
So who is going to see THIS this weekend? Or tonight?
THE EARTH IS CHANGING.. For several years scientists have been watching for a huge piece of ice to break off of Greenland. And now it has happened, as the crack became complete and the iceberg twice the size of Manhattan has broken off..
This could be the dramatic illustration of a warming Greenland ..
Strange situation developing in Brazil as hundreds of penguins have been found dead on beaches.. And now biologists are on the case..
There is a looming budget crisis.. and 2 million jobs could be lost within months..
Amazing video circulating around the world.. a 7-year-old girl escaped injury when she fell from a window in Brooklyn only to be caught by a neighbor..
Big drug bust in Ohio as student, age 17, is accused of a multimillion dollar drug ring.. he was netting $20,000 a month in sales..
Strange campaign: Is BANE in DARK KNIGHT a Democrat attempt to destroy Mitt Romney?
Entire states may be threatened by the now epic drought taking place across the United States.. record high food prices this fall will be next as corn crop gets decimated by continued heat..
The 2012 Dust Bowl: No End in Sight to Record Drought
A frightening situation is developing today as news emerges about a woman who bit into a needle in her sandwich on a Delta flight now being put on anti-HIV medication.. Four Delta flights are affected.. it is a possible ‘terrorist’ act.. the FBI is investigating the matter. The persons who bit into the needles were biting into turkey sandwiches. How safe from sabotage are airport food products? Apparently not safe enough..
I missed this story when it happened but just caught it now: Merck in June delayed a batch of MMR vaccine slated for release because it was released too early, before it was finished an internal approval process.. The company asked 39,000 vaccines to be returned..
UK reports shows that there has been a huge uptake in children receiving the MMR vaccine, 87.1%. But the number ‘falls short’ of the target of ‘95%’..
Chaos in Canada.. a food festival had to close after 17 people were hospitalized after lightning struck..
There were tornadoes in Poland of all places the other day, another heat wave building in the USA, corn crops being decimated.. truly we are living in the quickening, just hope not ‘an ending’
A fierce lightning storm turns night into day
According to reports tonight, the popular movie website ROTTEN TOMATOES has suspended user comments for the DARK KNIGHT film after users began making threatening and profane comments towards reviewers who gave DARK KNIGHT a less than good review..
This may be the biggest movie opening of the year, maybe ever (? we will see?).. but the fact that the website has suspended users from making comments is a first.. Also, the site is considering a move to a Facebook commenting system, which might cut down on the glut of anonymous posts..
Listen everyone: It’s a movie!!!
That’s currently Miles’ new favorite word. He smacks himself in the head, than runs to me rubbing his head saying ow.
And than I have to kiss it.
After that, he smacks himself in the head again.
I think it’s fair to say that this is the reason kids rule. And are hilarious.
I heard this description of life: It’s a bus ride that has no stops. You just keep going faster and faster
… the only way out is a crash: Death.
I think that sums up the gravity of the situation we are all in.
Please don’t consider this a negative posting about life. Life is actually quite fun for me right now.
I have a 17-month-old little man who is the joy of life.. My wife and I have been forever changed by his existence in our world. I have a wonderful family. Friends I cherish. We have jobs. We have a roof over our heads.. we have food when we are hungry. And I have an iPhone, and all the other technology that comes with life these days, too.
