How The Grand Canyon Was Formed

Just how the Grand Canyon was formed has been hotly debated by scientists and tourists alike almost since its discovery.
But new evidence has potentially shed light on the gigantic canyon's origins, according to LiveScience. The finding of a large anomalous structure beneath the Colorado Plateau suggests that at one point it rose up about 1.2 miles, was invaded by magma, and then eroded away into deep valleys, producing the canyon we know today.
However, while this behavior is commonly found in mountain belts, it's unusual to see on the relatively flat Colorado Plateau, according to LiveScience.
Previously scientists largely attributed the canyon's formation to the Colorado River, which was thought to have slowly cut through the layers of rock over millennia, according to Discovery. This new data suggests a more recent time of formation than other theories have posed -- in the last 6 to 7 million years.
"Anyone who goes to the Grand Canyon and looks down should think, 'What is it that made it this way?' The most immediate answer is water, that a river cut this canyon, but what is it that made the rock it lies in, the earth, move up?" Alan Levander, a structural seismologist at Rice University, told LiveScience.

In the lithosphere under the Grand Canyon and much of the western half of the Colorado Plateau, scientists discovered an anomalously cold, dense region more than 120 miles (200 km) deep sinking into the Earth. This anomaly is apparently pulling off the lower part of the crust above it, activity that might lead to a major part of the unusual geological history in and around the Grand Canyon.

The next step in researching the canyon's creation will be to appropriately image the anomaly using more seismology stations. Better imaging may lead to a better understanding of what caused magma to rise.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/27/how-the-grand-canyon-was-formed_n_854549.html

Second-Deadliest Day From Tornado Outbreak In U.S. History

2011 Tornado Outbreak Death Toll Hits 337, Second-Deadliest Day From Twister In U.S. History

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- Southerners found their emergency safety net shredded Friday as they tried to emerge from the second-deadliest day for a twister outbreak in U.S. history.
Emergency buildings are wiped out. Bodies are stored in refrigerated trucks. Authorities are begging for such basics as flashlights. In one neighborhood, the storms even left firefighters to work without a truck.
(CLICK HERE to see how you can help relief efforts)
The death toll from Wednesday's storms reached 337 across seven states, including at least 246 in Alabama.
The largest death toll ever was on March 18, 1925, when 747 people were killed in storms that raged through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The second deadliest day had been in March 1932, when 332 people died, all in Alabama.
(CLICK HERE for photos of the aftermath)
The 1925 outbreak was long before the days when Doppler radar could warn communities of severe weather. Forecasters have said residents were told these tornadoes were coming. But they were just too wide and powerful and in populated areas to avoid a horrifying body count.

Story continues below

Hundreds if not thousands of people were injured Wednesday – 990 in Tuscaloosa alone – and as many as 1 million Alabama homes and businesses remained without power.
The scale of the disaster astonished President Barack Obama when he arrived in the state Friday.
"I've never seen devastation like this," he said, standing in bright sunshine amid the wreckage in Tuscaloosa, where at least 45 people were killed and entire neighborhoods were flattened. Hours later, Obama signed disaster declarations for Mississippi and Georgia, in addition to one he had authorized for Alabama.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox called the devastation "a humanitarian crisis" for his city of more than 83,000.
Maddox said up to 446 people were unaccounted for in the city, though he added that many of those reports probably were from people who have since found their loved ones but have not notified authorities. Cadaver-detecting dogs were deployed in the city Friday but they had not found any remains, Maddox said.
During the mayor's news conference, a man asked him for help getting into his home, and broke down as he told his story.
"You have the right to cry," Maddox told him. "And I can tell you, the people of Tuscaloosa are crying with you."
Friday night, Tuscaloosa officials reduced downward the death toll for the city and its police jurisdiction by six to 39, still the most in Alabama. With that change factored in, the state's death toll stood at 246 early Saturday.
At least one tornado – a 205 mph monster that left at least 13 people dead in Smithville, Miss. – ranked in the National Weather Service's most devastating category, EF-5. Meteorologist Jim LaDue said he expects "many more" of Wednesday's tornadoes to receive that same rating, with winds topping 200 mph.
Tornadoes struck with unexpected speed in several states, and the difference between life and death was hard to fathom. Four people died in Bledsoe County, Tenn., but a family survived being tossed across a road in their modular home, which was destroyed, Mayor Bobby Collier said.
By Friday, residents whose homes were blown to pieces were seeing their losses worsen – not by nature, but by man. In Tuscaloosa and other cities, looters have been picking through the wreckage to steal what little the victims have left.
"The first night they took my jewelry, my watch, my guns," Shirley Long said Friday. "They were out here again last night doing it again."
Overwhelmed Tuscaloosa police imposed a curfew and got help from National Guard troops to try to stop the scavenging.
Along their flattened paths, the twisters blew down police and fire stations and other emergency buildings along with homes, businesses, churches and power infrastructure. The number of buildings lost and people left homeless remained unclear two days later, in part because the storm also ravaged communications systems.
Tuscaloosa's emergency management center was destroyed, so officials used space in one of the city's most prominent buildings – the University of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium – as a substitute before moving operations to the Alabama Fire College. Less than two weeks ago, the stadium hosted more than 90,000 fans for the football team's spring intra-squad Red-White Game.
A fire station was destroyed in nearby Alberta City, one of the city's worst-hit neighborhoods. The firefighters survived, but damage to their equipment forced them to begin rescue operations without a fire truck, city Fire Chief Alan Martin said.
Martin said the department is running normally and has since deployed a backup vehicle to serve the neighborhood. "In reality, it's just an extension of what we do every day," he said.
Also wiped out was a Salvation Army building, costing Tuscaloosa much-needed shelter space. And that's just part of the problem in providing emergency aid, said Sister Carol Ann Gray of the local Catholic Social Services office.
"It has been extremely difficult to coordinate because so many people have been affected – some of the very same people you'd look to for assistance," Gray said.
Emergency services were stretched particularly thin about 90 miles to the north in the demolished town of Hackleburg, Ala., where officials were keeping the dead in a refrigerated truck amid a body bag shortage. At least 27 people were killed there and the search for missing people continued, with FBI agents fanning out to local hospitals to help.
Damage in Hackleburg was catastrophic, said Stanley Webb, chief agent in the county's drug task force.
"When we talk about these homes, they are not damaged. They are gone," he said.
Gail Enlow was in town looking for her aunt, Eunice Cooper, who is in her 70s. She wiped away tears as she pointed to the twisted mess that's left of the housing project where Cooper lived.
"Nobody's seen her," she said, trying to hold back the sobs. "She can just barely get around and she would need help."
But in Hackleburg as in Tuscaloosa, emergency workers had more to do than aid suffering victims. People looted a demolished Wrangler jeans distribution center, and authorities locked up drugs from a destroyed pharmacy in a bank.

