What does it mean "Back in the Day?"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  August 30, 2011  |  Bryan TX

[...]

Some people need to be informed for the first time and others need to be reminded about Prescott Bush and Prescott Oil and Prescott Bush's ties with the Nazis; remind people about Ronald Reagan's Iran Contra scandal and Oliver North as his fall guy; remind people how GWB & Cheney enriched themselves even further from their wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the expense of our most precious resources --the lives of our ladies and men in uniform plus the expense of rewarding private contractor security war-profiteers from the Department of Defense funds. Remind people that one of the first cuts made by GWB and Dick Cheney, or perhaps THE FIRST cut they made, was to the Veterans Administration --yet GOP-n-P'ers always exclaim Support the troops! Remind people how McCain & Lieberman & Graham promised Momar Gaddafi they would help him secure military equipment from the United States. Isn't it funny how Republicans and Teabaggers in the House of Representatives and some of them in the Senate campaigned tirelessly with the battle-cry of "Where are the jobs?" when they themselves eliminated the workers' rights and consumer rights and those actual jobs themselves? Remind people how Republican business owners closed down USA factories and shipped USA jobs overseas to exploit cheap labor and no oversight for workers' rights and consumer protections. Remind people how the obstructionist Republicans and their Teabagging cohorts during President Obama's first term held hostage workers' unemployment checks and have blocked any and all progress in mopping up their trickle down economics cesspool.

Not unlike one of my heros said recently on his HBO show Real Time, if you're a working-class American and you still vote for and support Republican policies, you're stupid. Is that name-calling? No. It's a fact. The USA was founded with a mindset of embracing diversity, and people have every right to beLIEve in and proselytize about their beLIEfs in glorified mythologies and their devoted lemming loyalty for fundamentalist Faux News and Newsmax and other garbage, and they can do so on "their" facebook pages.

If you show that you are not interested in supporting President Obama, our Hawai'ian-born Harvard Law School Constitutional Law expert, you are actually showing everyone that you really do not believe in equality, tranquility, common welfare, or liberty and justice FOR ALL.

We need a Democratic Party supermajority to put an end to the filibustering delay tactics that the GOP always uses, not unlike unreasonable bratty children who want their way no matter how much you try reasoning with them.

No more elephant crap and no more tea stains!

Hang in there if you can, everyone.

Your friend,

Warren

Warren G. Richards
Mesa AZ

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Gulf Coast

No Hurricanes to Report
by Pat Darnell  |  August 28, 2011  |  Bryan TX

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MooPig's Own "IRENE Watch"

[GIF LINK]

MooPig like Twitter; Only not.
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 28, 2011 | Bryan TX

The following is on faceBook, from latest to oldest, comments by Friends... if you want, you can copy/paste the name at the beginning of each quip to faceBook Search, and get a profile on these persons.

[ ... ]

John J. O'Sullivan
Looks like we made out relatively unscathed. The most intense winds were last night, and it looks like the storm has lost interest in Central Jersey.
25 minutes ago via Friendly for iPad · Like · · Get Friendly
Elisa Sedgwick likes this.

Comment:
James Patterson Ahem, I beg to differ with you. You did not make out unscathed. You spent 125 dollars at the grocery store, 75 dollars at the hardware store and 400 dollars at the liquor store. A 600 dollar damage bill is hardly unscathed. However, you do have the benefit of getting royally drunk this afternoon and laughing at your neighbor as he takes the boards off his house... Dude.

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On the Lime - Raw Foods
World Raw Food Day - today!
12 minutes ago · 1 · Like ·

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abc13 KTRK Eyewitness News Houston
We're starting to see more images from Irene's landfalls. Check out photos from up and down the East Coast.

Images of Irene's arrival in the U.S.
abclocal.go.com
See images from the path and preps for Hurricane Irene, as well as photos as she came ashore

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Gregory Lowe
Ancient Judaism was the mother to two sisters: Modern Judaism and Christianity. Neither sister was anything like their mother.
47 minutes ago via mobile · 1 · Unlike ·

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Milyn McDowell Woods
It's a mess. "Hot" and "Damn" sold separately.
53 minutes ago · Unlike ·

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abc13 KTRK Eyewitness News Houston and 3 other friends posted about Hurricane Irene.
55 minutes ago

abc13 KTRK Eyewitness News Houston
‎ABC13Sonia Azad has the story and a link to see if your flight has been canceled:

Hurricane Irene creates travel woes | abc13.com
abclocal.go.com
Thousands of flights to some of the nation's busiest airports have been canceled because of Hurricane Irene, leaving passengers around the country -- including Houston -- stranded
55 minutes ago · 12 · Like · · Share

CBS News
Because local coverage of Hurricane Irene may preempt broadcasts of CBS' "Sunday Morning" in some East Coast markets, we will be streaming today's show live online at CBSNews.com - Don't miss it! Click on the link beginning 9:00 a.m. ET.

