Jumping out of planes can be life affirming and scary as hell!

 Good Day World!

 I never could see a good reason for jumping out of a perfectly good plane.

If I was in a plane that was going down and I didn’t have a choice, I’d strap a parachute on and become one with the sky. Not because I wanted to prove I’m alive. But to stay alive. There’s a difference

But we all march to a different tune. That’s why I take my hat off to Gabrielle Giffords. On the third anniversary of the mass shooting that left a bullet in her head and six people dead, she jumped out of a plane to prove she’s alive. Mission accomplished.

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Things don’t always go so well.

Take the story of the 80-year old woman who decided she needed to jump out of a plane to cross an activity off her “bucket list.” A video of her skydiving adventure gone horribly wrong went viral in 2012.

The video was created by The Parachute Center, a skydiving company in Acampo, Calif., as a memento for jumpers to take home after their airborne adventures. She didn’t die, but I doubt if she’ll ever do that again. Mission – sort of – accomplished.

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My favorite parachute story has to be about Jack Hake who completed a 10,000ft charity skydive at the age 93 - with his late wife’s ashes strapped to his chest.

The plucky pensioner tucked a bag containing the remains of his wife Veronica under his jumpsuit because the couple, who were married for 70 years, ‘did everything together’.

Second World War veteran Jack, from Wimborne, Dorset, told Veronica on her deathbed that he wanted her to be with him when he did the jump.

Mission accomplished Jack!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Christie caught up in bridge scandal – says he was misled by staff member…yeah right!

 WATCH LIVE CONFERENCE HERE
The LIVE conference ended 10:00 PST - My apologies to those who got here after it was over. However, here’s a video link to the entire conference from start to finish.
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 Good Day World!
In a post last November, I shared the stunning news that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was a Koch lover – as in the Koch Brothers, who proudly declared him “our kind of guy.”
This revelation almost made me sad, as I was starting to like the guy when he stood tall during the Hurricane Sandy disaster. Hearing he was beloved by the dark side, aka Koch Brothers, I categorized his relationship as “another power-mad moron who is willing to suck the Koch’s sagging teats!”   
Now, it seems Christie’s bid for a 2016 presidency took a direct hit when his administration was caught bullying a local political rival recently, not to mention the havoc they caused by closing off two bridge lanes for a so-called “traffic study.”
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'Embarrassed and humiliated' Christie axes aide, apologizes for bridge scandal

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The George Washington Bridge – the busiest in the world according to Port Authority officials – became Christie’s instrument of revenge in the midst of a re-election campaign. The action prompted massive traffic gridlock in the city on its first day of school. 
When the cat got out of the bag in December, Christie said he was previously unaware of apparent actions taken by his deputy chief of staff to orchestrate the controversial closure of local access lanes to the congested George Washington Bridge.
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Video - Christie ex-aide ‘deserves an ass-kicking’
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But revealing emails by Bridget Anne Kelly to Port Authority aide David Wildstein were made public by news organizations on Wednesday, and they contradict previous assurances by Christie that his administration was not involved in the lane closures, and that they were not politically-motivated.

Democrats have charged the closures were an attempt at political retribution for Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who declined to endorse Christie's re-election effort last year and whose city sits in the shadow of the bridge.
What happened was a scary example of the use of power gone astray. If Christie and his gang thought they could get away with it, what else were they capable of?
Christie’s animated denials of any knowledge of what happened is par for the course. He’s a politician, and most of them are wonderfully adept liars.
What’ll happen is Christie will fire everyone involved to show what a good, honest guy he is. His phony indignation at hearing the news of the smoking e-mails was as big as his famous gut.
Let’s just say he protests too much, and with his rapidly declining political swoon hard times call for tough decisions. Like closing bridges for political reasons.
Who wants to bet if there is a federal investigation into this mess Christie will be left standing…wobbling, but still standing?
Christie in 2016? I don’t think so, but the Koch Brothers might however.
Time for me to walk on down the road…

A Big Thanks to Vet Tix: ‘Giving Something to Those who Gave’

Good Day World!

