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Ponderings for the New Year...
If you mixed vodka with orange juice and milk of magnesia, would you get a Philip's Screwdriver?
Why do we say something is out of whack?
What is a whack?
If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
Why do women wear evening gowns to nightclubs? Shouldn't they be wearing night gowns?
If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts," and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?
Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours."
- Robert Byrne
Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.
- Pietro Aretino
I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood
- Bill Watterson
Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat.
- Anonymous
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer
- Albert Camus
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Anne Bradstreet
Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath, for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me.
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Every mile is two in winter.
- George Herbert
One kind word can warm three winter months.
- Japanese proverb
Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.
- Mignon McLaughlin
Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.
- Anonymous
Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they do when they stick together.
- Verna M. Kelly
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
- Victor Hugo
I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime.
- Will Rogers
Best Wishes for 2009 to you Grinch 52!!
I like your resolution of not taking resolutions. I have done that for several years now and it works great!!
lol
Who knows? Collard greens might work for 2009
Did a New Year's good-luck ritual fail you in '08? Try yellow skivvies
Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer
Comment on this story
RALEIGH - It's time, at last, to say goodbye to 2008. So ready your collard greens, your black-eyed peas, your bunches of grapes and your red underwear.
We could use the lucky charms for 2009. The year about to end has been anything but easy: the economy in a tailspin, mortgage foreclosures on the rapid rise, pink slips handed out with unnerving frequency -- North Carolina has its highest unemployment rate in a quarter-century.
To ring in the New Year, the superstitious are emerging in droves, trying methods new and old to conjure a change of luck for the next 12 months. From sporting polka dots to gobbling a dozen grapes or ringing church bells, people are banking on these rituals.
Chris Council's charm of choice is collard greens, a very Southern tradition.
"This is your luck, it's going to bring you money," said Council, a Durham resident, pointing to a just-bought pile, the wide leaves washed, neatly stacked and tied with a rubber band. "We need a better year next year."
Council, 44, was at the State Farmers Market in Raleigh with his friend David Burton of Morrisville. Both men plan on cooking the collards, the color symbolizing greenback wealth, as well as black-eyed peas, which resemble coins.
At his stand, Charles Cole rang up dozens of sales for his $1.50 bags of black-eyed peas, perfect to make other traditional good-luck dishes such as Hoppin' John. Cole is planning on eating some himself this year, in the hope it will help stave off economic misery.
"It helps to bring good luck and money," he said. "We need plenty of that, considering the economy."
Most of the farmers at the market Tuesday were expecting high sales of both greens and black-eyed peas. "It's a staple here for the New Year," said Amber Adams, about the washed collards grown on Tart Farms in Johnston County that she was selling for 99 cents a pound.
Others go beyond food to ensure good luck.
Lebanese traditions
Mounir Saleh, the owner of Raleigh's Neomonde restaurant, and his family will start after midnight playing seven-and-a-half, a card game similar to blackjack, a tradition common in his native Lebanon. The results of the game, depending on whether he ends up with good or bad hands, is a talisman for the coming year.
Saleh's 81-year-old mother, Cecelia, took a break from cooking in the restaurant's kitchen to share the rituals she learned in a Lebanese village. On New Year's Eve, a traditional dessert called "the blessed wheat" is made from grain sweetened with sugar and candy. On the first morning of the New Year, Saleh and her neighbors would go to a source of running water, bless it, then return to their homes to eat the wheat dish that night.
"That was a blessing for God," Mounir Saleh said, helping translate for his mother. "Life used to not be so abundant, you valued everything."
Good eating, good life
In Cary, Sudha Moy Dutta said he plans on celebrating with friends tonight and then making a quality meal to share with family on New Year's Day.
"If you can eat good, that means your life is good," Dutta said, who said he follows the Bengali traditions he grow up with in eastern India. Fish dishes are often on the menu, as well as the mithai, or Indian sweets, that Dutta makes and sells at his Chatham Square shop. Without them, he said, no holiday meal is complete.
Whether it's the grapes or the midnight champagne, plenty of people are ready for what's coming next in the new year.
Here's hoping it'll be better than this one.
Cheers.
sarah.ovaska@newsobserver.com or 829-4622.
Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.
NEED SOME LUCK?Here are 12 New Year's superstitions to try out.
1. Eat 12 grapes at midnight. Popular in Mexico and other Central American countries.
2. Write a letter with wishes on it and then burn it.
3. Carry a suitcase around the block, as many do in several Latin American countries. It could mean lots of travel.
4. Wear new clothes on New Year's Day in hopes of getting plenty of new threads over the next year.
5. Find some white clothes to wear, as many Brazilians do. Or find some polka dots: Some Filipinos believe it could bring money your way.
6. Looking for love? Wear red underwear. Want money? Find a yellow pair of skivvies.
7. Eating lentils could bring money and good fortune, according to Italian traditions.
8. Cook pork, as many European households do. Pigs are believed to be lucky, because they move forward when searching for food. Avoid anything with a reputation for moving backward, such as chicken, turkey or lobster.
9. Make noise. A belief in several countries is that enough ruckus can scare away evil spirits.
10. Check out the "first-footer," whoever crosses your door first in the New Year to see how your year will go. No surprise here, but tall, dark and handsome men bring good luck.
11. Have some money, or a cute man or woman, in your hands when the clock strikes midnight.
12. Open your doors and windows to let good spirits in.
uncle jay's year in review
http://www.unclejayexplains.com/media/UJ%2012-22-08.wmv
Happy New Year OU,
Alternative Affirmations...
It is a time of resolutions. I made one resolution many years ago and I have stuck to it. I resolved to no longer make resolutions. The following are some alternative affirmations for a new year.
At the end of one year and the start of another, many of us will renew our commitment to living with daily affirmations. I know the power of affirming my truth, over and over, everyday! While these may not suit everyone's taste, here are some "possible" affirmations to consider!
1. As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I am in touch with my inner sociopath.
2. I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.
3. I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.
4. In some cultures what I do would be considered normal.
5. My intuition nearly makes up for my lack of wisdom and judgment.
6. I need not suffer in silence while I can still moan, whimper, and complain.
7. When someone hurts me, I know that forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit, but not nearly as rewarding.
8. I am at one with my duality.
9. Blessed are the flexible, for they can tie themselves in knots.
10. I will strive to live each day as if it were my 50th birthday.
11. I honor and express all facets of my being, regardless of state and local laws.
12. Today I will gladly share my experience and advice, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so!"
13. A scapegoat is almost as good as a solution.
14. Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my underwear. Instead, I will move my computer into the bedroom.
