Sunday, March 29, 2009
Red Envelope Project- March 31st
There is a movement going across our nation to have a "Red Envelope Day" on MARCH 31st
Now this is going to take a bit of work on your part, but because you value life, I think you'll be glad you took the time and effort.
For everyone in your household, go buy a RED envelope for each person (Hallmark, Stationary stores, Kinkos, at party supply stores, all have them).
On the front of an empty SEALED and stamped red envelope write: (be sure to include a return address or it might not get delivered.)
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
On the back write the following message:
"This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion. It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world."
It is important that both the address and the statement be in each person's handwriting, please do not type.
Together we hope to change the heart of our president and save millions of future babies.
Please forward this to everyone who you think might join our "March of Red Envelopes" in time for the MARCH 31st day. Time is of the essence.
Experts say that for every one person who gives their time to this cause, there are 10 to 15 others who share the same convictions about this subject but won't take the time to join us.
With this in mind, we are hoping for 50 million or more Red envelopes to hit the White House at about the same time. Please consider being part of this 50+ million by participating and asking others to do the same thing. This would be historic and you could be a part of history.
Thank you on behalf of those who were silenced.
Remember to mail it on Tuesday March 31st, 2009.
*Visit RedEnvelopeDay.com for more info.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Lake Superior is freezing over
Lake Superior last froze over in 2003. It has now, again, frozen over. The frequency of freeze overs has historically been around once every 20 years. Now, in the last decade, we have seen two freeze overs.
The picture above is a beautiful satellite photo of Lake Superior from yesterday. With the well below freezing temperatures seen over the region Thursday night (-20 F), any isolated open water could have frozen.
The NWS in Marquette MI writes:
Due to the recent cold spell and below normal temperatures for much of the winter of 2008-2009, ice covers nearly all of Lake Superior. Only small areas of open water remain. This image was taken on Tuesday, March 3rd. If arctic air does not return in the next couple of weeks, it is likely that this will be the day of maximum ice cover on Lake Superior for this winter as warmer weather and periods of stronger winds through the end of this week will cause open water areas to expand.
Source:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mqt/?n=lake_superior_ice
Friday, March 06, 2009
Our long national nightmare is over. TV converter box coupons flowing again
I'm sure he'll remember to say thank you after he finishes his cheesy poofs.
Via FARK
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
As the Dow keeps dropping, the President is running out of people to blame.
As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem.
Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth.
The Democrats who now run Washington don't want to hear this, because they benefit from blaming all bad economic news on President Bush. And Mr. Obama has inherited an unusual recession deepened by credit problems, both of which will take time to climb out of. But it's also true that the economy has fallen far enough, and long enough, that much of the excess that led to recession is being worked off. Already 15 months old, the current recession will soon match the average length -- and average job loss -- of the last three postwar downturns. What goes down will come up -- unless destructive policies interfere with the sources of potential recovery.
And those sources have been forming for some time. The price of oil and other commodities have fallen by two-thirds since their 2008 summer peak, which has the effect of a major tax cut. The world is awash in liquidity, thanks to monetary ease by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. Monetary policy operates with a lag, but last year's easing will eventually stir economic activity.
Housing prices have fallen 27% from their Case-Shiller peak, or some two-thirds of the way back to their historical trend. While still high, credit spreads are far from their peaks during the panic, and corporate borrowers are again able to tap the credit markets. As equities were signaling with their late 2008 rally and January top, growth should under normal circumstances begin to appear in the second half of this year.
So what has happened in the last two months? The economy has received no great new outside shock. Exchange rates and other prices have been stable, and there are no security crises of note. The reality of a sharp recession has been known and built into stock prices since last year's fourth quarter.
What is new is the unveiling of Mr. Obama's agenda and his approach to governance. Every new President has a finite stock of capital -- financial and political -- to deploy, and amid recession Mr. Obama has more than most. But one negative revelation has been the way he has chosen to spend his scarce resources on income transfers rather than growth promotion. Most of his "stimulus" spending was devoted to social programs, rather than public works, and nearly all of the tax cuts were devoted to income maintenance rather than to improving incentives to work or invest.