In the past two weeks I have been to two funerals. I will keep the overly personal information out, and just say that one was for someone who was 95 and a World War II POW. Another was for an uncle who lived to the truly ripe old age of 94. Both were pushing 100 when they met their respective final resting places. They both had long lives and lots of memories.. they both had stories.. both had a memories.. both had loved ones, cherished friends.. We all have stories, too. No matter the person.. From the richest to the poorest. From the oldest in the world to the child that dies at birth. There IS A MEANING to life.. right?
After contemplation, I have determined that we have become overly busy with our selfish pleasures of newsfeeds and campaign stats and sports stats and bla bla bla bla bla. At least I have.
I have neglected so much in the real world because of the online world. The internet and technology have become habits instead of pleasures. It went from being a novelty to a way of life. We all have been touched by the net bug. We are addicted!! Addicted to virtual reality. Addicted to virtual everything……virtually nothing.
But back to life for a second. REAL LIFE, not virtual.
What is the purpose to all this? Why ask! you know there is no answer. Lots claim to know the truth. Many others ponder it forever. In the end we don’t have a clue. What happens when we do die!? Again, here.. no word from anyone who did perish. We are left to wonder if near death experiences are really experiences of truth or just brain waves going awry. We are left to question tenets of religion.. question all things.
In the net age we have oodles of knowledge at our fingertips. All we have to do is Google or Bing it or MetaFilter it.. or whatever it. Do people even ask Jeeves anymore? Or AltaVista? .. Asta La Vista ..
Search results would amount to tons of data if you printed it on paper. But in our paperless society paper doesn’t exist anymore… right? Even though a paper-stack of bills sits next to me, that snail mail sent me, that was licked by some underpaid secretary in a cubicle maybe even AGHAST! with a typewriter…somewhere in the world.
There are bits and bytes of data flying around the world at a record pace.
And with all this knowledge you’d think by now someone would have found the meaning of life! The closest I know that found something was John Clease in MONTY PYTHON’S THE MEANING OF LIFE. The death penalty introduced to us in that show was, well, one many men wouldn’t mind having.
The information superhighway.. that is what it was once dubbed. Now it’s filled with potholes and dead sites that have dead ends.
Where does it all go in the end, though?
No where.. bits and bytes go bye bye for us.
Our bodies were dust and to dust they return. Despite the big plans we have to strive for big goals, we are cut down by something..whether it’s fate, God, time.. science. Whatever you believe. You can be five months, 15, 35, or 95. All dust.
So after this week, with two funerals (and a wedding, congrats bro), one can only leave the day with a renewed perspective on this strange place called earth.
A new lease on life!?
Not a chance…
A constantly expiring lease?
Now that is more like it..
I lost two followers after I posted a link to a video about Poland’s tornadoes.
I lost another follower tonight when I said I want politics out of the BATMAN movies.
And finally, I lost 7 followers after I posted the story about foie gras.
I guess there is just something about me people don’t like.
Why?
Because it has a business on property maintained by the federal government…
Interesting legal debate may be setting up … one food watchers and animal rights activists will be closely following.
I am actually quite sickened by the thought of foie gras.. but for some reason I think if big tall huge aliens invaded earth, they may very well force feed humans and serve us. I don’t know if we’d have a fancy name like foie gras .. and I sure don’t know if we’d be a delicacy.
Then again, during this summer of cannibal rage, maybe such a horrid act is possible..

