In the News..

It has been a while..but here are a few.

A British study found that 20% of racy texts are sent to the wrong person.

The state of Massachusetts had a list of the top 1,000 tourist attractions, but listed only 996 places, some of which don't exist any longer, are closed to the public, or are listed in the wrong towns.

June was the worst month on record for suicides among US Army soldiers, with 32 self inflicted deaths. 22 of them were from veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan - Foxnews.com

In 1960, just 12% of homes had air conditioning. As it became more common place the population of the south has grown by 96% and the west by 143%. -The LA Times.

Looks like e-books are here..at least for now. Amazon.com has reported that they sell more electronic books than hardcovers. The site has been selling hardcovers for 15 years, and electronic versions for only 33 months. bloomberg.com

American passenger airlines collected $1.86 billion in extra fees in the first quarter of 2010. USAToday

20 homes on Nantucket Island were sold out of foreclosure in the first six months of 2010. CNNmoney.com

A school teacher in New York has hit the 3 Million mile mark on his 1966 Volvo. His secret for the longevity? "Read the manual and do what it says".

The number of illegal immigrants entering the US has fallen from 850,000 a year to about 300,000 due to the weak job market. - Wall St.Journal

In the News

A Canadian publisher has created a pornographic magazine aimed at blind people.

A Florida man is being sued over a negative review he left on ebay. The man said he paid for a $44.00 alarm clock that arrived in three pieces. The seller said, it was listed "as is".

A Florida woman beat a ticket for running a red light when her husband, using a stopwatch, found that the yellow light at the intersection lasted only 3.8 seconds and not the required 4.5 seconds.

The KFC Double Down sandwich has more sodium in it than an adult should consume in an entire day.

The Mayor of a town in England and his wife, fell asleep during a play done by 11 year olds. The kids were very upset, and the mayor blamed his cold medication for making them sleepy.

77 U.S. Troops died in Afghanistan in the first 3 months of 2010, about twice as many as in the same period a year before. Most deaths were caused by IED's.

Sarah Palin left her $125,000 per year as the Governor of Alaska and has raked in over $12 million already with book deals, speaking fees etc.

President Obama and his wife Michelle, reported 5.5 million in income in 2009 - most from the sale of Obama's two books. They paid 1.8 million in federal taxes, gave $329,100 to charity. Obama also gave his 1.4 million dollar prize he won for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, to charity. Associated Press

About 25% of the world's population (1.8 Billion people), do not have electricity in their homes. - MSNBC.com

You Tube celebrated it's 5th Birthday in early May. The very first video was a 19 second clip uploaded by one of the co-founders. The site now stream 1 BILLION clips a day. -Techradar.com

In the News

A San Antonio councilman has proposed making it a crime to give money to beggars. The councilman says that residents are tired of aggressive panhandlers and that prosecuting those who give to the homeless is the best solution. He goes on to say "if there is no money the panhandlers will move along".

The top terms searched for by kids on the Internet for 2009 was released. "Porn" was in the top four for kids ages 7 and under, just ahead of "Club Penguin"

Singer George Michael has said to the press recently he has cut his pot habit down from 25 to 8 joints per day. - London Guardian.

December marked the first month without a U.S. combat casualty in Iraq since the war began in 2003. The LA Times.

The 106 Death Penalties handed down in the US in 2009 were the fewest since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. 11 states are now considering abolishing executions, largely due to the high cost of handling and often decades-long appeals by the inmates. CNN.com

New York City's Harlem neighborhood, still widely considered the cultural capital of black America, is no longer majority black. African Americans make up 40% of Harlem's population. New York Times.

76.1% of Americans get to work by driving alone. Only 10.4% carpool, and 4.9% use mass transit. The Washington Post

In the News

Nevada has changed the language in their prostitution laws to allow for male prostitution.

When Tiger Woods took a hiatus from golf (July 2008 through February 2009) TV ratings for golf tournaments dropped 50% - Associated Press

A library in Jackson Mississippi has taken on $13,000 worth of video games, figuring if kids come in for games they will grab books as well.

Bell Ringers for the Salvation Army in three major US Cites this past holiday season took credit cards. USA Today

1 in 4 American children depend on food stamps. Among Americans, 1 in 8 is receiving food stamps and as unemployment drops middle class people drops to poverty, 20,000 additional people are signing up each day. New York Times.

The man who called himself the "godfather of spam" has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for his role in a stock scam. Alan Ralsky, 64, admitted to sending more than 70 MILLION e-mail messages a day under fake names between 1997 and 2003. - CNNMoney.com

Since 1980, White House security has been breached at least 91 times. One woman that got past secret service claimed to have a "special relationship" with President Clinton. Washington Post

Recently gold, which is having a very strong value as of late, hit a high (at one time) of $1,226.56 an ounce. Still, anyone that paid $850 for an ounce of gold in January of 1980 would have earned more if they had put that money instead in an interest bearing account. Bloomberg.com

This is a run of stuff I read on "Packaging" around the holidays.

10% of a typical products price is for packaging.

