Losing It Isn't So Bad

Morning Sex

Texas Man Not Afflicted with Affluenza

Receives Life Sentence for Killing Four People in Drunk Driving Accident

https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/texas-man-not-afflicted-with-affluenza-receives-life-sentence-for-killing-four-people-in-drunk-driving-accident/

A 23-year-old Texas man who killed four people in a drunk driving accident was sentenced to life in prison Friday, proving that penalties are harsh for those not afflicted with “affluenza.”

Rashad Owens had a blood alcohol content level of .114 when he plowed into a crowd of people during the 2014 South by Southwest festival in Austin.

On the other hand, Ethan Couch had a blood content level of .24 when he killed four people in 2013, resulting in the 16-year-old teen to receive a ten years of probation.

The difference is that Couch suffered from affluenza as pointed out by a psychologist hired by his family to testify on his behalf.

That basically meant that because Couch came from an extremely wealthy family, he was not expected to know right from wrong.

The way the local media reports it, Owens got off easy because he could have received the death penalty.

Not suffering from affluenza, Owens knew that very night that he had screwed up, telling the arresting officer he was regretful and never meant to kill anybody.

One of the arguments his attorney tried to make that as a black man driving a stolen car being chased by police, he was in fear for his life.

Potato Chip Grilled Cheese

Description

With Tomatoes and Pickles

Details

Cooking Time: 10min
Recipes Makes: 1
Calories: 513
Carbs: 28g
Fat: 39g
Protein:    15g

Ingredients
2 pieces of bread
3 slices of American Cheese
thinly sliced pickle slices, dabbed dry
1 thin slice of tomato
Good handful of potato chips (Ridged chips work best)

tablespoon of butter 

Directions

         (Assemble bottom to top: bread, cheese 1, pickles, tomato, cheese 2, chips, cheese 3, bread)

Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a pan over medium heat, once bubbling carefully add your sandwich.

Lightly press the sandwich down with a spatula or here I used a pot lid just to apply a little pressure to the sandwich.

After about 3-4 minutes, lift sandwich up, add the other 1/2 tablespoon of butter and flip the sandwich to grill the other side. (At this point you may want to turn the heat to low...you don't want the sandwich to cook too quickly because you need the cheese to melt...)
Again, apply light pressure to the sandwich.

After another 3-4 minutes or so, turn off the heat. (If cheese still isn't totally melted, allow the sandwich to sit in the pan covered for a few more minutes.)
Slice with a serrated knife and enjoy!

much more at Grilled Cheese n'Chips

This Is Getting Really Stupid

Teacher Carries Plastic Sword on “Talk Like A Pirate Day”, Police Lock-Down 4 Schools

Four North Carolina schools were recently placed on lock-down by police, after a “suspicious person” was seen entering Richlands Elementary School on September 19th.

An initial investigation turned up empty handed, but two weeks later the police announced that they solved the mystery behind the suspicious person at the school.

The “suspicious person” that caused the lock down was not actually an intruder, but was one of the school’s teachers, who had decided to celebrate “talk like a pirate day”, by dressing up for students.

A school representative explained to local reporters that the district has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to reports of suspicious people.

“We have this new psy lock system, there was an immediate lockdown done of the school and check in with all the teachers to make sure to make sure everybody was safe and secure. Law enforcement of course came to the scene,” Suzie Ulbrich, a spokesperson for Onslow Co. Schools said.

The staff member, whose name has not yet been revealed by police, was allegedly wearing a full pirate costume, complete with a pirate hat and a plastic sword.  Another member of the staff who was not in on the joke was apparently threatened by the teacher’s costume, and notified the school office, who then called police.

According to multiple reports, the staff member was under the impress

ion that the person was carrying a gun, not a plastic sword.

When police received reports of a strangely dressed person carrying a weapon, they shut down every nearby school in the district and searched each school with police and K-9 units.  Each search turned up empty handed and the lock-down was lifted after three hours.  It is not yet clear as to whether the festive teacher knew that the lock-down was intended for them at the time.

