Why GOP presidential hopefuls should stay away from the United Kingdom

Good Day World!

When I read Democratic National Committee spokesman Mo Elleithee’s statement to the press I was surprised:

"Do any other GOP presidential candidates want to go to London? If so, let us know. The DNC is more than happy to pick up your travel costs."

What the heck? Then it dawned on me.

Lately, there’s been several GOP White House hopefuls who traveled to the United Kingdom to pad their foreign credentials, and each managed to embarrass themselves and others.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's trip to the U.K. was driven off course by a question about childhood vaccinations.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came in for criticism during his visit abroad when he said Muslims have established autonomous "no-go zone" neighborhoods in some Western European cities where they govern by a harsh version of Islamic law

— a notion that drew ridicule from British Prime Minister David Cameron, among others.

And most recently, there was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who capped an appearance at the prestigious Chatham House think tank by avoiding a question about whether he believes in the theory of evolution.

Walker appeared to take some lessons from Christie's widely panned trip, which ended with his staff canceling three meetings planned with reporters. Walker limited his agenda to mostly private meetings with government officials, business executives and ex-pats from Wisconsin.

His only public event was a 15-minute speech, which he followed with 45 minutes of questions and answers.

The query about evolution, posed by the event's moderator, was the last one of the day.

"I'm here to talk about trade and not pontificate on other issues," said Walker, who then tried to make a joke. "I love the evolution of trade in Wisconsin and I'd like to see an even bigger evolution as well."

I guess no one in the audience was laughing because the British press went after him like honey badgers!

Which brings up the obvious:

American presidential candidates trying to get credibility in the UK have failed horribly, and more than likely the UK will continue to be the Waterloo for White House wannabes. 

So far, just GOP members have tried. As there doesn’t seem to be any other presidential candidates for the Dems other than Hillary Clinton, it’s safe to say she doesn’t need to go to the UK for a grip-and-grin.

She’s been there, and done that. Her foreign credentials have been established, but not without controversy.

I doubt she’ll ever shake off the GOP’s rabid jackals who continue to try to blame (an 8th committee has assembled for another try) the Benghazi fiasco on her.

My advise to the GOP presidential pack of candidates is simple:

Campaign at home. You already make asses out of yourselves here as it is, but when you go overseas you magnify the effect by ten-fold! 

Time for me to walk on down the road…

40 Years & Counting: Happy Valentine’s Day Shirley!

Despite my many quirks and failings, I’ve been blessed with a woman who has chosen to be my Valentine forever; Shirley Ann Holloway-Strancliff.

After 40 years of marriage, we still only have eyes for one another. Shirley grows more beautiful every year. Our love grows deeper daily.

We laugh, and cry, together. Our lives have been full of adventures with expectations of many more years ahead. 

Today is a day for lovers, young and old. Gifts given are often sexy and bold. To that end, I have a few trendy Valentine Day ideas for your lover:

Try Chocolate "sex bark," a treat that seems conventional enough, until you realize that the recipe calls for pricey ingredients like Sex Dust, an herbal preparation that costs $60 for four ounces and claims to "send waves of blood to all the right places" for both men and women.” 

FOOD and SEX

Restaurants are trying to lure in couples with Valentine's Day menus designed to amp up the mood. (For example, as an homage to the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie, customers at Sullivan's Steakhouse locations can slurp oysters and other reported aphrodisiacs while blindfolded with a tie to heighten other senses like taste and smell.)

Even a quick search on Twitter for #aphrodisiac will bring up a flurry of recent results like Brazilian piranha soup, as well as more established ones such as chili peppers and dark chocolate.

The most popular dish ordered on Valentine's is... sushi!

Live. Love. Laugh.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A history of identity theft and why it’s on the rise

Good Day World!

The first case of identity theft is described in the Bible.

The story plays out in the 25th chapter of Genesis, when Jacob covered his hands and neck with goat skins in order to trick his father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn which rightfully belonged to his brother, Esau.

On the surface, this seems harmless enough, but in that deception Jacob acquired all the property and livestock his father owned.

Moreover, most of the ideological differences in the Middle East today that are the cause of all the wars and conflict can be traced back to this event.

