Beyonce’s publicist wants unflattering photos, like this, removed from the internet. I can’t say I blame him.

I just have a hunch it won’t be possible.

I forgot New Hampshire

A reader pointed that out. They will be getting the blizzard too. And check out http://snlbound.tumblr.com/ and support her quest, pretty cool site that I have been following for a while.

When religion is BEYOND STUPID: Connecticut Lutheran pastor has apologized for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school in December because his church bars its clergy from worshipping with other faiths

When religion is BEYOND STUPID: Connecticut Lutheran pastor has apologized for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school in December because his church bars its clergy from worshipping with other faiths

If killing Americans with no due process is OK when their alleged crime is consorting with al-Qaida, it’s not a huge intellectual leap to give government officials the same judge-and-jury authority over other heinous acts such as mass murder, drug trafficking, and child pornography.

Ron Fournier (via azspot)

Great point. It’s good to see so many are coming out questioning the creepy Obama drone memos..

The New England blizzard

I am jealous of neighbors to the north. They will be getting the ‘big storm’ that I was hoping would happen in my parts for years. On course with feet of snow so comes misery..

My only warning to those in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut: don’t let Andre Linoge in even if he promises to go away if he gets what he wants.

Recovering from the stomach flu this is about how I feel right now. I cannot even speak for Ayden

Ooooooh rats

The New York Times reports something a little disconcerting:

The fate of New York City’s legions of rats remained something of a mystery in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Rodent specialists predicted that many rats would drown in submerged subway tunnels, but also that survivors would feast on the buffet of garbage strewed in the streets. Now, several exterminators say they know exactly what happened to the rats: Driven from shorelines, the rodents came inland, in droves.

The Times goes on to describe just how bad it got in NYC..


The TIMES interviewed a pest control expert, Timothy Wong:

Mr. Wong said he had been getting calls from schools and businesses, and from luxury buildings where rats have made warrens out of the planters. Shortly after the storm, his company received calls from several customers aghast to discover teeth marks and droppings in their cars. Mr. Wong’s advice: open the door. Though one woman, a BMW owner, refused, and instead hired his company to open the door for her, and shoo the rat out.

A new world of possibilities in the city that doesn’t sleep—for rats.

It's been a rough few days

My son and I shared the common bond of a stomach virus. He’s only 2 and has lots more to go.. I remembered how much I hate being sick. This one was particularly loathsome for the two of us.. Now it’s the soreness of the body and the headache, we both may venture to the kitchen to eat today… Lightly.

Also
Being that Subway was my last meal before it struck I may never, ever, be able to eat there again. Sorry Jared. It’s just the way it is.

Regurgitating the night away

Well my worst fears realized, my son has a stomach virus at the same time I do I feel very bad for mommy tonight.

When the eye doctor gets too close for comfort

Why do eye doctors get all up in your grill? Do they feel as uncomfortable as the patient does as they press their flesh against your face while they examine your eyeball?

My doctor tonight had that faint smell of late Winter body odor coupled with onions for lunch on his breath.

Is just my doctor or does everyone else go through this too?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidpOdDX8Qg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

For those who did not see the Superbowl halftime show, here it is

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

An image to remember.. the curse of the Superdome?

The old Girod Cemetery may be getting its revenge..

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zce-QT7MGSE?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

This really made me laugh..

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCfd6q3LJbg?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

I went to a viewing tonight.. they are never pretty. 

But viewings of someone who is 32 aren’t meant to occur.. viewings of a mom who had three kids is not fair at all..

Even worse, those friends who I gathered with were all with me in high school.. and here we are, aging beyond our early years, talking about parenting, graying hairs, and enlargening bellies..

So when the sadness was over, I walked to my car in the cold January air.. there was the most gorgeous moon shining above. I turned on Pandora and what else is on but but my favorite band AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT with THE KIDS ARE READY TO DIE. It may not be a song about a young woman dying of cancer, but somehow it fit the feeling of the night..

Give it a listen if you never heard it before. And if you did, listen again…

I don’t know if there is a meaning of life but I sure hope there is. Don’t we all?

After seeing grieving children it gets tough to find that meaning, doesn’t it?

Peace all. Be safe.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Ads like this just annoy me… Sex sells but dammit unjust want to buy a razor without it… Am I the only one!?

Anyone out there ever get acupuncture?

I’m thinking about it.

So why do flies seem so attracted to the president?

Perhaps the AMITYVILLE WHITE HOUSE HORROR is being filmed?

21. Any bills to change existing gun laws, including those that make it possible for almost anyone in America to purchase a high-capacity assault weapon, quietly disappear into the legislative swamp.
“22. It happens again and the whole thing starts over

Stephen King, in an 8000-word-essay on Sandy Hook

Wow… Somewhat frightening.. Wonder if Katy Perry uses a lot of butter—and why.

Say it ain't so Beyonce: Apparently she did not actually sing during the inauguration ...

The media went nuts! A performance for the ages. Just it wasn’t live … I’d imagine most folks won’t care a bit about this issue but it’s sure fun to gossip about people billions richer than me…

Say it ain't so Beyonce: Apparently she did not actually sing during the inauguration ...

AS THE EYES ROLL: A GIF FOR THE AGES?

It’s being called the GIF for the ages. First Lady Michelle Obama rolls her eyes at the House Speaker.. if only we could have been a fly in the food for this conversation..

