Friday's Word Is Quincunx

I thought I would start with one word today, before we get onto regular postings as it looks like there is plenty of bad, and/or bloody stories to work with, and we have been doing pretty light postings all week.
So have a good Friday, and the word is~~Quincunx.

Quincunx (noun)
Pronunciation: ['kwing-kungks]
Definition: Five objects arranged so that four are at the corners of a square or rectangle and one is at the center; the pattern of "five" on a 6-sided die.
Usage: Sir Francis Galton used a box with a triangular arrangement of pegs inside which he called a quincunx in order to explore laws of variation. Beads dropped from the top of the box hit each peg with equal probability of going left to right. But at the bottom of the triangle, the beads form a bell curve, suggesting that variation leads to mediocrity. The pinball machine works along the same principles: any ball that hits a series of obstacles is more likely to end up in the middle, where the gap between the flippers lies, than on either side. The ball travels quincuncially (the adverb).
Suggested Usage: "Aurora blamed her divorce from George on a quincunx in their horoscopes." Yes, the quincunx is important in astrology, where it means two planets are 150 degrees from each other and have very little in common. In Christianity, the quincunx means the four wounds in Jesus' hands and feet, plus the spear through the side. To the ancient Greeks, the quincunx signified divine perfection—the four elements of fire, water, earth and air, plus the fifth, mystery element, the quintessence.
Etymology: From the Latin for "five ounces," from quinque "five" + uncia "ounce, a twelfth part." Latin "quinque" [kwenkwe] originates in the Indo-European root *penkwe after an anticipatory assimilation of the [p] to the final [kw]. German fünf "five" is expected. English "five" suffers a loss of the nasal [n] which did not drop out of "finger," originally meaning a "fiver." Russian pjat' "five"comes from *penti and Greek penta provides the name of the five-sided Pentagon.

Take Care

20 Popular Science Myths

After a Myspace friend, Paris Love, Ex-Stripper, commented on a post about what seemed to be stupid studies to confirm what we already know, that may things which were supposedly "confirmed", turned out to be wrong after they were actually studied, and she mentioned the example of the earth revolving around the sun, instead of the other way around, as one big example.

So I went to a few science sites and found 20 of the most popular myths in science, and which ones of those 20, are true, and which are false. There are many more, but I thought I would start with 20, and maybe do more later in the week, or whenever news is a little slow.

In no particular order of importance, here they are:

It takes seven years to digest gum

While it may prove a bit more difficult to break down than organic foodstuffs, chewing gum gets no special treatment from the digestive system. Doctors figure this old wives' tale was invented to prevent kids from swallowing the rubbery substance.


The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from space

There are several variations on this folkloric statement, and they're all quantifiably false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low-Earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can't see the Wall from the Moon.

Humans use only 10 percent of their brains
This media darling has been around for at least a century. Fortunately, it's just not true. MRI imaging clearly demonstrates--with fancy colors no less--that humans put most of their cerebral cortex to good use, even while dozing.

Adults don't grow new brain cells
Much of a human's crucial brain development happens during childhood, but it isn't all downhill from there. Studies have shown that neurons continue to grow and change well into the adult years.

Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation
Not only is the Earth's rotation too weak to affect the direction of water flowing in a drain, tests you can easily perform in a few washrooms will show that water whirlpools both ways depending on the sink's structure, not the hemisphere.

Animals can predict natural disasters
There is no evidence that animals possess a mysterious sixth-sense allowing them to predict natural disasters. Their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sharp instincts alone are enough to send them scattering for the hillsides during a hurricane or tsunami. And even so, animals often die during natural disasters, so if they do have some sort of sixth sense, it's not worth much.

A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian
A penny isn't the most aerodynamic of weapons. A combination of its shape and wind friction means that, tossed even from the 1,250-foot Empire State Building, it would travel fast enough merely to sting an unlucky pedestrian.

A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's
Despite a habit of licking things no human would dare, Fido's mouth is often touted as scientifically more sterile. Truth is, oral bacteria are so species-specific that one can't be considered cleaner than the other, just different.

Men think about sex every seven seconds
Males are driven to reproduce, evolutionarily speaking, but there is no scientific way of measuring to what extent that desire consumes their everyday lives. Thankfully, for world productivity as a whole, seven seconds seems a gross overstatement, as best researchers can tell.

Lightning never strikes the same place twice
In fact lightning favors certain spots, particularly high locations. The Empire State Building is struck about 25 times every year. Ben Franklin grasped the concept long ago and mounted a metal rod atop the roof of his home, then ran a wire to the ground, thereby inventing the lightning rod.


A falling cat will always land on its feet
Studies have demonstrated that, when dropped from most heights, cats will land gracefully on their feet. Results change only with cats dropped upside-down from a height of one foot or less. We're not suggesting you try this at home.


Yawning is "contagious"
Empirically, this is tough to deny; perhaps you'll yawn while reading this. The real question is whether there's actually something physiological at work here, and the answer is likely yes: even chimpanzees mimic each other's yawns.

Eating a poppy seed bagel mimics opium use
Purveyors of this urban legend call on a popular Seinfeld episode for support. It turns out there's truth behind the comedy: tests suggest ingesting just two poppy seed bagels may produce a positive result for opiates on a drug screen.

There is no gravity in space
Blame the term "zero-gravity" for this common misconception. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. Oh, and while we're at it, it's also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit sometimes far apart (and this thin gas adds to the collective gravity budget, too!)

Chicken soup can cure the common cold
Cure is a strong word, but science suggests Moms around the world are still right in forcing spoonfuls of chicken soup down their kids' throats. Studies have found that the broth actually contains anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce congestion.

Seasons are caused by the Earth's proximity to the sun
The Earth's distance from the sun during its yearly elliptical orbit actually has little effect on temperature. It's the angle of the Earth's tilt--toward the sun in the summer for the Northern Hemisphere and away in the winter--that dictates climate.

Chickens can live without a head
True, and not just for a few minutes. A chicken can stagger around without its noggin because the brain stem, often left partially intact after a beheading, controls most of its reflexes. One robust fellow lived a full eighteen months. Likely he was a real birdbrain, however.


The five second rule
Having an arbitrary rule justifying the consumption of food dropped on the floor within a certain time frame is convenient, especially when said food is a brownie. Unfortunately, tests (and logic) confirm that germs will stick to most foods right on contact.


You get less wet by running in the rain
Actual mathematical equations devoted to this popular question have suggested it is true, though not for the simple reasons you might think. Complexities include factoring in the number of rain drops hitting the walker's head versus smacking the runner's chest.


Hair and fingernails continue growing after death
Though hair and fingernails appear to keep growing after death, this is merely a morbid optical illusion at work. In death the human body dehydrates severely, retracting enough skin to expose more nail and hair.

Have A Great Thursday Evening!!

A Trio Of Words For Thursday

I thought I would start with some words of the day~~to wake up our sleepy minds, and maybe learn something new!! Have A Great Thursday:

Ceilidh (noun)
Pronunciation: ['key-li]
Definition: (Scotland and Ireland) A social gathering, especially one at which hosts and guests participate in traditional music, dancing, or storytelling—or a professional "ceilidh" band might be hired for the event.
Usage: Today's word is clearly a Celtic one adapted for use in Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. It has no relatives in English, so all we have to worry about is the pronunciation: it sounds like 'Kay Lee' with the accent on the first syllable.
Suggested Usage: A ceilidh today is usually a party organized around folk music or folklore: "We're having a wee ceilidh at the house this weekend; would you mind telling your brother that he's invited?" However, it still may be a gathering, usually around a fire, at which the participants exchange stories: "Everyone at this quiet country ceilidh had a good story to tell about someone who wasn't there."
Etymology: Irish Gaelic céilidhe is from Old Irish célide "visit" from céile or céle "companion." The English spelling follows the Scottish. The stem here developed from Proto-Indo-European *kei- "beloved, dear" and also "bed, couch." The suffixed form *kei-wi- underlies "city," "civic," "civil" from Latin civis "citizen," probably originally referring to a member of a household. In Sanskrit, this stem became the name, "Shiva," one of the three figures in the Supreme Trinity of Hinduism, from Sanskrit s'iva- "auspicious, dear."

