from benefit programs outside Social Security and the costly Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and the poor. That means big cuts to food stamps, student loans, welfare, farm subsidies and other programs whose budgets now mostly run on autopilot. On taxes, the measure calls for eliminating a host of tax deductions and credits in order to produce a far simpler income tax code with just two rates for individuals: 10 percent and 25 percent. But Ryan doesn't say the income levels at which the new rates would apply, nor does he specify which popular tax breaks — like the child tax credit or the mortgage interest deduction — might be spared. Medicaid would be sharply cut and awarded to states as a flexible block grant. On Monday, two powerful Senate committee chairmen sent top House GOP leaders a letter protesting a GOP plan to cut agency operating budgets funded annually by Congress below levels negotiated just last summer. Instead of going with a $1.047 trillion cap on agency budgets as called for under last summer's debt and budget pact, the House panel is looking at cutting domestic agencies by $19 billion more. They warned that breaking with the agreement only guarantees delays later this year and "represents a breach of faith that will make it more difficult to negotiate future agreements." Also at issue, though, are across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect in January, punishment for the failure of last year's supercommittee to come up with a new package of $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the next decade as part of last summer's deal to let the government keep borrowing. Ryan's plan last year involved a voucher system for Medicare and was proven to be unacceptable to senior citizens. It was estimated their health costs would be up by 68%, which is an impossibl burder for mot to bear. The Republicans have been trying to destroy Medicare ever since it came into existence and this is just their latest effort. Hopefully it will be as unsuccessful as previous tries. I still feel that raising the retirement age and doing away with the salary ceiling on collecting social security taxes is a more equitable solution. Above all, you cannot expect to reign in the deficit by budget cuts alone. You must come up with new revenue, which means taxes. The Republicans refusal to even consider this tells yu where their priorities lie. Cut Fod Samps, Pell grants, and other program tageted for the poor and the middle class and leave those who can must afford to pay more alone. And let the 1% get richer and the 99% get poorer.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 21, 2012 16:01:04 GMT -5
SINGLE PARENTS DAY Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 81st day of 2012 with 284 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 4:42 p.m., it's fair , temp 75ºF [Feels like 75ºF], winds SE @ 8 mph, humidity 45%, pressure 30.20 in and falling, dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.
Today in History: 1556--Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for heresy. 1678--the London Gazette offers a reward to anyone revealing the author of a pamphlet called "An Account of the Growth of Popery." It's author was finally revealed in 1877 as Andrew Marvell. 1685--Johann S. Bach, German omposer of the Baroque era, was born; died 1750 at age 65. 1778--British Loyalists and Hessians surprise the colonial militia at Hancock's Bridge in New Jersey. 1790--Thomas Jefferson took office as America's first secretary of state. 1804--the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it was later called, was adopted. 1806--Benito Juarez, Mexican national hero and president (1861-72), was born; died 1872 at age 66. 1871--journalist Henry M. Stanley began his famous expedition in Africa to locate the missing Scottish missionary Dr. David Livingstone. 1907--US Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence. 1918--Germany launched the 2nd Battle of the Somme offensive, hoping to break through the Allied line before American reinforcements could arrive. 1932--a series of tornadoes hit the southeastern US. 1940--a new government was formed in France by Paul Reynaud, who became prime minister, succeeding Edouard Daladier. 1951--the Moondog Coronatino Ball in Cleveland, Ohio was the world's 1st rock concert. 1960--about 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on black protesters. 1962--the first Taco Bell restaurant was opened by Glen Bell in Downey, Calif. 1963--Alcatraz, the federal prison island in San Francisco Bay, was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. 1965--more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. 1967--North Vietnamese rejected a proposal for direct talks with the US. 1972--the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year's residency for voting eligibility. 1972--in Cambodia, more than 100 civilians are killed and 280 wounded as communist artillery and rockets strike Phnom Penh and outlying areas. 1980--Pres. Carter tells the US Olympic Team of the boycott of the Moscow Olympic games. 1985--police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville; the reported death toll varied between 29 and 43. 2000--a divided Supreme Court ruled the government lacked authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug. 2002-- Marjorie Knoller, whose two huge dogs had mauled neighbor Diane Whipple to death in their San Francisco apartment building, was convicted in Los Angeles of 2nd-degree murder; her husband, Robert Noel, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. 2007--former Vice Pres. Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress as he pleaded with House and Senate committees to fight global warming. 2011--Syrians chanting "No more fear!" held a defiant march after a deadly government crackdown failed to quash three days of mass protests in the southern city of Deraa.
World News Capsules: 1. Afghan officials deny French suspect escaped their prison. ....Officials in Kandahar Province say it was a different Mohammad Merah who was convicted of planting bombs. 2. French police raid Toulouse house for school shooting suspect.
....Elite police raided a house in Toulouse in pursuit of a man claiming ties to Al Qaida and suspected in the killings this week at a Jewish school. French lawyer says shooting suspect was petty criminal before radicalization. a. Killings could stall election's nationalist turn. ....In the middle of a heated presidential race, shootings at a Jewish school have raised new questions about the tone of a debate about what it is to be French. 3. For India's dominant party, electoral setback stirs self-doubt. ....The Indian National Congress Party, which leads India's troubled coalition government, has been weakened by lackluster showings in recent state elections. 4. Tpulouse victims buried in Israel.
....The bodies of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, a religious instructor at the school; his two sons, Arye, 6, and Gabriel, 3; and Miriam Monsonego, 8, the daughter of the school’s principal, were flown overnight from France. 5. Myanmar invites western election monitors. ....The US said that it was “encouraged” that Myanmar had invited American and European representatives to monitor elections on April 1. 6. In the Netherlands, Dutch church is accused of castrating young men. ....A young man who had been taken in by the Catholic Church was surgically castrated decades ago after reporting sexual abuse, new evidence shows. 7. North Korea warns against criticism of nuclear progam. ....As global leaders prepared to meet on nuclear security in Seoul, North Korea warned that criticism of its nuclear weapons program would be considered a “declaration of war." 8. Kidnapped British woman freed in Somalia.
....Judith Tebbutt, a British tourist seized by Somali raiders from a secluded Indian Ocean resort in Kenya six months ago, was set free, British officials said. 9. For Syrians, no easy exit from conflict. ....Impervious to a sustained popular uprising and beyond the reach of outside intervention, Syria's war of attrition stands out among the countries swept up in the regional Arab revolts. a. Fighting flares nears Damascus, Security Council endorses peace effort. ....As news reports spoke of government forces using tanks and helicopters in the fringes of the capital, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, called the escalating crisis in Syria “extremely dangerous.”.
US News Capsules: 1. Giant boulder breaks loose, crushing cars, home in Ohio.
....The boulder -- about 25 feet in diameter -- broke free from a hillside and gravity took over. The boulder knocked down phone, power and cable lines as it rolled, and only stopped after crushing the cars and tearing off part of an Athens, Ohio family's home. 2. Generic drugs prove resistant to damage suits. ....Lawsuits aimed at generic drugs are being thrown out across the country in the wake of a 2011 Supreme Court decision favorable to the drugs' makers. 3. A Florida law gets scrutiny after a teenager's killing.
....Seven years after Florida adopted the "Stand Your Ground" law, the shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed, has put that law at the center of an increasingly angry debate. 4.Justices back Mayo Clinic argument on patents. ....The US Supreme Court ruled that an abstract idea based on natural phenomena was not eligible to be patented. a. Supreme Court revisits issue of harsh sentences for juveniles. ....A majority of justices appeared ready to take an additional step in limiting such punishments, but it was not clear whether it would be modest or large. b. Justices limit suits filed over Family Leave Act violations. ....The Supreme Court split along ideological lines in ruling that state workers may not sue their employers for violations of part of the act, prompting the term’s first dissent read from the bench. 5. Broadway musicals hang on for payoffs beyond weekly gross. ....Some musicals keep on running to give future touring companies the benefit of "Broadway hit" status. 6. MOVIES: The better to entertain you with, my dear.
....The screen comedy Mirror Mirror reflects Hollywood’s preoccupation with fairy tales, as do the television series Grimm and Once Upon a Time. a. Hunger Games brings out legions of fans, and inflatable mattresses[/u]. ....Crowds formed a line nearly three blocks long in Manhattan, hoping for admission to an appearance by the stars of the movie based on Suzanne Collins’s best-selling books. 7. TV: Digs will harm patrimony, scholars say. ....The cable channel Spike defends its American Digger show from complaints by scholarly archaeologists. 8. US finance leaders see much reduced risk from Europe[/u[].
