PETA Wants Ben & Jerry's To Use Breast Milk

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

In a statement Ben and Jerry's said, "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child."

Passing Gas In Police Station = Battery On A Police Officer

Because it stunk really bad.

As if getting a DUI wasn’t enough, a man arrested for driving under the influence got in a lot more trouble at the police station.

Police stopped Jose Cruz on Route 60 in South Charleston Monday night for driving with his headlights off.

Then, he failed sobriety tests and was arrested.

When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. The investigating officer remarked in the criminal complaint that the odor was very strong.

Cruz is now charged with battery on a police officer, as well as DUI and obstruction.

Another Reason Why We Should Not Bail Out Companies

The federal government should not be in the business of bailing out businesses. Especially when those businesses are committing fraud.

The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.

Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year.

Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why these companies were posting profits quarter after quarter, then all of a sudden...boom! they're about to go under. Call it sketchy math, cooking the books, Enron-esque, whatever, but the last thing that should be done is reward them for improper business tactics or incompetent management. Businesses fail everyday, what makes these companies any more important? The answer is...they're not. Sure the economy will take a hit for short period of time, but it always bounces back. It will make businesses not take anything for granted and restructure from top to bottom. U.S. automakers and airlines should be put on notice too.

I've already sent emails to President Bush and my congress-critters telling them to dump this plan. You can do the same easily by going to Conservative Alerts and entering your info.

 

***UPDATE***

Read this newer post about the bailout. Think the bail out is supposed to help Wall St & Main St?

Comerica Bank Still Sucks, But Things Are Looking Good For Former Norwalk Furniture Employees

Yes, Comerica still sucks, and I hope they crash and burn. However; a group of Norwalk investors are in the process of purchasing the former Norwalk Furniture company. 300-350 of the former employees will be called back as early as next week. Unfortunately for those manufacturing facilities outside of Norwalk, they are not included in the purchase.

Norwalk Furniture has a new owner and work is expected to resume this week.

Local investors purchased the property and they are waiting for the paperwork to go through, said Jim McTevia, of McTevia and Associates, Management and Financial Consultants.

"There's not a lot to restructure there," McTevia said, hinting work could begin as early as Tuesday.

Norwalk Furniture Chairman Jim Gerken announced last week the 106-year-old company would not reopen, but that it was looking for somebody to purchase the business and reopen it under a new name.

"Nothing has happened in the two weeks the company has been down," McTevia said.
The Norwalk facility was purchased intact, including the land, buildings, machinery, inventory and work in progress.

"A group of local Norwalk business people were the successful purchaser," McTevia said. "The paperwork is in progress now ... the down payment is in escrow. All of the buyers are from the Norwalk area.

"It looks like Norwalk Furniture will be up and operating. They (the new owners) will be not commenting until the paperwork is completed.

Anti-Obama Shirt Gets 5th Grader Suspended

The 5th grader, according to the school, "...was not suspended for wearing the shirt, but for willful disobedience and defiance". He was told to take the shirt off or turn it inside out. He refused. We all know what would happen if this was a "anti-McCain" or "anti-Bush" shirt...NOTHING.

The family is planning to sue the school district, which they should. The shirt isn't even a false statement. Just look at Obama's good buddy Bill Ayers.

An 11-year-old in Aurora says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads "Obama is a terrorist's best friend."

The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.

The boy's father Dann Dalton describes himself as a "proud conservative" who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt.

Illegal Immigrants The Real Victims Of Hurricane Ike

Yeah. That's how you can summarize this Reuters article in a few words.

"They don't have resources and they don't have legal status, and we are concerned that they might not ... have water or electricity," said Fernando Garcia, the director of the Border Network for Human Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group.

"People are afraid to reach out for help as they don't know if immigration (police) will detain them or not," he said.

There are more than one million undocumented workers in Texas, with many living in Houston and surrounding areas hit by the hurricane, according to the Border Network.

With drivers' licenses and Social Security numbers as the keys to unlocking government aid, assistance such as emergency food stamps and help with temporary housing are largely unavailable for this population.

[...]

"The question of benefits and who can apply after a disaster is a big issue," said The National Council of La Raza spokeswoman Sara Benitez. "That has been a really big issue in the Gulf Coast."