His Treasury has been making a similar mistake with its financial bailout plans. The banking system needs to work through its losses, and one necessary use of public capital is to assist in burning down those bad assets as fast as possible. Yet most of Team Obama's ministrations so far have gone toward triage and life support, rather than repair and recovery.
AIG yesterday received its fourth "rescue," including $70 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program cash, without any clear business direction. Citigroup's restructuring last week added not a dollar of new capital, and also no clear direction. Perhaps the imminent Treasury "stress tests" will clear the decks, but until they do the banks are all living in fear of becoming the next AIG. All of this squanders public money that could better go toward burning down bank debt.
The market has notably plunged since Mr. Obama introduced his budget last week, and that should be no surprise. The document was a declaration of hostility toward capitalists across the economy. Health-care stocks have dived on fears of new government mandates and price controls. Private lenders to students have been told they're no longer wanted. Anyone who uses carbon energy has been warned to expect a huge tax increase from cap and trade. And every risk-taker and investor now knows that another tax increase will slam the economy in 2011, unless Mr. Obama lets Speaker Nancy Pelosi impose one even earlier.
Meanwhile, Congress demands more bank lending even as it assails lenders and threatens to let judges rewrite mortgage contracts. The powers in Congress -- unrebuked by Mr. Obama -- are ridiculing and punishing the very capitalists who are essential to a sustainable recovery. The result has been a capital strike, and the return of the fear from last year that we could face a far deeper downturn. This is no way to nurture a wounded economy back to health.
Listening to Mr. Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, on the weekend, we couldn't help but wonder if they appreciate any of this. They seem preoccupied with going to the barricades against Republicans who wield little power, or picking a fight with Rush Limbaugh, as if this is the kind of economic leadership Americans want.
Perhaps they're reading the polls and figure they have two or three years before voters stop blaming Republicans and Mr. Bush for the economy. Even if that's right in the long run, in the meantime their assault on business and investors is delaying a recovery and ensuring that the expansion will be weaker than it should be when it finally does arrive.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604419092515347.html
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Barbie turns 50 on March 9
Change has been a constant for Barbie's 50 years
By Kathy Flanigan of the Journal Sentinel
What aging really would have done to Barbie, according to Paula Papanek, associate professor of physical therapy, who studies issues related to aging and the body at Marquette University:
She would have back pain from the high heels she has worn all these years and may have tight Achilles tendons.
She would be in danger of having osteoporosis from not consuming enough calcium.
She would likely wear glasses or have had Lasik surgery.
Her hair would be graying.
She might have gotten a little shorter.
She would likely have trouble standing up, given the size of her breasts and her small waist.
Sources: www.barbie.com; "Barbie and Ruth" by Robin Gerber (Collins Business; $24.99); www.dolls4play.com, New York Times.
By The Numbers
Barbie on eBay:
In the past three months, 217,736 Barbies have been sold.
The average selling price of a Barbie on eBay is $24.45.
45,422 vintage Barbies (those produced before 1973) have been sold (average vintage price is $39.06).
The most expensive Barbie sold for $7,999.99. It was a No. 1 1959 Ponytail Barbie.
To be like Barbie?
According to Frank Papay, plastic surgeon and chairman of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic, to look like Barbie, a typical 50-year-old woman would need to:
Have a chemical peel and use Retin A. "That should help the texture of her skin and get rid of the blotchiness and some of the pigment changes."
Get an eye uplift where ligaments have loosened and maybe a mid-face lift.
Get a brow lift and Botox in the furrows between the eyebrows.
Have Botox injections in the laugh lines. If they're severe, have a chemical or laser peel.
Have a face lift to help raise the area where the jowls sag.
Have a neck lift for sagging under the chin.
