Woman Allegedly Threatened Michelle Obama

“A woman accused of telling the Secret Service she would "blow away" Michelle Obama was in federal custody Tuesday as the Obama family planned to travel to Hawaii.
Kristy Lee Roshia, 35, was charged with threatening a family member of the president and assaulting a federal agent after being arrested Saturday less than two miles from the Kailua home where the Obama family planned to stay during a holiday visit later this week.”  Go here to read the rest at CBS

The photo above was provided by the U.S. Secret Service and it shows Kristy Lee Roshia.(AP Photo/US Secret Service)

Court: Inmates must endure sheriff's Christmas music

“Sheriff Joe Arpaio -

self-proclaimed

"toughest sheriff"

in America - likes Christmas music, especially "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and anything by Alvin and the Chipmunks, and apparently he thinks the 8,000 inmates inside his Phoenix jail should, too.” Go here to read the story.

Photo and related story via Department of the Offense –Taking It Back

BlackBerry e-mail service restored for some after 2nd North American outage in a week

Trouble in tech-land. Earlier this year there was another problem with Blackberries that left customers snarling.

But millions of people love their little Blackberries and temporary outages, or disruptions of service, are taken in stride.

The Chicago Tribune gives details on the latest malfunction.

Excerpt:

“Research In Motion Ltd. said Wednesday the root cause is still under review but its preliminary analysis has determined there was a flaw in two recently released versions of its BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging software.” Go here to read the rest.

Does Christmas Need to Be Saved?

The following article ran in the New York Times in 2004. I’m bringing it up again because the debate about taking religion out of Christmas still goes on today.

What do you say? Should Jesus Christ climb down from the Christmas Tree this year?

Or, should Christmas continue to mix the secular with the religious parts of the holiday?

Excerpt: 

“A pastor in Raleigh, N.C., took out a full-page newspaper ad in November exhorting Christians to shop only at stores that included "Merry Christmas" in their promotions.” Go here to read the rest.

Report: FBI probes theft of tens of millions after hackers attack Citigroup

The FBI is investigating a hacker attack on Citigroup Inc. that led to the theft of tens of millions of dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported Today

Citing anonymous government officials, the Journal reported that the hackers were connected to a Russian cyber gang. Two other computer systems, at least one of connected to a U.S. government agency, were also attacked.
Citigroup denied the report. "We had no breach of the system and there were no losses, no customer losses, no bank losses," said Joe Petro, managing director of Citigroup's Security and Investigative services. "Any allegation that the FBI is working a case at Citigroup involving tens of millions of losses is just not true."
The Journal reported that the attack on Citigroup's Citibank subsidiary was detected over the summer, although it may have occurred up to one year earlier. The FBI, the National Security Agency, the Homeland Security Department and Citigroup worked together to investigate the attack.
Cyber crime is of increasing concern to businesses and the federal government, with President Barack Obama calling it one of the "most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."
Obama is expected to announce today the appointment of Howard A. Schmidt, a former eBay and Microsoft executive, as the government's cyber security coordinator.

Via Associated Press release

Maine Wants to Add Warnings to Cellphone Packaging

 My June 7th, 2009 column in The Times-Standard on cell phone dangers, “Are young people facing a brain cancer epidemic caused by cell phones?” was one of the few “mainstream” articles on the subject ran by any major newspaper in the nation this year.

 The cell phone industry has managed to put off controversy about the health care effects of using cell phones thus far with massive lobbying efforts designed to hide the science behind the concerns.

Cracks are appearing in the cell phone lobby’s claims however, and the industry’s assertions that they are safe. They may lead to a major shake-up someday in how we use these handy devices.

I want to thank The Times-Standard for having the guts to allow me to run my warning about cell phones. It wasn’t the kind of article local cell phone advertisers wanted to see for sure. But it ran. Special thanks to Managing Editor Kimberly Wear for putting it in print. You can’t hide the truth forever…

Here’s the tip of the iceberg:

“The state of Maine has declared its intentions to be the very first state in the country to add warnings to all cell phone packages. As you might have heard before, many scientific studies claim that cell phones’ electromagnetic radiation can cause brain cancer. The proposal will be discussed at a  January 2010 session that is “usually reserved for emergency and governors’ bills,” says Glenn Adams from The Huffington Post.

A similar effort is taking place in the city of San Francisco, California. Mayor Gavin Newsom wants San Francisco to become the first city in the nation to require warnings.” Go here to read more at Erictric via The Huffington Post via CrunchGear

WTO: China unfairly restricting American products

 A couple of weeks ago I did a column It’s as simple as ABC: ‘You get what you pay for’ in which I discussed America’s trade relationship with China.