My friend, Carl, shared this information with me and I’m passing it on to you today. I believe in supporting our veterans and their families and this is a great program. I want to personally thank this organization for what they do for my fellow veterans and their families:

Veteran Tickets Foundation AKA Vet Tix (CFC# 44909) is a nationally recognized 501c3 Veterans Support Organization whose mission is to "give something to those who gave."

Vet Tix teams up with major sports teams, leagues, promoters, organizations, companies, venues and everyday event ticket holders to provide free (and discounted) tickets to the more than 26 million active Military, Veterans and their families.

WHAT THEY DO – They support our Active Duty Military, Veterans and their Families with entertainment, lasting memories and reintegration opportunities by providing FREE event tickets to sporting events, concerts and family activities.

Vet Tix is proud to have already given out 785,438 event tickets across all 50 States, plus Washington, DC, to all currently serving Military, Veterans and their families.

WHY THEY DO THIS – When our Active Military and Veterans go to an event for FREE we want them to feel a collective “Thank You” from all of us to all of them. See our “Saying Thanks” page to read what these tickets mean to our Troops past & present.  http://www.vettix.org/feedback.php

WHO IS ELIGIBLE AND HOW TO GET VERIFIED - Vet Tix believes that every person who honorably served our great country should be thanked for their service. Visit the sign up link below for full details

Currently Serving Military, Honorably Discharged Veterans, PNOC of KIA

Use this link to sign up http://www.vettix.org/ref/167415

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Am I only allowed to request 1 (one) ticket?

Answer:

NO, unless we only have 1 ticket… It’s the goal of Veteran Tickets Foundation for you to enjoy the event with your family and friends.

Do I have to pay for the tickets?

Answer: NO, tickets will always be FREE…All you pay for is the cost of delivery for your tickets.

Do I have to wear a uniform?

Answer: NO, 99.9% of the time. Only when some organizations are having a “Military recognition” event, we will inform you of this in advance in our event description.  We strive to have NO uniforms required.

Can my spouse use the service while I’m deployed?

Answer: Yes, just give your spouse your account information and you are set.  When setting up your account, you can also add other email addresses for event notification.

Is your organization listed on the Department of Defense (DoD) websitewww.OurMilitary.mil?

Answer: Yes - http://www.ourmilitary.mil/comprehensive-list-of-community-support-groups/

(This information brought to you by Joe Pasternack - QuiNhon Vietnam -Sept 65 - August 66)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

You want Silly? Enter the ‘Selfie Olympics’ and show you have Game

Good Day World!

Do you have game?

If you want to show the world you can take cool photos of yourself I have just the game for you.

The "Selfie Olympics." I put together this board on selfies if you want to find out what they are and why people do them.

• What you will need to play in the Selfie Olympics: A room with a mirror (preferably the bathroom), a smartphone, some props and your imagination. What you will need to give up: Your dignity.
• The goal: Create the most outrageous, elaborate selfie mankind has ever known, giving future generations a glimpse of the apogee of human progress.
• The stakes: A chance at Internet fame. So none, basically.

Tag your photo #SelfieOlympics and you're ready to be judged by strangers on Twitter.

The best are compiled by The Selfie Game - changed from "Selfie Olympics.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Craft Beer sales not threatened by new Pot Industry in Colorado

 Good Day World!

 It’s been six days now.

Colorado hasn’t degenerated into chaos after legalizing marijuana.

Opponents are impatiently waiting for any kind of negative incident that can be tied in with the groundbreaking weed legalization law.

You can almost see them lurking around street corners like ambulance-chasers, hoping for a pot-related disaster to strike.

On the internet, there’s already been a parody of people supposedly dying after smoking pot in Colorado by a prankster website. It took off into cyberspace with the help of the anti-legalization minions and was spun off as reality!