In early American history, identity theft was more focused on voter registration, and had more to do with ballot stuffing. But things changed again in the 1930’s with the 21st amendment.

This was the law that repealed prohibition, and alcohol was once again legal, but the legal drinking age was determined by individual states until 1984, when the US Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act – (23 USC, Section 158 – which actually deals with national highways.)

Between these times, college students would often travel from a state where the legal drinking age was 18 or 19, to their school in a state where the drinking age was 21. Thus was born the "fake ID", the most common type of identity theft for half a century.

The worst crime committed using a fake ID during this time was generally underage drinking.

Of course, there was always a fringe criminal element that would duck the law by using an assumed name, and identification was occasionally obtained using the information of a real person – today we call it Identity Assumption.

But this was still a rarity, until the influx of illegal immigrants kicked off in 1965, with the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Prior to this law, illegal immigration was far less prevalent, because there were policies in place that allowed migrant workers to come into the country during harvest seasons and various labor jobs.

Although communities and states had the odd collection of laws against migrant workers living in the US, these laws were usually overlooked since illegal immigrants tended to establish themselves and contribute to the community.

The last piece of legislation that sparked the wave of identity theft we contend with today was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-603, 100 Statute 3359).

Since the passage of this law, all employers are required to fill out a US Citizenship and Immigration Services form (commonly called an I-9 form) for each employee. This requires government issued documents to be furnished (typically we use our driver’s license and social security card) to prove the employee is legally allowed to work in America. (Source)

This in turn has driven the need for valid social security numbers and driver’s licenses for identity thieves. Today, this is the primary source of social security identity theft.

Related Articles

• Types of Identity Theft
• 5 Things You Shouldn't Keep in Your Wallet
• Why Social Security Fraud Is on the Rise
• Your Driver's License and REAL ID
• Types of Identity Theft: Part 2

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Bobby Jindal for president? Not even close, he’s a joke

Good Day World!

Wanna hear a good joke?

Louisiana Gov.Bobby Jindal thinks he’s presidential material.

What on earth is he going to run on? His record as governor of Louisiana is beyond pathetic.

Year after year, Louisiana didn't have enough money to cover its expenses, yet Gov. Bobby Jindal refused to roll back income tax cuts or ever-increasing corporate tax breaks. Instead, he raided reserve funds and sold off state property.

BY THE NUMBERS – JINDAL’s ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1) More than $1 billion of the shortfall on the horizon for the fiscal year that begins July 1 can be tied to Jindal's refusal to match the state's spending to its yearly revenue over his two terms in office — as he also steadfastly refused to consider tax increases.

2) When Jindal took office in 2008, he positioned himself as a fiscal conservative who decried budget shell games akin to "using your credit card to pay your mortgage." It didn't take long to ditch that rhetoric and shift the focus to saving critical services with any money available.

3) Jindal suggested job growth from his economic development wins would replenish those assets once the recession ended. It hasn't — and money from the lucrative oil industry has taken a nose dive with crude prices.

Now, the Republican is running out of short-term patches and is struggling to plug a $1.6 billion budget hole just as he tries to build support for a possible 2016 presidential run.

4) In his first year in office, Jindal signed off on the largest individual income tax cut in Louisiana history, stripping hundreds of millions from the state treasury at the same time the national recession hit.

As for Jindal, he said in a recent interview that the shortfall isn't his fault, and he dodged any talk of his temporary fixes.

EVEN REPUBLICANS ARE WARY OF JINDAL’S PONZI SCHEME

"Our budget has been full of sleights of hand — it's almost a Ponzi scheme of moving moneys around, one-time money around, to serve recurring needs," Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, one of the Republicans vying to be Louisiana's next governor, said at a recent forum.

In early February, national credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service described Louisiana's budget as having a "structural deficit," raising worries from Kennedy the state could be threatened with a rating downgrade that could make borrowing more difficult.