“After a thorough review of this incident, it has been determined that school personnel working in conjunction with law enforcement agencies handled the situation in a very professional manner and followed all protocols to the letter,“ Jerry Morse of the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

The Nanny state seems to be running amok. Last month we reported the story of a middle school being placed on lockdown for a student wearing a military-style jacket. A few weeks before that, an entire campus was shut down and SWAT descended on Cal State San Marcos in response to a man carrying an umbrella. After witnessing these reactions to such minuscule and irrelevant matters, is it any surprise that police are so quick to shoot first and ask questions later?

http://www.dcclothesline.com/NANNY STATE  for the original article

What? Don't Worry

Don’t Worry? 10 Quotes From Health Experts Promising That Ebola Will Not Be A Problem In America

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Michael Snyder

http://www.dcclothesline.com/

Ebola Sneeze - Public DomainHealth experts all over the United States are promising us that we do not need to be worried about Ebola whatsoever.  Even though one case has already been confirmed in Dallas, Texas and another potential case is being monitored, health authorities assure us that we have the greatest health system in the history of the planet and that we will be able to handle any isolated cases very easily.  And all over the mainstream media on Wednesday, there were headlines declaring that the arrival of Ebola in America is a non-event.  One example is this headline from Bloomberg: “Ebola in America? Don’t Worry About It”.  So are they right?  Should the rest of us just kick back and relax because a bunch of really smart guys are assuring us that our health system can easily deal with anything that Ebola can throw at us?  The following are 10 quotes from prominent experts promising us that Ebola will not be a problem in this country…

#1 Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: “We feel confident that there won’t be an outbreak.”

#2 University of Chicago professor Michael Z. David: “While this all sounds very frightening, there’s no need to worry at this point about Ebola spreading widely here.”

#3 Gerardo Chowell-Puente, an associate professor of mathematical epidemiology at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University: “Math and history show us that decisive efforts to isolate those who are infected with Ebola and to follow up quickly with the potential contacts of the infected can help to get an outbreak under control. We’re lucky that we have such capacities in the United States; even with the Ebola case in Dallas, the epidemic should not get much of a foothold here.”

#4 Texas Health Director David Lakey: “This is a very sophisticated city, a very sophisticated hospital, … and the chances of it being spread are very, very scarce.”

#5 Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health & Human Services: “This is not Africa. We have a great infrastructure to deal with an outbreak.”

#6 Dr. William Shaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center: “We’re very prepared: Infection-control people in hospitals over the past two months have been reviewing all their infection- control procedures because we anticipated just this sort of thing happening—a person coming from West Africa, they were healthy at the time they traveled, but got sick here.”

#7 Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC: “It is certainly possible that someone who has had contact with this patient could develop Ebola, but there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here.”

#8 Dr. William Shaffner: “Even Doctors Without Borders in West Africa are moving the fatality rate from 50 percent down to 30 percent—I bet we can do substantially better than that here.”

#9 Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston: “The Ebola virus is not easily transmitted from person to person, and we have an outstanding infrastructure in place both to contain the virus and trace contacts. There will not be an Ebola epidemic in the United States.”

#10 Thomas Frieden: “The bottom line here is that I have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of Ebola so that it does not spread widely throughout this country.”

So are they right?

I don’t know.

I hope that they are.

But considering how out of control the Ebola pandemic in West Africa is, I wouldn’t be as dogmatic as those experts are being.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama continues to act as if nothing has changed either.  Even though a number of other nations have shut down all air traffic to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Obama still refuses to restrict air travel to and from those countries…

After U.S. officials disclosed another potential case of Ebola in Dallas, Texas, this morning, the question remains whether the Obama administration will finally stop flights from Ebola-stricken countries as multiple nations did over a month ago.