Facebook, and other social media sites, saw the story pop up like toxic mushrooms – “37 Pot smokers die the day weed is legal in Denver – and other equally moronic headlines. When cooler heads prevailed, the story was recognized as fake. A parody.

The question has risen – will pot sales threaten the craft beer industry in Colorado?

It’s hard to say if Bruce Banner #3 will ever become a legitimate threat to sales of Dale’s Pale Ale, or if Bubba Kush will one day smoke Yeti Espresso Stout at the cash register.

From everything I could gather, experts aren’t worried about pot sales hurting craft beer sales. Beer and liquor in general will always have the leg-up as long as public cannabis bars are forbidden. Pot may be legal, but it still doesn’t share the same level of social acceptance of beer.

You may have seen the governor and mayor stand up for photo opportunities with new breweries. It’s a pretty common sight. But alert watchers didn’t see either of those public luminaries go near a pot shop on the opening day of cannabis sales.

Marijuana and beer may someday be allowed in bars together for a true Rocky Mountain high. Can the era of Colorado pot connoisseurs and craft beers putting on festivals together be far off? Who knows? Let’s see how it goes.

Time for me o walk on down the road…

Two inspiring stories about underdogs

Good Day World!

 Today we’re going to take a look at a couple of underdogs.

 The first story is about a dog…

It was a daring rescue involving seven first responders and a rig suspended over the deepest hand-dug pit in the world, an open-pit diamond mine in Kimberley, South Africa.

At the bottom was their treasure: not precious gems, but a little brown Labrador the public has nicknamed "Underdog."

Underdog captured the heart of rescuers after he miraculously survived the monumental fall, tumbling the equivalent of 50 stories deep into the mine several days ago. It's unclear how the dog fell into the Big Hole, as it is known in South Africa's Northern Cape province, but tourists spotted the animal on Thursday.

Underdog has been taken to the local vet for a thorough check-up. The dog, which didn't have any signs of an owner, is now up for adoption, but he won't be homeless for long.

There is no shortage of people who watched Underdog's rescue who are willing to bring him into their home and several of the team members responsible for saving him have indicated their eagerness to give him a permanent home - and a permanent name!

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The second story is about a man...

When the injury-riddled Los Angeles Lakers called up Kendall Marshall from the D-League it was his big chance. In his first game with the team he got a foul and was ejected within two minutes. Not an auspicious start.

But, Mike D'Antoni's ''Marshall plan'' worked to perfection on a night when the Lakers' coach didn't have any other choice but to play him. Marshall rewarded him by finishing with 20 points and 15 assists in 40 minutes. The Lakers won the game won - 110 to 99 – to put and end to a six-game losing streak.

I’m not sure who was the most shocked to discover Kendall has game. His team mates, or me! He may not be an underdog for long if he continues to play like this.

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Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

Group Campaigning to Translate Dog’s Thoughts into English

Good Day World!

If you’re a dog owner/lover like me, you already know what your dog wants and when. It’s a simple process unhindered by written rules and happens when you bond with your dog. The last thing I need is for my dog’s thoughts to be translated into English!

Can you imagine? I thought my pug Molly was a world class whiner when she wants to be, but if her whines are translated into words I can understand it’s going to be worse.

The dramatics will get ramped up from woof! woof!, to “Get my damn food you lazy bastard!”

I don’t wish this group of inventors from Sweden any luck in their quest for financing their little device – No More Woof.

At the very least, I hope they’re unable to translate dog’s thoughts into English, and have to settle for German or French. I don’t know either language and that would negate being chewed out by Molly because I wouldn’t understand her! 

Moving on: 

 “The Nordic Society for Invention and Discovery recently launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds that will help the group create No More Woof, a device that (might) translate a dog’s thoughts into English.

Currently in testing stages, No More Woof resembles a headset that fits on to a dog’s head. It is equipped with sensors that pick up canine brainwave patterns and then translate them into English through an attached speaker.