Fire Chief Steve Hood said he desperately wanted flashlights for the town's 1,500 residents because he doesn't want them using candles that could ignite their homes.
In Cullman, a town about 50 miles north of Birmingham, workers have been putting in long hours to clean up debris and exhausted police officers face the same problems as the people they are sworn to protect. Emergency responders have waiting in hours-long lines with other drivers to get gas at stations without power.
False rumors, meanwhile, were sweeping the town. People were pushing debris from their yards into streets because they heard they were supposed to and filling up their bathtubs with water because they heard the city would cut off the supply.
Kathy McDonald glanced around her damaged town and quietly wept. Her family's furniture store, which sold tables and couches for decades, was torn apart.
"I just can't understand this. Are people coming to help us?" she said. "We feel all alone."
Other states were reeling as well. There were 34 deaths in Mississippi, 34 in Tennessee, 15 in Georgia, five in Virginia, two in Louisiana and one in Kentucky.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has responded to all affected areas and has officials on the ground in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, Director Craig Fugate said. State and local authorities remain in charge of response and recovery efforts, Fugate said.
In the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove, where 10 people died, building contractors used heavy equipment Friday to help clear debris from impassable streets.
Volunteers arrived from as far as Mobile – some 250 miles away – to deliver food, water and fuel and help with search and rescue. The National Guard closed the town to outsiders, trying to keep out gawkers and looters.
Police Chief Robert Knight said perhaps a quarter of the town of 10,000 is wiped out.
"We're having a hard time recovering," he said. But he vowed that residents will rebuild.
"We'll do it. We'll do it," he said. "We just will. People out here are resilient. It's a good city."
___
Bluestein reported from Cullman. Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Hackleburg, Jeffrey Collins and Chris Hawley in Rainsville, Michael Rubinkam in Pleasant Grove, Michael Kunzelman in Tuscaloosa, John Christoffersen in Birmingham, Phillip Rawls in Montgomery, Kristi Eaton in Norman, Okla., and Maryann Mrowca in Atlanta contributed to this report.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/30/2011-tornado-outbreak-deaths_n_855646.html

Cary Grant's Daughter Pens Memoir of Her Legendary Father

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday April 26, 2011 02:45 PM EDT

Hers was a Hollywood fairy-tale existence few, if anybody, can live: being the child of arguably the most famous movie star in the world – and, certainly, the most dapper, elegant and charming. His name was Cary Grant.

"Okay, I had a crush on Dad. Okay, more than a little crush on Dad," Jennifer Grant, 45, writes in her warm memoir, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant, which Alfred A. Knopf is publishing May 3. "My other real crushes were Donny Osmond and Jean-Paul Belmondo."

But it was Cary Grant who picked up young Jennifer at school, who read to her, taught her life lessons and saved every photo, souvenir and scrap of paper that the two of them shared for the 20 years he was in her life. He died, at 82, in 1986.

Those mementos and Jennifer's memories of them form the crux of her book, which is dedicated to her mother, the actress Dyan Cannon. (Cannon and Grant, who was married five times and divorced four, were wed from 1965 to 1969.)

"Something in me has always felt that my parents came together to make me. Vanity? Perhaps," writes Jennifer. She says that although Grant and Cannon loved each other, both were far too headstrong to remain together, something they both must have known in advance.