15. I will no longer waste my time reliving the past; I will spend it worrying about the future?
16. The complete lack of evidence is the surest proof that the conspiracy is working.
17. Before I criticize a man, I walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
"Always be an optimist ... at least until they start moving animals in pairs to Cape Canaveral."
--Author Unknown
Happy New Year to all friends and supporters here! Thank you for making 2008 a good year once again!
Feel like treating myself to this puppy for my upcoming birthday and everything else ....
Combining performance, entertainment and mobility, this Future Shop-exclusive Toshiba Satellite L300D 04N laptop gets the job done. It features powerful Intel Dual-Core processing and 4GB of system memory for fast, efficient performance. It’s also home to a DVD burner, 15.4" screen, a built-in webcam and the latest wireless technology, Draft N. More Info
WebID: 10112444
Mfr. Part Number: PSLB8C-04N01X
Base Features
Approximate Battery Life Dependent On Usage
Hard Drive Speed/Capacity 250GB 5400RPM
Optical Drive 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
Processor Speed 2.0GHz
Processor Type Intel Dual-Core T3200
RAM 4GB DDR2
Screen Size 15.4"
Graphics
Discrete Video Memory No
Expandable Video Memory Up To 1759MB
Graphics Chipset Mobile Intel GMA 4500M
Integrated Video Memory Yes
Native Screen Resolution 1280x800
Upgradable Video System No
Video Memory 128MB
Audio
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC268-GR
Audio Output Stereo
Digital Input No
Digital Output No
Hardware Volume Control Yes
Integrated Amplifier No
Integrated Microphone Yes
Microphone Input Yes
Speaker Wattage Not Provided By Manufacturer
Speakers Yes
Inputs/Outputs
Card Reader Yes
Card Reader - Compatible Memory Types SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/MMC
Composite Output No
ExpressCard/34 Input Yes
ExpressCard/54 Input Not Provided By Manufacturer
HDCP Compliant No
HDMI Port No
IEEE 1394 Input/Output No
IR Receiver No
Number of Touchpad Buttons 2
PC Card Input Express Card
S-Video Output No
Type of Keyboard Bilingual
Type of Modem V.92 56K
Type of Pointing Device Touchpad
USB 2.0 3
VGA Output 1
Webcam Yes
Networking
Ethernet Port 10/100
Integrated Bluetooth No
Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Power
Battery - Capacity 4000mAh
Battery - Number of Cells 6-Cell
Battery Type Lithium-Ion
Computing Features
Processor Cache L2 1MB
Removable Storage No
System Bus 667MHz
Software
English/French Software Bilingual
Loaded Software 1 Toshiba ConfigFree
Loaded Software 2 Adobe Acrobat Reader
Loaded Software 3 TOSHIBA Disc Creator
Loaded Software 4 Toshiba DVD Player
Pre-loaded Operating System Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
Accessories
Headphones No
Remote No
Product Features
Notebook Depth 26.78 cm
Notebook Thickness (closed) 3.77 cm
Notebook Weight (including Battery) 2.49 kg
Notebook Width 36.20 cm
Warranty Labour 1 Year
Warranty Parts 1 Year
More Information
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Screen Cleaning Kit with Storage Pouch
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Neoprene laptop sleeve
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* Watch movies in their intended widescreen format on the large 15.4" widescreen LCD display
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Please Note: This product contains both English and French operating instructions and system software. In this context GB or Gigabytes refers to 1 Billion Bytes. The actual formatted capacity will be less.
Very sweet story ... ty
A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said.
The hippopotamus, nicknamed "Owen" and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him.
"It is incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park , told AFP.
"After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together," the ecologist added.
"The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.
"The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years," he explained.
Boxing Day Is for Giving
By JUDITH FLANDERS
London
December 26, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
ASK most British people what Boxing Day is for, and they will answer, “It’s the day the sales start.” Or, possibly, the day for “visiting the rellies” — Brit-speak for relatives. Ask an Irish person and you will get a history lesson on Christian saints and martyrs, reminding you that it is St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland. Ask an American, of course, and the answer is: “Boxing what?”
Boxing Day, usually thought of as Dec. 26, but technically the first weekday after Christmas, has a distinguished pedigree in Britain, and during this time of economic crisis, it is good to be reminded of it. It is on Boxing Day, after all, on the “feast of Stephen,” that “Good King Wenceslas” looked out and saw the snow, “deep and crisp and even.” The cold was notable not for its beauty, but for the hunger that it brought with it. The king calls for food, wine and “pine logs” not for his own feast, but that he and his page may “bear them thither” to give to the poor.
In Britain, post-Reformation amnesia over saints’ days saw St. Stephen’s Day renamed, but even “Boxing Day” is a reminder that the day is one for charitable giving. Maundy Thursday, at Easter, is for charity from the great (the queen still hands out what are today Maundy coins of a small but symbolic value, but were once very real money — alms for the poor people); Boxing Day, in contrast, is for giving from everyone.
In the 19th century, the “boxes” of Boxing Day were either literally boxes of gifts or money, given by employers to staff and servants. On Boxing Day 1872, Hannah Cullwick, a maid-of-all-work, the lowest kind of household drudge, wrote in her diary, “I go round every year to the master’s or missis’ tradesmen and ask for Christmas boxes, and they mostly give me a shilling or half a crown.” (Half a crown was two shillings and sixpence, or perhaps two days’ pay for a lowly live-in servant.) She and her fellow servants were given this money by the shopkeepers as a thank-you for bringing the household’s business — and as an inducement to keep shopping there in the new year.
Servants also expected a tip from the guests who visited their employers at Christmas — and from today’s perspective no tip could be too much for the drudgery involved. Cullwick recorded working from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m. to create the “family” Christmas her employers expected: she cooked for nearly 50 people on Christmas Eve and 20 the following day — with one person part-time to help her. As a treat, she was allowed to “run up” from the basement to stand in the hallway and watch some of the amateur play that the guests put on. She added wistfully, “I often think what a most delightful pleasure that must be, going home for Christmas, but I’ve never once had it.”
By definition, before the last third of the 19th century, seasonal presents were Boxing Day gifts, and a “box” was a present from a superior to an inferior, whether in social status (employer to servant) or age (parent to child). Presents were a favor conferred, an act of benevolence — even to a child; they were not something exchanged between equals. When in 1841 it was noted that Queen Victoria’s new husband liked “the agreeable accompaniment of Christmas presents,” his childlike (servant-like?) taste was odd enough to comment on. At mid-century, the great Lewis’s of Liverpool department store sold ready-made Boxing Day parcels for employers to give to servants like Hannah Cullwick: “Seven yards of double-width black merino, two yards of lining, one striped skirt and half a dozen linen handkerchiefs” — in other words, the materials for the servants to sew their own uniforms.