Watch "Sunday Morning" live online - CBS News Video
www.cbsnews.com
about an hour ago · 4186 · Like · · Share

Libertarian Party
Footage of punishing winds and rain at 1:30 a.m. outside the the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. during the 24-hr Hurricane Earthquake L.P. telethon. Call 202-333-0008 x 222 right NOW to renew your membership!

Wes and Hurricane Irene
www.youtube.com
5 hours ago · 1648 · Like · · Share

Jason Williams
MAKES ONE WONDER HUH?? ... Locked Up and Left Behind: Hurricane Irene and the Prisoners on New York’s Rikers Island
solitarywatch.com
‎"We are not evacuating Rikers Island," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference this afternoon. Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparatio...
7 hours ago · 226 · Like · · Share

abc13 KTRK Eyewitness News Houston
‎ABC13-Samica Knight follows up on the destruction left behind by Hurricane Irene in NC...
North Carolina recovering after Irene
abclocal.go.com
Hurricane Irene has moved past North Carolina, leaving destruction in its wake
10 hours ago · 77 · Like · · Share

abc13 KTRK Eyewitness News Houston
Some experts say the weather could be to blame for some mothers who go into labor unexpectedly...

Hurricane Baby: Couple Gives Birth During Hurricane Irene
abcnews.go.com
New Hanover Regional Medical Center in North Carolina reported a dozen new babies within the near 17-hour lockdown of the hospital, and eight mothers in waiting. Now that the lockdown is lifted, the hospital expects several more soon-to-be mothers to rush in.
11 hours ago · 1427 · Like · · Share

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Joan Grigassy Dentler
For all my friends and family on the East Coast...this may be of particular interest to you this weekend. It is a great book!

Great Disasters: Galveston Hurricane 1900: Isaac's Storm Part 1 of 8
www.youtube.com
This feature-length special based on Erik Larson's book "Isaac's Storm", weather experts, historians, and survivors' descendants guide us through that horrif...
about an hour ago · Like · · Share

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This Is Somewhere Blog
shameless hurricane promotion
We’re hearing that ZZ Top’s “Tush” made an appearance last night. Video anyone?
Source: ThisIsSomewhere.com
Published: 2011-08-28 11:37:14 GMT
2 hours ago via RSS Graffiti · 1 · Like · · Share

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CBS News
Hurricane brings torrential rain, dangerous storm surges to Northeast; 2M homes without power

Irene slams Jersey shore, shuts down N.Y.C. - CBS News
www.cbsnews.com
2 hours ago · 2558 · Like · · Share

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CBS News
A lone Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), walks his tour in humble reverence during Hurricane Irene in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Aug 27. Members of The Old Guard have guarded the Tomb every second, of every day regardless of weather or holidays since April 6, 1948.

Hurricane Irene Tomb
A lone Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), walks his tour in humble reverence during Hurricane Irene in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Aug 27. Members of The Old Guard have guarded the Tomb every second, of every day regardless of weather or holidays since April 6, 1948.
By: ‎3rd U.S. INF Regiment The Old Guard
Photos: 3
10 hours ago · 181853 · Unlike · · Share

_________________Reference
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/hurricane-irene-path-maps_n_935195.html

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Britney puts her Presidential Bid In

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE-uPB5LUGg&feature=player_embedded

Drought Puts Texas Ranchers, And Cattle, At Risk : NPR

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 26, 2011 | Bryan TX

[Painting by Bob Darnell]

Read Entire Article HERE:

Drought Puts Texas Ranchers, And Cattle, At Risk : NPR:

EXCERPT  |  " ... "Listening to the Texas Farm Bureau's reassurance that the cattle industry is not going to go away completely is a revelatory moment. In the midst of a nasty, tenacious recession, Mother Nature is kicking rural Texas right in the teeth."
[ ... ]
If this were a normal year, an August cattle auction in Emory would see maybe 100 to 200 head. There are more than 700 head today. And that's down from the more than 1,000 head sold here every Tuesday for much of this summer. The sad truth is, East Texas is starting to run out of stock to sell.

Inside the auction room, buyers in jeans and cowboy hats, here from Michigan and Wisconsin, Tennessee and Alabama, raise their fingers in front of their chests to bid. One cow, one calf, one bull after another, until late into the night. The Lone Star State is emptying itself of its cattle. ( WADE GOODWYN. August 26, 2011. NPR.) ... "

'via Blog this'

_________Reference
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/26/139947317/drought-puts-texas-ranchers-and-cattle-at-risk?ft=1&f=1001

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MooPig's "Famous Last Words" Department :: "The Quake Expert Says --"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 23 - 29, 2011 | Bryan TX

The USGS keeps a tally of the seismic activity worldwide. Here is a sampling of the data that was collected last week. MooPig has a long standing curiosity about these events. Check out the number and locations of the earth moving ... it is mind boggling.

