"Call Me on the Line...Call Me, Call Me Any Time" ....

World Health Organization: Cell phone use can increase possible cancer risk

(CNN) -- Radiation from cell phones can possibly cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization. The agency now lists mobile phone use in the same "carcinogenic hazard" category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.



===============

Wait... chloroform????
Crap - NOW I have to completely change my dating methodology.  This sucks.

Terror Alert Levels

Purportedly written by John Cleese ~ and stolen by me from and email joke going around...Thanks Di!

TERROR ALERT LEVELS

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.


The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.



The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.


Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."



The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.



Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is canceled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.


-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person

ARMAGEDDON OUTTA HERE!!!

So according to the devout listeners of California's "FAMILY RADIO", the beginning of Judgement Day is next Saturday, May 21, 2011.

SHIT, I JUST renewed my AAA subscription.  WTF.
And, as one article said, it's already too late. So, like, don't even bother buying green bananas.






http://www.doonesbury.com/

RIP Harmon Killebrew - "Hittin' Home Runs for Me and You"

Tuesday May 17, 2011 12:04PM   SI.com   by Steve Rushin
Nobody had more wrong names than Harmon Killebrew, whose nickname --Killer -- always seemed ironic, in the way huge bikers are called Tiny, or sweet puppies are called Mad Dog. When Killebrew retired from baseball in 1975, having circled more bases with his head down than any player in baseball history, he became the first Killer on record to sell insurance in Boise, Idaho.

Harmon's first name was no better, as it always got shortened to Harm, an ill-fitting verb for a guy who -- 30 years after teammate Danny Thompson died of leukemia -- kept alive a golf tournament in memory of the Twins shortstop. Killebrew died of cancer Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., at age 74.

Worse still was that surname, Kill-a-Brew, which inspired a college drinking game called Harmon Killebrew. Never mind that the Killer's beer of choice was the one he marketed: Killebrew Root Beer, a phrase underscored on bottles by the words "Old-Fashioned," which would complete the public perception of Killebrew -- Loyal Friend, Insurance Salesman, Root Beer Aficionado -- if he weren't also a Hall of Fame Slugger.

There was something Old-Fashioned about the 573 home runs he hit, the second most of any righthander in American League history, behind the decidedly New-Fashioned Alex Rodriguez, who admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. Killebrew was Pez, not PEDs, square in body -- 5-foot-10, 213 pounds -- and square in spirit. Asked in a 1963 Sports Illustrated profile if he had any unusual hobbies, Killer replied: "Just washing the dishes, I guess."

"Killebrew is so quiet that sportswriters have given up trying to jazz up his image," Time magazine lamented the following season, in a brief, rare, never-to-be-repeated profile.

"There is nothing especially exciting or colorful about Harmon Clayton Killebrew," Baseball Digest concurred, the same summer, "except that he hits home runs farther and more frequently than any one else on the current scene." By then, Killebrew was averaging a homer every 12 at-bats, the best rate since Babe Ruth, and the nation's scribes could scarcely ignore him.

Though they both wore number 3, Killebrew was never going to be Ruth. He didn't go out, he didn't go ballistic, he didn't go anything but bald. And yard, of course. Killebrew went yard in ways that few hitters ever have. He was the first man to hit a ball over the leftfield roof at Tiger Stadium, three decks and 94 feet off the ground. He hit the longest home run in the history of Metropolitan Stadium, home of the Twins. When it finally landed in the bleachers, 520 feet from home plate, the Twins painted that seat red, which had the same effect on Killebrew's face.

In 1969, when he hit 49 home runs and drove in 140, Killebrew was at once the league's Most Valuable and Least Voluble player. He even led by silence. A simple glare from Killebrew conveyed to Twins teammates that they shouldn't throw their bats, or helmets, or comport themselves in any way that was -- the worst possible word -- unprofessional.

The ridiculously long home run, then, was his sole expression of immodesty. His very first homer, as an 18-year-old rookie with the Washington Senators in 1954, was literally a tape measure shot: The team's p.r. director measured it out the next day. The Senators were getting killed by the Tigers -- Washington would lose 18-7 -- and Detroit catcher Frank House told Killebrew, in what was likely an effort at reverse psychology: "We're going to throw you a fastball." It says much about the square-dealing young Harmon that he took the catcher at his word, and sat on Billy Hoeft's fastball, which he promptly hit 476 feet.

There would follow, over the next 22 seasons, 572 more home runs, 11th most in history. It's a happy coincidence that Killebrew grew up in Idaho to become synonymous with taters. He was born in Payette, the fourth child of Harmon, a housepainter, and his wife, Katherine, whose three boys often played baseball in the yard. When Katherine complained that they were tearing up the lawn, Killebrew's father told her: "We're raising boys not grass."