So far, the device is able to detect thought patterns associated with “Who are you?”, “I’m hungry” and “I’m tired.” (No word yet on if it will be able to translate "If you don't let me outside right now, I'm going to leave a mess on the carpet.") Story and video here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Cal NORML Challenges Local Bans on Patient Cultivation of Medical Marijuana

In a lawsuit supported by California NORML, attorney Joe Elford is filed a petition today asking the State Supreme Court to review a recent Third District Appellate Court decision, James Maral v City of Live Oak, that upheld the right of local governments to ban medical marijuana cultivation entirely.  

The petition argues that local governments are pre-empted by state law from banning cultivation by qualified medical marijuana patients, insofar as California’s Compassionate Use Act (Prop 215) and the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMP, aka SB 420) explicitly authorize such cultivation.

At issue is the right of seriously ill patients to grow for their own medical use in accordance with Prop. 215.  The plaintiff, James Maral, who suffers severe chronic medical problems, challenged an ordinance by the City of Live Oak declaring it illegal to grow any marijuana at all.

The city also bans dispensaries, leaving Maral with no legal access to medicine. Local dispensary bans are not being challenged in this case, as their legality was upheld in the Supreme Court’s Riverside decision. Unlike dispensaries, however, cultivation by individual patients and their primary caregivers is explicitly protected under state law.

“If you ban dispensaries and you ban cultivation, you’re ripping the heart out of California's medical marijuana laws,” said Elford. "The appellate court’s decision conflicts with the intent of the electorate and Legislature and should not be allowed to stand."

In particular, notes Elford, the MMP provides that individual patients may maintain six mature or twelve immature plants for their personal medical needs. In addition, the MMP expressly authorizes localities to enact guidelines that are higher – but not lower – than the state’s six plant limit. 

“Together, these provisions constitute a clear statement by the California Legislature that the State’s municipalities may expand upon the “safe-harbor” provisions afforded to medical marijuana patients regarding cultivation, but they may not subvert or obliterate them,” argues Elford.

The petition also argues that the Live Oak ordinance should be preempted for being inherently “inimical to” state law. In adopting the ordinance, the Live Oak City Council cited the position of the California Police Chiefs Association that “Marijuana is destructive to our society and should remain unlawful,” a position directly at odds with that of the voters and legislature.  Courts have taken different positions as to when ordinances are pre-empted as “inimical to” state law.

In the wake of the recent Riverside and Live Oak rulings, local governments have become increasingly bold in attacking patients’ right to cultivate medical marijuana. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will be hearing an ordinance to ban cultivation on Tuesday, Jan. 7^th. 

The ordinance proclaims its intent to prohibit medical marijuana cultivation “in order to preserve the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Fresno County.” 

“The Fresno County and Live Oak ordinances directly conflict with Prop. 215’s stated purpose of ensuring that 'seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes,'” says Prop. 215 co-author and Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer. “Mr. Maral is precisely the kind of seriously ill patient whom Prop. 215 was intended to benefit.”

Maral, 42, suffers from compartment syndrome, a painful life- and limb-threatening condition caused by insufficient blood supply to muscles and nerves. In addition, he has six damaged discs in his back, the result of his work as a heavy equipment driver. He and his family have lived in Live Oak for 15 years.

Maral is also a caregiver for his mother Donneda Maral, who has severe diverticulitis and Crohn's disease, for which she is frequently hospitalized.

"The only thing I'm fighting for is the patients who just want a couple of plants in their backyard," said Maral. "I'm not willing to let my mother die or live out the rest of her time in a hospital." The Marals live at least two hours away from any medical marijuana dispensary.

Link to petition for review by State Supreme Court: http://www.canorml.org/maral.pet.review.pdf

Contacts:

      Joe Elford: (415) 573-7842
     Dale Gieringer (510) 540-1066

Established in 1972, California NORML is the state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. We are a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to reforming California's marijuana laws. Our mission is to establish the right of adults to use cannabis legally.

It’s Cold Inside Here Baby! But it could be Worse!