While Jennifer concedes that George Clooney possesses a touch of her father's magic, some readers may find her book short on star gossip. Cary retired and disassociated himself from the screen in 1966, age 62, to spend his remaining years with his one and only child. What it is long on are tales of growing up privileged in Beverly Hills, Malibu and other enclaves of the rich and renowned. She also recalls playing board games with Princess Stephanie in Monaco and shares Howard Hughes's advice to her father on how to pack for a trip. (Take only two suits – one to wear and one to send out to be cleaned, he said.)

Cheap? No. Flirtatious? Yes.

Though the book is a model of discretion – Cary himself was notoriously private about his life, and never wrote his own book – its author, who is an actress and a mother of a 2-year-old son named Cary Benjamin Grant, does not shy away from the rumors about her dad. Specifically, she addresses rumors that he was cheap and that he was gay.

"In my experience, Dad was neither cheap nor excessive," she writes. "Which, for a wealthy man, is remarkable." Even so, he did deny her expensive designer jeans, because, he'd learned, the denims at the Gap came from the very same manufacturing plant as the signature versions.

As for Cary Grant's sexuality, "Can't blame men for wanting him, and wouldn't be surprised if Dad even mildly flirted back," his daughter writes. "When the question arises, it generally speaks more about the person asking."

Then again, she says, "Dad somewhat enjoyed being called gay. He said it made women want to prove the assertion wrong."

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20484836,00.html

Trump Lashes Out In Curse-Filled Vegas Rant

Potential presidential candidate Donald Trump made colorful and eyebrow-raising remarks while speaking at the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas on Thursday night.
He reportedly called the United States "not a great country" and cursed multiple times during his speech. The AP reports:

In one of his many curse-bombs, Trump lamented the nation's focus on building schools in war-torn Afghanistan, while neglecting education in the United States. He said he would not help struggling nations such as South Korea or Libya without payment and promised to use swear words while negotiating with China.
"I'm not interested in protecting none of them unless they pay," he said.
A frequent critic of the federal health care law passed last year, Trump said the Supreme Court should decide the dozens of lawsuits challenging the legislation and urged district courts not to waste their time on it.

"Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people," suggested Trump in taking issue with President Barack Obama's handling of foreign policy issues related to Libya, Iraq, China and Afghanistan. "It's just very, very sad."
According to the Las Vegas Sun, he asserted, “When people are screwing you, you don’t give them state dinners.” Rather, he said, McDonald’s should be served up instead.

Later in his remarks, the billionaire and real estate mogul reportedly said, "There is a really good chance that I won't win because of one of these blood-sucking politicians."
According to the Associated Press, the "lavish" event had an open bar and drew more than 1000 people. It was hosted by two Republican women's groups.
As for whether Trump is any closer to making a decision on whether or not he plans to run for president in 2012, the possible contender declined to confirm one way or the other on Thursday night. However, when one woman at the event shouted "run for president," the billionaire reportedly responded, "I think I am going to make you very happy on that."
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Trump signaled he could be expected to decide on his plans for 2012 by June 1. "I've never done this before and who knows what will happen," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/29/donald-trump-curses_n_855280.html

Donald Trump Should Receive The Same Scrutiny He Sought For Obama

O tempora, o mores, what a day, what a day, right? This morning's tilt-a-whirl news conference, in which President Barack Obama decided to release his long form birth certificate, to satiate some pure-bred American nutters in thrall to the President's most disingenuous -- or paranoid -- opponents, was an event I never thought would come, because I just figured that the White House had the eminent good sense to know that conspiracists should not be negotiated with - just like terrorists.
But here we are today. The President of the United States has brandished documentation that only proved that there was never a compelling reason to brandish it in the first place, seeing as it only proved what he and every relevant official and the documents that were publicly available had already confirmed: that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, a pure citizen of these United States.
Chances are it was a confluence of dumb events that brought the White House to this point. A nearly-enacted law in Arizona that wouldn't have been satisfied with the clear proof already available. A campaign season on the horizon. Ed Henry's idiotic questions, posed a day after his own network decided to actually debunk the nonsense once and for all. Franklin Graham's paranoid assertions going unchallenged on a Sunday Morning political show. I think I understand Obama's mindset when he said this:

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better stuff to do. I have got better stuff to do. We have got big problems to solve...We are not going to be able to do it if we are distracted, we are not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other ... if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts, we are not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers.

Of course, lately, the biggest barker in this barmy carny show has been Donald Trump. Admittedly, he's been the gift that keeps on giving -- the guy who's been telling America that he's going to stick it to China, even while his clothing line is manufactured there. He literally doesn't say much of anything. He rarely even tries: his campaign rhetoric is typically confined to empty bromides and tautological assertions of his great value. But if there's an issue Trump had exerted effort to put into the public square, it's this idiotic birtherism. And today, he claims to be "honored" by the fact that the nation was dragged into this trench.
Well, turnabout is fair play. And if members of the press actually want to end the sideshow, they have a choice: they can be the audience member, or they can be the critic. They can treat the carny barker as an object of ridicule, or better yet, start treating him as if he were a serious candidate. Either way works for me. But they have to quit the circus. They have to stop dancing Trump's dance, and stop performing to his beck and call.
Greg Sargent suggests a great place to start:

George Stepanopoulos reminds us that he recently asked Trump in an interview if he'd release his tax returns if Obama released the birth certificate Trump has been demanding. Trump responded: "Maybe I'm going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate. I may tie my tax returns. I'd love to give my tax returns. I may tie my tax returns into Obama's birth certificate."