Nearly 1/3 of Americans' waste is packaging. Just 43% is recycled.

Last summer Sam's Club began selling milk in a stack able plastic jug with a smaller energy footprint. It cut the price of the gallon by 20 cents but consumers complained it spilled too easily

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Americans produce more than 1 million tons of additional garbage per week.

If every family reused the wrapping from 3 gifts it would save enough paper to cover 50,000 football fields.

Amazon.com introduced "Frustration Free" packaging in 2008. In 2009 they offered less than 100 products with this title.

A Consumer Reports tester took over three minutes to open an Oral B toothbrush, even armed with scissors and a box cutter.

Clamshell packaging sends more than 5,500 people to the Emergency Room each year.

Sony's Memory Stick Pro comes in a package that is 50times larger than the product itself.

Apple shipped its latest operating system in a box that is nearly 16 times larger than the DVD case within.

65% of adults say they would drink wine from a pouch, but 61% say they draw the line at wine in a can.

3 to 5 year olds are more than 3 times likely to each Chicken McNuggets in a McDonalds wrapper than in a plain one.

Finally - Unpacking "American Idol Barbie"
435 inches squared of cardboard (outside box)
385 inches squared of cardboard (inside box)
580 inches squared of plastic (not including doll and accessories)
45 inches of wire
30 pieces of tape
5 rubber bands
Total Pieces of packaging - 55
Time to unwrap - 25 minutes using scissors, box cutter, tweezers, hands and teeth

In the news....

An Illinois bus driver was suspended for wearing a pink necktie in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month. The drivers sister and mother both battled cancer but officials said there was to never be a deviation from the uniform.

The 15 person police squad in Budaros Hungary won a collective 16 million dollar lottery all resigned on the spot.

Mexico City put 1300 of its police officers on a diet because 70% of the 70,000 members of the police force are overweight.

A woman in Britain has the loudest snore on record. They reach levels of 111.6 decibels. To give you an idea, this is louder than a spinning washing machine, a diesel truck or low flying jet.

Nearly 26% of wives now earn more than their husbands in homes where both work. This is up 17.8% in the last two years. - MSNBC.com

The Federal deficit hit the 1.42 Trillion mark in October, more than the total nation debt for the first 200 year of the republic, and more than the entire economy of India. - Associated Press

More than half of adults in New York City are single. The 3.8 million singles outnumber the entire population of Chicago. - The New York Times

In 2005, Dell Computer had a market value of 100 billion. More than apple and Hewlett Packard combined. Today, the market values Dell at $30 billion, less than a third of the value of HP or Apple. Business Week

(This is my favorite)
A Florida man has failed to win compensation for "defective underwear". The 62 year old man claims that over a two week vacation in Hawaii the fly flap of his briefs rubbed his genitals "like sandpaper belts". Asked by a judge why he didn't notice sooner, the 285 pound man said he could not see his own genitals and he didn't ask his wife to look because that would "ruin her vacation". (this is fantastic..really...)

A Stanford study found that coin flips favor whichever side of the coin was facing up when the flip was initiated, landing on that side 60% of the time.

A longest golf course in Australia has opened. Some tees are over 50 miles away from each other. It is estimated to play the par 71, 850 mile course is 4 days.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg spent over $85 million dollars of his own money to be re-elected. This was more than any other electoral candidate in history. - The New York Times

Tuition and fees for the current school year at a private four year college averages $26,273. This is a 4% increase from last year. In state tuition and fees at public, four years schools rose 6.5% to $7,020. Time

Bill Clinton admitted recently if it were not or term limits he'd have kept on running.

The FBI's terrorist watch now has more than 400,000 individual names and it adds about 1,600 per day. Fewer than 5% of the people on the list are U.S Citizens or legal residents. - The Washington Post

Every year Americans eat 35 million cows, 115 million pigs, and 9 Billion chickens and Turkeys. - The New Yorker

In the News

short few here..

Two MIT students, spending only $148.00 invented a camera system that can take pictures of the earth from almost 18 miles above. Using a Styrofoam beer cooler, a Canon A470 compact camera and a helium balloon. The camera was set to take photos every 5 seconds. The keep the system "warm" they used hand warmers and a GPS cell phone to track where it landed.

Every year, about 8.8 million children under the age of 5 die of pneumonia, diarrhea and other diseases worldwide, with 40% of the deaths occurring in Nigeria, Congo and India. - Associated Press

When Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan 400 years ago the island was hilly forests, wetlands, meadows and had more plant species that Yosemite had today. The human population was about 600 Native Americans. The New York Times.

Harvard University's endowment fell by 27.3%, or about $10 Billion dollars, in its latest financial year, to just $26 Billion. - The Boston Globe

In 2009 about 47% of all U.S. Households, or 71 million, will owe NO federal income tax. Most of the households that pay no taxes earn less than $30,000 per year. CNNmoney.com

Cash for clunkers - U.S. auto sales fell 23% in September. GM's sales slipped 45% while Chrysler's were down 42%. The Wall Street Journal

The top 10 U.S. airlines collected $670 million in checked baggage fees in the second quarter of 2009, a 276% increase from the prior year. - Business Week

Sales of "regular cell phones" fell 10% in this years second quarter, but smart phones pick up the slack, increasing sales by 15%. The Economist

In the News

Been a little bit..so here goes.

