‘Scum of the Week’ Waters Broke House Ethics Rules

A California lawmaker is the second Democrat in two weeks to be accused of ethic violations. She is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, which handled the recent rewrite of legislation that regulates financial institutions and has strong protections for consumers.

    Congratulations

Rep. Maxine Waters!

Waters took the wannabes As It Stands “Scum of the Week” award on a Monday! That’s never happened before. But this gal really ran up a score…

She’s accused of breaking rules when she requested federal help for a bank where her husband was a board member and owned stock? Hmmmm…

Silverdome to Host First International Cannabis Convention

The Silverdome  in Pontiac, Michigan is to host the first International Cannabis Convention & Halloween Harmony & Harvest Fest over the coming Halloween weekend.

The event will feature entertainers, exhibits, vendors, guest speakers, and edibles for qualifying patients with current medical marijuana cards. Attendees must be at least 18.

Pontiac Silverdome spokesman John Mozena says a medical marijuana trade show will be held Oct. 29-31 at the recently reopened stadium.

Is Global Warming a Reality? Recent Reports repudiate skeptics

“IN A DEPRESSING case of irony by juxtaposition, the death of climate change legislation in the Senate has been followed by the appearance of two government reports in the past week that underscore the overwhelming scientific case for global warming -- and go out of the way to repudiate skeptics.

First came a report on global climate from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which confirmed that the 2000s were by far the warmest decade in the instrumental record -- as were, in their turns, the 1980s and the 1990s. Unlike year-to-year fluctuations, these 10-year shifts are statistically significant. Further, the report notes that it derived its conclusions from an array of data sources -- not just the land-surface readings that doubters challenge -- from ocean heat uptake to melting land ice to sea level rise.

AND…

Second was a strongly worded response from the Environmental Protection Agency to petitions that it revoke its finding that "climate change is real, is occurring due to emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities and threatens human health and environment." As with much climate-change skepticism, the petitions were based "on selectively edited, out-of-context data and a manufactured controversy," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. Among other things, the agency reviewed every document from the "Climategate" e-mail hack at a respected British climate research unit. The EPA found what four other independent studies did: that the e-mails contained some "candid" language but nothing that seriously discredits the scientific consensus on global warming.”

Going to college this Fall? Explore some dorm gadgets that you never knew you needed

From ramen timers to bed-shaking alarm clocks to fridge lockers

I think the Mini-donut factory sounds like a must! Yum. Fresh donuts in the dorm every morn!

Writer Sean Fallon offers a list of eleven items you probably never heard of, but once you see them…well, see what you think.

 

30,000 dog bites in 6 months: rabid dogs bring death to island paradise of Bali

Epidemic kills 78 in two years on Bali, one of Asia's top tourist destinations

"Culturally, it is difficult to convince people that dogs can carry disease," Sutedja said. "In the traditional Balinese faith people believe that dogs will take them to heaven."

The Indonesian government says it's overwhelmed, with more than 30,000 dog bites reported in just the first half of this year across Bali.

Photo: A vet at the nonprofit Bali Animal Welfare Association injects a puppy held by Kadek Wirayani, 8, with a rabies vaccine.

As It Stands: 'I know I'm right' syndrome or being stupid and proud of it

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 08/01/2010 01:30:22 AM PDT

Regardless of the way some of us act, no one is perfect. That's where stupidity comes in. Because we know we're not perfect we often try to cover up our mistakes, or even the mistakes of others. That's stupid because everyone knows their time to screw up will come. It's as inevitable as taxes and death.

I won't even attempt to number the stupid mistakes I've made in my life. I sometimes talk about my stupidest failures and joke about them, hoping to get a smile or laugh that could help take away the sting.

James F. Welles, Ph.D, the author of “Understanding Stupidity: an Analysis of the Unnatural Selection of Beliefs and Behavior in Institutions and Organization,” wrote that not all failures are stupid. It seems in a behaviorist's universe, there is no such thing as stupidity. Behavior, Welles asserts, “is simply (or complexly) caused, and the corruption of the learning process and limitations on a living system's ability to adapt are inherent in the process of life.”

An understanding of how stupidity affects us could make us better people. We call self-deception stupid because we ignore facts that could help or hurt us. For example, say you're a politician arguing there's no such thing as “Global Warming” and you find new relevant information that proves otherwise.

