Crying doesn’t help, sinkhole swallows building, and man rescues pink kitty

Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s that time again to enjoy some nice hot coffee or tea. With most of the news being about the Debt Crisis, I thought you’d like to read about something else this morning: 

Crying shame: Tears don't make you feel any better, study shows

Apparently weeping isn't the cathartic emotional release it's often cracked up to be, sniff, sniff. Please pass the tissues.

Florida sinkhole swallows building

An enormous sinkhole has opened up in the town of Leesburg, Fla.,, and it's hungry.

It's already gobbled up a garbage bin, an oak tree, the back wall of the building housing a salon and racks of supplies

The chasm that caused Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply to collapse is about 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

Roaming pink kitty finds new home

A man discovered a pink-colored stray cat roaming around the community where he lives. Yao Xianhai, from Lanzhou in western China’s Gansu Province, said he didn’t believe his eyes when he first spotted the pink kitten. “I thought I had a blurred vision, but I then realized it was truly pink.” No one has come forward as yet to claim the stray.

Picture: Quirky China News / Rex Features

Time to walk on down the road…

Random thought: Why would a conscientious objector join the Army?

I just don’t get it.

Will someone please explain why someone who describes himself as a “conscientious objector” would ever join the Army?

Did someone force  Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, 21, of Garland, Texas to join? I don’t think so. Common sense disregards that reason. So what are we left with?

He had a religious conversion while in the Army, or he was already a devout Muslim who didn’t want to go to Afghanistan but didn’t tell the recruiter (where he signed up) that he preferred carrying the Koran rather than a rifle. Kinda iffy.

The Army said “Okay” and granted him “conscientious objector” status in May after a very public campaign in which he reached out to local media. He argued that his Muslim beliefs prohibited military service. He didn’t believe in violence. Say that again? Abdo signed up as an infantryman with the 1st Brigade Combat Team (Rear Provisional) of the 101st Airborne but didn’t believe in violence? HELLO… A bit odd, don’t you think?

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This Sunday’s (July 31st) “As It Stands” column in The Times-Standard deals with the same subject:

The Last Crusade: Will extreme intolerance finally result in Armageddon?

“The monumental irony, at least to me, is that both religions could live side-by-side if they just practiced what they preach. Both say they believe in an omniscient God that tells them how important the power of love is, yet they reject it in their daily lives. Each religion promotes peace, but has prominent members who don‘t practice it. Instead, violent extremists from both sides are calling for crusades.”

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A week or so later (on May 13th), Abdo was charged with “child pornography” and was attending a court martial trial. That delayed his getting out. So, he goes AWOL. Despite his claims that he just wanted to be a peaceful Muslim and not wage war, he suddenly shows up by Ft.Hood with a detailed plan to murder his fellow soldiers.

What happened? Was he recruited while in the service by al-Qaida? Authorities found two clocks, an article outlining how to make a bomb from a magazine published by al-Qaida in Yemen and a backpack carrying a list of items needed to make a bomb. If so, that’s troubling.

  After being formally charged yesterday with possession of an unregistered destructive device in federal court he was led away in handcuffs by three U.S. Marshals. His parting shot to the press?

"Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood 2009!"

Hasan is an Army psychiatrist charged with the shootings that killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

As It Stands, is Abdo another religious fanatic striking out at the West? I’m not sure yet. What do you think?

photo source

Moonshine revival, 1.5 million hungry bats, and free pot for registering to vote in Michigan

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffees on and the days wasting away. Grab a cup and let’s see what’s happening on this Friday. I’ve had the pleasure of drinking pure 100% Moonshine in Macon County Georgia  back in the summer of 1968, and I’ll tell you it made my eyeballs roll, my teeth chatter, and damn near left me immobile for hours!

Distillery to make South Carolina's first legal moonshine

Two entrepreneurs are taking advantage of South Carolina's new micro-distillery laws to make traditional moonshine whiskey legally in the state for the first time. The Dark Corner Distillery will open next month in Greenville, where engineer Joe Fenten and longtime home beer brewer Richard Wenger will produce and sell small batches of 100-proof moonshine from a custom-made copper still.                   image

1.5 million bats in Texas city left hungrier by drought

There are 1.5 million bats living under a bridge in downtown Austin, and a historic Texas drought is making them hungrier than ever.That's bad news for the bats in the world's largest urban bat colony. But it is good news for the humans who gather each evening just a few blocks from the state Capitol building to watch their spectacular nightly trips into the nearby Hill Country to find food.

Free pot in exchange for registering to vote?

A medical marijuana shop's offer of free pot in exchange for registering to vote appears to have gone up in smoke.

