When is shaking hands inappropriate? When Conservatives say so!

The latest Conservative outcry over President Obama shaking hands with President Chavez, is so stupid that I can't believe people are really getting upset over it. Blogs are having a banner day with this latest obstructionist tactic.

Newt Gingrich, one of many carnival barkers for the Republican Party, was on CNN this morning whining and claiming that Obama shouldn't go around shaking hands with other world leaders who are not in lock-step with America. I guess he's forgotten about President Nixon's visit to China, when they were our open enemy, or President Reagan going to Communist occupied Berlin to thaw out relations between the two countries.

Short-term memory, and no recollections, seem to plague those Conservatives that are making this world goodwill tour by Obama seem to be a negative thing.

Apparently history means nothing to a party that is looking for any way to attack Obama. Their efforts are pathetic and only encourage more polarization in this country.

THE NEW YORK TIMES  has an article this morning about Obama meeting with Western Hemisphere Leaders, and talks about his encounter with Chavez.

MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA has a video of Fox New's response to the now controversial handshake.

FOREIGN POLICY BLOG has this take on Obama's visit.

photo via The New Yorks Times  

Lakers Win game 1 vs Jazz, 113-100 - 'Momma who was that man?'

Trevor Ariza baffles Ronnie Brewer on the way to scoring a career high 21 points in playoff action.

Ariza was a force the Jazz just couldn't contain, shooting 8-18 from the field, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Kobe was "the Man" as usual with 24 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 4 rebounds in 39 minutes of play.

I'm not counting the Jazz out however. Any team coached by Jerry Sloan is going to be competitive. The Lakers have to be careful of letting their guard down with big leads. I expect Game Two will be even more physical as the Jazz try to make this a series. THE LA TIMES describes the game in more detail.

Why am I posting all this info about the LA LAKERS? It's quit simple. I've been a fan since they moved to LA for the 1960-61 season with their star Elgin Baylor! When they drafted Jerry West that season I became an immediate fan of his tough, and clutch, play. His likeness being used as the NBA Logo is no mistake.

So....fair warning. There will be future posts on my favorite team since I was eleven!

Photo via Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Today's As It Stands: Somali thugs need to answer for their crimes!

 The world needs to quit enabling Somali pirates (criminals) in their ransom business.

It's hard to believe that the entire world can be held hostage by a bunch of youthful Somali criminals, but it's been happening now for nearly two decades!

Today's "As It Stands" column in The Times-Standard deals with the issue head-on.

Forget coddling these criminals! They need to reap the whirlwind for the seeds they sowed. All countries have to have accountability for the action of their inhabitants, and Somali is no exception.

IT'S TIME TO STOP SOMALI CRIMINALS FROM HOLDING THE WORLD'S SHIPPING HOSTAGE

By Dave Stancliff

The crimes will continue until someone gets proactive.

Without any warning your house is filled with angry bees!

You run outside to escape the sudden influx of buzzing insects. Something needs to be done about them, or you will to have to move! What to do?

Get an expert on beekeeping. This expert will go right to the source -- the beehive -- and either move it or destroy it so you can safely go back into your house.

Sounds simple and reasonable don't you think? Then why is the whole world unable to deal with the Somali criminals (pirates sounds too romantic) who attack the ships of every nation and hold the crews for ransom?

TO READ THE REST

OF THIS COLUMN

CLICK HERE.

Graphic via www.whiteafrican.com

Can Superman Save The Newspaper Industry? If not, 'As It Stands' has some tried and true ideas for struggling newspapers

Fair warning...I have a column coming up that strips away any pretenses about the current state of the newspaper industry, and offers hope for those who go with some tried and true business advise. There are options. So keep the faith readers.

To check out some more Horsey cartoons, click here or here.

Cartoon via the Houston Chronicle's Texas On The Potomac Online magazine

Going Treasure hunting for Sea Glass along the California Coast

My wife and I are planning on going down the coast to the Ft. Bragg area soon, to explore the beaches there. I hear there's one beach that contains a lot of sea glass. Where does sea glass come from? Brace yourself...trash. Many years of broken bottles and other glass objects that were tossed into the sea, and smoothed over by the friction of the waves and rocks. The sea offers up these specimens when the tides are right.

 We went to a beach in Kauai last April that had sea glass, but the surroundings were industrial and depressing, so we didn't stay long searching for good specimens.

We were watching a Discovery Channel segment that showed people who used sea glass in their art. They went to special little coves along the San Francisco coast that were only accessible during certain times of the day, to get great pieces of sea glass. The people had to run out, scoop up what they could, and run back before a wave smacked into them!

One of the places was only accessible by kayak. For many years art glass scraps had been thrown into the ocean by an art colony there and the resulting pieces of sea glass are really beautiful...and expensive. Yes, certain pieces of sea glass can be worth a lot of money!

We discovered the most desirable colors were orange and red, both rare, and thus expensive. The prettier pieces are made into jewelry that can sell for astronomic prices. Maybe we'll find a gem in the rough next weekend!

Sand grains from around the world are mixed together like a pouch full of gems in this photo. The sand grains are from Maui, Hawaii, Japan, California, Ireland, Bermuda, and Minnesota.

Where would a person find a such a close-up of sand grains? Step right up and go to www.sandgrains.com to see some beautiful examples of other sands, and artwork by Gary Greenberg who explores images through a microscope.

Here's the story of a newspaper that's thriving in today's economy

 Just when you thought there was no hope for newspapers survival in this tough economy there comes an exception to the norm. Whatever the Real Change Newspaper is doing right, it should be noted by other publications in the industry. Is this the new business model for journalism in the 21st Century? See what you think.

