February 24, 2014

Girl Scout banks on the munchies

Girl Scout is selling cookies at a cannabis clinic in San Francisco

Looking to drum up some new business, 13-year-old Girl Scout Danielle Lei and her mom set out for a San Francisco medical marijuana clinic on Monday, armed with boxes of Tagalongs, Dulce de Leches and other cookie varieties she and other scouts sell annually.
Any patients at The Green Cross with the munchies didn't stand a chance. In two hours on President's Day, Danielle sold 117 boxes outside the clinic — people gobbled up all her Dulce de Leches and blazed through the Tagalongs. According to her mother, Carol, that's 37 more boxes than what she sold during the same two-hour period outside a small Safeway the next day.

See also: 8 Wines to Pair With Your Fast Food

Carol said her two middle-school-aged daughters have sold Girl Scout cookies outside a medical marijuana clinic before, though this was the first time they stopped by The Green Cross. She usually has them set up shop at various points around San Francisco so they can learn about different environments while earning some cash. Plus, Carol figured this might be a good way to start a conversation about drugs and how some use marijuana as medicine while others just get high.

“You put it in terms that they may understand,” Carol said. “I'm not condoning it, I'm not saying go out in the streets and take marijuana [...] It also adds a little bit of cool factor. I can be a cool parent for a little bit.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_25191695/savvy-girl-scout-is-selling-cookies-at-cannabis

February 20, 2014

Sulfuric Acid Fire Injures Four, Forces Iowa Town to Evacuate

A fire containing sulfuric acid burning at an airport facility in northern Iowa has injured at least four people and forced the evacuation of a small town.

Residents of Northwood, Iowa, were asked to evacuate by Worth County Emergency Management, who called the fire at Northwood Municipal Airport a "dangerous situation."

The fire was burning at a fertilizer plant on the airport grounds, The Quad-City Times reported.

Mercy Medical Center in Mason City, about 20 miles from the fire, received four patients Thursday morning, a hospital spokesperson said. The patients all walked in seeking treatment on their own; the extent of their injuries was not made public.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sulfuric-acid-fire-injures-four-forces-iowa-town-evacuate-n34596

February 19, 2014

The Frozen Congressman

You guess which one...

February 18, 2014

Gunman At Large After Shooting Woman Outside of Indiana Day Care

Police are searching for a gunman suspected of shooting a woman multiple times outside of an Indianapolis day care early Tuesday, authorities said.

The shooting — believed to be a domestic dispute — occurred around 7:20 a.m. ET in the parking lot of the Eagle View KinderCare in Indianapolis’ west side, according to NBC affiliate WTHR.

The victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

The suspect is identified as 33-year-old Christopher Justice, who was last seen driving a black Ford, police said. Justice is the ex-husband of the victim, WTHR reported.

The woman had just dropped off her two children at the day care when the shooting occurred, investigators said. Witnesses at a nearby McDonald's said they heard at least seven gunshots.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gunman-large-after-shooting-woman-outside-indiana-day-care-n32706

America unsafe anywhere!

February 17, 2014

Panty Protest

Kazakhstan Women Outraged by Lace Underwear Ban

Women took to the streets wearing panties on their heads Sunday as they protested new laws banning lace underwear in Kazakhstan.

The legislation - which includes provisions covering the required level of moisture absorbtion in the garments - will come into force this summer in Kazakhstan as well as Russia and Belarus, according to the Moscow Times.


This sparked the so-called "Panties for the President" demonstrations in the Kazakh capital, Almaty, on Sunday.

"It irritates me the most that the authorities want to decide what I should wear," Iryna Davydenko, a bank manager who travels regularly between Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine, told Al Arabiya English. "As if all other issues in the country are solved and the only outstanding issue is ladies' panties."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asia/panty-protest-kazakhstan-women-outraged-lace-underwear-ban-n31956

February 13, 2014

The monopolization continues: Comcast Set to Acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 Billion

Comcast is expected to announce on Thursday an agreement to acquire Time Warner Cable for more than $45 billion in stock, a deal that would combine the biggest and second-biggest cable television operators in the country.

For Comcast, which completed its acquisition of NBC Universal, the television and movie powerhouse, from General Electric less than a year ago, the latest deal would be its second big act to radically reshape the media landscape in the United States. And the merger is almost certain to bring to an end a protracted takeover battle that Charter Communications has been waging for Time Warner Cable.

For Time Warner Cable, the deal provides a neat solution to its problems. It will receive just about the $160-a-share price it said was its true value, and possibly more. It will no longer have to slog ahead with a turnaround plan being run by a new chief executive, Rob Marcus. And it will allow it to become part of the company that is already the dominant force in cable television services.