What do you do? Change your position to reflect the truth or ignore it to further a political agenda? If you do the latter, you are stupid, greedy, or you have a broken moral compass.

Facts enlighten us and result in clear thinking. Accepting facts is acknowledging the truth. To turn away from facts is stupid. But not everyone is interested in the truth.

Go here to read the rest.

Parody Posters that please the eye and the funny bone

Here’s a great parody poster of one of my all time favorite movies, Forrest Gump.

If you’d like to see some more cool parody posters GO HERE.

Meet the zebra-donkey hybrid named Pippi Longstocking

The 1-week old animal is attracting attention at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Georgia

A zedonk, an unusual cross between a donkey and a zebra, is attracting attention at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega after being born there about a week ago.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dutch brewer claims to make the world's strongest beer

A Dutch brewer with a penchant for competition has laid claim to creating the world's strongest brew: a beer that is some 60 percent alcohol by volume.

"You don't drink it like beer, but like a cocktail -- in a nice whisky or cognac glass," brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.

Men's accident rates climb with women's hemlines

Someone finally did a study of men being distracted while driving when they see women wearing brief outfits.

This has been going on since the first car rolled off the assembly line. I noticed that only 29% of the men surveyed said this happens to them.

I’d like to suggest Sheilas’ Wheels do a study of women texting, or talking on cell phones, while driving. It would be just another no-brainer study similar to this one on men.

U.K.study finds skimpy outfits distract male drivers

.The London Telegraph said the study by car insurance company Sheilas' Wheels claims men get into more accidents in the summer because they are distracted by women's skimpy outfits.

Wealthy and Alone: Mystery Heiress Maintains Mansions She Hasn’t Lived in for Decades – One of Them Was Never Occupied!

At 104, she occupies drab hospital instead of lavish estates

Huguette Clark inherited a fortune in railroads, copper mines, cattle, timber and banks. Her father also owned the land that would one day become Las Vegas.

But it was here in Santa Barbara (photo right) that she began to turn her back on all that, retreating from the world after a brief marriage.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Friday Fun: check out this rainbow ghost optical illusion

John Shadowsky introduced a new kind of optical illusion he invented. I’m talking about one that gave us ability to see black and white photos in full color! This is the closest you get to having super-hero powers. It was really an extraordinary value added to the optical illusions field, but also an interesting phenomena brought to attention of those studying visual sciences. The below rainbow is just one of many emerging samples, based on John’s discovery.

To see this optical illusion in it’s full capacity, wait for the animated .gif to loop to its start. You’ll know you’re there when you see a full colored rainbow appear. Now stare at the center dot for few seconds, and at one time the animation will switch. But don’t move your eyes from central dot just yet! What do you see? If you followed my procedure precisely, sooner or later you’ll find out that the animation below consists of two similar images. Only difference between them, is that one is in color, and the other is black and white. After staring at the color rainbow’s central dot, negative colors burnt in your retina, and you were able to see the black and white photo in full color!

'What gall!' Inmate sues his crime victims

The thing that really cracks me up is this crook learned how to file a lawsuit on his own using the prison library.

A Florida inmate has filed a lawsuit seeking $500,000 in damages from three men who caught him red-handed with a stolen bicycle, claiming they roughed him up, according to a newspaper report.

'I guess time in prison just makes you go crazy,' said the bicycle owner.

Scum For the Week: ABC executive resigns amid sex harassment probe

As It Stands “Scum of the week” is a sexual harasser who happened to be a big honcho at ABC.

He’s now qualified for next month’s coveted “Scum of The Month” award plus an “Ass Hole Merit Badge.” I expect the competition is going to be formidable with  Congressman Charlie Rangel also competing for it, along with a host of other scum bags-in-waiting.

Source says multiple complaints were made, network doesn't deny it

The head of entertainment programming and production at ABC resigned from the network as the company conducted an internal sexual harassment investigation, a source said Wednesday.

The disclosure came a day after Steve McPherson abruptly stepped down as president of ABC Entertainment Group. Disney-owned ABC did not deny allegations of inappropriate conduct were involved.

Concentrated debris in the Pacific Ocean a growing problem

Go here to read about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

If that term is unfamiliar to you, let me clue you in. In central North Pacific Ocean, there is a huge mass of marine litter.

And by huge, I mean this thing is twice the size of Texas! This mass of trash, made up of mostly old toys, plastic bottles, bags, etc. washed off beaches, is so large, it has often been jokingly referred to as the eighth continent.