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Limen (noun)
Pronunciation: ['li-men]
Definition: The threshold beyond which a stimulus elicits a response.
Usage: The adjective here is "liminal." Now, most of us are familiar with the term "subliminal," as in "subliminal suggestion," generally used in the sense of "imperceptible but stimulating consciousness." That is not quite what it means. The precise meaning is "below (sub-) the threshold (of consciousness)." The difference is slight but significant, since we can speak of subliminal physical stimuli, too, as we will demonstrate in the next section. Remember the plural of today's word is "limina."
Suggested Usage: Here is how you may begin to explore the metaphorical potential of our old Freudian friend: "Hardy Flowers brought a subliminal wine that couldn't quite elicit a response from our taste buds." As for today's word itself, "I'm afraid that suggestion does not quite reach the limen of consideration." (Hopefully, it won't bring a sour response.)
Etymology: Latin limen "threshold" akin to limes, limitis "boundary," the origin of our word "limit."

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Vituperate (verb)ous (adjective)
Pronunciation: [vI-'tu-pêr-yet or -'tyu (British)]
Definition: To scold extremely harshly and with abusive language, to furiously verbally abuse.
Usage: The adjective is "vituperative" and the noun, "vituperation." One who vituperates is a vituperator. "Fulminate" originally meant "to explode," so this verb refers to an explosive verbal attack on someone. "Vituperate" also refers to an abusive verbal attack but one which is not necessarily loud.
Suggested Usage: Here is a scene I would have paid real money to witness: "The incensed priests . . . continued to raise their voices, vituperating each other in bad Latin" –Walter Scott, Ivanhoe (1819). Here is the intelligent substitute for "curse" (or worse, "cuss") you have been looking for: "Vituperate as much as you please; even if you fulminate, I will not change my mind."
Etymology: Latin vituperare "to censure, find fault" from vitium "fault" + parare "to prepare, furnish." "Vitium" developed into French "vice" whence English vice "bad habit, crime." It is unrelated to the prefix "vice-" which comes from Latin vicinus "near, neighboring." It is related to Russian vina "guilt, fault."

Please feel to share any new, unique, or odd words, that you may have and enjoy using. Thank You!!

Science Confirms The Obvious

I was bored this evening so I started typing studies into the search engine and came up with some items in which Science confirms the obvious!!
No-brainer findings uncover hidden truths in conventional wisdom
Enjoy, as the following indicates is a "serious" actual story of scientific research and their "obvious" findings:

Unathletic kids are unpopular at school

The Study: “Perceived Athletic Competence, Sociometric Status, and Loneliness in Elementary School Children,” Journal of Sport Behavior, September 2007.

The Findings: Janice Causgrove Dunn of the University of Alberta studied 99 boys and 109 girls in Western Canada in grades 4 through 6, finding that those students who were perceived by others as having good athletic skills were more popular, while the seemingly uncoordinated often felt dissatisfaction and isolation.
Why Bother? Because no one had thought to study the phenomenon before, yet it’s crucial to understanding how social strata form among students. “We knew there was a common-sense link between lack of athletic skill and loneliness,” Dunn says. Although much research relied on that assumed link, she couldn’t find a single study to back it up, so she undertook it herself. “It’s funny how many colleagues have said ‘thank you’ for finally having something to cite.”


Materialistic teenagers are just insecure

The Study: “Growing Up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents,” Journal of Consumer Research, December 2007.

The Findings: Why are kids so concerned with having a cool cellphone? Lan Nguyen Chaplin of the University of Illinois and Deborah Roedder John of the University of Minnesota looked for a connection between self-esteem and materialism in children aged 8 to 18. They observed a big drop in self-esteem in kids aged 12 and 13 that accompanied the “use of material possessions as a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth.” But even a small boost in self-esteem, in this case kind words from acquaintances written on paper plates, caused them to forget their insecurity — and material obsessions — for the day.

Why Bother? Because, as Chaplin points out, her study could have practical benefits for material girls and boys. Keep kids’ self-esteem high, and they’ll be happier. They might also stop bugging you for a Wii.



Teenagers drink to have fun

The Study: “Why Do High School Seniors Drink? Implications for a Targeted Approach to Intervention,” Prevention Science, December 2007.

The Findings: A survey of 1,877 high-school seniors determined that underage drinkers imbibe for four main reasons: to experiment, to thrill-seek, to relax, and for “mixed reasons,” which is the category that yielded the most problematic drinkers. “Members of all four profiles,” the study reports, “indicated that they drink to have a good time with friends.”

Why Bother? “It is our hope that the categories we found will help clinicians to tailor their interventions” to individual teens, explains Donna Coffman, who conducted the study for the Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center at Penn State University. That knowledge could help identify and treat problem drinkers before they graduate and become professional barflies.



Sleep and caffeine combat sleepiness

The Study: “Aging and Nocturnal Driving: Better with Coffee or a Nap? A Randomized Study,” Sleep, December 2007.

The Findings: French scientists gave 12 participants in their early 20s and 12 in their 40s either coffee, decaf or a 30-minute nap in the car and then tested their wakefulness during a 125-mile highway drive. Coffee was the overall winner, perking up almost all the drivers. The nap refreshed the young, but it didn’t do much for the older group.

Why Bother? Because late-night and early-morning hours see an unusually high number of fatal car crashes, and understanding why is one key to avoiding road fatalities. “Many young drivers are involved in sleep-related accidents, and up to now people thought it was related to a behavior, like nightclubbing,” explains Pierre Philip of the Sleep Clinic in Bordeaux, France. But the victims may be young shift workers relying on the wrong pick-me-ups. Taking note of age may be key in developing effective strategies for keeping late-night workers, such as truck drivers and doctors, alert. Bosses might send 20-somethings off for quick z's and (envious) middle-aged workers to the coffee shop.



Vacations are better without your cellphone

The Study: Ongoing research.

The Findings: Organizational psychologist Dov Eden and his team at Tel Aviv University studied 800 college professors in the U.S., New Zealand and Israel, finding that those who stayed connected to work through devices like their cellphone don’t get the psychological “respite relief” from chronic job stress that a vacation is supposed to provide.

Why Bother? Because time off is as important to productivity as work itself. Ongoing job stress can lead to burnout and chronic diseases, so effectively refreshing workers is a plus for employers and employees. (Eden’s research indicates that within three weeks of a 14-day vacation, for example, stress levels rise back to pre-vacation levels. He suspects that frequent short vacations may be more productive than an occasional long hiatus.) Bring the phone, however, and you’re still at work. “Work cellphones and company e-mail at the pool is not a vacation,” says Eden, who reserves his phone for emergencies. “People who do this are shackled to electronic tethers.”



Loneliness sucks

The Study: “Aging and Loneliness: Downhill Quickly?” Current Directions in Psychological Science, August 2007.

The Findings: University of Chicago researchers investigated the physical effects of loneliness on the overall health of young, middle-aged and older people. Sustained loneliness found in the 50- to 68-year-old subjects correlated with increased blood pressure, as well as a spike in epinephrine levels, both health-risk factors for older adults.

Why Bother? Because the U.S. is becoming lonelier, with 25 percent of Americans unable to name a trusted confidante, according to the American Sociological Review. Understanding how this trend affects health is becoming more important as aging baby boomers come to dominate the population.




Rock stars live fast, die young

The Study: “Elvis to Eminem: Quantifying the Price of Fame through Early Mortality of European and North American Rock and Pop Stars,” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, October 2007.

The Findings: Killjoy Mark Bellis and his colleagues at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University in England examined the lives of 1,064 North American and European musicians written up in the book All-Time Top 1,000 Albums, comparing their post-fame death rates against the general population. It turns out that between 2 and 25 years after hitting it big, the rocker mortality rate is two to three times that of their non-rocker peers.

