Tipsy tipster called from driver's seatDumb... dumb... dumb...
Posted: Jan. 29, 2008
Heavy drinking only seems to make everyone better looking, and it sure doesn't improve judgment.
Pat Dykstra is living, breathing, drunk-dialing proof of that.
She's the Dodge County woman who called 911 from her pickup truck early Sunday to report that she just might be intoxicated enough to need a sheriff's squad to follow her home. Wonder if she would have expected warm milk and a tuck-in once they got there.
And why did she make such a call? Because her boyfriend, who admitted to downing twice as much beer as Dykstra did at the tavern, told her to.
"He wanted me to call 911 'cause he thinks I'm too drunk to drive," Dykstra, 51, of Fox Lake, told the surprised-sounding dispatcher. (Full Story)
No rest for the winter-weary
Near-blizzard conditions, harsh wind chills predicted for today
By TOM HELD
theld@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 28, 2008
Generations of grandchildren are likely to loathe the winter of 2007-'08 almost as much as those who endured it.
The seemingly nonstop bouts of snow and bitter cold, not to mention the tornadoes, already provide ample fodder for "you think this is bad" stories, and more material is approaching fast. (Full "Why-in-my-day" story).
Last August, a blogger in Cincinnati going by the name CincyBlurg reported that a black friend from the southeastern U.S. had recently discovered that she was being called a Canadian. "She told me a story of when she was working in a shop in the South and she overheard some of her customers complaining that they were always waited on by a Canadian at that place. She didn't understand what they were talking about and assumed they must be talking about someone else," the blogger wrote.
"After this happened several times with different patrons, she mentioned it to one of her co-workers. He told her that ‘Canadian' was the new derogatory term that racist Southerners were using to describe persons they would have previously referred to [with the N-word.]" (Full Story, BoingBoing, Huffington Post)
US network faces $1m nudity fineHow did America survive these many years by allowing such willful decadence across our airwaves?
NYPD Blue ran on ABC until 2005
US television network ABC may have to pay a fine of $1.4m (£707,000) for airing an episode of NYPD Blue which depicted female nudity.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the 2003 show had "multiple, close-up views" of a woman's buttocks before the US watershed. (Full Story)
Transplant goal 'one step closer'
Scientists appear to be a step closer to transplanting a kidney without the need for a lifetime of drugs.
Two separate US techniques have seen recipients recovering without the need for powerful drugs, which carry many side-effects - including a cancer risk.
Unless the organ comes from an identical twin, the body's reaction is to reject it as a foreign invader.
UK experts said the findings were exciting, but warned a lack of donor organs remained the principal problem.
[Full Story]
Transplant 'miracle' for teenUnfortunately, I'm not entirely sure where to go with this story. I'm not a doctor. I don't play one on TV, and I sure as hell know nothing about biology, hematology, and any other "ology" you can think of. One thing is certain, and that is that it stresses the importance of stem cell research (and you should also have that little sticker on your driver's licenses). But, what's most fascinating is that who knew it was entirely possible to change one's blood type and immune system?
Article from: AAP
By Tamara McLean
January 24, 2008 02:05pm
A YOUNG transplant patient has defied medical science by spontaneously switching blood types and taking on her donor's immune system
NSW teenager Demi Brennan is believed to be the first person in the world to completely accept a donated organ to the extent where her immune system entirely changed.
Demi, now 15, suffered liver failure and had a liver transplant at the age of nine in 2001.
Several months on from the transplant, her doctors at Westmead Children's Hospital say they were shocked to discover her blood type had changed to match the blood type of her deceased male donor.
On closer inspection, specialists found that stem cells from thedonor liver had penetrated her bone marrow, effectively resulting in a naturally occurring bone marrow transplant.
Her doctor, Michael Stormon, said she was able to come off the anti-rejection drugs which most transplant patients needed to take for the rest of their lives.
[full story]
A source close to [Michelle] Williams told PEOPLE the actress was "devastated" upon hearing the news. She and Ledger split in September, but they both agreed that parenting their daughter came first.That's perhaps the most troubling thing, I think. His daughter will not only grow up without a father, but there will also be a very public record of her father's passing for her perusal any time she wants. And, sadly, she will find people judging her father not as a person, but based simply upon the roles he's played. To them, he doesn't dwell within this sphere we call humanity. In their minds, Heath Ledger was nothing more than a piece of movie equipment.
