World War II bomb found in backyard of Riverside home

I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but this photo appears to be upside down, or the photographer stood on his head while taking the shot.

Workers cleaning the backyard of an empty house Tuesday in Riverside made an unlikely discovery: a World War II-era aerial bomb.

The rusty bomb was found in the 5600 block of Magnolia Avenue, prompting bomb squad officers to seal the area while they inspected the device, according to the Riverside Police Department.

Police described the bomb as "inert" and said it was unclear how long it had been abandoned at the residence or how it got there.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. James Dana at (951) 351-6024. Story source

Photo: Bomb found in backyard. Credit: Riverside Police Department

Just another wacky Wednesday…

Slurping that first cup of Java in the morning is a pleasure while I scan the news headlines:

Here’s one story that isn’t a breaking headline but I thought it was amusing :German mayor rescues man trapped in women's prison.

Cuban, breaking own record, rolls longest cigar

A Cuban cigar roller broke his own record on Tuesday by rolling the world's longest cigar, a monster smoke that stretched 268 feet 4 inches (81.8 metres), or most of the length of a football field.

An Austrian deacon is making a special offer at his local supermarkets -- free spiritual guidance and counseling when you pick up your groceries

Deacon offers holy guidance at supermarket

A New Zealand man struggling with depression cut off his own finger, cooked it with vegetables and ate it, doctors reported in the latest issue of medical journal Australasian Psychiatry. It’s only the eighth identified case of self-cannibalization, and is particularly rare because of the patient’s lack of severe psychosis, the article abstract says.

Talking dog doesn't get any bacon

If I were this dog I’d bite my tormentors!

Speaking of bacon, I’m getting hungry. I think it’s time for breakfast.

See ya down the road…

Me and my dirty mind…bad Dave!

I know my grandchildren all love the magical powers of the anthropomorphic carrots and cauliflowers in Veggie Tales. Imagine my surprise when I ran across this cookie cutter and it looked like…well, you know what it bears a striking resemblance to. Something my grandchildren probably shouldn’t be playing with. Then again, maybe it’s just me and my dirty mind!

Luise Valdes: Glass houses are out – ‘casa de karton’s are in

Artist Luise Valdes collected a lot of unwanted cardboard boxes for his latest installation ‘casa de karton’
or cardboard house. The project is a life-size recreation of Valdes’ apartment using cardboard tape and
lots of white paint. all the objects in the apartment are made from old boxes that have been cut-out and
assembled into the form with a sketch-like outline for smaller details. all the boxes are whitewashed to
give the space a surreal quality of a drawing that has come to life. Take a tour of the rest of his cardboard creations here.

Partisan political hacks take on bin Laden’s death…

 You didn’t think the wack jobs in America were going to give President Obama his due for the operation that took out America’s #1 enemy did you?

Sarah Palin, in another paid speaking engagement, thanked President Bush for catching Osama bin Laden! And get this; the audience actually applauded! No mention of President Obama’s role in the operation was made.

Bush was totally unaware of what was happening (just like when he was president) and Palin gives him the credit! Really? He had 8 years and couldn’t do the job.

Wow! If that’s not scary, I don’t know what is. Apparently everyone in that building that clapped, live in the same Greed Only Party (GOP) fantasy and believe Bush should be canonized as a Conservative saint. How he killed Osama would be his first miracle on the way to sainthood!

Palin may be leading the charge for the stupid and uniformed, but there’s other’s out there doing their best to ignore facts and realities that don’t fit into their narrow world views.

Alex Jones, a radio personality out of Austin, who gives voice to the 9/11 Truth Movement and runs the Web site Infowars.com, sent out a Web headline that screamed, “Red Alert. Inside Sources: Bin Laden Corpse Has Been on Ice for Nearly a Decade” I wish someone besides Jones could be the voice of the 9/11 Truthers, because I can’t simply write them off. Jones as a front man discredits their real concerns.

Take this this claim about bin Laden’s frozen corpse; doesn’t that sound just a little silly to you? What would be the benefit of freezing bin Laden’s body? Perhaps someone could explain that one to me.

And let’s not forget Cindy Sheehan. Her response to bin Ladens death:

“I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you’re stupid,” Sheehan wrote. “Just think to yourself — they paraded Saddam’s dead sons around to prove they were dead — why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea? This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent — just put your flags away and THINK!”

There’s one mad lady who never got over her son’s death. I hope she finds peace some day.