Why Bother? Bellis says they did this study for the kids. “Stars are important role models for young people,” he writes. “Consequently, the behavior and resultant morbidity and mortality associated with rock and pop stardom may have a disproportionate influence.” His solution isn’t very rock ‘n’ roll: Encourage healthier habits.



Standing is better for you than sitting

The Study: “Role of Low Energy Expenditure and Sitting in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease,” Diabetes, November 2007.

The Findings: Marc Hamilton and his team at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that the recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day may not be enough to counteract health problems caused by sitting and sleeping the other 23.5 hours. Their research on the metabolism of rats, pigs and humans suggests that after several hours on our butts, our bodies shut down fat- and cholesterol-burning mechanisms, but standing switches those metabolic functions back on, and calorie-burning is effectively doubled.

Why Bother? Hamilton argues that since only 5 percent of Americans exercise regularly, simply staying upright by working at a standing desk or pacing while taking the occasional phone call may be a more practical first step toward good health for most Americans than asking them to go jogging on their lunch break. “We need to focus on the fact that if sitting is a cause of disease in most people,” Hamilton says, “then avoiding sitting is the most direct and simple recommendation to start with.”



Long ambulance rides make you more likely to die

The Study: “The Relationship between Distance to Hospital and Patient Mortality in Emergencies: An Observational Study,” Emergency Medicine Journal, September 2007.

The Findings: Looking at four British ambulance services carrying 10,315 patients between 1997 and 2001, researchers determined that every six miles between patient and hospital increased the risk of death by 1 percent. The risks were even greater for patients with severe respiratory ailments: They had a 20 percent greater chance of death if the hospital was more than 12 miles away.

Why Bother? Because emergency rooms could become more scarce. A scheme by the British National Health Service could close several ERs in favor of big central ones. But Jon Nicholl, director of the Medical Care Research Unit at the University of Sheffield and the study’s lead researcher, says his findings suggest that a diversity of emergency services might help survival rates. “The ‘one size fits all’ approach is absurd,” he says. “I’m in favor of a mix of large high-quality centers and local immediate-care centers. We need to get the right patient to the right place at the right time.”



You catch the flu in winter

The Study: “Influenza Virus Transmission Is Dependent on Relative Humidity and Temperature,” PLoS Pathogens, October 2007.

The Findings: Experiments on flu-afflicted guinea pigs revealed that the bug spreads most easily at low relative humidities and cold temperatures, with the highest transmissions at 41 F and a humidity of 35 percent or less.

Why Bother? Because the flu may be easy to avoid. Scientists have long assumed that indoor crowding in winter was what spread it. But this study suggests that the flu just lives longest in dry, cold conditions. So close the window. The flu, writes Anice Lowen of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, could be fought off “by simply maintaining room air at warm temperatures and either intermediate or high relative humidities.”



Wow!! Well at least they didn't have to do a study to see if "looks" matter when choosing a mate, Right?? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm~~I Guess They Did:


Looks are everything: study~~

While humans may consider themselves highly sophisticated beings, a new study says that when it comes to choosing a mate, we resort to the most basic of selection processes: looks.

Despite claims by individuals to the contrary, physical beauty is the key trait men look for, according to research by Indiana University cognitive scientist Peter Todd. Women, on the other hand, are choosier but tend to pick men who can offer material wealth and security that is on par with how the women perceive their own attractiveness.

"Evolutionary theories in psychology suggest that men and women should trade off different traits in each other, and when we look at the actual mate choices people make, this is what we find evidence for," Todd said in a release in advance of his study, which is to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Ancestral individuals who made their mate choices in this way — women trading off their attractiveness for higher-quality men and men looking for any attractive women who will accept them — would have had an evolutionary advantage in greater numbers of successful offspring."

The study used a speed-dating session to compare what people said they wanted in a mate with whom they actually chose. Speed dating is where men and women have a number of "mini-dates" that last only a few minutes, giving them only a short time to decide whether they would like to go on a proper date with that person.

At the end of the mini-date, the men and women must check a box on a card to indicate whether or not they would like to see the other person again.

Todd and his research colleagues say speed-dating events are a "microcosm where mate choices are made sequentially in a faster and more formalized fashion than in daily life." In the study, 46 adults in a speed-dating session in Germany were asked to fill out a questionnaire that assessed themselves and their ideal mate, grading traits such as physical attractiveness, financial status, health and parenting qualities.

Most said they wanted a mate like themselves, yet when the sessions began, the men sought the more attractive women. The women, meanwhile, were drawn to material wealth and security, and set their standards according to how they viewed their own attractiveness. The study also found that men wanted to see half the women they met again, while the women wanted to meet only a third of the men again.

Todd said he plans to conduct several other speed-dating sessions to confirm the findings.
"Speed dating lets us look at a large number of mate-choice decisions collected in a short amount of time," he said. "It only captures the initial stage of the extended process involved in long-term mate choice. But that initial expression of interest is crucial for launching everything else."

Too much nonsense for one day, so I shall close this for now!! Have A Great Evening And An Awesome Thursday!!

Iowa City Police Receive Traffic Stop "quotas"

There is a good little story below my rant on police quotas and dangerous drivers in Iowa City, as well as a link to the full story and comments~~So here goes:

It may have been put incorrectly, but there isn't anything wrong with quotas, except it may make people more likely to hit the numbers hard early in the month so they can coast later after they've met their quotas, and no matter the semantics that is what this written policy is all about!!


I have a quick way to get your quota in not just one day, but probably less than an hour. and you don't even have to move that much, other than to ticket the offending parties. And I am not saying this as a holier than thou driver, as less than two weeks ago I received a ticket for $69.40 as I forgot to renew my registration~~he could have just warned me, but no it was a sleepy Sunday morning and I was blazing past the intersection by the rec. center downtown and 18 miles an hour, performing all kinds of "crazy" driving moves, like stopping at red lights, staying behind the crosswalk lines~~sorry Barney gave me a ticket and said I was driving well..Lucky Me!!

So on to the first guaranteed quota buster area:

Please just park on the ramp just up the road from the mall, as you try and get on Interstate 80 eastbound. You will find any number of drivers nearly run over or into the ditch by truckers in the right lane, who are blazing past our fair city at speeds of 80 to 85 miles per hour. Often they are driving side by side, and if you don't slam on your brakes you would be done for. You could either ticket them just for speeding, or even more creative would be for not moving to the left lane to allow the cars to merge onto the interstate. Just so I could give you and estimate, I watched the interstate before writing this post for 15 minutes and saw 6 near misses up there. Very Nice Huh!!


I know there are many good truckers out there, just like there are many good regular drivers out there, but the crazy, or just plain reckless ones endanger everyone. SO that would be a first recommendation!!


Secondly, if you want to meet your quota for not just one police officer, but for the entire department~~please drive with me from Dover STreet to The Mall, between 9 and 10 am, down Muscatine~~and Burlington to Riverside Drive and First in Coralville,(or as far as you are allowed to go) and a return trip between 9 and 10 pm. You will find all manner of drivers. speeding, constantly changing lanes and just missing your front bumper~~without turn signals of course as that might give you time NOT to hit them, sitting at one green light for several seconds~until you honk your horn, and then blasting through the next light as it changes RED, not changes Yellow, but actually completely Red, and they still fly through, often narrowly misses the cross traffic as it begins to move, and this is each and everyday....You also get the bikers who race across the streets at night who are wearing dark clothes and who do not have lights on their bikes, often darting across just east of the L&M gas station in the darkest area by the apartment building there so you can barely see them as they cme within inches of your auto~this is true of pedestrians in the that same block~who are always running across the street and barely being missed by vehicles.


Now I used to speed, but also received enough tickets to break me of the habit, so it can be done. I drive the speed limit, and stay in my lane unless there is road work or something that moves us into another lane that is unavoidable, and the funniest thing is I have had drivers go all the way from near the Mall to almost my side of town, and they did every stupid, dangerous move that I mentioned above, and often they get less than 2 or 3 car lengths ahead of me by the time we get to 1st & Muscatine, so I wonder is it really worth endangering everyone on the road to get home a few minutes quicker..IF your lives are that exciting that it is worth dying or killing for, then so be it~~but the rest of us may disagree, and would appreciate you giving us some respect on the road as well!!