La Raza, a Washington-based advocacy group for Latinos, plans to release a report next month that examines what it sees as unfair treatment of undocumented workers after U.S. disasters, and recommends changes in U.S. policy that specifically would alter disaster assistance programs to benefit Latinos.

You keep seeing different variations of the question, "How do the "undocumented" workers get relief from the government"?

The answer is simple, they don't. The American government should only give relief to American citizens. If the illegals don't like it, I will gladly assist them in returning to their home country.

Why Comerica Bank Sucks III

After two investment firms failed to negotiate new terms with Comerica bank and executives of Norwalk Furniture, the 106 year old company is now history. Several thousand people are now without a job in several states. Of all the financial institutions that have gone under, Comerica bank  should've been the first.

The only hope left for the now former Norwalk Furniture employees is that a new furniture company comes in and buys the company. I'm going to assume that if a new company purchases Norwalk Furniture, it will be for the name and the buildings will remain empty. If a new company would decide to resume production at the facilities, I'm sure the wages will be considerably lower.

I can only hope for the best for the employees.

 

Previously:

Why Comerica Bank Sucks!

Why Comerica Bank Sucks II

My New Project

I've been slacking off a lot lately on updating this blog. It's not intentional, I've just been working on some new things.

I love air shows, and I love taking photo's of air shows. So I decided to try to improve both. I'm working on selling some of my photo's and I've created a cafepress store which features products with some of my aviation photography.

The reason I'm doing this is to obviously make money, but almost all of that money will go towards a new camera and my ability to go to more air shows. Even a close show like Cleveland, I easily drop $200 for one day when you figure gas, tickets, food, & camera batteries. You're at the mercy of the vendors at air shows because you cannot take food, water, or coolers.

Unfortunately; I can only use one photo at this time. It's of the United States Air Force Legacy Flight. Money from the first few sales will go towards the premium membership where I can use more photo's.

So, check it out. Buy something while you're there...or not. It's up to you.

 

The TASPics name just stands for Tim's Air Show Pics. It's not a product of a genius marketing team.

 

Air shows I plan to attend in 2009:

Thunder over Michigan

Indianapolis Air Show

Dayton Air Show

Cleveland Air show

and the show I would absolutely love to go see...Joint Services Open House at Andrews AFB. It's pretty much the greatest air show known to man.

2008 Cleveland Air Show

Saturday, August 30th, I made the trip over to Cleveland to watch the air show. This year was much better than last year. I believe the US Navy Blue Angels are what pushed it over the top. Last year, the USAF Thunderbirds performed. I thought they were great. Now they are just good, the Blue Angels are great.

What I thought were just ordinary pictures, actually turned out to be great thanks to various backgrounds.

First off was a picture of a USMC Humvee. I was just taking a pic of the Humvee, after I got home I realized how nice the skyline of Cleveland looked in this pic.

 

 

The second picture is of the Blue Angels. I'm still learning how to photograph planes going several hundred miles per hour. I basically just click and pray. But this one has the sun in the background.

 

If you've never seen a C-5 in person, you cannot appreciate how enormous it is. While traveling to the airport, the tail was the first thing I seen.

 

 

 

I once again got distracted by the shiny objects. This one was a B-17G called "Yankee Lady"

 

 

 

Of course; I almost always find something completely unrelated to the air show that captures my attention.

A giant cow. Look at the back of the RV at the rear of the cow.

 

 

Complete with giant teats.

 

Now for a couple Blue Angels pics. The first pic is of Fat Albert. It's the Blue Angels maintenance plane that also does a demo.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to post more, but I have to remember those who may have dial-up. So CLICK HERE and it will take you to the photo album where there is a whole lot more great pictures. I think there's about 420 pictures in the album

I Haven't Gone Missing...

Just been really busy recently. I also went to the Cleveland Air Show this past Saturday. Pics will be in the next post.

Some things that occurred over my time away.

Sarah Palin named McCain's VP. Holds some very conservative viewpoints. Ideally; I would've like her to complete one full term as governor. Hopefully; she will be a partner and not window dressing. Being 44 and still smokin' hot doesn't hurt either.

