Saturday, March 19, 2011

RADIATION REACHES CALIFORNIA???

CA officials say no radiation threat detected

LOS ANGELES — Air pollution regulators in Southern California say they have not detected increased levels of radiation from the damaged Japanese nuclear reactors.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District said Friday radiation measured at its three sites are not higher than typical levels.
The agency's monitors are part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's network of more than 100 sensors across the nation that track radiation levels every hour.

CHILD ABUSE?????????? MAYBE, MAYBE NOT!

Mom forces son to stand on street for bad grades

TAMPA, Fla. — Wearing a sign around his neck that read, "Honk if I need an education," 15-year-old James Mond III stood for nearly four hours on a Tampa, Fla., street corner.
Fed up with his bad grades, his mother sent him there hoping to teach him a lesson about the importance of an education.
Ronda Holder never finished high school and doesn't want the same for her son.
So she sent him out Wednesday with a sign telling the world about his 1.22 GPA.
His middle school has since enrolled him in after-school tutoring.
The Department of Children and Families is investigating whether the incident might be a form of maltreatment.
Holder says she doesn't care about the critics. She wants her son to have an education.
Plenty of people honked.

GO BUSCH GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busch wins at Bristol, again

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch continued his march through NASCAR's record books with yet another victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
His dominating win Saturday was the 46th of his career in the second-tier Nationwide Series, which puts him three back from tying Mark Martin's record. But in leading 266 of the 300 laps, he became the first driver in series history to lead more than 10,000 laps.
Busch has led a total of 10,035 laps in the Nationwide Series.
And at Bristol? His win Saturday was his 10th spanning all three of NASCAR's national series, and he's led a whopping 2,349 laps on the Tennessee bullring.
"Nobody gets around this place better than he does," crew chief Jason Ratcliffe said.
Busch has won the last four races at Bristol, dating back to August when he had a three-race weekend sweep. He's got four career Bristol wins in the elite Sprint Cup Series, three in Nationwide and three in the Truck Series.
The Nationwide win moved him closer in his pursuit of Martin's all-time mark. Martin grabbed a win two weeks ago in Las Vegas, but conceded that Busch would break the mark by this summer. Busch said Martin probably texted him immediately after the race in what's become good-natured ribbing between the two.
"Mark and I have a little fun egging it on," he said. "He told me after Las Vegas time is on my side, not his side."
Kasey Kahne finished second and was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler and Joey Logano. Kevin Harvick was sixth, Carl Edwards seventh and Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10.
As Busch pulled away from the field, the real drama was back in traffic and even in the garage.

ILLEGAL!!!!!!

Why Arizona is Retreating on its Immigration Law

In a stunning turnaround, Arizona Republicans killed 5 of the state's notorious immigration laws. Terry Greene Sterling obtains a report showing deportations pummeling the local economy.
In a surprise St. Patrick's Day coup, conservative Republican senators in Arizona slapped down five harsh immigration laws that aimed to deny state birth certificates to babies born to unauthorized immigrants, turn school teachers and hospital workers into immigration enforcers, prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending college, and criminalize them for driving.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Arizona's Latest Legal Outrage
The roundly defeated measures signal that Arizona is ticking slightly towards the right-center. And, like many states that have rejected immigration measures this year, is beginning to recognize that immigration-crackdown laws can derail already fragile economic recoveries.
An embargoed report obtained by The Daily Beast details how deporting all of Arizona's unauthorized immigrants would spell disaster for the already stressed economy. Not only would 17 percent of jobs vanish statewide, the liberal Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Center say, but ousting all of Arizona's undocumented migrants could "shrink the state economy by $48.8 billion."
Even so, ridding Arizona of its 400,000 or so "illegals" has long been the stated goal of Russell Pearce, the temperamental Tea Partier with a reputation for bullying who ascended to the presidency of the state senate after sponsoring SB 1070, Arizona's notorious immigration law that makes it a crime for unauthorized migrants to set foot in the Grand Canyon State. (Parts of the law have been temporarily stayed by a federal judge.)
The passage of SB 1070 last spring sparked a successful wave of ongoing boycotts against the state, says boycott organizer and former Arizona senate minority leader Alfredo Gutierrez. The success of the boycotts, he says, are partly due to the simple fact that it was an easy sell -- Americans were "repulsed by the orgy of hate" in his home state. He notes that the state's hospitality industry took a documented $150 million hit in cancelled convention and hotel reservations.
"I don't think this was an epiphany of justice and understanding," Gutierrez says of the senate trouncing of the five bills favored by Pearce and immigration hardliners, "this was about economic impact."
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce acknowledged the negative effects of the Latino-led boycott in a letter on its website yesterday. And in a St. Pat's Day letter to Pearce, Arizona's biggest employers said they'd felt the boycott sting, and they'd had enough.
"I don't think this was an epiphany of justice and understanding, this was about economic impact."