Take Care and Safe Driving/Biking/&Walking!!! And now to the beginning paragraphs of the story by Lee Hermiston of the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

An Iowa City police official has put into writing a policy that requires day shift officers to make more traffic stops each month.
But don't call it a quota.
"That's not what this is," said Lt. Dan Sellers, author of the policy.
Sellers, watch commander for the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, is requiring officers to make at least 20 traffic stops a month. However, Sellers said, officers must have probable cause to stop a vehicle and are not required to write a citation.
The policy went into effect at the beginning of February.
Please continue to the full story via the link and leave your comments!!Have A Great Evening!!

LINK TO FULL STORY AND COMMENTS

Happy Hump Day Funnies

April Fool's Day is over, but I think we need some more humor, to get us over hump day, so here are some funny, some not so funny, a few that are maybe a little gross, and some that barely are worth a snicker!!

Happy Hump Day~~Well I mean Happy Hump Day for anyone who doesn't work open to close at the mall 7 days a week, as I am now doing again!! ;)

Recent Quips from Late Night
"Boy, there is nothing but disasters in the news. It's unbelievable. Floods in the Midwest, fires in Texas, the Democratic Party -- it's just unbelievable. To give you an idea how bad the Democrats are doing, in a stunning reversal, John McCain now 10% ahead of Hillary Clinton and 7% ahead of Barack Obama. And this is after Iraq, a recession, and no health care. Imagine how far ahead he'd be if the Republicans had actually done something." --Jay Leno

"A new CNN poll just came out about the campaign. Interesting results. ... A new study shows that wine drinkers prefer Hillary Clinton to the other candidates. Yeah, after hearing this, Bill Clinton asked, 'How much wine have they had?'" --Conan O'Brien

"Spring is finally here! Spring, when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love, and Eliot Spitzer turns to the Yellow Pages." --Bill Maher

"President Bush's approval rating has reached a record low -- 31%. Wow. His popularity is so low now, on his Facebook page, he only has imaginary friends." --Jay Leno

"In New Jersey today, there were dangerous winds, with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. The winds were so strong that they blew former Governor McGreevey off his chauffeur." --Conan O'Brien

"New York's new governor, David Paterson, he made history this week. He's black, he's blind and he's hornier than the last guy. ... He hadn't taken his hand off the Bible when they swore him in before he admitted to having multiple affairs. See, this is what women don't get about the male sex drive. He was blind and he still wanted to see other people." --Bill Maher

"Anyway, critics are pouring over Osama bin Laden's latest audio tape. Simon called it pretentious. Paula said it was not his best work. And Randy said, 'Dog, it's just not working for me.'" --Jay Leno

"A big insurance company just announced they will give $10 million to anyone who can invent a car that gets 100 miles per gallon. Meanwhile, Exxon says they'll give $11 million to anyone who kills that guy." --Conan O'Brien

"The good news is ... on YouTube, the Obama speech now is getting watched more than the clips of the pastor. ... The bad news is that it's still far behind the footage of Spitzer's hooker on 'Girls Gone Wild.'" --Bill Maher

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Helisoft
A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications equipment.

Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, and held up a handwritten sign that said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER."

The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the copilot asked the pilot how he had done it.

"I knew it had to be the Microsoft Building, because they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."
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A Greater Insult
A biker walks into a yuppie bar and shouts, “All lawyers are horse's rear ends!” He looks around, obviously hoping for a challenge.

Finally a guy comes up to him, taps him on the shoulder, and says, “Take that back.”

The biker says, “Why? Are you a lawyer?”

“No, I’m a horse's rear end.”
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This Year's Award Winners
Britney Spears & Eminem - Who, combined, have written more books than they''ve read.

Dr. Phil McGraw - Who has managed to convince millions of women to buy his self-help books, despite the fact that his most hight-profile patient, Oprah Winfrey, is an overweight woman with serious commitment issues.

America's Oil Companies - For a lifetime body of work proving that oil and water don't mix.

Bill Gates - For creating the X-Box and convincing Americans that their children need a $200 video game system during a recession.

The Editors of Maxim - For managing to create 300 magazine pages a month using no other subjects besides beer and models.

Jared - Of the Subway Sandwich fame, whose claim of losing hundreds of pounds and achieving optimum health by eating nothing but oversized, greasy heroes was questioned by no one.

That 300 Pound Guy - Who always manages to jam himself into the coach seat right next to yours on coast to coast flights.


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Teacher's Pet
On the last day of kindergarten, all the children brought presents for their teacher.

The florist's son handed the teacher a gift. She shook it, held it up and said, "I bet it's some flowers!"

"That's right!" shouted the little boy.

Then the candy store owner's daughter handed the teacher a gift. She held it up, shook it and said, "I bet I know what it is! It's a box of candy!"

"That's right!" shouted the little girl.

The next gift was from the liquor store owner's son. The teacher held it up and saw that it was leaking. She touched a drop with her finger and tasted it.

"Is it wine?" she asked.

"No," the boy answered. The teacher touched another drop to her tongue.

"Is it champagne?" she asked.

"No," the boy answered.

"What is it?" she said.

"A puppy!"
?????SORRY:)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Cletus
Cletus goes to work and sees that one of his co-workers has a thermos.

He asks him what it does and the fellow co-worker responds, 'It keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold'

Cletus was amazed and when he got home immediately went out and bought one. The next day he goes to work and is proud that he has this wonderful object.

The same co-worker realizes he has a thermos and says, 'What do you have in it?'

He says, 'Soup, and ice cream!'
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Flies
There are two flies sitting on a pile of poo. One fly passes gas. The other fly looks at him and says, "Hey do ya mind? I'm eating here!"
?????YUCK???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Egg-Laying
Why does a chicken lay eggs?

Because if she dropped them, they'd break
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Good reason
A man bought a new Mercedes to celebrate his wife leaving him and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive.

The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him.

“There’s no way they can catch a Mercedes,” he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100…..Then the reality of the situation hit him. “What am I doing?” he thought and pulled over.

The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car.

“It’s been a long hard day, this is the end of my shift and it’s Friday the 13th. I don’t feel like more paperwork, I don’t need the frustration or the overtime, so if you can give me a really good excuse for your driving that I haven’t heard before, you can go.”

The guy thinks about it for a second and says, “Last week my nagging wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!”

“Have a nice weekend,” said the officer.
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Monster Valentine
Boy Monster: Did you get the big red heart I sent you for Valentine's?

Girl Monster: Yes, I did. Thank you.

Boy Monster: Is it still beating?
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Give the Lawyer a Hand
A young trial lawyer was defending a man accused of burglary, known for being witty (and the judge knows this) tried yet another one of his creative defenses. The judge, while not known for having a sense of humor, decided to here the young lawyer out.

“While my client admits he did, in fact, reach his arm into the window and removed a few trifling articles. However his arm is not himself, and I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offense committed by just his limb.”

“Well put,” the judge replied. “Using your logic, I sentence the defendant’s arm to one year’s imprisonment. He can accompany it or not, as he so chooses.”

The defendant smiled. With his lawyer’s assistance he detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench, and walked out.
#############################################################################################################


AND FINALLY ~~~~~~


Divorced Barbie
A man walks into a store to buy a Barbie doll for his daughter. “How much is that Barbie in the window?”, he asks the shop assistant.

In a manner she responds, “Which Barbie? We have Barbie Goes to the Gym for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Ball for $19.95, Barbie Goes Shopping for $19.95, Barbie Goes to the Beach for $19.95, Barbie Goes Nightclubbing for $19.95, and Divorced Barbie for $395.00.”

The guy asks, “Why is Divorced Barbie different from all the others?”

“That’s obvious,” the assistant states, “Divorced Barbie comes with Ken’s house, Ken’s car, Ken’s boat, Ken’s furniture…”
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@HAVE A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!!! ;)

April Fool's Day Funnies!!