....Top economic policy makers said Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis continued to weigh on growth, but its threat to the American economy has significantly diminished. 9. Studies link daily doses of aspirin to reduced risk of cancer. ....The findings add to evidence suggesting that aspirin may be a powerful if overlooked weapon against cancer, but some physicians and health officials are concerned about side effects. a. A cheap drug is found to save bleeding victims. .....Hospitals in the US have been slow to adopt the blood-clotting drug tranexamic acid, even though a recent study found that it could save up to 4,000 American lives each year. 10. University professor and his students crack $70 million cybercrime ring.
....Hackers stole $70 million from the payroll accounts of some 400 American companies and organizations — all from the safety of their homes in Eastern Europe. 11. Driver gets life sentence in Mississippi hate-crime case.
....A white Mississippi man was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in the murder of an African-American man, with the judge calling it a "despicable crime." POLITICS: 1. Romney wins by wide margin in Illinois. ....Mitt Romney used the full force of his campaign and an argument that he had the best chance of defeating Pres. Obama to overcome doubts among the more conservative voters. 2. 'Super PACs' supply millions as GOP race drains field. ....With a series of expensive races ahead, the candidates are increasingly reliant on a small group funneling millions to the organizations. 3. 'Right to Work' bills face uncertain future in an election year. ....In some statehouses, Republicans are facing a tugging match between conservative members who promote bills that critics see as attacks on unions, and moderates who fear political repercussions. 4. Obama takes on Republicans over energy policy. ....The president will try to counter Republican resistance to alternative energy subsidies at the expense of oil and gas. 5. Santorum puts a stress on history, in hopes of making it.. ....Rick Santorum has increasingly peppered his speeches with allusions to pivotal American moments.
Thought for Today "Is it worse to be scared than to be bored, that is the question." —-[/i]Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), ex-patriate American writer.
Today's flower: Hemerocallis or Strawberry candy dwarf daylily - Although the blooms last a single day, they keep coming for weeks every summer.
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billisonboard
Community Leader
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Post by billisonboard on Mar 21, 2012 16:12:43 GMT -5
It is best to become bored with being scared.
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 21, 2012 20:04:27 GMT -5
GOD BLESS AMERICA DAY[/b] "God Bless America", written by Irving Berlin back in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, was recorded by Kate Smith for Victor Records on March 21st in 1939. Ms. Smith first introduced the song on her Thursday, November 10, 1938 radio show (aired live the day before Armistice Day). "God Bless America" was a fitting tribute to its composer, who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional song to the Boy Scouts. The song became Kate Smith’s second signature after "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain;" and the second national anthem of the United States of America. On several occasions, it has even been suggested that the U.S. Congress enact a bill changing the national anthem to "God Bless America." [/i][/size][/color]
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beenherebefore
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Post by beenherebefore on Mar 21, 2012 20:24:08 GMT -5
What a lovely thread! Thanks, flying horse!
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 22, 2012 17:21:47 GMT -5
Your are quite welcome, bhb. I'm glad you enjoy it.
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 22, 2012 17:22:39 GMT -5
International Goof Off Day Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 82nd day of 2012 with 283 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 2:05 p.m., it's fair , temp 74ºF [Feels like 74ºF], winds variable @ 5 mph, humidity 46%, pressure 30.17 in and falling, dew point 52ºF, chance of precipitation 150.
Today in History: 1312--Pope Clement V issued a papal bull ordering the dissolution of the Order of the Knights Templar. 1599--Sir Anthony Van Dyke, Flemish painter, etcher & draftsman, was born; died 1641 at age 42. 1638--religious dissident Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for defying Puritan orthodoxy. 1765--e British Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765 to raise money from the American colonies, which fiercely resisted the tax. 1820--US naval hero Stephen Decatur was killed in a duel with Commodore James Barron near Washington, D.C. 1882--Congress outlawed polygamy . 1894,--ockey's first Stanley Cup championship game was played; home team Montreal defeated Ottawa, 3-1. 1908--Louis L'Amour, the best-selling American author who wrote more than 100 books, minly westerns, was born.; died 1988 at age 80. 1930--Stephen Sondheim, Broadway composer, turned 82 today. 1934--Orrin Hatch, US Senator (R-Utah), turned 78 today. 1933--during Prohibition, Pres. Roosevelt signed a measure to make wine and beer containing up to 3.2% alcohol legal. 1941--the Grand Coulee hydroelectric dam in Washington state went into operation. 1945--the Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. 1946-the British mandate in Transjordan came to an end. 1962--the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, featuring the debut of 19-year-old Barbra Streisand, opened at the Shubert Theater in New York. 1963--The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me, was released in Great Britain . 1972--Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. It fell short of the three-fourths approval needed. 1978--Karl Wallenda, the 73-year-old patriarch of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act, fell to his death while attempting to walk a cable strung between two hotel towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1990 --ajury in Anchorage, Alaska, found former tanker captain Joseph Hazelwood innocent of three major charges in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 1991--high school instructor Pamela Smart, accused of manipulating her student-lover into killing her husband, was convicted in Exeter, N.H., of murder-conspiracy. 1992--27 people were killed when a USAir jetliner crashed on takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport; 24 people survived. 1995--Colin Ferguson was sentenced to life in prison for killing six people on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train in 1993. 1997--Tara Lipinski, at age 14 years and 10 months, became the youngest ladies' world figure skating champion in Lausanne, Switzerland. 2002--Pres. Bush at a UN poverty summit in Monterrey, Mexico, urged world leaders to demand political reform from poor countries in exchange for increased aid and warned that unchecked poverty can foster terrorism. 2006--the Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire with Spain. 2007--a rocket exploded 50 yards from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad's Green Zone just minutes after Iraq's prime minister said the visit showed the city was "on the road to stability." 2010--Google announced it would stop censoring search results on its site in China by shifting it from the mainland to Hong Kong 2011--Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, his support. crumbling among political allies and the army, warned that the country could slide into civil war as the opposition rejected his offer to step down by the end of the year.
World News Capsules: 1. 7-year manhunt ends in rural Australia. ....Malcolm John Naden, 38, had become somewhat of a legend in the rural region where he was caught. 2. Chinese lawyers chafe at new oath in Communist Party. ....In recent years, China has moved to curtail the ability of lawyers to practice, with what scholars of Chinese law say are severe rollbacks to the establishment of rule of law and legal reform. a. Beijing switches sides in the race for Hong Kong's chief executive. ....China’s leaders have abandoned their support for a wealthy civil servant whose candidacy has been plagued by scandals and are now actively backing a populist to become the next chief executive. b. Indicators fall in Cina and Europe. ....Signs of slowing manufacturing in China and flagging business sentiment in Europe compounded concerns about the global recovery. 3. Brotherhood reconsiders plan to sit out presidential race in Egypt. ....The Muslim Brotherhood had planned merely to endorse a candidate rather than putting forth one itself, but several have declined the group’s support. 4. Suspect in French killings slain as police raid home.
....Mohammed Merah, a Frenchman who claimed to have killed seven people, was shot dead as officers raided the home where he had been holed up for more than 30 hours. 5. 15-year inquiry finds corruption widespead in Irish politics. ....The 3,270-page report paints a damning picture of Ireland’s political culture, and has sent ripples of consternation through Irish society. 6. Libya resists International Court's claim on war crimes case. ....Libya's interim authorities escalated their face-off against the International Criminal Court over custody of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's son and spy chief. 7. Soldiers declare coup in Mali.
....France called for rapid elections in its former colony of Mali after mutinous troops were reported to have ousted Pres. Amadou Toumani Touré. 8. Toll of Mexican crime wave, written on faces on the wall. ....Enormous photographic portraits of crime victims cover concrete homes in Ecatepec, near Mexico City, in an effort to show the human cost of the country's crime wave. 9. Myanmar invites Americans and Europeans to monitor vote. ....The United States said Wednesday that it was “encouraged” that Myanmar had invited American and European representatives to monitor elections on April 1.. 10. Rights body passes measure on Sri Lanka. ....A US initiative on Sri Lanka to account for the loss of civilian life at the end of its civil war three years ago has won support from the UN Human Rights Council. 11, Fighting returns to areas Syria had declared secure. ....Syrian forces carried out a bombardment in the city of Homs and deployed tanks and helicopters to rout rebels just outside the capital, activists said. Some experts believe Syria has moved into a new stage of prolonged fighting and instability. a. UN Council backs plan for ending Syria conflict. ....Overcoming months of bitter division, the UN Security Council delivered a diplomatic setback to Pres. Assad of Syria.