If you want to find Bin Laden death conspiracy theories – and apparently they’re already hatching–it seems to me the pertinent question to ask is, who has a deep emotional motivation to question the fact that Bin Laden is actually dead? So I would tend to look first to Al Qaeda supporters, etc, instead of birthers. Their too busy trying to regroup after their lies have been exposed on national TV by the President. This will be interesting to watch and I’m interested in what others think.

I will also add that I don’t know enough about 9/11 Truthers to guess what they will do in this situation. I have to admit that they’ve poised one question that I (as a former combat engineer in  the Nam) think is worth discussing: how the twin towers really came down. Days after it happened, and after I saw the films, I told everyone who would listen that it was a “controlled demolition” and I knew exactly what it took to do it. Not everyone who believes in unpopular theories is crazy.

Frankly, I expect Obama’s enemies in the Senate and House are hunkering down right now and working on a plan to negate Obama’s coup against Al Qaeda, and somehow turn things around in a negative way. Anyone who thinks they will be cooperative now and compromise on issues – out of a renewed source of patriotism – is dreaming. When it comes down to politics in this country, we’ve set the bar for a broken political system struggling to survive in the 21st century.   

As It Stands, now that the “Big bad wolf” is dead, it’s time for all of our political piggy’s to pull their snouts out of their partisan troughs and pay attention to stabilizing our economy.  

Photo source

Morning musings: bin Laden’s death may trigger PTSD for some, Lakers lose close game 1, and the ultimate pay toilet

My Lakers couldn’t hold 16-point lead, couldn’t hang onto the ball late in game, and gave away home-court advantage for the second straight series with an opening loss. Kobe Bryant scores 36 but misses final shot

Bin Laden's death may reignite PTSD for some- Some may feel a sense of relief, while for others it can trigger old feelings of fear, anxiety, experts say. It also appears the Obama Administration has suspected the Pakistani regime of lying about Osama’s whereabouts for some time now. The question is, are we going to stop pumping millions of dollars into Pakistan now that we have proof they were playing us for chumps? Just to wrap this morning’s musings I found the ultimate pay toilet…

A new standard for toilets is coming out, but can people afford them?

Kitchen and bath company Kohler has come out with a new toilet that it touts will set "a new standard of excellence in the bathroom." (Because that's what we're all striving for in the bathroom, right?)

The "Numi" has a luxury car-worthy list of amenities, among them: a motion-activated lid and seat, deodorizer, feet warming, music and "advanced bidet functionality." (Don't ask.) Oh, and if you forget to flush before you leave the bathroom, there's a REMOTE CONTROL.

Not included: The engineering team required to fix it when it breaks. Source

Obama haters dazed and confused: first birthers are discredited and then the president runs sucessful op that kills Osama bin Laden

Sorry Obama haters.

I’ve been watching all the celebrations from New York City to Washington D.C. this morning and was struck by how many people were really happy that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy Seals and CIA paramilitary members, and that their president was so decisive.

As I watched the American flags wave from windows and in crowds of jubilant people, I couldn’t help but think about the Obama haters.

This is a dark time for them. The whole Republican Party nearly turned to jello when the news broke. The last thing they needed was for Americans to be proud of their president’s actions! Politically, he’s golden right now. Obama is going to score more points with the American public for his decisive actions in locating and killing bin Laden, than he did after getting the Noble Prize (which many questioned).

I imagine Donald Trump is having a worse than usual hair day. Don’t be surprised when he recovers – gets his ferret that passes for a hairpiece on straight - and comes back with more idiocy to try to discredit this whole operation. I expect something along the lines of:

“The whole thing was a hoax to get Obama re-elected. I have detectives working right now that are telling me that it was a poorly disguised manikin that slid into the sea off that aircraft carrier and that Osama bin Laden is laughing his beard off in a Norwegian spa even as we speak!”

You know the Birthers will recover enough to ask for Osama bin Laden’s death certificate as soon as the celebrations die down. That’s to be expected because they just hate having a Liberal black president. Facts are never going to slow down that rabid group of racists and outright crazed conspiracy theorists.

It’s already happening. From the Washington Post National Online:

Slate’s David Weigel points to this comment from the Facebook page of anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in 2004 while serving in Iraq: “I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid. Just think to yourself--they paraded Saddam’s dead sons around to prove they were dead--why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea?” Weigel believes this is the beginning of a larger trend he tentatively calls “Deatherism.”

Allow me to clarify my position on President Obama. I don’t care if he gets re-elected or not. I’m certainly not going to be voting for him. Still, I think he did a great job getting America’s #1 enemy, and that’s something his predecessor George Bush couldn’t do in eight years. It’s took Obama two-and-half years. His critics are going to have a hard time discrediting him as “indecisive” after this.