Earthquake List for Map Centered at 42°N, 75°W
Update time = Sat Aug 27 0:00:02 UTC 2011

Here are the earthquakes in the Map Centered at 42°N, 75°W area, most recent at the top.

MAG UTC DATE-TIME | y/m/d h:m:s LAT | deg LON | deg DEPTH | km LOCATION

MAP 1.8 2011/08/26 11:53:21 42.680 -74.085 21.4 5 km ( 3 mi) SW of Altamont, NY
MAP 1.7 2011/08/26 05:59:37 42.667 -74.069 20.0 5 km ( 3 mi) SW of Altamont, NY
MAP 2.2 2011/08/26 04:55:20 42.681 -74.094 22.9 6 km ( 4 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 2.6 2011/08/25 23:40:56 37.903 -77.814 4.9 14 km ( 9 mi) SE of Mineral, VA
MAP 2.5 2011/08/25 20:55:53 42.688 -74.094 20.3 5 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 2.4 2011/08/25 15:27:47 37.951 -77.924 0.1 6 km ( 4 mi) S of Mineral, VA
MAP 2.0 2011/08/25 14:46:03 42.688 -74.094 22.1 5 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 2.8 2011/08/25 13:13:32 42.683 -74.091 18.5 5 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 2.3 2011/08/25 06:37:31 37.912 -77.969 0.1 12 km ( 7 mi) SSW of Mineral, VA
MAP 4.5 2011/08/25 05:07:50 37.940 -77.896 5.0 7 km ( 5 mi) S of Mineral, VA
MAP 2.5 2011/08/25 04:06:47 37.923 -77.988 0.1 11 km ( 7 mi) S of Louisa, VA
MAP 1.9 2011/08/24 18:44:08 44.702 -74.392 5.0 17 km ( 11 mi) SE of Brushton, NY
MAP 3.4 2011/08/24 17:14:32 44.703 -74.382 5.0 18 km ( 11 mi) SE of Brushton, NY
MAP 3.4 2011/08/24 04:45:26 37.925 -77.994 4.9 11 km ( 7 mi) S of Louisa, VA
MAP 1.5 2011/08/24 02:42:15 42.679 -74.091 23.5 6 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 4.2 2011/08/24 00:04:36 37.912 -77.951 7.9 11 km ( 7 mi) SSW of Mineral, VA
MAP 2.2 2011/08/23 19:20:26 37.911 -78.004 0.1 13 km ( 8 mi) S of Louisa, VA
MAP 2.8 2011/08/23 18:46:50 37.931 -77.935 0.1 9 km ( 5 mi) SSW of Mineral, VA
MAP 5.8 2011/08/23 17:51:04 37.936 -77.933 6.0 8 km ( 5 mi) SSW of Mineral, VA
MAP 2.2 2011/08/23 10:35:17 42.687 -74.098 21.4 6 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 1.8 2011/08/22 23:14:27 42.688 -74.096 19.7 5 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 1.7 2011/08/22 21:57:42 42.682 -74.093 20.3 6 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Altamont, NY
MAP 1.7 2011/08/22 19:52:20 42.688 -74.049 17.7 2 km ( 1 mi) SW of Altamont, NY

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/37.47.-80.-70.php

[ ... ]

Quake Expert Says Dual Quakes In Colorado And East Coast Unrelated | FoxNews.com
Published August 23, 2011 | Associated Press

GOLDEN, Colo.-- The U.S. Geological Survey says the Virginia earthquake struck an area that historically is not seismically active -- and that there's no connection with another rare quake that struck Colorado.

USGS geophysicist Daniel McNamara in Golden, Colo., said Tuesday's magnitude-5.9 quake that rattled much of the East Coast cannot be traced to a specific fault.

McNamara said the same applies to a magnitude-5.3 quake that struck southern Colorado late Monday. That area, too, has seen little seismic activity on such a large scale.

Famous Last Words::
"McNamara stressed there is no connection between the two quakes."

______________________Reference
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/23/quake-expert-says-dual-quakes-in-colorado-and-east-coast-unrelated/#ixzz1VuJFU2mF
http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/4716/earthquake-ap-reports-pentagon-capitol-being-evacuated
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/us/25mineral.html
http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2011/aug/25/LANEWSO1-florida-earthquakes-are-rare-but-real/
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US10/37.47.-80.-70_eqs.php

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Weed Watch

[PICTURE LINK]

Investigation into pot sales leads to three arrests | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle:

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 23, 2011 | Bryan TX

EXCERPT | " ... Jennifer Danielle Stillisano and Joshua Garrett Foley, both 30, were each charged Tuesday with possession of from four ounces to five pounds of marijuana in a drug-free zone. A 31-year-old man was charged with possession of less than two ounces of marijuana. (EAGLE Staff Writer. Published Tuesday, August 23, 2011 9:58 AM) ... "

A College Station officer said in a police report that he served a search warrant Monday at the East 28th Street home of Stillisano and her husband, Foley, as part of an investigation into sales of marijuana there.