A 75 year old New York man recently donated his 320th pint of blood, bringing his lifetime total to 40 gallons. The man first donated in 1951 and has donated about 6 times per year since.

A Florida bank refused to cash a check for a man with no arms because he could not provide a thumbprint. Even with 2 forms of photo id the bank still refused. The bank has since apologized.

Two girls, aged 10 and 12 trapped in a storm drain in South Australia, decided to seek help using their cell phones to update their facebook status rather than calling for help.

The US now has 2.3 billion square feet of self storage space which is about 7 square feet for every citizen. New York Times Magazine

Nearly 90% of all home loans originated in the U.S. this year were either funded or guaranteed by the federal government. The Washington Post

A 99 year old woman from Jerusalem passed away recently and left 1,400 direct decedents, 11 children, 150 grandchildren and 1,000 great grandchildren, and it was even reported a few hundred great great grandchildren.

A 19 year old from Pennsylvania broke in to a home and stole some jewelry, but left his facebook account logged in to the victims computer.

There are more that one billion people worldwide that are experiencing "chronic hunger". New York Times

By the end of this year, half of the fish consumed in the world will have been farm-raised. - Washington Post

85 to 95% of bills circulating in the US and Canada contain traces of cocaine, up from the 67% in 2007.

More that 31 million bags by airlines last year. About 1.4% of all bags did not arrive at the destinations at the same time as the passengers. About 1.8 million bags were lost altogether. - Wall St Journal

Since 2007 myspace has deleted 90,000 accounts because they were created by registered sex offenders. Harper's

Within 10 years, for the first time in the history of mankind, the number of people in the world aged 65 or older will be greater than the number of people age 5 or younger. - Washington Times

Americans swallow an average of 22 teaspoons of sugar a day in the form of soft drinks, candy, cookies and processed foods. For teenagers that goes up to 34 teaspoons. Associated Press

In the news...

The "Great Red Spot" on Jupiter is actually a hurricane with winds at close to 400 miles per hour. The "spot" is nearly twice the size of planet Earth.

There is a camp for kids with Tourette's syndrome in Georgia that recently opened. It is called Camp Twitch and Shout.

Pranksters in Amsterdam have taken to tossing Smart Cars into the city's canals. The cars weigh about 1,600 pounds.

The British government issues a guideline to civil servants who use twitter. The 140 character messages were "outlined" in a 20 page document.

The average American eats 16 pounds of french fries, 23 pounds of pizza and 26 pounds of candy per year. fastcompany.com

When Lance Armstrong was winning all those Tour De France membership in USA Cycling grew 5.5% or more per year. In the three years he took off, it fell to 3.5-4% annually. - New York Times

With "snail mail" quickly becoming obsolete the blue mailboxes have been going away. There are only about 175,000 of them in the entire United States. - Washington Post

USA Today's "best sellers list" now includes data on sales for books to the Kindle reader. - Wall St. Journal

Need work? Even with the national unemployment rate at close to 10% more than 100,000 Nursing positions need to be filled. - BusinessWeek

Speaking of Nurses, a Connecticut woman was honored "Nurse of the Year" in 2008 was, in fact, not a nurse. The woman created an association, and staged a dinner in her honor - to bolster her resume to get a job.

A Kenyan man offered Hillary Clinton 20 cows and 40 goats in exchange for her daughter Chelsea's hand in marriage. Mrs. Clinton responded with "My daughter is her own person and I will convey this very kind offer."

70% of Americans believe women should take their husband's last name when they marry, while 29% feel its better for a woman to keep her name. - American Sociological Association

In Zimbabwe, inflation is 234 MILLION percent. There, it is cheaper, per sheet, to wipe your backside with the 1,000 dollar Zimbabwe note than with toilet paper. The notes are so bad for the plumbing as well that some public toilets have signs reading "No Zim Dollars"

H.W. Warner, one of the three "Warner Brothers" was stunned by the idea of "talking" movies saying "Who the hell wants to hear the actors talk?"

Many people were impressed with the telephone when it was invented. When then President Hayes met Alexander Graham Bell he asked "Who would ever want to use one?"

In May 1940, Gandhi said of Hitler "I do not consider Herr Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted...he seems to be gaining his victories without bloodshed."

Leonardo da Vincic could write with one hand, while drawing with the other. To one up him, James Garfield could write in Latin with one hand while writing Greek with the other.

In the news...

It has been far too long..here we go.

A New York man is suing Bumble Bee tuna for $100,000 claiming he found a bone in his tuna. The man said he choked on the bone for more than a minute, and although now 'fine', he said the incident has ended his love affair with the sandwich.

An Ohio man has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for mowing the grass of neglected park. The man was trying to save the town money and clean up an "eye sore" that the town had left unattended to.