US News Capsules: 1. Florida police chief steps down in fatal shooting. ....Under pressure to resign over the investigation into the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Chief Bill Lee Jr. of the Sanford Police Department announces that he will temporarily step aside. 2. Justices' ruling expands rights of accused in plea bargains. ....Because about 95% of criminal convictions arise from guilty pleas, two Supreme Court decisions represent a vast expansion of judicial supervision of the criminal justice system. 3. US intelligence report warns of global water tensions. ....A report released on Thursday indicated that problems with water could destabilize countries in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia over the next decade. 4. Calls grow for leader of Komen to step down. ....The resignation of the chief executive of the group's New York affiliate added to pressure on Nancy G. Brinker to step down following a controversy over funding for Planned Parenthood. 5. Fox show will start worldwide. ....In a move to attract multinational advertisers and combat online piracy, [uT]ouch,[/u], a new drama from News Corp., will start almost simultaneously in 100 countries and territories. 6. US notes Europe's progress in easing its debt crisis. ....Europe has made good progress in easing its debt crisis, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told a House committee. 7. TV: Oblivious to the battle raging outside. .... Mad Men returns to AMC for a fifth season, and times have changed — again. 8. To draw releuctant young buyers, GM turns to MTV. ....The goal is to solve one of the most vexing problems facing the car industry: many young consumers today do not care that much about cars. 9. US is inching toward elusive goal of energy independence. ....Declining consumption of oil and increased energy production have brought the US closer to a goal that has tantalized many American presidents. 10. Whitney Houston died by drownng, coroner says. ....Coroner’s officials have ruled heart disease and cocaine use were also factors in the singer’s death. 11. <aler [i;;s [estocode a,od fear pf tpxocotu. ....The controversial soil fumigant, known as methyl iodide and sold under the label Midas, will be withdrawn immediately POLITICS: 1. Obama tours four states to defend energy policy. ....The president will try to counter Republican resistance to alternative energy subsidies at the expense of oil and gas, 2. The selling of a politician, and the ads almost broadcast. ....Every presidential campaign has commercials, like one for George W. Bush in which Ben Stein reprised his role from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” that never make it to air. 3. Santorum puts a stress on history, in hopes of making it. ....Rick Santorum has increasingly peppered his speeches with allusions to pivotal American moments. Thought for Today"Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it." —- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), Russian author. Today's flower: [/i]Campanula poscharskyana or trailing bellflowers
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 23, 2012 10:19:46 GMT -5
MONKEY DAY[/b] An evolution law, enacted March 23rd in the great State of Tennessee in the year 1925, made it a crime for a teacher in any state-supported public school or college to teach any theory that contradicted the Bible’s account of man’s creation. Tennessee’s Governor Austin Peay said, “The very integrity of the Bible in its statement of man’s divine creation is denied by any theory that man descended or has ascended from any lower order of animals.” Opponents planned to challenge the law, denouncing it as a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. Within two months, a Dayton, Tennessee high school science teacher, John T. Scopes was indicted, and later convicted, in the famous ‘Monkey Trial’ for teaching his students the theory of evolution; that man descended from a lower order of animals ... or monkeys. Scopes was fined $100. Defense Attorney Clarence Darrow stated that this was “the first case of its kind since we stopped trying people for witchcraft.” Remember this the next time you think about swinging from a tree ... especially while eating a banana and singing, “Yaba daba daba.” [/i][/size][/color]
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 23, 2012 16:19:40 GMT -5
Happy Liberty Day Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 83rd day of 2012 with 282 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:28 p.m., it's fair , temp 56ºF [Feels like 56ºF], winds calm, humidity 70%, pressure 30.18 in and steady, dew point 53ºF, chance of precipitation 10%.
Today in History: 1066--18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. 1324--Louis IV, emperor of Germany, was excommunicated by Pope John XXII. 1490--1st dated edition of Maimonides Mishna Torah published. 1534--Pope Clement declared the marriage between Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon was still valid. The marriage had been dissolved the year before in England, leading to the break with Catholicism and extablishment of the Anglican religion. 1708--English pretender to the throne as James III lands at Firth of Forth in Scotland. 1743--George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah had its premiere, in London. A precedent was set as King George II stood during the "Hallelujah Chorus". 1775--Patrick Henry delivered his "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech to the Virginia Provincial Convention, 1792--Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major (the "Surprise" symphony) had its first public performance in London. 1794--Lt. Gen. Tadeusz Kosciuszko returns to Poland from America. 1801--Paul I, Tsar of Russia, was assassinated and succeeded by Alexander I. 1806--Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, having reached the Pacific coast, began their journey back east. 1808--Napoleon's brother Joseph took the throne of Spain . 1839--the initials "O.K." were first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for "oll correct," a popular slang misspelling of "all correct" at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans. 1862--at the 1st Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, Confederate Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson suffered a rare defeat when his attacked Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley fails. 1913-- a devastating tornado ripped through Nebraska, near Omaha, one of five twisters that struck in Nebraska and Iowa, killing 115 people in total. 1918--an explosion in the Place de la Republique in Paris announced the first attack of a new German gun, "Big Bertha", a 210mm with a 118 foot-long barrel which could fire a shell some 25 miles. 1919, Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy. 1929--Sir Roger Bannister, the English runner who broke the 4-minute mile in 1954, turned 83 today. 1933, the German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers. 1944--German occupiers shoot more than 300 Italian civilians as a reprisal for an Italian partisan attack on an SS unit. 1950--Beat the Clock, starring radio’s first "Superman", Bud Collyer, debuted on CBS-TV. 1956--Pakistan became an Islamic republic, with Maj. Gen. Iskander Mirza as first provisional president. 1961--one of the 1st US casualties in Southeast Asia, an intelligence-gathering plane en route from Laos to Saigon was shot down over the Plain of Jars in central Laos. 1966--the Archbishop of Canterbury met the Pope in Rome, the first meeting between the heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches for 400 years. 1970--South Africa was banned from the Davis Cup tennis tournament because of its apartheid policies. 1973--Concentration, the longest-running game show in television, starring Hugh Downs, came to an end after 15 years on NBC. 1979--a federal judge sentenced Guillermo Novo and Alvin Ross Diaz for the murder of Orlando Letelier, Chilean ambassador and two friends who were car bombed on Embassy Row in Washington, DC. 1981--the US Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions. 1981--British great train robber Ronald Biggs was taken into custody in Barbados after his abduction from Brazil. 1983--Pres. Reagan first proposed developing technology to intercept incoming enemy missiles — an idea that came to be known as the Strategic Defense Initiative. 1994--Wayne Gretsky scores goal number 802, breaking his childhood idol Gordie Howe’s National Hockey League record for most goals scored in a career. 1994--Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexico's leading presidential candidate, was assassinated in Tijuana. 1996--Lee Teng-hui was sworn in as Taiwan's first democratically elected President. 1998--James Cameron's Titanic won a record 11 Academy Awards. (Later it was tied by Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in 2009.) 2001--Russia's orbiting Mir space station ended its 15-year odyssey with a fiery plunge into the South Pacific. 2002--girls in Afghanistan celebrated their return to school for the first time in years. 2003--a US Army maintenance convoy was ambushed in Iraq; 11 soldiers were killed and seven were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch. 2007--the US House of Representatives voted to clamp a cutoff deadline on the Iraq war, agreeing by a thin margin to pull combat troops out by late 2008. 2007--Iranian forces captured 15 British sailors and marines who were searching a merchant ship in the disputed Shatt Al-Arab waterway Persian Gulf; they were held for 13 days. 2010--Pres. Obama signed a $938 billion health care overhaul, declaring "a new season in America." 2011--NATO ships began patrolling off Libya's coast as airstrikes, missiles and energized rebels forced Moammar Gadhafi's tanks to roll back from two key western cities. 2011--a blast blamed on Palestinian militants ripped through a bus stop in Jerusalem, killing Mary Jean Gardner, a 59-year-old British tourist and wounding two dozen other people, including five Americans. 2011--Army Spc. Jeremy Morlock pleaded guilty to the murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians. 2011--Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her one of the last of the classic movie stars, died in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure at age 79.
