In a time in which this nation should be coming together as, “One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice For ALL”, we are far from it. Just look at the dysfunctional Congress and Washington itself. The rhetoric and bickering back and forth.
From the fiscal cliff, to sequestering. From gun control to more gun violence. From members in Congress and the House fighting against President Obama on Debt Reduction when not so many years ago, the GOP agreed with adding to the Debt by waging of, not one, but two wars against Iraq and Afghanistan under then President Bush.
Yes, we, who are following suit with the dysfunctional people in Washington, are just as dysfunctional. Just last week, a story surfaced about a Neo-Nazi that didn’t want a black nurse to tend to his new born child. Really? As if she were to look after the other 49-new born, but a white nurse should be the only one tending to the Neo New Born.
Amazing, right?
But there is Hope. That Hope is in every single American in this Great Nation. We, the People, have to believe in that awesome Pledge of “One Nation, Under God (we are), Indivisible (we can be), With Liberty and Justice For ALL” (It Has To Be). We look to our leaders in Washington, in the pulpit and on the job, but what we receive is that one great equation; division.
Come on America! Don’t wait for another catastrophe to bring us together. Let’s already be United, let’s already be on One Accord, let’s already be for the 100% and not a bunch of “Takers”. It takes All of US to make this nation Great for “Together, We Stand, Divided, We Fall”.
We are The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Let’s start acting like it…Let’s start “getting along”…the world IS watching.
Wayne LaPierre of the NRA tells us that what this country needs is more guns. Well these are the things that happen when more guns are introduced.
The incident happened at 600 North Comet Ave in Callaway around 9:15 Tuesday morning.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived at a home, they discovered 18 year old Emily Allen shot in the head. It appeared the bullet entered her forehead and exited the top of the head. EMS responded to the scene. Emily was alert and talking as she was taken to Bay Medical/Sacred Heart hospital.
An early investigation revealed that a 2 year old boy in the home had spilled something on the bed sheets that morning and they had been stripped to be washed.
Deputies say at that time the 2 year old boy discovered a 38 caliber pistol under the mattress and took the gun and accidentally shot the teen.
Christopher Dorner‘s badly scorched, partially dismembered body was photographed after his death … and TMZ has learned the pics are now being shopped to the media.
TMZ has seen the photos (the sellers showed up to our doorstep) — and the shots are extremely gruesome.
The top of Dorner’s head is gone … presumably the result of the self-inflicted gunshot wound that ended his life after the gun battle at a remote cabin in Big Bear, CA last week.
The body is missing several limbs … including an arm and parts of a leg … and his midsection is charred from the fire that consumed the cabin during the Feb. 12 shoot-out.
Despite the intense blaze, several body parts remained intact … including his eyeballs, chest area and penis.
In fact, Dorner’s upper teeth were barely damaged … which helped authorities ID the body.
TMZ did not purchase the photos — but the sellers are definitely on the hunt for a buyer.
The science behind 350.org can be found in their mission statement which reads:
“350 means climate safety. To preserve our planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 392 parts per million to below 350 ppm. But 350 is more than a number—it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.”
Last September they organized “Moving Planet” — a massive day of action to find alternatives to fossil fuels. They also credit themselves with helping lead the campaign to stop the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline from happening.
The grassroots organization thinks they can turn the tide on the climate crisisby establishing an international movement that forces world leaders to be accountable for the damage and responsible for finding environmentally friendly solutions to reduce the harmful effects of pollution. Sounds like a noble, worthy cause, doesn’t it? Well, Donor’s Trust doesn’t.
The think–tank spends an inordinate amount of money and time trying discredit the science behind climate change. Their mission statement reads a bit differently:
“Explicitly devoted to supporting organizations that promote liberty, Donors Trust alone can commit to honor and defend the charitable intent of donors who share in our mission. The Trust is working to help alleviate, through education, research, and private initiative, society’s most pervasive and radical needs, including those relating to social welfare, health, the environment, economics, governance, foreign relations, and arts and culture; and to encourage philanthropy and individual giving and responsibility, as opposed to governmental involvement, as an answer to society’s needs.”
Pretty much the opposite of 350, Donors Trust’s rich, conservative, anonymous ‘well-doers‘, prefer to fund such groups as The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, which runs the website Climate Depot, created exclusively to attack environmentalists and scientist who take on global warming. Well, a wisewoman once said, “You’ll never realize the good that you do, until a negative force attempts to suppress you.”
Okay, I said it, but its still a good saying. Carry on 350. ♦
In his State of the Borough address on Tuesday, Bronx Borough President Reuben Diaz touted what he says is the climatic change in economic progress happening in that borough right now. Affectionately called Da Bronx by some New Yorkers, this area of NYC has had its share of bad raps–some deservedly, some not–with high crime, suspicious firebombings of real estate property and an overall badass-itude ( use to live up by the Grand Concourse on Morris Avenue. Street cred for real lol!). But Diaz says the borough,which saw more than $1.7 billion in new investments last year, is taking a turn for the better, lowering its crime rate and welcoming a number of large-scale projects, from new housing to an indoor mall to a Marriott Hotel, the first brand name hotel in the borough.