The officer found a large amount of marijuana, about 140 marijuana plants, a digital scale and packaging materials, according to the police report.

... MEANWHILE ...

August 23, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Chicago Police have arrested seven suspects and seized more than six tons of marijuana in a major narcotics bust on the Southwest Side.

Officers displayed the narcotics in a police garage on Tuesday. Police estimate the pot has a street value of more than $33 million.

Police say, when a source told them a warehouse on South Kolmar was used in the operation, they staked out the warehouse and saw a semi trailer truck enter. They say metal containers filled with drugs were unloaded and put into cars.

In addition to arresting the suspects, police confiscated seven vehicles, a rifle, and a pistol.

___________Reference
http://www.theeagle.com/police/Investigation-into-pot-sales-leads-to-three-arrests?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheEagleRegionAndState+%28The+Eagle+Local%29
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8322789

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Semen on the Highway

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 23, 2011 | Bryan TX

[PICTURE LINK]

Bull semen spill causes scare, closes U.S. highway - AlertNet:
EXCERPT  | " ... Luckily, officials found Greyhound bus tickets strewn around the canister and after a quick call to Greyhound to speak with the driver of the bus, local police determined the canisters were filled with vials of frozen bull sperm packed in dry ice. Yes, that's right, bull sperm.

 " ...The bus driver turned around to retrieve the canisters. Once emergency personnel learned the smoking canisters were nothing hazardous and that they simply contained frozen bull semen that had been stored on dry ice, Tennessee Department of Transportation and fire department workers cleared the ramp.

"It was no different to us than if a mattress fell off a truck," said transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty. (By Tim Ghianni. 23 Aug 2011 17:51. Source: Reuters // Reuters. Editing by James B. Kelleher and Greg McCune)


__________Reference
http://jalopnik.com/5833598/greyhound-bus-shoots-load-of-bull-semen-all-over-interstate
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bull-semen-spill-causes-scare-closes-us-highway

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FWD Emails Department :: If you like the way things are in America, delete this.

[PICTURE LINK]

Letter from an unhappy citizen to a Wyoming State Senator : YOU MUST READ IT ! It's great!
by Kimberly Isaac on Monday, August 22, 2011 at 12:20am
Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.

August, 2010.

Subject: Letter from unhappy camper


THIS SENIOR CITIZEN NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!
If you agree with what a fellow Montana citizen (Patty Myers) says, PASS IT ON!!!!

[...]

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud..

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
.....

To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable SOB!


If you like the way things are in America, delete this.

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MooPig's Site Review :: "Italy votes to knuckle down"

In the middle of July, Italy passed austerity measures legislation. Did it help?
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | July 17-August 20 2011 | Bryan TX

Italy votes to knuckle down: "The lower house voted 316 to 284 for the plan, in what politicians called the fastest approval of a budget bill in modern Italian history." (Rachel Donadio. July 17, 2011)

The bill was originally supposed to be debated later in the summer.

Italy's high debt and low growth have placed the country in an uncomfortable international spotlight. The rates the country had to pay to borrow rose this week to the highest levels in three years.
The Italian austerity package aims to eliminate the country's budget deficit by 2014. The deficit is now 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product, below the average for the euro zone.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/italy-votes-to-knuckle-down-20110716-1hj0n.html#ixzz1VZShyjvx

[...]
“There are the ones that can probably make it through, even though it will be very unpleasant, as long as there isn’t a panic, and those would be Spain and Italy,” he said today in an interview in Stockholm. “There are the ones that are probably fundamentally insolvent where there’s going to have to be a debt write down and those would be Greece, Portugal, Ireland.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-08-18/italy-spain-can-probably-survive-crisis-krugman-says.html (By Johan Carlstrom, 18 August 2011)

[...]
MARKETS
European equities suffered their biggest daily fall in two
and a half years on Thursday, as a slew of data cast further
doubt on the strength of the recovery in the world's biggest
economy. [ID:nL5E7JI28W]

Sharp losses in banking and industrial stocks dragged the
Milan blue-chip index sharply lower due to mounting worries
about a global recession. [ID:nWEA1247]

* FIAT INDUSTRIAL (FI.MI)
Goldman Sachs cuts rating to "neutral" from "buy"
[Source LINK] (MILAN, Aug 19 [Reuters])

Report from the Middle :: "Three Hole Aggregate Playoff"

[PHOTO LINK]


"The cowbell in my family is an iconic thing."
By Pat Darnell | August 15, 2011 | Bryan TX

I took some time off from watching The Knife Show Marathon, with Tom O'Dell and friends, this afternoon to tune in to the PGA Championship from Atlanta, Johns Creek, Georgia. Unfortunately, it was just as sliced, diced and chipped as the cutlery show.