It just seems more and more like the TSA is just hell-bent on being in a porn movie..
Really.. Democrats are using THE DARK KNIGHT film in new advertising against Mitt Romney.. Source here
I don’t care your political belief or presidential pick, I just hope we ALL can agree that the 2012 presidential election should be kept away from what may be the movie of the year.
Please politicians just give us one thing this year that won’t be political.. We beg of you..
Then again, Mitt Romney did star in BATMAN RETURNS as Max Schreck, didn’t he?
Music to start the week. Good luck to all who are facing the prospects of heat, humidity, horrid war, pestilence.. but I think we all will agree: CAN’T WAIT FOR THE DARK KNIGHT in theaters this weekend..
Remember the show SIGHTINGS hosted by Tim White? That was one great show .. I’ve been You Tubing the past all night.. I wish it was still on

Sure, the late Penn State coach is no saint. But now that the Freeh report is sinking in and new facts are being digested, it’s clear that he was no saint either. He was a man who wanted to try to cover up as much as he could to save the reputation of Penn State.. and sordid as it all seems, the children who were abused in this situation always were last on the list of people who were helped. It’s a disgusting and sick story .. one that I can’t really read about much or think about much because of how deplorable it was and is, but also because of how many generations of proud Penn State graduates are shamed for good by the scars of sexual abuse in locker rooms on the campus.
Oh, and yes, the school has decided to re-do those shower rooms.. take away the look … but not the memories. No way in hell will people forget what happened there. And with more and more information trickling out about how much higher ups knew of the situation, the story isn’t dead yet.
Beauty in a 1 minute..
Here is a time lapse video of the Northern Lights in the early morning hours of 7/15/2012 taken just north of Dubuque, Iowa at the Balltown, Iowa scenic overlook.
And the scenes of a green and purple aura in the sky are absolutely amazing.
Not sure if my hometown saw northern lights.. sadly the sky was cloudy all night.
Sunspot 1520 and the X flare last week caused this spectacular show, and I am truly jealous of whoever got to see it..including the residents of Balltown, Iowa.
Glory Days quickly ended. Dancing in the dark ensued.
And lots of people around the world suddenly took notice to a nanny like state that says when too much music is too much.
Next up: The Olympics! Hope the swim matches don’t go too long…
And I reiterate: I hope this won’t happen should there be a ‘big one’..
It appears the world is not going to sizzle with this flare—and won’t in the future, either. But when a strong X class has the potential to do some damage you’d hope that federal agencies are on the same page.
But then again.. what if the same page they are on is dead wrong?
In that regard, maybe it’s better they oppose and offer different forecasts. May the strongest forecast win.
What is troubling to think about is when a really large solar event takes place that could have a significant impact on this planet, will things be this much of a mess?
First of all, I can say this: I don’t like that China made Team USA’s Olympic clothing anymore than the next person. I type this, of course, on a computer make in India.. and read about the story on an iPhone made in China. Oh and of course Congress was outraged too. I am sure Harry Reid, who said we should burn the clothes and start from scratch, was wearing a suit made in the USA? And socks made in the USA? And .. well, he wasn’t. Chances are no one anywhere ever really is anymore.
And that is the tragic part of this story.
We don’t make anything here. Including military vehicles! How many times have you heard about China making weapons of war and selling them the United States? How many times before someone notices? Sports made people notice.. Team USA’s awful beret style outfit made people notice..
Another angle of this story not being mentioned is just how awful the outfits are. It looks like a remake of CHARIOTS OF FIRE.
Personally I enjoy the summer games. Really. There is something magical, still, about the Olympics. And of course this year they feature a boatload of missiles pointed directly at the city of London by British military … but that aside, the United States, with its double breasted lapels and berets, will march into Olympics stadium proudly with an American flag and outfits made in China. Wonder where that flag was made….
And wonder where team China’s outfits were made? let me guess.. Taiwan?


Friday night.
The mood is right.
Of course if you’re so inclined to get some information into your system tonight along with your cold or warm brew of choice, here you go.. Enjoy and be safe:

REVISED FORECAST: The CME launched toward Earth by yesterday’s X-flare is moving faster than originally thought. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have revised their forecast accordingly, advancing the cloud’s expected arrival time to 09:17 UT (5:17 am EDT) on Saturday, July 14th. Weekend auroras are likely.
Hope you’re going to have a plan to escape this week in one piece and enjoy life as much as you can, as we know it’s often short…
And this weekend we may enjoy some Northern Lights in my area if this X.4 was strong enough.. hopefully the power stays on and I heat up my frozen pizza . We will see..
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVrYTLs4VV0]
Over a pizza buffet nonetheless. But here is what I concluded.
We ask the wrong questions of ourselves.. and by doing so constantly lead new generations to ask the wrong questions, too.
When you’re young and dumb someone old comes and says those typical words: Why do you want to do when you grow up? A plumber! A reporter! A teacher!
I think we all know that the vast majority of people don’t live up to the childhood dreams.
But maybe the premise of the question should be rephrased.. maybe the basis of the question isn’t actually about money and income and the choice of a career…
Hear me out on this, because you know for a FACT that when you go to parties or functions, one of the first questions you typically get is someone asking you, “So what do you do?” i.e. JOB, INCOME, SALARY! MONEY MONEY MONEY.
Dollars and dinero. But it all means nothing.
So while I was chowing down today in my pizza buffet food I asked the other person, who right now is jobless, “what do you want to do. REALLY want to do.. like REALLLLYYY want to do?” And I said this question is based on the fictitious scenario where you have everything you wanted, salary and income aren’t an issue, and job title could matter less. Minus all that away.. like, obituary type way, whatdo you want to do…….. in this short life…. ?
Now when I asked this question I did it because I was asking her but at the same time asking myself. I, too, wanted to know what I WANT TO DO IN LIFE, TOO. And out of almost no where, I blurted out,
I want to protect innocent life. I want to protect all innocence. I really want to
And that is it. I figured out my role in life. It was just that easy. Minus away the nonsense about success. Get rid of that veil that your JOB is something that will matter generations after your once intact skin has turned to dust. And bring in the real question: What do you strive to do in life, what matters to do, and what you WANT TO DO with what matters to you?
Sure, jobs matter in the ‘now.’ And the ‘now’ seems to be where we all live all the time, never looking forward to the future and seldom learning any thing at all from the past.
So I figured it out..
Protect innocence.
Now to put that into practicality… that’s the tough one.
So ask yourself.. What do you want to do in life?
On to the dealership, I suppose!
But it gave me time to contemplate life. Contemplace Facebook.. contemplate lots of things that boggle my mind, boggle our world.. and cause consternation, panic, and envy to take precedence.
Oh, and I went to the mall, got a hair cut, and had pizza, too.
Yes indeed, that was my emotion/food mixed day.
And depending on your point of view of Scientology, it may be harmful especially for Katie Holmes ..
I think we all need some healing. Which brings up this YouTube video that purports it can do just that, heal you and repair your life.. It is at a 528Hz frequency. The instructions say you should listen to it while you wear headphones. If you like it and it heals you keep searching YouTube for more videos just like it. If it freaks you out and makes you sick, perhaps you were already healed minus the 528Hz that was supposed to do it.
However, before you jump to a conclusion that the 528Hz helped, quick gather some more info and facts, including this website where users debate whether the whole notion of the healing power of this noise is fact or hoax.
But if this whole thing is a scam, it certainly has been one that has long lasted others. And even more, if it’s a fraud from the onset, I still want to know who makes the songs, who hums the dramatic voices, and who creates the vast number of YouTube videos that are set to the tone of the universe….?
The UK DAILY MAIL reports what we already seem to be aware of: Solar flares just seem to be stronger and stronger in recent months..
Last week we have been seen numerous M class flares and one strong X class flare explode from our sun. Some sunspots have been so large that they 15 Earths strung together..
2013 is expected to be the big year for solar events as the sun heads to its peak of its 11 year cycle…
And if just the right elements come together, perhaps the Ed Dames Killshot will happen. But Ed Dames is just crazy… Right?
June’s second half helped the continental United States break its record for the hottest first six months in a calendar year.. And with that piece of information contemplate this: The last 12 months have been the warmest since 1895..
Get that? 1895.
Also in the news in 18895, a sandstorm crippled the panhandle of Texas, Grover Cleveland was president, and an earthquake occurred in the New Madrid seismic zone.
History repeats itself.. so watch the Midwest……. ??
but the city of Scranton is in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. The Electric City has lots of great things to brag about but the headlines today is all about the Mayor cutting city workers’ pay to minimum wage because of how broke it is, and how property taxes are about to skyrocket to abnormally high proportions.
Local news stations WNEP and WBRE have been covering ferociously since it occurred, and now national news orgs are picking up the story.
According to Mayor Chris Doherty, there is only about $5,000 left is the city’s bank account after payroll..
Doherty, according to this FOX NEWS report, did not respond to calls from FOX NEWS..

'THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN' TOPS HOT BOX
BUT…
Really how ‘amazing’ was Spidey?
$65 million opening weekend and $140 million in six days in 2012? Compare that to 2002 when the first SPIDERMAN film opened with $114 million, a record that year.. and in 2004 when SPIDERMAN 2 got $88 million.. and in 2007 when SPIDERMAN 3 got $151 million. The numbers look different when you compare..
And in that comparison also don’t forget ticket prices were cheaper in all years previous to now. $65 mil for yet another re-imagined Spiderman isn’t so great anymore..
Not only that, but with the extreme heat across much of the United States over the past 6 days, roughly the same amount as the days Spider-Man was in theaters, you’d certainly think that more people would have tried to escape the blazing sun by getting into a cool theater?
Maybe people accepted the joys of summer and simply took a dip into pools instead..?

