Happy Thursday

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

'Heroes will be heroes again...'

Marvel superheroes are leaving the dark side.

After seven years of grim and grimmer story lines, including a superhero "civil war" that pitted Iron Man against Spider-Man and the death of Captain America, Marvel Comics will usher in a more optimistic "Heroic Age" approach in May.

"Heroes will be heroes again," says Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada. "They've gone through hell and they're back to being good guys — a throwback to the early days of the Marvel Universe, with more of a swashbuckling feel."

The change begins with a relaunch of Avengers #1, which will reunite Iron Man, a reborn Captain America and Thor as comrades rather than foes.

All this would be of interest only to comic fans except it comes just months after Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion and as Iron Man 2 and other Marvel films are on the way.

It also could mark a major shift in comic book storytelling, which took a turn to grittier stories after the success of DC's The Dark Knight Returns and Marvel's more adult take on Daredevilin the 1980s.

Quesada says that Marvel's return to "good guys" was in the works for two years, was finalized eight months ago and that the Disney takeover had no role.

"There is no sanitizing of the Marvel books at all," he says, promising stories will remain "edgy" and contemporary. "Our philosophy here is to just keep telling good stories."

In the upcoming Avengers' story line, however, the changes will remain in continuity and will not be a "reboot" of the franchises involved.

Likely to give the "Heroic Age" considerable fanboy cred will be the participation of writer Brian Michael Bendis, who was chief architect of the "disassembly" of the Marvel Universe in the first place. Most recently, he has overseen the "Dark Reign" story line where villain Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) has taken charge of the superhero community. That approach ends with the "Heroic Age."

"The 'brand new day' of the Heroic Age presents a tonal shift to optimism, a world filled with hope but quite hellish villains," Bendis says. "The heroes realize it's a blue-sky world worth protecting."

Bendis says the story line was approved long before the sale to Disney. "This was always the plan, and I have the memos to prove it," he says with a laugh.

"This was always the whole point — the reunion, the Avengers getting back together, because this is what the world needs right now," Bendis says. "Now we get to the good stuff."


By David Colton, USA TODAY
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2010-01-27-marvel27_ST_N.htm

Johnny Depp Sets Sail on Fourth 'Pirates' Movie

.
.
.


by Matt McDaniel · January 20, 2010

Captain Jack Sparrow will soon take to the seas again, and this time he is after the most sought-after treasure imaginable: the Fountain of Youth.

It was announced this week that the fourth installment of Disney's highly successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise will begin filming in Hawaii this summer. Johnny Depp once again plays the flamboyant Captain Jack, and Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as his adversary, Barbossa. However, costars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are not expected to return.

The film's story is loosely based on the 1987 pirate novel, "On Stranger Tides" by award-winning fantasy author Tim Powers. The book tells the story of a young man -- coincidentally named "Jack" -- who is captured by the pirate Blackbeard and forced to join in the search for the Fountain of Youth.

Ted Elliott, the co-writer of the first three "Pirates" movies, said that the story of the novel just happened to align with where they wanted to take the fourth film. He told Empire magazine, "We wanted to do a story about Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth, and Tim Powers wrote a book about Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth... it just turns out that to do that story you would need that book."

Johnny Depp signed on to appear in the fourth movie in 2008, before there was a script. It was announced at the same time he would also be playing Tonto in a film version of "The Lone Ranger," but that project has been delayed until after "Pirates" is finished.

Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom have both said they had no desire to return for a fourth movie. Knightley said in an interview, "It was a completely fantastic experience, and it was an amazingly large portion of my life, but I don't think I need to go there again. I think that it's done." Also, the director of the original trilogy, Gore Verbinski, will not be coming back. He is being replaced by Rob Marshall, the director of "Chicago" and "Nine."

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" is scheduled to dock into movie theaters on May 20th, 2011. Johnny Depp will next be seen as the Mad Hatter in director Tim Burton's new version "Alice in Wonderland" coming this March. To see why he says the role is "a dream come true," watch the exclusive interview with him in the player below.

Good Friday!

.
..
...
....
.....

My boy Rocky isn't doing too well. I thought I was gonna have to put him "down" this morning. Still may have to Monday if he doesn't react to treatment and medicine. Our story begins... a week or so ago. Ever since a fall from the side porch of our new house, he's been steadily declining health wise. Since Wednesday night, he's been hacking, walking really stiff, and barely eating or drinking. He HAS been "going to the bathroom" so that's a good sign along with the eating and drinking. A vet visit this morning revealed a crushed trachea as well as a couple of other issues. The fall knocked out a couple of bottom teeth as well as crushing a front canine tooth back to where it'll have to be removed. I admit I have neglected proper dental care on my dogs.BAD HUMAN, I know!. PLEASE don't' neglect your dog's teeth like I did!!!!!

The kind folks at the vet are keeping him today doing a variety of tests, xrays, etc.
I just received a call from my wife (11:55am ET) stating the vet said Rocky's heart, lungs, liver, and kidney functions are VERY good for a 15 year old dog- KUDOS to Iam's with an occasional can of Pedigree mixed in. He is blind in one eye and is going blind in the other. We're gonna pick him up this evening after 6pm.

