Saturday, December 6, 2014

Shop till you drop in public toilets!

Good Day World!

The last frontier of advertising has been breeched, and it’s not pretty!

You’re no longer safe from being bombarded by ads in public restrooms. Proctor & Gamble and Amazon have partnered up to launch "Stall Malls" inside public toilets.

That’s right. When you enter a stall to take care of business, you can take care of even more business like buying toothpaste and toilet paper.

Once you sit down in one of the stalls, an ad wrapping the back of the door invites you to download the Amazon App and displays the barcodes for coupons for several bathroom-appropriate Proctor & Gamble products. Use the app to scan the barcodes and place your order. 

So while you finish using the bathroom, you'll also be scratching an item off your to-do list.To encourage users to take the plunge, the coupons are on the high side for what the brands offer.

You can find them in New York at Paramus Park, Staten Island, Willowbrook, and Woodbridge Malls, in Los Angeles, at the Glendale Galleria, in Philadelphia at the Christiana and Neshaminy malls, and in Seattle at the Alderwod, Bellis Fair and Westlake malls.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Friday, December 5, 2014

‘Say it ain’t so Bill’– Fan laments comedian’s plunge from popularity

Good Day World!

My world has been turned upside down in the last month.

One of my all-time favorite comedians – Bill Cosby – has become a bigger villain than Darth Vader. Adolf Hitler. Putin. His career and legacy suddenly called into question. His character assaulted.

Last month numerous women, including journalist Joan Tarshis, model Janice Dickinson, actress Louisa Moritz, actor Lou Ferrigno's wife Carla Ferrigno, Florida nurse Therese Serignese, Playboy playmates Victoria Valentino and Sarita Butterfield, actress Michelle Hurd, and eleven other women alleged that Cosby drugged, sexually assaulted and/or raped them between 1965 and 2004.

This can’t be the same man who made the comedy albums that I loved In the 60’s, that left me breathless with laughter with such gems as:

The accusers can’t be talking about the Bill Cosby who starred with Robert Culp in the I Spy espionage adventure series. He was cool. A good guy.

How could this same man be a rapist? How could the creator of Fat Albert and the Gang have drugged women and taken advantage of them? How could Cliff Huxtable from the Cosby Show do such nasty things?

Cosby Strikes Back: Claims in Court Docs That Accuser Extorted Him

It’s like watching Rome burn. A great artist has been exposed as a cad. A man who takes advantage of women sexually.

No colleges want him on their board anymore. His shows are being cancelled. Proposed series projects have been dropped like hot potatoes.

Despite all of these terrible accusations, I’m not going to take any of those laughs he gave me back. I can’t forget how many times I laughed watching him perform stand-up, or in sitcoms.

In my memories he’ll remain a great comedian and performer. No one can take that away. My disappointment with his actions is deep. I wish all those women were lying, but I doubt it. My hero has feet of clay.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Compare white cops killing black men vs black on black violence – no contest

Good Day World!

It’s time everyone looks at the overall picture when it comes to violence being perpetrated against African-Americans in America.

The shooting of a black teen, Michael Brown, by a white police officer has been surrounded with misinformation from the start.

One look at the grand jury report from 51 “eye-witnesses” attests to that fact.

Half of the testimonies given involved outright lies (Brown’s buddy is at the top of the list after giving testimony that physically couldn’t have happened. When confronted with that fact he said he “felt uncomfortable” and didn’t have anything else to say).

Some so-called witnesses weren’t even present at the crime scene (under oath they had to tell the truth and admit that).

As for other witness testimonies, "Some of the witness accounts of the shooting differed so much they didn't seem like the same scene," reported the AP.

"It's difficult for people under the best of circumstances to accurately report what happened," Elizabeth Brondolo, a psychology professor specializing in the effects of race on mental and physical health at St. John's University in New York, told the AP.

That's because witnesses' backgrounds and life experience color what they see.

"The truth always really matters, but it's important to recognize that past experience to stereotypes also influences the perception of hands being raised," Brondolo said.

Ultimately, however, for some, it doesn't matter whether Brown's hands were raised or not.