I am finishing up a quick post about Spiderman and came across this photo of someone eating a burger at Hardees on Fourth of July.. apparently you were able to dress like Spiderman and get a free burger.
I don’t have a Hardees close to me. And even if I did I would not have considered it.. Don’t like the food much there. Although any excuse to dress like a superhero .. well, that could have changed my outlook.
The things people will do for free less than quality-filled meatlike byproducts.. my goodness.

Looking at the calender, time appears to be fleeting.
The seconds hands on the clocks fly around in a circular motion.. after all, summer time is about halfway through.
Yes, it’s only July. And sure summer extends well into September, but by then kids are back in school and colleges campuses are less than sober. Every July, around this time, I get that gut feeling. Then the whole “Christmas in July” shopping experience malls used to try back when people went to them only added to the childhood misery of knowing that the clock was ticking.
There is something interesting about the summertime and how it trickles slowly into autumn.
Even with this year’s heat, we can be aware that cooler breezes will blow in two months.
And despite the fact that many of us are long gone from hallowed hallways of high schools, we all get that same pit of the stomach feeling as August winds to a close, and as the summer sun bakes the landscape in one last vibrant attempt to keep things hot.
Summer comes and goes..
The same in 2012 as it was in 2001 and 1991. Enjoy these moments while you can. Be alive … take in some rays.
Wear sunscreen. (I never liked that song.)

Another positive step perhaps in getting to a future where mental health will be healthier..
It will be filled with fact not fiction.
Tales of paranoia and how to deal with it..
Worries over fevers..
Manufactured fears and real ones too.
The only thing about this proposed book is that I first off really don’t know who would read something like this and second, how a paranoid fearful dad who is dealing with things has time to write it.
A work in progress.
Would you read it?
He has decades of achievements in the acting field.. but ever since I was a small kid growing up in Centralia, PA, I remembered fondly watching Borgnine star in the spaghetti western flick SUPERFUZZ. And while I know the tributes to his skills will most likely neglect to mention the strange and weird movie SUPERFUZZ, I for one will never forget him bouncing and dancing on a giant ball of chewing gum, being frozen underwater, and making me laugh as a tiny child.
An actor who will be missed.

And maybe radiation years from now.. But it’s been too long since a spicy shrimp roll..

There have been some amazing new images of Mars revealed by NASA. I just stare at them and fathom the future.. a base there? Will humans’ footprints litter the landscape? Is there a life form present ? …did the Martians move underground and do they still lurk? Ok maybe the final question can be answered affirmatively as no, unless you’d ask someone like John Lear. But the rest of them are valid and wonderful to ponder..
It’s an eye opening story.. the money quote of the article featured here:
President George W. Bush announced the system’s deployment in his 2003 State of the Union address, saying it would “protect our people and our homeland.” Since then, BioWatch air samplers have been installed inconspicuously at street level and atop buildings in cities across the country — ready, in theory, to detect pathogens that cause anthrax, tularemia, smallpox, plague and other deadly diseases.
But the system has not lived up to its billing. It has repeatedly cried wolf, producing dozens of false alarms in Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere, a Los Angeles Times investigation found.