World News Capsules: 1. Africna Union force to step up hunt for Kony. ....The African Union will send 5,000 soldiers to join the hunt for rebel leader Joseph Kony in a new mission to remove the Lord’s Resistance Army from Central Africa’s vast jungle 2. In Cuba, church's uneasy balancing act. ....Ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit, the Roman Catholic Church keeps struggling to attract more worshipers while facing criticism that it has grown too cozy with Cuba's Communist government. a. Tibetan self-immolatins rise as China tightens grip.
....The authorities in Beijing, alarmed about the threat to stability in a region seething with discontent over religious and cultural controls, have responded with heavy-handed measures. b. China moves to stop transplants of organs after executions. ....China said that it planned to end within three to five years the practice of transplanting organs from executed prisoners. 3. Once imperiled, US aid to Egypt is restored. ....The Obama administration said that national security interests favored the release of $1.3 billion in military assistance. 4. Suspect called French school attack 'improvised,' spy chief says. ....The director of a French intelligence service said that the confessed killer had “improvised” his attack on a Jewish school after failing to find a soldier to kill the same morning. 5. Russia eases law on political parties. ....Responding to the outcry over disputed parliamentary elections, Russian lawmakers unanimously approved legislation to make it easier to form and maintain new political parties. 6. In a divided city, many blacks see echoes of white superiority. ....A recent Twitter dispute over whether Cape Town, South Africa, is racist has given way to soul-searching in the city, which many blacks see as the last bastion of white rule. 7. North Korea and Iran will dominate nuclear summit meeting in Seoul.
....Pres. Obama will join the leaders of more than 50 countries in Seoul, South Korea, next week for a nuclear security summit. 8. Spain not out of the woods yet. ....Fiscal austerity and a real estate bust threaten to set off a vicious economic circle in Spain similar to the one that has pummeled Greece 9. Clans and villages now fleeing Syria, investigators say. ....A UN inquiry commission offered grim new details, including the uprooting of extended clans and villages forced to flee into neighboring countries. 10. In the Vatican, Pope takes aim at violence in Mexico and Maarxism in Cuba. ....Catholics from all over Latin America gathered in central Mexico, clogging roads, carrying rosary beads, and praying for a meaningful glimpse of Pope Benedict XVI.
US News Capsules: 1. US inches toward goal of energy independence. ....Declining oil consumption and new energy production have brought the US closer to a goal that has tantalized presidents since Richard Nixon. 2. US relaxes limits on use of data in terror analysis. ....Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. signed new guidelines on how analysts may access, store and search information gathered by government agencies about Americans. 3. Taking on police tactic, critics hit racial divide. ....Black and Latino lawmakers, fed up over the frequency with which New York City police officers are stopping and frisking minority men, are seeking laws to curb the practice. 4. US sergeant faces 17 counts of murder in Afghan killings.
....Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged today in connection with the March 11 shooting deaths of Afghan civilians, a senior US official said. 5, "If I had a son," Obama says, he'd look like Treyvon Martin.
....Pres. Obama was asked about the case of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager killed by a neighborhood watch captain who has claimed self-defense. a. Shooting focuses attention on a program that seeks to avoid guns. ....A neighborhood watch coordinator for the Sanford, Fla., police department said the death of Trayvon Martin was a singular bad example of an otherwise valuable community resource. 6. When the ground goes bump in the night.
....Residents of Dlintonville, Wis. have been awakened by mysterious noises that seem to come from underground. - the cause? A "swarm" of minor earthquakes amplified by the unique bedrock beneath the state of Wisconsin. 7. Stronger hand for judges in the 'bazaar' of plea deals. ....Legal scholars said the Supreme Court rulings on Wednesday will have significant impact on the criminal justice system, though it will be tough to predict their effects. 8. Three plead guilty to hate crimes in killing of black man in Mississippi. ....Three white men involved in the killing admitted they used to drive into Jackson, Miss., from a neighboring county determined to find blacks to assault. 9. US rejects environmental reviews on mortgages linked to drilling. ....The Department of Agriculture said environmental reviews are not required before home loans can be issued to owners of properties with drilling leases. 10. As young lose interest in cars, GM turns to MTV for help. ....The goal is to solve one of the most vexing problems facing the car industry: many young consumers today do not care that much about cars. 11. Drug dosage was approved despite warning. ....The Alzheimer's drug Aricept 23 was set to lose its patent, but its makers received approval for a higher dosage that extended their exclusivity. a. . Hip device phaseout followed FDA data request. ....Shortly after getting a request from the Food and Drug Administration for safety data about an artificial hip, Johnson & Johnson executives decided to discontinue making the device. b. FDA is ordered to restrict antibiotics' use in livestock. ....Environmental and health groups had sued to limit the broad use of penicillin and tetracycline to boost animal growth, a practice that may help dangerous infections proliferate. 12. Seeing packaging as more than a throwaway. ....While government requirements for recycling remain limited, pressure from environmentally minded consumers and the cost advantages of reusing materials are bringing change. 13. Cocaine, heart disease contributed to Houston's drowning, coroner says.
....Whitney Houston died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" were contributing factors in her death, the Los Angeles County coroner said in an initial autopsy report. 14. ARTS: A glitzy execution in a religious revival. ....The Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar employs modern dress and an arena-rock atmosphere. 15. REALITY TV: Kim Kardashian gets flour-bombed on red carpet.
....According to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the reality-show star was doing interviews outside the London Hotel in West Hollywood when a woman walked up and doused her with what the police report referred to as "powder." POLITICS: 1. Obama seizes chance to score as an everyman. ....Basketball provides an opportunity to exploit what the Obama campaign regards as the president’s advantage over Mitt Romney in the battle over which candidate can seem more “ordinary." 2. Panel extends ethics reviews of two House members. ....Representatives Vern Buchanan (R-Fla) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) have been accused of improprieties in their outside business interests. 3. House votes to kill a Medicare cost panel. ....The Republican-controlled House passed a bill to abolish a cost control board created by the new health care law. 4. Insider trading ban for lawmakers clears Congress. ....The Senate approved a bill prohibiting members of Congress from trading securities on the basis of confidential information they receive as lawmakers. 5. GOP candidates focus on Louisiana. ....A poll released Friday shows Rick Santorum with a comfortable lead over front-runner Mitt Romney in Saturday's Louisiana Republican primary,. a. Rivals pounce on Santorum remark. ....Santorum said Thursday, "we might as well stay with what we have" in the White House when comparing Romney to President Barack Obama.
Today's Headlines of Interest:
Mankind kept 2011 global temperatures near record
Human activity kept global temperatures close to a record high in 2011 despite the cooling influence of a powerful La Nina weather pattern, the World Meteorological Organization said today. On average, global temperatures in 2011 were lower than the record level hit the previous year but were still 0.40 degrees Centigrade above the 1961-1990 average and the 11th highest on record, the report said. WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud warned that the consequences of global warming could be permanent. "The world is warming because of human activities and this is resulting in far-reaching and potentially irreversible impact on our Earth, atmosphere and oceans," he said. La Nina, a natural weather phenomenon linked to heavy rains and flooding in the Asia-Pacific and South America and drought in Africa, was one of the strongest in the past 60 years and stayed active in the tropical Pacific until May 2011. Further signs of man's contribution to climate change will put the biggest polluters in the spotlight after they agreed for the first time last December at UN climate talks in Durban to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Critics of the agreement have said that the plan was too timid to slow global warming. The WMO, part of the UN, said that elevated temperatures had contributed to extreme weather conditions such as intense droughts and flooding and droughts in east Africa and North America. Global tropical cyclone activity was below average last year but the US had one of the most destructive tornado seasons on record, the report said. Another impact of high temperatures was shrinking Arctic sea ice and its extent was the 2nd-lowest minimum on record and the volume was the lowest. The WMO also said that the decade between 2001-2010 was the warmest ever recorded across all of the world's continents ahead of the release of its 'Decadal Global Climate Summary'. 2010 tied for the warmest year since data started in 1880, capping a decade of record high temperatures that shows mankind's greenhouse gas emissions are heating the planet, two U.S. agencies said. I'm afraid that there will be more dangerous weather phenomena before the world finally really makes an effort to get things under control. I just hope they don't wait too long.