In mid-August, Korean Air and Kenya Airways announced they were halting flights to the West African countries ravaged by Ebola, and British Airways and Air France also decided to suspend service to the Ebola hot zone a few weeks later.

“France is recommending that its citizens leave Sierra Leone and Liberia, two of the countries hardest hit by the worst ever outbreak of the disease,” Jessica Plautz reported forMashable. “The government said the increasing spread of the disease prompted its request that the airline to suspend flights.”

Yet the Obama administration made no such request to U.S. airlines and government flights, despite the Center of Disease Control advising Americans to avoid “non-essential travel” to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea several weeks ago.

Obama says that he has a tremendous amount of confidence in the “extensive screening” at our airports.

Would that be the same “extensive screening” that some CNN employees recently experienced?…

http://www.dcclothesline.com/  for the rest of the story

A Little Humor

OK, I'm going to try and revive this blog.  Let's see what happens.

Could It Really Be?

Not Going To Work

Be Be Getting A Little Concerned

Just How Bad Is The Fukushima Radiation Leak


(NaturalNews) If you've heard about Fukushima radiation spreading to the Pacific Coast of North America but were "corrected" by sources both official and expert that this was based more on rumor than reality, then consider the information presented at the October 2013 North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) annual meeting.

Researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirmed that the radioactive plume from Fukushima is indeed reaching the shores of Canada and the United States - and was detected at least six months ago - carried both in the ocean surface water and the atmosphere on similar but slightly different courses.

In a presentation titled "Communicating the forecasts, uncertainty and consequences of ecosystem change," (read here: http://www.pices.int) the Canadian researchers gave evidence that the bulk of radioactivity from Fukushima is shifting almost entirely from the western portion of the North Pacific (Japan) to the eastern portion (North America) over the course of the next five years. As of 2012, it had already reached the central region of the Pacific Ocean, and a previously unpublished map shows that, as of 2013, it had reached the shores of Alaska and British Columbia, with the most intense area of the plume yet to arrive.

The Fall 2013 discussion centered around competing calculations of the severity of effects from cesium-137, based around two differing models of the radiation's trajectory. The first, published by German researcher Erik Behrens and his colleagues at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in 2012, drastically understates the potential dangers, predicting only modest levels of 2 becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m^3) by 2015 for the 49th parallel near British Columbia and Washington state - scarcely above the background levels from the continued fallout of Chernobyl.

Meanwhile, the second, published by Vincent Rossi and other colleagues from the Climate Change Research Centre in 2013, presents a much more consequential picture. It predicts alarming maximum levels reaching 25 Bq/m^3 at their monitoring station in British Columbia by 2015 and peaks above 30 Bq/m^3. Cesium levels at the 30th parallel - reaching Baja California in Mexico - wouldn't peak until about 2019, though projected maximum levels would reach only about 15-20 Bq/m^3.

read more with the link above...........................

a bit of an update

OK, this blog will continue, but in a different format.  I'm going to shy away from too much politics and news, and stick mostly with humor, recipes, various tidbits, and a few news stories that I feel are worthwhile.
I just don't have the time or energy to keep it moving at it's previous pace.  I've got some new lung issues that I'm on a regimen of heavy antibiotics for treatment, and they aren't the most fun to take.  Not only are they wrecking havoc is my stomach, but they seem to tire me out, bother my heart at times, and just sort of run me down.  I continue to do my 1 day a week volunteering at the local university hospital, and all that walking tires me out too----but I do enjoy doing it.  Most of the tasks are menial, but someone has to do them.  It's amazing to hear that this hospital has over 1400 active volunteers at any one time.  Many are college students planning on a career in medicine, but many former employees. former patients and community members also volunteer in various ways.  It is an awesome program at an even more awesome hospital.  I myself fall into the former (and present) patients and local community members categories.  It's also fun to watch all of the many construction projects going on at this hospital----a huge new state-of-the-art children't hospital is the big one, but they are adding onto several floors in certain wings (horizontally), putting more floors on top of other wings, and simply building new additions.  The eye clinic just got a huge donation from a well-to-do- businessman, and I'm sure they'll be doing some more amazing stuff with that money.  Oh, well......enough of my rambling for tonight. 