The bottom line is that he is too old for surgery to replace or repair the trachea. There is medicine that can relax him and help it heal. The vet assured me that he is not in pain- other than the pain associated with "hacking" and gasping for air. We'll know by Monday afternoon as to whether the treatment, shots, and medicines will work. If they don't, well, I'm not selfish enough to prolong his life in that way.

I AM conflicted, though. I mean, I care more about this "dog" than I do most strangers or people I deal with that I don't know. I understand that my dogs have an affect on me as children would. There's a part of me that's screaming "It's just a dog!". There are friends and acquaintances who echo those sentiments. I can only attribute my irrational thoughts, my strong emotional feelings, joy, and heartaches about our dogs to being a flawed human. Many would agree and disagree with me. All I can say is that I love my dog Rocky and hopefully will have him around, pain free, for a little while longer, God willing. I will put the laptop down for a while, delay and enjoy my friend a little longer.

World's Smallest Hot Rod Made Using Nanotechnology

from http://www.livescience.com/technology/nano-dragster-100119.html

Researchers have built a new super-small "nanodragster" that improves on prior nanocar designs and could speed up efforts to craft molecular machines.


"We made a new version of a nanocar that looks like a dragster," said James Tour, a chemist at Rice University who was involved in the research. "It has smaller front wheels on a shorter axle and bigger back wheels on a longer axle."


The miniscule vehicle is about 50,000 times thinner than a human hair and is pushed along by heat or an electric field.


Spherical molecules called buckyballs made of 60 carbon atoms each serve as the big rear wheels. Due to chemical attractions, these wheels nicely grip the "dragstrip," which is made of a superfine layer of gold rather than pavement. For the front wheels, the scientists opted for a less sticky compound called p-carborane.


Tour's group built nanocars before with buckyballs as all four wheels, but these autos hug the road too tightly and require temperatures around 400 degrees Fahrenheit to get rolling. Nanocars with all p-carbonane wheels, on the other hand, slip and slide as if on ice, said Tours, making them difficult to image and study.


By incorporating both wheel types, the nanodragster can cruise at lower temperatures with greater agility and range of motion.


Microscopic auto-body shop


To make the new nanodragster, Tour's team started with a previously built, off-the-shelf short axle and front wheel unit in their lab, which is sort of a nano-Monster Garage. They then chemically hooked this up to a pair of aligned hydrocarbon molecules called phenylene-ethynylene-the vehicle's chassis. The rear axle came next and finally the buckyball wheels went on.


Once the new nanocar gets rolling, it can reach speeds of up to nine nanomiles, or 0.014 millimeters (.0005 inches), per hour, which is relatively fast for their size, said Tour.


The tiny hot rods can also do tricks. "Because the front wheels don't stick to the surface as strongly, they're more prone to lift up, so [the nanodragster] does seem to pop a wheelie at times," Tour told TopTenREVIEWS.


By learning how to drive nanovehicles, Tour hopes to pave the way for small but technologically useful structures, such as electronics, that could be built atom-by-atom.

Happy Tuesday!

Good Tuesday!

Today finds me exhausted- for a variety of reasons not just because of work. Yesterday was very busy here at work and like yesterday, today I'm playing around with fire trucks and helicopters again.

Some things I saw yesterday and this morning on the net was.....

Haiti's still in the dumper and despite progress being made, the photo ops and rubber bullets are flying. Regardless of which political jersey you wear, Haiti IS politicized by the White House. These things usually are in my opinion. Rahm Emanuel was crucified in the press and the right wingers by making the statement "never let a good crisis go to waste"- or " never let a serious crisis go to waste". While it is appalling and a weasel like statement at first, it's pretty much a smart way to react to something unavoidable that you HAVE to deal with politically.

Hugo Chavez and the French are criticizing the US's "occupation" of Haiti. --Feh..

Students at Ebinport Elementary in Rock Hill, SC have raised over $1,000.00 at their Haitian Relief Lemonade stand.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Conan O'Brien is close to signing a nearly $40 million deal to walk away from his job hosting NBC's "The Tonight Show," in a new move that will also award severance pay to his employees. The deal, which has been fiercely negotiated for the last week, will give O'Brien $32.5 million to go on garden leave until September. This would prevent him from hosting any other TV shows if he pockets the cash, but gives him an option to sign other deals. The remaining $7.5 million will go in severance pay to about 200 of Conan's "Tonight Show" employees after they expressed outrage about the prospect of going penniless after relocation across the country months ago.

Jay Leno FINALLY gives us his version of how this whole debacle began - http://www.hulu.com/watch/121471/the-jay-leno-show-jays-pov#s-p1-sr-i1

New Jersey's 55th crime boss/governor, Christopher J. Christie will be sworn in today.

Meanwhile Fox News is projecting Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown as the winner in the special election today. Not really, but it sure seems like that. Obama made the obligatory appearance over the weekend for fellow Democrat State Attorney General Martha Coakley. Apparently George Soros and his money are no where to be seen as I can tell. This is important obviously as it will take away the Democrat's invulnerability in regards to a filibuster proof senate.

Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection today

A Michigan weapons company is under fire for branding thousands of rifle scopes used by US soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan with passages from the Bible. U.S. military rules prohibit any service member from proselytizing while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, which are primarily Muslim nations.

British candy maker Cadbury has accepted a takeover offer worth $19.5 billion from U.S. food conglomerate Kraft Foods.