8 of the 9 current Supreme Court Justices attended either Harvard or Yale. - Washington Post

About 60% of college students have a relationship they describe as "friends with benefits". - Men's Heath

American Teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month for the fourth quarter of 2008. Teens texted nearly 80 times a day, more than double the year prior. - New York Times.

Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia do not allow drivers to smile for their license photos. The reason, facial recognition software has difficulty in matching smiley photos. - USA Today

A Virginia clinic offered free Botox injections to the unemployed saying "you will be perceived in a better light if you look good".

A Washington State high school Junior decided to light up a joint in class. He did so while debating the legalization of marijuana.

Two years ago, 47% of Harvard's graduates took jobs in finance or consulting. Only 20% of the class of 2009 will go this route, with the others going towards education or health care. - Wall St. Journal.

Of the 16.1 million Americans who served in World War II, 2.6 million are still alive. They are dying at a rate of about 300,000 a year. - Associated Press

Microsoft took six months to choose "Bing" for their new internet search engine. They worked with everyone from lawyers to linguists to come up with a word that was not obscene in any language. Business Week

Sales at Ice Cream Parlors are up 20% or more over last year. The comfort food seems to sooth folks in the tough times . San Francisco Chronicle.

Henry Allingham, the oldest man in the world. When asked for the secret of his long life, he always says: "cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women." *** Sadly Mr. Allingham passed away this past weekend***

In the News

A Los Angeles woman hired a stripper to pose as “her” for her 10th High School reunion. To pull it off she used an ear piece to the stripper to feed her information.

The $100 Million President Obama has ordered cut from his $3.5 trillion budget represents a reduction of 0.0029 percent. If a family with an income of $100,000 cut a comparable amount from its budget, it would spend $3.oo less over the course of a year. – The Christan Science Monitor

The Wall ST Journal was the only major US Newspaper to show circulation gains in the six months from October 2008 through March 2009, although it only grew by less than 1%. –The Associated Press

Sales of over the counter sleeping pills are soaring. Advil PM sales are up 16% during a four week period in March. Some say its because people are worried about the economy. –The New York Times

A New York court has ruled that golfers are not legally required to yell “fore”. A doctor recently lost an eye during a round of golf when a friend struck him with an errant shot. The victim sued saying he should have yelled “fore”. The court felt that getting his is an “inherent danger” to the game.

An 82 year old German called police to complain that someone was playing the same song over and over at all hours. The police checked, and it was one of those greeting cards that played music, that would open and close with the breeze from the window.

Researchers presented volunteers with five types of mashed up food, including pate, duck liver mousse, and dog food, and found that only three of the 18 were able to correctly distinguish the dog food from the others.

The fuel efficient Honda Accord was the best selling vehicle of any kind in the US in April surpassing the Ford F-150 pickup. Its is the first time since October 1991 that the Accord has been the top seller. – USA Today

Remember Joe the Plumber? Well he is leaving the Republican Party because it supports excessive party spending. Samuel Wurzelbacher said, however he opposes any cuts in defense, social security, medicare, or medicaid and noted that he keeps his kids away from “queers”.

More US Households have only cellphones - about 20% than landlines at about 17%. 60% still have both. – San Jose Mercury News

Between 50 and 100 million animals are used every year for scientific and cosmetic research. – The Economist

About 1 Million immigrants became US Citizens last year- the largest one-year surge in history. – LA Times

Over the past two decades, General Motors posted losses of $60 billion- more that its total profits amassed during the previous 80 years. – Financial Times

In 2006, there was not a single trading day when the Dow Jones industrial average rose of fell by 2% or more. In the first quarter of 2009 alone, there were 21 such days. –marketwatch.com

Florida prison officials are apologizing for using 50,000 volt stun guns on children on “Take your Sons and Daughters to Work Day”. It was reported 43 kids were stunned at three separate prisons, most with their parents permission.

11% of the US population between 35 and 44 are now living with their parents or in laws. –New York Times

The New York Yankees are charging $80.00 for a tablespoon of dirt from the old Yankee Stadium. The same dirt costs the Yankees about 4 cents a pound. –Bloomberg.com

In the News

In early March 2009, an asteroid the size of a ten story building passed the earth 44,000 miles away. A similar sized asteroid exploded over Siberia in 1908 flattened 500,000 acres of trees.

Adult entertainment businesses are still doing well in this economy. Several states are now looking to raise taxes on dirty magazines, adult toys and strip clubs. The one law in Texas...is call the "Pole Tax". Associated Press

The number of of vehicle repossessions in the US last year hit 1.67 million. - USA Today

The median price for a home sold in Detroit in December 2008....$7,500.00. - Chicago Tribune

Police in a small Texas town pulled of 147 motorists on their way to a casino in Louisiana and threatened to charge them with 'serious crimes' unless they gave up cash, jewelry, cell phones and even their cars. Police say that that the seizures- almost all from non whites- target drug traffickers, even though in these 147 cases, no drugs were found.

A Pennsylvania Amish man was sentenced to 90 days in jail because he refused to modernize his outhouse. The man said his religious principles forbade him from obtaining the permits and installing a holding tank for waste from the school that is used by about 20 children.