Looking For Feedback

OK, I've been lax on this blog lately.  Quite frankly, I was getting burned out because the blog was simply taking too much of my time and my feedback/return was minimal.  I tried to present a variety of articles that I felt most people never would see in the present everyday parrot media. Some of the stories were actually view quite often, nut not many.  Part of my problem with this blog is that it was hard to actually track how many folks were truly visiting and reading.  Maybe that was my own problem for making the type so that it rarely had to be enlarged.  Yet I am not sure as I don't completely understand how Blogger measures actual 'page views.' I have had a few requests to keep this up.  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  And if I do, how could I modify it to give you, as viewers, the type of content you really want?  What types of stories, jokes, and stuff interests you?  I read a great many blogs and news reports and can find quite a variety of things.  Like the recipes?  The jokes?  Don't like anything?  Hey, I'm looking for some feedback here, so if you could spare me a few minutes of your time, I would appreciate it.  Thx    

The Old Lady Wins

Lucille decided to give herself a big treat for her 70th birthday by staying overnight in a really nice hotel.. When she checked out the next morning, the desk clerk handed her a bill for $250.00. She demanded to know why the charge was so high "I agree it's a nice hotel, but the rooms aren't worth $250..00 for just an overnight stay - I didn't even have breakfast!"

 The clerk told her that $250.00 is the 'standard rate,' and breakfast had been included had she wanted it. She insisted on speaking to the Manager. The Manager appeared and, forewarned by the desk clerk, announced: "This hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference center which are available for use." "But I didn't use them." ''Well, they are here, and you could have." He went on to explain that she could also have seen one of the in-hotel shows for which they were so famous."We have the best entertainers from the world over performing here." "But I didn't go to any of those shows.." "Well, we have them, and you could have." 

No matter what amenity the Manager mentioned, she replied, "But I didn't use it!" and the Manager countered with his standard response. After several minutes discussion, and with the Manager still unmoved, she decided to pay, wrote a check and gave it to him. 

The Manager was surprised when he looked at the check. "But Madam, this check is for only $50.00 

"That's correct I charged you $200.00 for sleeping with me." "But I didn't!" "Well, too bad, I was here, and you could have."

This Train Would Get You From NYC to D.C. in 1 Hour — But America Will Never Build It

The news: Japan is ardently encouraging the United States to build a high-speed, ultra-futuristic maglev train line along the Northeast Corridor. In fact, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is so devoted to the project that he’s offered to comp the first 40 miles of such a line, which could stretch between D.C. and Baltimore. Were it to be built, the blisteringly fast maglev would permit commuters to travel between New York City and the nation’s capital in under an hour, far quicker than a three-hour Acela ride and even swifter than the hour-and-15-minute flight between the cities.

On Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hosted a bevy of retired American politicians who are advising The Northeast Maglev, a D.C.-based company that thinks it can finally get high-speed rail project off the ground in the United States. Former Senate Majority Speaker Tom Daschle, former Governors George Pataki and Ed Rendell, and former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters were treated to a 315 mph trip on a demonstration stretch of Central Japan Railway Company’s (J.R. Tokai) maglev line. 

Here’s what a test run of the shockingly fast train looks like:

http://youtu.be/k_eT4zq8eO0

Pretty freaking cool, right? The future.

The background: Japan, unlike the United States, has long been a world leader in high-speed rail. It began developing its Shinkansen network of bullet trains in the mid-1950s, and currently operates some of the fastest lines in the world. J.R. Tokai is currently constructing a high-speed maglev track between Tokyo and Osaka, which will become the second maglev line in Japan. (Linimo, a lower-speed “urban maglev” operates in Aichi Prefecture, and is one of the three fully-operational maglev lines in the world that’s open to the public.)