Thought for Today "When people say, 'She's got everything,' I've got one answer — I haven't had tomorrow." —-Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), Oscar-winning actress.
Today's flower: Alcea or Crème de Cassis Hollyhock
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 23, 2012 17:26:19 GMT -5
Sports Headlines - 23 March 2012
1. NCAABK: Ohio State one step closer to meeting lofty expectations.
....So Ohio State is going to be one of the final eight teams standing entering the weekend, but you may overlook the fact that this is unchartered territory for this current roster of Buckeye players. a. The Cardinals keep surging, eliminating a no. 1 seed.
....The fourth-seeded Cardinals (29-9) defeated Michigan State 57-44 for their seventh win in a row, keeping Coach Rick Pitino undefeated in 10 regional semifinals/ b. Wisconsin misses in final seconds, and Orange advance.
....The Badgers, hot from 3-point range most of the game, missed two shots in the final seconds to lose 64-63, as the Orange advanced to the Round of 8 for the first time since 2003. c. Fueled by drive (and coffee). ....John Groce has led Ohio University to three tournament upsets the past three seasons, and his hyper personality has helped make him this year's rising star coach. d. Practicing to shoot over Griner? A broom might help. ....At 6-foot-8, Baylor center Brittney Griner has shot-blocking skills that leave opposing coaches struggling for ways to prepare their players. 2. MLB: Pujols continues to excite his new Angels teammates. ....The Angels were joyous when Albert Pujols was signed in December, and now the hope is that he can elevate his new teammates. a. Chamberlain dislocaates ankle and undergoes surgery.
...Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees’ charismatic relief pitcher, sustained an ankle injury that required surgery, casting his season, if not his career, in doubt. 3. NBA: Knicks slow down and take off. ....While a five-game sample is too small to draw any meaningful conclusions, some changes that have occurred under the Knicks’ interim coach, Mike Woodson, bear watching. 4. NFL: Players union wants to conduct its own inquiry into bounty program. ....The league suspended New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton but has not yet disciplined the players the league says were involved in the bounties. 5. GOLF: Putts elude Els, and so could Masters. ....As Ernie Els continues to struggle on the green, the South African needs at least a second-place solo finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational to play in the Masters this year.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 24, 2012 6:02:00 GMT -5
TREASURE HUNT DAY
“To be or not to be ... the winner of an Oscar”. That was the question as the Academy Awards were passed out for the 21st time on this night in 1949. Actor/producer/director Robert Montgomery hosted the ceremony held at the AMPAS Theater in Los Angeles. Hamlet, produced by Lawrence Olivier for J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films, won Best Picture of 1948. Olivier also was pronounced Best Actor for his portrayal of Hamlet.
The real star of the evening, however, was the Hollywood flick, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre[/img], the story of a trio of prospectors in their search for gold in them thar hills. The search finally led them to gold in the shape of Oscar ... three Oscars, to be exact, and a nomination for Best Picture. And, as far as we know, it was the first, and remains the only time a father and son both won Academy Awards on the same night. They were presented to Walter and John Huston for their stunning work in the 1948 film. Walter was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and his son, John, received honors for Best Director and for Best Screenplay (based on a B. Traven story). Other winners of the treasured golden statuette on this spring night were: Jane Wyman (the former Mrs. Ronald Reagan) for Best Actress (film: Johnny Belinda); Claire Trevor for Best Supporting Actress (film: Key Largo); Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for Best Music/Song ('Buttons and Bows" from the Bob Hope/Jane Russell flick, The Paleface). And although Olivier won the Best Actor Oscar, Humphrey Bogart was superb as the paranoid, and ultimately, homicidal Fred C. Dobbs in Sierra Madre. [/b][/i][/color]
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 24, 2012 13:40:00 GMT -5
No bulletin today. I lost sleep last night and went back to bed this a.m. I didn't wake up until about 30 min. ago and there's no time to do the bulletin before I have to start running my Saturday Mystery Person game.
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mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 24, 2012 13:47:42 GMT -5
Sorry you didn't sleep well, peg. Being a day sleeper when I work, I just got up a few minutes ago, as well. Have fun on your Mystery Person game, hon!
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 24, 2012 14:23:11 GMT -5
Thanks, mmhmm.
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mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
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Post by mmhmm on Mar 24, 2012 14:24:11 GMT -5
Of course, sweetie! You know you're one of my favorite people!
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 25, 2012 9:52:14 GMT -5
And I definitely feel the same about you.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 25, 2012 16:42:19 GMT -5
National Poison Prevention Week Good afternoon from Tuxy and me This is the 85thth day of 2012 with 280 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 1:08 p.m., it's cloudy , temp 48ºF [Feels like 48ºF], winds NW @ 5 mph, humidity 78%, pressure 29.83 in and steady, dew point 46ºF, chance of precipitation 20%.
Today in History: 1306--Robert the Bruce was crowned the King of Scots. 1347--St. Catherine of Siena, Italian Dominican tertiary, mystic and patron Saint of Italy, was born; died 1380 at age 33. 1634--English Catholic colonists sent by fellow Catholic the 2nd Lord Baltimore arrived in present-day Maryland. 1774--the English Parliament pases the Boston Port Act that closed the port of Boston and imposed a fine on Bostonians for the Boston Tea Party of 1773. 1776--Gen. George Washington was awarded the first Congressional Gold Medal by the Continental Congress for leading the liberation of Boston from British troops. 1807--Great Britain abolished its slave trade. 1826--Matilda Gage, women's rights advocate, was born; died 1898 at age 71. 1865--Confederate forces attacked Fort Stedman in Virginia but were forced to withdraw by counterattacking Union troops. 1879--Little Wolf, often called "the greatest of the fighting Cheyenne," who had demonstrated brilliant understanding of battle tactics leading to dozens of important Cheyenne wins over other tribes and later the US Army, surrendered to his friend Lieutenant W. P. Clark. 1881--Bela Bartok, the Hungarian pianist who was one of the most important composers of the 20th century was born.; died 1945 at age 64/ 1894--Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government. 1911--Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York City was one of the darkest moments of America's industrial history, killing 145 mostly female workers. 1913--the home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City. 1918--the Belarusian Peoples' Republic was established from Imperial Russia. 1928--James Lovell, former astronaut, turned 84 today. 1933--the USS Sequoia became the presidential yacht. 1934--feminist activist and author, Gloria Steinem, turned 78 today. 1941--Yugoslavia joined with the Axis powers of World War II. 1946--the USSR announced they were withdrawing from Iran. 1947--a coal mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., claimed 111 lives. 1955--the US Customs confiscated 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg's book Howl,, printed in England., alleging it was obscene. 1957--the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community. 1958--Sugar Ray Robinson, considered the greatest prizefighter in history, defeated Carmen Basilio to regain the middleweight title, the 5th and final title of his career. 1960--the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York ruled that the D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley's Lover was not obscene and could be sent through the mails. 1965--the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks. 1967--the Rev. Martin Luther King led a maarch against the Vietnamese War. 1975--King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness, who was later executed. 1988--Robert E. Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to 1st-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's so-called "preppie murder case." 1990--87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants, were killed when fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City. 1992--cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist. 1994--the last American troops departed Somalia. 1996--an 81-day standoff by the anti-government Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Mont. 2002--a powerful earthquake rocked Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, killing some 1,000 people. 2007--Iran partially suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency, over "illegal and bullying" sanctions imposed on the country for its refusal to stop enriching uranium. 2007--Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi won Mauritania's first free presidential election in a runoff. 2011--Canadian opposition parties brought down the Conservative government in a no-confidence vote, triggering an election that gave Prime Minister Stephen Harper a clear Conservative majority in Parliament.
World News Capsules: 1. US pays families of Afghan victims in massacre. ....The families of 16 Afghan villagers killed this month by a rampaging American soldier were given $50,000 by the US for each of their slain relatives, Afghan and American officials said. 2. Hong Kong, divided over future, gets new leader.