Schedule a breast augmentation or a breast lift.
Schedule surgery to alleviate the saddlebags that settle in hips and thighs due to hormonal changes.
Little girls worship her; adult women want to be her.
Iconic fashion model and doll Barbie turns 50 on March 9. Does that make Barbie over the hill? Before you answer, consider this: She still has the supple skin of a teenager, the idealized body of a woman in her 20s and no crow's feet to be found. To this day, Barbie wears the smallest of sizes.
Then again, she's sporting more plastic than one of "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
Turning 50 is reason enough to celebrate Barbie. But for more incentive, we offer 50 details about Barbie's life so far:
1 She was born Barbara Millicent Roberts.
2 Barbie is 11½ inches tall.
3 If Barbie were 5 feet, 6 inches tall, she would have a 39-inch bust, a 21-inch waist and 33-inch hips.
4 Barbie is the brainchild of Ruth Handler, one of the founders of Mattel.
5 Handler was inspired by a European doll called Bild-Lilli, a doll for adults that Handler said she saw in Vienna or Lucerne.
6 Handler named the Americanized doll after her daughter, Barbara.
7 In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, Barbie's parents were George and Margaret Roberts who lived in the fictional town of Willows, Wis.
8 Barbie attended Willows High School but graduated from Manhattan International High School.
9 Barbie's boyfriend is Ken. He's named after Handler's real-life son, who, incidentally, hated the comparisons.
10 Barbie and Ken split up in 2004. They reunited in 2006.
11 Barbie has had more than 40 pets in her lifetime, including a panda, a lion cub and a zebra.
12 Barbie, who started her professional life as a teenage model, has had several careers.
13 Barbie has a pilot's license and can operate a commercial airliner. She has also been a flight attendant.
14 Barbie found a best friend in Midge, who was part of the Barbie lineup from 1963 to 1966.
15 Doctor Barbie debuted in 1988.
16 NASCAR Barbie came out in 1998.
17 There are more than 500 groups related to Barbie on Facebook, including one called Tequila Barbie.
18 Another group is called Divorce Barbie. "Divorce Barbie comes with Ken's boat; Ken's house; Ken's car; Ken's money;" and, well, you get the idea. Last time we checked, there were eight members.
19 In homage to Sarah Palin, there are two different Facebook groups called Caribou Barbie.
20 The first Barbie cost $3.
21 Barbie Collector Doll Pink Label 50th Anniversary Barbie Doll costs $49.99; the most expensive Barbie sold on eBay to date fetched $7,999.99.
22 Barbie had her own show with clothing from 50 fashion designers at Fashion Week last month.
23 Mattel estimates that three Barbies are sold every second.
24 Barbie has had more than 1 billion pairs of shoes.
25 Barbie is on Twitter (although inconsistently) @BarbieStyle.
26 The year Barbie was born is the same year that Xerox debuted a commercial copier.
27 Barbie dolls were sealed in a time capsule in 1976 as part of the Bicentennial celebration to be opened in 2076.
28 Malibu Barbie was introduced in the 1970s. "The Simpsons" parodies Barbie by having Lisa own a Malibu Stacy.
29 The first annual Barbie convention was held in 1980.
30 The first commercials for Barbie ran on "The Mickey Mouse Club."
31 The first Barbie doll dress designed by Bob Mackie was called "Gold."
32 Totally Hair Barbie is the best-selling Barbie of all time.
33 In 1965, the only club for children whose membership exceeded Mattel's was the Girl Scouts of America.
34 In 1967, Mattel offered a Twist 'n Turn Barbie to girls who turned in their Ponytail Barbie dolls.
35 Sidepart American Girl Barbie is considered the rarest of the tan-tone vinyl bendable leg Barbie dolls.
36 Twiggy, the model, was Barbie's first celebrity friend.
37 Early market research suggested Barbie would never sell because she had breasts; little girls wouldn't like her and parents wouldn't buy her.