Good Day World!

 I really feel like a whiny toddler complaining about not having our central air heating system work.

Shirley contacted the company that needs to come out and fix our heater, but they couldn’t get out to us today. It seems a lot of heaters in homes here in Medford have decided to rebel and just die on New Year’s Day!

So, we’re on a list. Waiting. My beautiful wife, who has patience, is making the best of the situation. I’m following her around from room-to-room moaning pathetically about the cost of using our portable electric heater.

That’s right.

We’re not really totally without heating. But have you ever ran one of those portable heaters that swivel from side-to-side and suck up electricity like a power plant? Now you know why I feel guilty about complaining. I have an option.

Unfortunately for many Americans, a massive winter storm dumped 20 inches of snow on parts of New England and crippled much of the Midwest and Northeast today as millions faced dangerously cold temperatures.

Sub-zero wind chills arrived with the storm, and the biting wind and blowing snow have shut down interstates and airports alike.

Anyone in the path of this monstrous winter system that loses their heating options are in for a terrible time. I hope if power is interrupted that no one freezes to death in their home! Meanwhile, I’ll try to “buck up” and not be mean to the heater repair guy whenever he finally shows up!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A New Year’s Surprise… our home’s forced-air heating system stopped working!

Good Day World!

Yep…started 2014 with a challenge.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…I’m trying real hard to see our heater dying as a good sign, rather than a foreboding glance into the year ahead!

It’s about 28 degrees outside and it feels like the same inside! So cold…

Perhaps it’s the worst thing that’ll happen this year - and only good times lie ahead. Thinking positive now as I sit here shuddering.

Have you ever had to repair/replace a home forced-air heating system? I’m not stupid enough to think I can fix the problem, so my wife and I (after considering numerous options) settled for contacting the company that put it in (guided by a sticker on the unit) today.

Brilliant huh?

I can’t wait to see if it’s something relatively easy and inexpensive to fix, or of we’ll have to spend our kids inheritance on it! Better that, than having to wear my Elmer Fudd hat inside the house the rest of the winter!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands Wishes You A Happy New Year!

  Good Day World!

 Happy New Year!

   from Dave & Shirley

 “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”  — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks for stopping by on New Year’s Eve

   Good Day World!

 On this last day of 2013, I want to talk about auctions.

 Live auctions or online, it doesn’t matter…I enjoy seeing how people price objects. I watch any TV show that hints of an auction.

I dream that someday I’m going to run across some great deal on an item in a yard sale, and it’s going to be worth millions when I get it appraised! Or, at the very least, it’ll be worth more than what I paid for it!

 From the finest art to the funkiest memorabilia, most everything can be had for the right price, as the 2013 auction season again proved.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg News, the top 10 auction lots of 2013 raised $752.2 million, a 27 percent increase from 2012.

The biggest prize of all was Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud."

The bidding for the 1969 triptych at Christie's auction house in New York City reached $142.2 million, making the piece the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

The buyer remains unknown, but "Lucian Freud" is currently on public display at Portland Art Museum in Oregon. The next time I take a trip up to Portland I hope to spend a little more time so I can check it out.

Thank you for stopping by on this last day of 2013.

It’s been a record year for viewership, and we’re closing in on two million views! (Check my stat meter out to the right – almost made it this year). Not bad for a independent blogger who entered into cyberspace five years ago (2008).

As It Stands…I wish you a Happy New Year!

 

Legalizing Marijuana: What other states will get on board in 2014?

Good Day World!

 A couple of things before we get started:

 A loyal reader of this blog has chastised me for not giving an explanation why I didn’t post something on Saturday. My apologies for this lack of continuity. There…are you happy Jocko!

 Two, after reading today’s post on marijuana legalization, you’ll want to read the post prior to this one: I have some news for you that you probably didn’t see anywhere else in the mainstream media (unless you were looking real hard like my contact, Darby, at LEAP was).