As it is April Fool's Day we shall not play any practical jokes on anyone, as we already have our President and the Congress doing that to us on a daily basis. No we'll just rely on some amusing, and perhaps a few truly funny stories and jokes. Have a amusing rest of the day, and week. We Need IT!!

Who's the Strongest
A strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could outdo anyone in a feat of strength. “I am the strongest, most powerful man here,” he boasted. He made a special case of making fun of John, one of the older workmen.

After several minutes, John had enough. “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?” he said. “I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won’t be able to wheel back.”

“You’re on old man,” the braggart replied. “It’s a bet! Let’s see what you got.”

John reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said “All right. Get in.”
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Deer Crossing
Ok, so I live in this semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: Many deer were being hit by cars and he no longer wanted them to cross there.
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Mind of a six-year-old
One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs to her class. She came to the part of the story where the first pig was trying to accumulate the building materials for his home.

She read, "...And so the pig went up to the man with the wheelbarrow full of straw and said, 'Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build my house?'"

The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you think that man said?"

One little boy raised his hand and said, "I think he said 'Holy moley! A talking pig!'"

The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes.
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Stupid
One day theres a couple of kids in a psychology class. The teacher stands up and says to the class “stand up if u think you’re stupid!” after about 5 minutes Little Johnny stood up and the teacher says “do you think you’re stupid Johnny?”

To which Little Johnny replies “No miss i just hate to see you standing there all by yourself!!!”
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Thanks, and stop by for some more funnies later!! :)

A History Of April Fool's Day

The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.

Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1. These people were labeled "fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands," sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a "poisson d'avril" or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.

This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way.

In Scotland, for instance, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts of these jokes are known as April 'Gowk', another name for cuckoo bird. The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance.

In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered back luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.

In Rome, the holiday is known as Festival of Hilaria, celebrating the resurrection of the god Attis, is on March 25 and is also referred to as "Roman Laughing Day."

In Portugal, April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday before lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their friends.

The Huli Festival is celebrated on March 31 in India. People play jokes on one another and smear colors on one another celebrating the arrival of Spring!!

Happy April Fool's Day:) !!

Passports Outsourced To Foreign Companies Bring Profits But Risk Security

I heard a News report about this the other day, and typed in "Passports outsourced to foreign companies" and got this story as the first hit. This is the kind of insanity that will destroy this nation, and we need to hold someone accountable for this breach of trust and security.

The Washington Times story says:

The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found.

The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them, according to interviews with federal officials and documents obtained by The Times.

The profits have raised questions both inside the agency and in Congress because the law that created GPO as the federal government's official printer explicitly requires the agency to break even by charging only enough to recover its costs.

Lawmakers said they were alarmed by The Times' findings and plan to investigate why U.S. companies weren't used to produce the state-of-the-art passports, one of the crown jewels of American border security.

With people this Damned Dumb, it must be by "sheer luck" that terrorists have not hit us again, and with practices like this, we are surely going to run out of luck at some point. You just want to shout "What The Hell Were You Thinking??!" at these idiots "in charge"of our security!!

PASSPORTS OUTSOURCED TO FOREIGN COMPANIES LINK

Dith Pran Dies

My internet at home is "junk", and I saw this right before I got off work yesterday, so I didn't have an opportunity to post this sad story, until today:

Dith Pran, the Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual escape from that country's murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in 1979 became the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields," died Sunday. He was 65.

Dith died at a New Jersey hospital Sunday morning of pancreatic cancer, according to Sydney Schanberg, his former colleague at The New York Times. Dith had been diagnosed almost three months ago.

Dith was working as an interpreter and assistant for Schanberg in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, when the Vietnam War reached its chaotic end in April 1975 and both countries were taken over by Communist forces.

Schanberg helped Dith's family get out but was forced to leave his friend behind after the capital fell; they were not reunited until Dith escaped four and a half years later. Eventually, Dith resettled in the United States and went to work as a photographer for the Times.

LINK TO FULL STORY AND PHOTO

Prayers and Condolences to Dith Pran's family and friends!!

Christians, Muslims Unite For Peace!

I found this story online as I was searching for information on "peaceful", Christians, and Muslims, and found this after I typed the question into the search engine:

Christians, Muslims unite for peace, from FAISALABAD, Pakistan, Christians and Muslims jointly demanded peace and mutual respect, rejecting all forms of intolerance and violence tied to religion as they gathered together March 18 to celebrate the birthday of Muhammad, which this year fell in the middle of Holy Week. The meeting was organized by the Diocesan Commission for Interfaith Dialogue and the Ulama Council for Interfaith Dialogue, AsiaNews reported Friday.


"We are doing whatever we can do and will continue interfaith dialogue and activities for interfaith harmony and a peaceful society," said Mgr. Joseph Coutts, bishop of Faisalabad. He noted that Christians and Muslims must understand the current situation, which requires communication and dialogue on everyone's part to avoid tragedies.


Sayyad Muhammad Zacheriah, president of the Ulama council, said no religion teaches violence, hate and war but that there are some evil forces who target Islam and Christianity. He said blasphemy against Muhammad and Christ should be equally condemned and the government should make sure there are no more mocking caricatures of the prophet.


Fr. Aftab James Paul, director of the Diocesan Commission for Interfaith Dialogue in Faisalabad, said, "We are here to show social harmony and solidarity to each other, and peace lovers should be happy to see us united."

Melissa's Muse IS Active

Melissa's Muse has been very active the last few days, and I would like share what she has been working on this weekend. Thanks!!

The first little morsel is called:

"Laugh While It's Funny"

Politics and Phonics tricks~
is what we teach our young,

We teach them to hate~
and seal their fate,

And pretend we're not among,

The ones to blame~
for all man's shame,

As we sing the song we've sung,

We are the World~
we are God's will,

We are God's chosen one,

But none of us~
want to realize,

That Satan's having his fun!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The second is called "Boo!" and should be read to the tempo of Vincent Price's part in Thriller:)

Boo!

When you creep around at night,
expecting to just find,

The boogeyman, ghosts and ghouls,
or freaks of any kind,

Be careful what you wish for,
cuz wishes do come true,

And those scary things your searching for,
just may indeed find you!
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And the last one for this post is called:

"Mirror Image"

Graduate from human lust,
from hate, anger, and any trust,

Pretend your strong and full of light,
but run away, when things get tight,

Never look back, never give in,
unless it's convenient to admit a sin,

Sell your soul, sell your wife,
whatever it takes to save your life,

For now a prisoner of the state,
and justice comes to seal your fate,

Ane when you stand before your savior,
I bet you'll rethink all your behavior.

Because in the end we all shall see,
who is who, and who are We.

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Thanks for letting me share her musings! Take Care and have a Great Sunday Evening:)

1,000 Attend Sueppel Family Funeral

This story is by Brian Morelli of The Iowa City Press-Citizen and reports that The six members of the Sheryl and Steven Sueppel family rested in six caskets -- two longer silver ones in the middle with four shorter white ones on their sides -- before the altar of St. Mary's Catholic Church on Saturday morning.

A bell tower chimed as pallbearers marched the caskets one by one outside to six white hearses, one with a black roof. Those drove off in procession to St. Joseph's Cemetery, where the Sueppels will forever remain together, buried side-by-side.

"You were a great family. That is the legacy that you leave, not this one tragic event," said Sheryl Sueppel's brother, Dave Kesterson, to about 1,000 mourners.

Saturday was a day of mourning in Iowa City. Not judgment, not anger, just mourning the deaths of Sheryl, 42, Steven, 42, Ethan, 10, Seth, 8, Mira, 5, and Eleanor Sueppel, 3, and urging people to rely on faith in God to get through the tragic deaths.

For many outside the immediate family, it's hard to understand eternally uniting a husband and father with the family he brutally murdered before committing suicide. But, as a family, that is how the Sueppels and Kestersons agree their son and daughter, respectively, and four grandchildren should be remembered.