Want to see pics from upcoming movie called "Predators"? http://www.collider.com/2010/01/16/behind-the-scenes-pictures-from-nimrod-antals-predators/

“Paranormal Activity 2 will be released October 22 of this year. One of the SAW movie series directors is set to helm.

JJ Abrams is working to get a sequel to 'Cloverfield" made this year.

Ghostbusters 3 is still set to begin production later this year.

Oh yeah, there are plans to remake Hawaii 5-0 and bring it back to television.

Mark Strong, who played the villain Lord Blackwell in "Sherlock Holmes" is rumored to play Sinestro in DC Comics big screen adaptation of 'Green Lantern'. According to Variety, the 1980s comic book origin story "Emerald Dawn" as a basis for the film.

It looks like Marvel Comics is ending all 4 monthly issues of 'The Avengers' in April. Haven't read for how long or when an eventual restart would begin.

A 42-year-old Taiwanese man with a history of high blood pressure has died of a stroke likely triggered by over-excitement from watching the blockbuster "Avatar" in 3D, a doctor said Tuesday

Today in RECALL news- Some 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat packer, some of it nearly two years ago, is being recalled for fear of potentially deadly E. coli bacterium tainting, U.S. officials said on Monday.

Chrysler is recalling many of it's 2009/ 2010 vehicles (Jeep included) because of potential faulty brakes. Chrysler also bought a 60 second Super Bowl ad.

and finally, drivers in downtown Moscow squinted in disbelief as an electronic highway billboard blazed a two-minute pornographic video instead of its regular advertising clips. Late-night traffic on one of the Russian capital's busiest roads slowed Thursday as a couple's explicit escapades appeared on the 9-by-6-meter display.
The screen's owner, 3 Stars, told the AP that a hacker attack was likely to blame. Some people took pictures of the sight with their mobile phones and posted them on the Internet.

Gaines Adams

Gaines Adams (June 8, 1983 – January 17, 2010)


I'm a UNC Tarheel fan, but I felt surprise and saddness upon hearing of the death of former Clemson great Gaines Adams. Apparently he was an easy going, appreciative guy as well. From what I hear and read, he will be missed on and off the field. Though it was cool that somewhere, someone had done a Gaines Adams Madden cover. It's nearly every football players dream to be on one.


Goodbye Gaines. Chicago would have loved you nearly as much as everyone here does.

YOU LIE!

January 14, 2010
Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

The Transportation Security Administration, under scrutiny after last month’s bombing attempt, has on its Web site a “mythbuster” that tries to reassure the public.

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.

Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.

“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”

Michael Winston Hicks’s mother initially sensed trouble when he was a baby and she could not get a seat for him on their flight to Florida at an airport kiosk; airline officials explained that his name “was on the list,” she recalled.

The first time he was patted down, at Newark Liberty International Airport, Mikey was 2. He cried.

After years of long delays and waits for supervisors at every airport ticket counter, this year’s vacation to the Bahamas badly shook up the family. Mikey was frisked on the way there, then more aggressively on the way home.

“Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch — someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal,” Mrs. Hicks recounted. “A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked.”

It is true that Mikey is not on the federal government’s “no-fly” list, which includes about 2,500 people, less than 10 percent of them from the United States. But his name appears to be among some 13,500 on the larger “selectee” list, which sets off a high level of security screening.

At some point, someone named Michael Hicks made the Department of Homeland Security suspicious, and little Mikey is still paying the price. (His father, also named Michael Hicks, was stopped for the first time on the Bahamas trip.)

Both lists are maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They are given to the Transportation Security Administration, which in turn sends them to the airlines.

A spokesman for the T.S.A., James Fotenos, said that as a rule, “there are no children on the no-fly or selectee lists,” but would not comment on Mikey’s situation specifically.

For every person on the lists, hundreds of others may get caught up simply because they share the same name; a quick scan through a national phone directory unearthed 1,600 Michael Hickses. Over the past three years, 81,793 frustrated travelers have formally asked that they be struck from the watch list through the Department of Homeland Security; more than 25,000 of their cases are still pending. Others have taken more drastic measures.

Mario Labbé, a frequent-flying Canadian record-company executive, started having problems at airports shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, with lengthy delays at checkpoints and mysterious questions about Japan. By 2005, he stopped flying to the United States from Canada, instead meeting American clients in France. Then a forced rerouting to Miami in 2008 led to six hours of questions.

“What’s the name of your mother? Your father? When were you last in Japan?” Mr. Labbé recalled being asked. “Always the same questions in different order. And sometimes, it’s quite aggressive, not funny at all.”

Fed up, in the summer of 2008, he changed his name to François Mario Labbé. The problem vanished.

Several Web sites, including the T.S.A.’s own blog, are rife with tales of misidentification and strategies for solving them. Some travelers purposely misspell their own names when buying tickets, apparently enough to fool the system. Even the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy once found himself on a list.

“We can’t just throw a bunch of names on these lists and call it security,” said Representative William J. Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat. “If we can’t get an 8-year-old off the list, the whole list becomes suspect.”

Mr. Fotenos, the T.S.A. spokesman, promised improvements in a few months, as the agency’s Secure Flight Program takes full effect. Under the new system, airlines will collect every passenger’s birth date and gender, along with their names. The T.S.A. will cross-check all that with the watch lists. Previously, the airlines cross-checked the lists themselves, using only the names.