A 62 year old woman accused of stealing $73,000 from her church told the police "Satan had a big part in the theft".

A new poll found that 25% of young women questioned would rather win "Americas Next Top Model" than the Nobel Peace Prize. Half said they'd marry and ugly man if he were rich.

An 18 year old man in Hungerford U.K painted a 60 foot penis on the roof of his family home to see if it would appear on google earth. It was discovered by a helicopter flying near by. When his dad asked him about the image he only responded with "Oh you've found it?"

One in five military age Americans is too fat to join the armed service. - ABCNews.com

Of the 373 Obama administration jobs that require Senate confirmation, only 43 have been filled. Many potential nominees have been disqualified because of tax, nanny issues or other blemishes on their record. - Newsweek.

In the news, AND..Did you know?

A California man was told to stop cleaning up a section of highway near his home. Mario Mendez began to collect litter two months ago, but the state has yet to approve his "Adopt a Highway" permit.

British Billionaire Richard Branson offered to double the salary for hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, if he were to leave US Airways and take a job at Virgin. Branson said he'd make him the best paid pilot at Virgin Airlines and that he could be one of the astronauts as part of his intergalactic spaceship company.

With the demand down on Chinese toys, shoes and electronics as many as 26 million of China's estimated 130 million migrant workers are now unemployed. - Associated Press

A Colorado high school senior faced expulsion for having three rifles in the back of her car, even though she was a member of the Young Marines drill team. The girl, who had a 3.5 GPA uses the wooden rifles during drill practice. School policy prescribes "mandatory expulsion" for any student with even life like facsimiles of weapons.

After watching its endowment shrink last year by 22%, Harvard University wlllay off 25% of its money-management staff, or about 50 people. CNN Money.com

Only 22% of Americans trust financial firms, only 20% trust the government's handling of the financial system bailout. The Economist

40% of US workers have dated an office colleague, with 31% marrying one according to a harris poll.

One in Nine homes in the US is currently vacant, many are priced at $500,000 and more. USA Today

About 2/3 of the people who leave prison in the U.S. are rearrested within three years. The Atlantic

564 reporters covered Congress in 1985, it was 160 in 2008. LA Times.

A million seconds is about 11.5 days, a billion seconds is 32 years.

A woman in Indiana has been married 23 times has said she is currently looking for husband number 24.

A Colorado man who was run over while helping an elderly woman cross the road has been ticketed for jaywalking. The ticket, $22.00, but police say it was still dangerous for him to be in the road.

Girl Scout cookie sales are down 20% this year. In the past people would by six or more, are not settling on one. - USA Today

Teens with cell phones average 2272 text messages compared with 203 phone calls per month. - Washington Post

Did you know?
Tigers love water and are known as the best swimmers of the large cats. Tigers even have webbing between their toes. Tigers also love catnip.

The last movie that Walt Disney personally produced..."The Jungle Book".

So few profits from Ben+Jerrys Rainforest Crunch went in to saving the rainforest, the company had to remove the claim from their label in 1995.

There is a theory that the number 47 can be found in the universe more than any number, some examples"
There are 47 degrees of latitude between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
Strom Thrumond served in the Senate for 47 years
The Declaration of Independence has 47 sentences
The AK-47 was designed in 1947

What is a "gralix"? - It is the string of typographical symbols used to indicate profanity. When a comic character shouts "$%Q!", that's a grawlix.

In the News...

For the first time since the war in Iraq began in 2003, none of the three major networks has a correspondent stationed in the country. Although the violence in Iraq has subsided some 130,000+ US service persons remain. - The New York Times.

37 inmates were executed in the United States in 2008, the lowest total in 14 years. - LA Times.

Only 13% of the US population changed their address between 2006 and 2007. - San Jose Mercury News

Four of the 10 highest grossing movies in 2008 were computer animated, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar2 and Horton Hears a Who. Two others, Batman and Iron Man were comic book heroes. - New York Times.

Former President Bush experienced the biggest swing in approval ratings, more than 70 points. His 92% after 9/11 was an all time high for any US President, his rating when he left office 20%, the lowest ever. CNN.com

Over 20,000 people found themselves "unfriended" on Facebook, when Burger King ran a promotion telling people to unfriend 10 people to win a free Whopper.

Over his 8 years in office, President Bush saw the number of jobs increase 2%, the weakest job growth in the 70 years the statistics have been compiled. - The Washington Post

For the first time since commercial aviation became popular not a single passenger has died in a crash of a U.S. Airliner for two years running. - USA Today

A man in New York tried to return a lobster saying it was "bad". The grocery store looked at it, and realized it had been eaten and put back together to look whole.

The longest inauguration speech in history was delivered in 1841 by William Henry Harrsion, who spoke for two hours in driving snow. Harrison wore no coat, came down with pneumonia and died a month later. - Livescience.com

Heath Ledger's nomination for an Academy Award in the "Dark Knight" marks the seventh time a deceased actor has been recognized. The only one to have won was Peter Finch, for Network in 1976. - New York Daily News.