ROAD RHETORIC

When he talks of his record in national appearances, Jindal doesn't mention the budget troubles. He describes cutting Louisiana's budget from $34 billion in 2008 to $25 billion — but doesn't explain much of that drop comes from spending down one-time federal recovery dollars after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

HARSH REALITY

Meanwhile, the cost for the state's various tax credits, rebates and exemptions has ballooned by more than $600 million in the last five years alone, according to the Department of Revenue. (condensed version of AP reports)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

A look at pimps, politicians and bankers

Good Day World!

Riddle.

What do pimps, politicians, and bankers have in common?

Answer. Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn was tipped to become French president before being accused of sexual assault by a New York hotel chambermaid in 2011. U.S. criminal charges were dropped, with allegations that he participated in a French sex ring emerging later.

He has played down his alleged role in sex parties with prostitutes, telling a court he did not know they were being paid and that the frequency of the evenings had been wildly exaggerated.

The 65-year-old former head of the International Monetary Fund is accused of instigating about a dozen parties involving prostitutes between 2008-2011 in Washington, Brussels, Paris and the northern French city of Lille.

But Strauss-Kahn was a “piker” compared to the likes of Jason Itzler.

The self-declared “King of All Pimps” was netting $25,000 per night at his NY Confidential brothel before the cops, on a bust inspired by none other than the New York District Attorney himself, shut him down in 2005.

With few exceptions, if any, the government representatives known as politicians, have their political careers for selfish reasons.

That's why they use the term 'public service' so frequently. It masks the reality of their greed, deceit, and self-serving actions. The way they operate makes them anything but 'public servants.'

To my eye, they appear to be either political prostitutes or political pimps.

Webster defines prostitute as, '1. a person, usually a women, who engages in sexual intercourse for money. 2. To sell or offer (oneself) as a prostitute. 3. to put (one's talent or ability) to unworthy use.'

Webster defines pimp as, 'a man who solicits customers for a prostitute.'

Congress and the White House can be seen as the world's biggest cat houses. The President and Congressmen/women walk the halls before their clients from the lobby groups.

The lobbyists whisper in the ears of the political prostitutes what they're after. Not wanting to appear too willing, and wanting to up the ante, the politician/prostitute feigns concern that the request goes against their 'convictions.'

Knowing this game, the client/john/lobbyist, offers more money to further entice the reluctant political whore to do what he wants.

Finally the politician, sure he can't get anymore out of his lobbyist/john, agrees. This paints a picture of the politician as a prostitute.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Safe Cities Report: Only One American City in the Top 10

Good Day World!

I’m surprised, but not shocked.

When I read the list of safest cities in the world I expected to see at least half from the USA. Didn’t happen.

(Photo-Tokyo at night)

We were lucky to get one out of the Top 10 cities. That’s disturbing to me. 

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its Safe Cities Index 2015 last week, which rates 50 cities based on how well they do in four safety-related factors:

1. Digital security — cyber security, privacy, safety from identity theft

2. Health security — cost and quality of health services, environment and air/water quality

3. Infrastructure security — condition of roads, bridges, and buildings, transportation safety

4. Personal safety — crime and violence, perceptions of personal security

Tokyo, the world's most populous metropolitan area, took the prize for safest overall city, and also won for best digital security. Zurich was tops in both health and infrastructure, and Singapore in personal security.

Here are the top 10 safest cities, and the other 40, according to EIU.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Marijuana sales provide surplus tax revenue in Colorado

Good Day World!

How successful has legalized marijuana been in Colorado?

Let’s put it this way, there’s not a state governor in America who wouldn’t like to be in their financial position.

In a mere 13 months, sales have raised over $50 million for the state, according to Complex.com.

Amendment 64, which legalized recreational marijuana in the state stipulated the first $40 million would be set aside to for schools.

However, according to Rolling Stone, the surplus tax revenue from the sale of marijuana is roughly $30 million. Under state law this means that adult Coloradans are now entitled to a refund, which will be in the form of a check for a whopping $7.63.

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How much do you know about marijuana? Take the quiz

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The state of Colorado has a law on the books titled the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, which was a voter-sponsored amendment that passed back in 1992, according to the state's treasurer's office.

The law mandates that the state treasurer's office must return excess tax revenue to the taxpayers if the amount exceeds a figure that is calculated with a formula that accounts for inflation and population growth.