"Even if you don't find that it's true, it's a valid rallying cry," Ferguson protester Taylor Gruenloh told the AP. "It's just a metaphor."

Out of the chaos that ensued from these testimonies a movement to canonize Brown sprung up. Suddenly a thug who had just robbed a convenience store moments before physically confronting a cop, became a martyr. (Photo-Michael Brown, soon-to-be a saint)

FACT:

Racial exclusivity is apparent in the majority of violent crimes. Around 91 percent of Black victims are murdered by Black offenders while 83 percent of white victims are killed by another white person, based on the most recent FBI homicide statistics.

FERGUSON BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE

Why no protest when another Black man was murdered near Ferguson?

On Oct. 18, Jermaine Jones, 29, stood with a few friends on a street in Berkeley, Mo., adjacent to Ferguson.

Police say an unknown black male opened fire, killing Jones and wounding three other black men near him. (Strangely, Jones’ sister, Margaree Dixson, was shot fatally a half-mile away, just three hours earlier. Police suspect yet another unidentified black man.)

Why has Jones’ death not unleashed riots and looting?

Simple: Jones was killed by a fellow black man. Thus, his death and his loved ones’ agony generate silence.

No one wants to talk about reality when it comes to black youths being killed in this country.

The national outrage still is at full boil over this white cop shooting an unarmed black man who acted very aggressively after robbing cigars from a convenience store. But one can hear birds chirp while listening for public outcry over the deaths of black citizens killed by black perpetrators.

Why doesn’t Jesse Jackson, and/or Al Sharpton talk about Blacks killing each other? I can’t remember these two activists leading any marches on Washington over this sad truth. 

Is there racism in law enforcement? Are blacks and whites treated equally when they commit crimes? No. Not always.There are bad policemen, just as there are bad priests.

But the majority of them protect the public everyday – putting their lives on the line. Standing between civilization and chaos. Take them away and see what happens. 

Using Michael Brown as an example of an innocent black youth killed by a racist cop is foolish and misrepresentative of the whole situation. Everyone needs to take a step back and look – who is killing more black youths? Bad cops, or other Blacks?

We already know the answer to that question. Now we need to have a national dialogue that deals with Blacks killing one another in record numbers.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

My wife would kill me if she knew I told this story!

Good Day World!

I’m feeling mischievous today.

In a funny way.

Here’s a funny story that my wife would kill me for telling you:

Once, years ago when we lived in Humboldt County, we were traveling to Redding via Highway 299. The rainy weather had caused several slides on the torturous twisting road and work crews were stopping traffic because one of the two lanes was buried beneath part of the mountain.

All traffic was funneled into one lane, which meant a line of cars built up as traffic slowly (I mean real slowly) went by until the signal people switched their signs and allowed the built-up traffic on the other side to go.

Small rocks were still slipping onto the roadway. It took about 20 minutes before we could go. Minutes later we hit another line of cars waiting to go. It was at this point that my dear wife became frantic because she couldn’t wait any longer to pee.

The only alternative was to go outside. It was dark. She didn’t want to go in the back of the truck because the people parked behind us would have had a good view.

With mountain on one side, and a ravine on the other, that left her with no choice but to pee in the front of our pick-up truck. She got out quickly (trying to be stealthy but it was hard when the cab light came on and I started laughing helplessly!)

In a final act of desperation, she went to the front of the truck, dropped her drawers and squatted down. At that point the Devil grabbed me…

and I turned the truck’s headlights on!

Her wail of despair carried through the ravines beyond and down the road for miles. The startled couple in front of us looked back in surprise.

Needless to say, that moment of insanity didn’t go unpunished.

But that’s another story.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Reasons why the new Republican Congress won’t be able to repeal the Affordable Care Act

Good Day World!

The new Republican Congress has an old mission.

Repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It’ll be the 51st time the House tried. As most people are aware, the very definition of stupid is when someone keeps doing the same thing and expects a different result each time.

It isn’t going to happen. President Barack Obama still has veto power.