MEASURES TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA PASSED

“Marijuana proponents scored significant victories as voters around the country passed ballot measures decriminalizing marijuana possession and approved regulatory taxes on the drug.

In Colorado, voters backed a heavy tax on recreational marijuana, which was made legal here last year. The tax will pay for the cost of overseeing the state’s marijuana industry as well as school construction.

Voters in three Michigan cities approved measures legalizing the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults on private property, following Detroit and Flint, which passed similar measures last year.

And voters in Portland, Me., passed an ordinance legalizing the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults over 21, making it the first East Coast city to pass such a law, advocates said.

The victories are widely seen as fuel for the legalization movement, which has chipped away at state drug laws over the past decade and has vowed to push for more changes from state legislatures.

“A majority of Americans now agree that marijuana should be legal for adults, and this was reflected at the polls,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, one of the main groups behind the legislative initiatives across the country.

“There is clearly momentum behind marijuana policy reform,” Mr. Tvert said. “We expect to see these kinds of measures passing across the nation over the next several years.”

Marijuana supporters saw little opposition during this election cycle — evidence, they said, that public sentiment is shifting in favor of less stringent drug laws.

In Ferndale, Mich., nearly 70 percent of voters approved an ordinance legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. And in the city of Jackson, 60 percent of residents supported a similar measure.

In Lansing, where the mayor backed legalization, unofficial election results showed the measure there winning handily, with 8,550 voters supporting it and 5,339 opposing.

Chuck Ream, co-founder of the Safer Michigan Coalition, which has pushed for legalization for years, said he was struck by how easily the local ordinances passed. “They were all landslides,” Mr. Ream said.

He said advocates had gained momentum to push for a proposal pending in Michigan’s statehouse that would make it a misdemeanor to possess small amounts of marijuana. “We certainly hope that the Legislature will act immediately to pass the decriminalization law for the entire state of Michigan, now that they see that voters absolutely don’t support prohibition any longer,” he said.

Similarly, in Portland, Maine’s largest city, marijuana advocates said their victory — by nearly 30 percentage points — would help persuade lawmakers to pass legislation to regulate marijuana and alcohol in a similar manner.” (Read the rest of the story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

California AG Proposes Marijuana Legalization Law

 Good Day World!

It appears new opportunities are cropping up for marijuana legalization in California.

My contact with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Darby Beck, passed this interesting information on to me. I’m sharing it with you because it could lead to legalization and you probably won’t find this story in the main stream media.

I’ve had the honor of being in touch with LEAP for years. At the bottom of this post I’ve included a couple of links so you can learn more about the organization and ask any questions you might have. 

The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief
purpose and points of the proposed measure:

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION - INITIATIVE STATUTE

“Legalizes under state law marijuana use, growth, cultivation, possession, transportation, storage, or sale. Creates commission to regulate, and provide business licenses for, marijuana cultivation, sales, processing, transportation, and distribution.

Applies retail sales taxes to marijuana, unless exemptions for medical or dietary uses apply. Allocates revenues equally among education, healthcare, law enforcement/fire, drug abuse education/treatment, commission expenses.

Prohibits discrimination against marijuana users or businesses. Requires voter approval to zone
beyond set limits. Bars state/local aid to enforce federal or state marijuana laws. Exempts
existing medical marijuana collectives from licensing, regulatory, and local zoning requirements.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state
and local government:

“Reduced costs in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually to
state and local governments related to enforcing certain marijuana-related offenses,
handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising
certain marijuana offenders.

Potential net additional tax revenues in the low hundreds of
millions of dollars annually related to the production and sale of marijuana, a portion of
which is required to be spent on education, health care, public safety, drug abuse education
and treatment, and the regulation of commercial marijuana activities.” (13-0025.)

For more information contact Darby Beck, Media Relations Director, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com  or e-mail darby.beck@leap.cc

Time for me to walk on down the road…

New Species Discovered in 2013: An odd animal roundup reminder

Good Day World!

