Peanut Butter Peril: Just what type should we avoid?

The FBI is involved now. Our national peanut butter crisis is taking on the aspects of a criminal investigation.

Five people have died from salmonella poisoning and hundreds have been sickened from eating it. I love peanut butter but am afraid to eat it in any form right now, for fear that those jars of it are also tainted, regardless of what's being reported right now.

Authorities are saying the jars of peanut are okay. That's today. What about tomorrow?

The Chicago Tribune talks about the current FBI investigation here.  

Peanut pic from Google Images

Roy knew he would be lunch if caught hitchhiking but he couldn't stop himself!

Getting a free ride:
Red-winged Blackbird on top of a Red-tailed Hawk

(image via Vineri Triskaideka)

Happy Hamsters: Have you ever had one for a pet?

 

Two of my grandsons recently got a pair of hamsters (not the duo shown above). They saved up their money and bought a big plastic hamster home full of tunnels and things to play on.

When my wife and I got married in 1974, our first pet was  a hamster. We were in an apartment and both worked, so we needed a low maintenance kinda pet. We bought "Zig Zag" thinking he'd fit the bill and got him a little Ferris wheel and fancy food. But there was something not quit right about him. For starters he never stopped running on that Ferris wheel! Day and night. His every waking moment!

I entertained evil thoughts about him for awhile, and then one day I came home and my wife said he was dead. "How" I asked? She had no idea. She just found him laying limp on that damn Ferris wheel. In retrospect, I think he was an older hamster and the pet shop passed him off as a youth. It was either that, or he was just crazy and ran himself to death!

Hamster images via darkroastedblend.com archives

GOP blockheads don't care about the economy... They just want to fight and be ornery!

 Robert Parry of Consortium News talks about the Republican's attempts to derail any recovery plan for America. It's obvious the Republicans are going to take a hard partisan stance to stifle efforts to stimulate the economy, unless it's done "their way." The problem is the GOP is in the minority! Remember guys and gals?

Here's a bit from Parry's post today:

"The only thing close about the vote is whether the package can overcome a Republican filibuster and get 60 votes for “cloture.” To reach this super-majority, Democrats have been forced to accept a higher percentage of tax cuts, even if leading economists consider tax cuts one of the least effective ways of stimulating the moribund economy.

Yet, this anti-democratic fact about the GOP strategy – that it seeks to frustrate the will of the American majority, which rejected the Republicans and their policies in the last two U.S. elections – is rarely mentioned in the news."

To read the entire article click here.

GOP image via Google Images

Un-Natural Smiles: Smile and the world smiles with you!

  

  

images from darkroastedblend.com archives

An Underwater Stonehedge? Lake Michigan discovery sparks controversies with archeologists

One blogger dubbed the discovery of a circle of stones on the floor of Lake Michigan as an underwater stonehedge.

Underwater archeologist Mark Holley found the circle of stones 40 feet below the surface of Lake Michigan.

Holley is shown here investigating a circle of stones on the Grand Traverse Bay floor near Traverse City, Mich.

Scientists are not sure whether the stones were arranged by humans or natural forces.

For the whole story see this mornings Chicago Tribune article here.

(photo by Chris Doyal / February 7, 2009)

Lamar and the Lakers ruin Cav's perfect home record!

What a game!

Kobe was feeling crappy with the flu (he still scored 19 points), Andrew Bynum was out, and someone had to come up big to beat a Cleveland teams that thought it couldn't lose at home this season.

That someone was Lamar Odom. He had a season high for 28 points and 17 rebounds while basically taking over the game during the third period when the Lakers started the period down 12 points.

Pau Gasol chipped in 18 points and 12 rebounds to help break the Cav's winning streak. The Lakers took the lead by the end of the third period and never looked back. They out quicked the Cav's, and out rebounded them in the fourth period, to win by 10 points with a 101-91 final score.

It was a real team effort and the Lakers made a statement to the entire league:

... they can beat the best of the West, and East, at their own houses. That's what it takes to win a championship. They wrapped up this six-game road trip with a perfect 6-0 record. Way to go Lakers! Way to go O!

photo of Odom from boards.msn.com/msnbc/boards

Today's As It Stands: Messengers from Heaven: Do you believe in Angels?

This Sunday in the Times-Standard I write about Angels. They are recognized worldwide in all cultures. The question I ask is; have you ever seen an angel? Click here to read the whole story.

hbo.com image from HBO Films

A Matter of Concern: Pakistani authorities release A.Q.Khan - the man who sold nuke secrets to Iran, Libya, and North Korea!

Beware! Abdul Qadeer Khan is free. After a five-year term of house imprisonment Pakistani authorties are letting out "Mr. Nuke for hire!"

This just can't be a good thing.

Why couldn't the authorities convict this guy after all those years? Sounds like an inside job to appease the western nations when the word got out that Khan was trading secrets for money worldwide.