Certainly, Mikey’s date of birth, less than a month before 9/11, should prevent him from being mistaken as a terrorist.

A third grader at a parochial school in Clifton, N.J., Mikey recites the drill like the world-weary traveler he is. Leave early for the airport, always with his passport. Try to get a boarding pass at the counter. This will send up a flag. The ticket agent, peering down at tiny bespectacled Mikey, will apologize or roll her eyes, and call for a supervisor. The supervisor, after a phone call — or, more likely, a series of phone calls — will ultimately finagle him onto the plane. But the Hickses are typically the last to select seats and the last to board, which means they sometimes can’t sit together.

Mrs. Hicks, a photojournalist who herself got Secret Service clearance to travel aboard Air Force II with then-Vice President Al Gore, anticipated additional chaos following the attempted underwear bombing. Before leaving for the Bahamas on Jan. 2, she reached out to Congressman Pascrell’s office, which then enlisted a T.S.A. agent to meet the family at the airport. Even this did not prevent Mikey from an extra pat-down.

On the way home last Friday, Mikey’s boarding pass showed four giant red S’s at the airport in Nassau. “Oh, random screening,” Mrs. Hicks said. Mikey asked his mother not to worry and said he would use his tae kwon do — he has a junior black belt — if needed. Mrs. Hicks said she wanted to take pictures of her son being frisked but was told it was against the rules.

Mikey, who would rather talk about BMX bikes and his athletic trophies than airport security, remains perplexed about the “list” and the hurdles he must clear. “Why do they think a kid is a terrorist?” Mikey asked his mother at one point during the interview.

Mrs. Hicks said the family was amused by the mistake at first. But that amusement quickly turned to annoyance and anger. It should not take seven years to correct the problem, Mrs. Hicks said. She applied for redress in December when she first heard about the Department of Homeland Security’s program.

“I understand the need for security,” she added. “But this is ridiculous. It’s quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane.”

Woeful Thursday

:( :( :(
:( :( :(

Happy Thursday!

We'll, not so happy this morning after my Tarheels suffered an 83-64 whupping in Clemson's Littlejohn Coleseum last night. Congrats to the Tigers ending 6 years of futility and frustration!!

Legendary singer Teddy Pendergrass, dead after a long illness at age 59, spent his last 28 years in a wheelchair, left to wonder what life might have been like had a car crash not completely altered his destiny.

"Dexter" star Michael C. Hall is undergoing treatment for cancer and the disease is in remission, a spokesman said. "I feel fortunate to have been diagnosed with an imminently treatable and curable condition, and I thank my doctors and nurses for their expertise and care," Hall, 38, said Wednesday in a statement

As if the poor Haitians haven't suffered enough, A Knoxville retailer will donate fans' Lane Kiffin T-shirts to earthquake recovery efforts in Haiti. Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are among the celebrities and artists predictably urging support for survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.

Just about a month before Spring training kinda begins for Major League Baseball. The injury plagued NY Mets learned that Carlos Beltran will miss the season opener due to yesterday's elective knee surgery. New York's first official workout for pitchers and catchers is a little more than five weeks away, on Feb. 20. The Mets open the season April 5 against Florida.

Junior Seau is retiring again and looking ahead to more time on his surfboard.

Facebook is trying to strengthen security on its Web site with some outside help. Computer security company McAfee Inc. will now scan and repair the computers of Facebook users whose accounts have been compromised, the company said Wednesday. The scanning process will be added to the steps that Facebook already makes the users of such accounts go through if they want to reclaim their pages. McAfee is also offering Facebook's more than 350 million users six-month subscription to McAfee's Internet security software at no charge. But to get the free subscription, McAfee's Facebook page requires users to first become a "fan" of the company.

Quickly giving morphine to wounded troops cuts in half the chance they will develop post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a provocative study that suggests a new strategy for preventing the psychological fallout of war. Researchers at the U.S. Naval Health Research Center led the study of about 700 troops injured in Iraq from 2004 through 2006.

A survey of more than 33,000 girls and women aged 12 to 17 found that 26.7 percent (about 1 in 4) had been involved in a serious fight at school or work, a group-against-group fight or had attacked someone with the intent to harm the person in the previous year.

and finally - Poland's tax office has levied a fine of 2.3 million zlotys ($820,000) on an unemployed woman for failing to pay tax on income worth at least 13.7 million zlotys she said she had earned as a prostitute.

Wednesday Afternoon 1/13/10 AL (After Lane)

One final thing on the Lane Kiffin ordeal. I wonder how much of a "big deal" Lane would be, would have been, or is WITHOUT his dad, Defensive guru Monte Kiffin? You have to also wonder since MOnte doesn't want to be anyone's head coach, is namign Lane a 'back door' way of getting his daddy to coach your team's defense?



Here's some stuff that interested me on teh net in between the Haiti shake, rattle, and roll that's killed/going to kill thousands, and the Lane Kiffin ordeal in
Tennessee.

SEE USC (not THAT USC, So Cal) introduce it's new coach at 7pm ET TODAY!!!!

New Israeli research finds that pPlaying Mozart music to premature babies seems to help them gain weight faster and become stronger. Though the sample size was small, the scientists said their findings were statistically significant.

Beginning in the spring, the Wii will become the last of the three current video game consoles to get instant viewing of Netflix movies and TV shows over the Internet.

