America’s Worst Politician: The short, ugly career of Alan Grayson

“There are hundreds of plausible nominees for the title of America’s Second-Smarmiest Politician, but surely the top spot is un-contested.”

----------------------------------------------------

As It Stands “Scum of the Year” candidate, Grayson, has already earned the much coveted top spot on this blog.

---------------------------------------------------- 

“Americans of all political persuasions can come together in affirming one proposition: Public life would be improved by scrubbing Rep. Alan Grayson from it. This act of civic hygiene probably will be performed Nov. 2 by voters of Florida’s Eighth Congressional District. Polls indicate that a majority of them plan to deny Grayson, 52, a second term by electing his resonantly named opponent, Daniel Webster.”

Sometimes you can make a positive impact and see the results

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 10/24/2010 01:17:30 AM PDT

We seldom know the impact, negative or positive, we have had on people when we lose touch with them.

I remember when I was in fourth grade, a month into the new semester, my homeroom teacher and principal met with my parents. I was sure I was in trouble.

Instead, as it turned out, my teacher recommended I move up a grade. My parents thought it was a dandy idea, and I was devastated at the thought! All my friends were in fourth grade, and I didn't want to leave them.

The difference between the grades meant separation during recess. Fourth graders and below played on one side of the field -- fifth and six graders on the other. It was an invisible wall that couldn't be breached without consequences.

In the chaos of my new surroundings I found an unlikely friend; my English teacher, Mr. Moore. I'm not sure why he took me under his wing, but he did and I'm forever grateful. He opened up the world of writing to a lonely kid with a chip on his shoulder. I had an imagination without borders and he showed me how to unleash it on paper.

 While other students dreaded his class, I looked forward to learning the proper use of the English language so I could become a famous author. I wanted to be the next Ernest Hemingway or Edgar Allen Poe. I wanted to make my mark in the world and the kind, silver-haired, slightly plump Mr. Moore made it possible.

I still haven't written the great American novel, or any novel for that matter, but I've been happily writing for newspapers for decades. I still think about him. Mr. Moore will never know how much he meant to me. I'm sure he's long gone now.

Someone from my past thought that until last August. Like Mark Twain's famous quote, my death was greatly exaggerated. One of my former reporters (from The Desert Trail newspaper) recently wrote a column for The Ventura Star (A Wall Worth Remembering -- Aug. 27) and practically eulogized me.

It turns out the author, Woody Woodburn (Pictured above with his family), tried to find me for years. We parted ways in the mid-1980s. He knew I was a Vietnam veteran who was dealing with issues he could never understand. He feared -- he later told me in an e-mail -- that I was dead when he couldn't find me in the mid-1990s.

In his column, he talked about what an inspiration I had been to him and what a good person he felt I was. I found out about this column when my name popped up under a “Google Alert” on Aug. 27. I was surprised, more like shocked, and humbled. I had no idea how much I had meant to him.

Since then, we have exchanged e-mails and photos. We plan to get together the next time my wife and I go down south to where Woody and his wife, Lisa, live. Woody worked as a sports writer for a several publications, including the Daily Breeze in Torrance, Ventura County Newspapers, and the Ventura County Star.

He even wrote a book titled, “The Pirate Collection: Columns on a Decade of Dominance,” about Ventura College basketball. Woody has become a fixture in the Ventura community since the 1989 season when he wrote a heartwarming column about VC star Lester Neal, who rose from the depths of the Chicago Southside to become the Western State Conference Player of the Year.

To give you an idea how good a sports writer he is, Woody's column about Louis Zamperini, a gifted runner who competed in the 1936 Olympics, was included in the Best American Sports Writing series in 2001. That's hitting the big time.

Quite an honor for the tall, skinny young man fresh out of college I hired so many years ago. Woody also co-wrote a book with Wayne Bryan titled, “Raising Your Child to be a Champion.” Currently he writes a lifestyle column for the Ventura Star, is a freelance writer and is shopping around for an agent for his next book.

As It Stands, it just goes to show that sometimes you can make a more positive impact on people than you think.

PHOTO – Woody is wearing the yellow t-shirt. On his left is daughter Dallas. On his right is his son Greg, and wife Lisa.

Here’s a link to Woody’s column with the Ventura County Star

It’s a full moon tonight – not that we’ll be able to see it

Guerilla artist displays dark dolphin ride to make a point

World-famous guerilla artist Banksy has made many environmental statements in the past, but this one is particularly clever, especially with the events of the past few months.