Presents were equated with charity. New Year’s treats had long been organized for the poor; in the 19th century many workhouse or laborers’ New Year’s dinners were held on Boxing Day, after the family had had its own celebrations. The main thrust of these events was that the day was not one to satisfy your own needs, but those of others.
For most of the population, through most of the century, of course, while Boxing Day was a day for boxes, it was otherwise just another working day. It wasn’t until 1871 that it became an official bank holiday (the British term for a “legal” holiday — you’d never know we spoke the same language, would you?). Charity was not the same as cessation from labor. “What have you done for the happiness of those below you?” asked Punch, nominally a satirical magazine, in 1843. “Nothing? Do you dare, with those sirloin cheeks and that port-wine nose, to answer — Nothing?”
Today most householders in Britain continue to give Boxing Day gifts, even if they are end-of-year bonuses handed over before the holiday, and we have forgotten that they were once called boxes. They still go to our “servants,” although in the 21st century these servants have been outsourced: now they are the cleaners, dry cleaners, recycling collectors, delivery people and dustmen (sanitation workers — our word is a survival from the days when they removed coal dust). Unless there is a ghastly event like the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, unless something literally earthshaking happens, we have stopped seeing Boxing Day as a day for charitable giving. Instead we have a grinding 10-day holiday shutdown, filled with grotesque overeating and drinking, and then a return to the consumerist fray in the Boxing Day sales. This is the modern British Christmas.
In Britain, because there is no Thanksgiving holiday on which to spread some of the family-centered traveling, Boxing Day is most often used as a day for duty visits, for taking children to see their grandparents. It would be good if Boxing Day were added to America’s list of legal holidays. (From over here, you look awfully light on time off anyway.) But not if it just became another day in the round of shop-eat-family-family-family.
Instead Boxing Day could return as a day of giving. Not necessarily cash — and not material to make uniforms — but rather one day a year to donate skills or effort, a day for sharing something of value in the larger community. Help someone whose first language isn’t English fill out driver’s license forms. Load an old lady’s iPod with Rogers and Hammerstein. Teach the boy next door to throw overhand, so the other kids stop teasing him.
What we really need to do is put down the punch bowl and pick up on what Punch magazine wrote more than 150 years ago: Don’t just keep “the Christmas of the belly: keep you the Christmas of the heart. Give — give.”
Judith Flanders is the author of “Inside the Victorian Home” and “A Circle of Sisters.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/opinion/26flanders.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
"The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else."
--E. E. Cummings
Frugal Woman Leaves $2.8 Million to Local Nonprofits
All her life, Blanche Vavra of Billings, Montana, was careful with her spending. She grew up poor, learning to scrimp and save whenever she could. Later, as an employee of the U.S. Civil Service for more than 30 years, Vavra never married or had children, but provided money for her mother for decades after her father had passed away. She shared a modest home with her mother, and never bought anything she didn't need, instead building up her savings in the bank.
"She probably had a cigar box full of jewelry and the whole thing wasn't worth a dollar," a neighbor, Jerry Dobesh, told the Billings Gazette. "But she wore it well."
But after Vavra passed away this year at age 90, her friends were shocked to see how much she'd saved: $2.8 million. Rather than indulging on luxury purchases and vacations, she'd reserved nearly all of her income for after her death, when it would be distributed to a hand-picked group of 11 nonprofit groups from her local area.
During her later years, Vavra carefully considered where she wanted her money to go. She had meetings with several of the organization's leaders, and spent much of her time researching the charities' financial data.
"She was quite astute at making sure these were quality charities," said John Jones, an attorney who helped settle Vavra's trust. "She wanted (the money to go to) something that was going to go on."
And while Vasta's death saddened her friends, they are secure in the knowledge that her generosity will provide a lasting gift for their community.
"That was an amazing day," said Cynthia Reierson, a trust specialist with Vavra's bank. "Most of the people had never met her. Her story had to be told every time we went (to present a check)."
Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.
- W.C. Fields
I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.
- Bernard Manning
Anyone who believes that men are the equal of women has never seen a man trying to wrap a Christmas present.
- Anonymous
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
- Norman Vincent Peale
Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home.
- Carol Nelson
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
- Roy L. Smith
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
- Mary Ellen Chase
Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.
- Peg Bracken
This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone.
- Taylor Caldwell
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
- Erma Bombeck
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.
- Larry Wilde.
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
- Hamilton Wright Mabi
Christmas, my child, is love in action.
- Dale Evans
The one thing women don't want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband.
- Joan Rivers.
A Christmas Memo From Corporate...
Greetings!
The usual large flamboyant typeface associated with the seasons greetings has been downsized this year commensurate with the trend toward corporate downsizing.
The recent announcement that Donner and Blitzen have elected to take the early reindeer retirement package has triggered a good deal of concern about whether they will be replaced, and about other restructuring decisions at the North Pole.
Streamlining was appropriate in view of the reality that the North Pole no longer dominates the season's gift distribution business. Home shopping channels and mail order catalogues have diminished Santa's market share and he could not sit idly by and permit further erosion of the profit picture.
The reindeer downsizing was made possible through the purchase of a late model Japanese sled for the CEO's annual trip. Improved productivity from Dasher and Dancer, who summered at the Harvard Business School, is anticipated and should take up the slack with no discernible loss of service. Reduction in reindeer will also lessen airborne environmental emissions for which the North Pole has been cited and received unfavorable press.
I am pleased to inform you and yours that Rudolph's role will not be disturbed. Tradition still counts for something at the North Pole. Management denies, in the strongest possible language, the earlier leak that Rudolph's nose got that way not from the cold, but from substance abuse. Calling Rudolph "a lush who was into the sauce and never did pull his share of the load" was an unfortunate comment, made by one of Santa's helpers and taken out of context at a time of year when he is known to be under executive stress.
As a further restructuring, today's global challenges require the North Pole to continue to look for better, more competitive steps. Effective immediately, the following economy measures are to take place in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" subsidiary:
The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree never turned out to be the cash crop forecasted. It will be replaced by a plastic hanging plant, providing considerable savings in maintenance.
The two turtle doves represent a redundancy that is simply not cost effective. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. The positions are therefore eliminated.
[The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French]
The [four calling birds] were replaced by an automated voice mail system, with a call waiting option. An analysis is underway to determine who the birds have been calling, how often and how long they talked.