Your Healthy Choice Clinic of Lansing, Mich., had been offering a half gram on its website ahead of a vote for city council seats and after the council approved capping the number of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits and setting a $1,000 application fee.

Clinic owner Shekina Pena earlier said she wasn't trying to buy votes.

Time to walk on down the road…

Three crazy inventions that you probably never heard of…

Cigarette Pack Holder - crazy invention, 1955. (Right)

 

(Left) crazy invention

Illuminated Tires, 1961

A woman adjusts her stocking by the light of the Goodyear’s illuminated tires. The tire is made from a single piece of synthetic rubber and is brightly lit by bulbs mounted inside the wheel rim. Photo:Life

     (Right)

crazy invention

Shower Hood, 1970 -

For the woman who likes to put makeup on her dirty face.

photos via Crazy Pictures

This Time Republicans Are Silent When A Congressman Says “Act Like A Lady”

UPDATE BELOW

GOP RULES: #1 What’s okay for Republican speakers to say is not okay for anyone else.

“Disrespectful.”

“Demeaning to all women.”

“Patronizing.”

Those were just a few of the Republican responses when a congressman accused a congresswoman of not “acting like a lady.”

(See Video to hear  how supposedly “un-lady-like Rep. Schultz is.)

But that was 2010, and it was about attacking Democratic Senator Arlen Spector, after he told Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to “act like a lady” when she was talking over him on a television news show.

The GOP was appalled.  Bachmann claimed she was “stunned by his arrogance.”  The female co-chair of the RNC started demanding an apology Spector’s primary challenger called him out.

Yet when Republican Congressman Allen West of Florida sends an email to House leadership, condemning fellow Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her “attack” on him on the House floor, calling her “vile,” “unprofessional” and “not a lady,” there isn’t a peep to be heard from the party.

As much as Republicans hide behind female politicians to push their draconian cuts and policies that are most harmful to women, then claim that since a woman supports them, they must actually be beneficial, accusing a female politician of not “acting like a lady” is only a crime if that politician is a Republican.  Because, essentially, to the GOP, Democratic women aren’t “ladies.”  They strive for gender equality, they fight for women to be able to work and raise families rather than always choose between the two, they argue for equal pay and the right to have autonomy over their own bodies, families and personal choices.

They fight for women.  And apparently, that just isn’t ladylike.

Florida’s Lois Frankel, who is challenging West for his seat in 2012, responded to the congressman’s sexist diatribe, stating that with his “out of control, rude, sexist and completely inappropriate remarks is it any wonder that Washington can’t get anything done?  We have critical issues from the debt ceiling to creating jobs to two wars; yet instead of getting things done for South Florida families Allen West would rather grandstand and call names that are offensive to all of us.” source

UPDATE:

At 12:15 pm ET today, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will hold a conference call with reporters, emphasizing that all the GOP presidential candidates have so far refused to reveal their fundraising bundlers. By contrast, the Obama campaign has revealed its bundlers.

What ever happened to flying the friendly skies? Passngers beat up pilot!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

An American Airlines pilot was beaten Wednesday night as he tried to escort two belligerent brothers, Jonathan and Luis Baez, off a flight from Miami to San Francisco.

I’ve lost track of the many serious (and sometimes silly) incidents that happen when people board airplanes and don’t want to play by any rules...

Related stories:

• What part of 'no smoking' don't you understand?
• Woman escorted off flight after snapping photo
• What will get you kicked off US Airways? Saggy pants or underpants?

What people have to say today in the news…

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Here we are again, another day in paradise. Grab a mug of hot coffee or tea and we’ll look through today’s headlines to see what we can see:

News quotes:

Sen. John McCain railed against "bizarro" alternative plans by "Tea Party hobbits." He said, "What is really amazing about this is that some members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation and that is foolish.” cartoon source

Boehner issues blunt warning to debt dissenters He told members of the GOP, “Get your asses in line!”

Atheist Group Wants 9/11 Cross Removed from Museum - Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, said, "This cross is now a part of the official WTC memorial. No other religions or philosophies will be honored. It will just be a Christian icon, in the middle of OUR memorial.”

 

Holocaust survivors have issued a "plea" to Facebook to "deny access to their powerful social networking platform to anyone promoting" the notion that the Holocaust should be denied or that it was a hoax. The appeal said,

“We, the undersigned, are Holocaust Survivors who saw our parents, children and loved ones brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. We are writing to you to protest Facebook’s policy that categorizes Holocaust denial as “free speech,” rather than the shameless, cynical and hateful propaganda that it is...