Check out the video to see the coin-operated kiddie ride in action.

OK…it’s kinda bizarre, but it does make statement.

I think it’s a great reminder that BP still has a long way to go when it comes to cleaning up the mess they made.

Will college meth lab discovery spark some sense into the Feds?

I hope this wakes up some people on how pervasive meth is in our society today.

All we hear about are the Feds increasingly senseless attacks on marijuana. In a DEA report earlier this year there was a breakdown of how much money was allocated to fight drugs.Almost two-thirds of the monies went to fight marijuana while the remaining third went to cocaine, heroin, meth, prescription drugs, etc., al.

That imbalance is not only wrong, it’s criminally wrong in my book. Big Pharma and other corporations that have lobbied against pot for decades, purely for financial reasons, are the real criminals!

Making pot a priority and pouring millions of dollars into it’s pursuit isn’t logical, especially when you look at the damage done by meth, cocaine, and heroin. Any right-thinking person can see this. Take the politics out of the issue for a moment, and look at the statistics. Consider what’s really happening. People aren’t overdosing on weed. They don’t become addicted zombies ready to kill for their next shot of THC.

I hope this unusual news story shakes some people up and makes them realize the enemy isn’t pot – it’s the rest of the drugs the Feds fail to prioritize in their so-called “War on Drugs.”

 Suspected meth lab found in Georgetown University dorm 

“A dormitory for freshmen at prestigious Georgetown University was evacuated after a suspected meth lab was found in a room.

Washington fire and emergency services spokesman Pete Piringer said the department's hazardous materials team responded to Harbin Hall around 6:15 a.m. Saturday.

The dorm was evacuated, but seven people were exposed to noxious chemicals, including three students. No one was transported to the hospital.

The investigation is ongoing. Police are questioning possible suspects and believe some students were involved.

Georgetown spokesman Jordan Gray says about 400 students remained evacuated late Saturday morning while federal agents investigated. Students were sent to various campus buildings.”

Woman drives around with corpse in car for months before being discovered

Remember Weekend at Bernie’s ?

I just ran across this true, but bizarre, news story.

 

A California woman drove for nearly a year with a dead body in her passenger seat…

You might ask “Didn’t she…aaahhh smell anything?” Apparently she did because police found a box of baking soda next to the decaying corpse. Isn’t that special?

The woman who carted the mummified remains around - like a scene out of Weekend with Bernie’s - is a 57 year-old real estate agent. She befriended the woman letting her sleep in her car because she was homeless.

When she died, the real estate agent didn’t know what to do and just covered her up. An interesting reaction to say the least. She put a blanket over her and proceeded to drive around for 10 months until accidently discovered.

One investigating police officer observed that she must have gotten use to the smell. How does a person get use to the very ripe small of a decaying corpse? I know it would take a lot more than one box of baking soda (a mountain wouldn’t suffice!).

Just another case of truth being at least as strange as fiction! 

The X name: candidates paint opponents as ‘extreme’

   

No matter what your political views may be, if you’re in a contested race for federal office this cycle, someone, somewhere, is probably calling you “extreme.”

Candidates of all stripes seek to label opponents 'extreme'

Reader profile: visitors are coming back in big numbers

Today’s featured reader is from Wroclaw: a city and administrative centre for Dolnoslaskie, Poland

The viewer spend 15 minutes with “As It Stands” this morning. With the return of school, I’ve seen a marked increase in readership. This blog is now averaging about 1200 daily visitors.

“As It Stands” is nearing the quarter million mark after two years online. It’s been fun, and I expect it will continue to be. Thanks to all the recent readers who have been returning to the fold once school started.

Wrocław [ˈvrɔt​͡swaf] ( listen) (German: Breslau ( listen)) is the chief city in south-western Poland, situated on the River Oder (Polish: Odra). Wrocław is the capital of Silesia and, also of Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Over the centuries, the city has been either part of Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia or Germany. According to official population figures for June 2009, its population is 632,240, making it the fourth largest city in Poland.

The city's name was first recorded in the year 1000 by Thietmar's Latin chronicle called Thietmari Merseburgensis episcopi Chronicon as Wrotizlawa. The first municipal seal stated Sigillum civitatis Wratislavie. A simplified name is given, in 1175, as Wrezlaw, Prezla or Breslaw. The Czech spelling was used in Latin documents as Wratislavia or Vratislavia. At that time, Prezla was used in Middle High German, which became Preßlau. In the middle of the 14th century the Early New High German (and later New High German) form of the name Breslau began to replace its earlier versions.