38 Barbie met Ken in 1961.
39 Barbie has five baby sisters. The first, Skipper, debuted in 1964.
40 A 1959 Barbie in mint condition is estimated to bring $27,450.
41 The first Barbies had white irises. The eye color was changed to blue in 1960.
42 The 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie is considered the first non-porcelain "collectible Barbie." When the 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie flew off the shelves and began commanding high values on the secondary market, Mattel realized there was a huge market for adult collectors.
43 In 1986, Andy Warhol was commissioned to paint a portrait of Barbie.
44 The 1999 "Generation Girl" series was considered controversial because one doll had a nose ring and another had an ankle tattoo.
45 Teacher Barbie was recalled in 1995 because she wasn't wearing panties.
46 The first black and Hispanic Barbies were introduced in 1980. (Barbie's African-American friend, Christie, had been introduced in 1968.)
47 There was a Miss Astronaut Barbie in 1965.
48 Barbie made a brief appearance in the movie "Toy Story 2."
49 Sales of Barbie were outlawed in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
50 In 1997, Barbie was redesigned and given a bigger waist.
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/40381612.html
By Kathy Flanigan of the Journal Sentinel
What aging really would have done to Barbie, according to Paula Papanek, associate professor of physical therapy, who studies issues related to aging and the body at Marquette University:
She would have back pain from the high heels she has worn all these years and may have tight Achilles tendons.
She would be in danger of having osteoporosis from not consuming enough calcium.
She would likely wear glasses or have had Lasik surgery.
Her hair would be graying.
She might have gotten a little shorter.
She would likely have trouble standing up, given the size of her breasts and her small waist.
Sources: www.barbie.com; "Barbie and Ruth" by Robin Gerber (Collins Business; $24.99); www.dolls4play.com, New York Times.
By The Numbers
Barbie on eBay:
In the past three months, 217,736 Barbies have been sold.
The average selling price of a Barbie on eBay is $24.45.
45,422 vintage Barbies (those produced before 1973) have been sold (average vintage price is $39.06).
The most expensive Barbie sold for $7,999.99. It was a No. 1 1959 Ponytail Barbie.
To be like Barbie?
According to Frank Papay, plastic surgeon and chairman of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute at Cleveland Clinic, to look like Barbie, a typical 50-year-old woman would need to:
Have a chemical peel and use Retin A. "That should help the texture of her skin and get rid of the blotchiness and some of the pigment changes."
Get an eye uplift where ligaments have loosened and maybe a mid-face lift.
Get a brow lift and Botox in the furrows between the eyebrows.
Have Botox injections in the laugh lines. If they're severe, have a chemical or laser peel.
Have a face lift to help raise the area where the jowls sag.
Have a neck lift for sagging under the chin.
Schedule a breast augmentation or a breast lift.
Schedule surgery to alleviate the saddlebags that settle in hips and thighs due to hormonal changes.
Little girls worship her; adult women want to be her.
Iconic fashion model and doll Barbie turns 50 on March 9. Does that make Barbie over the hill? Before you answer, consider this: She still has the supple skin of a teenager, the idealized body of a woman in her 20s and no crow's feet to be found. To this day, Barbie wears the smallest of sizes.
Then again, she's sporting more plastic than one of "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
Turning 50 is reason enough to celebrate Barbie. But for more incentive, we offer 50 details about Barbie's life so far:
1 She was born Barbara Millicent Roberts.
2 Barbie is 11½ inches tall.
3 If Barbie were 5 feet, 6 inches tall, she would have a 39-inch bust, a 21-inch waist and 33-inch hips.
4 Barbie is the brainchild of Ruth Handler, one of the founders of Mattel.
5 Handler was inspired by a European doll called Bild-Lilli, a doll for adults that Handler said she saw in Vienna or Lucerne.