The five golden rings have been put on hold by the Board of Directors. Maintaining a portfolio based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors. Diversification into other precious metals as well as a mix of T-Bills and high technology stocks appear to be in order.
The six geese-a-laying constitutes a luxury which can no longer be afforded. It has long been felt that the production rate of one egg per goose per day is an example of the decline in productivity. Three geese will be let go, and an upgrading in the selection procedure by personnel will assure management that from now on every goose it gets will be a good one.
The seven swans-a-swimming is obviously a number chosen in better times. The function is primarily decorative. Mechanical swans are on order. The current swans will be retrained to learn some new strokes and therefore enhance their outplacement.
As you know, the eight maids-a-milking concept has been under heavy scrutiny by the EEOC. A male/female balance in the workforce is being sought. The more militant maids consider this a dead-end job with no upward mobility. Automation of the process may permit the maids to try a-mending, a-mentoring or a-mulching.
Nine ladies dancing has always been an odd number. This function will be phased out as these individuals grow older and can no longer do the steps.
Ten Lords-a-leaping is overkill. The high cost of Lords plus the expense of international air travel prompted the Compensation Committee to suggest replacing this group with ten out-of-work congressmen. While leaping ability may be somewhat sacrificed, the savings are significant because we expect an oversupply of unemployed congressmen this year.
Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting too big. A substitution with a string quartet, a cutback on new music and no uniforms will produce savings which will drop right down to the bottom line.
We can expect a substantial reduction in assorted people, fowl, animals and other expenses. Though incomplete, studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is inefficient. If we can drop ship in one day, service levels will be improved.
Regarding the lawsuit filed by the attorney's association seeking expansion to include the legal profession ("thirteen lawyers-a-suing") action is pending.
Lastly, it is not beyond consideration that deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to stay competitive.
Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinize the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number. Happy Holidays!
"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is
to be governed by men worse than themselves."
--Plato
Good Christmas story .. thanks!
Man Finds Missing Money in Store Twice in a Week
Last Tuesday, Gil Steward stopped in at his local Home Depot in Auburn, Maine to pick up a trailer part—and ended up with a lot more than he'd bargained for. While in the store, he spotted a wallet lying on the floor. It contained nearly $1,000.
Steward could have kept the cash, and no one would have been the wiser. But instead, "I took it up to the service counter and went about my business. I heard them page the guy," he told the Lewiston Sun-Journal.
The wallet's rightful owner came to claim his posession, and was overwhelmingly relieved to have his money back. "He said his home payment was in there and money for Christmas," said Steward.
That single case of Good Samaritanism is enough to show Steward's generosity, but amazingly, later that very week, Steward discovered more money in the very same store. He discovered a money bag on the ground, which had been dropped by a vending company employee. And once again, he promptly turned the cash in.
"He thinks he's being tested," said his wife, Dee Steward. If that's the case, it seems like Steward's passed overwhelmingly.
Now, he says, "I think I'm going to play the lottery this weekend." Third time's a charm, right?
Batteries not included...
High Tech Dreidel...
In a world of 3-D video games and surfing the Internet, kids may look skeptically at dreidels - no color graphics, no electronic sounds and no batteries needed. How could a toy like that possibly be fun?
Even thought the dreidel has been played with by children for thousands of years, kids today may find this simple little top a bit "low-tech" for their liking. For those modern day kids who think
playing the dreidel game is soooo bo-ring, here's a new spin on the way we look at this favorite Chanukah toy.
THE OFFICIAL DREIDEL OPERATORS MANUAL
You are now the proud owner of a high-quality, state of the art "Dreidel" which can make you a winner! A multi-faceted, interactive educational and entertainment micro-system, the versatile Dreidel utilizes maximum kinetic transfer technology, putting years of
wondrous experience at your fingertips.
Rapidly rotating on its axis, the Dreidel is driven by centrifugal forces that defy gravitational pull. The Dreidel operates efficiently on renewable energy sources at high, medium and low speeds. Velocity and RPM levels are adjusted by the flick of a finger. Perfectly balanced and precision engineered, the Dreidel is virtually maintenance free. It has no moving parts, and no batteries or upgrades are required.
TO USE: Hold joystick-like handle in upright position, using thumb and forefinger to accelerate. Best when operated on smooth surfaces with low coefficient of friction. Device may appear stationary, but sound indicates Dreidel is in use.
After completing its spinning mode, the Dreidel reaches its turning point and begins to gyrate, displaying various conic sections as it decelerates. Dreidel will then shut down automatically. Quick turnaround time allows Dreidel to be used repeatedly. Follow instruction code indicated above and restart.
"Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught
falsehoods in school. And the one man that dares to tell the truth is
called at once a lunatic and fool."
YOU THINK YOUR STATE IS WEIRD? Catalonia, Spain, boasts some of the most
...uh... unique Christmas traditions. Nativity scenes there typically
don't just include a manger, but rather the entire town of Bethlehem.
That is, in part, to make it harder for the people who delight in
finding the caganer -- or "pooper". The figurine depicts a man or
woman, often someone well-known, in the act of defecating, and it's
been a tradition in Catalonian nativity scenes since the 17th century.
"People call from all over the world asking for us to make statues of
their local figures," says a spokesman for Terra I Mar, which makes the
figurines. But despite offering 150 styles of caganers and selling
20,000-25,000 of them each year, there is still "no way we could make
everyone happy." The spokesman notes the traditional farmer is their
best-seller, followed this year by a pooping President George W. Bush.
The pope is also a popular figure. (Der Speigel) ...But the Pope's easy
to find, because he's always hidden in the woods.
'TIS THE SEASON: A man stopped by police headquarters in Tonawanda, N.Y.,
to offer holiday greetings and deliver a nice Christmas wreath to the
officers on duty. Apparently the man was acting a bit suspiciously: an
officer called the store next door, where the wreath came from, and
learned it had just been stolen. When confronted, Robert E. Dendy, 59,
allegedly admitted to the theft and was arrested. (Tonawanda News)
...It's the thought that counts.
TO BE JOLLY: A couple in Parrish, Fla., called the sheriff to report
their 37-year-old son had attacked his father. The son allegedly first
assaulted him with a 3-ft Christmas tree, but found that insufficient
and tried to hit him with the tree's metal base. His mother and father
were able to restrain him until deputies arrived. Thomas Edward Lackie
was charged with felony assault. No motive was reported. (Sarasota
Herald Tribune) ...Motive schmotive. We told him, "Why should we buy
you an Xbox when you never even played with your PSP?" and the next
thing we knew, the tree is flying.
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA FELONY: For six years, the North Bethesda (Md.)