Killebrew was still a boy, just 17, when he signed with the Senators as a $30,000 bonus baby. In 1961, he moved with the team to Minnesota, to Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, where I grew up. By the time I was attending games at Met Stadium, Killebrew had retired, and so I remember him as an occasional Twins broadcaster, face framed by a fringe of white. I remember his soft voice, pronouncing the surname of Twins infielder Ron Washington as "Warshington."

Mostly I remember that the street leading to the stadium was renamed in his honor, so that I -- and a lot of other Minnesotans -- associate some of life's happiest memories with Killebrew Drive.

It is one of a handful of monuments in Minnesota to a man who -- without a bat in his hands -- never called attention to himself. There's a bronze statue of Killebrew outside the Twins' new home, Target Field, that is exactly what the 11-time All-Star never claimed to be: Larger-than-life. Killebrew knew, as he endured esophageal cancer, that life was larger than he, and released a statement on May 13 expressing his "profound sadness" that this "awful disease" had "progressed beyond my doctor's expectation of a cure."

In the end, that dignity and humility were what endeared Killebrew to Minnesotans. They will serve as his signature -- along with his actual signature, which was the cleanest in baseball. When he went into hospice care, several Twins and ex-Twins said Killebrew admonished them as young players for the sloppiness of their signatures. The fan that waits for a player's autograph, Killebrew believed, should be able to read it. And so the man with the imperfect name signed that name perfectly. Thanks to him, so do Joe Mauer and Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau. That legacy of class and quiet decency is the true measure of Killebrew's tape-measured life.

Which isn't to say that Minnesotans don't love the long ball. Of course we do. When the Met was razed, and replaced by the Mall of America, Killebrew's red bleacher seat was bolted high above the mall's central atrium, in roughly the same space it occupied at the ballpark. It is there to this day, a permanent testament to one man's baseball-crushing powers, on a street still called Killebrew Drive, now and forever a Boulevard of Broken Seams.

Back to the Future

Packers to Retire No. 4 -- Eventually
ESPN.com news services ~ Thursday, May 12, 2011
Green Bay Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said Wednesday the team one day will retire Brett Favre's No. 4 jersey, but the team will wait a few years to make sure the quarterback is retired for good this time. "I think it's probably going to be a few years," Murphy told Packers fans during the team's Tailgate Tour, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "We made that mistake when he first retired after the 2007 season.




DATELINE:  September 1, 2051
Green Bay, WI.
Packers team officials announced today that the retirement ceremony for Brett Favre's #4, originally scheduled for the first game of this 2051-2 season has been cancelled.   Police reported yesterday that the former quarterback's grave has been found dug up and empty.
Speculation abounds that the new, secretively signed Oakland Raiders QB is a "dead ringer" for old #4.  
 
In an unrelated matter, 2 Raider's Cheerleaders have filed complaints with the local police regarding unsolicited holographic images of a wrinkled penis that was sent to their personal communicators.
 
 

Today on "Gas Price Justification" ... THE FLOOD!

Right - because the Mississippi has never flooded before.  And these refineries were just built there last week, so they've never had this problem before either.

Once again the fact that gas pricing here is based on market speculation instead of real pricing
allows these people to manipulate the market.  

Every day is more 'in-your-face" proof that this country needs to get the hell away from petroleum-based energy dependence.  Aside from it just being the right thing to do, we are being raked over the coals by forces that are unrelated to real supply & demand.

We are big, fat, stupid suckers. 

Of course, the price of a gallon of milk is, like, $3.70 .... So, hell, if we can make cars that run on milk, we're golden.