The SC House of Representatives has approved a censure this morning of Gov. Mark Sanford by the vote of 102 to 11. Not exaclty sure WHEN the official WAG of the finger will take place.

From the "SHOCKING! NO! REALLY?!?! department- A British seismologist says the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti was "the big one" the Caribbean had been dreading.

From the WTF! department-- Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and apologized for risky behavior and poor decisions. They also defended their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse.

OK, NOW It's Wednesday.

Sad to read the news this morning about last night's tragic and devastating news... "Lane Kiffin Quits Vols To Take USC Job"

Just what the heck is going on in Knoxville? Lane Kiffin leaving after only 1 season to coach the Trojans? I keep reading where Vols fans are mourning- they're not mourning- they're pissed off.

Mark Bradley with the Atlanta Constitution Journal writes: "This is what you get when you entrust your program to a brat. He hits town talking big, and he leaves you in a Big Orange lurch. Ten years from now — heck, 10 minutes from now — we’ll be looking on Lane Kiffin’s season in K-Town and saying, “What the heck was that?” Called Urban Meyer a cheat, choppered down on Georgia high school stadiums, smirked at every abrogation of NCAA bylaws and then … poof, he’s gone. Like Keyser Soze. Gone so fast you wonder, “Was he here at all?” "

what a day!

oh yeah, some people got shook up in disease ravaged, virtually destroyed anyway Haiti. Looks like US aid will get there quicker than it does for domestic disasters... but that's another blog

here's some other stuff going on this morning

HE MADE IT DISAPPEAR!! - Federal prosecutors closed a two-year rape investigation of magician David Copperfield on Tuesday without filing charges, and police in nearby Bellevue say his accuser made a false sexual assault claim against another man last month.

THAT CLOSE! -A mystery object from space is about to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday. It won't hit our planet, but scientists are stumped by what exactly it is. Astronomers say it may be space junk or it could be a tiny asteroid, too small to cause damage even if it hit. It's 33 to 50 feet wide at most. NASA says that on Wednesday at 7:47 a.m. EST, it will streak by, missing Earth by about 80,000 miles.

HERE WE GO AGAIN - DC Comics has announced that they will be reuniting the popular JLI line-up in a 26 issue bi-weekly series titled "Justice League: Generation Lost," written by Keith Giffen and Judd Winick.
In other comics news- in March's "Uncanny X-Men" #522, Kitty Pryde will be returning to the X-Men


more later

Today Is......

>>>>>>>>>>>
)))))))))))

HAPPY Tuesday is National Clean Off Your Desk Day!!

Take some time today and give yourself a clean and organized desk to face the year ahead - Before the realities of the world, again, take over your life and your space!

CRAZY Monday Afternoon Goings On

In SHOCKING, NO! REALLY!?!?!?! news (thanks Keith Larson)

Sarah Palin has officially joined the Fox News Network in a variety of roles on the Business and News sides of the network. Fox News said that while Ms Palin would not have her own program, she would appear on the channel on a regular basis as part of a multi-year deal.

Mark McGwire finally came clean Monday, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998.

Simon Cowell has confirmed today that this IS his last year on "American Idol". He's bringing his English show, the "The X Factor" here to the states for Fox. This puzzles me as he already produces the same show formula but as an American version of the show on NBC called "America's Got Talent".

Many news outlets are reporting that the current host of "The Tonight Show" is very upset. Five months after relocating his family, his company, and everything else in his life to Los Angeles, Conan O'Brien is reportedly ready to leave NBC over talks to move Jay Leno back to his old spot on the late-night lineup. I don't blame him. The REAL winner of this is Jimmy Fallon and Carson Daly (yes, he's STILL on TV).

in NOT so SHOCKING! NO! REALLY?!?!?! news:

While (not because of) production on Spider Man 4 is temporarily delayed, Marvel Studios has begun production on Kenneth Brannaugh's "Thor" movie- TODAY actually. Nathalie Portman will play the love interest in this.

Whitney over at USA Today's Pop Candy is reporting that Stan Lee will guest star on The Big Bang Theory

Slash says he has turned down millions to reunite with Guns N' Roses.

Another Star Trek movie concerning the NEW timeline and new kids on the bridge is set for a 2012 release.

In other stuff,

5.China's online game revenues hits $4 billion in 2009. The US in 2009 had about $1 billion

Former NBA star Jayson Williams, his personal life in shambles, took responsibility for accidentally shooting his limousine driver to death eight years ago by pleading guilty Monday to assault and agreeing to serve at least 18 months in prison.

While Marvel sues to keep it's main comic book characters, it's also suing to invalidate the Kirby family's copyright claims. In a lawsuit filed today in New York City, lawyers for Marvel assert that Kirby's work for the company was "for hire," invalidating the claims of the heirs.

My Poor President

...

First we have the 'hub bub' over Nevada Senator Harry Reid's comments concerning Obama's assured appeal to voters (saying Obama's "light-skinned" and has "no negro dialect")and NOW we have Trump TV contestant,ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich telling Esquire magazine he's "blacker than Barack Obama". I read last month where during the 2k8 election where former President Bill Clinton told Teddy Kennedy (when he was soliciting the late Senator's endorsement Hillary Clinton's Presidential run), "A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee." Kennedy is said to have been so angry, that he decided to endorse Obama instead. Clinton's remarks are curious because former President Clinton has been characterized as so friendly with the black community that, at one time, he was actually called, "the first black President." I personally believe this was good ol boy "southern" politics. His actions speak much louder than his verbal 'faux pas'. Anyone remember Senator Robert Byrd's using the "N word" in an interview just a few years ago?