The leader was about five strokes ahead, but his unmarketable name "Jason Dufner" probably is the reason he bogey'd 15, 16, and then 17, while the guy in second place birdie'd the same. In second was "Keegan Bradley," who MooPig Segment Marketing Editor, Milton Miltie, says, "Is a name that doesn't remind patrons of ammonia smelling golf shirts and turf stained golf shoes, like "Jason Dufner" does."

The regular tournament ended in a tie between the two and required a "three hole aggregate playoff" to determine a winner. After the second hit by both players, the playoff went all for Keagan Bradley's way to victory. MooPig Editorial Staff gathered in the Break Room to watch on our twenty inch TV, as the playoff churned.

"It's real low humor to make fun of people's names like that," said MooPig's Humor Editor, Monroe Maroon.

"Naw; we're just musing. We are noticing the PGA golfers in this Post-Tiger era ..." Milton said.

The two well-matched players, Dufner and Bradley, re-played the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes in the final minutes of the tournament. Some old, but good, catch-phrases were muttered around the tables by the gathered staffers. "Drive for show; Putt for dough." "Rookie." "Uncle Miltie."

The Chicago Sun-Times would later say: "And the winner is . . . rookie Keegan Bradley, who looks more like the kid who delivers your Sun-Times than someone gracing its pages."

The UK Daily Mail would report: "New USPGA champion Keegan Bradley is up from 108th to 29th in the world rankings - and joins the list of those now ahead of Tiger Woods."

"I think I remember something about Keegan and his family..." said Gretchen Glee, MooPig's Staff Caddy and Ball Washer. "I seem to remember -- Keegan Bradley got emotional thinking about a cowbell." That hit a note with the MooPig Staff.

It turns out: " ... The [cowbell] that is in the World Golf Hall of Fame. The one his grandmother rang after every win by his famous aunt, LPGA Tour great Pat Bradley, whose 31 victories included six majors."

That's MooPig's Report from the Middle, where the women always ring the cowbell, the men all finish in the top 1%, and the children pray for rain.

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______Reference
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2026105/US-PGA-champion-Keegan-Bradley-Tiger-Woods-golf-world-rankings.html

Rick Perry Says Social Security And Medicare Are Unconstitutional | ThinkProgress

Rick Perry Says Social Security And Medicare Are Unconstitutional | ThinkProgress: "Moreover, Perry’s belief that Social Security and Medicare must cease to exist not only puts him well to the right of his fellow Republicans in Congress — who recently voted to gradually phase out Medicare — it also puts him at the rightward fringe of the GOP presidential field. Not even Michele Bachmann has gone on record claiming that America’s two most cherished programs for seniors violate the Constitution, although she did invite a Fox News analyst who shares Perry’s beliefs to lecture her fellow lawmakers on what the Constitution requires."

I Know a Few Things

I would Like Some Chicken Too ...!
By Dez Darnell | August 9, 2011

Texas Drought Extreme :: "No Where to Hide"

BBC News - Bitcoin: Can a virtual currency do away with banks?

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 8, 2011 | Bryan TX

[PHOTO LINK]
Listen to this Explanation HERE

Do you like playing games online? Well, you probably play for coins and that is the value you obtain, right? So, why not Bitcoin stashes for real.

BBC News - Bitcoin: Can a virtual currency do away with banks?: "Bitcoin is an electronic currency that can be traded directly on the internet, members don't even need to have a bank account."

Moldbug does a good job explaining this principle HERE:

" ... In any economy, there exists no less than one commodity or security of inelastic volume which is overvalued due to reservation demand. Ie: one scarce good which is money. ... "

_____________Reference
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9555513.stm
http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-monetary-restandardization.html
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2011/06/bitcoin-open-forum-part-3.html

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MooPigisms :: "Gimme' the Key !!"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  August 8, 2011  |  Bryan TX

MooPig Enterprises has done its share of hammering the English language. It also notices that its friends from England have their own unique twists as well. It is a track splitting off in many directions, English is.

MooPig-isms has evolved just like one dissenter -- see below JP Spore -- has pointed out. MooPig finds certain words and phrases perpetuated through cinema.

• Gimme the key ...
• Scenario ...
• Stay with me ...
• Unsub ...
• Perp ... 