The law has returned some $2.2 billion to the people of Colorado, according to the Associated Press.

Rolling Stone reports that state lawmakers are now left grasping for ways to put the excess tax revenue genie back in the bottle. This would include introducing a bill that would leave marijuana revenue exempt from taxpayer refunds.

Colorado’s windfall hasn't gone unnoticed by other states.

After Colorado and Washington state,Oregon and Alaska became the next two states to legalize marijuana with ballot measures succeeding back on November 4, of last year.

In Alaska the law goes into effect on February 24 and Oregonians can buy legal pot on July 15, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.

Oregon stands to earn $50 to $100 million in annual tax revenue and Alaska could bring in up to $20 million, according to NerdWallet, who calculated what each state could potentially earn if they were to legalize marijuana. (source)

• Why NBA star Oscar Robertson backs legalized marijuana

Time for me to walk on down the road…

It’s sad that Brian Williams’ legacy as a good journalist is in question

Good Day World!

I like Brian Williams.

As a journalist, I’ve always respected his reporting. His smooth delivery of daily events lent a sort of credibility to whatever he said.

So, it’s troubling for me to see him involved in a controversy over past public statements that he made that apparently weren’t true – or “misremembered.”

NBC News has launched an internal review of Nightly News anchor Brian Williams' 2003 reporting mission to Iraq, details of which he acknowledged this week he had recalled incorrectly.

The embattled journalist’s other reports are being called into question after he admitted Wednesday to not being aboard a U.S. Air Force helicopter that was struck by rockets in 2003, as he had claimed for over a decade.

Skeptical bloggers are now scrutinizing his award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and subsequent interviews.

Just last year, in an interview with his “Nightly News” predecessor Tom Brokaw, Williams claimed he had fallen sick with dysentery after accidentally drinking floodwater.

But Dr. Brobson Lutz, an infectious disease specialist who operated an EMS station during Katrina, told The New Orleans Advocate that he doubts Williams’ claim.

“I saw a lot of people with cuts and bruises and such, but I don’t recall a single, solitary case of gastroenteritis during Katrina or in the whole month afterward,” he said to the local paper.

Despite these revelations, I still like Brian Williams.

He may have made a few mistakes in his long career, but who hasn’t in their lives?

He may be guilty of a little self-promotion in his career, but that’s not uncommon among journalists in the 21st century.

I take ALL reporting – from ALL sources – with a grain of salt. It’s really the best way.

Brian Williams has taken time off, and you’ll be seeing Lester Holt instead of him next week. No word yet what the future holds for the award-winning journalist.

Time for me to walk on down the road…  

The Merry Game Goes On: GOP Benghazi Investigation #8

                                                       Good Day World!

After seven prior GOP fueled Benghazi investigations, the Republicans think the eighth time will be the charm – and they’ll be able to pin the whole sorry affair on Hillary Clinton.

The current special House committee looking into the deadly Benghazi, Libya, attacks in 2012 plans to interview a host of officials soon.

The panel's chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said Friday he intends to interview 20 high-ranking officials, including former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA director David Petraeus, as well as White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and national security adviser Susan Rice.

Gowdy also plans to interview former UN Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Adm. Mike Mullen, who chaired an independent panel that reviewed the September 2012 attacks, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Pickering was President George H.W. Bush's U.N. envoy, and Mullen was the top U.S. general under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.(source)

Their report harshly criticized the State Department for its security posture in the months before militants stormed the Benghazi facility. But House GOP members said their review was incomplete and lacked independence.

How convenient.

Now, after seven prior hearings (without a smoking gun) what does the GOP expect to hear that will be different this time? A majority of the 20 people named as likely witnesses have already provided information to Congress through prior interviews and testimony.

How much is this latest go-around costing taxpayers? The panel spent nearly $1.8 million last year and is on pace to spend more than $3 million this year.

That total is more than several House committees with legislative and oversight jurisdictions and is larger than the amount House Republicans allocated to investigate Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And for what?