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6pytQJGtiU?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

Memories are packed with .. so much.
Things that matter. Some that don’t.
Useless facts.
Useless fiction.

But this I know: I was a freshman in Cardinal Brennan High in 1996 and my friend, Jared, introduced me to the greatness of this REM song. And in 2013, it’s still just as great as it was when I didn’t know anything way back when. Hell, I STILL don’t know anything.

There is so much time that goes by it’s difficult to even begin to measure it.. 

We had another Inauguration today. It is historic. But we have been through lots of history, haven’t we?

It all sort of just….blends together into a …something. A piece of history. Fact? Fiction? Oh I don’t know which, but we will debate that until we are blue in the face, won’t we?

The world is a bitter, bitter place. So often this planet seems hostile to life—not hospitable to the humans who inhabit it.. 

We are just racing time. Hoping to somehow beat the clock. In the end, no one wins, unless you’re the timekeeper…

Good day, all.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Obama. Part 2.

Good luck Mr. President.

Full speech here.

Obama said as he looked over the Capitol, 

“I want to look out one more time because I’m not going to see this again”

It must be an amazing sight..

The original batmobile driven by Adam West and Burt Ward in the 1960s sold at an auction for $4.6 million..

How amazing it would be to drive the interstate to work in this. Congrats to the lucky rich guy who now has a part of historic pop culture..

This may have been an ancient river—on Mars

And that would have immense ramifications, don’t you think?

The flu is spreading.. Some are filling up on pills or racing for the vaccine. We here in Schuylkill county PA take a different approach. Friends neighbors and coworkers share boilo this time of year. And thanks to wonderful coworkers at my wife’s job, warm apple pie boilo is bringing soothing relief to sore throats in the Coal Speaker abode tonight… Got boilo? We do..

*Ignore the Jack Daniels bottle.. It’s simply a container for the greatest alcohol on earth.

Before you get ‘all thumbs’ paging through the newest edition of ESQUIRE magazine, consider the following information about Megan Fox: She does not want to be Marilyn  Monroe anymore. She is reportedly even getting a tattoo of Monroe removed from her own body.

Also enter into the picture this: She can’t stand pills, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke. What does she do? Feels safest in God’s hands.

And she also compares Marilyn Monroe’s life to that of Lindsay Lohan. I don’t know which one would be more offended…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ-qLUIj_A0?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

My son absolutely loves this song from the YouTube channel KIDSTV123. It’s a rather depressing ditty about our solar system.. each planet, and the sun, sings about its surface.. set to a sad melody. When Ayden sees it he is just in awe.. I am, somewhat, too.. It sticks in your head, in a strange and somber sort of way… 

And take note: Pluto has not been included.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

THE GUN FIGHT: From muskets to bushmasters... the battle is on.

I want to shield my eyes from television.. I want to clothes my ears. I want to vanish from this fight.. There are no winners in the gun battle, no losers. President Obama has staked his presidency now on fighting violence—violence perpetrated in the violent hearts of men and women in weapons. The gun lobby, and those who fear the 2nd Amendment will be trampled, will not back down either. There is a battle looming..

I don’t want to write about it. Read about it. Know about it.

I want life to go back to how it was before Sandy Hook.. before the rampage that took so many innocent lives. 

After 9/11 everything changed. After Sandy Hook, everything also changed. A new war on… terrorism? hate? mental illness? what will we call this one?

I was told of a conversation that took place amongst people opposed to each other on this issue. On one side, the protagonist said she wants all guns, no matter the gun or purpose of it, banned. On the other side, the antagonist argued that guns were ok but not military assault weapons. With a caveat. If someone came into a  building the antagonist was in, and attempted to open fire, she hoped that someone else in that building would have a gun equal or stronger to blow the shooter away..

I heard the argument that the 2nd amendment never contemplated assault weapons. But did the 1st amendment ever consider the internet? Things change.. evolution happens. What would the founding fathers say, should they come back from the dead? Would they abandon their muskets in favor of bushmasters, or reconsider the 2nd Amendment…?

We are in for a big fight. A year’s worth of negative ads on one side and another.. a political world will come crashing down, arguing late into the night. This will divide states, towns, and families. It will be a civil war, of sorts.. Will the pen be mightier than the sword? Will the ink dry faster than the blood? 

Brace yourself! Get your Facebook dashboards ready! The battle royal begins…

I may resign from this fight and abandon allegiance to either side. Middle ground! Common sense! Nah.. America never backed down from a fight. Especially with each other…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m6lkDmyy9s?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

A YouTube user Amy Bessler made a pretty cool documentary on Centralia, PA, my hometown and site of the famed mine fire that forced thousands of people out of the area..I know the fine folks who were interviewed in this presentation, and they are good, actually GREAT, people. It’s also a good oratory history of what happened in the town and how the government eventually ended up telling residents they needed to move.

I have written on here before that I recall many memories of my early childhood, sitting on my grandmother’s porch sipping hot chocolate—while homes across the streets were knocked down by heavy machinery. As a child you really don’t comprehend what is occurring right in front of your eyes..

No one was killed by the mine fire, but many died from broken hearts as they watched their once beloved town become an ash heap of rubble..

This documentary is worth the watch, should you have a spare 13 minutes. Worth the time.. 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Why do you think George Noory dumbs down Coast? Is it the wish of Premier/Clear Channel, or is he really the Mister Rogers of late-night radio?