Story continues below

I've asked a Trump spokesperson whether he will now release his tax returns in light of this morning's development
The question of whether Trump will follow through no this suggestion goes directly to the heart of whether Trump's presidential flirtation has been a big fraud all along. Those who say it's a ruse argue that Trump will never run for president, because he'd have to reveal that his net worth is far less than he's claimed. Trump, who bristles at this suggestion, sought to dispel such talk by suggesting to Stephanopoulos that he'd release his tax returns if Obama released his birth certificate -- apparently thinking he was secure in the knowledge that Obama would never do this. Now Trump's bluff has been called.

Show us the money, Donald. Show us your grades. Show us the invoices from your crack team of birthernaut investigators that haven't delivered proof, that Obama was born elsewhere or of their existence. Show me a guy from your old neighborhood who even remembers you were around.
And memo to Juli Weiner at Vanity Fair and Justin Elliott at Salon: put those media criticism doodles you got from Trump up on eBay. Let's see what the real world value of Donald Trump's opinion is.
I'll leave you with the thoughts of The Onion's Baratunde Thurston, who basically just went off today when he heard what was happening. Of Trump's birther binge, Thurston says, "It's embarrassing to the entire nation that we would sit and let this happen. We have all been debased by this incident. By this charlatan, by this con man, by this mere promoter of himself."

"No one has ever asked [Trump] to prove anything," Thurston points out. That should change!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Royal Wedding

 The Royal Wedding ceremony has concluded at Westminster Abbey. Prince William and Kate Middleton are now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/29/royal-wedding-coverage-live_n_855304.html

9/11 Beneficiaries To Be Checked Against Terrorist Watchlist

In 2010, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart committed himself fully to advocating for the passage of the Zadroga Bill, a measure that would "provide $7 billion in benefits for those who first responded on 9/11 and are now experiencing subsequent health problems such as cancer and respiratory disease," that had somehow stalled in Congress. He dedicated the entirety of his final show of the year to the topic. The White House all but admitted that their bully pulpit wasn't as influential as Stewart's. And when the bill finally made it into law, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) -- a firm champion of the bill herself -- came to the Daily Show to personally thank Stewart for his efforts.
All seemed fine. But let's flash forward to last week, and check in with our own Michael McAuliff:

A provision in the new 9/11 health bill may be adding insult to injury for people who fell sick after their service in the aftermath of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks, The Huffington Post has learned. The tens of thousands of cops, firefighters, construction workers and others who survived the worst terrorist assault in U.S. history and risked their lives in its wake will soon be informed that their names must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list, according to a letter obtained by HuffPost.

As you might imagine, this wasn't the sort of thing that Stewart would let slide. And on Tuesday night's "Daily Show" -- in an angry, searing, hilarious outburst -- he pulled out the long knives and sunk them deep, excoriating the lawmakers for delivering "one final kick in the nuts" to first responders, and going so far as to elucidate, via "chalkboard," the essential 'Glenn Beckening' of their thought process.
Along the way, Stewart pointed out some -- shall we say -- idiotic inconsistencies:

STEWART: You want 9/11 responders to know that before they get their chemo money, for the cancer they got sifting through World Trade Center rubble, in the hopes of identifying those we lost in the attack, you have just one last, tiny loose end to tie up: we just have to make sure you're not a terrorist. Actually, you know who else has to go through that type of check to get their money? Nobody. Not for MediCare, not for MediCaid, not for Social Security, not farm subsidies, not oil subsidies, not FEMA disaster money. Though if you're name is Katrina, they have to verify that you're not a hurricane.

"You want billions in bailout money?" Stewart added. "You get that without getting cross-checked against the terrorist watchlist. The only thing they want to know in that case is: did you start the financial meltdown in the first place. Because if you did, here's your f***ing money."
Exactly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/27/jon-stewart-zadroga-terrorist-watchlist_n_854182.html

Deadlines Slip, But Barney Frank Isn't Worried

Deadlines for many of the rulemakings mandated by last summer’s financial reform legislation have slipped, leaving the implementation dates for some key measures up in the air.