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NEW YORK (CNNMoney 05/11/11) -- Flooding along the Mississippi River is driving up gas prices over fears that refineries could become inundated in coming weeks, especially as the flood heads downriver for Louisiana.
"When we've had flood waters in this part of Louisiana before, it has closed up to 12 refineries," said Peter Beutel, analyst with energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover, referring to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "The fear here is that we could see refineries close again."
Prices at the pump can vary widely among states due to a number of factors. More The nationwide average price for unleaded gasoline climbed 1.1 cents to $3.962 per gallon on Wednesday, according to motorist group AAA, reversing the downward trend of the previous five days.
"The concern is that the infrastructure could be dampened or knocked out for a while," said Joseph Stanislaw, an independent senior adviser at Deloitte LLP & Touche LLP.
Stanislaw said the impact is "both physical and psychological." The flood has already impacted some refineries, such as a Valero (VLO, Fortune 500) facility in Memphis, where the flood has already crested.
There are concerns that the flood will wash over refineries in New Orleans in the next two weeks, driving up gas prices further, he said.
He said that supply would be impacted as refineries either shut down or slow down production, going into "maintenance mode."
Valero spokesman Bill Day said the Memphis refinery is still operating, but barge access to and from the facility is limited, so the refinery has had to fall back on other means of shipping, such as pipelines.
The company is also bracing for flood-level waters at its refinery in St. Charles, La., located on the Mississippi River immediately upstream from New Orleans.
"We're taking precautions at that plant very similar to what we do during hurricane season," he said, explaining that the plant is protected by levees but workers are also moving electrical equipment to higher ground and stocking up on supplies. "We don't expect there will be any interruptions to production."
Some of the largest refineries in the U.S. are located next to the Mississippi River downstream from Memphis, which means they have yet to be impacted by the water. But flood-level waters are imminent as they head downstream.
The riverside refineries in Louisiana include ExxonMobil's (XOM, Fortune 500) facility in Baton Rouge, the second-largest U.S. refinery with a daily capacity of 504,500 barrels. The fourth-largest U.S. refinery, owned by Marathon Oil Corp., (MRO, Fortune 500) is located on the Mississippi River in Garyville and produces 436,000 barrels a day. ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500) has a refinery next to the river in Belle Chasse, immediately downstream of New Orleans, with a daily production of 247,000 barrels.
"We're doing everything we can to protect our facility," said ExxonMobil spokesman Kevin Allexon, explaining that workers are sandbagging parts of the refinery complex and moving equipment to higher ground. "We're going to continue to operate as best we can."
Spokesmen Marathon and ConocoPhillips were not immediately available for comment.
Tom Kloza, the chief oil analyst for Oil Price Information Service, said that rival refineries will capitalize on the shut-downs.
"The notion of flood-inspired refinery problems had tones of the Epic of Gilgamesh yesterday," said Kloza, referring to an ancient Iraqi story that references a legendary flood. "The water poses logistical issues but there is incredible profit motive to run refineries everywhere else and take advantage of incredibly wide refining margins."
Were it not for the flood, gas prices would probably be headed lower, said Beutel. He said that wholesale gasoline prices, which typically lead retail prices, were down last week on a variety of economic factors.
This would include a recent plunge in oil prices. Last week, crude oil futures dropped nearly 15% in their biggest weekly decline since last 2008.

Getting a Lube Job...

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) 05/06/11 -- Commodities remained under pressure Friday, with oil hovering below $100 a barrel and silver continuing to slide. A stronger-than-expected report on the labor market weighed on the dollar.



Oil slipped 66 cents to $99.14 a barrel following the report. Before the data came out, oil was 3% lower. On Thursday, crude sank nearly 9% -- the biggest one-day percentage drop in two years.


Crude prices neared $114 a barrel last month as fears about supplies took hold following escalating violence in Libya. But as investors got 'accustomed' to those concerns, oil prices became mired in a fairly tight range...until this week”



And yet… as the price went up, because it’s (heinously) based on speculation in the market, the price at the pump escalated sometimes more than once per day. Now explain this to me – do gas stations ORDER their supplies multiple times per day? No. Yet they raise their prices multiple times per week… and, as I’ve witnessed 1st hand, sometimes multiple times per day. And now that the crude price has dropped $15 per barrel – why is it not lowering at the pump in like fashion????


There is ALWAYS a different explanation. Most recently, it is that the actual price quoted in these articles is a specific type of crude, from a specific area/market…and that doesn’t reflect the price that most of the oil comes from. Umm.so why are they using this false indicator, then? You mean that they are speculating on an oil price that is false? Riiight.


What will be the reason TODAY for the price not going down?

Rhode Island Hospital and the Secret Link to Harry Potter

I keep finding things around here that are eerily coincidental.  Methinks perhaps there is an otherworldly link between this area and Harry Potter's world.  For example... I suddenly looked out the window today and amongst all the green there is this.... The Whomping Tree.

See???

Plus... on the Rhode Island Hospital campus...there is a VERY old building, and it's name? 

And another thing... until quite recently, one Emma Watson was "going to school" less than a mile away from the hospital campus.   Coincidence?   I think not!

Stay tuned .....

Facebook Never Lies

A Twit's Tweet



Sarah Palin tweeting about the President's decision NOT to release the death images of bin Laden:

"@SarahPalinUSA Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama;it's part of the mission"


 
And my response to this is:  Shut up. Go away. You don't know what you are talking about.  You and your attempts to garner popularity and personal relevance through comments such as these are ridiculous, insulting to actual thoughtful people and God-Awful annoying. 
 
I have zero respect for you based on your arrogance and woeful lack of knowledge.

...As you can tell, she aggravates the hell out of me.