I think the answer is complicated. In one regard, quite frankly George Noory shows little to no intellectual curiosity and rarely appears as though he truly wants to learn anything new..  If Noory had competition in the night hours, say if Art Bell actually came back again, I predict lots of affiliates with dump Noory in place of Bell. So in that regard Premiere is happy because, without anyone to fight him, Coast is the top show at night. Noory seems to also use those same cue cards all of the time… and deliver very frustrating programs to those with common sense… 

Until some bigger stations dump Coast to Coast or until competition rears its head, Premiere has nothing to lose with allowing Noory to keep being dumb in the middle of the night.

I’m not offended. Are you?

.. We can cry until we try.. Or try until we cry.. It’s Monday tomorrow so you may want to fly.. But in the meantime ..Let’s face the week and dance.

(Image from Harrisburg PA on Friday January 11, 2013)

21 and dumb

Seeing my nephew turn 21 and sip Sam Adams and eat wings today was a wake up call: I’m getting old! Way old.. So much so that I was drinking Sierra Mist so I could avoid the caffeine content and sleep at a reasonable time

I understand times change but by God I’d like to go back to 21 again.. A sick pack of beer and an entire pizza in a night was nothing. Now I’d feel like it was instant heart disease…

Life takes funny turns. Now not funny ha ha.. Funny bla bla…

Do the Oscars still matter?

Seriously… do they?

The quickening?

Reuters reports this tonight:

"Temperatures in China have plunged to their lowest in almost three decades, cold enough to freeze coastal waters and trap 1,000 ships in ice, official media said at the weekend."

Anonymous gets involved in Steubenville, OH, rape case; releases video of high school football stars bragging about brutal rape of girl…

The kids aren’t alright..

A disturbing story out of Ohio..

In Steubenville, OH, the football team is tops..

And most people are counting down days until the next season.

So when teenagers were accused of brutally raping a girl and urinating on her, it shocked the town.

Now even more shocking:The group Anonymous is invovled, even to the point where they are releasing videos of students joking about how brutal the rape was..

The hacked video was released by the group.. it shows teens laughing about the crime, and even commenting that the girl must have been dead because she wasn’t moving during the raping..

Many are now asking 'why' as the rape shocks the small city in Ohio..

The part of the story that may shock the city the most: The heralded football team is bragging in the video about the rape.. a part of the quote from the video: 

“She is so raped,” he says. “Her puss is about as dry as the sun right now.” She’s “deader than a door nail,” and “deader than OJ’s wife”

We will continue to follow this story..

You know how people are called 'crazy' for thinking governments are trying to control weather? Well the US and New Zealand tested a 'tsunami bomb' that would have been capable of destroying coastal cities

Nah. Humans don’t play God. You must be crazy.

You know how people are called 'crazy' for thinking governments are trying to control weather? Well the US and New Zealand tested a 'tsunami bomb' that would have been capable of destroying coastal cities

There is no reason for me at the moment to believe anything they tell me

These are some fightin’ words from the Governor of Jersey, Chris Christie.. as Congress debates and ends up doing nothing at this point to help areas affected by Hurricane Sandy..

Months later now and no relief at this point for the million affected.

Hillary out.

Already out of the hospital, reports indicate that Secretary Clinton is already quite active..

Onto the White House in ‘16!? 

For the record, Bubba is joining Hil in the photo.. 

The first First Man of the nation!?

Nothing can keep her down.

Goodbye winter already!? Snow and cold about to retreat from the United States. . .

Goodbye winter already!? Snow and cold about to retreat from the United States. . .

Strange occurrences today in Harrisburg PA

There are sinkholes.

There are gas leaks.

Quite the day in midstate PA..

No turning back now... America over the cliff

Cnn: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he does not support a Senate deal to avert the fiscal cliff but that House GOP leaders have made no decisions on the bill’s fate.

Carson Daly sure got old. David Letterman was a rerun. And ABC with without Dick Clark. All the more reason to watch CNN’s odd mixture of real news with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. At one point it appears she went down on him.

As usual, lots of uncomfortable moments and strange ones, too. Such as when Kathy Griffin kept interrupting Cooper reporting that there was a late night fiscal cliff deal. 

Strange stuff indeed. Cable TV. Weird.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOqn6DgJcF8?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

The entire earth has flipped the calender to 2013.

And with it, we know, you can’t turn back the hands of time.

No matter how much you try.

Let’s make it a great year

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Got to love this .. Times Square in NYC only hours ago. Right now confetti cleaners are hard at work.

2013?

Seriously. When did this happen

Wow. It’s here. 2013. 

Wonder what it felt like in 1913???

Do we have anything in common with the presiding generation a century ago? 

I think so. We still hold on to each other when midnight strikes and sing Auld Lang Syne as loud as we can.. And that’s something, right?

A ROCKIN' NEW YEAR WITHOUT DICK CLARK JUST DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT, DOES IT?

Welcome to the final minutes of the year 2012. Yes. Already. It was so looked forward to, and it is ending so quickly…

It’s minus Dick Clark this year, though. And that is notable. Fergie is showering ABC viewers tonight in the pre-game with Dick Clark related footage. Donna Summers is playing while the Doors are swaying. Yes, it’s a stroll down amnesia lane in the fast lane. Dick Clarkless 2013. No countdown with the master of Times Square this year.

The show goes on, of course. With Ryan Seacrest to help. Before Seacrest will be ‘out’ there will be a number of events that occur. A massive ball will drop in Times Square. Revelers will kiss their hearts out.. then race for port-a-potties and their hotel rooms. Maybe stop by a pub and have a cup of cheer..