Hurricane Gustav hits Louisiana. It's absolutely shocking that they managed to get it right this time. I wonder if it has anything to do with the REPUBLICAN governor that was recently elected. hmmmmm.

OBAMA/BIDEN '08

I probably will be still be sleeping when the news breaks that will allow the world to spin again, but it looks more and more like Joe Biden from Delaware is going to be Obama's VP pick. If it is, great choice Obama. That ship is going to sink faster than the titanic.

I just received a text from CNN stating they confirmed Biden IS the VP pick. AP is reporting it also.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware is Barack Obama's pick as vice presidential running mate, The Associated Press has learned.

Biden, 65, is a veteran of more than three decades in the Senate, and one of his party's leading experts on foreign policy, an area in which polls indicate Obama needs help in his race against Republican rival John McCain.

The official who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to pre-empt a text-message announcement the Obama campaign promised for Saturday morning.

 

As for McCain's VP, I'm sure he will piss off all Conservatives and select Romney or Lieberman.

Condi Tells It Like It Is, Tells Russians To Shut It Regarding Threats To Poland

Secretary of State Condolezza Rice told the Russians, you attack Poland, you attack the US.

Russia's foreign ministry today threatened to go beyond diplomatic protests in response to the signing of a U.S.-Polish deal to base part of an American missile defense system in Poland, which borders part of Russia.

The latest threat came after a top Russian general said Poland would risk a military strike if it allowed the base and as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed Russia's saber rattling, saying the threats "border on the bizarre."

"When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988," Rice said, according to The Associated Press. "It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around."

Russia Still Has Yet To Withdraw From Georgia, Soldiers Taken Prisoner, US Humvees Stolen

Why did it only take Russia less than 24 hours to launch an invasion into Georgia, but a week after they were supposed to withdraw, they're still there? Could it be because they had planned all along to invade Georgia, but had no plans to withdraw?

Georgian soldiers have been taken prisoner because they weren't at their base. They were handcuffed, blindfolded, and held at gunpoint. The Russians have also stolen US Humvees while they were at port awaiting shipment back to the US. The Russians are also continuing to destroy the infrastructure of Georgia.

Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles left the strategic city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops from Georgia after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.

The two countries on Tuesday also exchanged prisoners. However, Russian soldiers seized Georgians in Poti — the country's key oil port city — and commandeered four U.S. Humvees that had been used in U.S.-Georgian military exercises.

Germany Supports NATO Membership For Georgia

They should've supported them the first time around, but nonetheless, better late than never. I wonder what kind of fits the Russians will throw this time?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering strong support for Georgia, saying the country is on track to become a member of NATO.

Merkel flew to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Sunday, two days after she met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

In a speech Sunday, Merkel also suggested that NATO could help rebuild the tattered Georgian military.

It's Official: Beer-Goggles Are For Real

The next time you wake up with an ugly in your bed, just remember...it's not your fault.

THE next time you hear someone blaming "beer goggles" for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol.

There have been few previous attempts to investigate the idea that people seem to find others more attractive when drunk. In 2003, psychologists at the University of Glasgow, UK, published a study in which they asked heterosexual students in campus bars and cafés whether they had been drinking, and then got them to rate photos of people for attractiveness. While the results supported the beer goggles theory, another explanation is that regular drinkers tend to have personality traits that mean they find people more attractive, whether or not they are under the influence of alcohol at the time.

To resolve the issue, a team of researchers led by Marcus Munafò at the University of Bristol in the UK conducted a controlled experiment. They randomly assigned 84 heterosexal students to consume either a non-alcoholic lime-flavoured drink or an alcoholic beverage with a similar flavour. The exact amount of alcohol varied according to the individual but was designed to have an effect equivalent to someone weighing 70 kilograms drinking 250 millitres of wine - enough to make some students tipsy. After 15 minutes, the students were shown pictures of people their own age, from both sexes.

Both men and women who had consumed alcohol rated the faces as being more attractive than did the controls (Alcohol and Alcoholism, DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agn065). Surprisingly, the effect was not limited to the opposite sex - volunteers who had drunk alcohol also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.