You have to love creativity.
Tonight on Coast to Coast AM, Saturday host John B. Wells will interview Stan Johnson of the PROPHECY CLUB *(here is more info*) Mr. Johnson has had a long line of predictions concerning the end of time, and now he fits CERN into his end times equation.
That’s fine, I will listen simply because John B. Wells is hosting and he is better than George Noory by far.. but I’d truly wish that Paul Guercio was the main guest…
Maybe next time.
Wells in for Noory. Great music, great voice.. great radio — depending on the guest.
For sure, he’s no Art Bell. But no one will ever be..
It just feels like something is wrong, very wrong.
Perhaps the heat made me feel that way?
Could it be that 100+ degree heat indexes persuaded me to think that something has gone awry? Or is it that something has gone awry…?
Could it be that something is wrong?
Maybe there is a disturbance in the Force?..
I don’t know. I sometimes wait for the ‘other shoe to drop’ not knowing if there is a shoe or a drop coming.
In the final analysis, it’s a choice between this: Either I am overly negative or negative with purpose.
There will be another shoe or simply socks, socks soaked in sweat from a heat wave that broke 4,000 + records..
Maybe a pool is the safest place to be for people.. Eh?
But now that they lived through stormageddon they decided to launch their homemade fireworks at 10pm. Ayden is fast asleep. Maybe soon he’ll be fast awake.
God bless America.
110 degree weather.
Spotty storms.
Your neighbors in their pool during a lightning storm.
Yep.
One: I like Serena Williams
Two: She beat Agnieszka Radwanska. And really, who can spell Agnieszka Radwanska anyway?
The temperature will soar above 100 today in many cities,. But the real feel temperature will make it feel like it is 115 or more .. It is going to feel absolutely outrageous.
Space weather reports that protons accelerated by the explosion might soon reach our planet.. .. Turn to the very best solar site online: http://www.solarham.net/
Lilli Leonardi said: “They were dressed as if they were in warrior garb like a Roman centurion, and there were so many of them, you couldn’t see their faces”
Now that the elusive Higgs Boson particle has been potentially found, maybe it’s high time for scientists to explain the other mystery of life: Why is it that regardless of human intelligence, we always seem to result in war like police states with dictators, why humans seem to always come up with new ways to torture and terrorize, and why there never seems to be a lack of hate across the planet. Animals may eat their young. But at least that’s quick. Humans devise horrid ways to destroy generations.
A major story developing at the Large Hadron Collider today .. CERN scientists announced that a Higgs-like particle has been finally found after decades of the searching.
"We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," scientists said in a statement.
The scientific and religious worlds will now respond.. People will try to comprehend.. and all the while the little tiny particle will keep giving mass to atoms and making this whole thing called a universe work in some magical and strange way.
National Prayer Service on September 14, 2001 from Washington National
Are we better than before..
Do we have more pride…more American zeal to do what is right… What does the Fourth of July this 2012 mean to you?
Happy 4th America
Ray Charles sings America the Beautiful
Fireworks over the Middle East.. not celebrations of American independence but instead a test of global security: Iran has test fired missiles in a war of nerves..
According to Reuters and other news sources tonight, Iran says that it has successfully test fired medium range missile … these missiles, according to reports, are capable of hitting targets in Israel.
Tensions have escalated between the West and Iran over recent months. Israel has ratcheted up a war of words with the nation..
And now as tensions mount this Fourth of July eve, the United States is sending warships to the Persian Gulf tonight—which according to officials is a signal to Iran..
According to ABC NEWS, the missiles tested by Iranian missiles attacked ‘mock enemy targets’.. And oil prices, predictably, surged
All eyes on Iran during the Fourth of July.
Good evening… Hot and humid in the United States of hell
5 million without power originally. Now it’s 2 million.
But put it into perspective: After Hurricane Katrina, the most without power was 3 million…
Power companies hope to have at least 90% restored by FRIDAY this week..
Of course there will be more heat and more storms throughout…
As linked yesterday here, scientists at CERN are expected to make an announcement this week that they have found the Higgs Boson God Particle with 99.99% certainty. The particle has been long sought by those who experiment with the giant CERN collider—it is the particle that makes up the mass of atoms..
My mind can’t necessarily comprehend the idea of this Higgs Boson particle. I get the basic premise.. but I’m a mere mortal. And for me it sometimes is just amazing to think about how the Large Hadron Collider even works, being 18 miles long and deep in the mountains..
But back to science.. According to reports and speculation, a press conference will most likely occur on Wednesday to announce the major and amazing discovery. Peter Higgs will reportedly be there.. And if they are flying him in, you know there will be a mighty word said for mics.
The hope is that science may actually begin to explain something that has puzzled many: Why objects in our universe weigh anything. Comprehending the tiny sub-particle that gives mass to atoms may allow people to bring some form of reason and purpose to the objects in our universe and the nature of everything.
What it will not do is answer ‘why’ we are here.. but may help in the ‘how’ department.
We will know something, perhaps, this week. Something amazing. Just in time for the great American 4th of July. Fireworks overhead.. the God particle all around.