6 Handler named the Americanized doll after her daughter, Barbara.
7 In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, Barbie's parents were George and Margaret Roberts who lived in the fictional town of Willows, Wis.
8 Barbie attended Willows High School but graduated from Manhattan International High School.
9 Barbie's boyfriend is Ken. He's named after Handler's real-life son, who, incidentally, hated the comparisons.
10 Barbie and Ken split up in 2004. They reunited in 2006.
11 Barbie has had more than 40 pets in her lifetime, including a panda, a lion cub and a zebra.
12 Barbie, who started her professional life as a teenage model, has had several careers.
13 Barbie has a pilot's license and can operate a commercial airliner. She has also been a flight attendant.
14 Barbie found a best friend in Midge, who was part of the Barbie lineup from 1963 to 1966.
15 Doctor Barbie debuted in 1988.
16 NASCAR Barbie came out in 1998.
17 There are more than 500 groups related to Barbie on Facebook, including one called Tequila Barbie.
18 Another group is called Divorce Barbie. "Divorce Barbie comes with Ken's boat; Ken's house; Ken's car; Ken's money;" and, well, you get the idea. Last time we checked, there were eight members.
19 In homage to Sarah Palin, there are two different Facebook groups called Caribou Barbie.
20 The first Barbie cost $3.
21 Barbie Collector Doll Pink Label 50th Anniversary Barbie Doll costs $49.99; the most expensive Barbie sold on eBay to date fetched $7,999.99.
22 Barbie had her own show with clothing from 50 fashion designers at Fashion Week last month.
23 Mattel estimates that three Barbies are sold every second.
24 Barbie has had more than 1 billion pairs of shoes.
25 Barbie is on Twitter (although inconsistently) @BarbieStyle.
26 The year Barbie was born is the same year that Xerox debuted a commercial copier.
27 Barbie dolls were sealed in a time capsule in 1976 as part of the Bicentennial celebration to be opened in 2076.
28 Malibu Barbie was introduced in the 1970s. "The Simpsons" parodies Barbie by having Lisa own a Malibu Stacy.
29 The first annual Barbie convention was held in 1980.
30 The first commercials for Barbie ran on "The Mickey Mouse Club."
31 The first Barbie doll dress designed by Bob Mackie was called "Gold."
32 Totally Hair Barbie is the best-selling Barbie of all time.
33 In 1965, the only club for children whose membership exceeded Mattel's was the Girl Scouts of America.
34 In 1967, Mattel offered a Twist 'n Turn Barbie to girls who turned in their Ponytail Barbie dolls.
35 Sidepart American Girl Barbie is considered the rarest of the tan-tone vinyl bendable leg Barbie dolls.
36 Twiggy, the model, was Barbie's first celebrity friend.
37 Early market research suggested Barbie would never sell because she had breasts; little girls wouldn't like her and parents wouldn't buy her.
38 Barbie met Ken in 1961.
39 Barbie has five baby sisters. The first, Skipper, debuted in 1964.
40 A 1959 Barbie in mint condition is estimated to bring $27,450.
41 The first Barbies had white irises. The eye color was changed to blue in 1960.
42 The 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie is considered the first non-porcelain "collectible Barbie." When the 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie flew off the shelves and began commanding high values on the secondary market, Mattel realized there was a huge market for adult collectors.
43 In 1986, Andy Warhol was commissioned to paint a portrait of Barbie.
44 The 1999 "Generation Girl" series was considered controversial because one doll had a nose ring and another had an ankle tattoo.
45 Teacher Barbie was recalled in 1995 because she wasn't wearing panties.
46 The first black and Hispanic Barbies were introduced in 1980. (Barbie's African-American friend, Christie, had been introduced in 1968.)
47 There was a Miss Astronaut Barbie in 1965.
48 Barbie made a brief appearance in the movie "Toy Story 2."
49 Sales of Barbie were outlawed in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
50 In 1997, Barbie was redesigned and given a bigger waist.
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/40381612.html
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