A pathetic partisan strategy aimed at discrediting Clinton. It’s worth millions of taxpayer dollars to the GOP to keep the merry-go-round spinning. At least, until the 2016 presidential elections are over.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

   

The Koch Brothers $1 billion dollar plan to buy the presidency

Good Day World!

What would you expect to get for $889 million dollars?

A mansion on 100 acres with every amenity known to man? Perhaps a small island, or a penthouse in New York City?

Billionaire conservative activists Charles and David Koch plan on buying the presidency – and some congressional seats – in 2016.

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In Rebuke of Tennessee Governor, Koch Group Shows Its Power

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That’s twice as much as they spent in 2012 trying to get Mitt Romney elected. By doubling down on their bet they hope to gain control of the country – lock, stock, and barrel.

That’s more money than the Republican, and Democratic, national parties plan on spending for the presidential election. We’re talking serious money here.

Together, Charles and David Koch control one of the world's largest fortunes, which they are using to buy up our political system.

Read: Inside the Koch Brothers' Toxic Empire

(Excerpts)

“The enormity of the Koch fortune is no mystery. Brothers Charles and David are each worth more than $40 billion. The electoral influence of the Koch brothers is similarly well-chronicled.

The Kochs are our homegrown oligarchs; they've cornered the market on Republican politics and are nakedly attempting to buy Congress and the White House.

The company's troubled legal history – including a trail of congressional investigations, Department of Justice consent decrees, civil lawsuits and felony convictions – augmented by internal company documents, leaked State Department cables, Freedom of Information disclosures and company whistle­-blowers, combine to cast an unwelcome spotlight on the toxic empire whose profits finance the modern GOP.

In fact, it appears the very essence of the Koch business model is to exploit breakdowns in the free market. Koch has profited precisely by dumping billions of pounds of pollutants into our waters and skies – essentially for free.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Taxpayers are being ripped off by our criminial court system

Good Day World!

I sure hate seeing taxpayers get ripped off by our criminal court system.

One case can easily go into millions of dollars thanks to a system that makes lawyers rich.

Take the case against Colorado theater gunman James Holmes. He’s already absorbed at least $5.5 million in public monies, with more to come.

That’s $2 million more than the estimated average cost of a completed Colorado death penalty trial — and the contentious Holmes proceeding is still months away from opening arguments.

In the two and a half years since that initial court appearance, primary personnel involved with the case — prosecutors, defense attorneys, the judge, court reporter, trial investigators and victims’ advocates for the district attorney — have been paid approximately $4.5 million.

What happened to the right of a Speedy Trial? Two and a half years is a long time. Worse, the trial date is still a mystery.

The Founding Fathers intended the Speedy Trial Clause to serve two purposes.

First, they sought to prevent defendants from languishing in jail for an indefinite period before trial. Second, they sought to ensure a defendant's right to a fair trial.

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees all persons accused of criminal wrongdoing the right to a speedy trial.

Although this right is derived from the federal Constitution, it has been made applicable to state criminal proceedings through the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the due process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Speedy Trial Act establishes specific time limits between various stages of federal criminal proceedings. The act requires federal authorities to file an information or indictment within 30 days of a defendant's arrest.

A prosecutor who knows that accused is incarcerated at the time of indictment must take immediate steps to initiate prosecution.

If a defendant enters a plea of not guilty, trial must commence within 70 days from the filing of the information or indictment or 70 days from the first appearance of the accused in court, whichever is later.

Despite these steps taken to assure a speedy trial, there is no such thing in America today. That’s because our justice system allows lawyers to get rich off of delays. Couple that with ripping taxpayers off for the money to pay them and you begin to see what’s happened to our justice system.

It shouldn’t take millions of (taxpayer) dollars to conduct every murder case. What happens if there’s no more taxpayer money to grab for a continuing criminal case? Will criminals be released because the state funds have dried up and there’s no way to pay the lawyers their blood money?

It’s a troubling thought.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

  

 

I remember when people respected the presidency

I remember

a Lionel train circling a real Christmas tree

back in 1953

We said the Pledge of Allegiance in school

and were taught “The Golden Rule.”