Ayden Morris is 16 months old. He is amazing. At times it feels like he’s one of the adults, he tries so hard to be independent. He’ll go so far as to hold the cup with his own hands, but in the process rips it out of yours. He will take walks on his own, but make a fool of you as he whips his hands ferociously away from yours.
And yes, he eats on his own, even if it means he forces utensils out of your hands before you are ready to give them to him.
This is a wild ride. Parenting plus panicking.
Laughing.. getting angry.. getting sad.. contemplating existence.. contemplating time.. Getting embarrassed as the frenzied flip out occurs at a grocery store checkout counter.
My wife and I love being parents. We love having the task at hand .. we enjoy having something more important than ourselves being at the center of our marriage and lives. But .. by God, aren’t the terrible 2s supposed to occur when, well, when Ayden turns 2!?
I love the little man.
I love his emotions, as pure as they are.
And yes, even when I wish he wouldn’t get red in the face and belt out louder than a lawn mower on a microphone, I still am amazed as he grows, amazed as he learns.. and can’t wait until he starts asking “Why” to everything.
I think adults stop asking why..
And yes, we stop having meltdowns in grocery stores, too.
But that’s what makes kids more fun, don’t you think?
Lives are in danger and the heat is excessive. In 20 states today an excessive heat warning is active while million remain without power due to wild storms in the past 48 hours..
The historic heat and lack of power have prompted officials to tell many, especially the elderly and those who have trouble breathing in normal weather, to seek shelter immediately.
Much of the Southeast continues to bake in 100+ temperatures. From Chicago to D.C. 90s an 100s dominate the landscape..
Cities are opening shelters and cooling centers. In Ohio, Governor John Kasich is dealing with power outages after raging storms swept the state—Kasich has deployed the National Guard to help with the state’s more vulnerable and unhealthy.
But while the heat continues to swelter the sweaty, this is the bad news on the power outage front: If you power is currently out the chances are it may be out for days—this as the heat continues with little relief in the near future. Millions of people are lacking electric from Indiana to Maryland
According to the Washington POST in hot Sunday editions, D.C. was 80 degrees early in the morning with 100+ expected—all the while many roads are impassible and hundreds of thousands will be without air conditioning and in the dark..
The chaos doesn’t end there but seems to just begin: Gas stations are running dry in some spots, newest numbers in the post ‘land hurricane’ landscape have 13 being dead from the dramatic storms, and now in the D.C. area, cell phone service seems to be crashing.. ..
History may view this summer as the beginning of true earth changes.. a quickening of things, with extremes just becoming the norm.
Notice lately how records break, but not just by a bit but by a lot? Notice how weather forecasters can’t seem to get it all right at all..? Notice how things are so out of the ordinary that you cannot even keep yourself grounded.
Cherry blossoms bloom in winter. Kansas is 118 in summer. And in Colorado wildfires burn without kindness and thousands of people are homeless and many of their homes are simply gone.
We are only mid way through this year and a mighty more wild events most likely will occur. It’s just becoming all too strange, too horrible… and no normal.
The devastating emails trickling out of the shadows now.. Amazing how little scorn Paterno faced. He has since died but it is clear his reputation will take a massive hit after the dust settles on the latest revelations.
I suppose only it’s in the coal region during summer that a Saturday night out means you come home with your clothes reeking of butter and onions and your skin has a healthy sheen of bleenie.
Blind pigeons, perogies, halushki, and fries..
You can’t avoid them no matter how hard you try.
Long live block parties
If you have not seen ONE NATION UNDER DOG yet, you should. And maybe you should not—depending on how deeply you can get into a documentary with such a horrid ending..
Dogs placed into a metal crate, altogether, as a worker without compassion turns on gas and kills them all at once—the cries from the cage are memorable and haunting.
But why care about animals? Humans have gassed Jewish people, Iraqis, Syrians.. Japanese. A brief stroll through history shows that if we treat each other like we do why would anyone think we would care for animals..?
And in the end, if you truly contemplate the prospects of what occurs in shelters and pet stores, and travel up the rabbit hole to how we treat fellow humans, you will begin to wonder: Is there a knowing God watching and judging? Maybe so .. but if so, why would this God allow such horror?