70% of black children in the U.S. are born to single mothers. - New York Times.

There were 26,786 emergency room visits for cheer leading injuries in 2007, up from 4,954 in 1980. - People

Fast Food giants McDonalds appears to be immune to the economic downturn, plan to open 1,000 new restaurants worldwide and spruce up others. - CNN Money.

In the News

In the week between October 29 and November 4th amature golfer Curt Hocker scored 5 holes in one during golf games, including 2 in one round.

12 runners in the Boulder Colorado Naked Pumpkin Run may be forced to register as sex offenders. Over 150 people were in the run.

Of people earning more than $250,000 a year - the income level that would pay higher taxes in a Barack Obama presidency..52% voted for Obama, with 45% voting for McCain. - Slate.com

More than 129,000 children are awaiting adoption in foster homes, most of them are bypassed because they are black, over 6, or handicapped. - Washington Post

As of mid November, not a single of the 240,000 tickets to Obamas inauguration in Washington had been issued, but on line brokers are already asking $1,000 to $10,000 per seat. - LA Times.

The number of vacant houses in the US has hit 18.6 million. Almost 3% of all mortgages are at least three months in arrears, double the rate of year ago. LA Times.

Due to the hard times and people cutting back, Starbucks reported that its profits fell 97% in the latest quarter, to $5.4 Million. New York Times.

The Albuquerque Police department has been running classified ads in newspapers looking for informants. They are looking for people that "hang out with crooks" and will pay $50 for drug crime information and $700 for murder information.

A man in Topeka Kansas, who in 10 days won two cars in two separate contests also won tickets to a Chiefs game in a third contest.

A Wisconsin man was arrested for beating up a fellow bar patron who he believed was intentionally butchering a karakoe version of Dio's "Holy Diver".

The Federal Government has spent billions of dollars since 1992 to buy a fleet of 112,000 alt-fuel vehicles, but since there are so few suppliers of the fuels (ethanol for example) the "green" cars are powered by gasoline 92% of the time. Washington Post

Sarah Palin has been offered to write more than one dozen books, and has 800+ requests for interviews and appearances. 20 Foreign countries want to see her too..with all expenses paid. Associated Press

In 2006, the last year the figures were available, there were 515 arrests and 466 convictions among employees of the US Postal Service. Slate.com

Americans say they'll spend an average of $716 on holiday gifts this year, the least since 1989 and a 40% drop from 2005. ABC.com

49% of Americans say the US should not close the prison camp at Guantanamo....only 32% say it should be closed. Rasmussen.

Barack Obama has named 14 of the 24 cabinet and top staff members in his administration. At this point in their transitions, Bill Clinton had only one, while Reagan and Carter only had two. - New York Times.

Over 6200 Mexicans have died in drug related violence since early 2007, when Mexican president Felipe Calderon declared war on drug traffickers. That is more than the number of US casualties in Iraq. LA Times.

With millions of people expected for Obama's Inauguration on January 20th, the DC city council has passed legislation that will allow restaurants, bars and nightclubs to serve alcohol until 5am between January 17th and January 21st. - Washington Post.

In the News...

A Florida family who decorated their home with flags and balloons to welcome their daughter home from Iraq had their decorations confiscated by their housing association. According to the committee, "Welcome Home" sings might be construed as "political" statements in support of the war, and thus violated the rules.

An aide to the governor of New York is blaming a $300,000 unpaid tax bill on a rare medical condition called "late filing syndrome".

A bi-monthly New Mexico newspaper printed its October 26-Nov 8th issue with the headline "Obama Wins". The paper urged folks to vote, "even if we did spoil the ending for you".

An Oregon teenager said she didn't see the police officer trying to pull her over for driving 107 Mph...because she was too busy talking on her cell phone.

Heather Mills has already spent $15 Million of her settlement from divorcing Paul McCartney in just seven months.

Some pre-election stuff:
Obama spent 250 million on local cable and network television commercials over the past five months. He spent more on ads during this time than such giant brands as Burger King, Apple and the Gap. New York Times.

In Early November 194 newspapers endorsed Obama to 92 for McCain. - Editor and Publisher

The sale of firearms and ammo has jumped close to 10% in the recent months. Fears of a looming Democrats will impose new gun control measures. - Washington Post.

Despite five straight losing quarters and 70% fall in its stock price in 2008, Merrill Lynch has set aside 6.7 billion for year end employee bonuses. Bloomberg.com

The third installment of High School Musical raked in $42 million its opening weekend, the best ever for a musical. Since 2006 the franchise has lifted Disney's operating profits by an estimated 100 million dollars. - Wall St Journal

Only 1/2 of the NBA's 30 teams are "profitable", down from 20 last year. USA Today

Fees for bounced checks and cash withdraws form an out of network ATM rose again his year according to Bankrate.com. The average cost of using another bank's ATM is now $3.43, while a fee for a bounced check is on average $28.95, up 2.5% from a year ago. Business Week.

In the News...