....Leung Chun-ying, 57, won 689 of the 1,132 votes cast by members of the city’s Election Committee. He quickly tried to allay fears that he would restrict civil liberties in the former British colony. a. Chna attacks Dalai Lama in online blast. ....China’s state-run news media sought to equate the Dalai Lama, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nazis and their genocidal war on European Jews. 3. Jp,ocodes om E; Sa;vadpr do[. amd qiestopms arose. ....The possibility that the reduction in violence resulted from a secret deal between the government and gang leaders has rattled the country’s political establishment. 4. In Europe, where art islife, ax flls on public financing. ....Europe's economic problems, and the austerity programs meant to address them, are forcing arts institutions there to curtail programs, tours and grants. 5. As displaced return to Iraq, new tensions for neighbors. ....Near-record numbers of families are coming home, in some cases reviving resentments created by bloody purges that carved Iraq into archipelagos of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. 6. In Pope's Mexico visit, the pastoral is political. ....Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about violence in Mexico and Communism in Cuba suggest that the pope does not intend to ignore his potential political influence. 7. Coup leaders in Mali struggle to assert their control. ....Regional analysts and residents of Bamako, the capital, said little appeared to be resolved amid increasing isolation and rumors of an imminent countercoup. 8. Obama warns North Korea to end 'bad behavior..
....Pres. Obama arrived in Seoul to take part in a nuclear security summit meeting, but also made his first visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. 9. US plans no charges over deadly strike in Pakistan.
....American officials, finding a chain of mistakes by both sides, have decided no service members will face disciplinary charges in a November airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. 10. Vast tracts in Paraguay forest being replaced by ranches . ....Huge sections of the Chaco forest are being razed by local Mennonite farmers and Brazilian cattle ranchers amid a surge in the global demand for beef. 11. Russia's TV broadcast besmirching protesters draws a furious reaction. ....As opposition leaders recover from the demise of mass antigovernment protests, some are looking to television as the next political battleground. 12. Syria continues drive to retake rebel strongholds as diplomacy suffers a setback. ....Syrian troops intensified an attack against the city of Homs, activists said, as a Kremlin official indicated Russia continues to disagree with the US on how to end the fighting.
US News Capsules: 1. Groups blanket Supreme Court on health care. [imghttp://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120323030336-supreme-court-cu-story-top.jpg][/img] ....The nine justices will need steely nerves to block out all the noise surrounding a case that has generated an intense outside lobbying campaign. 2. For lawyer in Afghan killings, the latest in a series of challenging defenses. ....John Henry Browne, the lawyer defending the soldier charged with killing Afghan civilians, has long been the voluble and sometimes victorious defender of the virtually indefensible. 3. For Cheney, 71, new heart ends 20-month wait. ....Former Vice Pres. Dick Cheney is recovering at a Virginia hospital after awaiting a heart transplant for more than 20 months. 4. In Alabama, years after 10 Commandments fight, ex-justice plans return. ....Roy Moore, who defied a federal order to remove a 5,000-pound statue of the holy tablets from his Alabama courthouse, was removed as chief justice in 2003. 5. Both coasts watch closely as San Francisco faces erosion
. ....Every few years, stormy surf grinds away at Ocean Beach, a 3.5-mile stretch on the Pacific Ocean, pulling huge amounts of sand out to sea. 6. Suicides highlight failures of veterans' support system. ....Recent suicides of veterans point to serious communications failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, one of the agency’s elite campuses. 7. 'Pink slime' losing place on school lunch menus. ....News of the ammonia-treated additive, formally called lean finely textured beef, set off a reaction by schools and an announcement by the Agriculture Department. 8. Payments to Albuguerque officers are called a 'bounty system.' ....In Albuquerque, the families of people killed in recent police-involved shootings expressed outrage at a police union program that pays as much as $500 to officers involved in shootings 9. The electric car, unplugged. ....With high gas prices and environmental awareness, the future would seem to be bright for the electric car. But instead it’s iffy. 10. Insuring Hollywood against falls (but not flops). ....In the film world, Fireman’s Fund has become the go-to company for insuring against production injuries and accidents. 11. 6,000 records broken so far in March. ....First - hailstones were declared the largest on record to ever hit Hawaii. Second, one dead as tornadoes roar across the Ohio Valley. And third, warm weather cuts short US maple sugaring season, portending a shortage of maple syrup on the shelves. 12. MOVIES: 'Hunger Games' earns $155 million for third best opening of all time. ....Making history, Lionsgate's The Hunger Games[.u]"opened to an astounding $155 million at the domestic box office, the third-best debut of all time and the best for any film opening outside of summer. 13. REALITY TV: Camille Grammer didn't want to leave "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
....Did Camille Grammer leave on her own terms -- or was she pushed out? As a source said, the 43-year-old ex-wife of Kelsey Grammer won't be coming back for season three of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." POLITICS: 1. Kennedy helped shape Romney's career, and still haunts it. ....Mitt Romney’s complicated relationship with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, from campaign foe to health care partner, helped shape both his political career and his image. 2. Santorum gets a boost in winning Louisiana. ....After suffering lopsided losses to Mitt Romney in the Illinois and Puerto Rico primaries, Rick Santorum nets a win in Louisiana that was propelled by social conservatives but is unlikely to derail Mitt Romney, his chief rival
Today's Headlines of Interest:
Mangled horses, maimed jockeys.
....The new economics of horse racing are making an always-dangerous game even more so, as lax oversight puts animal and rider at risk. An investigation by The New York Times has found that industry practices continue to put animal and rider at risk. A computer analysis of data from more than 150,000 races, along with injury reports, drug test results and interviews, shows an industry still mired in a culture of drugs and lax regulation and a fatal breakdown rate that remains far worse than in most of the world. If anything, the new economics of racing are making an always-dangerous game even more so. Faced with a steep loss of customers, racetracks have increasingly added casino gambling to their operations, resulting in higher purses but also providing an incentive for trainers to race unfit horses. At Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, the number of dead and injured horses has risen sharply since a casino opened there late last year. Ruidoso Downs Race Track 6,900 feet up in New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains is in a state with the worst safety record for racetracks, a place where most trainers who illegally pump sore horses full of painkillers to mask injury — and then race them — are neither fined nor suspended and owners of those drugged horses usually keep their winnings. The failure of regulators to stop that cheating is reflected in the numbers. Since 2009, records show, trainers at US tracks have been caught illegally drugging horses 3,800 times, a figure that vastly understates the problem because only a small percentage of horses are actually tested.
A state-by-state survey by The Times shows that about 3,600 horses died racing or training at state-regulated tracks over the last three years. In one 13-day stretch of racing in 2010 at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino in New Mexico, nine horses died racing, five were hauled away in ambulances and two jockeys were hospitalized, one in critical condition. “It’s hard to justify how many horses we go through,” said Dr. Rick Arthur, the equine medical director for the California Racing Board. “In humans you never see someone snap their leg off running in the Olympics. But you see it in horse racing.” Even some of America’s most prestigious tracks, including Belmont Park, Santa Anita Park and Saratoga Race Course, had incident rates higher than the national average last year, records show. Why racehorses break down at such a high rate has been debated for years, but the discussion inevitably comes back to drugs. Laboratories cannot yet detect the newest performance-enhancing drugs, while trainers experiment with anything that might give them an edge, including chemicals that bulk up pigs and cattle before slaughter, cobra venom, Viagra, blood doping agents, stimulants and cancer drugs. Illegal doping, racing officials say, often occurs on private farms before horses are shipped to the track. Few states can legally test horses there. “They are pharmacist shops,” said Dr. George Maylin, the longtime head of New York State’s testing laboratory. “Nobody has any control over what they are doing.” Even so, legal therapeutic drugs — pain medicine in particular — pose the greatest risk to horse and rider. In England, where breakdown rates are half of what they are in the United States, horses may not race on any drugs. At higher levels, pain medicine can mask injury, rendering prerace examinations less effective. If a horse cannot feel an existing injury, it may run harder than it otherwise would, putting extra stress on the injury. As many as 90 percent of horses that break down had pre-existing injuries, California researchers have found. “This is just a recipe for disaster,” said Dr. Tom David, who until this year was chief veterinarian for the Louisiana Racing Commission. “Inflamed joints, muscles and mild lameness are masked by medication and therefore undetectable to the examining veterinarian.” While high-profile Triple Crown races get the most attention, the mainstay of racing in America is the lower tier, so-called claiming races. Horses in these races are most vulnerable, in part because regulators often give them less protection from potentially dangerous drugs. At Aqueduct, most of the 16 horses that have died so far this year were in the lower ranks, where purses have increased the fastest because of new casino money. “It’s hard to watch these poor animals running for their lives for people who could really care less if they live,” said Dr. Margaret Ohlinger, a track veterinarian at Finger Lakes Casino and Racetrack in upstate New York. She performs pre-race inspections and treats horses injured in races but is not responsible for their overall care. Last year at the track, Dr. Ohlinger counted 63 dead horses. That, she said, is more than double the fatalities of five years earlier Race officials have always done their best to hide fatal breakdowns, erecting screens around fallen horses and then refusing to disclose the tracks’ accident rates. But amid criticism that individual state racing commissions lacked the will to make the sport safer, and the threat of federal oversight, the industry promised changes, including new restrictions on the use of drugs, a program to accredit racetracks and drug-testing laboratories and uniform rules for punishing drug violators. The industry also set up a national database where tracks were asked, but not required, to report injuries with the promise of confidentiality. So far, the response to these reform measures has fallen far short of goals and there seems little likelihood of any change any time soon. I have always loved horse racing as a spectator. I used to attend races at Finger Lakes Race Track in Farmington, NY before the days of the casino's arrival. And enjoyed the sight of those gorgeous animals running full out. And in all the years I attended races there, I never saw a horse injred. And then came Barbaro and I hoped so hard that he would survive his accident. But he didn't. And since then there have been more top horses euthanized after accidents in major stake races. You cannot imagine how much it pains me to say this, but for once I'm going to have to back PETA's campaign to do away with horse racng. It is evident that the industry is not going to change its ways. And so, just like with dog fighting, cock fighting, etc. it has to be stopped altogether.