United Methodist Church has sold Christmas trees from the church
parking lot to raise funds for a medical clinic in Tanzania, opening
the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, an "anonymous tipster"
called police -- it's illegal in Montgomery County to sell Christmas
trees before December 5, and are subject to a $500 fine. County
inspectors swooped in and shut the sale down, but didn't fine Pastor
Debbie Scott, who declared the action "ludicrous." The County Executive
has demanded to know why such a law is on the books, and promises a
hearing will be held to review the law. The hearing is scheduled for
February 3. (Washington Post) ...The repeal motion will never get by
the Mean One, Commissioner Grinch.
AWAY IN A MANGER: The poor economy is having an impact on church nativity
scenes: rented camels are too expensive for "wise men" to ride, so
groups are looking for less expensive substitutes. "It goes up and down
with the economy," said a spokeswoman for Jo-Don Farms in Franksville,
Wisc., which rents out animals. "Some groups cut camels and went with
donkeys and sheep instead." Camels run $500-700 per day this time of
year, including a handler and liability insurance, while two or three
sheep, plus two or three goats, only run about $25 if you can handle
them yourself. Donkeys run around $75 per day, without a handler.
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) ...Well, "What Would Jesus Do?" (Perhaps,
spend the money on food and clothes for the homeless instead? Just
thinking aloud here.)
NO CRIB FOR HIS BED: The baby Jesus statue is stolen so often from
nativity scenes in Wellington, Fla., many of the figurines have been
outfitted with GPS tracking devices to expedite recovery efforts. "I
think it's because Jesus is small enough to take," said the town's
Director of Operations, John Bonde. "Everything else is too big." Last
year, an 18-year-old woman took the town's ceramic figurine, but an
internal tracking device led sheriff's deputies right to her door. She
was originally charged with a felony, but the town agreed to reduce the
charges so she could join the Marines. (Palm Beach Post) ...Divert her
energy into a positive for society, rather than locking her up for a
few years? Huh: what a concept.
AND THEN, WHAT TO MY WONDERING EYES SHOULD APPEAR? A holiday gathering in
Del Paso Heights, Calif., was interrupted when an apparently drunk
neighbor crashed the party. As guests were milling around the front
lawn, Donald Kercell, 49, allegedly pulled a knife and threatened the
guests. When he allegedly started slashing people's clothing, a guest
decided to fight back with the only weapon at hand: a 2-ft candy cane
Christmas decoration from the lawn, which he used to beat Kercell down.
After the intruder was subdued, police arrived and charged him with
assault with a deadly weapon. Police ruled the candy man acted in self-
defense and no charges are pending against him. (Sacramento Bee)
...Sure Kercell faces felony charges, but that's nothing compared to
what Santa will do to him.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS: On a secret pre-Christmas farewell trip, President
George W. Bush went to Baghdad to meet officials -- and hold a press
conference. During the president's comments, an Iraqi reporter
interrupted, shouting in Arabic, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog!"
and hurled his shoe at the president's head. Bush ducked, so the man
threw his other shoe, which also missed. Other reporters wrestled the
man to the ground before Secret Service guards could even react. The
president was unfazed, joking "All I can report is that it's a size
10." (AP) ...The worst part: "Made in Iran" on the label.
Winter wallop grounds hundreds of flights at Toronto's Pearson Airport
2 hours, 7 minutes ago
By Tamsyn Burgmann, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - The first of a trio of wintry wallops expected before Christmas fully delivered on Environment Canada's prediction of "snow-mageddon" for the holidays, with hundreds of flights grounded Friday on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
With major airport hubs like Toronto, Chicago and New York cancelling scores of trips, holiday travellers questioned whether they would make it to yuletide gatherings - including one family whose journey from B.C. to Nova Scotia had entered its third day.
The culprit: a volatile mix of snow and high winds.
At least 20 centimetres of the white stuff was expected across Ontario before the storm was expected to push eastward, whipped up by 60 km/h winds that reduced visibility on runways and roads alike.
Hundreds of collisions were reported on Ontario's highways and roads.
At Pearson International Airport, Scott Cook, his wife Gloria and their 19-year-old daughter Samantha crossed their fingers that their journey from Terrace, B.C., to Halifax - which began Wednesday - would have a happy ending.
Their Christmas holiday in Halifax will mark the first time in 14 years they've visited Gloria's side of the family - if and when they get there.
The family was scheduled to fly out of Toronto at 12:30 p.m. Friday, but the weather scrubbed that plan.
Cook said they were keeping their fingers crossed that a promised 9 p.m. flight Friday night would get them on their way.
More than 300 flights - about one-quarter of Pearson's usually daily total - were cancelled, with many others delayed Friday, the last day of work or school for many before the Christmas holiday break.
"It's been a challenge getting from British Columbia," Gloria Campbell-Cook said.
The family's flight from Terrace, B.C., to Vancouver was weather-delayed Wednesday, and when they finally arrived in Toronto early Thursday, they missed their connecting flight by 40 minutes. At first, they were told there were no flights to Halifax until Monday, but then it was determined they could fly out Friday.
Observing the swirling flurries through Pearson's enormous windows, Scott Cook said he was concerned the 9 p.m. flight would be cancelled as well.
"Looking at the weather, I'm not confident at all," he said as his blanket-wrapped daughter nodded.
"I'm hoping that we get out for Christmas, but I have my doubts."
On Wednesday, Environment Canada outlined predictions for a series of snowfalls in a weather bulletin, adding "could this be snow-mageddon?"
"Environment Canada is generally not prone to exaggeration," the special weather statement read.
"The term 'snow-mageddon' is not meant to alarm anyone or make light of the situation, but to highlight the cumulative effects and impacts that a series of snowstorms can have on a wide region."
The next blast was expected to roll into Ontario late Saturday, with a third predicted for mid-week.
Stranded travellers passed the time at Pearson by chatting on cellphones, rebooking flights, attending prayer services at an on-site chapel, and making merry with the airport Santa Claus.
Others took a more creative approach. A pair of brothers from Nanaimo, B.C., waiting for an evening flight hit a squash ball back and forth against one of the airport's glass walls.
The two, travelling with their mother, were on their way to a squash competition in Connecticut, but they were concerned the storm would cause them to miss it.
"Nature is nature," said their mother Pam Lewis. "We have to roll with the punches, don't we?"
After their early-morning flight was cancelled, they tried to get a bus to Connecticut, but found that was impossible.
"It sucks, but it'll be fine as long as we get there in time for my match," said 16-year-old K'odi Lewis-Willie.
While the snow started flying at Pearson at about 8 a.m., the early delays and cancellations were mainly due to problems at other airports.