The 700 Billion that is/was proposed to bail out Wall Street is about 175 billion more than school districts, states, and the federal government spent last year on all forms of public education. -Associated Press

John and Cindy McCain own 13 cars. The Obamas have one. The McCains do have a Jeep that is older than Barack though. - Newsweek.

The glasses that Sarah Palin wear will set you back $375.00, if you can find them. - Wall St Journal

With a new worth of 57 Billion dollars, Bill Gates remains the richest man in America, despite losing this for a few months earlier this year to Warren Buffett. Eighty Nine (89) U.S. Billionaires were too "poor" to make the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list. Forbes

A woman in Chicago bought a house is Saginaw Michigan on ebay for $1.75.

The number of illegal immigrants entering the country has declined from an average of 800,000 to about 500,000, due to the sluggish economy amongst other things. The Washington Post

70 million people watched the vice presidential debates, the most in history. Chicago Sun Times

Almost 29 million Americans participated in food stamps in July, the highest since November of 2005, when it went to a high after hurricanes Rita and Katrina. - Washington Post.

A Pennsylvania mother has won the right to carry a gun to her 5 year olds soccer games.

36% of Atlanta police academy graduates have criminal records.

A radio station in St.Louis began to play all Christmas music in October.

The number of women voters has exceeded that of men in every presidential election since 1964. This year, women may cast about 9 million more votes than men. Marketwatch.com

In a recent survey of 25,000 high school students found that 90% of them copied test answers. - The New York Times

With the financial system crashing Home Depot reports that sales of safes have seen double digit sales growth in the last few weeks. Honeywell, a large maker of home safes, reports sales are up 50%. The Boston Globe.

Bands whose songs are featured in Guitar Hero III can expect a 300% sales increase in their on line music sales. Aerosmith has made more in licensing income from Guitar Hero than for sales of any of their albums. The Economist.

The national debt hit the $10.2 trillion mark, a number so big that hte National Debt Clock near New Yorks Time Square had to eliminate the dollar sign to make room fro an extra digit. The debt is approaching the size of the entire U.S. economy. Slate.com

In the 34 states that will allow early voting this year, close to 30% of the votes will be cast before November 4th.

Joe Biden has done over 100 press interviews since he was tapped to be the Vice President in August. Sara Palin, has done less than 10. CNN.com

Teenagers now send an average of 1,742 text messages a month..more than 50 per day. 42% polled said they could "text blindfolded". New York Times

In the News...

Internet analysts are reporting that social networking sites (Facebook et all) have become more popular than surfing for porn. It is said that "young users are spending more time on the network sites leaving little extra time for porn".

More than 20 state lotteries are reporting an uptick in sales...mostly due to those being hopeful during these "tough times". The New York Times.

The public filed 22 million Freedom of Information requests with the government last year...only 1 in 3 was granted. - US News and World Report

About 80% of the marijuana grown outdoors in the USA is on state and federal land. - USA Today

Saudi Arabia is the only remaining country in the world in which all women, both natives and foreigners, are not allowed to drive - Associated Press

The Nevada Highway patrol began fitting Emergency vehicles with "the Rumbler", a siren that omits low frequency vibrations as well as the audible sound. Officials were reporting that drivers play their music so loud in their cars it was too hard to hear the normal sirens.

A Lebanese woman working in a restaurant kitchen opened an oyster and found a cluster of 26 pearls.

74% of Americans believe movie tickets are too expensive, but 55% still went to see at least one movie this summer. 28% of moviegoers said they sneak snacks into the theater to save money. Rasmussen.

Of pregnancies in which Down syndrome is diagnosed in the womb, 90% end in abortion. Wall St. Journal.

While "change" was the most used word by speakers during the Democratic National Convention the Republicans' top word was "taxes" - mentioned, on average 46 times per every 25,000 words. Followed by Business (38). The was a tie for third...."God" and "Change". New York Times.

In the News

A death row inmate in Ohio has filed a lawsuit claiming he is too fat to be executed. The 267 pound inmate says his bulk will make his veins harder to find and could lessen the effect of the anesthetic given prior to the lethal injection.

A Florida man called 911 to complain that a local Subway sandwich shop had left the sauce off his spicy Italian sandwich. He was arrested later, after he called a second time to complain the police had not responded.

Five American troops died in Iraq in July, the lowest monthly U.S. death toll of the five year war. Much of last year the number was as high as 100 per month. The Washington Post

Nissan next year will introduce a gas pedal that will "push back" when it senses drivers are accelerating too quickly. They fell the "eco pedal" will improve fuel efficiency by 5 to 10%. - Associated Press

A Kentucky woman was recently thrown out of a mall for wearing too short a dress, "provocative" called by the mall security...the woman had purchased that very dress..at the same mall the day before.

Apple has sold 3 million units of the latest version of the iPhone in a single month. It took over 2 months for the 1st generation to sell 1 million. -Fortune

A North Carolina grandfather caught a 21 pound catfish with his 3 year old granddaughters Barbie fishing pole. The three year old told her grandfather she needed to use the bathroom and handed him the pole and moments later the line was stuck. The fish was almost as tall as the little girl, and bigger than the fishing pole.