In the area of education, Diaz is pushing to build a six-year high school that he hopes will give young people who graduate a boost in getting high-paying science and tech jobs. Assuring that there will be even more progress to report at the next State of the Borough address, Diaz also let it be known that he plans to run for re-election. He’d get my vote! ♦
I want to start a campaign to bring Byron Allen‘s now defunct ‘Comics Unleashed’ to prime time television! Airing back in 2006, each show featured five hilarious (most times) comedians discussing everything from pop culture to entertainment, ad-lib! Caught the show at 3am this morning and had to stifle my laughs before my neighbors called the cops on me. Too. funny! Check out the segment I caught last night (excuse the bad audio) which originally aired… I-don’t-know-when lol!: ♦
The Hurry Cane (that name is definitely cute). You’ve seen the commercial on tv with the even cuter senior citizens exalting how this magic stick has enriched their lives, all within the time it takes for the fold up cane to be removed from the pocketbook and expanded to a full size stand-alone support apparatus. Hope there’s no hidden dangers or drawbacks in the thing because I intend to buy two or three of them and sock them away for my impending ‘Golden Years’–you know, just in case the whole “I-intend-to-stay-healthy-and-strong-til-the-day-I-die” thing doesn’t work out. Best to get one now just in case they disappear off the market like the Today’s SpongeContraceptive. I’m still investigating that btw. Best damn contraception ever created in my opinion. ♦
l If you want to protect your brain against the effects of aging, a brisk daily walk may do more for you than brain teaser puzzles or social activities, a new study finds.
Researchers with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, studying nearly 700 people in their early 70s, found that those who were most physically active had less brain shrinkage than those who got less exercise. At the same time, social and intellectually challenging activities, like going to the museum, learning a new language or visiting friends, seemed to have no protective effect on brain changes.
“Those who took more exercise had less brain atrophy, less damage to the wiring of the brain, and greater volumes of grey matter, which are the ‘thinking’ cells. We did not find any associations between being more socially or intellectually engaged and brain health,” says study author Alan Gow, a senior research fellow at the University of Edinburgh.
The research, published in the journal Neurology, is part of a long-term study on aging that involves a group of participants born in 1936. Those involved in this study were given brain MRI scans at age 73. They also filled out questionnaires about their physical activity, ranking it on a six-point scale from ” moving only in connection with necessary (household) chores” to “keep fit/heavy exercise or competitive sport several times per week” and rated how often they participated in 15 different leisure activities.
While researchers wrote that exercise seemed to protect against brain shrinkage, they added that it’s still unclear exactly how. Is exercise really protective, or is that those experiencing cognitive decline are less likely to exercise? While Gow stops short of recommending exactly how much exercise is best for brain health, Paul Thompson, professor of neurology at UCLA’s School of Medicine, says any exercise increases the oxygen level of blood, and that may keep brain tissues healthier. “It’s not necessary to run or even lift weights. Walking is just as effective. The bulk of the evidence is really just calories burned.”
Adam Lanza, the crazed gunman who massacred 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown Connecticut back in December, was once an average kid growing up in the very community he traumatized. And now, news has come out that Lanza wanted to copy the 2011 killings of Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Breivik.
Sources say Lanza saw himself as being in direct competition with Anders Breivik, a Norwegian man who killed 77 people in July 2011.
Breivik killed eight with a bombing in downtown Oslo. He then moved to a nearby island where he hunted down and fatally shot 69 people, mostly teenagers attending a summer camp.
That said, here are three pictures showing Lanza in the early stages of his life, before the unimaginable day in December when he returned to the school he once attended and murdered 26 people before killing himself.
Adam Lanza – 8th gradeAdam Lanza – 8th gradeAdam Lanza – Second row, second child from the left.
NYC public school bus drivers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, serving the largest school district in the nation, will be reporting back to work from their strike Wednesday just in time for the kids to return to school after mid-winter recess. Drivers for non-public schools will start Tuesday. All in all the city spent about $20.6 million in transit cards, taxis and gas for tens 0f thousands of kids to get to school during the month long bus strike, but saved an estimated $80 million by not having to pay bus companies during the strike, which started over the bus drivers’ job protection issues. So don’t cry for the City, Argentina.
Union leaders took heart over a letter written by five Democrats – City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller John Liu, former City Comptroller Bill Thompson and former Councilman Sal Albanese – all vying for the mayoral seat after Bloomberg vacates, asking them to return to work proming to revisit the job security issue if any of them are elected. That’s a big “IF”. ♦
How many tragic space heater fires have to occur before authorities crack the whip on landlords who refuse to provide heat for their tenants during the winter? Space heaters accounted for 32% of home heating fires and 80% of home heating fire deaths. What should you do if your landlord does not supply appropriate heat for the winter months for which they are obligated? According to the HPD, the following:
1. Contact your landlord, managing agent, or super to report the problem. If you’re not sure whom to call, check your lease for a name and contact number.