Really strong storms have caused deaths and the loss of power for millions.
More strong lines of storms are forming today and will hit in many of the same areas that were hit yesterday.
More on that from Accuweather.
Which is why the photo for this post of a snapshot of a page from Frank Miller’s BATMAN comic book compilation (I have the leatherbound edition safety stored away) .. in that comic, a massive heat wave hit Gotham City. I feel like I am in that comic now.. with the absense of course of Batman, the Joker, and the Mutant Gang.
I wonder if, in Frank Miller’s world, David Endochrine is funny anymore? He sure ain’t in the real world.
Power is out for millions.. At least 7 deaths being blamed on the storms ad heat.. And more coming today. This has been one nasty summer .. All weather is getting weird and extreme..all. Get it?
Wow:
“After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe (Paterno, the head football coach at the time) yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps,” CNN quoted Curley as saying in an email.
Curley then makes reference to “the first situation,” likely meaning the shower incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in the Lasch building in 1998.
The mysterious sensation was described by some people as sounding like a door slamming while others said it was strong enough to rattle windows
The U.S. Geological Survey says it received more than 500 reports from people in San Diego County who felt shaking Friday. The survey maintains an online site where people can report what they felt. USGS geophysicist Bruce Presgrave says it was most likely a sonic boom
Kansas 110+ degrees?
Colorado 110+ degrees?
Yes, indeed.
If you are still a stalwart that has doubts that the earth’s weather is changing, look no further to this story about how there are record highs being broken by temperatures that have never been this high in recorded history..

News from space. The wild frontier that we don’t have enough money to spend to get there anymore. Besides private companies, of course.
Amazing universe: Solar tornadoes as big as the US eat up the sun’s atmosphere..and not only that, but there may be 11,000 super tornadoes on the sun’s surface!
This is how solar flares can kill: A distant planet had an entire atmosphere blasted away by solar flares 60 light years away fom Earth..
Saturn’s moon Titan may have an ocean beneath its surface!
Exhumed rocks reveal that Mars water ran deep..
Disturbing: Sick drugged up patients asked to pay—at bedside!
The parents aren’t alright either: Father arrested because he left his two year old son in a hot car in Kentucky.. Why? He got ‘distracted’ and forgot to drop him off at day care, leaving him in his parked car outside of his office.. The child was strapped in his car seat while the temperatures climbed above 100 degrees inside the car..
How ethical is this!? Does anyone care about ethics anymore..? News now that the first GMO babies have been born, about 30 to be exact: Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental programme at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey…

I’m inclined to think that MAGIC MIKE will be the number one chick-flick of the weekend. Could be wrong..
According to Channing Tatum: Waxing in prep for the film was painful..
Reviews for the film are now trickling in..
And ain’t it just sumptin’ .. I bet most of the women you know, or if you’re a women, want to see this film this weekend or at least have made comments when seeing the poster. Perhaps the makers are on to something. Box office glory coming for male strippers? Waxed and ready. Is America?

This is an amazing image.. There were some pretty rough storms in Coal Country and other areas throughout the night last night. And today data shows that there were over 40,000 lightning strikes from the storms..

This photo of horrid Colorado fires taken by Helen Richardson of the Denver Post..
The winds and heat have made a troubling situation even worse.. And now it’s life threatening as one person has perished as a result of the series of blazes stalking and killing the land..
Entire neighborhoods have been erased by the fires as these photos illustrate..
A dire situation continues in Colorado as the hills are still alive with fires and fear.
Colorado Springs fire is now ranked as the most destructive for the state on record, there is a war room type effort happening, and now the fires have claimed their first fatality as homes and businesses continue to be evacuated ..
Extreme heat has blanketed the nation for days, today in some parts of the Rockies temprs will rise above 105..
A troubling situation awaits firefighters who battle the flames and the heat of nature..

It’s going to be as hot as hell today. It’s the end of June and not even mid summer yet. What awaits this nation? Hopefully not more fires and fear.. but that is exactly what Colorado is facing this morning. One death has also occurred as a result of the fires. More homes are evacuated.. more horror as lives are being shattered by the unpredictable flames.
Fire fighters are facing a troubling situation, as well: Fire and heat. Temperatures will soar above 100.. not easy for those fighting these fires by a stretch of the imagination. And the eyes of a nation are watching.. waiting.. and hoping that somehow the flames die down and fire fighters turn a corner in the battle against nature’s wrath.
Boulder is threatened this morning.
As are lots of other places, too..