"I can't believe Matilda is going to grow up without a dad, without knowing her father," another source told PEOPLE. "And that Michelle will have to deal with having a daughter who's lost her father. She's a survivor. She'll make it, but it's going to be hard. Her first concern is going to be Matilda."
[link]
Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger’s death while discussing current events, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide.On yesterday’s drop in the stock market:
GIBSON: Maybe he had a serious position in the market.
TOM SULLIVAN: And possibly today, he looked at the window and said…
GIBSON: “Oh my God.â€
SULLIVAN: His name’s not Keith Bledger, right?
GIBSON: He was depressed about yesterday’s downturn in the world stock markets.
On the Democratic debate in South Carolina:
GIBSON: Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant.
I don't know if what I feel is disgust, embarrassment or what have you over Gibson's odious comments. To know that I share a planet with this troll is disappointing. To know that a media outlet encourages this man's lunacy would be comical if he wasn't such an irrelevant, inhuman slug.
-DP[T]he now-cleanshaven John Oates is busy working on a new cartoon in development about the superpowers of his formerly famous mustache. Seriously. (full, tragic story)Umm... Yeah. You read that right. You didn't wake up and mistake blotter acid for your coffee creamer. And, though that bagel you had this morning may have been a little dodgy, you're not suffering any sort of odd hallucinations. They actually cancelled some shows because Oates, in all his oaty glory, is making a cartoon about his mustache's super powers.
"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view." -Candidate Mike Huckabee
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Getting warmer, methinks....
Uh-oh... It's "Teh Mawb!"
Yay! He can haz his bukkit!
No wonder why he can't find the damn thing. The bucket's in a bloody fortress!
Six years after Sept. 11, it's easy to get complacent and forget that we asked for (and expected) greater protection. Yes, the connection between a baby's shoes and our personal security can seem obtuse. We forget the day that "normal" suddenly wasn't. Perhaps that's a blessing; we can't and shouldn't live in constant fear and distrust.
But we can be respectful to TSA employees who are doing their duty as it is given them (even if it doesn't make much sense to us) -- and patient with other travelers who have forgotten what led to this. And we should know that there is more going on behind the scenes than most of us will ever know.
After standing near TSA employees for hours and watching the process up-close, it all makes more sense to me. There is a method behind the apparent madness of airport screening. Screening regulations, such as the "3-1-1 rule," reflect extensive research about current threats and aren't just random attempts to make us appear safer (3-1-1 means you can include three 1-ounce liquids in a single quart-size bag in your carry-on). Also, the screener's job is harder than it looks because it requires constant attentiveness balanced by courtesy. (Full story)Wrong! Please step aside ma'am. Homeland Security or not, the TSA would like to have a word with you, and you're going to miss your flight. Here's the TSA's definition:
Make Your Trip Better Using 3-1-1Ooops. And, who is this potential threat to our airways? Well, it's Mary Hanson from theScience and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security. And, she thought it would be nice to play TSA screener for a day. Unfortunately, either a legitimate TSA screener neglected to teach her this simple, yet painfully ridiculous rule in the War on Moisture, or, most likely, the TSA screener doesn't quite understand the rule his or herself.
3-1-1 for carry-ons = 3 ounce bottle or less (by volume) ; 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3 oz. container size is a security measure.
Bush Delivers Arms Sale to Saudi ArabiaThis will end well for everyone, I am sure. In fact, I give it about a month --maybe two-- before things start flying around. I mean, this is pretty much like giving the most psychotic bully on the playground a handgun. Eventually, he's going to get bored and start squeezing the trigger.
By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press
Posted: 2008-01-14 11:59:11RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale Monday to a major ally in a region where the U.S. casts neighboring Iran as a menace to stability.
Bush's talks with Saudi King Abdullah also were expected to cover peace between Israelis and Palestinians and democracy in the Middle East.
The administration was notifying Congress of its intent to sell $20 billion in weapons, including precision-guided bombs, to the Saudis. It is "a pretty big package, lots of pieces," national security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters on Air Force One.
(full story)