Republicans may have a majority in the Senate, but they don’t have the 60 seats needed to override a Democratic-led filibuster or a presidential veto. And Obama’s not going to allow his signature piece of legislation to be gutted.

Another reason is Republicans are not going to try to repeal a law that has been such a boon to insurers. The five major national health insurers have all seen their stock price at least double — one has almost tripled — since the ACA was enacted.

People like laws that prevent insurance companies from pulling their insurance just as they become really sick and need it. They like provisions that allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans. And they really like government subsidies.

As many as 10 million people already have health insurance on the exchanges The Congressional Budget Office projects that 26 million people will buy health insurance on the exchanges by 2022 and that 12 million people will become newly eligible for Medicaid in the states that choose to expand their offerings by 2022.

It would be difficult – and really stupid - to take insurance away from that many people.

Despite good reasons why the ACA will largely remain intact, the lemming-like Republicans are still going to try to repeal it.

At some point next year we’ll move to replace Obamacare,” House Speaker John Boehner promised in an interview last week.

The bottom line: “Stupid is, as stupid does!” – Forest Gump

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Monday, December 1, 2014

Moonlighting Before Christmas: Santa’s Reindeers Deputized To Go After Bad Guys

Good Day World!

Santa's crew may soon be presented with a job opportunity during the off-season.

Officials in northwest Siberia said police could soon be deputizing reindeer to help chase down criminals in the region.

Domesticated reindeer in Siberia. (UPI/Shutterstock/Grigorii Pisotsckii)

Irina Pimkina of the Yamalo-Nenets region's Interior Ministry said police in the area, which is located in Russia's Arctic tundra, often find themselves at a disadvantage when chasing down local criminals, who often employ reindeer as getaway rides.

"Of course we have snowmobiles in service, but one should understand that a machine is a machine," Pimkina told the Izvestia newspaper. "A snowmobile can break down or get stuck in the tundra, but the deer will run at all times."

The deer would join the animal ranks of about 150 donkeys and mules employed by the Russian Defense Ministry to serve in mountain brigades. The legislation governing the animals also allows for reindeer to be used for law-enforcement purposes.

Police in neighboring Finland have been using reindeer in recent years to patrol forests in Lapland.(Source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Oregon Report: Bits of news and views

brettjohn.JPG

Good Day World

Because I live in Oregon (Medford to be specific) I like to know what’s happening in my adopted state.

I’ve found that readers from all over enjoy viewing news and views from the Beaver State.

(Rogue's Brett Joyce and brewer John Maier were the grand marshals of the 2014 Oregon Brewers Festival.- FoystonFoto)

Here’s a sampling:

In the world of beer, Oregon is lager than life: Guest opinion

By Jim McGreevy

“In this season of giving thanks for our nation's bounty, it's fitting to acknowledge Oregon's unique contributions to our nation's table, particularly with Oregon's role in beer and brewing.

When the first locomotives lumbered out of the Oregon rail yards in the late 19th century, they carried with them a variety of agriculture offerings indicative of the state's diverse landscape.

Today, Oregon continues to play an important role in feeding, clothing and fueling our nation. And it also helps quench our thirst.

In fact, Oregon is one of four states that account for one-third of all breweries in the nation, most of them small brewers who supply their local communities.”

(read full article here)

Oregon police dog fired for poor performance

CANNON BEACH, Ore. (AP) — A 2-year-old Belgian Malinois was supposed to be the ninth member of the police force in the Oregon coastal town of Cannon Beach, but "Cash" just didn't have what it takes.

The dog was dismissed from the force before seeing any action or gaining any glory.

Cash was skittish, afraid of heights and had a barking problem. Noises would scare him. When he had to jump onto counters in search of drugs, he showed too much resistance.

Crows found dead, ill in downtown Portland

Portland police and firefighters were called Wednesday morning to investigate a mass die-off of crows in parts of downtown.

UPDATE: Audubon Society investigating mysterious crow die-off, fears poisoning

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Universal Music Power

In a delightful description of the power of music William Congreve wrote "Music hath charms to sooth a savage beast..." in his 16...