Space restrictions kept me from exploring all the problems we have with the Chinese. When it comes to importing and exporting products, we’re getting royally shafted!

This story ran in USA Today and it examines just how lopsided our arrangement with China has been.

I was surprised to see, according to the related news article below, that China is our 2nd biggest trade partner. Can you guess who our number #1 trade partner is?

Meanwhile:

“The World Trade Organization's top arbitrators upheld a ruling that China is illegally restricting imports of U.S. music, films and books, and Washington pushed forward with a new case accusing China of manipulating the prices for key ingredients in steel and aluminum production.

Monday's verdict by the WTO's appellate body knocked down China's objections to an August decision that came down decisively against Beijing's policy of forcing American media producers to route their business through state-owned companies.

If China fails over the next year to bring its practices in line with international trade law, the U.S. can ask the WTO to authorize commercial sanctions against Chinese goods.”

Go here to read the rest.

In a related news, prior to President Obama’s visit to China, the Wall Street Journal’s Online edition ran this story.

Can you spell irony?

Lobbyists perform lobotomies upon health care bill

During my morning coffee routine (where I pour the first cup over my head) I read the following story in the LA Times.

This story points out the reality behind the whole health care debate: lobbyists are making a mockery of the supposed reform on health care. They’ve been in charge since day one.

You have to go beyond the normal squabbling between the Dems and Pubs to understand what has been happening throughout this process.

Behind the scenes, where power is really wielded today, there is no concern for Americans without insurance. Proof? Just look at this latest abomination the Dems passed. People are going to be fined for NOT having insurance! That’s pure bullshit. And proof of the lobbyist influence.

Check this story out: 

Familiar faces among health industry lobbyists

Many of them used to work in the Capitol as aides or as lawmakers themselves.

“David Nexon had a big problem. An early version of national healthcare legislation contained a $40-billion tax aimed squarely at members of the medical device trade association he represents.
Nexon, a former advisor to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), went to work. He marshaled 14 people like himself -- lobbyists who were once congressional aides, many of them from staffs of congressional leaders or committees that had a hand in crafting the healthcare overhaul.”

Go here to read the rest.

Pass me the positive news stories, please

By Dave Stancliff

 For The Times-Standard

Posted: 12/20/2009 01:27:22 AM PST

 Good things happen in the world every day, but they are seldom reported in the major media news outlets. Not even for the holidays.

 Bad news dominates what we hear and read at every turn. Just look at the headlines on any given day; “Tiger Woods cheats on his wife -- repeatedly” or “Five car bombs in Bagdad kill hundreds.”

Really terrible news produces documentaries or is made into Hollywood movies to satisfy public bloodlust and morbid curiosity. Do you know why violence and bad news are so pervasive today?

The answer? We feed the frenzy. The media, the entertainment world, sports scandals and the seamy world of politicians are all daily items that bring us down, but we choose to follow them. Not all of us, of course, but the masses, like ravaging hyenas, call for the gloom and doom that sells books and movies like 2012, a “thriller” depicting the entire earth under siege from elements gone berserk!

Go here to read the rest.

Cussing in German : "Schimpfwörter"

A while back I listed some French cuss words that brought readers back for months afterward. It seems people are interested in refining their anger at times!

I have a cousin who lives in Germany who I bet could tell me words that aren’t even listed here (or in the link I provided). What do you say Perry?

Note that in general, German is a very lenient cussing language. Seven-year-olds readily use the equivalent for "shit" in front of their mothers. It's just hard to get the same severity as in English. 

• Arsch : ass
• Arschloch : asshole
• Depp : idiot
• Du Sack! : you, scrotum
• Dummkopf : idiot
• Einzeller : one-celler (usu. for blonds)
• Heulsuse : crybaby
• Scheiße : shit
• Schlampe : slut
• Trottel : idiot
• Vollidiot : complete idiot
• Wichser : Wanker

There are more nasty names that I won’t list here, but if you go here you can read the ones that really mean business!

 

House passes Bay Area lawmaker's bill to turn down volume of noisy TV ads

Wow! So it is possible to get a bipartisan vote these days. Look at the subject though: irritating loud commercials. How can anyone vote to keep them?

The English banned loud commercials last year.

I’m not letting this moment excite me too much as this was hardly reflective of what our legislators do when it comes to an important issues.

Excerpt from Dec. 15th Contra Costa Times:

“Showing bipartisan opposition to blaring TV commercials, the House on Tuesday decisively approved legislation to turn down the volume.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and approved by a voice vote, directs the Federal Communications Commission to enforce a set of technical standards — recently approved by a body representing the broadcasting industry — to essentially ensure that TV ads are not noticeably louder than the programming they follow.

Jarringly loud commercials have been among the top complaints to the FCC for decades.” Read the rest of the story here.