The storm was moving eastward across Canada after hitting the U.S. Midwest earlier. More than 300 flights were cancelled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and ahead of the storm, more than 500 were cancelled at New York City-area airports.
In Vancouver, a homeless woman burned to death in a shopping cart she was using as a shelter early Friday morning after lighting a fire to stay warm as temperatures plummeted far below normal.
North of Toronto, at least five people were sent to hospital with serious injuries after a chain-reaction crash on the southbound Highway 400.
About 100,000 people were expected to pass through Pearson on Friday.
Fearing they wouldn't make it to the airport through the snow, scores of passengers arrived extra early. With mounds of luggage beside them, many snoozed or tapped away on laptops.
Ferdinand Nelson and his wife Eleta, from Brampton, Ont. - some 20 minutes from the airport - arrived before 9 a.m. only to discover their 1:30 p.m. flight to Kingston, Jamaica, had been delayed until 9 p.m.
"I figure this will be an experience, right?" Nelson said, chuckling. "But once we get off the ground and get through that, we'll be fine."
Few school buses were operating in southwestern Ontario and in some communities east of Toronto, including Peterborough and Cobourg. Schools were also closed for the day in anticipation of the storm.
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
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Iowa city uses garlic salt to melt snow and ice Reported by: Associated Press
Last Update: 3:49 am
No, it's not Pizza Street -- but it smelled like it.
Road crews in a Des Moines, Iowa, suburb used garlic salt to melt snow and ice after a storm this week.
The spicy road treatment was donated by Tone Brothers, a company headquartered in the area.
The spice company says the nine tons of garlic salt would have ended up in a landfill.
Public Works Administrator Al Olson the says the city mixed the garlic salt with regular road salt and it works just fine.
He adds some members of the road crew said using the spicy mixture made them a little hungry.
I like it a lot!
"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul."
--Douglas Macarthur
Dude, You don't know the difference between an adjective and a Noun... Maybe you should check out Peg's posts a little closer...
Have a nice cloistered life.
Last month, English couple Clive and Patricia Wilson discovered that theives had broken into their house while they were out. They stole some of Patricia's jewelry, but worse, they'd taken the travel journal that had belonged to the Wilsons' daughter, Lisa, who died in a car accident in the Australian outback in 2002.
The Wilsons were devastated by the loss of Lisa's journal and the other momentos that had once belonged to her. They called the police to report the robbery, but there were no leads. The couple believed that the precious reminders of their beloved daughter were gone forever.
"Lisa's journal was irreplaceable, it was full of her words and she will never be able to say anything to us again," Clive Wilson told the Daily Telegraph.
In fact, Lisa had written in the journal during her ill-fated trip to Australia in 2002—so the journal contained the last words that her family would ever receive from her.
Though most thieves don't think twice about what they take, the Wilson's robbers must have realized that they were in possession of something special. Last week, while the couple was out at a Christmas party, a thief snuck back into their house—not to steal more of their possessions, but to return the momentos of their daughter's life.
Now, the journal and Lisa's other possessions are safely back in her parents' hands.
"This is the best Christmas present," said Clive Wilson.
Be understanding to your perceived enemies.
Be loyal to your friends.
Be strong enough to face the world each day.
Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.
Be generous to those who need your help.
Be frugal with that you need yourself.
Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.
Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.
Be willing to share your joys.
Be willing to share the sorrows of others.
Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.
Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.
Be first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.
Be last to criticize a colleague who fails.
Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you will not tumble.
Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.
Be loving to those who love you..
Be loving to those who do not love you; they may change.
Above all, Be yourself.
Just Be Yourself.
A true friend stabs you in the front.
- Oscar Wilde
A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.
- Douglas Pagels
A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world.
- Leo Buscaglia
Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.
- Sicilian Proverb
The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.
- Aristotle
The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.
- Elbert Hubbard
A good friend is cheaper than therapy.
- Anonymous
The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.
- Henry David Thoreau
The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.
- Elisabeth Foley
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
- William Blake
Business, you know, may bring money, but friendship hardly ever does.
- Jane Austen
Friends are relatives you make for yourself.
- Eustache Deschamps
Men kick friendship around like a football, but it doesn't seem to crack. Women treat it like glass and it goes to pieces.
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and have her nonsense respected.
- Charles Lamb
Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can't have too many friends because then you're just not really friends.
- Truman Capote
"We live in a Newtonian world of Einsteinian physics ruled by Frankenstein logic."
- David Russell
"Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog."
- Doug Larson
DOCTORS' OPINIONS OF THE BAIL OUT PACKAGE
The Allergists voted to scratch it, and the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.
The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve, and the Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
The Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.
The Pathologists yelled, 'Over my dead body!' while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness.
The Radiologists could see right through it, and the Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.
The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, 'This puts a whole new face on the matter.'
The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water.
The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.
In the end, the Proctologists left the decision up to some assholes in Washington
"It is my intention to make my entire life a rejection of and protest
against the crimes and injustices of war and political tyranny which
threaten to destroy the whole human race and the world with it. By my
monastic life and vows I am saying NO to all the concentration camps,
the aerial bombardments, the staged political trials, the judicial
murders, the racial injustices, the economic tyrannies, and the whole
socioeconomic apparatus which seems geared for nothing but global
destruction in spite of all its fair words in favor of peace."
--Thomas Merton, from "Honorable Reader"
Panic! by Jeff Abbott
The Last Goodbye by Reed Arvin
Persuader by Lee Child
Without Fail by Lee Child
Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg
The Alex Delaware series by Jonathan Kellerman
Tell No One by Harlan Coben (anything by this guy is EXCELLENT)
Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly (All his books are good!)
No comeback for OxyContin, despite bust: St. John's police
Fri Dec 12, 2:25 AM
A massive seizure of OxyContin this week in St. John's is not an indication that the prescription drug is making a comeback in the city's drug trade, police say.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary seized cocaine and OxyContin on Wednesday night, during a routine car stop on Blackmarsh Road. Police estimated the drugs had a street value of $114,000.
Michael Dunn, 22, was charged Thursday in St. John's provincial court with two counts under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.
As well as almost a kilogram of cocaine, police seized 761 tablets of OxyContin in the bust.
OxyContin had become such a prevalent problem in the city and other areas that the provincial government struck a task force to look at ways to curb its use. The task force's report, released in 2004, led to significant changes, including tamper-proof prescription pads, a methadone-replacement program, and better monitoring of how narcotics are dispensed and to whom.
Const. Paul Davis said while the bust involved a large amount of OxyContin, the public should not jump to conclusions that use of the drug is on the rise again.