He sure must have some pull however, because he's back in circulation...hopefully he doesn't build a bomb for some bully that will start a world war!

(By B.k. Bangash -- Associated Press)

Brazillian street artists commissioned to paint castle

 

 

This is the Kelburn Castle in Scotland, close to a wonderfully-named Fairie village (Fairlie, actually) - see here - painted over by Brazillian street artists from Sao Paolo Nina and Nunca Os Gemeos (completed in June 2007):

image credit: Tim Kirman)

Octo-Mom's fertility doctor is under investigation

That single Mom, Nadya Suleman, who had eight kids at once has stirred up controversies nationwide.

The Medical Board of California is investigating a doctor — whom it did not name — to see if there was a "violation of the standard of care," board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said Friday.

Nadya Suleman, right, speaking with Ann Curry in New York on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, in Suleman's first interview since giving birth to octuplets last week.

By Paul Drinkwater, AP

EXTREME JOBS: High Voltage Cable Inspection Workers!

This job is pretty hardcore. See the incredible video about these "high voltage cable inspection" workers here

(image via)

A page out the the 1962 Modern Mechanix Magazine

image via modernmechanix.com

Here's some vintage Match Book Art from the 50s

      

thanks to freevintageimages.com

Signs of the Times: Andrea can't compete with ant spray!

The economy is hitting everyone hard these days. This unfortunate anteater can't find food anywhere because everyone is using ant spray these days. This is actually a commercial for SBP (see can in lower right of photo).

Image via darkroastedblend.com

Now Bank of America is in trouble? What's next?

A few months ago, mighty Bank of America Corp. and its chairman and chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, looked like the saviors of the financial system.

Now the giant is foundering, and Lewis could be fighting to keep his job.

I've banked with them for 20 years, and in general, I've had no trouble with them. I had a feeling buying Merril Lynch & Company for $50 billion however, was a bad move in troubled times.

That purchase came on the heels of shelling out $21 billion for Chicago-based La Salle Bank Corporation, and the billion takeover of Countryside Financial Mortgage Lender (the nation's largest mortgage lender).

For an in-depth report click here and see what the LA Times has to say about all of this.

Google image of BOA Logo

                           BREAKING NEWS FROM TPM MuckRaker

                 How Theresa Hatt Caused The Financial Crisis

By Zachary Roth - February 6, 2009, 11:23AM

Click here to read about one despicable account, that is a company policy, of how BOA treated the son of one woman who had passed away.

Lakers end Celtics recent win streak with OT victory

Pau Gasol blocked Ray Allen's desperation shot in overtime to preserve the Laker's 110-109 win in Boston Garden.

This is the second time this season the Lakers have stopped a Boston win streak. This time Boston won 12 in a row before falling to the Lakers.

Last time, Boston set a franchise record of 19 straight wins, when the Lakers ruined their Christmas Day by leading all the way.

As a fan since 1962, these are heady days with the Lakers boasting the best record in the NBA.

photo by Mark J. Terril/AP

Obama Picks Porn Lawyer, David Ogden, for #2 at Justice!

CHICAGO, February 4, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama has made a major mistake and put America's families at risk by selecting David Ogden to become Deputy Attorney General, says Fidelis, a pro-family organization.

"David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and ACLU. He can't run from his long record of opposing common sense laws protecting families, women, and children.  The United States Senate has a responsibility to the American people to insure that Mr. Ogden's full record is fully reviewed before any vote on his nomination" said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis.

"Ogden's record is nothing short of obscene. He has represented Playboy Enterprises in multiple cases, Penthouse Magazine, the ACLU, and the largest distributor of hard-core pornography videos.  He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from Internet smut, and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children."

"David Ogden has collected checks from Playboy and Penthouse to fight any attempts to establish filters on federally-funded public libraries. Ogden even sued the federal government in an attempt to publish Braille versions of Playboy magazine - at taxpayer expense, of course," said Burch.

As a lawyer in private practice, Ogden has argued for an unlimited abortion license, gays in the military, and has urged courts to treat traditional definitions of marriage as a social prejudice.

"A vast majority of Americans support parental notification before a minor's abortion and protecting kids from Internet pornography in our libraries," continued Burch.  "Yet David Ogden has fought tooth and nail against these common sense laws protecting our children from harm. At a time when America's families are under increasing assault, Mr. Ogden is a dangerous choice for a position whose responsibilities include the enforcement of our nation's laws. "

See a full dossier on Ogden compiled by Fidelis here:
http://www.scribd.com/full/11607068?access_key=key-18yr2u50t...
To express concern to Senators regarding the appointment visit:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_c...

AP Photo/Linda Spillers, File

Hands of Art: illusion is in the hand of the artist

It's easy to see why these paintings are quite unique. Guido Daniele is the artist who makes these fantastic fists. To see more)

  

  

(images credit: Guido Daniele)

Have you ever seen an Annular Solar Eclipse?

(image credit: Dennis Mammana)
"An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon."