Saturday, September 3, 2011

Creative Cusine Corner: Motorcycle Lobsters Will Travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwanese chef Huang Mingbo shows off a motorcycle which made from five lobster shells in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

Picture: Feature China / Barcroft Media

61 year-old Vietnam veteran to play football for Faulkner University

As one 61 year-old Vietnam veteran to another: Right on bro! Wish I was in the shape you are. Make sure to show those kids a few things…

At an age when many start thinking about retirement, Alan Moore (pictured right) is restarting his football career. Moore, a 61 year-old Vietnam veteran, will kick this fall for Faulkner University, a small Christian school in Montgomery, Ala., 43 years after his initial college career was cut short by Vietnam. When he takes the field against Ave Maria on Sept. 10, Moore will be the oldest player ever to take the field for a four-year university.

From Los That Sports Blog:

Moore was only able to play his freshman year at Jones County (Miss.) Junior College before heading off to Vietnam for 11 months [in 1968]. Watching a football game in 2009 inspired him to purchase footballs, build goal posts in his daughter's back yard, and practice kicking.

Last year Moore was turned away in an attempt to try out for Jones' team but did end up making the team at Holmes (Miss.) Community College after being referred by the head coach's aunt. Ironically, he made an appearance for Holmes against Jones County.

Moore is the first sexagenarian football player on record at any level. George Blanda was 48 when he retired from the NFL after his career as a quarterback and kicker. In 2004, 39-year-old Tim Frisby successfully walked on at South Carolina as a wide receiver. "Pops" Frisby was also a veteran, spending time as a U.S. Army Ranger in the first Gulf War. Even on television, Gerald "Major Dad" McRaney was only in his 40s when he guest-starred as a veteran giving college football one last shot in the old sitcom "Coach."

However, Moore still has 13 years to go to top Ken Mink, who was 73 when he played for the Roane State (Tenn.) basketball team in 2008 in the Tennessee Junior Community College Athletic Association. Has there ever been an official verdict on social security as an "improper benefit"?

End of an era, no Jerry on Labor Day, Russian rowers embrace nude statute banned by Stalin, Gadhafi & CIA have been pals for years

Image: Jerry Lewis

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Thanks for stopping by this Labor Day weekend. Grab a cup of Joe, get comfortable, and we’ll check out three stories from the headlines:

Jerry Lewis: MIA this Labor Day

Labor Day this year promises to be bland by comparison, with the 85-year-old Lewis now banished from the annual rite he built from scratch and molded in his image.

As if deflated by the absence of its larger-than-life host, "The 46th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon" will fill just six hours (Sunday from 6 p.m. to midnight in each time zone; check local listings for station), rather than the grueling 21½-hour endurance contest that Lewis used to churn through with his viewers in tow.

On Aug. 3, with no elaboration, MDA announced that Lewis had "completed his run" as national chairman, and that he would not be appearing on the telethon, as promised earlier.

Lewis has provided no insight into the matter. But it's hard to imagine how wronged he must feel after bonding with the telethon for so long. As Levy writes in "King of Comedy," Lewis "had conflated America's charitable instincts with love for himself as a public figure and even as one more lonely child."

Image: A copy of the 'Girl With an Oar' statue has been returned to Moscow after the original was banned by Stalin

Too sexy for Stalin: Russian rowers embrace oar girl statue

The artist may have been a favorite of Stalin, but Ivan Shadr's statue "Girl With an Oar" proved too sexy for the Soviet dictator.

The 23-foot nude statue, sculpted in 1934, was banished from pride of place in Moscow's Gorky Park to Ukraine in 1936 and replaced with a less sensual version, The Wall Street Journal reported.

However, a copy of the original was due to be unveiled Saturday on the bank of the Moskva River in the park at the finish line of an international regatta course, the paper said.

The model for the statue, Vera Voloshina, was captured and killed by German forces, the WSJ reported.

 

Documents reveal close CIA ties to Gadhafi spy unit

Documents found at the abandoned office of Libya’s former spymaster appear to provide new details of the close relations the Central Intelligence Agency shared with the Libyan intelligence service — most notably suggesting that the Americans sent terrorism suspects at least eight times for questioning in Libya despite that country’s reputation for torture.

Photo: CIA agent Edwin P. Wilson recruited Gadaffi in 1977, and the CIA shipped Libya over 2000 pounds of explosives," says former CIA agent Lester Coleman.

Time to walk on down the road…

Friday, September 2, 2011

How did 9000 pot plants avoid biggest fire in New Mexico history?

Fireproof pot? A new fire-resistant strain developed by locals? How did those 9000 plants survive the fiery holocaust? Even more interesting is how did they come up with a street value of $10 million for outdoor? So many questions.

This summer's Las Conchas fire in New Mexico scorched tribal lands, threatened one of the nation's premier nuclear facilities and pushed bears into nearby cities. But it somehow spared more than 9,000 marijuana plants in a remote area of Bandelier National Monument.

Did a higher power save those plants? Too bad the divine protection didn’t extend to cops in fatigues. They were all over that crop like stink on shit. It was a first big pot bust in the Bandelier National Monument. Or so the feds say. They claim they are going to destroy all but a little bit for evidence. Yeah right…I’ll bet some people are getting high tonight!    photo

Guest Opinion: How To Honor the True Spirit of 9/11: First, Ignore Limbaugh

By Joe Conason

If volunteerism is suddenly unpatriotic and even "socialist," that will come as a nasty surprise to many of the Republicans and conservatives who always have supported such efforts, notably including both presidents named Bush.

And if stepping up to help our neighbors and community on 9/11 would somehow dishonor the Americans killed in those infamous attacks — as feverish critics of President Barack Obama now scream — then what do they think actually happened on that day 10 years ago?

The latest outbreak of phony outrage began when the president, following a tradition established by George W. Bush, announced that he and the first lady will mark the upcoming anniversary as a "National Day of Service and Remembrance" and urged Americans to "come together, in their communities and neighborhoods, to honor the victims of 9/11 and to reaffirm the strength of our nation with acts of service and charity."

To Rush Limbaugh and assorted lesser cogs in the right-wing noise machine, that was a deeply controversial statement and an attempt to "politicize" the event — as if the White House had ordered everybody to put on blue caps, join a local Obama for America chapter and then build a solar house for the poor.

Yes, according to the furious wingers, Obama's attempt to inspire volunteerism was in fact a barely disguised appeal to "serve the state," as well as an un-American distraction from what should be, in their minds, a more militaristic commemoration.

But leaving aside their usual bizarre theories about the president and his motives, this pseudo-controversy shows how little these so-called conservatives understand what really happened on 9/11, in New York and then across the country.

On that day and the days that followed, we saw a demonstration of the highest American values, which are apparently no longer comprehensible to the denizens of the right-wing swamp. Read More Here

7.1 Quake off Alaska, college professor accused of leading motorcycle gang, and federal agency set to sue U.S. banks

Good Morning Humboldt County!

Good to see you this Friday morning. Pull up a seat and have a cup of coffee with me and we’ll look at what’s happening in the world around us.

7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes off Alaska

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Friday in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting a brief tsunami warning for a portion of Alaska's coast. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck in the waters at about 6:55 a.m. ET. There were no reports of injuries or damage, according to Alaska's KTUU.com.

 

Professor allegedly led motorcycle gang and drug ring

A university professor suspected of leading a motorcycle gang and methamphetamine drug ring is wanted for arrest in California, authorities say. Steve Kinzey, 43, believed to be the president of the local chapter of the Devils Disciples motorcycle club, has been the target of a 6-month narcotics and weapons trafficking investigation, sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Authorities said the probe stemmed from a federal undercover operation of another biker gang, the Mongols, in which Kinzey was identified as being involved in criminal activity.

US set to sue big banks over bad mortgages

The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.

Time to walk on down the road…

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Can’t get high enough – Bobcat leaps 50 feet to escape enemy

This bobcat leapt 50 feet up a prickly cactus and stayed there for  six hours to escape from a mountain lion  in the Sonoran Desert, Gold  Canyon, Arizona, United States. The terrified feline climbed to the top  of the Giant Saguaro Cactus and was so scared it stayed on top of the  catctus for several hours.
Picture: Curt Fonger/solent

This bobcat leapt 50 feet up a prickly cactus and stayed there for six hours to escape from a mountain lion in the Sonoran Desert, Gold Canyon, Arizona, United States.

The terrified feline climbed to the top of the Giant Saguaro Cactus and was so scared it stayed on top of the cactus for several hours.

Picture: Curt Fonger/solent

The Bobcat’s situation reminded me of this song:

I know she wasn’t singing about terrified felines…was she?

 

 

 

Somewhere in the backround Diana Ross is singing to this lonely Bobcat…or the Bobcat is thinking there’s no mountain high enough so he had to get on top of this damn Giant Saguaro Cactus!

Glacier breaking up at ‘astonishing’ speed, purple potatoes good for blood pressure, and a man sneaks snakes in his pants

Image: Peterman Glacier, Aug. 5, 2009

 

Second giant ice island set to break off Greenland glacier

New photographs taken of a vast glacier in northern Greenland have revealed the astonishing rate of its breakup, with one scientist saying he was rendered "speechless."

In August 2010, part of the Petermann Glacier about four times the size of Manhattan island broke off , prompting a hearing in Congress.

Image: purple potatoes

Purple potatoes may help lower blood pressure

Pity the potato. It's widely blamed for the fattening of America . But a new study found that daily consumption of a certain type of potato -- purple ones, that is --- can help lower blood pressure, without causing weight gain.

While eating potatoes, most of the subjects -- even those on anti-hypertensive medications -- experienced lower blood pressure, and none of the subjects gained weight. The study, not yet published, was presented this week at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver.

 

Man nabbed at U.S. airport with snakes in his pants

Never mind ants in your pants, what about snakes and tortoises?

That's what authorities at Miami's international airport said they found inside the trousers of a passenger as he tried to board a flight for Brazil.The U.S. Transportation Security Administration said the man had seven exotic snakes and three tortoises wrapped in nylon bags that had been stuffed into his pants.

He was discovered as he went through a body scanner at one of the airport's security checkpoints on Thursday and arrested by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials for violating animal trafficking laws.  photo

Time to walk on down the road…

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Reflection: there’s little hope of compromise coming from Congress

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Top congressional Republican John Boehner told the president to delay a planned jobs speech to a joint session of Congress by a day in order to avoid "impediments." Meaning the Republican presidential debate was set that day.

The House historian labeled Boehner's public rebuff as unprecedented. I guess this gives us all an idea what it’s going to be like when Congress is back in session. The partisanship will continue and Americans will once again be the losers.

Are we having fun yet? Snake fails to amuse children at park

Rich Shulman writes… “As a parent, I know that young children will cry about anything. But you have to wonder, isn't the natural fear of snakes a good thing?”

Arab Israeli children pose with a pet snake at an amusement park in the northern Israeli city of Acre on August 31 as Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.     Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images     

Happy 37th Anniversary Shirley! ‘You’re still the one’…

shirdave

You may be in Washington D.C. reading this, but we’re really not that far apart – because we’re in each others heart! You’ll always be my “Brown-Eyed Girl.” I love you, and here’s a few thoughts for the day:

“To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.”
Ogden Nash

Our wedding was many years ago.The celebration continues to this day. ~Gene Perret

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity.  The order varies for any given year.  ~Paul Sweeney

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.  ~Rita Rudner

An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow.  ~Author Unknown

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.  ~Dinah Craik

A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it.
- Anonymous

Marriage is a partnership in which each inspire the other, and brings fruition to both of you.
Millicent Carey McIntosh

Trump's Lowest Grift Ever Saved for Holy Week

This is a story about how the devil's puppet, aka Donald Trump, mocked Christianity by selling a book combining the Bible, the Constitu...