We’ll experience a national honeymoon from all of our woes for a few days as Americans proudly proclaim justice has been served. Everyone, but the Obama haters, are giddy with something to be unified over. Patriotism peeks out from behind the polarized political party’s as the nations leaders stumble over themselves to be somehow attached to this memorable moment.

As It Stands, Enjoy it. It’s been a long time since this many Americans have all been on the same page!        

photo source

Now that’s a bunny hop: Rabbit dressage set to take the world by storm

 

That rabbits like to hop is hardly a secret. But now European rabbit enthusiasts have harnessed their bunnies' natural talents to create a new spectator sport... rabbit showjumping.

Invented in Sweden in the early Eighties, Kaninhop involves bunnies bouncing their way around courses consisting of several small jumps of varying height and length.

Snoopy (top left photo), a black-and-white bunny from the German city of Jena, is the star of the local Kaninhop club - and he makes spends his days leaping over all manner of barricades, jumps and rails. 

'Snoopy can jump 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) high,' proud Claudia Fehlen, the 23-year-old founder of the Jena bunny hopping club, told Der Spiegel.

'And he has done well in tournaments. He came in second once, and third another time.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1381464/Bunny-rabbits-compete-jumping-course-Dressage-set-world-storm.html#ixzz1LD57HQ4F

Osama bin Laden dies in hail of American gunfire, his body is recovered for proof

Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida terrorist organization killed more than 3,000 people in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, is dead, U.S. President Barack Obama dramatically announced Sunday night.

 Full story  Graphics from BoingBoing

As It Stands: UFE: Dreaming of economic equality

By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 05/01/2011 02:40:20 AM PDT

Once upon a time, some wealthy people in the Kingdom got together and said, “We need to be fair and share.” It was a beautiful kingdom stretching from sea to sea, a marvel and example of what a country should be.

A fantasy? Perhaps not. Let me introduce you to “United for a Fair Economy (UFE),” a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Their goal is to close the growing wealth divide, to change the rules that tilt tax benefits toward the wealthy, and to spotlight the role of race in economic inequality.

Their mission is to raise awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. Talk about taking on “Mission Impossible.” The members of UFE believe in their vision of a global society where prosperity is shared.

 This is certainly a noble vision where corporations don't dominate our economy or the content of our mass culture. In their version of a better world, values, not profits alone, will guide economic decisions. But who are “they?” These visionaries? These Ivory Tower dreamers?

”They” are a collection of wealthy (you read that right) people who want to raise taxes on rich people like themselves. As strange as that may sound, it's on the level. To learn more about them, go to the website www.faireconomy.org.

Let me tell you about one of the members of UFE. His name is Eric Schoenberg. He inherited money and has a healthy portfolio from his days as an investment banker. Currently, he teaches a business class at Columbia University. Not exactly some kook who wants to endorse a social upheaval.

Schoenberg recently told AP that his income is usually “north of half a million a year.” He had a rough year last year and only made $200,000. His federal income tax bill was a little over $2,000. “I simply point out to people, 'Do you think this is reasonable, that someone in my circumstances should only be paying 1 percent of their income in tax?” he asked reporters.

Now that tax day has come and gone, both Democrats and Republicans are calling for tax laws to be changed. The whole issue will be campaign fodder for the 2012 presidential election as the two parties get entrenched in their ideological foxholes.

The Republicans have made their position clear when it comes to rich people paying more taxes. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, remarked that nothing stopped rich people who wanted to write checks to the IRS from doing so.

Technically he's right, but obviously he missed the entire point.

Schoenberg asked, “Are we going to let people volunteer to build the road system? Are you going to let them volunteer to pay for education?”

Enter UFE. Can they make a difference? Our politicians are polarized by partisan politics and neither side shows signs of cooperating on meaningful issues.

Is the private sector set to become America's savior? Will financial equality settle upon the land and values replace greed if enough wealthy people help UFE and other nonprofits with the same idea? Is there actually a chance of racial equality in earning power? Will America's roads be repaired and education restored as priority number one in the land?

Sounds like a dream, eh? What are the chances groups like UFE will make a difference? It's hard for me to imagine generations of greed defeated by values in our society today. That's a sad statement to make, and I would love to be wrong and see a real shift in equality, both financially and racially, in the future.

As It Stands, Dom Helder Camara once said, “When we are dreaming alone, it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.”