KID TAKES KEY TO EYEBALL

clipped from abcnews.go.com KID TAKES KEY TO EYEBALL This X-ray shows how, during a fall, a car key penetrated the eyelid of 17-month-old Nicholas Holderman of Kentucky, reaching his brain. While doctors initially believed that the object had ruptured Nicholas' eyeball, another team of specialists later confirmed that the boy had sustained no permanent damage. (ABC)

HTTP Errors Illustrated

A bit of geek humor.

clipped from www.flickr.com 417 Expectation Failed 416 Requested Range Not Satisfied 415 Unsupported Media Type 414 Requested URL Too Long 413 Request Entity Too Large 411 Length Required 410 Gone 409 Conflict 408 Request Timeout 406 Not Acceptable 405 Method Not Allowed 404 Not Found 403 Forbidden 402 Payment Required 401 Unauthorized 400 Bad Request

You're paying for spiffy Gonzales defense

Not content with DOJ representation, he requests DOJ pay double for a private lawyer - and DOJ, for some reason, does.

clipped from www.motherjones.com We're All Paying for Alberto Gonzales McClatchy reports the Justice Department will foot the bill for a private attorney to defend former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against charges—brought by a former DOJ official, of all people—that he politicized hiring and firing within the department during his stint as the Feds' top litigator. Even though an attorney from the DOJ's civil division could have represented Gonzales, he requested the department pay double for a private attorney: According to a person with knowledge of the case, the Justice Department has imposed a limit of $200 an hour or $24,000 a month on attorneys' fees. Top Justice Department attorneys generally earn no more than $100 per hour. So, basically, the taxpayers are bailing out a man who oversaw a department that completely undermined its own credibility and objectivity by actively seeking to tear the blindfold from justice. I want to call it ironic, but epic farce describes it better. —Steve Aquino

House comes down hard on Automotive CEOs

It's about time!!!

clipped from www.detnews.com WASHINGTON -- During two days of hearings filled with tense exchanges, one of the most uncomfortable moments took place when Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., asked the chief executives of Detroit's Big Three to raise their hands if they had flown to Washington commercially to ask for financial aid. No hands went up. Then he asked if they would be willing to sell their corporate jets and book commercial flights home as a show of good faith. Again, none agreed. "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo," quipped Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y. "Couldn't you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?" "The fact you flew in on your own private jets at tens of thousands of dollars in costs just to make your way to Washington is a bit arrogant before you ask the taxpayers for money," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D-Mass., said: "My constituents do not trust you,"

Astronaut on space-walk loses $100,000 tool bag

clipped from www.tgdaily.com Astronaut on space-walk loses $100,000 tool bag Apparently the bag had suffered some kind of damage prior to use causing lubrication to spew out onto most of the tools. When Stefanyshyn-Piper reached in to clean off some of them, one of the bags drifted out and just beyond her grasp Bowen said it was just as much his mistake for not triple-checking everything when the bags were closed up prior to EVA. The tool bag contained approximately $100,000 worth of tools and was one of the largest items ever lost by an astronaut on a spacewalk. NASA is currently altering future spacewalk plans as a result of the mishap ISS - "Umm, we have a lost tool," came the heralding cry of Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper who, while cleaning and lubing a joint on a wing of one of the station's solar panels, let a tool bag drift away just beyond her reach. $100K floats away

Rep. Ackerman: Auto Execs’ Private Jet Travel Like Guy At ‘The Soup Kitchen In High Hat And Tuxedo’

CEO's are not going to make a good case. They are all fat cats, and the cutbacks will be on the workers, not executives. They feel they are above all of this.

clipped from thinkprogress.org Wagoner flew in GM’s $36 million luxury aircraft to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone. Wagoner’s private jet trip to Washington cost his ailing company an estimated $20,000 roundtrip. In comparison, seats on Northwest Airlines flight 2364 from Detroit to Washington were going online for $288 coach and $837 first class However, as ABC news reported last night, all three executives flew private jets to Washington, DC, for yesterday’s and today’s hearings Today, the CEOs of the Detroit Big Three returned to Capitol Hill to ask for $25 billion in loans. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner insisted, “We’re all slashing back” on non-essential expenses “We’re going to be dramatically leaner.” Later in the hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked if any of the executives planned to sell their private jets; none raised his hand

How to Speak Southern

* DID (adjective) — Not alive.
Usage “He’s did, Jim.”