"I think it is a single incident and it wouldn't be prudent to try to reach any solid conclusion why this is," said Davis, adding that illegal use of OxyContin peaked in 2004 and 2005.
"We have seen a decrease in certain crimes we are relating to drug activity ... and those numbers have stayed stable since then," said Davis.
However, Davis added that OxyContin is still in use, and that addictions can lead to crime.
"I know from my own experiences as a police officer from people I've met in the past who are addicted to OxyContin, and they will tell you, quite openly, that when they have an addiction OxyContin, they feel there is no other choice but to service that addiction," he said.
Dunn was remanded to custody. He is expected to appear in court for a bail hearing on Friday.
Copyright © 2008 CBC
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tuesday, December 9, 2008 -- 10:03 AM ET
-----
Governor of Illinois Arrested on Corruption Charges
An official says that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been arrested
on charges related to the selection of the replacement for
the Senate seat being vacated by Barack Obama.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na
-----
Ignatieff wouldn't bolster coalition much: poll
Mon Dec 8, 11:52 AM
By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests that a proposed Liberal-NDP coalition under Michael Ignatieff's leadership isn't much more palatable than an alliance under Stephane Dion.
The Canadian Press-Harris-Decima survey found that only 32 per cent of respondents favoured a coalition led by Dion, with 59 per cent opposed.
Asked if they would support a coalition led by Ignatieff, 38 per cent were supportive, with 50 per cent still opposed.
The poll found that almost 70 per cent of those surveyed felt Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives should stay in power, although 41 per cent blamed them for last week's political crisis and 39 per cent said Harper should resign.
However, 51 per cent said Harper should stay on.
The poll, conducted Dec. 4-6, questioned just over 1,000 people as part of an omnibus phone survey and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
The poll also suggests that 46 per cent of Quebecers feel Harper should resign, but the margin of error is much higher for the provincial breakdown.
Jeff Walker, Harris-Decima vice-president, said the result suggests the coalition concept didn't grab voters.
"While many believe Mr. Harper is the chief architect of the problems that currently face Parliament, the coalition concept under Mr. Dion has failed to generate broad public support as an alternative government," he said.
"For the Conservatives, the most damage in the past week seems to have come from the province of Quebec, where a plurality believe Mr. Harper should resign as leader of the party and a majority blame the Conservatives more than anyone else for the parliamentary crisis."
Copyright © 2008 Canadian Press
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Monday, December 8, 2008 -- 12:09 PM ET
-----
5 Guards Are Charged With Manslaughter in Iraq Deaths
The Justice Department unsealed a 35-count indictment
charging five guards for Blackwater Worldwide with
manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and weapons violations
in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad that killed at least 17 Iraqi
civilians.
Skinheads tried to disrupt Liberal-NDP rally in Moncton: RCMP
Mon Dec 8, 8:16 AM
Several skinheads tried to disrupt a rally organized by supporters of the federal Liberal-NDP coalition last Thursday night in Moncton, Codiac RCMP have confirmed.
Three men with shaved heads heckled the crowd of 200 people in Moncton who gathered to support the coalition formed between the two opposition parties to replace the Conservative government.
Police quickly cornered the men and kept them away from the rally.
Deedee Daigle, one of the rally's organizers, said she's seen the ringleader at other public rallies.
"I personally ran into him about three years ago when we did a rally in Saint John against the proposed Atlantic gateway," she said.
"As far as I can tell ... he takes an opposing view from what's there. But what he's just trying to do is to rile up the crowd and see if he can get them to start behaving in a mob-like way."
Daigle said that at a rally in Saint John, the same man tried to convince students to throw rocks at police. She said he was also at another rally in Halifax a year ago.
That's why she wasn't surprised to see him and two followers trying to provoke the crowd once again, Daigle said.
RCMP Const. Brian Butler says there are six to 10 skinheads active in New Brunswick. He said they love getting media attention by trying to disrupt public gatherings.
The best way to deal with them, he said, is to ignore them and their taunts.
Copyright © 2008 CBC
Copyright 2008 © Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
"Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent."
--Napolean Bonaparte
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Monday, December 8, 2008 -- 10:14 AM ET
-----
Alleged 9/11 Mastermind and 4 Co-Defendants Seek Guilty Plea
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo detainees
charged with planning and coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks
have asked a military judge to accept their confessions in
full. The request appeared to be intended to cut short any
effort to try them, and to challenge the United States
government to put them to death.
Anti-coalition rally to send opposition 'loud, clear' message
More than 20,000 show their support on rally website
By Chloé FedioDecember 6, 2008 10:10 AM
Donna Lynn Smith Liberal candidate from Edmonton-Leduc speaks to About 200 pro-coalition supporters stood in front of city hall to rally their cause and hear four speakers from the New Democrats and the Liberal party speak about the political situation in Ottawa.
Donna Lynn Smith Liberal candidate from Edmonton-Leduc speaks to About 200 pro-coalition supporters stood in front of city hall to rally their cause and hear four speakers from the New Democrats and the Liberal party speak about the political situation in Ottawa.
Photograph by : Edmonton Journal
An anti-coalition rally on Parliament Hill is going ahead, even though the Governor General has granted the prime minister's request to prorogue parliament.
It's one of 21 pro-government rallies planned from Victoria to Halifax at noon today.
Stephen Taylor, a Tory blogger, created the website rallyforcanada.ca to mobilize citizens against the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition supported by the Bloc Québécois.
Despite the seven-week parliamentary time-out, the leaders of the three opposition parties are continuing to state their intention to bring down the Tory government when session resumes on Jan. 26, something Mr. Taylor said has many Canadians concerned.
"We want to make sure that when the Parliament does come back, that the opposition parties get a loud and clear message that a lot of Canadians are concerned about the prospect of an unelected coalition government, and that a coalition should be proposed to Canadians through an election."
The Oct. 14 election saw the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history at 59.1 per cent, but Mr. Taylor suggested that the prospect of a coalition has ignited debate and might renew interest in federal politics.
"People are following this very closely. I think that this is actually engaging Canadians."
Mr. Taylor said more than 20,000 people have registered their e-mail addresses on the Rally for Canada website.
The pro-coalition movement, which is backed by the Canadian Labour Congress, staged a rally on Parliament Hill on Thursday, and has rallies planned today in Montreal, Toronto and Sudbury.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Thieves Winning Online War, Maybe in Your PC
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO — Internet security is broken, and nobody seems to know quite how to fix it.