The Dodd-Frank Act mandated that dozens of rulemakings be completed within either nine months or a year of the bill’s enactment. Nine months have now passed. The one-year mark is fast approaching. Much remains undone.
But Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who championed the bill in the House last year, isn’t concerned about the delays. “There are a lot of complicated rules there,” he said. “I believe all the agencies are working hard to try to complete them.”
The regulatory agencies will get the rules finished “as soon as it can be rationally done,” Frank told HuffPost. “What difference does it make if it‘s a month later or six weeks later?”
Until definitions and regulations are finalized, there will be no new regime for derivatives, the complex investments that played a key role in amplifying the financial crisis. Also at issue are regulations regarding such things as oversight of credit-rating agencies; a new program for whistleblowers; and the implementation of the Volcker rule, which would limit a bank's ability to make risky speculative bets and its financial involvement with hedge funds and other high-octane trading firms.
The Huffington Post reported two weeks ago that the Securities and Exchange Commission had delayed its final rulemaking on three measures that were due on April 15. One of those is an anti-corruption measure that calls for publicly traded companies to disclose how much they pay foreign governments to acquire drilling and mining rights in their countries.
The measure has been fiercely opposed by oil and mining interest, and the bipartisan duo of senators who sponsored it expressed concern about the delay and requested an explanation from the SEC.
But Frank said that delays do not in any way indicate that rules are being watered down. “We have regulators in every case who are sympathetic to what we are trying to do,” he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/dodd-frank-deadlines_n_854822.html

Why rush to fix your screwed up regulations?  You know the ones; the ones that got us in this mess.  Your lack of initiative is showing once again.  It is my hope that some fine Tuesday during the month of November, in a year not too far into the future; the voters will do something about your lackadaisical attitude.  I look at you, and all the others in Congress and I wonder:  How do you ever tie your shoes and get out of the house each morning?  Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Boehner Plays Down Oil Subsidy Remarks

House Speaker John Boehner, a day after saying Congress should consider scaling back tax breaks for big oil companies, appeared to reel in that political olive branch Tuesday as the White House and congressional Democrats seized on his remarks. 

The Republican speaker at first seemed to open the door to negotiations with Democrats, saying in an interview Monday that lawmakers "ought to take a look" at President Obama's call to save billions by ending those benefits. 

Not surprisingly, the White House and its allies applauded Boehner and urged his colleagues to follow suit. Obama fired off a letter Tuesday to congressional leaders saying he was "heartened" to hear Boehner's comments and called for "immediate action to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry" -- a tax trove he values at $4 billion a year. 

But Boehner's office pushed back Tuesday, suggesting the speaker wants to see a more comprehensive approach before signing on to any changes. 

"The speaker wants to increase the supply of American energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and he is only interested in reforms that actually lower energy costs and create American jobs," spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement. "Unfortunately, what the president has suggested so far would simply raise taxes and increase the price at the pump." 

The response came as Democrats accompanied the White House letter with a string of backhanded compliments. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was "almost too good to be true" that Boehner realized the "insanity" of giving oil companies tax breaks while gas prices are soaring. He and other Senate Democrats meanwhile slammed rank-and-file Republicans for standing by the "giveaways." 

The crossfire of accusatory statements on Capitol Hill indicated lawmakers hadn't exactly reached a breakthrough on the topic. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell piled on Tuesday afternoon, releasing a statement saying the "latest call to raise taxes on U.S. energy is as predictable as it is counterproductive." 

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, asked about the possibility of Boehner walking back his remarks, nevertheless described Boehner's original comments as "a recognition of what the president has been saying." 

Boehner, in the interview with ABC News on Monday, said it's time to scrutinize the benefits enjoyed by the country's biggest oil firms. 

"It's certainly something that we ought to be looking at," Boehner said. "They ought to be paying their fair share." 

With the price of gas topping $4 a gallon in many towns across America, Boehner said the oil companies are a popular target. He disputed the notion that they get "extra benefits" and said some of those breaks are important. He suggested that if small, independent energy companies didn't have them, domestic oil exploration would suffer. 

However, as oil giants post big first-quarter profits, he said they bear some of the "blame" for high costs and suggested the major firms might not need the help in the tax code they currently get. 

"They've got to do everything they can to help us produce oil and gas at a lower price," Boehner said. 

He questioned whether some companies need so-called depletion allowances, which allow them to deduct based on the depletion of their reserves. 

"I don't think the big oil companies need to have the oil depletion allowances," Boehner said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/26/boehner-opens-door-cutting-big-oil-subsidies-tax-breaks/?test=latestnews

Did You Know Fire Ants Could Do This?

Not even a pool of water can put out these fire ants.
Scientists in Georgia have filmed incredible video showing how South American fire ants link together to form living-life rafts and avoid mass drownings in their natural rain forest habitat.
According to National Geographic, Georgia Institute of Technology engineering professor David Hu and graduate student Nathan J. Mlot, along with Georgia Tech systems-engineering professor Craig Tovey, collected fire ants and dropped them in water to test the ants' acclaimed survival skills.
"They'll gather up all the eggs in the colony and will make their way up through the underground network of tunnels, and when the flood waters rise above the ground, they'll link up together in these massive rafts," Mlot said.
In under two minutes, the insects spread across the water's surface, joining together to form a single drowning-resistant unit. Even the ants at the bottom survive by using their tiny body hairs to form a thin layer of air.
The findings are published in the April 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/fire-ant-raft-video_n_853872.html

Bill Maher: Donald Trump WILL Run For President

Bill Maher stopped by "The Late Show" Monday night, and like most talk-show interviews of late, the topic soon turned to Donald Trump and his 2012 intentions.
Maher has no idea why anyone's paying attention to the "curiosity from the 80s" or why he's leading in GOP straw polls, but he is sure about one thing: Trump is definitely running for President.
In the interview snippet below, Maher argues that Trump's ego, age and the fact that he's been courting Evangelicals indicate that he's serious about running. David Letterman, however, insists it's just a publicity stunt. Maher then decided to make things "interesting."
"Let's wager a week's pay. Mine against yours," Maher said. And while they didn't exactly shake on it, Letterman did seem interested, adding, "Will you throw in some steaks?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/bill-maher-letterman-trump_n_853849.html

I agree with Letterman, but Bill's pretty good with this stuff.