Why do people ignore these blatant errors in judgment yet, people criticize Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck as being mean spirited, hate filled racists having NEVER listened or watched their shows in their entirety or for any length of time? Hannity, though I agree with him for the most part annoys the $hit outta me sometimes. I do believe that Limbaugh has lost touch a little, as someone of his stature probably can't help. That's probably a GOOD thing. I really like Bill O'Reilly,though. He doesn't promote the right as Fox News does. Which to me isn't a bad thing seeing the "other" side has George Soros, most movie related people, most print media, and pretty much ALL of the television networks(Fox's 'FX' included).

I don't think we as a nation will not be able to fix what's wrong as long as we keep worrying about pointing fingers and pointing out each other's political or ideological persuasion. I would have thought by 2010 we'd stop worrying about our racial make up. Apparently,I am wrong.

Conan O'Brien Ready to Leave NBC Over Late Night Shake Up

>>>>
....
<<<<

Report: Conan O'Brien Ready to Leave NBC Over Late Night Shake Up

Evil, Right-Winged FOXNews.com

Five months after relocating to Los Angeles, Conan O'Brien reportedly ready to leave NBC over talks to move Jay Leno back to his old spot on the late-night lineup.
The peacock ruffled Conan O'Brien's feathers -- and now he's ready to fly the coop.

The "Tonight Show" host feels like the redheaded stepchild of late-night TV after NBC's abrupt decision to cancel Jay Leno's10 p.m. experiment after just five months -- and return the car-loving comic to O'Brien's coveted 11:35 p.m. slot.

"This level of sh- - -iness was not expected," one source said.

"He's done a great job for NBC. He moved his entire staff, he moved his family to LA. And five months later, they repay him like this?"

As it stands now, the source said, "Conan would be happier somewhere else."

The pompadoured host has "many options," including a move to Fox, which for years has been looking to create its own late-night show.

In fact, he has already spoken with Fox, The Wall Street Journal's Web site reported last night.

Well, It's Monday

..
..
..
GOOD MORNING!!

just a quick note.

When I read of people passing away, I've notice more and more of them who are closely aged to myself.

Just one of those thingsI have to get used to I guess. Creepy.

Oh well, back to my Monday morning training- last day- WHOO HOO!!

Later

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

.....
.........

Happy Friday!!
Happy 75 years young to the late (?) Elvis Presley

Looks like we've escaped the worse of the winter weather here in GreenVegas, SC. Still though, I cannot remember this many consecutive days where the low temperature was in the teens or twenties. Although this morning, the low only dipped down into the mid 20's, it's only expected to get as high as 33 degrees today. Better than wind chills hitting 35 below in eastern Nebraska, minus 45 in parts of South Dakota and negative 50 in North Dakota. Is it cold where you are?

There's a new movie opening this weekend I'd like to see. "Daybreakers" is not the usual vampire movie that's flooding the public consciousness nowadays. This story depicts a future world dominated by vampires. No longer shadowy outcasts, vampire cops try to control vampire riots when the blood supply falters. Vampire scientists work in vampire-run labs. Homeless vampires live beneath city streets and devolve into something far worse than hungry hobos when they can’t find food. Damn interesting to me. Will you see this movie? Are you sick of the recent vampire TV shows, books, and movies?

What's up with the whole Jay Leno thing at NBC. This really doesn't look good for the network as it seems they want to have their Conan and Jay Leno too. NBC executives on Thursday discussed a scenario that would include a half-hour Leno show at 11:35 p.m. EST, sending "Tonight" with Conan O'Brien to 12:05 a.m. and Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" to 1:05 a.m., according to the infamous "unnamed source" at NBC. Leno even joked about it last (Thursday) night saying "if it's true it will give us time to do some traveling. I understand that (the) Fox (network) is beautiful this time of year."- hahahahaha! No one's mentioned Conan it seems. Sad...What do YOU think? Do you care?

Some good news out of Cleveland football fans. Eric Mangini will return for a second season as Cleveland Browns coach after capping a losing campaign with their longest winning streak since 1994, the NFL team said on Thursday. I believe the "Man-Genius" (thanks Terry) has got a good thing going now and the fickle fans, not only in Cleveland but elsewhere, need to suck it up for at least another 2 or 3 years. GIve the coach and team management a chance to build something successful and long lasting. Cleveland has a tremendous opportunity to reverse the current climate of "win or go away" that pervades sports. Just my opinion, what say you?

Let's see what else I saw on the ol interweb today....


A study of 10 chain restaurants, including Wendy's and Ruby Tuesday, found that the number of calories in 29 meals or other menu items was an average of 18 percent higher than listed. And frozen supermarket meals from Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, Healthy Choice and South Beach Living had 8 percent more calories than the labels said, according to the study, published in this month's Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The researchers and other experts aren't accusing restaurants and food companies of trying to deceive customers. They said most of the discrepancies can be explained by variations in ingredients, portion sizes and testing methods. For example, the teenager behind the counter might have put too much mayonnaise on one sandwich.