There was a crusade against Communism

and everyone felt a sense of optimism

We rocked around the clock

to Jailhouse Rock

 

We watched The Howdy Doody Show

and sipped cocktails that had a neon glow

We listened to “Rock n’ Roll”

and Nat King Cole

Abstract Impressionism was at its peak

and we watched American Bandstand every week

It was the Golden Era of 3-D cinematography

and Gentlemen Preferred Blonds in 1953

 

Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby made the ladies swoon

while NASA shot for the moon

You probably won’t believe me

but there was a time when people respected the presidency

The end

 

11 Facts That You Probably Aren’t Aware Of

Good Day World!

Most people have never heard of the following 11 facts.

They’re just off-the-wall enough that even scholars could learn something. How many of these facts are you aware of?  

1) Most lipstick contains fish scales.

2) There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo.

3) Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second.

4) The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.

5) The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad.

6) One car out of every 230 made was stolen last year.

7) The names of Popeye's four nephews are Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye.

8) The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts three naked men with their hands on each other's shoulders.

9) When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour. To photograph the event, a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second.

10) A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.

11) A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

The Right To Vote: 15th Amendment Ratified Today

Good Day World!

We – Americans - must never take the right to vote lightly. The fight minorities faced in the past – and still face today in some places – needs to be recognized.

Voting is one of our greatest freedoms. It was on February 3, 1870 – that the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

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Graphic

"The first vote"
A.R. Waud.
Wood engraving. 1867.
Prints & Photographs Division.
Reproduction Number:
LC-USZ62-19234

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The 15th Amendment to the Constitution granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans.

It would take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of African Americans in the South were registered to vote.

• The House of Representatives passed the 15th Amendment on February 25, 1869, by a vote of 144 to 44
• The Senate passed the 15th Amendment on February 26, 1869, by a vote of 39 to 13.
• The text of the 15th Amendment can be found in the United States Statutes at Large, volume 16, page 346 (15 Stat. 346).
• Secretary of State Hamilton Fish issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the 15th Amendment by the states on March 30, 1870.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts 6 More Weeks of Winter

Happy Groundhog Day! 

News alert:

Groundhog Day 2015: Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, predicts six more weeks of winter

According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will persist for six more weeks.

Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge, social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment.

The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime, or quarter per word spoken, with the money put into a bowl in the center of the table.

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with Punxsutawney Phil. Groundhog Day, already a widely recognized and popular tradition, received widespread attention as a result of the 1993 film Groundhog Day.

HISTORY

The celebration, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc (the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 2 and also involves weather prognostication) and to St. Swithun's Day in July 15.

Sweet Dreams! A ‘Smart’ Mattress Cover is Coming in August

Good Day World!

I can’t wait until August.

You know why? Because there’s something I want to buy which won’t be available until then.

Hint: it’s all about comfort.

The Internet of Things has made its way into a lot of homes already, but the Luna smart mattress cover is one of the first devices to get all the way into the bed.

Yes, it's a smart mattress cover — but it's not as crazy as it sounds. The Luna works as a sleep-tracking device, monitoring your vitals overnight and sending that info along to a smartphone app.

This alone might make it worth buying to some, since other sleep trackers need to be worn on your wrist — or even your head. But Luna also acts as a bed warmer, predicting when you'll go to sleep by your previous schedule and warming the bed up to a preset temperature — there are even separate settings for each side of the bed.

Add an alarm system that wakes you up between sleep cycles (for minimum grogginess) and the Luna starts seeming like a useful bedfellow indeed.

It does, of course, cost significantly more than a regular mattress cover: $199 for the smallest version (queen), and more if you don't pre-order soon.

The company aims to ship in August, but crowdfunded products like this one (which raised over $200,000 on Indiegogo) do tend to slip a little, so be patient. (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Retro Super Bowl Sunday: Game I Photos and Facts

Good Day World!

It’s Super Bowl Sunday.

I’m also declaring today “Retro-Super Bowl Sunday.”

I’ve gathered some photos and facts for your amusement while you wait for today’s big game.

THE COST OF ATTENDING

For Super Bowl I in 1967, the listed ticket price was $10, according to the National Football League.

In 1967, that had the same buying power as $69.75 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index calculator.