Jan Brewer: Birther Issue Leading Country 'Down A Path Of Destruction'

PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says the so-called "birther" issue is a potentially destructive issue for the country.
Brewer was interviewed on CNN on Monday about her decision a week ago to veto an Arizona bill that would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their natural-born citizenship.
Brewer reiterated her veto explanation that the bill was poorly drafted. She also said she believes there's no question that it was directed at Obama though it's clear he was born in Hawaii.
She told CNN interviewer John King that the birther issue is leading the nation "down a path of destruction."
Brewer spokesman Matt Benson did not immediate respond to requests by The Associated Press for elaboration on that remark.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/25/jan-brewer-birther-issue-path-of-destruction_n_853596.html

Note to Donald Trump:  It's pretty bad when Jan Brewer is making more sense than you are!

Souvenirs displayed in Piccadilly, London

Souvenirs displayed in Piccadilly, London ahead of the 29th of April Royal wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Features/Royal-Wedding-souvenirs-in-London/4944/#ixzz1KhX2he4O

The Aflac Duck Gets A New Voice!

The duck's quack is back. Never mind the slight change in tone.
Following Aflac's removal of Gilbert Godfried as the longtime voice of its iconic duck mascot for tweeting offensive jokes in the wake of the natural disasters in Japan, the company held a social media-based search for a new quack. It found its man in Daniel McKeague, a Minneapolis, MN sales manager.
Guy can quack. And he's very excited about it.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/daniel-mckeague-aflac-ducks-new-voice_n_854003.html

It's kind of sad when you think about it

It's the end of the line for tyepwriters: the last standing typewriter factory in the world, Godrej and Boyce, is closing its plant in Mumbai, India.
Just several hundred typewriters, most of which are Arabic language models, remain.
According to the Daily Mail, "Although typewriters became obsolete years ago in the west, they were still common in India - until recently. Demand for the machines has sunk in the last ten years as consumers switch to computers." The devices had been a status symbol in India, notes the Business Standard.
Typewriter sales have plummeted in the past several years: the company sold less than 800 machines in 2010, down from the 50,000 it produced every year in the 1990s.
"From the early 2000s onwards, computers started dominating. All the manufacturers of office typewriters stopped production, except us," general manager Millind Dukle told the Business Standard. "We are not getting many orders now. But this might be the last chance for typewriter lovers. Now, our primary market is among the defence agencies, courts and government offices."
Another one of Godrej and Boyce's typewriter plants in Shirwal was shut down recently and is now used as a refrigerator manufacturing unit.

www.huffingtonpost.com

Chances are you or someone you know has never typed a single word on an actual typewriter.  I first typed on my grandmother's manual Royal.  In high school I took a typing class using an electric Royal, and who among us hasn't used the good ole IBM Selectric?  Please join me as I say goodbye to the antique word machines.  How many countless words were hammered out on these devices? 

O'Reilly And Beck Bash MSNBC!

UPDATE: Paul Krugman responded to Bill O'Reilly's claim that he wants to destroy the economy.
In a blog post on Friday, Krugman quipped, "Luckily, he hasn’t learned about our plan to steal his precious bodily fluids."
ORIGINAL POST: Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly often have their disagreements, but on Thursday's edition of O'Reilly's "At Your Beck And Call," the two were in sync repeatedly.
One point of harmony? MSNBC's dire future. The two hated a long, contentious interview that MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir had with Andrew Breitbart. Both agreed that it was a signal of MSNBC's imminent demise. "It's just not going to stand," Beck said. "MSNBC--how long does that stay in business like that? There's nothing there."
"The ratings are abysmal," O'Reilly said. "Comcast is a good company, I don't know how long they go with it."
O'Reilly has also come around to Beck's view that the "far left" is trying to systematically destroy the American economy. He said that the current fight over the national debt had convinced him that people like "Soros and his merry men" and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman want to destroy the economy so they can "build up a socialistic system."
Beck was jubilant. "Hug me," he said. "Hug me."

Story continues below

"Get back," O'Reilly cautioned. "I'll shoot you."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/oreilly-beck-msnbc-soros-krugman_n_852439.html

This is what happens when you put two huge brains in the same room at the same time.  So much BS flying around that they will have to bring in a cleaning crew when these two get finished!