MooPig Language and Spell-check Department Head, Murphy Morgan, suggests a quick trip to the Urban Dictionary. Here you will find a seething mess of morphology English spread so thick you can't believe its not butter. Click HERE, and look up "Debt Ceiling Chicken." Urban Dictionary: self described a veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers. What do the Brits say? Read on ...

 BBC News - Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples: "Our recent piece on Americanisms entering the language in the UK prompted thousands of you to e-mail examples.

Some are useful, while some seem truly unnecessary, argued Matthew Engel in the article. Here are 50 of the most e-mailed."

EXCERPT
1. When people ask for something, I often hear: "Can I get a..." It infuriates me. It's not New York. It's not the 90s. You're not in Central Perk with the rest of the Friends. Really." Steve, Rossendale, Lancashire

2. The next time someone tells you something is the "least worst option", tell them that their most best option is learning grammar. Mike Ayres, Bodmin, Cornwall

3. The phrase I've watched seep into the language (especially with broadcasters) is "two-time" and "three-time". Have the words double, triple etc, been totally lost? Grammatically it makes no sense, and is even worse when spoken. My pulse rises every time I hear or see it. Which is not healthy as it's almost every day now. Argh! D Rochelle, Bath

4. Using 24/7 rather than "24 hours, 7 days a week" or even just plain "all day, every day". Simon Ball, Worcester

5. The one I can't stand is "deplane", meaning to disembark an aircraft, used in the phrase "you will be able to deplane momentarily". TykeIntheHague, Den Haag, Holland

6. To "wait on" instead of "wait for" when you're not a waiter - once read a friend's comment about being in a station waiting on a train. For him, the train had yet to arrive - I would have thought rather that it had got stuck at the station with the friend on board. T Balinski, Raglan, New Zealand

A US reader writes...
JP Spore believes there is nothing wrong with English evolving.
Languages are, by their very nature, shifting, malleable things that morph according to the needs and desires of those who speak them.

Mr Engel suggests that British English should be preserved, but it seems to me this both lacks a historical perspective of the language, as well as an ignorance of why it is happening.
English itself is a rather complicated, interesting blend of Germanic, French and Latin (among other things). It has arrived at this point through the long and torturous process of assimilation and modification. The story of the English language is the story of an unstoppable train of consecutive changes - and for someone to put their hand up and say "wait - the train stops here and should go no further" is not only futile, but ludicrously arbitrary.
Why here? Why not stop it 20 years ago? Or 20 years hence? If we're going to just set an arbitrary limit on language change, why not choose the year 1066 AD? The Saxons had some cool words, right?

Mr Engel - and all language Luddites on both sides of the Atlantic, including more than a few here in the States - really need to get over it when their countrymen find more value in non-native words than in their native lexicon.
I understand the argument about loss of cultural identity, but if so many people are so willing to give up traditional forms and phrases maybe we should consider that they didn't have as much value as we previously imagined.

[ ... ]

7. "It is what it is". Pity us. Michael Knapp, Chicago, US

8. Dare I even mention the fanny pack? Lisa, Red Deer, Canada

9. "Touch base" - it makes me cringe no end. Chris, UK

10. Is "physicality" a real word? Curtis, US

11. Transportation. What's wrong with transport? Greg Porter, Hercules, CA, US

[...]

Read Entire Article HERE.


____________Reference
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796

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Newly Born, South Sudan's First Steps Are Next : NPR

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  July 10, 2011  |  Bryan TX


Listen to the Story, Weekend Edition Sunday HERE ...

OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON: The jolly team of nurses on night duty at the maternity wing at Juba Teaching Hospital cheers loudly and ululates, you know, that distinct hammering of the tongue against the side of the mouth. The midwives repeated the ritual every time they delivered one of the three baby boys born just after South Sudan became a brand new independent nation.
QUIST-ARCTON: This little boy you hear crying had only just been born. But the number one baby has already got his name.
Ms. JOSEPHINE SPINA: Independence.

Newly Born, South Sudan's First Steps Are Next : NPR: "Africa is celebrating the birth of the Republic of Southern Sudan. South Sudan waged a brutal and lengthy war of independence from the North and as the celebratory parades end, the country faces significant development challenges. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports." (NPR, OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON. July 10, 2011)

__________Reference
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/10/137742798/newly-born-south-sudans-first-steps-are-next?ft=1&f=1004

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South Sudan prays, fields soccer team after split - AlertNet

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | July 10, 2011 | Bryan TX

[PHOTO LINK]

Southerners voted to split in two Africa's largest nation by area in a January referendum that was the culmination of a 2005 peace deal ending decades of civil war between north and south. Some 2 million people died in the conflict.

Oil is the lifeblood of both economies. (Reuters, Jeremy Clarke; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Peter Cooney. 10 July 2011.)

