Man shoots himself inside the Crystal Cathedral after handing notes to two ushers!

ACCORDING TO AN ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT THIS MORNING...

"A man shot himself to death in front of a cross inside televangelist Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral on Wednesday as a group of visitors was being told about the church’s suicide - prevention program.
  The man entered about 9:45 a.m., handed a note and his driver’s license to two ushers, walked to the cross and then shot himself in the head as he appeared to be praying, said Senior Pastor Juan Carlos Ortiz.
  The man used a semiauto­matic handgun, said police Lt. Dennis Ellsworth.
  The Orange County coro­ner’s office identified the man as Steve Smick, 48. No home­town was given."

THE IRONY OF THIS MAN'S SUICIDE TAKING PLACE IN FRONT OF A GROUP OF TOURISTS WHO WERE BEING TOLD ABOUT THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL'S SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM, IS ENORMOUS. WHY DID HE CHOOSE TO GO THERE AND KILL HIMSELF OF ALL PLACES? WE MAY NEVER KNOW.

Beck falsely claimed average UAW worker makes $154 per hour

What's Glenn Beck's reason for lying about how much UAW workers get paid?

Is he letting his anti-union sentiments come to the surface?

Is this his way of staying in good standing with the exclusive "Poor-Losers, Conservative/Republican Boy's & Girl's Club?" Media Matters for America has caught him being a liar... liar... liar again.

Read the whole article today here at Media Matters for America. 

Beck Image via Google Images

Cell phone texting gets student suspended from school

I never cease to be amazed at the misuse of texting with cell phones. The guy who wrecked that train in California - which resulted in 22 deaths - was busy texting.

I see people every day staring down at their lap while driving. I suspect most are texting or dialing a number. I really can't see the sense in texting. It's so much easier to just talk on the phone. But the younger generation seems enamored of punching in letters to send a misspelled message to someone.

A 14-year-old Wisconsin girl who refused to stop texting during a high school math class was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, according to police.

Check out this mornings Smoking Gun and read the rest of the story here.

image via Google Images

Racist attitudes still prevail as cartoonist goes over the top

This cartoon image provided by the New York Post appeared in the Post's Page Six Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.

The cartoon, which refers to Travis the chimp, who was shot to death by police in Stamford, Conn. on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner, drew criticism Wednesday on media Web sites and from civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton.

(AP Photo/New York Post)

Scientists say humans are related to this stressed-out looking animal called an Aye Aye

   One of the most endangered in the world is the... Aye-Aye a large nocturnal primate from the Strepsirrhini family - the ones that have "wet noses".

Aye-ayes can be found only on the island of Madagascar. These rare animals may not look like primates at first glance, but they are related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans." They tap on trees with their long middle fingers and listen for the insects and bugs that might inhabit its depths.

top pic by Guardian UK Via - Other pics by Via

 

Conservative columnist exposed by Political Animal blogger

FROM POLITICAL ANIMAL this morning....

"WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S NO WAY.... George Will not only published an error-filled column on global warming, Brad Johnson notes that the conservative columnist "is also recycling his own work, republishing an extended passage from a 2006 column -- which Think Progress debunked -- almost word for word."

With this in mind, maybe now would be a good time to consider what George Will has written about bloggers.

As Jonathan Chait noted, "If by 'no reins,' Will means that bloggers can publish outright falsehoods without consequence, then he's correct. But he might not be the best person to make this point."

And speaking of writers and "reins," Jonathan Schwarz passes along a great anecdote from Noam Chomsky that seems especially relevant given the events of the last few days.

As far as I can tell, George Will's column, which ran on Sunday, still hasn't garnered a correction. Perhaps he's throwing a tantrum." - Steve Benen

Image via Sigrid Estrada

Move over Madoff: Stanford ripoff rivals your crimes!

FROM THE US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION web site...

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Robert Allen Stanford yesterday and three of his companies for orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centering on an $8 billion CD program.

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Additional Materials

• Litigation Release No. 20901
• SEC Complaint
• Memorandum of Law

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Stanford's companies include Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC also charged SIB chief financial officer James Davis as well as Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group (SFG), in the enforcement action.

For the entire article click here.

The Sun controls our lives from millions of miles away!

This awesome image is from NASA

Frank knew he shouldn't have eaten that grasshopper!

• 
• (image credit: dBond)

Poster Duck For Drunken Flying: Don forgot to put his landing rear down!

(image credit: Jiri Anderle)

Do you know about the man whose work has saved millions of lives? If not, you should!

Do you know this man? If you don't, then you join millions of other Americans who aren't aware of one of the greatest life-saver ever. He saved untold millions.

Yet, you've probably never heard of him. There have been no profiles about this amazing man -who is one of two living Nobel Laureates in America today - by any of the major networks. I ran across this great article by Gregg Easterbrook that was written in July of 2007.

Oh yeah. His name is Norman Borlaug. He was born in 1914 in Cresco, Iowa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1970. He has been called the "Father of the Green Revolution" because of his ground-breaking work in developing high-yield wheat. Nations across the world owe this man who has helped feed the planet.

image via Google Images