All around the world, the events are taking place. Some places on Earth are already 2013. The Pope will have a homily about how peace could be achieved. Fireworks will fly high into the night sky.. People will embrace and raise their glasses of chosen adult or child beverage. And we will all be one (in a number of different time zones, of course.)

This is, after all, New Year’s Eve. It is a special kind of night.

Recall your fondest new years memories… I know you have them. It may be eating too much turkey in a bar somewhere in the deep dark mines of the Coal Region (the turkey was good. I swear).. or maybe it’s a quiet time in your own home with the people you love. Or maybe it’s working.. Hotels, bars, restaurants.. they are all open tonight. It’s a big night for the service industry… And depending on what services you’re looking for, and what services are being offered, maybe you’re even being serviced, I hope you’re all having a blast.

It seems like yesterday that 2000 hit us like a wrecking ball. Remember those days? People were worried computers would shut down. They stockpiled water and food. Sounds similar to the doomsayers of December 21, 2012, doesn’t it? The only difference is, back then, we partied like it was 1999. This go around we’ll be lamenting the late 90s and wishing they could come back all over again. Gas at a buck a gallon.. milk around 2.. life happy. But was it?

I don’t know.

After all, think of another fond saying people have on New Year’s Eve: “Out with the old, in with the new!” “This year will be better than the last!” 

Is any year better?

Is any year new?

It’s all relative, in a way.

It’s only a calender that tells us we’ve swung from one set of 365 to the next. But the events of the day are still stagnant. Reality doesn’t tell time well. We simply measure our existence in the boundaries of it..

But what is time? What are hours, and minutes.. and days and years? I don’t know much about what they are besides what I grew up knowing. And the earth, as it rotates into infinity, allows us to make certain that time is told.

Time is a magazine.

And it’s an enemy. 
So often.

And now, like we’ve done countless times before, we’re going to hold our lovers close, call the parents, and hope to keep a couple friends in the process. We have been down this road before. It seems very familiar to me, and I am sure to you.

As the clock ticks down the final minutes of 2012 here on the East Coast of the planet earth, let’s truly hope that 2013 is one that brings all those things we’ve wished for since we began wishing around this time of year: World peace, love across the continents, economy stability, good news, no storms, laughter, and memories to be fond of. 

What we may find, as we herald in 2014, is that ‘13 was a mixture of good and bad, positive, and negative. We’ll look back on 12 months of war and hate. It will be peppered with stories of humanity and love, perseverance and kindness. And that’s just life as we know it. Living in America. And at the beginning of the millennium…  (2013 still somewhat counts as a beginning, no?)

Since we’ve been down the road before of resolutions and hopes, let’s just calm ourselves down this go around and take it in stride. Don’t put too much pressure on a calender change to change your life. But certainly don’t give up trying to make it.

So happy new year. Raise a glass. Toast the past. Love always. Love deeply. Love actually.

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love.

Happy 2013. 

I hope.

This is not good

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a blood clot between her brain and skull behind her right ear, her doctors said.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!

The TWILIGHT ZONE  New Years marathon alive and well this year on SYFY. Hope I catch my favorites..

The latest on Hillary Clinton's condition

CNN reporting:

She is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor her condition and treat her with anti-coagulants, said Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state.

"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," Reines said. "They will determine if any further action is required."

The latest on Hillary Clinton's condition

President Barack Obama has signed into law a five-year extension of the U.S. government's authority to monitor the overseas activity of suspected foreign spies and terrorists.

It’s also known as WARRENTLESS WIRETAPPING…

*And he did it behind closed doors. How nice.

President Barack Obama has signed into law a five-year extension of the U.S. government's authority to monitor the overseas activity of suspected foreign spies and terrorists.

Drudge going football crazy tonight .. How odd for him

Secretary Clinton has a blood clot but he has no siren?? Hmmm….
Maybe he thinks this is fake too

Hillary Clinton blood clot.. Developing story

Hillary Clinton blood clot.. Developing story

2013 PREDICTIONS

Some really great things happened in 2012. We landed a rover on Mars, with success, and we now have the potential to beam back information in real time. Images of the red planet appear more like a Southwest desert. That is absolutely amazing.. 

There were some other great things in 2012. But it seemed shrouded by those events that were not so great. 

I wonder what amount of media influence takes place to keeps us from seeing the bright spots in life. 

Yes there is war, chaos, climate change, and fraud. But there is also honesty, goodness, love, and beauty. It abounds. 

People have fond memories of the past. Often their recollection isn’t 100% correct. Some people think they 80s were fun. Others recall poverty and constant fear of nuclear war. Some think the 90s were great. But others lost their jobs due to NAFTA and worried about the year 2000. It’s all relative. Before I get into this year’s predictions, I want to review last year’s predictions. I wrote,

Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. Newt Gingrich will crash. Ron Paul will run as a third party… but won’t be a major factor. Barack Obama will be the president for the next four years after his victory in November 2012.
North Korea will launch missiles to threaten the United States. Kim Jong Il dead.. Un here. Ugh. 
The tension in the Middle East will dramatically escalate in 2012. Iran, Israel.. Syria.. No nation will appear stable. 
Lots of people will begin to think the end times are upon us. Not only due to the Mayan calender end in December 2012 but because of strange world events Gas prices will soar.
The stock market will have major upticks and downward crashes. 
Unemployment claims will continue to fall.. Maybe to 8% or lower. But the real unemployment number will surge into the 30% range. The economy will look like it’s recovery but it will not.