THE SCORE

On January 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) smash the American Football League (AFL)’s Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in the first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship, later known as Super Bowl I, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles.

The Packers’ famed quarterback, Bryan Bartlett "Bart" Starr, completed

16 of 23 passes on the night. The score at game’s end stood at 35-10, and Starr was named Most Valuable Player.

Asked to comment on the match-up after the game, Green Bay Coach Vince Lombardi expressed the common opinion that even the best of the AFL--the Chiefs--"doesn’t compare with the top NFL teams."

ORIGIN OF THE SUPER BOWL

For four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League (AFL) was formed.

The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to serious merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached a merger agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season.

As part of the merger, the champions of the two leagues agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME ‘SUPER BOWL’

Lamar Hunt, owner of the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs, first used the term "Super Bowl" to refer to this game in the merger meetings.

Hunt would later say the name was likely in his head because his children had been playing with a Super Ball toy (a vintage example of the ball is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio).

In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote,

"I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon."

Although the leagues' owners decided on the name "AFL-NFL Championship Game," the media immediately picked up on Hunt's "Super Bowl" name, which would become official beginning with the third annual game.

The "Super Bowl" name was derived from the bowl game, a post-season college football game. The original "bowl game" was the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, which was first played in 1902 as the "Tournament East-West football game" as part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and moved to the new Rose Bowl Stadium in 1923.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

No Wars Have Been Fought to Help Victims of Oppression

Good Day World!

There’s never been a GOOD reason for waging war.

I don’t care what some historians say, the fact of the matter is most wars are about aggression – and have very little to do with nobler causes.

Many people think that we went to war with the south over slavery and that we fought in World War II to help stop the Nazis.

In reality, the goals of these wars were much less noble. The main things that led the Civil War were economic issues and slavery was only a part of these problems. When the economic tensions got too hot, the South fought for its independence and the North fought to preserve the Union.

Most Northerners didn’t care about slavery all that much and many Southerners simply couldn’t afford to own slaves.

Even the reasons behind the emancipation proclamation were more political than moral. The so-called Great Emancipator, Lincoln himself, once said, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."

The entire speech was merely a way to help de-motivate blacks who were fighting for the South so the North could get an advantage.

Prior to World War II, the majority of Americans were not only uninterested in the plight of the Jews in Germany, but many even supported the forced sterilization of the mentally incompetent, crippled or criminally-inclined.

Many states also banned interracial marriages as an effort to prevent the tainting of the races. At least 10,000 Americans were forcefully sterilized, many after being labeled with such vague properties as “sexually wayward,” “depressed,” “deviant,” or “bad girls.”

As a matter of fact, America played a crucial role in Hitler’s rise to power and his efforts to create a “master race.” After funding a number of eugenics scientists in America, The Rockefeller Foundation helped create the entire German eugenics program and they even funded work by the infamous Josef Mengele worked before he went to Auschwitz.

Fortunately for us, the researchers believed Americans were not ready to support any “final solutions,” which is why our eugenics program largely stopped at the forced sterilization stage and negligent medical care for the “unfit,” whereas the German program extended into unbelievable horrors.

Of course, if the U.S. eugenics scientists hadn’t come up with so many scientific studies and so much research to back their claims, Hitler would have never been able to convince the rational German public to follow his plans.

Sources: Interesting History, HNN

Time for me to walk on down the road…

The Cruelest Oscar Award Presentation of All-Time

Good Day World!

Editor’s note:

This is a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

“Katharine Hepburn runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.” This quote, by famed writer-critic Dorothy Parker, was put forth about an early performance of Katharine Hepburn.

As a young actress, Kate was also dubbed "box office poison.”

Born and raised to have an independent mind and spirit, young Kate broke the mold of every actress in history. She wore pants and no make-up, and refused to pose for pictures, grant interviews or sign autographs. She wasn't popular or well-liked in Hollywood.

But as we all know, she was, within a few short years, to become one of the most acclaimed and admired actresses in the history of Hollywood and the movies. She is truly now regarded as one of the movies' immortal figures- imitated, studied, and admired by any and every actress, young or old. To put it in simplest terms, Katharine Hepburn was the Meryl Streep of her time.

