AS IT STANDS

Monday, February 9, 2009

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

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

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

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

Hamster images via darkroastedblend.com archives

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

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

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

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

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

To read the entire article click here.

GOP image via Google Images

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

images from darkroastedblend.com archives

An Underwater Stonehedge? Lake Michigan discovery sparks controversies with archeologists

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

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

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

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

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

(photo by Chris Doyal / February 7, 2009)

Sunday, February 8, 2009

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

What a game!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hbo.com image from HBO Films

Saturday, February 7, 2009

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

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

This just can't be a good thing.

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

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

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

Brazillian street artists commissioned to paint castle

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

image credit: Tim Kirman)

Octo-Mom's fertility doctor is under investigation

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

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

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

By Paul Drinkwater, AP