The city is traditionally believed to be named after Wrocisław or Vratislav, often believed to be Duke Vratislaus I of Bohemia. It is also possible that the city was named after the tribal duke of the Silesians or after an early ruler of the city called Vratislav.

Man with first mind-controlled bionic arm dies after car crash

Remains unclear whether a fault with the prosthetic was to blame

“An Austrian man who lost both his arms in an accident but was able to drive because of a mind-controlled prosthetic has died after a car crash, a doctor said Friday.”

PHOTO - Christian Kandlbauer, who lost both of his arms in a high voltage accident, and makes the journey to his place of work in September.

Opps! 'World's most advanced' nuke sub runs aground!

British vessel is said to be 'virtually undetectable' — normally

I would hate to be the captain of this $1 Billion dollar sub right now.

This isn’t exactly the kind of PR the British want for their “World’s most advanced sub.”

Check out this great MSN video: Clown elected to Brazil Congress

Check out this great MSN video: Clown elected to Brazil Congress

Behind the Redwood Curtain: my local candidate endorsements…

Note: all three of my picks are write-in candidates, but don’t let that bother you. At least, they’re honest about being clowns…unlike their competition.

For District Attorney: Oboy the Clown (left). He’s never lied about his qualifications for being a DA or claimed to be a college professor. He’s never lost a court case, or gone surfing.

For Assessor: Bobo the Clown (right). Beside being a snappy dresser, Bobo doesn’t have “good old boy’ ties going back five generations, which means some new blood might turn this office around.

Finally, for Healthcare District: Meme the Clown (left) She’s another newcomer with no political agenda who just likes people and makes them laugh. She won’t do any worse than her predecessors!

ROAD MARVELS: extraordinary cars from before the war

Talbot-Lago T150 C Figoni et Falaschi 'Goutte d'Eau'

4 liter 6 cylinder in line engine.

Only 16 units built.

Valued at $3 million US

Go here to see more stunning examples of auto craftsmanship from the 1930s.

Toad-al shock: Couple find frog in bag of frozen veggies

What’s going on? Frogs are turning up in bottles of wine (see recent post below) and in bags of veggies. Is this some sinister conspiracy against frogs?

Most important, what happened to the frog? It sounds like he woke up to a screaming woman who re-sealed him back up in the bag!

This chilling tale of unexpected protein has changed a Michigan family’s life

Tim Hoffman is getting used to all the frog jokes. He smiles along when co-workers walk past him and say, “Ribbit! Ribbit!”

He understands why his story captures the imaginations of frozen-vegetable buyers everywhere, and he’s even able to chuckle about it a little bit in hindsight. But that doesn’t mean it’s really a laughing matter.

Schneider of the Lansing State Journal said it’s been entertaining to watch the buzz building online over the frog story.

“Some of the comments have been pretty funny,” Schneider said. “People were saying, ‘What’s he complaining about? It’s a complete meal in a bag! He should be going back and paying Meijer another $3!’ ”

Read the whole story here.

L.A. prosecutors charge 1968 Playboy playmate of the year with attempted murder

“The 1968 Playboy playmate of the year has been charged with attempted murder after Los Angeles police said she shot her husband of 20 years this weekend during a dispute, authorities said Wednesday.

Victoria Rathgeb, 66, is due in court Nov. 1 to answer to the charge that she intentionally shot her husband with a semiautomatic handgun.

Rathgeb, being held in lieu of $1.5-million bail, was arrested Saturday after police said they responded to a reported shooting at an apartment in the 7000 block of Hawthorn Avenue in Hollywood.”

A false rape conviction, 22 years in prison — and now an $18.5 million award

'It’s been a long time getting to this point,' NYC man says of jury verdict

Try to imagine how this man feels. Would $18.5 million really make things better?

And what are the odds he’s going to collect this award?

The lawyers have already filed an appeal. The bastards will keep it in the courts for as long as possible hoping he will die or disappear! It’s the last we’ll probably ever hear about this case.

Psychic objects and symbols to watch for in your everyday life

I admit to being somewhat skeptical of psychics. Having said that, this is a well-written and thought-provoking article about psychic energies and psychics.