It was for the 1932-33 Academy Awards that Katharine received her very first Oscar nomination. Young Kate was nominated for her performance as “Eva Lovelace" in the movie Morning Glory.

Her nomination was surprising enough, and she didn't even bother to show up for the awards ceremony. (In retrospect, one wonders if she would have found the evening's show amusing.)

 (photo- Katherine Hepburn in Morning Glory.)

Host for the ceremony that year was legendary liberal humorist, Will Rogers. Rogers was quite possibly the most beloved comedian-humorist in American history.

He was definitely slanted left as a liberal, but conservatives loved him and were hardly ever offended by his humor. He showed so much common sense in his observations, no one took any offense at his remarks and barbs.

Rogers spent much of the evening making wisecracks about the Republicans, Hollywood big shots and phonies, even Oscars lobbying (this predated Jon Stewart's similar targets in his Oscar hosting stint by 73 years).

His rudest joke, however, was reserved for the awarding of the evening's Best Actress award.
That year, besides Katharine, there were two other nominees for Best Actress": Mae Robson for Lady for a Day and Diana Wynard for Cavalcade.

Rogers was handed the official envelope with the Best Actress winner listed on it. Upon receiving the envelope, Rogers opened it and summoned the other two nominees, May Robson and Diana Wynard, up on stage with him.

The two nominees, May and Diana, excitedly rushed up on stage. Of course, they thought they had both won, assuming that it was a tie. (A tie had happened just the previous year for the Best Actor award).

Instead, Rogers thanked both women for their performance, and announced that the award for Best Actress had been awarded to Katharine Hepburn. (Funny perhaps...but what a creep!)

As the two embarrassed women stood awkwardly on stage, the audience looked on, baffled and confused.

The crowd was stunned and responded with a round of half-hearted applause. One can easily imagine what the two ladies must have been thinking about Will Rogers as they awkwardly made their way back to their seats in the audience.

Hollywood eventually did warm up to Kate Hepburn, bestowing three more Oscars on her, more than any actress (or actor) in movie history. She also received 13 Oscar nominations, a record that stood until the perennial Meryl Streep smashed it with 16 (so far!).

Although she never bothered to show up at any of the Oscar ceremonies, Kate was genuinely moved. In 1998, she confessed that she felt touched by her Academy Awards. “They gave me their respect and their affection. It was a revelation. The the generous heart of the industry,” she said wistfully.

Her final film was 1994's Love Affair, a remake of an earlier classic. In 1991, she published her memoirs, Me: Stories of My Life, in which she told her story with characteristic candor and forthrightness.

Late in her career, she made several critically acclaimed appearances on Broadway.

Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 at the age of 96. Even after her death, she proved she could still win Oscars, when Cate Blanchett took home a statuette for playing her in The Aviator (2004). (This guest post originally appeared in Neatorama)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Remember the 47% You Dissed Last Time Romney? They’re Still Out There!

Good Day World!

News flash for Mitt Romney for President campaign:

There’s certain things people don’t forget when it comes to being insulted. American voters aren’t likely to forgive Mitt Romney’s comments in the last election for several reasons.

Who can forget Romney’s famous 47% gaffe that even he said “did real damage” to his campaign?

Thanks to the magazine, Mother Jones Americans got a candid peak of Mitt’s real feelings about segments of Americans.

The cat was out of the bag when when Mother Jones released the secretly-recorded videos of Mitt at a private fundraiser telling donors:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what…who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax.”

Romney’s revealing gaffes like “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.” still won’t endear him to anyone.

Another memorable one-liner, “Corporations are people, my friend” Mitt said during a question-and-answer session at the Iowa State Fair in 2011.

It was an unscripted moment after people urged him to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations to help fund social welfare programs followed by days’ worth of headlines.

What really amazes me about Romney’s possible third bid for the presidency is he (and his handlers?) must think Americans have short memories. I read where Mitt is going to “re-tool his campaign” this time around.

Unless there’s a sudden case of national amnesia, Mitt and his minions are going to experience the same rejection as the last election.

Time for me to walk on down the road…