Despite the efforts of the computer security industry and a half-decade struggle by Microsoft to protect its Windows operating system, malicious software is spreading faster than ever. The so-called malware surreptitiously takes over a PC and then uses that computer to spread more malware to other machines exponentially. Computer scientists and security researchers acknowledge they cannot get ahead of the onslaught.
As more business and social life has moved onto the Web, criminals thriving on an underground economy of credit card thefts, bank fraud and other scams rob computer users of an estimated $100 billion a year, according to a conservative estimate by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. A Russian company that sells fake antivirus software that actually takes over a computer pays its illicit distributors as much as $5 million a year.
With vast resources from stolen credit card and other financial information, the cyberattackers are handily winning a technology arms race.
“Right now the bad guys are improving more quickly than the good guys,” said Patrick Lincoln, director of the computer science laboratory at SRI International, a science and technology research group.
A well-financed computer underground has built an advantage by working in countries that have global Internet connections but authorities with little appetite for prosecuting offenders who are bringing in significant amounts of foreign currency. That was driven home in late October when RSA FraudAction Research Lab, a security consulting group based in Bedford, Mass., discovered a cache of half a million credit card numbers and bank account log-ins that had been stolen by a network of so-called zombie computers remotely controlled by an online gang.
In October, researchers at the Georgia Tech Information Security Center reported that the percentage of online computers worldwide infected by botnets — networks of programs connected via the Internet that send spam or disrupt Internet-based services — is likely to increase to 15 percent by the end of this year, from 10 percent in 2007. That suggests a staggering number of infected computers, as many as 10 million, being used to distribute spam and malware over the Internet each day, according to research compiled by PandaLabs.
Security researchers concede that their efforts are largely an exercise in a game of whack-a-mole because botnets that distribute malware like worms, the programs that can move from computer to computer, are still relatively invisible to commercial antivirus software. A research report last month by Stuart Staniford, chief scientist of FireEye, a Silicon Valley computer security firm, indicated that in tests of 36 commercial antivirus products, fewer than half of the newest malicious software programs were identified.
There have been some recent successes, but they are short-lived. On Nov. 11, the volume of spam, which transports the malware, dropped by half around the globe after an Internet service provider disconnected the Mycolo Corporation, an American firm with Russian ties, from the Internet. But the respite is not expected to last long as cybercriminals regain control of their spam-generating computers.
“Modern worms are stealthier and they are professionally written,” said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer for British Telecom. “The criminals have gone upmarket, and they’re organized and international because there is real money to be made.”
The gangs keep improving their malware, and now programs can be written to hunt for a specific type of information stored on a personal computer. For example, some malware uses the operating system to look for recent documents created by a user, on the assumption they will be more valuable. Some routinely watch for and then steal log-in and password information, specifically consumer financial information.
The sophistication of the programs has in the last two years begun to give them almost lifelike capabilities. For example, malware programs now infect computers and then routinely use their own antivirus capabilities to not only disable antivirus software but also remove competing malware programs. Recently, Microsoft antimalware researchers disassembled an infecting program and were stunned to discover that it was programmed to turn on the Windows Update feature after it took over the user’s computer. The infection was ensuring that it was protected from other criminal attackers.
And there is more of it. Microsoft has monitored a 43 percent jump in malware removed from Windows computers just in the last half year.
The biggest problem may be that people cannot tell if their computers are infected because the malware often masks its presence from antivirus software. For now, Apple’s Macintosh computers are more or less exempt from the attacks, but researchers expect Apple machines to become a larger target as their market share grows.
The severity of the situation was driven home not long ago for Ed Amaroso, AT&T’s chief security official. “I was at home with my mother’s computer recently and I showed her it was attacking China,” he said. “ ‘Can you just make it run a little faster?’ she asked, and I told her ‘Ma, we have to reimage your hard disk.’ ”
Beyond the billions of dollars lost in theft of money and data is another, deeper impact. Many Internet executives fear that basic trust in what has become the foundation of 21st century commerce is rapidly eroding. “There’s an increasing trend to depend on the Internet for a wide range of applications, many of them having to deal with financial institutions,” said Vinton G. Cerf, one of the original designers of the Internet, who is now Google’s “chief Internet evangelist.”
“The more we depend on these types of systems, the more vulnerable we become,” he said.
The United States government has begun to recognize the extent of the problem. In January, President Bush signed National Security Presidential Directive 54, establishing a national cybersecurity initiative. The plan, which may cost more than $30 billion over seven years, is directed at securing the federal government’s own computers as well as the systems that run the nation’s critical infrastructure, like oil and gas networks and electric power and water systems.
That will do little, however, to help protect businesses and consumers who use the hundreds of millions of Internet-connected personal computers and cellphones, the criminals’ newest target.
Despite new technologies that are holding some attackers at bay, several computer security experts said they were worried that the economic downturn will make computer security the first casualty of corporate spending cuts. Security gets hit because it is hard to measure its effectiveness, said Eugene Spafford, a computer scientist at Purdue University.
He is pessimistic. “In many respects, we are probably worse off than we were 20 years ago,” he said, “because all of the money has been devoted to patching the current problem rather than investing in the redesign of our infrastructure.”
The cyber-criminals appear to be at least as technically advanced as the most sophisticated software companies. And they are faster and more flexible. As software companies have tightened the security of the basic operating systems like Windows and Macintosh, attackers have moved on to Web browsers and Internet-connected programs like Adobe Flash and Apple QuickTime.
This has led to an era of so-called “drive-by infections,” where users are induced to click on Web links that are contained in e-mail messages. Cyber-criminals have raised the ability to fool unsuspecting computer users into clicking on intriguing messages to a high art.
Researchers note that the global cycle of distributing security patches inevitably plays to the advantage of the attacker, who can continually hunt for and exploit new backdoors and weaknesses in systems. This year, computer security firms have begun shifting from traditional anti-virus program designs, which are regularly updated on subscribers’ personal computers, to Web-based services, which can be updated even faster.
Security researchers at SRI International are now collecting over 10,000 unique samples of malware daily from around the global. “To me it feels like job security,” said Phillip Porras, an SRI program director and the computer security expert who led the design of the company’s Bothunter program, available free at www.bothunter.net.
“This is always an arm race, as long as it gets into your machine faster than the update to detect it, the bad guys win,” said Mr. Schneier.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/technology/internet/06security.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1228575709-9L+tk6nNC1GDevVBhwsXaw
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, December 5, 2008 -- 2:12 PM ET
-----
O.J. Simpson Is Sentenced to at Least Nine Years in Prison
Mr. Simpson was sentenced for his role in a 2007 raid on a
Las Vegas hotel room in which two collectibles dealers were
robbed of a trove of sports memorabilia.
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