"My mom and dad along with (my family) all truly love you (Steve) and that will never change. ... Probably the easiest thing to do this week was forgive Steve," said Dave Kesterson, of Cedar Rapids. "I know there will be people who wonder how I can stand up here and be at peace. It's because of Jesus Christ."
Kesterson said he believed forgiveness would be Sheryl Sueppel's wish.
The Rev. Ken Kuntz described the Kestersons' and Sueppels' reactions to this tragedy as "the true meaning of love and forgiveness."

Steven Sueppel on either Sunday night or Monday morning beat his wife and children to death, possibly with baseball bats recovered from the crime scene, their 629 Barrington Road home. Autopsies determined they died of blunt force trauma to the torso and head.

Monday morning, Sueppel, a former Hills Bank & Trust executive indicted on charges of embezzling more than $500,000 over seven years and money laundering, committed suicide on his third attempt by driving into a concrete post in the median of Interstate 80.

The former vice president and controller left Hills Bank in October 2007. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was set to appear in court in April. The federal case is being thrown out, although there remains the possibility of civil lawsuits.

Kuntz did not have answers for what Steven Sueppel did, calling it "beyond our ability to comprehend." Kuntz reflected briefly on the confusion that accompanies mental illness, and he urged parents to hug their children and encouraged people to let God judge Steven Sueppel.
"I don't know why or how Steve could do what he did, but I do know Steve loved his wife and his kids," Kuntz said.
Kuntz did not specifically tell people how they should remember Steven Sueppel -- widely regarded as a good man and a loving father and husband up until those last deeds that will forever shadow his memory.

Bible readings and Psalm refrains, though, spoke of forgiveness and eternal life.

"Everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name," the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles said.

Church-goers used Psalm 33 as a responsorial refrain: "Let your mercy be on us, O God, as we place trust in you." The Sueppel family was deeply connected to St. Mary's, where they attended Mass weekly. Steven and Sheryl were married there, and Steven and all four children were baptized there. Mourners dabbed their eyes throughout the service and as they entered and left St. Mary's.

The far reaches of this six-person family could seen as a diverse crowd of old and young, family and extended family, the children's Longfellow Elementary classmates, neighbors and a broad range of friends packed the church.

A picture of each family member sat in separate arrangements of white flowers above each casket. Enlarged family pictures from this past Christmas and a family trip to Colorado also stood on the altar next to several more flower arrangements.

"We commend Eleanor, Mira, Seth, Ethan and Sheryl to the warm embrace of God," Kuntz said. "We commend Steven to the infinite mercy and forgiving love of God."

LINK TO STORY COMMENTS

al-Sadr Offers A Deal

In what appears to be a tiny hopeful sign, the following story is being reported on Yahoo News, this Sunday morning:

Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers on Sunday to stop battling government forces after a week of fighting in southern Iraq and Baghdad threatened to spiral out of control.

A crackdown on Shi'ite militants in the southern oil port of Basra has sparked an explosion of violence that risked undoing the past year's improvements in Iraq's security.

"Because of the religious responsibility, and to stop Iraqi blood being shed ... we call for an end to armed appearances in Basra and all other provinces," Sadr said in a statement given to journalists by his aides in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.

"Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us."

U.S. forces have been drawn deeper into the fighting, which exposed a rift in Iraq's Shi'ite majority between parties in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and Sadr's populist street movement. The government welcomed Sadr's statement but said it would press on with its offensive in Basra. "The operation in Basra will continue and will not stop until it achieves its goals. It is not targeting the Sadrists but criminals," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters.

Scores of people have been killed in clashes in southern Iraq and in Shi'ite neighborhoods of the capital, where an indefinite curfew is now in place to contain further violence. In his statement, Sadr also called for an end to "random arrests" of his followers and for them to benefit from an amnesty law passed by parliament in February aimed at freeing thousands of prisoners from Iraqi jails. Maliki, in Basra to oversee the six-day-old operation, has ordered Shi'ite fighters there to lay down their arms and has extended a 72-hour deadline until April 8 for them to turn over heavy and medium weapons in return for cash.

Sadr aide Hazem al-Araji said Mehdi Army fighters would not hand over guns: "The weapons of the resistance will not be delivered to the Iraqi government," he told journalists. Araji also said there had been an agreement with the government to stop "random arrests," an underlying grievance of Sadr's followers that has fuelled this week's violence. Sadr's followers have accused Maliki and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, his most powerful Shi'ite ally in government, of trying to crush them ahead of provincial elections due in October in which they are expected to make a strong showing.

Sadrists have complained that Iraqi and U.S. forces have exploited a truce called by the cleric last August to make indiscriminate arrests. The U.S. military says it only targets those who disobeyed Sadr's ceasefire order. A key test will be whether Sadr's unruly militia, which he has sought to reorganize in recent months to root out rogue elements, will obey his order to stand down.

Shortly after Sadr's statement, a salvo of rockets or mortars was fired at the Green Zone diplomatic and government compound in central Baghdad. The U.S. military has blamed rogue Mehdi Army militiamen for similar barrages in the past week. But in the southern city of Nassiriya a Reuters reporter said clashes with security forces had stopped and Mehdi Army fighters were seen withdrawing from the streets. This week's fighting has placed the United States in a dilemma. While it wants Iraqi forces to take the lead on security, the Basra operation endangered Sadr's truce, a key factor in the drop in violence in Iraq since last June.

The United States also risks being sucked into an intra- Shi'ite conflict at a time when it plans to pull out some 20,000 troops and decide soon on future troop levels. Democrats seeking to succeed President George W. Bush want speedier withdrawals. U.S. forces said they killed at least 14 fighters in two helicopter missile strikes in Baghdad early on Sunday. They also said special forces have been operating alongside Iraqi units in Basra, where air strikes killed 22 fighters on Saturday.

The government offensive has so far had little success reclaiming the streets of Basra. Shortly before Sadr's statement, Reuters Television pictures showed masked Mehdi Army fighters brandishing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers outside a state television transmission station after setting fire to Iraqi troop carriers.


Bush should be paying attention, as this is obviously the man with the power to make or break Iraq. Let's make a deal, and get the hell out of dodge!!

Top 10 Crazy Things John McCain Has Said Recently

This is a fun little article that I was reading and would like to share it with you, as it makes fun of John McCain, and I really cannot pass up any chance to make fun of him~~just a quirk of mine!! So here goes:

The Top Ten Craziest Things John McCain Has Said While You Weren't Watching
By Cliff Schechter at AlterNet. Posted March 29th 2009.

Much of McCain's madness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle for the Democratic nomination -- so here's a recap of what you've missed.


John McCain has been saying a lot of downright nutty things lately. You've probably come across some of them, such as his admitted lack of knowledge about economics or his excitement at the prospect of remaining in Greater Mesopotamia for the next ten decades. Yet, alas, much of his craziness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. So here's a recap of some nuggets of wisdom you may have missed -- from McCain's mouth to Bellevue's Ears.

10. Responding to a student who criticized his remark about our staying in Iraq for 100 years, McCain quipped, "No American argues against our military presence in Korea or Japan or Germany or Kuwait or other places, or Turkey, because America is not receiving casualties."

I guess Ron Paul isn't American. Or Dennis Kucinich. Or many others who have questioned the mindset behind keeping our troops abroad forever, which is what an empire does, not a republic. Although, perhaps more people don't argue "against our military presence" in the other spots he named, because, you know, those wars weren't based on 100 percent fabricated evidence and didn't make us less safe after they were done. Just a thought.

9. John McCain is "very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."
Just FYI, John Hagee makes Jeremiah Wright look like Richard Simmons. Hagee has called the Catholic Church the "Great Whore," an "apostate church," the "Antichrist," and a "false cult system." And let's not even get into what he has said about Jews.