Thought for Today "Uninterpreted truth is as useless as buried gold." —-[/i]Lytton Strachey (1880-1932), English biographer
Today's flower: Iris germanica or Adoragon German iris
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 26, 2012 18:09:25 GMT -5
Be a Mime Day Good evening from Tuxy and me This is the 86th day of 2012 with 279 days left in the year. Today in NY's Finger Lakes at 7:01 p.m., it's fair , temp 35ºF [Feels like 25ºF], winds NW @ 17 mph, humidity 34%, pressure 30.17 in and rising, dew point 9ºF, chance of precipitation 0%.
Today in History: 1776--South Carolina approves new constitution. 1804--the Louisiana Purchase was divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. 1812--an earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela, causing an est. 26,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 1832--the American Fur Company adoptrf the latest in transportation technology, dispatching the company's new steamboat Yellowstone to pick up furs in Montana. 1827--composer Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna. 1864--Gen. James B. McPherson assumed command of the Union Army of the Tennessee after William T. Sherman became the overall leader in the West. 1872--a deadly earthquake felt from Mexico to Oregon rocks the Owens Valley in California, killing 30 people. 1874--Robert Frost, the American writer who received three Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry, was born in San Francisco; died 1963 at age 88. 1885--the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. of Rochester, NY, manufactured the first commercial motion picture film. 1911--playwright Tennessee Williams was born in Columbus, Miss. 1912--an explosion at the Jed Coal & Coke Co. Mine in West Virginia claimed the lives of 83 miners. 1960--F.Scot Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise. 1930--retired Supreme Court Justice and the first women justice Sandra Day O'Connor turned 82 today. 1934--Leonard Nimoy, actor (Mr. Spock on Star Trek) and diector, turned 78 today/ 1937--a 6-foot-tall statue of the cartoon character Popeye was unveiled during the Second Annual Spinach Festival in Crystal City, Texas. 1950--Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) charged that Owen Lattimore of the US State Department was a Soviet spy, becoming a central figure in the Red Scare hysteria creatd by McCarthy's reckless accusations and charges. 1953--Dr. Jonas Salk announced his development of a polio vaccine. 1955--"Black" music got whitewashed, as Georgia Gibbs hit the pop charts with "The Wallflower (Dance With Me, Henry)." 1958--the U.S. Army launched America's 3rd successful satellite, Explorer 3. 1962--the Supreme Court, in Baker v. Carr, gave federal courts the power to order reapportionment of states' legislative districts, a 6-2 decision that eventually led to the doctrine of "one man, one vote." 1964--the musical Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway. 1969--a group called Women Strike for Peace demonstrate in Washington, D.C., in the first large antiwar demonstration since President Richard Nixon's inauguration 1971--East Pakistan proclaimed its independence, taking the name Bangladesh. 1975--the city of Hue fell to the communists in Vietnam. 1979--Earvin "Magic" Johnson led the Michigan State Spartans to a 75- 64 victory over Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game. 1979--a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by Pres. Carter at the White House. 1982--groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . 1987--a torture chamber was uncovered by police in Philadelphia, Pa in the basement of Gary Heidnik's dilapidated house where three naked women were found chained to a sewer pipe. 1992--a judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant. 1997--the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who'd committed suicide were found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 1999--Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of 2nd-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on 60 Minutes. 2000--Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia for the 1st ime. 2002--Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal. 2007--the US Army concluded that high-ranking officers had made critical errors in reporting the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, but that there was no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of the former NFL star by fellow soldiers. (The findings were rejected by Tillman's family.) 2008--Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata. 2011--more than 250,000 people took to London's streets to protest the toughest spending cuts since World War II; riot police clashed with small breakaway groups and arrested more than 200 people. 2011--former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, the first female major party nominee for the office, died in Boston at age 75.
World News Capsules: 1. Obama urges China to restrain North Korea. ....Speaking to 400 students at a foreign affairs university, Pres. Obama paid tribute to the transformation of South Korea and challenged North Korea to give up its belligerent behavior. 2. Raul Castro greets Pope Benedict at start of closely watched visit.
....Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba, welcomed by Pres. Raúl Castro, who gripped the pontiff’s hands in greeting but did not kiss his ring. a. Catholic Church deals with a diminished role in Cuban life.
....Since most restrictions on worship were lifted in the early 1990s, it has been Pentecostal and evangelical churches that have watched their membership rolls explode. 3. France to bar some Muslim clerics. ....The announcement, made by Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy, was considered another political response to the terrorist killings carried out in Toulouse. a. Strauss-Kahn charged with 'aggravated pimping..
....Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged in France for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring, prosecutors said. 4. Cash-for-access scandal leaves David Cameron's UK government reeling.
....The government of British Prime Minister David Cameron was reeling after a video emerged showing his Conservative Party's top fundraiser claiming to offer access to senior politicians in exchange for large donations. a. Great Britain seeks investigation of businessman's death in China. ....The British government said that it has asked China to investigate the death of a British citizen with apparent ties to the family of a dismissed Chinese Politburo member. 5. Tibetan in Delhi sets self alight to protest Chinese leader's visit. ....Chinese President Hu Jintao will be in Delhi later this week for an emerging markets summit. a. Indian activist attempts revival of anti-graft drime. ....The activist Anna Hazare staged a one-day hunger strike on Sunday, but after a few difficult months, the potency of his protest movement no longer seemed certain. 6. With summit of Arab leaders, Iraq seeks to shift image. ....For Iraqi diplomats and officials, a three-day meeting of the Arab League is a banner moment for a country emerging from decades of war, occupation and diplomatic isolation. 7. Not worth the paper it's built on. ....After losing everything in the collapse of the Irish economy, Frank Buckley built his home from bricks made out of shredded, decommissioned euro notes. 8. At mass in Mexico, Pope urges humility and trust. ....At an open-air ceremony in a nation wracked by drug violence, Pope Benedict XVI urged the faithful to trust in God in the face of evil and sin. 9. Wielding fire, Islamists target Nigeria schools.
....For a town in northern Nigeria already living in fear of a violent Islamist group, the arson of school buildings is the latest outrage. 10. In Pakistan, Hindus say woman's conversion to Islam was coerced. ....Over the past month, a Hindu woman’s conversion has generated an acrid controversy that has reverberated far beyond its origins in small-town Pakistan, whipping up a media frenzy. 11. A turbulence-free election in Senegal. ....Pres. Abdoulaye Wade conceded to Macky Sall, a onetime protégé of his and a former prime minister, in a rare example of a prompt and peaceful political turnover in the region. 12. Spain's ruling party disappointed in regional ballot. ....The governing Popular Party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy failed to win an absolute majority in elections in Andalusia, Spain’s most populous region. 13. US and Turkey to step up 'nonlethal' aid to rebels in Syria. ....Opposition groups will receive assistance such as communications equipment and medical supplies, an American official said. Separately, Turkey said it would remove its diplomats from Damascus.