Despite combining the two largest cable operators in the country, a merger may have little impact on consumers. Comcast and Time Warner Cable compete in very few markets. As a result, few consumers will see their choices of cable operators reduced.

Nonetheless, regulators will surely look carefully at the impact on the deal to consumers, and may also focus on whether the combined company will have additional power in negotiations with cable networks, a recent source of tension in the industry.


http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/comcast-set-to-acquire-time-warner-cable/?_php=true&_type=blogs&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140213&_r=0

February 11, 2014

This is interesting Best Schools are Blue States - Worst - Red States

Top five best states for schools:
5. Vermont
4. New Hampshire
3. New Jersey
2. Maryland
1. Massachusetts


Five worst states for schools:
5. Alabama
4. West Virginia
3. New Mexico
2. Louisiana
1. Mississippi


Source:
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/01/14/states-with-the-best-and-worst-schools-2/

Why is that?

February 11, 2014

You knew it had to happen: Suicide Bomb Trainer in Iraq Accidentally Blows Up His Class

BAGHDAD — If there were such a thing, it would probably be rule No. 1 in the teaching manual for instructors of aspiring suicide bombers: Don’t give lessons with live explosives.

In what represented a cautionary tale for terrorist teachers, and a cause of dark humor for ordinary Iraqis, a commander at a secluded terrorist training camp north of Baghdad unwittingly used a belt packed with explosives while conducting a demonstration early Monday for a group of militants, killing himself and 21 other members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, army and police officials said.

Iraqi citizens have long been accustomed to daily attacks on public markets, mosques, funerals and even children’s soccer games, so they saw the story of the fumbling militants as a dark — and delicious — kind of poetic justice, especially coming amid a protracted surge of violence led by the terrorist group, including a rise in suicide bombings

“This is so funny,” Mr. Hashim said. “It shows how stupid they are, those dogs and sons of dogs.”

More seriously, he said, “it also gives me pain, as I remember all the innocent people that were killed here.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/world/middleeast/suicide-bomb-instructor-accidentally-kills-iraqi-pupils.html?hp&_r=0

February 11, 2014

Empty seats

SOCHI, Russia (AP) It's an issue that comes up in the early days of almost every Olympics: What to do about those empty seats and lack of buzz?

It's the case again in Sochi, with some senior Olympic officials voicing concern about less-than-capacity crowds and a dearth of spectator enthusiasm.

One International Olympic Committee member suggested Monday that school children and unarmed soldiers be let in to help fill venues.

Gerhard Heiberg, a Norwegian member who heads the IOC marketing commission, praised the overall organization but said the games weren't as lively as hoped.

''We feared that a little bit,'' Heiberg said. ''We were warned about this. The TV pictures are wonderful, the competitions are wonderful, the venues are great. But I feel a bit the lack of enthusiasm and the joy of sports.''

http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/sochi-faces-issue-of-empty-seats-atmosphere-021014?gt1=39002

Funny, I feel the same way about watching the Olympics this year too. I usually tune in more but the enthusiasm just has not been there this year, partially due to the commentary.

February 10, 2014

50 Signs You Watch Too Much Fox News

Talking to people who religiously watch Fox News is better than space travel. You get to see what life is like on another planet without the risk of explosive decompression. But if you’re a Fox News devotee and insist that the rest of the world is crazy, this list is for you. Please, get help.

You might be watching too much Fox News if:

1. You are OUTRAGED at how Obama has shredded the Constitution but can’t name any rights you’ve lost since January 20, 2009.

2. You think record breaking cold weather in the middle of winter disproves “Global Warming.”

3. You think record breaking cold weather in the middle of winter disproves “Global Warming” but record breaking heat waves in the summer are just a fluke.

4. You hate Obama for the almost 1700 American lives lost in Afghanistan under his watch but have no idea how many died in Iraq before he took office (Hint: more than 4000).

5. You call Afghanistan “Obama’s War” but ignore the entire first eight years of it.

6. You think there’s no way Chris Christie knew about the scandal unfolding in his own office but Obama clearly knew what a small IRS office in Cincinnati was up to.

7. You think 4 Americans dying in Benghazi is “the worst tragedy since 9/11.“

8. You denounce Bill Clinton as an adulterer but give a pass to David Vitter and Mark Sanford because they apologized.

9. You are both convinced Obama is a secret Muslim and still go into a frenzy when someone mention Rev. Jeremiah Wright.


The other 41 at link: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/01/27/50-signs-watch-much-fox-news/