8. "In the shorter term," said McCain, "if you somehow told American businesses and families, 'Look, you're not going to experience a tax increase in 2010,' I think that's a pretty good short-term measure."
This is McCain's statement in suport of making permanent the tax cuts he voted for and railed against in 2001 and 2003. Back then they were only a giveaway to the rich and "budget-busters." Now that we are much further along in borrowing our economy from the Chinese, and the rich have become even richer, they are a way to stimulate the economy by putting money in the hands of working Americans.
7. "This is a Catholic Voter Alert. Governor George Bush has campaigned against Senator John McCain by seeking the support of Southern fundamentalists who have expressed anti-Catholic views. Several weeks ago, Governor Bush spoke at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Bob Jones has made strong anti-Catholic statements, including calling the Pope the anti-Christ, the Catholic Church a satanic cult! John McCain, a pro-life senator, has strongly criticized this anti-Catholic bigotry, while Governor Bush has stayed silent while seeking the support of Bob Jones University. Because of this, one Catholic pro-life congressman has switched his support from Bush to McCain, and many Michigan Catholics support John McCain for president."
This was a John McCain for president robo-call in 2000. Today, as we pointed out, he hangs with the Rev. Hagee who thinks Catholicism is a "cult" and the "Antichrist." How romantic.
6. "Everybody says that they're against the special interests. I'm the only one the special interests don't give any money to."
Here are some examples of Sen. McCain's epic battle with special-interest money: According to the Center for Responsive Politics, McCain has taken nearly $1.2 million in campaign contributions from the telephone utility and telecom service industries, more than any other senator. McCain sides with the telecom companies on retroactive immunity.
McCain is also the single largest recipient of campaign contributions from Ion Media Networks -- formerly Paxson Communication -- receiving $36,000 from the company and employees from 1997 to mid-year 2006.
5. McCain listened intently, pausing a second before delivering what could be a defining answer. "The other one will do just fine."

For what important reason was Sen. McCain interrupting an explanation to the press of his positions on Iraq and national security to take a cell phone from an aide? Why his wife needed to buy them a new barbecue grill.

4. During a Nov. 28, 2007, Republican debate Sen. McCain angrily denounced torture and offered unmitigated support of the Army field manual's restrictions, saying they "are working, and working effectively."
So naturally and quite logically, he voted against applying these same standards to the CIA. Apparently these rules won't work effectively for spooks, just the men and women on the front lines.
3. McCain, while speaking at a town hall meeting in a suburb of Philadelphia, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American insurgents in Iraq might commit increased acts of violence in September or October with a plan in mind to tip the November election to the Democrats. "Yes, I worry about it," McCain said.

How did he figure out what the insurgents -- which his policies in Iraq have helped create -- are up to? When they attacked us on 9/11, and the warning signs were all ignored by President Bush and his then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, he was punished with winning a second term. So, of course, militants, who follow john McCain's campaign like Republicans do the signs of the Rapture, are closely planning their events because they know the exact opposite will be the result this time.

2. Let's go back to the videotape: "I'm the only one the special interests don't give any money to."

Not only have we proven this false, but perhaps many can't give money because they all work on his campaign. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, lobbyist. Top advisor, Charlie Black, lobbyist. The operative currently running his Senate office, Mark Buse, former lobbyist. And so it goes. Here is what one observer had to say. "It's an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, he's presenting himself as the crusader against special interests and yet, on the other hand, he's surrounded himself with senior advisers that are lobbyists," said Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, non-profit research group focused on money in politics.

1. And finally, McCain's craziest, coolest, most unstoppable McCain Moment: The senator said, while in Jordan, that it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, admiringly gazing at McCain until that moment, stepped up and whispered something in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then blurted out: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

Phew. Glad trusty Joe Lieberman was there to explain to the man of "experience," a man who wants to lead the free world, that Sunnis (Al Qaeda) and Shia (Iran) not only don't work together but are in direct conflict. We have only been at war there for five years, so I wouldn't expect Sen. McCain to concern himself with such trivial matters.

Wasn't that FUN!!! Have A Great Weekend!!

Sueppel's Burials Are Today

This story of the Sueppel's burials and the aftermath, is by Brian Morelli of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, and he writes:
Today's funeral and burial might serve as an ecumenical bookend for the lives of the six members of the Sheryl and Steven Sueppel family, but for many friends, family and others in the Iowa City community, their story and their tragic end will not fade anytime soon.

Steven, 42, Sheryl, 42, Ethan, 10, Seth, 8, Mira, 5, and Eleanor, 3, will be memorialized together in a 10 a.m. ceremony at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 302 E. Jefferson St., and then brought to St. Joseph's Cemetery, 1122 N. Dodge St., to be buried as a family.

Funeral directors say friends and family believe being buried together is how the family would have wanted it, despite the grisly moments right before their violent deaths.

Police say Steven Sueppel murdered his family, possibly using baseball bats that were recovered from the scene, in their 629 Barrington Road home on Easter night or Monday morning. Officials determined they died of blunt force trauma to the torsos and heads.

Early Monday, police think Sueppel committed suicide on his third attempt by driving into a concrete post in the median of Interstate 80.

Sueppel, a former Hills Bank & Trust executive, had been indicted in February for embezzling more than $500,000 over seven years from his employer and money laundering. The former vice president and controller left his job in October. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was set to appear in court in April. The federal case is being thrown out, although there remains the possibility of civil lawsuits.

Nobody will ever understand why Sueppel, a widely perceived loving father and husband from a prominent local family, did what he did. Police say a four-page handwritten note left at the crime scene by Sueppel indicated he felt shame from the legal troubles and financial strain weighing on him.

LINK TO FULL STORY

Helping Children Cope With Sueppel Childrens Deaths!

This story is by Rob Daniel in the Iowa Press-Citizen concerning the Sueppel Children and how to help your kids cope with their deaths.

Being flexible to allow a child to grieve over a lost classmate is a key element in moving beyond the tragedy, an Iowa City funeral director said Thursday.

Michael Lensing, funeral director of Lensing Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City, spoke with about 25 parents, teachers and counselors Thursday morning at Longfellow Elementary. The school has been reeling this week following the deaths of Sheryl Sueppel and her four children, Ethan, 10, Seth, 8, Mira, who would have been 6 Wednesday, and Eleanor, 3. Police said Sheryl Sueppel's husband, Steve Sueppel, killed them early Monday morning before intentionally crashing the family's minivan into an electronic road sign on Interstate 80, killing himself instantly. The three oldest children attended Longfellow, and Sheryl Sueppel was a regular presence at the school.

There is also complete funeral details at the story LINK, as well as stories with more details on the tragic murders!! Thank you!