Not bad! Mitt Romney did lose. North Korea did try to elevate their threat level with missile launches, Israel and Syria did become crisis areas, and the real unemployment is surging. I was wrong on gas prices, and on the stock market. 

2012 over. 
2013 here we come. 

Predictions for the new year, in no particular order:

• The fiscal cliff will not be avoided. Congress and the White House will become wreckless in their political partisanship. While economic turmoil will not be avoided, it will not be as bad as some predict. Though taxes will go up on everyone in some manner. 


• North Korea will amplify their threat. They will attempt to scare their neighbors to the South and could elicit a forceful response from the world.


• 2013 is not a year of luck. March may be the worst. 


• Bad weather will dominate news in 2013. Hurricanes will strike the United States. Tornadoes will be abundant. Large snowstorms will hit in the winter. But the drought will continue and food prices will surge.


• Technology will take surprisingly huge advancements in 2013. Don’t be surprised if by next December the biggest gift of the year will be something that gets implanted in the human body. 


• A comet in November will be as bright as the moon. End of the world groups will latch on to it. Unfortunately some suicidal end of the world groups may go too far in their fears..


• By next Christmas we will have fewer malls, fewer stores, and fewer jobs. There are no big employment surges that will occur. Instead, state governments throughout the nation will suffer big layoffs. 
  
  The final prediction: In 2014, God willing, we will be here, judging that happened in 13. And when we do, we will lament another quick year. We will kiss as the ball drops. We will all be another year older. And we will all wonder what 2014 will bring. 
  Time does, after all, go by rather fast..

Creepiest tabloid story of the year
In gossipy news of the year, Justin Bieber was roughed up by paparazzi. And a kidnap gang was busted. Their plan was to steal Bieber and kill him, plus get $2,500 per testicle. I feel icky even typing about it. So I will stop now.

---

Strangest concert moment of the year
Just when you thought it was safe to have glasses on, Madonna decided to take off most of her clothing. Who can stop her now?

---

Most annoying tabloid gossip of the year
If it wasn’t Madonna it was the new Madonna, Gaga. They appeared nude this year. But then later in the fall she didn’t look quite the same. Rumors flew.. was she pregnant? Or just eating too much pasta. Later in 2012 she vanished from the entertainment scene. She exists on Twitter. And decides often to wake me up by Tweeting late night barages of messages to her millions of fans.. But the media enjoys having it both ways on the issuye of weight. They cry and wine about young girls who think too much about it, and say we worship thin people way too much. At the same time, though, they will publish articles being critical of any female star who gains a few pounds. Leave Lady Gaga alone. She was born this way, babaaay..

Scariest weather of 2012 that will impact 2013
2012 was another hot year. Really hot. So much so that parts of the Mississippi River had to be closed off because it was running dry.. barges couldn’t even use it. The nation saw one of its worst droughts in decades. It continued for most of the year. The harvest in 2012 was predicted to be quite nice, early on. That is before the rain stopped. And it never started. Going in 2013, some of the same regions plauged by dry conditions are still in the same bad situation… Food prices will soon reflect that..

Worst campaign of all time
Paul Ryan fell in love with Mitt Romney. But America didn’t. He tried in 2008, but he never caught on. Why did he think he would in 2012? I don’t know. As in ‘08, no fire in the belly erupted in Republicans. Instead, he lost in quite a disastrous election for the Grand Old Party. But their fire in the belly is turning quickly into aged distress. How grand are they? How old have they become? Not even Mitt’s mom jeans could save them in ‘12..

Least Chrsitian Catholic of the year
The Pope began tweeting in 2012. And when he did, lots of other Twitter users mocked him accordingly. Perhaps he was trying to re-tweet a new image of his Pontifcate since earlier in 2012, the biggest story about the Church was that of the Pope’s butler spilling the religious beans on secret affairs inside the Vatican. Mutiny in the Church! a butler locked away! Of course by the end of the year, the Pope pardoned his Butler. SO perhaps that Christian in Benny is coming through after all. LOL RT..

Most historic weather of the year
A storm turned super in 2012. Hurricane Sandy become an immense storm.. it battered and shattered the East Coast and destroyed so much of New Jersey and New York.. It was spoken of as a sign of storms to come..

Most distressing stories of 2012
The world was not a place for children in 2012. It was the year kids lost innocence.. The tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School moved a nation to question a lot.. the tragic shooting in Aurora Colorado did the same.. the DARK KNIGHT rose at theaters but was shadowed by a tragic scenario..

Children were killed in Syria. And a lot of them. According to reports throughout the entire year, massacres were happening on a regular basis. The world stood by as the regime in the nation took all internet users off the grid. Fears of chemical weapons being used came next.. And so it goes.. And innocent children sadly suffer every time.

Best justice of the year
There was justice served in the Jerry Sandusky saga. He was found guilty and will be locked away most likely for the rest of his life.. It is a small consolation to the countless lives he destroyed by his actions. He also helped ruin a reputation of a once heralded institution. But was justice served in its entirety? Probably not. It also brought up interesting questions about what we, as people, value. Football reigns supreme. Even higher than education. In the case of Penn State, and Joe Paterno, football and the school reputation was much more important than the lives of children raped by Jerry Sandusky.