Lawrence O'Donnell: Trump Is 'Racists' Greatest Hero'

Lawrence O'Donnell called Donald Trump "the racists' greatest hero" for his continued promotion of birtherism.
Trump has now been on his crusade of doubt about President Obama's natural-born citizenship for over a month. The media tour has taken him to a seemingly endless array of news programs, and he has continued to insist that he has grave doubts about whether Obama was born in the United States. For nearly as long, O'Donnell has been on an anti-Trump crusade, hammering the real estate magnate and reality show host over and over again, and lambasting NBC--his own corporate parent--for its continued association with Trump. On his Thursday show, though, O'Donnell put Trump's flirtation with a presidential run, and his embrace of birtherism, in perhaps his grimmest terms yet.
He said that Trump "must realize by now" that, while some of the "hatred" people feel for President Obama is policy-based, "probably even more of it...is based on simple old-fashioned racism."
O'Donnell continued, "millions of this country's most virulent racists now feel they have someone they could vote for for president...they hope that he is every bit as racist as they are...Donald Trump may not be a racist but he is now the racists' greatest hero. He is their frontman."

www.huffingtonpost.com

Light bulb metaphors! Is that all you got Donald?

Potential presidential contender Donald Trump hit back at Robert De Niro on Monday on the heels of the Hollywood A-lister making critical remarks about his presidential ambitions for the next election cycle.
"Well he’s not the brightest bulb on the planet," said Trump of De Niro during a phone interview on "Fox & Friends." "I’ve been watching him over the years and I like his acting, but you know in terms of when I watch him doing interviews and various other things, we’re not dealing with Albert Einstein."
Over the weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival, De Niro weighed in on the prospect of a Trump 2012 campaign in a live interview with NBC News anchor Brian Williams.
"I won't mention names, but there are certain people on the news in the last couple of weeks -- what they're doing is crazy," he said of the potential presidential candidate, according to the Daily Beast. "They're making statements about people that they don't even back up. Go get the facts before you start saying things about people."
Williams sought clarification from De Niro that his remarks were applicable to Trump. Presumably referring to the billionaire's "Celebrity Apprentice " reality show he asked the Oscar-winning actor, "Any of those people have shows on my network on Sunday night?"
De Niro's response: "Yes." He then explained, "It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman. Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? That’s awful to do. To just go out and speak and say these terrible things? Unless you just wanna get over and get the job. It’s crazy.”
Trump, who has captured headlines and sparked controversy with his persistence in raising doubt over President Barack Obama's birthplace, said on Monday morning in response to De Niro's remarks, "He can say what he wants, but the fact is that this guy has not revealed his birth certificate and a lot of people agree with me.”
www.huffingtonpost.com

Light bulb metaphors!  Is that all you got Donald?  In fact; De Niro is a light bulb Mr. Trump and he’s shining a spotlight on your nonsense. 

What's with the fish face?

Donald Trump: Obama Wasn't Qualified For Ivy League

NEW YORK — Real estate mogul Donald Trump suggested in an interview Monday that President Barack Obama had been a poor student who did not deserve to be admitted to the Ivy League universities he attended. Trump, who is mulling a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, offered no proof for his claim but said he would continue to press the matter as he has the legitimacy of the president's birth certificate.
"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible. How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?" Trump said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."
Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York in 1983 with a degree in political science after transferring from Occidental College in California. He went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude 1991 and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Obama's 2008 campaign did not release his college transcripts, and in his best-selling memoir, "Dreams From My Father," Obama indicated he hadn't always been an academic star. Trump told the AP that Obama's refusal to release his college grades were part of a pattern of concealing information about himself.
"I have friends who have smart sons with great marks, great boards, great everything and they can't get into Harvard," Trump said. "We don't know a thing about this guy. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered about our president."
Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for Obama's re-election campaign, declined to comment.
Trump, a wealthy businessman and reality TV host, has risen to the top of many polls in part by his outspoken call for Obama to release his long form birth certificate. The state of Hawaii has released a certificate of live birth indicating Obama was born there on August 4, 1961, but that has not quelled critics who believe Obama was born outside the United States and is therefore not qualified to be president.
The so-called "birther" controversy has dominated the early stage of the 2012 GOP nominating contest, with Trump leading the charge.
"I have more people that are excited about the fact that I reinvigorated this whole issue," Trump said, adding "the last guy (Obama) wants to run against is Donald Trump."

www.huffingtonpost.com

You might have a little more credability if you didn't make fish faces when you talk. . . . . .