Scientists have known about this continent of trash for over a decade, but thought the possibility of cleaning it up was impossible. Now, there is Project Kaisei, which is an effort by a group of researchers to study the mass in order to determine if it is possible to clean up. The project was created by the Ocean Voyages Institute, a not-for-profit organization focused on marine preservation.

Teddy bear collector admits $331 million fraud

A former money manager pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud, admitting that he cheated charities, schools, pension funds and others out of at least $331 million, using a portion of the funds to buy collectible teddy bears and to invest in $100,000 horses.

Paul Greenwood, 63, was the world's largest collection of Steiff toys.

According to a 2008 magazine article, Greenwood's collection of teddy bears included more than 1,350 Steiff toys. Among them were 74 bears plus birds, cats, insects, dinosaurs, kangaroos, seals, squirrels and many other types of stuffed animals.

Photo image of rare Steiff bear.

I love it! Superman really does save the day for one family

Asylum reports that a family was packing up their belongings after their bank had started foreclosure proceedings, when they came across a box of comic books in the basement.

But this wasn't just any box, and the family suspected they'd struck gold when they discovered among the titles "Action Comics No. 1," the comic that introduced… 

Superman to the world and brought to life the superhero genre, which remains popular to this day.

It also happens to be worth upward of $250,000!

Really? Steal a Tarantula and Go Straight to Jail?

So this guy from Maryland  does something really stupid and the judge puts him in jail.

If that logic is applied even-handedly to every person who does something stupid (that doesn’t harm animals or people), then we’ve all been guilty numerous times in our lives..and better hope we never go up before this judge for a stupid mistake.

Randy Humple was a parole, but it seems silly to put him in jail (at taxpayer’s expense) for 90 days for stealing a spider. He did steal something, and should pay a fine and/or do some community work. But wasting money that could be used elsewhere in the local government seems like a stupid sentence on the judge’s part. Carroll County Circuit Judge J. Barry Hughes sentenced 27-year-old Randy Humple of Westminster on July 26th.

This Sunday’s (Aug. 1) “As It Stands” in The Times-Standard, is taking a lingering look at stupid people. Be sure to take a peek:  ‘I know I’m right’ syndrome or being stupid and proud of it – on the Op Ed page. So you there.  

You know your old when invited to attend a Centennial Celebration at the College you Graduated from 31 years ago!

Out of the blue (sort of, I’ll explain shortly) I got an invitation to write about my experiences while on the staff of Fullerton College’s student newspaper, The Hornet, and an alumni invite for the 2013-14 year!

Bob Jensen, Dean of Fine Arts, at Fullerton College, commented on my column (in the T-S Topix forum) last Sunday. He asked if I’d like “to write a piece about my time at Fullerton College (class of 1979) – especially your Hornet staff member experiences.”

After carefully considering the request, I threw my hat in the ring and said okay today.  Since then, I’ve been rooting around and found my “stream book” of articles/columns that I wrote. I couldn’t help chuckling when I looked at the gnarly feet I used instead of my mug shot next to my first column “As It Stands.”

Here’s some history:

Fullerton College is the oldest continuously operating community college in California. Today, this two year college (left) offers a comprehensive array of academic programs with 90 majors leading to the A.A. or A.S. degree in both academic and vocational subjects, as well as 68 programs leading to vocational certificates.

A 1913 department of post-graduate studies at Fullerton High School first established Fullerton Junior College (right) and was the genesis of what is today the North Orange County Community College District.

By 1922, the Board of Trustees of the high school had come to view the "junior college" (below) courses as serving not only students who wanted to transfer to four-year institutions, but also those who could benefit from cultural or vocational training beyond that offered in high school.

In the spring of that year, Fullerton Junior College was organized as a separate district college, although it continued to share with the Fullerton Union High School District a Board of Trustees and many administrators.

 In 1934, the first increment of the present Fullerton College campus was acquired and a development plan was adopted. Much of the detailed Spanish-style construction (seen here) was completed with federal funding as a means of providing Depression-era employment. In 1936, the college moved its classes from Fullerton High School into its new facilities across the street.

For current information about Fullerton College click here.

News Alert: Missing Sailor Found Dead in Afghanistan

One of two U.S. Sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday.

“The search continues for the other missing Sailor,” said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a spokesman for NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.