Worst food story of the year
In May, the story of the Miami Muncher was on everyone’s mind. A man on bath salts in Florida began eating another man. Both were naked. Jokes were made.. but also, the horror was showcased on nightly news with images of both of their nude legs. Weeks later, the victim’s face was shown and the wounds he suffered were horrendous..

2012: THE YEAR THAT DID NOT END

It was a year of madness. 

Chaos.. 

While some predictable things did happen, the rest came as shocks to the system.. 

Weather instability all throughout the globe—mixed with strange rumbling beneath the crust and in the sky, as well. 

Madness and mayhem in movie theaters, schools, parking lots, homes.. Shootings from sea to shining sea. Are we simply a more violent culture? Then again, when you see history and notice that the most violent school rampage took place before 1930, it redefines your perspective on this year’s handgun and military assault anarchy.. 

There was a big sinkhole this year. I bet you didn’t hear about that. 
But there was a presidential election. We heard way too much about that..

It seemed like yesterday, and ages ago all at the same time, that the Olympics graced billions of TV sets. Unfortunately not as many showed for the actual seating in London, but the games were great. 

Who were we this year? 
We were worried. 
Constantly wondering if the end was near.. and worrying so much about Armageddon that we forgot some basics. 

The globe still spins here in late December. We made it through. So we’re fine. 

The Mayan end times scenario was just a scenario that helped Coast to Coast AM and some DISCOVERY CHANNEL late night TV survive for the past ten years. I guess they can’t replay reruns asking if the world will end in ‘12 since it did not. Of course there will be a mighty large comet in the sky in November 2013—outshining the moon is a possibility. So maybe the end time will happen then.. 

But even though it wasn’t the end of time this year, there were sure moments when it felt it. 

The madness that took place in a school in Connecticut only weeks before Christmas was horrific. It was disgusting.. it was thoroughly depressing. It really affected the nation’s national psyche. Also the media did a tragically poor job in reporting it, taking misinformation from Twitter and talking about it as though it was fact, naming the wrong guy as the shooter and blasting his photo across news wires, and misreporting that Adam Lanza’s mom was a teacher. Maybe we will forget those details of the day, but we surely will never forget the day when innocent 6-year-olds were gunned down by a madman..

While adults though the end was nigh, children didn’t know what hit them. 2012 was a tragically bad year for children.. From the United States to Syria, Russia and China, kids who deserve better got the worst of 2012. They laugh in the same language, and cry in it too. This year they cried a lot. Adults need to get themselves off the wasteland of fast-paced nonsense on gadgets and phones and realize that a generation could waste away if they have a few more years like 2012.. It did not seem like a day went on this year that was absent a heartbreaking story about a child being gunned down, bombed, droned, or wasted away by society as we knew it.

But it’s over now. 
It’s gone. It came fast and seemed to go even faster.

From Mitt Romney’s mom jeans to moms carrying their children in battle, it’s all gone..

Perhaps not a moment too soon, either. 

2012 was a year like all other years: It was mixed with wonderful stories of humanity at its finest and deplorable stories of creatures who cannot be human. This is the planet earth, after all. So what else is new..

Here’s to some memories of ‘12, and the best for ‘13. We just keep marching on, don’t we?

2012. Hope the Mayans start working on a new calender. 
We made it.

A view from my window. Hope yours is as nice.. I love Saturdays when it snows.

I am working on a year in review. I hope you'll like it.

Coming soon. Probably today.
Putting some finishing touches on it.

Good snowy morning. 12 almost over. Heralding in lucky 13 with a winter weekend.

Happy end of 2012.

Because of our fine folks in Congress we are about to go into uncharted economic territory.. The fiscal cliff upon us. Enjoy the ride, I guess. The outcome may just not be pretty.

George H.W. Bush in ICU

Bush is surrounded by family.. President Obama is being updated in his condition.

George H.W. Bush in ICU

2013: The of the comet

Ison is coming. It may be brighter than the full moon..

2013: The of the comet

A family photo of the Zuckerbergs is now being seen all over the net .. It appears that Randi Zuckerberg became a victim of the ever changing Mark Zuckerberg privacy settings on Facebook. Someone tweeted the photo, Randi Zuckerberg responded in anger, and …asked the Twitter user to delete the original tweet. It is too late now that media all over the world has the photo at their disposal.. 

Oh, and it’s worth noting that Randi Zuckerberg wanted to everything to rethink privacy online 2011. She said, in part, 

I think anonymity on the Internet has to go away. People behave a lot better when they have their real names down. … I think people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors.

I don’t think anyone can escape the irony on this way.

A peaceful night of watching Caillou with my son and wife.. and snow outside

The weather outside is frightful. And for parents, hours of Caillou may be worse. But it’s all for the best. Ayden loves it.

Grinning and bearing it, and watching my son laugh his heart out.

ONLY 365 MORE SHOPPING DAYS LEFT UNTIL CHRISTMAS ‘13!

Does anyone else out there think it’s bizarre that here we are Christmas Day 2012 and so far today I heard about four flocks of geese flying south? Weren’t they supposed to have done this already?

It was Ayden’s second Christmas—and first white one..

He hardly slept, with excitement about the snow along with the possibility that Santa was about to eat a chocolate chip cookie..

Fun memories.

I hope you and yours had an equally beautiful time last night and today.

Christmas almost done.
My God so is 2012..

Since we don’t know where times goes, may as well enjoy it.

Ayden's second Christmas

He got it this year. Really ‘got it’.. knew about Santa Claus. He even believed that Santa’s reindeer took a ‘poop’ on our front yard. 