South Sudan prays, fields soccer team after split - AlertNet

EXCERPT  |  " ... The field was lush and the crowd did their best to support their home team. With drums and dancing in the background the supporters shouted “Oye, South Sudan, Oye”!

When the referee blew his whistle after 91 minutes the score was 3-1 to the Kenyans. The audience did not seem too disappointed however. They knew their team was young, lacking both resources and training facilities. As the crowd left the arena the sound of the drums filled the air and intensified as the dancing began. ... "

_____________Reference
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/south-sudan-prays-fields-soccer-team-after-split
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/south-sudan-prays-fields-soccer-team-after-split
http://idsinternational.net/index.php?id=77

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MooPig Anniversaries :: "It has been a Year Since the Mine Collapsed"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  August 3, 2011  |  Bryan TX

BBC News - Chile marks year since mine collapse: "The San Jose mine collapsed on 5 August 2010, cutting off the miners at a depth of more than 700m (2,300ft).

The last miner was winched to safety on 14 October after a 22-hour televised rescue that gripped the world."

__________Reference
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14415509

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Video: Is Spenditol right for you? « Hot Air

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 7, 2011 | Bryan TX

Video: Is Spenditol right for you? « Hot Air: "I’m with Jim Geraghty on this new ad from Concerned Women for America — it’s awesome. The new “miracle drug, made in Washington DC,” allows users to mask pain by spending money we don’t have and pushing the responsibility to pay for it onto our children. Of course, your conscience — and your Constitution — might not be strong enough for Spenditol. If you have debt that last longer that four generations, see your Tea Party activists immediately:"


________________Reference
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/21/video-is-spenditol-right-for-you/
http://youtu.be/5k_TLz_f8SU

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MooPig Site Review :: "National Institute of Nursing Research"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  August 3, 2011  |  Bryan TX


National Institute of Nursing Research Convenes National Summit on The Science of Compassion: Future Directions in End-of-Life and Palliative Care - Health News - redOrbit: "BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), a component of the National Institutes of Health, and its partners will host The Science of Compassion: Future Directions in End-of-Life and Palliative Care. This trans-NIH summit aims to examine the current status of end-of-life and palliative care research and practice; propose strategies to address current barriers to care; and prioritize action items to stimulate research in this area. Participants include scientists, researchers, health care providers, educators, representatives from professional organizations and members of the public."



_______________Reference
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/2089807/national_institute_of_nursing_research_convenes_national_summit_on_the/index.html?source=r_health

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MooPig Campaign Watch :: "How much does it Cost to Win the Presidency?"

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  July 14, 2011  |  Bryan TX

[PHOTO LINK]

Obama's $86M Shatters Own Goal - HispanicBusiness.com: "By contrast, Mitt Romney, the top fundraiser so far in the Republican field, collected $18.25 million during the same period."

Obama's campaign had set a $60 million combined fundraising goal for the quarter.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina announced the totals Wednesday and called the early effort a "monumental achievement." He said the team is using the money to build Obama's campaign infrastructure coast to coast. ... The average donation: $69, he said.

He said the campaign is preparing for a "close and competitive election" and predicted newly formed outside Republican groups would spend as much as $500 million working to defeat Obama.

Obama, who went on to raise nearly $750 million in the 2008 campaign, "has made it pretty clear he hasn't lost his fundraising magic," said Dave Levinthal of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. "The power of the incumbency is huge."

[PICTURE LINK]

____________Reference
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?idx=255708&cat1=politics
http://m.ibtimes.com/obama-turns-50th-birthday-into-campaign-fundraiser-republican-president-george-w-bush-democrats-192365.html

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NASA Talk -- Vesta

[LINK]
Close-up View of 'Snowman' Craters
FIRST PHOTO  |  A set of three craters, nicknamed "Snowman," are seen in this image of the northern hemisphere of Vesta. This image was obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 24, 2011 from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers).

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Page Last Updated: August 1, 2011
Page Editor: Jason Townsend
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

[LINK]
Vesta Sizes Up
SECOND PHOTO | This composite image shows the comparative sizes of nine asteroids. Up until now, Lutetia, with a diameter of 81 miles (130 kilometers), was the largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft, which occurred during a flyby. Vesta dwarfs all other small bodies in this image.

Asteroid Vesta also is considered a protoplanet because it's a large body that almost became a planet and has a diameter of approximately 330 miles (530 kilometers).

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JAXA/ESA
Page Last Updated: July 19, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk -- Future Supersonic Flight

[LINK]
Another Take on Supersonic
Our ability to fly at supersonic speeds over land in civil aircraft depends on our ability to reduce the level of sonic booms. NASA has been exploring a variety of options for quieting the boom, starting with design concepts and moving through wind tunnel tests to flight tests of new technologies. This rendering of a possible future civil supersonic transport shows a vehicle that is shaped to reduce the sonic shockwave signature and also to reduce drag.