Do not permit Holocaust denial any platform on Facebook to preach its inherent message of lies and hate. By allowing this hate propaganda on Facebook, you are exposing the public and, in particular, youth to the anti-Semitism which fueled the Holocaust. Please correct this terrible error in judgment before our generation passes away.”

Time to head on down the road…

Former Top Gun pilot and high-level GOP fundraiser is center of corruption case

Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III (pictured at right) and his oil company are at the center of the case that could be one of the largest-ever prosecutions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act by the Justice Department.

In a case first reported by NBC News in June 2008 , the eight-person jury affirmed that Sargeant conspired to deprive al-Saleh of a one-third share in profits from the contracts

In his place at the defendants’ table was Marty Martin, one of the oil company’s top executives and formerly a senior CIA operative who, for two years after 9/11, advised former President George W. Bush on terrorism. During the trial, al-Saleh alleged that Sargeant and Martin directed $50 million in graft to the highest levels of the Jordanian government. The money, he claimed, bought the oil company a continued monopoly on supply lines of fuel through Jordan to U.S. forces in Iraq.

The existence of that monopoly cost the American military as much as $200 million in excess charges, according to a congressional investigation and Pentagon audit.

Citizens can turn-in dog crap to city for gold…no really

This story makes me think about Washington D.C. and the pack of assholes that call themselves our leaders. The deal is reversed however: our government hands out a load of crap to the public, and they end up paying for it!

“A city in northern Taiwan is trying the Midas touch to persuade reluctant residents to clean up after their canines: offering a chance to win gold bars to anyone handing in bags of doggy deposits.

Starting from August 1, dog owners and other residents of New Taipei City, bordering the capital Taipei, can hand in waste to government cleaning teams in exchange for tickets to a lucky draw. The prizes: three gold ingots worth T$60,000 ($2,100), T$18,000 and T$12,000.

The number of draw tickets is unlimited, and the winners will be named in October, the city government said in a statement. "We are hoping the draw will attract a wide participation, especially as the gold price is rising," said New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department official Chen Chao-ming. The city will give free garbage bags to would-be collectors. It is also beefing up more conventional measures, including rewarding people for photographing dog owners leaving mess uncleaned, and stepping up its own poo patrols in dog haunts.

But it will be hoping for better results than the central city of Taichung saw in 2009, when its offer of T$100 shopping vouchers for each kg of excrement collected yielded little more than criticism and ridicule.(Reporting by Christine Lu; editing by Jonathan Standing and Ron Popeski) image

The cushiest prison in the world, lucky family wins multiple lotteries, and a glowing dog that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

Good Morning Humboldt County!

The coffee sure smells good this morning. Glad you could join me. Let’s see what’s happening in this crazy world we live in. Pull up a chair and have a stare:

Luxury digs in store for Norwegian mass killer

Norway's unrepentant mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is now under arrest. And he should count himself lucky for -- if entirely undeserving of -- a penal system in that country that is among the cushiest in the world. There's no capital punishment, and the longest jail term allowed is 21 years (a caveat: if a prisoner is deemed to still be a threat, his sentence can be extended in five-year blocks indefinitely, though it's highly unlikely, according to Norwegian officials). In Norway, rehabilitation is the guiding principle, not punishment -- a somewhat difficult notion to swallow given the gravity and callousness of his crimes.

Norway's newest jail may hold rapists and murderers, but Halden Prison -- the country's second largest and most secure facility -- looks more like a posh sleepaway camp. In fact, architects say they purposely tried to avoid an "institutional feel." When it opened in 2010, some news accounts called it the "most humane" prison in the world.

Indeed, one of the many perks at Halden is flat-screen televisions in inmates' rooms. There's no HBO, though, so reruns of Oz and The Wire are contraband. Still, prisoners get private cells with mini-fridges and large windows to let in more sunlight. Here, then, is a quick tour of what luxuries may await Breivik behind bars. (That's a figure of speech, of course: There are no iron bars at Halden.) GO HERE and be prepared to be surprised.

Haul in the family: one lucky clan wins its third lottery

Wondering where all your good luck has gone? Maybe the McCauleys of Charlotte, N.C., have it. For the third time in 20 years, a member of the family has won the lottery. A buzzy article from the AP delves into the details. Back in 1991, the family won $15.5 million from the New York Lotto.

This was their biggest haul, but not their last. Sixteen years later, Amy McCauley held the ticket to $160,000 in the North Carolina Education Lottery. Then, in 2009, Amy picked up two more prizes, each worth $1,000.And now, in 2011, Kimberly McCauley (daughter of Amy) won $100,000 on a scratcher card.  image source

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South Korean scientists create glowing dog – report

South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.

Time to walk on down the road…