For a soon to be two year old, the gift opening session went pretty well. 

He barely wanted to open more after a few books he liked were opened first.. 

We kept it minimal this year. On purpose. 

Kids can be spoiled quickly. Right now, with Ayden being our only son, he is spoiled simply by default.

But there is nothing wrong with that.. 

It’s amazing to see innocence in the eyes of a child. Eyes that have not seen horrors or ravages of this planet. That is precisely why images of children who see those horrors make me intensely sad sometimes around this time of year.

Ayden Morris, you did well. Cheers to another year coming. Your third Christmas will be only better.

Merry Christmas to all out there. And to all a good night.

CHRISTMAS 2012
PEACE ON EARTH!*
*Maybe next year

The Pope tells Catholics to make a place for God in busy and fast paced world

The Pope tells Catholics to make a place for God in busy and fast paced world

East Coasters: Look how many snowstorms we may have to contend with in the next few days

We are going from a warm December.. to a frightfully cold period of time. Along with numerous chances for large scale snowstorms.

The first tonight —it’s minor. But it will be a white Christmas thanks to it (snow will easily brush off your car).. look for Santa’s sleigh tracks.

By the time the ball drops on 2013, we may be sick of snow already..

East Coasters: Look how many snowstorms we may have to contend with in the next few days

Christmas Eve 2012 is here.. Be safe everyone.

So my local Walmart had a mobile meth lab in the parking lot.. Merry Christmas.

Pretty big day in the Skook, even with it being Christmas..

It may be everyday that a meth lab in some town gets found, but not a mobile one. A meth lab on wheels.. 

Turns out that the owner of the vehicle was from Berks County. So Schuylkillians are in the clear on this one. But… it may be proof that you can find pretty much any item at Walmart.

This is it. 

NEWSWEEK is done.

At least in the print world.. 

Digital it will live. But thrive? I don’t know.

TINA BROWN said the Zeitgeist was against the publication. But why? Why not TIME magazine. 

I recall a few years ago when US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT died away from newstands, too. But what did that magazine offer? Morty Zuck had nothing but bucks.. nothing to give readers either besides long lists of the ‘best of’ that no one ever read. The people who made the US NEWS ‘best of’ lists probably didn’t even know that they made it..

TIME magazine is still alive. Thriving? I don’t know. They just chose BARACK OBAMA as their person of the year—a safe choice and predictable one.. Will they be next in the digital universe? Abandoning the stains of print in turn for the speed of the phone?

Lots of people will lament NEWSWEEK’s print passing. Some won’t. 

But one day, maybe when that solar storm does actually hit, we will yearn for the days of print. Yearn for the days when we can hold a magazine in our hands…

Or will we..

Reaction in India continues after gang rape on bus

There is so much anger in New Delhi that big protests are continuing in the city..

CNN reports:

Saturday’s demonstration was prompted by public outrage over what police said was the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital on December 16.

Authorities haven’t released the name of the rape victim, but protesters are calling her “Damini,” which means “lightning” in Hindi.

According to reports, the young victim of the rape had a metal rod inserted in her vagina and she suffered loss of her intestines..

There has been global anger with how Indian officials responded to the incident—such as questioning why she was out past 9pm with a male, ignoring her life threatening damages incurred by the incident..

Lovin' it? McDonald's serving up 'restructured meat technology' ..

Lovin' it? McDonald's serving up 'restructured meat technology' ..

And you thought your job stunk!

There are time you need to take news online with a grain of salt. And if it’s from the ONION you should just laugh, and not spread the headlines as though they’re true..

So when I read this SMOKING GUN story about a federal worker who was reprimanded for farting too much, I could not help but first think it was a joke. However, sadly in a way, as the story went on and copies of documents were referenced, it became clear that the Social Security Administration employee from Baltimore, really could not control his flatuence.

But the story of the man gets weirder.. According to a reprimand letter, he created a hostile working environment because of his repeated passages of wind.

And the office co-workers didn’t think grin and bear it.. No, they recorded the times and dates when he flatuated (is that a word?) ..

Now picture your own office, or workplace.. Picture a co-worker next to you breaking wind every half hour or so.. How long until you start keeping “documenation” on all of the times he farted in your space? Well, according to the SMOKING GUN expose, this SSA employee had 17 incidents on September 19, according to records kept by employees. And he even broke wind during a May 18 performance discussion!

There is now a legal fight taking place over the reprimand.. I don’t know how much further the public will be udpated on the farting government worker. But every time I see my social security deduction on future paychecks, I’ll raise a glass and bust an ass. Praise to the farting Social Security Worker! So misunderstood…

Another disgusting story about a shooting..
This time in rural Pennsylvania near Altoona..
Fox News reports:

A man fatally shot a woman decorating for a children’s Christmas party at a tiny church hall and killed two men elsewhere in a rural central Pennsylvania township Friday before he was fatally shot in a gunfight with state troopers.

So far it appears the shooter had no relationship with the victims..

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Your chances may have increased

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Your chances may have increased

The calendar now says winter, and the weather does too. The pale and hazy gray shade of winter setting it

Heading into the Christmas holiday season, it is important to remember what IS.. important in your life

I value a wonderful family, wonderful friends, peace, joy, happiness and sure a little fun now and then too.

But doesn’t it seem like this year has been tremendously bad? Maybe the world didn’t end up by God there’re times this year were we all sure felt like it would..