I try to keep my mind open about things I don’t totally understand. That’s why I’m sharing this:

‘Human beings perceive the world through many filters so we are not overrun with information like a dog caught in the middle of traffic.

Scientists know that there are all kinds of things going on around us that we are completely unaware of and therefore we have no idea that they affect us at all.’

  “Part of what makes a psychic a psychic is their ability to tune in to these energies and get information from them. This is possible because we are not separate beings as we are led to believe, but instead, interwoven parts bound together by the same tapestry of life. Therefore, everything is a reflective macrocosm or microcosm of the other parts of life, illustrated by the fact that the course the planets travel across the heavens is a reflection of our own life's journey.

 Every object on Earth, even a stick, can have a psychic meaning at one time or another. An object can be infused with the psychic power of all those who have held or used the object. A place can also give an object psychic power, as in a stone that comes from the Moon.

Many ancient cultures believe that every object has a spiritual identity whether inanimate or mobile. Therefore, every object in our daily life has the potential to give psychic insight or affect a situation.
Some psychics who work with the police can find a missing person by just having a piece of their clothing or a photograph. There are other psychics who can pick up the energy left behind by events that have taken place in the room.

Many musicians say that an instrument that has been played by great players carries their spirit. Even wearing someone else's shoes can make you start to feel like them.
People witness the psychic power in everyday objects daily, but quickly forget about them because they usually haven't created a file in their brain that stores that kind of cryptic information.
How many times have psychic things happened to you in your daily routine? For instance, you hit every green light on a street you don't know and the first red one to stop you was the one you needed to turn on. Or, you saw something - anything from a car to a tree - that you had envisioned before in a dream.

These types of psychic occurrences happen to us all through our lives, but they happen to a psychic on an everyday level. These interactions with objects give them another source of information about the nature of things.

 Religious objects like crosses and pendants are often believed to have all kinds of psychic power from protecting like a talisman to making a bond with a holy spirit. Every day we see people wearing objects that they believe give them a power or connection.
Outside of wearing religious objects, are world is covered with their symbols. There are few places in the world where large religious icons are not displayed in public places. They are so common that we tend not to even notice them.

  Objects do not have to be exotic, flamboyant, or religious to have psychic power. Any electrical appliance - including radios, televisions, and computers - can be a transmitter of psychic energy. In fact, there are those who argue that computers have had the psychic energy to change our entire civilization, as televisions and radios did before them.
There is no doubt that common everyday objects can have psychic power, the question is learning to perceive the power and use it properly.”

Article from MSN Astrology no author name given

Pre-caffeine tech: This monkey's gone to heaven

Apple's expected to announce big upgrades today for Macbook Air and iLife.

Whatever else Apple announces, they best get to revealing a Verizon iPhone sometime soon.

And despite what Steve Jobs rants, there may have been a 7-inch iPad somewhere at some point.

Also expected today, a new Nook e-reader. 

Speaking of rants, Facebook developer Joe Hewitt ripped into what Android' calls "Open."

Photo - Hey! Remember when this came out? Yeah, you're officially old.

And the Pixies are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Doolittle (THAT'S TWENTY YEARS! DANG!) by letting you download the LP pretty much for free! (You just have to get on the the Pixies mailing list.) GO! GO NOW!

17,000 doctors cash in drug company money, report finds

Payments are legal but reveal pharmaceutical marketing tactics

“More than 17,000 doctors and other health care providers have taken money from seven major drug companies to talk to other doctors about their products, a joint investigation by news organizations and non-profit groups found.”

AND

"Tens of thousands of U.S. physicians are paid to spread the word about pharma's favored pills and to advise the companies about research and marketing," the group says in its report, available at http://www.propublica.org/topic/dollars-for-doctors.

The groups used information from seven drugmakers -- AstraZeneca, Cephalon, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Merck and Pfizer.”

Haute dog! World’s most expensive frank costs $69

Foot-long garnished with truffle oil, foie gras sets record

“Restaurateur Stephen Bruce has already gotten folks to pony up $1,000 for an ice-cream sundae. So what’s a measly $69 for a hot dog?

Make that an “haute dog.” Bruce’s famous Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City celebrated National Hot Dog Day June 23 by marrying a foot-long tube of meat with such decidedly nontraditional accoutrements as black truffles and foie gras, served on a pretzel roll grilled in white truffle butter.”