Good Thursday Afternoon!

Lawmakers have agreed on legislation to extend expanded unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed through the end of the year. Laid off workers would also continue to get subsidies to buy health insurance through the COBRA program
go HERE

Meanwhile, El Weasel, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, is coming to OUR soil and admonishing The United States of America for Arizona's new legislation towards criminals who may be also be illegal immigrants, to reduces America's demand for illegal drugs, and to stop the flow of assault weapons and other arms into Mexico. Sure, no problem Pepe!!!! To read this nonsense, elclicko HERE-O


HAHAHAHA! The White House party crashers, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, were stopped in a limo near the White House Wednesday evening as President Barack Obama was holding his second official state dinner. The limo driver ran through a red light around 8 p.m., just blocks from the White House and was stopped by a uniformed Secret Service officer, according to Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan. The driver had signaled to turn into a restricted area near the Ellipse. The attention-hungry couple was among those in the limo. They were released and went to dinner a few blocks from the White House after the incident. The limo driver was issued an infraction for running the red light.

The world's largest chocolate maker says it may have come up with a chocolate bar that could fight wrinkles and slow the aging process, making it the latest food group to tap the appetite for healthier living. Click HERE for more info


No "Broke Back" goins on in Malawi anymore. A judge sentenced a couple to the maximum 14 years in prison with hard labor under Malawi's anti-gay legislation, and crowds jeered the two men as they were driven from the court house to jail Thursday.
Click here

No good liar and back stabber Floyd Landis is cryig and trying to deflect critisism on him and direct it towards Lance Armstrong accusing the former Mr Sheryl Crow of involvement in doping. Go HERE for the rest of the sad story


An Englewood Florida woman was shocked when her new driver's license sent in the mail listed her address as "Eat ASS." Initially, Ashlee Lineberger assumed it was a joke, but upon further investigation, she found that it was indeed a legitimate license - See the card and video HERE

Comedian and talk show host Craig Kilborn is to return to TV screens with a new daily talk show this summer. 'The Kilborn File' will debut June 28th for a six-week run on Fox television stations in in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Austin and Detroit. As has been widely reported, Kilborn will produce and host the half-hour show, which will feature his take on current affairs and pop culture. Guests will join him for recurring segments such as his signature 'Five Questions', and take part in a 'Power Panel', which will discuss the day's big issues. Announcing the show, Greg Meidel, President, Twentieth Television, said that the new show will see Kilborn placing "his unique comedy stamp on the talk show format."

and finally, An investigation by The Colorado Division of Gaming determined that the correct prize for a woman's $42.9 million slot machine jackpot is actually $20.18. In late March, a Colorado woman at Fortune Valley Casino in Central City received a false jackpot message when her penny slot machine announced a winnings of $42.9 million -- far more than the posted sum of $251, 000. The woman, Louise Chavez, says she's owed the full jackpot. A spokesman for the Colorado Gaming Division, however, said the top prize was clearly posted in the casino and as such Chavez's winnings are attributable only to a software glitch. Fortune Valley Casino had previously paid Chavez $23.43 for her prize, including $10 in unused credit still in the slot machine. Her $7 of unpaid winnings will be paid by the slot machine manufacturer, WMS Gaming.

Wayyyy Too Early Saturday Morning - 3/13/2010

well, my Tarheels lost in the first round of the ACC tournament. Even though Coach says he'll play anywhere he's invited to play, doesn't look like we'll even make the NIT (Not Invited Tournament). Though financially, it would be wise for the NIT-ers to invite us with our rabid fan following.

here are some stories I saw on the interweb.....

A group of Republican senators is questioning high salaries and expensive travel bills for executives at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising issues that could jeopardize millions in federal funding for the national charity. The four senators said they were concerned that Roxanne Spillett, the chief executive of a charity that has been closing local clubs for lack of funding was compensated nearly $1 million in 2008. They also questioned why in the same year officials spent $4.3 million on travel, $1.6 million on conferences, conventions and meetings, and $544,000 in lobbying fees. Evan McElroy, senior vice president of communications for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said the charity's compensation committee follows Internal Revenue Service guidelines for nonprofit organizations. He said Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, analyzed executive compensation and found it was "appropriate for a large, national, tax-exempt, youth organization."

A musical celebrating Ray Charles is headed for Broadway this fall. "Unchain My Heart" will open Nov. 7 with preview performances beginning Oct. 8.

One of the world's largest studies of the contraceptive pill has found that women who have taken it can expect longer lives and are less likely to die from any cause, including cancer and heart disease. Click HERE for the full story.

Germany's sex abuse scandal has now reached Pope Benedict XVI: His former archdiocese disclosed that while he was archbishop a suspected pedophile priest was transferred to a job where he later abused children.

An American seized in Yemen in a sweep of suspected al-Qaida members had been a laborer at six U.S. nuclear power plants, and authorities are investigating whether he had access to sensitive information or materials that would be useful to terrorists. Sharif Mobley, 26, worked for contractors at plants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland from 2002 to 2008, mostly hauling materials and setting up scaffolding, plant officials said.

According to the fine folks at CBR, Hugo Weaving is in talks to play The Red Skull. Weaving recently worked with director Joe Johnston on "The Wolfman" and will look interesting with his skin flayed off. Weaving also appeared in the Matrix and Lord of the Rings movies.

Director Rupert Wyatt has signed on the helm the "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" remake/series reboot. According to a source at the CBR.com, the film is more directly tied to the original "Planet of the Apes" and has many subtle references to it.

Disney will close Robert Zemeckis' studio ImageMovers Digital. The Marin County California studios will bow early next year. Disney claims the closing is due to 'economic realities.'

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ruled that the Federal Communications Commission could continue its so-called "program access rule," passed by statute in 1992, that are intended to prevent cable companies from withholding the most desirable channels, particularly sports channels, from rivals; basically stating the companies must continue to make programming they own available to satellite companies.

and finally, this headline from space.com -- Life-Enabling Molecules Spotted in Orion Nebula

The chemical fingerprints of potentially life-building molecules have been detected in the Orion nebula by Europe's Herschel Space Observatory.


The Orion nebula is a nearby stellar nursery, brimming with gas, dust and infant stars. It is known to be one of the most prolific chemical factories in space, although the full extent of its chemistry and the pathways for molecule formation are not well understood.


Researchers have used one of Herschel's instruments, which looks at the cosmos in the far infrared wavelengths of light, to provide more insight into how organic molecules form in space.


By sifting through the pattern of spikes in Orion nebula's light signature, or spectrum, astronomers have identified a few common molecules that are precursors to life-enabling molecules, including water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, methanol, dimethyl ether, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur oxide and sulfur dioxide. Each spike in the spectrum corresponds to a particular molecule.


"This HIFI spectrum, and the many more to come, will provide a virtual treasure trove of information regarding the overall chemical inventory and on how organics form in a region of active star formation. It harbors the promise of a deep understanding of the chemistry of space once we have the full spectral surveys available," said Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan and the principal investigator of the HEXOS Key Program on Herschel.


Because of Herschel's unique infrared observing abilities, this new spectrum is already an improvement on previous one's taken of the Orion nebula.


"We obtained this spectrum in a few hours and it already beats any other spectrum, at any other wavelength, ever taken of Orion," said Frank Helmich, Herschel HIFI principal investigator of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.


Built by the European Space Agency, Herschel launched in May 2009 on a mission to scan the universe in the far-infrared range of the spectrum. The observatory is expected to last until 2012 and has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope.


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

your ol pal,
John