Abe is hoping to mitigate the $100 billion cost of the Tokyo-Osaka line by creating an industry to export the technology behind it, adding to his reputation for economic prowess, and distracting from his disquieting nationalism.

Why we can’t have nice things: High-speed rail is among the safest and most reliable forms of transportation, and its arrival would be a welcome relief for the congested Northeast Corridor, where highways, railways, and airline routes are all routinely overwhelmed by travelers. Unfortunately, given the United State’s botched implementation of the modest Acela system and underfunding of Amtrak in general, Vice President Smokin’ Joe Biden might not be able to kick back and crack a 9% a.b.v. India Pale Ale on a maglev train any time soon. Americans have been reluctant to shell out for plain ol’ tracks-and-wheels high-speed trains, let alone a futuristic floating foreign-born behemoth that would require its own right-of-way through a crowded landscape — and, by proxy, countless eminent domain debacles.

The problem isn’t that Japan is living in the future, but that between bureaucratic friction and over-reliance on the automobile, the United States is living in the past.

On the bright side, the president of Amtrak’s board of Directors, the improbably named Joe Boardman, has a pretty sweet mustache.

http://www.policymic.com/this-train-would-get-you-from-nyc-to-d-c-in-1-hour-but-america-will-never-build-it

Crockpot Beef & Broccoli

Adelia Woodbury

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND



CROCKPOT BEEF AND BROCCOLI

Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 cup beef consumme
½ cup soy sauce
⅓ cup brown sugar or honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cooled sauce from the crock pot after being cooked

Fresh broccoli florets (as many as desired)
Hot cooked rice (brown rice, or riced cauliflower)

Directions
1. Place beef in a crock pot.
2. In a small bowl, combine consomme, soy sauce, brown sugar/honey, oil, and garlic. Pour over beef. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. In a cup, stir cornstarch and sauce form the crock pot until smooth. Add to crock pot. Stir well to combine. (If your sauce is not thickening, try bringing your sauce to a boil on the stovetop with the corn starch mixture. Boil until your desired consistency is reached).
4. Add broccoli to the crock pot. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).
6. Serve over hot cooked rice.

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— with Francesca Mandacina, Dana Flores Hernandez, Tammy Morrison Blum, Duane Dumont, Lisa Warren and Angie Brown Pack- Crum.

Throwing a party? Here are some NOM ideas (23 photos + recipes)

Spicy Queso Blanco [RECIPE]

Mini Frittata [RECIPE]

Fresh Fruit Champagne Cocktails [RECIPE]

Steak Salad Lettuce Wraps [RECIPE]

Bourbon & Cider Glazed Turkey Meatballs [RECIPE]

Burrata with Grilled Red Pepper Dip [RECIPE]

Spinach Artichoke Dip Stuffed Mushrooms [RECIPE]

Apple Cider Cocktail [RECIPE]

S’mores Treats In Mini Mason Jars [RECIPE]

see them all at:

 http://theberry.com/throwing-a-party-here-are-some-nom-ideas-recipes/

See and Hear: Mount Etna Volcano Erupts in Sicily

On Nov. 17, 2013, the volcanic eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, was captured on video.

Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe, and in this video you can hear it rumbling as its lava shoots towards the sky, lighting up the sky above the Italian island.

if you've never heard a volcano before, click here...

http://weather.aol.com/see-and-hear-mount-etna-volcano-erupts-in-sicily/

This Story Will Get You

new-aesthetic

World’s first robot SUICIDE as family return to find Roomba cleaning gadget had turned to ash - Mirror Online "Somehow it seems to have reactivated itself and made its way along the work surface where it pushed a cooking pot out of the way and basically that was the end of it," fireman Helmut Kniewasser told The Daily Mail. "I don’t know about the allegations of a robot suicide but the homeowner is insistent that the device was switched off—it’s a mystery how it came to be activated and ended up making its way to the hotplate." found at new-aesthetic.tumblr