COPING STORY LINK

Investment Firms Tap Fed For Billions

I was just reading this story on Yahoo News in which Big Wall Street investment companies have jumped all over the Federal Reserve's unprecedented offer to obtain emergency loans, borrowing more than doubled than in the program's debut week.
Those firms averaged $32.9 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending program, compared with $13.4 billion the previous week, the central bank reported Thursday. The program, which began last Monday, is part of the Fed's effort to aid the financial system.
On Wednesday alone, lending reached $37 billion.
The Fed, for the first time, agreed on March 16 to let big investment houses temporarily get emergency loans directly from the central bank. This mechanism, similar to one available for commercial banks for years, will continue for at least six months. It was the broadest use of the Fed's lending authority since the 1930s.
Last week, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley said they had begun to test the new lending mechanism. The Fed does not release the identity of the borrowers using the facility.
The Fed created a way for investment firms to have regular access to a source of short-term cash. This lending facility is seen as similar to the Fed's "discount window" for banks. Commercial banks and investment companies pay 2.5 percent in interest for overnight loans from the Fed.
Investment houses can put up a range of collateral, including investment-grade mortgage backed securities.
Banks averaged $550 million in daily borrowing, for the week ending March 26, from the Fed's discount window, compared with $81 million the previous week.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to give lawmakers an updated assessment of the economic and financial situation at a hearing on Capitol Hill next Wednesday.
Also Thursday, the Fed debuted a separate lending facility where Wall Street firms can borrow Treasury securities and put up risky home-loan packages as collateral.
The Fed auctioned $75 billion worth of Treasury securities. Bidders paid an interest rate of 0.330 percent. The Fed received bids of $86.1 billion worth of the securities. The identity of bidders is not released.
It was the first time the Fed conducted an auction of this kind. The next one is set for April 3.
Demand for Treasury securities at the auction was less than some analysts expected, although that was viewed as a possible sign of less stress in the financial system. Still, many remain wary about financial conditions.
"It seems like the TSLF passed its first test," said T.J. Marta, a fixed-income strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "On the one hand I'm fairly positive about the auction. But on the other hand, we survived today. ... there is a whole lot more pain to come," in terms of more financial losses from the housing and credit debacles, he predicted.
The auction program is intended to help financial institutions and the troubled mortgage market. The Fed said it would make as much as $200 billion worth of Treasuries available through weekly auctions that started Thursday.
The goal is to make investment houses more inclined to lend to each other. It also is aimed at providing relief to the distressed market for mortgage-linked securities. Questions about their value and dumping of these securities have driven up mortgage rates, aggravating the housing crisis. Since the Fed's announcement of this new program, rates on some mortgages have eased somewhat.
Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner said in a speech Thursday that curbing shady lending practices that contributed to the housing and credit debacles should help revive the confidence of the public and investors.
"Effective consumer protection can help to restore confidence in the mortgage markets and help to preserve the flow of capital to consumers who wish to purchase a home," Kroszner said.
Under fire from Congress for being too lax in its oversight, the Fed has proposed a way to protect homeowners from dubious lending practices. Subprime borrowers — those with tarnished credit histories or low incomes — have been hurt the most, although problems have spread to more creditworthy borrowers.
The Fed wants to:
_restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early.
_require that lenders make sure these borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.
_bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower's income.
_prohibit lenders from engaging in a pattern or practice of lending without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home's value.
_curtail misleading ads for many types of mortgages.
_bolster financial disclosures to borrowers.

Judge Orders Spanish Speaking Men To Learn English

I was just reading a story of A judge known for creative sentencing, who has ordered three Spanish-speaking men to learn English or go to jail. My first reaction was that this cannot be Constitutional, but not being a legal expert, I am not sure. If anyone out there could enlighten me as to whether or not this is a "good", legal ruling, please do so. Thanks!

The men, who faced prison for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, can remain on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs, Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said.

The men, Luis Reyes, Ricardo Dominguez and Rafael Guzman-Mateo, plus a fourth defendant, Kelvin Reyes-Rosario, all needed translators when they pleaded guilty Tuesday.

"Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?" the judge asked them.


The four, ranging in age from 17 to 22, were in a group that police said accosted two men on a street in May. The two said they were asked if they had marijuana, told to empty their pockets, struck on the head, threatened with a gun and told to stay off the block. Attorneys for the men said they were studying the legality of the ruling and had not decided whether to appeal. One of the attorneys, Ferris Webby, suggested that the ruling was good for his client, Guzman-Mateo. "My client is happy," Webby said. "I think it's going to help him."

The judge sentenced the four men to jail terms of four to 24 months. But he gave the three men, who already had served at least four months, immediate parole. Reyes-Rosario remains imprisoned on an unrelated drug charge.

Olszewski ordered the three to return with their parole officers in a year and take an English test. "If they don't pass, they're going in for the 24 (months)," he said. Olszewski is known for outside-the-box sentencing.

He has ordered young defendants who are school dropouts to finish school. He often orders defendants to get full-time employment. But he also has his staff coordinate with an employment agency to help them find the jobs.

What do you think??

Will Malicki's Vow End al-Sadr Truce?

In a story I was just reading it would seem that the "truce" between al-Sadr's militia and the Iraqi military and our troops, may be all but over as Iraq's U.S.-backed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday that security forces would battle Shi'ite militia in Basra "to the end," despite huge demonstrations to demand his resignation.

Mehdi Army fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr remained in control of much of Basra, Iraq's second biggest city and main oil hub, defying a three-day government offensive that has led to violence spreading across the south and Baghdad.

Authorities imposed a three-day curfew in the capital to contain the clashes.

Saboteurs blew up one of Iraq's two main oil export pipelines from Basra, cutting at least a third of the exports from the southern oilfields, a Southern Oil Company official said. U.S. oil prices briefly rose more than $1 a barrel.

Maliki, who has traveled to Basra to oversee the crackdown, told tribal leaders it was sending "a message to all gangs that the state is in charge of the country." "We entered this battle with determination and we will continue to the end. No retreat. No talks. No negotiations." More than 130 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the government began the operation on Tuesday, exposing deep divisions between powerful factions within Iraq's majority Shi'ite community. The clashes have all but wrecked a truce declared last August by Sadr, which Washington had said helped curb violence. The government says it is fighting "outlaws," but Sadr's followers say political parties in Maliki's government are using military force to marginalize their rivals ahead of local elections due by October.

President George W. Bush praised Maliki's "boldness" in launching the operation and said it showed the Iraqi leader's commitment to "enforce the law in an even-handed manner." Tens of thousands of Sadr supporters marched in Baghdad in a massive show of force for the cleric, demanding Maliki's removal. In the vast Sadr City slum, named after the cleric's slain father, crowds of angry men chanted slogans. "We demand the downfall of the Maliki government. It does not represent the people. It represents Bush and Cheney," marcher Hussein Abu Ali said.

The slum of 2 million people is in a virtual state of siege. "We are trapped in our homes with no water or electricity since yesterday. We can't bathe our children or wash our clothes," said a resident who gave his name as Mohammed. Demonstrations were also held in the Kadhimiya and Shula districts, among the largest anti-government protests Maliki's government has faced. An Interior Ministry source said hundreds of thousands took part.

A Reuters correspondent in Basra said Iraqi forces had cordoned off seven districts but were being repelled by Mehdi Army fighters inside them. Helicopters swooped overhead. Reuters television pictures showed masked Mehdi fighters firing mortars, waving rocket launchers in the air and dancing with children in the streets. Some showed off captured government vehicles sprayed with Mehdi Army slogans. Authorities imposed curfews in other Shi'ite towns to halt the spread of the violence. Many shops in Baghdad were shut and the streets largely empty as people stayed at home.

An Interior Ministry source said 51 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded so far in Basra alone. Basra's police chief survived a roadside bomb which killed three bodyguards. Clashes have spread in the past two days to the southern cities of Kut, Hilla, Nassiriya, Diwaniya, Amara and Kerbala, as well as 13 predominantly Shi'ite neighborhoods of Baghdad that have a Mehdi Army presence.

The "Green Zone" in central Baghdad came under repeated rocket attack during the day in some of the worst barrages aimed at the government and diplomatic compound in recent months. One rocket landed inside the grounds of the U.S. embassy complex. Many of the rockets fell short and landed in surrounding neighborhoods. The U.S. military blamed rogue elements of the Mehdi Army for the attacks, which it said killed one Iraqi and wounded 14 others. Forty-four people have been killed and 75 wounded in Wasit province, police chief Abdul Hanin al-Imara said. U.S. planes flew over the provincial capital Kut and gunfire rang out as troops entered the streets, a Reuters witness said.

Ali Bustan, head of the health directorate for eastern Baghdad, said 30 bodies and more than 200 wounded had been brought to two hospitals in Sadr City. Reuters television pictures showed fighters in T-shirts and jeans firing rocket-propelled grenades and rifles on the streets of the northern Shaab district. Police said Sadr followers had set ablaze a building of Maliki's Dawa party.

U.S. and Iraqi checkpoints near Sadr City came under fire, said U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover. Gunmen also burst into the home of a government security spokesman, set it on fire and kidnapped him, police said. Sadr's aides say his ceasefire is still formally in place. But his followers have staged a "civil disobedience" campaign, forcing schools and shops to shut, and Sadr has threatened to declare a "civil revolt" if the crackdown is not halted.

Is the "surge" and all of the "good" it brought to Iraq going to end in a spiral into ever increasing violence and bloodshed? As of right now Iraq looks to be taking a turn for the worse.