So that would be all the more reason to grab the hand of the person you love, spend time with the people you care about, and appreciate every waking moment because those moments are fleeting..

We're still standing

Time zones and end times

Well it’s tomorrow already in some places .. Has the world ended in Australia yet? Just trying to estimate my chance of survival ..

Christmas tragedies.. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why around holidays? 2012 has been a rough year.. Hasn't it?

Just got informed that a co-worker and good friend lost her sister in a rafting accident in another country.. I will obviously withhold personal information but… it made me feel awful.

I am not a doomsayer or someone who believes the end times are upon us.. but with news of national attention recently and even personal attention, it just isn’t good, is it? Tragic scenarios are playing out everywhere. This has been a rough year.
2013 almost here (yes already) so maybe things will improve. Right?
Right?….
Again… Right?
Maybe.
But as for the current time, we are dealing with an aftermath of a horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut  And whatever personal horror you are dealing with in your private life.

If we make it through December we’ll be fine.


[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGDo1Jybs_I]

TIME MAKES THE CALL: OBAMA THE PERSON OF 2012

A nightmare before Christmas

The President of the United States delivered a monumental speech last night during a vigil in Newtown, Connecticut. He was emotional. He seemed real. And he somehow was able to get back that old aura like he had during speeches in the past. He is a great orator. During this tragic situation, we need that. Sure, we need action, too.. but since action is so debatable, right now oration will due.. He invoked Jesus and children going to him.. then went on to name all of the children, by first name, who were gunned down by shooter Adam Lanza.

The world is beginning to know a little more about Mr. Lanza, and his mother. One story in UK media accuses his mom of being a hoarder worrying about the end of the world coming, or at least some type of end of the world-lite crisis. We don’t know much about him just yet, besides the occasional news media story of him being in a high school tech club, having emotional issues, playing video games. We do know, from various reports, that his mother took him to shooting ranges allowing him to practice his shots. Shots that would eventually change a small town and perhaps the nation…

I think there was a certain shroud of sadness across the Christmas landscape this weekend. I wrote about my trip to my local mall last Friday night. It was quiet and silent.. in parts you can hear a pin drop. I went, again, to another shopping center last night. While the crowd was in its typical rush for last minute gifts, there wasn’t much fun in the shopping experience. We all know what we are all thinking, We all have those children’s souls in our minds.  I think there’s a strong change that many across this country had nightmares. Perhaps the President himself.

We may all disagree on gun control issues. We can all have a certain point of view regarding mental health and how state and federal governments should deal with issues relating to it. And we may also all have varying beliefs when it comes to the national ‘morals’.. But suddenly we all have one thing in common: We weep for the souls who perished last Friday in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Stories of heroism among the faculty make our eyes water.. but those awful stories of children being gunned down by a maniac in the school make us tremble in sadness and be silent in grief.

While Obama may have a master orator, there are still few words that can do much healing. Instead it the healing will come over time. It may never actually happen.. but families will come to grips with the scope of their loss. This Christmas has been ruined. I am guessing for hundreds of people, future Christmases will never get better. So many families that were planning happy and peaceful Christmases. Now they are planning somber funerals for lives gone too young.

The Lanza family will now be greeting this Christmas with loss, and perhaps shame. Their name now forever marked by the horror that were perpetrated and saddened by the loss of another…

We may have all been forever changed by this tragic shooting. But we don’t quite yet know how we’ve been changed. 

A range of emotions has taken over … but we don’t know what is flowing through our veins more: Anger, sadness, or a melancholy feeling that something has been lost in this country—what? we don’t know yet. It’s too soon to understand the blaze of feelings .. 

I cannot even imagine the pain, the ungodly pain, facing these families right now in Connecticut. 

I despise any person who steals the innocence of another. This situation is all the worse. Not only was innocence taken of the deceased, but the living will now keep this horrid memory in their minds for a lifetime …

We all may feel sadness and anger.. But we also collectively feel disgust. Disgust that someone can do this. Disgust that it happened.

We may have all cried out to God this weekend. Maybe some of us lost faith, or others were comforted by it. I don’t know.

It’s too soon to know.

We just know that something is different. And Christmas will never be the same.

‘Let the little children come to me,’ Jesus said, ‘and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’

Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Katherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Allison. God has called them all home.

For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory.

PRESIDENT OBAMA. (via inothernews)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9TByT3QlWc?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

Maybe the world will end on 12/21? We are horrified by the loss of innocent life. Hillary Clinton passed out and has a concussion (I thought she’d be president in 2016) .. and Dick Clark has been dead for a while. With Ryan Seacrest ringing in the New Year, I don’t think there’s much of a chance we’ll make it through December. But if we do, we’ll be fine.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

According to reports developing right now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fainted and has suffered a concussion.. This is yet another developing story on a busy news day of tragedy According to the AP, Clinton was recovering from a stomach virus but has now sustained a concussion after fainting.. She is being monitored by medical professionals.. The sources reporting to the AP did not reveal more since they were not authorized to speak about Clinton's condition.. Developing story.

According to reports developing right now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fainted and has suffered a concussion.. This is yet another developing story on a busy news day of tragedy According to the AP, Clinton was recovering from a stomach virus but has now sustained a concussion after fainting.. She is being monitored by medical professionals.. The sources reporting to the AP did not reveal more since they were not authorized to speak about Clinton's condition.. Developing story.

A powerful image from Newtown, CT. Powerful..