2. File a complaint with the City’s Citizen Service Center by calling 311. The Center will take the following action to get the heating problem resolved:
3. The Center will try on your behalf to contact the landlord or managing agent to get the heat working properly.
4. If not successful, then the Center will send one of its own housing inspectors to your apartment. The Center won’t inform the landlord of the time of inspection. The inspector will issue violations to the landlord if he determines heat is lacking. If the inspector determines that the heating problem isn’t limited to your apartment, he or she may issue a building-wide violation.
5. If, after receiving violations, the landlord doesn’t fix the problem, HPD’s Emergency Repair Program may use in-house staff and/or outside contractors to perform needed repairs to restore the heat and/or hot water. The cost of these repairs will be charged to the landlord, not to you.
GOOD LUCK! ♦
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President Obama is pushing for more vigorous enforcement ofthe Voting Rights Act following the even more vigorous attempt by the Republican Party to disenfranchise voters during the primaries back in November 2012. The, now universal, symbol for the attempted disenfranchisement, 102 y.o. Desiline Victor from Miami, Florida, who stood in line for three hours and made two trips to the polls in order to vote last November, was honored by the President during his State of the Union Address last Tuesday for her inspiring efforts.
The fear is that a conservative ruling will strike down one of the core elements of the landmark 1965 law, the 15th amendment, that guarantees African Americans and other minorities the right to vote. Looks like the Tea Party is getting the South to do their dirty work for them. ♦
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And WELCOME BACK ROBIN ROBERTS!
At five months to the day after receiving a bone marrow transplant, Robin Roberts will be back on the Good Morning America anchor desk Wednesday morning. And she’ll be making a lot of folks very uncomfortable.
Not because she’ll be sporting her post-surgery baldie, offset with impeccable studio make-up; or that she’ll refuse to allow anyone to pity her or offer up condolences on her condition; or that her disposition will not be one of resignation or victimization.
She’ll be unnerving a lot of people because she’ll have that almost blinding, power-filled aura of a woman who has consistently looked that SOB Death in its face and sang, “I a m tell-in’ youuuu, I’M NOT GOIN’!!!” (yeah, the Dream Girls song : ) ♦
President Obama used his recent Google hangout appearance to calm the nerves of some in the NRA who have been fooled into thinking that the government is “coming to take away their guns.” It’s a lie told by NRA’s CEO and chief lobbyist, Wayne LaPierre. A lie that is then regurgitated by Congressional Republicans in their effort to keep assault weapons on the streets.
Asked why he favored a ban on the assault weapons which only accounts for a small percentage of gun deaths, as opposed to handguns, which are responsible for the majority, the President replied;
“I actually don’t think we should ban handguns. But keep in mind what we’re trying to do is come up with a package that protects Second Amendment rights but also contributes to reduce violence.”
Obama said assault weapons and high-capacity magazines are “generally not used for hunting,” and that while banning them won’t “solve every problem,” it “can play a meaningful part” in reducing gun violence.
“When it comes to assault weapons … my concern is, for example, in Aurora, when a young person can go into a theater and shoot off a hundred rounds in less than a minute,” Obama said. “These are weapons of war … so for us to restrict some of those high-capacity magazines … that probably can save some lives.”
Meanwhile, Wayne LaPierre is continuing his fear game, telling Americans that the President is coming after their guns, so they need to go out and buy more guns in order to arm themselves against this “tyrannical government!”
If there is one thing I can say about Mr. Wayne LaPierre it will be this: He definitely knows how to keep his followers in check and to keep the checks pouring into his bank account!
6 cups cubed (1/2-inch) peeled root vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, carrots and beets
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
1 teaspoon minced anchovy fillet or paste
8 cups mixed salad greens
2 6- to 7-ounce cans boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained and flaked
2 scallions, sliced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Toss root vegetables in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes. Stir and continue roasting until soft and golden brown in spots, 13 to 15 minutes more.
Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, garlic, mustard, anchovy and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each pepper and salt in a large bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the dressing in small bowl. Add the salad greens to the large bowl and toss to combine; divide among 4 dinner plates.
When the vegetables are done, transfer them to the large bowl and gently combine with the reserved dressing, salmon and scallions. Top the greens with the salmon and vegetables.
Tips & Notes:
Make Ahead Tip: Prepare the dressing (Step 3), cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
Marco Polo Rubio, the next Republican presidential nominee for 2016, couldn’t wait to get on television and dispute everything President Obama did not say in his State Of The Union address. Mr. Rubio was so eager to get all his Republican talking-points out that he forgot to bring his Poland Springs water bottle closer to where he stood, resulting in an awkward reach for a drink of water when the lies he told dried up his mouth.
Yes, we all saw his thirsty reach, but did you see Saturday Night Live‘s version of the Rubio/Poland Springs moment? No? Well here you go…!
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