 Real Change newspaper wins national award,

wins national awards and readers

  At a time when traditional media is in the doldrums, it's not often you get an upbeat story about newspapering. This is one of those times.

  Seattle's Real Change newspaper, best known for its cadre of homeless street-corner vendors, is growing dramatically.

  Its circulation jumped 41 percent in the last two years alone, according to executive director Timothy Harris, up to 17,000 weekly.

On top of that, the newspaper's journalism recently won national recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists for a story on the life and death of a man who jumped from the Aurora Bridge. The award is an especially big deal for a paper with a newsroom staff of three.

To read the whole article in the Seattle Times click here.

Photo via KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

I've always been fascinated with surreal art: here's some nice examples

Erik Johansson's portfolio is worth checking out for more looney and surreal images.

Domino's plans to file a civil lawsuit against piggy pranksters!

  A blogger from "Wandaphull World" probably regrets she ran a video of the two pigs working in A Domino's Pizza. She talks about the clowns who didn't leave the world laughing...

"Remember the video I posted a couple days ago of the two employees doing just ungodly things with people Pizza, well Johnny Law snatched and grab them, I hope someone spits and sneezes on their ass like they did to people food:"

Kristy Lynn Hammonds, 31, and Michael Anthony Setzer, 32, have each been charged with distributing prohibited foods — the same North Carolina statute that forbids any tampering with Halloween candy, police said.The pair, who called themselves “Michael” and “Kristy,” were fired immediately after the video surfaced and turned themselves in to police Wednesday.Setzer was later released under $7,500 bond, while Hammonds remained in jail under a similar bond. Both reportedly have court dates set for Thursday.The pizza delivery giant said it was stunned when the footage surfaced.Employees characterized the stunt as a prank, and Domino’s said the filthy food was never served.

But a spokeswoman said the company “was not in a forgive-and-forget mood,” the BBC reported, thus, taking the extra step to file a criminal complaint.Domino’s apologized for the actions of “Michael” and “Kristy” and said the videos marred “the hard work performed by the 125,000 men and women working for Domino’s” in the United States and all over the world. The company also said it plans to file a civil lawsuit against the pranksters.

"Please, I dont give a damn what they say,  I am traumatized for life and Dominoes don’t ever have to worry about seeing my face anywhere near their establishments…."

FROM THE SMOKING GUN THIS MORNING WE FIND OUT THAT ONE OF THE PRANKSTERS-Kristy Lynn Hammonds, IS A SEX OFFENDER!

Here's the story.

Meet Akiyoshi Kitaoka - you won't believe your eyes!

Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a famous creator of moving illusions. That is, they seem to move but they don't.
Warning : this illusion is so strong that sensitive observers might feel sick.

This is an example of one of the most famous of Kitaoka's posters: Rotating Snakes !

 

Story and Image via darkroastedblend.com

Eureka Tea Party protests everything from taxes to gun control

Yesterday's national call from Conservative groups and organizations to protest taxes, brought out an interesting crowd of about 200 people, according to today's Times-Standard. The photo shown here is from the Times-Standard's front page. As you can see, some people had fun dressing up in historical costumes, while others aired grievances ranging from taxes to gun-control.

On a day that was supposed to be a grass-roots effort to protest taxes, there were conservative talk-show hosts and radio personalities financially-backed by Conservative organizations, who used the event to attack the Obama administration's stance on gun control and other issues unrelated to taxes.

I talked with two people yesterday who attended the event in Eureka. They told me people were talking about gun control, capitalism, corporate greed, reclaiming their country from the liberals, and environmental issues such as global warming.

My impression is the event was an opportunity to air grievances of all kinds. Watching the news on television this morning, I noticed the signs people were carrying (in different cities) were not all about taxation. A whole litany of other complaints got air time yesterday.

I can't remember how many times I've seen protests on Tax Day in the past. This year however, there was an eclectic assortment of issues relating to the economy (no surprise there-we're in a recession). Despite that, comparatively speaking, the protests weren't that well attended. A few big cities had crowds in the thousands. It wasn't the massive mandate against Liberals that Conservatives were hoping would happen.

That doesn't mean the Conservatives are going to give up. They're probably already working on the next event to stir up dissent in this country. They will continue to attack the Obama Administration, and Democrats in general, until they get back in office. They don't care if they have polarized segments of America. The only thing they care about is regaining power, tearing down financial market regulations, and restoring a system that favors the wealthy.

I have no problem with any of the demonstrations that were really grass roots events. I think ours in Humboldt was a microcosm of many others in rural communities. People took the opportunity to protest whatever bothered them. No one likes taxation, so what better day than to hold a tea party than April 15th? I respect that. It's when the neo-cons try to slip their agendas into an event like this that bothers me. They're wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting to capitalize on any dissent to use as a springboard for their ideology.

As It Stands, it was "A tempest in a teapot" brewed by desperate Conservatives.

Homeland Security report on extremism gets flack from veteran's groups

Right-wing Extremism noted in Homeland Security report suggests veterans could be recruited by extremists groups. It also suggests that there's a resurgence in radicalization and recruitment by right-wing groups in America today... 

Homeland security chief Napolitano defends agency assessment of right wing extremist risks

By Associated Press/in the Chicago Tribune

Homeland security chief Napolitano defends agency assessment of right wing extremist risks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday a report warning that military veterans could be prone to joining right wing extremism was a routine assessment giving a "situational awareness" of potential threats.
Napolitano defended the internal agency intelligence report against a crescendo of criticism during a series of interviews on network news shows as she toured the troubled U.S.-Mexican border.
Asked about the report's assertion that some U.S. military veterans could be seen as potential converts to right wing extremism during a time of a down economy, Napolitano said the report was a routine form of guidance for state and local police and that it is a set of assertions, "not accusations."

Read the whole article here.