US News Capsules: 1. In health care case, lawyers train for 3-day marathon. (People lined up for tickets to the Supreme Court hearing on the health care law) ....Practice sessions for the lawyers debating Presi. Obama's health care law in Supreme Court arguments this week have stretched the supply of colleagues willing to play the justices. a. Neither phones, nor camers, or tweets in the Supreme Court.
....No Twitter posts, phone calls or laptops will be allowed during Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of the health care law. b. Supreme Court orders new look at gene patents. ....Appellate judges were told to reconsider a ruling that let Myriad Genetics patent two genes that confer a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. c. Justices return Jerusalem status case to lower court. ....The court postponed a ruling on the executive branch’s contention that Congress does not have the power to allow Americans born in Jerusalem to claim Israel as their birthplace on passports. 2. Town jumps on board to embrace a Marine. ....Building a house for a wounded Marine has involved generosity and connections that strike Glastonbury, Conn., as something more than random luck. 3. School district told to replace web filter blocking pro-gay sites. ....A judge has ordered Camdenton school district in Missouri to replace a filter that puts pro-gay sites in the sexuality category, but allows antigay sites, which are often classified as religious. 4. Anger at Goldman still simmers. ....Testifying recently in a lawsuit that is unrelated to Copper River's closing, its chief maintained that actions taken in the fall of 2008 by Goldman Sachs had done irreparable damage to his fund. 5. Police report details alleged attack on Zimmerman. ....The man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin told police Martin attacked him, an account that police said some witnesses have corroborated, according to [/i]The Orlando Sentinel . a. For Trevyon Martin's case, a long route to national attention. ....It took several weeks, after word spread on Facebook and Twitter of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, for the news to become widely reported by the national media. b. Florida teen had been suspended over marijuana. ....A plastic bag with traces of the drug had been found in Trayvon Martin’s bookbag, a lawyer said. 6. MUSIC: Introspection for a pop star: just remember her name
....Madonna’s new album, MDNA , is a bipolar collection of songs whose familiar poses matter less than the panache of their delivery. a. Bringing an open-source ethos to bands. ....CASH Music is part of a growing number of behind-the-scenes companies that handle business tasks like marketing and merchandising that used to be the domain of record labels. 7. TV: Coarse, bawdy and emerging as an advertising haven.
....FX has consciously carved a niche in the new TV landscape, following a blueprint to lure younger viewers who watch FX shows like Sons of Anarchy whom marketers pay a premium to reach. 8. Senators question employer requests for Facebook passwords. ....A request to determine whether demanding sign-on credentials from job seekers is legal. 9. BMW recalls 367,000 cars in the US.
....BMW is recalling 367,000 5-series and 6-series cars in the US because a battery cable cover in the trunk may have been incorrectly installed. POLITICS: 1. Santorum ignores pressure to bow out to Romney. ....More Republicans are becoming restless and eager to unite behind a single candidate and turn their focus to defeating Pres. Obama. 2. Gingrich is soldiering on, despite dearth of victories. ....Despite having won few Republican primaries, Newt Gingrich says he is in the presidential race for the long haul.
Today's Headlines of Interest:
Sanatorum loses cool with press over Romney comment.
What started as a good day for Rick Santorum took an abrupt turn he grew frustrated with reporters asking him to clarify his remark that Mitt Romney is the worst Republican in the country to take on President Obama. During his final campaign stop, he said of Romney, “Pick any other Republican in the country, he is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama." The comments, Santorum would clarify, were in reference to the similarities between Romney's and the president on the issue of health care. It is a common critique he levels against his chief rival, but never has the former Pennsylvania senator called Romney the "worst Republican in the country" to go head-to-head with the president. Eventually, when facing the same question again, he used a profane word and accused the media of "distorting" his speech. Santorum has done a lot of clarifying lately, with recent comments suggesting Obama would be a better choice than Romney in a general election and saying the unemployment rate will not affect his campaign. In both cases, he accused the media and his opponents of taking his words out of context. But in both cases, the Romney campaign used his own words against him. Sunday's remarks were no exception, with Romney spokesman Ryan Williams telling reporters, “Rick Santorum is becoming more desperate and angry and unhinged every day...He’s panicking in the final stages of his campaign.” And by Sunday's end, Romney advisers were using the hash tag "Tantorum" to draw attention to past instances of the former senator losing his cool. The response blasted out by the Santorum campaign no mention of his use of a not so family friendly word. So once more we have an example of Santorum not being fit to be president. He seems to be a amn who cannot control his tongue or his temper, neither traits suitable in a man who wants to be president of the US.
Health care's big four issues: What the justices willl tackle.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA) was signed into law March 23, 2010, passed by a Democratic congressional majority and championed by President Obama. It has about 2,700 pages and contains 450 some provisions. Here are the four issues that will be addressed by the Supreme Court during six hours of oral arguments Monday though Wednesday:
The Anti-injunction Act (gateway issue) [/u]. Would those challenging the law be barred from making any legal or constitutional claims until the key provision -- the individual mandate (see below) -- actually goes into effect in 2014? The Anti-Injunction Act, in place since the 19th century, bars claimants from asking for a refund on a tax until that tax has been collected and paid. Judges in two federal appeals courts have made that "threshold" argument, which would effectively stop the current legal fight in its tracks. Citing that law might give the court -- particularly conservative members -- a way out of deciding the explosive issue in an election year. [/li][li] [/i]Individual Mandate (key issue) [/u]. This provision requires nearly all Americans to buy some form of health insurance beginning in 2014 or face financial penalties. May the federal government, under the Constitution's Commerce Clause, regulate economic "inactivity"? Three federal appeals courts have found the PPACA to be constitutional, while another has said it is not, labeling it "breathtaking in its expansive scope." That "circuit split" all but assured the Supreme Court would step in and decide the matter. A coalition of 26 states led by Florida say individuals cannot be forced to buy insurance, a "product" they may neither want nor need. The Justice Department has countered that since every American will need medical care at some point in their lives, individuals do not "choose" to participate in the health care market. Millions of uninsured people have received health services, costs that are shifted to insurance companies and passed on to consumers. [/li][li] [/i]Severabilit (domino effect issue) [/u]. If the individual mandate section is ruled unconstitutional, must the entire law collapse as well? A federal judge in Florida had so ruled in February 2011: "Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void." But a federal appeals court subsequently overruled on the severability question, while upholding the individual mandate's unconstitutionality. This might be the one question on which the justices will ultimately agree in favor of the government. [/li][li] [/i]Medicaid "coercion" (national policy implications) [/u]. This hearing will look at whether states can be forced by the federal government to expand their share of Medicaid costs and administration, with the risk of losing that funding if they refuse. The 28 GOP-led states bringing separate lawsuits say the new law's significant expansion of the social safety net unconstitutionally "coerces" state governments. The "coercion" issue was surprisingly added to the health care debate by the justices. [/li][/ul] Both sides of the issue agree what the high court decides on these four questions could have monumental implications for the regulatory ability of the federal government to set long-term national policy goals in areas such as the environment, education and the workplace. Some states have long complained their autonomy is being eroded by creeping federal intervention on spending matters. No federal court has ever ruled states have been unlawfully coerced when they accept conditions or strings attached to federal funds. The Supreme Court in 1987 affirmed that congressional discretion. So the long-standing fight over "federalism" and the leverage the national government wields over states might soon reach epic levels with a high court decision either strengthening or limiting congressional authority on this and potentially a host of other regulatory areas. Thought for Today"Life's like a play; it's not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters." —-[/i]Seneca the Younger (3 B.C.-A.D. 65), Roman statesman and philosopher
Today's flower: Hemerocallis or daring dilemma daylily
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 27, 2012 10:56:51 GMT -5
CORKSCREW DAY
It was on March 27th in 1860 that the device which, officially, is a “covered gimlet screw with a ‘T’ handle” or, corkscrew, was patented by M. L. Byrn of New York City. Hooray for M. L.!
After all, if it wasn’t for the invention of the corkscrew we’d be pulling corks out of those wine bottles with our teeth ... and what would the sommeliers use?
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