In the news....

British censors will remove any and all footage of "Tom" from Tom and Jerry fame, smoking. Some of the cartoons are over 50 years old.

The fast food industries "quick" attempt to offer healthy meals appears to be over. Burger King introduced the QUAD stacker (yep 4 patties of mystery meat) cheese and bacon. Hardees? They have the "thickburger" which is 2/3 a pound of beef, EIGHT strips of bacon and three slices of cheese.

Currently the USA spends 1.23 cents to make the penny.

80% of parents surveyed said they did not think alcohol or marijuana was available at parties their kids attended. 50% of the teens polled said that in fact they had attended parties were both substances were present.(LA Times)

President Bush has issued 99 pardons during his 5 years and seven months in office, the lowest rate for any postwar president. Clinton -457 in 8 years, Reagan 406. (Ass. Press.)

There is a baby boom in post Katrina New Orleans. Last year there were 33 births per 1000 women, this year 41 per 1000. - (LA Times)

The IRS has warned recipients of Oscar Gift Bags to pay taxes on them. For the first time ever the Oscars bag will come with a tax form. (marketwatch.com)

Workers playing fantasy football cost employers as much as 1.1 BILLION a week in lost productivity during the NFL season. (The Washington Times)

With all that "self checkout" you can do now, soda and candy sales at grocery stores have fallen 45%. The consumers are too focused on "scanning" to go for the impulse item(s). (Business Week)

The grain needed to fill a 25 gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol could feed one person for a year. (Fortune)