In the News...

Police in Minnesota tried to bring an end to a highspeed car chase by calling the suspects cell phone..the suspect answered the phone and said "Dude I can't talk I am being chased by the police". He then hung up the phone and has yet to be found.

Barack Obama raised $52 million dollars in June may need to count all of them. He has hired 1,400 part and full time workers which is more than triple the number John McCain. Obama also has 2 million volunteers, thus creating the largest field operation in American political history. Boston Globe

Texas spends $17 million a year, more than any other stage, on abstinence only sex education programs. The rate the students are having sex according to statistics is 52.9% compared top the national average of 47.8%. Houston Chronicle

More people are willing to talk about their sex lives than their finances. - Roper Public Affairs

Almost 9 in 10 Americans polled believe they are working harder than ever just to get by. Time

Good news for Mick Jagger, he turned 65 and is now eligible for a state pension....$180 per week.

The city of New York is being sued for putting down rubber safety mats on playgrounds. The matting is getting too hot and burning children's feet.

China has 253 million citizens with internet access, compared to 223 Million in the US. Chicago Tribune.

Over the course of the average Americans life span they stand a 1 in 5,552 chance in dying in a plane crash. The lifetime odds on dying in a car..1 in 247. New York Times.

Did you know?
Losing your sense of smell is called anosmia. Ben Cohen, one of the founders of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream suffers from it and suggested the ice cream have more, and larger chunks to their ice-cream, thus creating an ice-cream craze. Other celebrities that are known to have, or have suffered from anosmia: Stevie Wonder and the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

In the News...

48 year old Nepalese Shera has ascended to the top of Mt Everest 18 times, breaking his own record. Appa Sherpa reached the peak for the first time in 1990 and has repeated the feat every year since, barring 96 and 2001...but he went twice in 92 and 97.

A Nevada brothel has offered an incentive of a $50 gas voucher for clients who have purchased $300 in services. The vouchers sold out in one week.

and..

Gas is so precious that prostitutes are accepting it as payment. (New York Post)

A first class passenger on a Delta Airlines flight from New York got so angry with the economy passengers let off before him, he opened the emergency door and slid down the chute. He was arrested.

The average American spends over $100 more a year more on footwear than vegetables. Washington Post

The federal government has announced that Southwest Airlines flight 2709 from Houston to San Diego was the most delayed flight...arriving late 100% of the time.

Atlanta officials have bowed to the pressure..."Men Working Ahead" road signs will be changed to "Workers Ahead" so as not to offend.

Flint Michigan has imposed a law to crack down on jeans falling off their owners rear ends. If the trousers are so low it shows buttock skin they should be arrested for indecent exposure.

5% of Americans spend 41 or more hours online at home very week, or about 6 hours per day. USA Today

26% of the Republican House members said they believe that "the earth is warming due to man made pollution". On the Democratic side 95% said human activity contributes. National Journal

A Wedding Hall in Tel Aviv has come up with a way to for wedding guests to leave something to the bride and groom. The couple pays $155 to rent an ATM like machine. Guests insert credit cards and put in the sum they'd like to give. The money is later transferred to the couples account. New York Post.

Lets talk Pets..

2 in 3 American Households have pets..1 in 3 have children.

In 2006 Americans spent $45 billion on their pets.

1/3 of women surveyed by the American Kennel Club agreed with the statement "If my dog was a man he'd be my boyfriend"
69% of pet owners allow the pet to sleep in their bed.
1/3 of pet owners buy their animals gifts for their birthday 2/3 for Christmas

Walt Disney World will open a pet resort next year that includes hikes and papering services from ice cream to bedtime stories.

In January the British prime ministers office rejected as 12 year olds petition to allow elephants as pets.

More than 650 billion "exotic" animals were imported to the USA between 2003 and 2006.

There are 5,000 Tigers in captivity in the USA...the same number as are in the wild worldwide.

Lets talk Music.

The operatic portion of Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody" contains 180 vocal overdubs..using 3 singers (Freddie Mercury, guitarists Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor..the highest note sung at the end.( a high B flat in the 6th octave) was actually sung by Taylor.

Not only did Elvis Presley not pen a single song he recorded, he never played a live concert overseas...part of the reason is that Elvis' manager "Colonel Tim Parker" was an illegal alien. When Parker died in 1997 he had less than 1 million of the estimated 100 million he had made during his lifetime...he had gambled it all away.

Also his hair was naturally a dirty blond, but he dyed it to look like Tony Curtis, and idol of his.

Elton John's middle name...Hercules.

The title of the Aerosmith song "Walk this Way" was taken from "Young Frankenstein"

Finally, the following is a list of people that are, or were banned from being on Saturday Night Live. Cypress Hill's DJ Mugs for lighting up a joint on TV. Sinead O'Conner..for tearing up a picture of the pope. Steven Segal, Martin Lawrence, Charles Grodin, Milton Berle and Adrien Brody. Some that have been banned and have been back. Elvis Costello and Chevy Chase.