Image credit: NASA/Lockheed Martin
Page Last Updated: August 2, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk -- Cady Coleman and Crew STS-134

[LINK]
Shuttle, Station Crews Meet the President
President Barack Obama looks at a photo presented to him while meeting with the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the U.S. Commander of the ISS Expedition 26 in the Oval Office, Aug. 2, 2011. From left to right: STS-134 Pilot Gregory H. Johnson, Mission Specialist Michael Fincke, Commander Mark Kelly, President Barack Obama, Expedition 26-27 crewmember Catherine Coleman, Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly and Expedition 26-27 Paolo Nespoli. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

Page Last Updated: August 2, 2011
Page Editor: Brian Dunbar
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

NASA Talk -- Bon Voyage JUNO

[LINK]
Juno Lifts Off
The Juno spacecraft launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. Juno will make a five-year, 400-million-mile voyage to Jupiter, orbit the planet, investigate its origins and evolution with eight instruments to probe its internal structure and gravity field, measure water and ammonia in its atmosphere, map its powerful magnetic field and observe its intense auroras.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Page Last Updated: August 5, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

Credit Rating

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | August 5, 2011 | Bryan TX

Francis Duxbury III
So in 1917 the U.S.A has had a AAA credit rating now it's AA+. Is this bad? You tell me.
5 hours ago via Facebook Mobile · Like ·
Trudi Sexton for over 40 yrs we have been screaming to cut spending which they have not done.
5 hours ago · Like
Alice Alley Catz Solheim It sure crashed the market, but the news about jobs brought it back up. It seems you can play the market with loaded dice, why use real ones.
5 hours ago · Like
Aj Janssen It means higher finance charges
4 hours ago · Like
Levi Elvi Unfortunately, Trudi, "they" listened to the big money lobbyists and gave tax breaks to the big corporations. And the "tax breaks" also encouraged big corporations to bank their money offshore.

"They" relaxed much of the regulations wrt to banking -- and when the lenders went broke, "they" used the public's money to restore the bank's coffers. The first of this series of maneuvers was the Savings and Loan bailouts.

"They" went out and bankrupted the country by starting unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. You should count Reagan's "Stars Wars" (SDI) in the unnecessary war category.

None of this created jobs, none of this did anything but put ordinary people's hard earned money into rich people's pockets.

Meanwhile, "they" try to misdirect folks by lying to you about "welfare queens". Myths that all the money is gone because we supposedly support all these "lazy" people. But a couple billion dollars for a submarine to fight wars in the deserts somehow makes sense?

Yes, Francis, AA+ is kinda bad. It means that the grifters have grabbed our money. What's really bad is that most Americans don't have the knowledge base or attention span to understand what's happening to them.
4 hours ago · Like · 1 person
Aj Janssen It has nothing to do with the market, that was due to the unstable European economy, learning how the world runs make Jack and Jill smarter. :-/
4 hours ago · Like

NASA Talk -- Up Close MARS

Retrieved by Pat Darnell  |  August 4, 2011  |  Bryan TX

[LINK]
Rock Layers in Gale Crater
This oblique view of the lower mound in Gale Crater shows layers of rock that preserve a record of environments on Mars. Here, orbiting instruments have detected signatures of both clay minerals and sulfate salts, with more clay minerals apparent in the foreground of this image and fewer in higher layers. This change in mineralogy may reflect a change in the ancient environment in Gale Crater.

Mars scientists have several important hypotheses about how these minerals may reflect changes in the amount of water on the surface of Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will use its full suite of instruments to study these minerals to provide insights into these ancient Martian environments. These rocks are also a prime target in the search for organic molecules since these past environments may have been habitable -- able to support microbial life. Scientists will study how organic molecules, if present, vary with mineralogical variations in the layers to understand how they formed and what influences their preservation.

The smaller hills in this view may provide clues to the modern water cycle on Mars. They contain sulfate salts that have water in them, and as temperatures warm into summer, some of that water may be released to the atmosphere. As temperatures cool, they may absorb water from the atmosphere. The Mars Science Laboratory team will investigate how water is exchanged between these minerals and the atmosphere, helping us understand Mars' modern climate. The hills are particularly useful for this investigation because different parts of the hills are exposed to different amounts of sunlight and thus to different temperatures. Curiosity will be able to compare the water in these contrasting areas as part of its investigations.

This three-dimensional perspective view was created using visible-light imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Three-dimensional information was derived by stereo analysis of image pairs. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated. Color information is derived from color imaging of portions of the scene by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.

The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch on Nov. 25, 2011. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year -- nearly two Earth years -- after landing, researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.
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Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Page Last Updated: July 29, 2011
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

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