Shooter Jennings Recruits Stephen King For Concept Album | Billboard.com click for entire story

Yemen has rejected direct U.S. intervention in its crackdown on al Qaeda. Where's "W" and the evil Cheney boys when you need them.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has told his Japanese counterpart that he is open to games between the World Series and Japan Series champions, but no steps have been taken for such a matchup. Now THIS would be cool- an ACTUAL World Series...

Floyd Mayweather Jr spoke to journalists today about the on again off again talks for a possible matchup against all world champ Manny Pacquiao. "First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass."

A new Harvard medical study says men with restless leg syndrome are more likely to have erectile dysfunction, new research suggests, but it's not clear how the two conditions are related.

A sequel to Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider movie is in the works. The film is tentatively titled Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance, and De Luca confirmed that director Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil) and Eva Mendes won’t be returning. The Producers are looking at the film as a reboot for the franchise (a la Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk), it’s currently set in Europe, and there’s a possibility it may get the 3D treatment. De Luca also mentioned that he’s open to Goyer directing the film, it’s all dependent on his schedule.

Good news for cell phone carrying mice- a study in mice suggests using cellphones may help prevent some of the brain-wasting effects of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. After long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves such as those used in cell phones, mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's performed as well on memory and thinking skill tests as healthy mice. The results were a major surprise and open the possibility of developing a noninvasive, drug-free treatment for Alzheimer's, said lead author Gary Arendash of the University of South Florida.

Looks like doctors aren't the only ones who should scrub before surgery. Bathing patients with an antiseptic and squirting medicated ointment up their noses dramatically cut the rate of dangerous staph infections afterward, researchers found. A second study found the antiseptic did a better job of preventing infections than the reddish-brown iodine solution that's been used for decades to swab the skin before an operation. Infections are a vexing problem for hospitals. Some 30 million surgical procedures are done each year, and up to a half million Americans develop surgical-site infections, mostly from staph bacteria.

Wednesday,January 6th,TRAINING!

**********
**********
**********

Training on a new flight following software called "Golden Hour" for our medical helicopters. Other than a fellow killjoy, training is going great. Technical issues notwithstanding.

This eventually will make the job easier.

Our instructors are doing a good job, despite the challenges before them.

CONFIDENCE IS HIGH!!

SCREW Law and Order!!

....
....

This Sunday, On Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on Fox, "The Simpsons" is airing its 450th episode. "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" will be followed by an hourlong documentary from Morgan Spurlock ("30 Days," "Super Size Me"), fancifully titled "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice."

During this season, when NBC's "Law & Order" boasts of having tied "Gunsmoke" as TV's longest-running prime-time drama, "The Simpsons" has seized the mantle as TV's longest-running scripted nighttime series — period.

Happy New Years Day!

*************************************************************************

Happy New Year's Day!

Hopefully NOBODY'S reading this and are instead enjoying the 1st new day of the year and decade..

I'm at work, so life sucks- HAHAHA!

here's some things on the interweb today

NEW LAWS ARE IN EFFECT- YAY! -- In SC, the biggest of changes or laws in SC concerns picture ID's on those hanging vehicle placards for the disabled or handicapped. The new law involves a completely new process for acquiring and displaying handicap placards. Beginning Jan. 1, placards will contain a photo identification, along with certificates verifying eligibility. Current placard holders can keep their placards until it expires, or Dec. 31, 2010 – whichever comes first. In NC, the biggest change involves smoking in public places. Other laws involve safeguards against racial profiling, expanded film credits, supervision of minors during arrests of their guardians, ethics training for municipal officials, stricter rules for denying unemployment compensation, increased requirements for animal adoption and recovery from shelters and the promotion of year-round water conservation. And those are just for the new year. Earlier this month, North Carolina banned texting while driving, a misdeamenor carrying a minimum $100 fine.

For more information about the North Carolina laws, visit ncga.state.nc.us. For more about the South Carolina law, visit scdmvonline.com.

**********************

After thousands of nominations of words and phrases commonly used in marketing, media, technology and elsewhere, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University on Thursday issued their 35th annual list of words that they believe should be banned. OBAMA-prefix, CHILLAXIN', BROMANCE, TOO BIG TO FAIL, TOXIC ASSETS, STIMULUS, IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES, TEACHABLE MOMENT, FRIEND (as a verb), SEXTING, TWEET, APP, CZAR, TRANSPARENT/TRANSPARENCY, and SHOVEL-READY.

******************************

The Walt Disney Co. completed its $4.24 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc. on Thursday, bringing Spider-Man, Iron Man and 5,000 other characters under the same roof as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

******************************

A new study confirms that smoking raises a person's risks of the major forms of esophageal and stomach cancers, while drinking has more narrow effects and affected only the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the form found in the upper part of the esophagus. People who, at the study's start, drank more than 30 grams of alcohol per day -- equivalent to two to three glasses of wine -- were nearly five times more likely to develop the cancer than abstainers were

******************************

Jubilant gay couples have rung in the New Year in New Hampshire with wedding vows to celebrate the state's new law legalizing same-sex marriage. At midnight, New Hampshire joined Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa in allowing gay marriage.

******************************

Bill Powell, the first African American to build, own and operate a golf course, died Thursday. He was 93. Full Story »

******************************

Police say a man who appeared in the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch" is wanted for three bank robberies in Oregon and has been arrested in Illinois.