* ARE (noun) — A colorless, odorless gas. i.e., oxygen.
Usage “He can’t breathe. Give ‘IM some ARE!”

* BOB WAR (noun) — A sharp, twisted cable.
Usage “Boy, stay away from that bob war fence.”

* JEW HERE (noun and verb) — Contraction.
Usage “Jew here that my brother from Jawjuh got a job with that bob war fence cump’ny?”

* HAZE (noun and verb) — Contraction.
Usage “Is Bubba smart?” “Nah … haze ignert. He ain’t thanked but a minnit’n is laf.”

* SEED (verb) — Past tense of “to see.”
Usage “I ain’t never seed

* GUBMINT (noun) — A bureaucratic institution.
Usage “Them gubmint boys shore is ignert.”

clipped from www.innocentenglish.com * BARD (verb) — Past tense of the infinitive “to borrow.” Usage “My brother bard my pickup truck.” * JAWJUH (noun) — The state north of Florida. Capitol is Lanner. Usage “My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck.” * BAMMER (noun) — The state west of Jawjuh. Capitol is Berminhayum. Usage “A tornader jes went through Bammer an’ left $20,000,000 in improvements.” * MUNTS (noun) — A calendar division. Usage “My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I ain’t herd from him in munts.” * THANK (verb) — Cognitive process. Usage “Ah thank ah’ll have a bare.” * IGNERT (adjective) — Not smart. See ” Arkansas native.” Usage “Them bammer boys sure are ignert!” * ALL (noun) — A petroleum-based lubricant. Usage “I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup truck.” * RETARRED (verb) — To stop working. Usage “My grampaw retarred at age 65.” * FARN (adjective) — Not domestic. Usage “I cuddint unnerstand a wurd he sed. Must be from some farn country.”

Speed Painting with Cheetos (Elvis Presley)

Now this is cool...

clipped from www.youtube.com The Story behind the painting. If you have watched some of my other videos you have noticed I sometimes use common objects in an artistic way. I do this because many types of art are far removed from the average person. Creating art with things people come in contact with in their daily lives closes that gap. So the idea for this piece came from...what else...eating cheetos. My fingers turned orange and I noticed it created an accidental mark on my clothes. From there my thoughts went to fabric as a surface....poof...it made me think of velvet paintings. The Virgin of Guadalupe, Unicorns, and probably the most famous incarnation of velvet painting. The Velvet Elvis. It's kitsch. It's cheesy. Thus a Velvet Elvis painted with cheese puffs.

Cheney & Gonzales indicted

About time....

clipped from www.reuters.com Texas grand jury indicts Cheney, Gonzales of crime HOUSTON (Reuters) - A grand jury in South Texas indicted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday for "organized criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of inmates in private prisons. The grand jury in Willacy County, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Cheney is "profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty," according to a copy of the indictment obtained by Reuters. The indictment cites a "money trail" of Cheney's ownership in prison-related enterprises including the Vanguard Group, which owns an interest in private prisons in south Texas. Former attorney general Gonzales used his position to "stop the investigations as to the wrong doings" into assaults in county prisons, the indictment said. The grand jury wrote it made its decision "with great sadness," but said they had no other choice but to indict Cheney and Gonzales "because we love our country."

What the election would have looked like if decided by ...

Fascinating!

clipped from washingtonindependent.com Self-described political moderates: Registered independents: College graduates: Women: Voters age 65 and older: White voters: Men: Voters earning under $50,000 per year: Voters earning over $50,000 per year:

The Big Bailout Boondoggle

clipped from www.boston.com

Republican Governors elect new Chair and Executive Committee

Who got passed over? Three guesses, and the first two don't count!

clipped from blogs.wsj.com The Republican Governors Association announced its new leadership lineup today after their annual meeting concluded Thursday in Miami. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was voted RGA chairman, taking over the top job from Texas Gov. Rick Perry who will now serve as finance chairman. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is vice-chairman, while Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will serve as chair for the annual RGA gala, and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will head up the recruitment effort. Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will also sit on the RGA’s executive committee. Not on the list? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who also attended the Miami meeting.