 Amazing as it may seem, scientists keep finding new species of animals – well, at least new to mankind. They’ve been out there all along.

Every year we get to hear about things like spiders as big as our faces or beautifully colored frogs that will poison us if we even touch them.

I love this time of year when everyone is making up lists about what happened throughout the year. This year is one of my favorites: 

“On remote forest tree-tops and in deep Arctic oceans, researchers spotted and identified a varied collection of new species in 2013.

Among them: a "cocoa frog" from Suriname, a shark that walks, and a tarantula the size of a dinner plate.

Though this year’s haul of new species runs into the thousands, researchers estimate that there are about 8 million species still unidentified by science skulking in remote corners of the world, and sometimes hiding out right under scientists' noses.

And that’s not including most of the microbial world. "When you throw in the bacteria and archaea and cyanobacteria and those early groups, all bets are off," Quentin Wheeler, incoming president of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and founder of the International Institute for Species Exploration, told NBC News.

Science is catching up with Mother Nature — but slowly. About 18,000 species are discovered every year, and as of 2013, "we’re fast approaching 2 million named things," Wheeler said.” (Read whole story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A wink at the weirdest political moments of 2013

Good Day World!

 In another year marked by a steady stream of gaffes, scandals, and strange controversies, the late night comedy pros have had no drought of material from Washington, D.C., as the stars of our nation’s body politic continued to say goofy things into microphones on a shockingly regular basis.

Here are three of the eleven most bizarre quotes for 2013. They’re head scratching, strange moments, in the words of the men and women who brought them to you:

“I knew that by putting something out as a tweet that I deleted that the press would see it, and if they could read something into what was an innocent tweet about how hot Cyndi Lauper was as a performer, that it would get the press’s attention, and it did in a monster way.” – Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., April 12.

“I will eat them anywhere. I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam I Am!”  - Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Sept. 24.

“The most shocking part of the story was learning that there is a vegan strip club in Portland.” – Cory Booker spokesman Kevin Griffis, Sept. 25.

Read the whole story here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Marry Christmas from As It Stands!

 Good Day World!

 Merry Christmas to everyone in the world, and may you enjoy peace and love in abundance.

 Wherever you may be, I hope the seasons blessings are upon thee!

 Thank you for stopping by.

It’s the day before Christmas & throughout Lakerdom there’s little hope for a Christmas Day miracle!

 Good Day World!

The seriously depleted Laker squad this season is a collection of castoffs and young players with good attitudes and limited skills.

There will be no Kobe Bryant to give them at least one superstar on the court Christmas Day when they play against the powerhouse Miami Heat.

For fans such as myself, these are the down days of a once proud Laker dynasty. I cringe when they play anyone now. Teams that used to mean automatic wins are now clobbering the mismatched group of Lakers who are trying to get by without a point guard.

If Farmer comes back from his hamstring injury on Christmas Day I don’t expect much from him. The only upside will be he’s a point guard. I couldn’t believe what happened when Coach Di’ Antonio reached down into the D-League and brought in a point guard for the last game against Golden State.

The guy, I refuse to use his name (Kendall Marshal), lasted for several plays. He managed to get a foul called on him, and then was ejected from the game in mere minutes! This is the kind of season it’s been for the hapless Lakers.

Pau Gasol played despite a lingering upper respiratory infection played against the Suns last night and scored a season low 10 points before retiring. Who knows if he’s going to be up to playing again on Christmas Day? The Suns ran them off the court 117 to 90.

So, that leaves us with guys like Jodie Meeks playing starting point guard. His backups, Henry and Young, are not point guards either. Jordan Hill, who has been playing well of late, will really have a challenge on his hands guarding Miami Heat Center, Chris Bosch.

But you know what? I’m going to have my Laker/Santa Claus hat on with my Laker robe this Christmas Day hoping for a miracle for my team…the Los Angeles Lakers! What else can a true fan do?

MERRY CHRISTMAS – I’ll see you on December 27th.

Time for me to walk on down the road…