******************************

Congratulations to the Navy's USS Ross. The destroyer has outlasted every other battleship, cruiser, destroyer and frigate in U.S. Navy history. The only warship in production for longer was the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Thanks to a decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Arleigh Burke destroyer production will continue for at least a few more years. The defense budget signed by President Barack Obama in December includes money for the first of at least three more ships. There's talk of many more being built.

The Case AGAINST Trying The Gtimo Detainees in America

I am of the opinion that we as America should lead and operate by example. I'm not necessarily concerned with how the world views the US, but the opinion of others does carry some weight. The below story is a good argument against trying Gitmo detainees and other enemy combatants here in the US or in a non- military court or setting.

BTW, in the case below, I am on the side of Blackwater. War is ugly, brutal, and horrible. War should be avaoided at all costs in my opinion. If you are put into a situation to begin or participate, oyu need to be as decisive as possible and fight to win- not fight to win as long as you don't offend anyone.

*****************************************************************************
Judge cites gov't missteps, tosses Blackwater case
By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON – A federal judge cited repeated government missteps in dismissing all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in a case that inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the case against the guards accused of the shooting in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007.

The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case.

Urbina said the prosecutors ignored the advice of senior Justice Department officials and built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said that violated the guards' constitutional rights. He dismissed the government's explanations as "contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility."

"We're obviously disappointed by the decision," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. "We're still in the process of reviewing the opinion and considering our options."

Prosecutors can appeal the ruling.

Ali al-Dabagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said in a statement Friday that the government was dismayed by the court's dismissal of the case.

"The Iraqi government regrets the decision," he said. "Investigations conducted by specialized Iraqi authorities confirmed unequivocally that the guards of Blackwater committed the crime of murder and broke the rules by using arms without the existence of any threat obliging them to use force."

Dr. Haitham Ahmed, whose wife and son were killed in the shooting, said the decision casts doubt on the integrity of the entire U.S. justice system.

"If a judge ... dismissed the trial, that is ridiculous and the whole thing has been but a farce," Ahmed said. "The rights of our victims and the rights of the innocent people should not be wasted."

Dozens of Iraqis, including the estates of some of the victims allegedly killed by Blackwater employees, filed a separate lawsuit last year alleging that Blackwater employees engaged in indiscriminate killings and beatings. The civil case is still before a Virginia court.

Blackwater contractors had been hired to guard U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The guards said insurgents ambushed them in a traffic circle. Prosecutors said the men unleashed an unprovoked attack on civilians using machine guns and grenades.

The shooting led to the unraveling of the North Carolina-based company, which since has replaced its management and changed its name to Xe Services.

The five guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn., and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.

Defense attorneys said the guards were thrilled by the ruling after more than two years of scrutiny.

"It's tremendously gratifying to see the court allow us to celebrate the new year the way it has," said attorney Bill Coffield, who represents Liberty. "It really invigorates your belief in our court system."

"It's indescribable," said Ball's attorney, Steven McCool. "It feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. Here's a guy that's a decorated war hero who we maintain should never have been charged in the first place."

The five guards had been charged with manslaughter and weapons violations. The charges carried mandatory 30-year prison terms.

Urbina's ruling does not resolve whether the shooting was proper. Rather, the 90-page opinion underscores some of the conflicting evidence in the case. Some Blackwater guards told prosecutors they were concerned about the shooting and offered to cooperate. Others said the convoy had been attacked. By the time the FBI began investigating, Nisoor Square had been picked clean of bullets that might have proven whether there had been a firefight or a massacre.

The Iraqi government has refused to grant Blackwater a license to continue operating in the country, prompting the State Department to refuse to renew its contracts with the company.

In a statement released by its president, Joseph Yorio, the company said it was happy to have the shooting behind it.

"Like the people they were protecting, our Xe professionals were working for a free, safe and democratic Iraq for the Iraqi people," Yorio said. "With this decision, we feel we can move forward and continue to assist the United States in its mission to help the people of Iraq and Afghanistan find a peaceful, democratic future."

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but said, "I do worry about it, because clearly there were innocent people killed in that attack ... it is heart-wrenching."

The case against the five men fell apart because, after the shooting, the State Department ordered the guards to explain what happened. In exchange for those statements, the State Department promised the statements would not be used in a criminal case. Such limited immunity deals are common in police departments so officers involved in shootings cannot hold up internal investigations by refusing to cooperate.

The five guards told investigators they fired their weapons, an admission that was crucial because forensic evidence could not determine who had fired.

Because of the immunity deal, prosecutors had to build their case without those statements, a high legal hurdle that Urbina said the Justice Department failed to clear. Prosecutors read those statements, reviewed them in the investigation and used them to question witnesses and get search warrants, Urbina said. Key witnesses also reviewed the statements and the grand jury heard evidence that had been tainted by those statements, the judge said.

The Justice Department set up a process to avoid those problems, but Urbina said lead prosecutor Ken Kohl and others "purposefully flouted the advice" of senior Justice Department officials telling them not to use the statements.

It was unclear what the ruling means for a sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway, who turned on his former colleagues and pleaded guilty to killing one Iraqi and wounding another. Had he gone to trial, the case against him would likely have fallen apart, but it's unclear whether Urbina will let him out of his plea deal.

___

Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

Read the judge's opinion: http://bit.ly/7q0G2r