WE ARE GOING TO WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First wave of allied assault: 112 cruise missiles

This photo provided by the French Army shows a pilot preparing to board a French Mirage 2000 jet fighter at the military base of Dijon, central France, Saturday, March 19, 2011. Top officials from the United States, Europe and the Arab world have launched immediate military action to protect civilians as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces attacked the heart of the country's rebel uprising. The Mirages 2000 are operating in Libya. Poster reads: Danger, amunitions. (AP Photo/ Anthony Jeuland; SIRPA AIR) NO SALES

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says U.S. and British ships and submarines have launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses, firing 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles at more than 20 targets along the coast.
Saturday's mission was aimed at clearing the way for imposition of a European-led no-fly zone over the North African country.
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters the Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from one British submarine and a number of American destroyers and subs. He said they hit more than 20 air defense sites along the Mediterranean coastline. He said the success of the mission was not immediately clear, adding that additional attacks would commence later.
Gortney said the mission has two goals: prevent further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and other civilians, and degrade the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Hours after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended an international conference in Paris that endorsed military action against Gadhafi, the U.S. kicked off its attacks on Libyan air defense missile and radar sites along the Mediterranean coast to protect no-fly zone pilots from the threat of getting shot down.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive military operations, said the Obama administration intended to limit its involvement _ at least in the initial stages _ to helping protect French and other air missions.
At a news conference in Paris, Clinton said Gadhafi had left the world no choice but to intervene urgently and forcefully to protect further loss of civilian life.
"We have every reason to fear that left unchecked Gadhafi would commit unspeakable atrocities," she told reporters.
Clinton said there was no evidence that Gadhafi's forces were respecting an alleged cease-fire they proclaimed and the time for action was now.

ALEX'S TATTOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL TODAY WAS TATTOO DAY FOR MY SON ALEX AND IT TURNED OUT REALLY WELL. HIS COUSIN MIKE DREW IT. HE SAID THE WOMAN WHO PUT THE TATTOO ON HIM WOLD HIM HE WAS A BAD ASS BECAUSE HE GOT THIS TATTOO AS HIS FIRST. LOOKS GOOD!!!!!!!

TARHEELS PULLED IT OUT AGAIN.

http://www.wxii12.com/sports/27245525/detail.html

BIG WEINER DEAL!!!!!!!!!

Rutt's Hut, a New Jersey mecca for hot-dog lovers.

Image by tweber1 via Flickr

NJ hot dog mecca sues deli over name

CLIFTON, N.J. — One of New Jersey's hot dog institutions isn't sparing the sauerkraut when it comes to a competitor five miles away.
Rutt's Hut in Clifton has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the owners of Mutt's Hut.
Rutt's, which is known for "ripper dogs" fried in fat until the skin rips, claims Mutt's it trying to capitalize on the 83-year-old restaurant's reputation.
Mutt's changed its name from Adam's Bagel & Deli in January.
Ahmed Mohamed, who is the son of Mutt's co-owner, told The Record newspaper they changed the name because a co-owner had held a trademark on it since 2006 and wanted to use it.
Attorney Gregg Paradise, who represents Rutt's, says there's evidence that customers are confused about whether the restaurants are affiliated.
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