Gabrielle Giffords Standing On Her Own, Trying To Improve Gait

PHOENIX -- Doctors say Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can walk a little and is even trying to improve her gait. But the report Sunday in The Arizona Republic adds the congresswoman herself is planning to "walk a mountain."
Giffords uses her left side and has begun making limited use of her right arm and leg, a common effect of a bullet wound on the left side of the brain, said Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer at Houston's TIRR Memorial Hermann who works with Giffords daily.
"Her left side is perfect," said Pia Carusone, her legislative chief of staff. "She can do whatever you can do."
She said that even in her wheelchair Giffords has stringent posture: tall, tight, strong – like always.
Nurse Kristy Poteet said Giffords pushes a cart up and down the hospital halls as therapy, focusing on using the correct muscles. More therapy comes from games of bowling and indoor golf.
The Republic report – containing interviews over the past few days with her husband, doctors and others close to her – gives the latest picture of her recovery 15 weeks after a gunman opened fire in a Tucson parking lot, killing six people and wounding 13 others, including Giffords.
The physicians place her in the top 5 percent of patients recovering from her type of brain injury, the newspaper said.
"She shows a lot more independence right now," Francisco said. "She's her own person."
Those closest to her tell of a woman progressing from severe brain trauma, but their words are without heightened expectations.
And despite the progress, it's still not clear if she will be able to attend Friday's launch of the space shuttle, which will be commanded by her husband Mark Kelly.
Giffords speaks most often in a single word or declarative phrase: "love you," "awesome," those close to her said.
She longs to leave the rehab center, repeating "I miss Tucson." When that day comes, Giffords told Poteet she plans to "walk a mountain."
Dr. Dong Kim, the neurosurgeon who oversees Giffords' care, said most of the physical and speech recovery happens within 12 months.
There were hopeful language signs even in March when Kelly said Giffords learned about the people killed during the Tucson rampage Jan. 8.
Kelly said he was reading a newspaper story about her out loud when she noticed he skipped a paragraph. That paragraph told of the casualties in the Tucson shooting – news that set Giffords grieving.
"So many people, so many people," Giffords repeated. Poteet said she would find Giffords with heavy looks on her face, repeating "no-no-no-no-no."
For that reason, Kelly said he hasn't told her that the victims included her friends and colleagues Gabe Zimmerman and Judge John Roll, or a 9-year-old girl, and three others, the kind of older constituents she loves to help.
Kelly said he wants her to be able to process the emotions without fighting so hard for the words.
"The challenge is she knows what she wants to say, and she knows everything that's going on around her," Carusone said, but can't always express it.
The Republic reported that Kelly comes in the morning with coffee and the newspaper, heads to work at NASA, and returns to Giffords at night to talk. Sometimes, he takes a nap with his wife in her hospital bed, holding her close.
When he comes into the room, Giffords breaks into an oversized smile, Poteet said, reaching out her good arm to beckon him to her side, give him a half-hug.
Though doctors have not yet approved the trip to Cape Canaveral for the shuttle launch, they said it should be safe.
"We're very comfortable with her traveling," said Kim.
Kelly, who has been to space before, said his job "will be a little bit harder this time, just because I want to look out for her."
He intends to phone Giffords during the mission, but he expects the conversations will be different than on his last flight.
Now, he will ask her "how things are going and how she's doing and what's her day like," he said.
They have a particular phone goodbye, "but that's a secret," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/24/gabrielle-giffords-standing_n_852991.html

I am happy that Gabrielle Giffords is doing so well. She deserves to do well.  Senseless crimes, for senseless reasons, committed by a senseless fool.  My  hope is that Ms. Giffords will continue to recover, and her work and her life will shine as a beacon of perseverance. 

Oprah: "I Can't Save Canceled Soaps"

Oprah sent a message to fans who have been bombarding her with pleas to save the soap operas that ABC canceled last week: no.
In a YouTube video posted Thursday night, Oprah said that she understood the sadness devotees of "All My Children" and "One Life To Live" felt when ABC canceled them last week. The decision has prompted an outpouring of anger and even an advertiser boycott.
But Oprah said that she wanted to tell fans why she was refusing to give the canceled shows a home on her OWN network. The "bone marrow truth," she said, was that "there just are not enough people who are at home in the daytime to watch them." She assured viewers that "if there was a dime left to be made from them on broadcast television it would still be happening."
Therefore, Oprah said, "I will not be taking on the responsibility of trying to revive" the soaps, concluding, "thank you for believing that I could save them, but I really can't."

www.huffingtonpost.com

Oprah!  You can do anything.  Clearly there's not enough money in it, but sometimes, don't we just do art for the sake of art? 

When I was young; everyone was a creep !

As you probably know by now, Donald Trump is running for (the attention one can receive by running for) President of our United States. He offers a robust platform of 1) birtherism, 2) investigating birtherism, 3) yelling at The Today Show for wanting to talk about birtherism or his related investigations into the same, and 4) not hiring Steve Schmidt, per the advice of grizzled political veteran Meghan McCain. But what you probably do not know is that he is also America's foremost media critic.
Trump has mastered the art of media criticism through a patented technique: he prints out something on the internet, doodles his critique on it, signs it, and -- I guess? -- sends it in the mail to the author. He did this to Gail Collins of The New York Times, then to Juli Weiner of Vanity Fair a few weeks ago, and now he's done the same to Salon's Justin Elliott, in response to his article, "How Trump could run and still hide his net worth." His doodle, which refers to the financial disclosure form he would have to file if he did, in fact, run for president, reads:

Justin -- I have no problem -- I would, in fact, file early -- you will be very surprised.
Best wishes,
Donald Trump

By sending around these notes, Trump is not just being critical, he's also being generous. As soon as he signs them, they immediately become the most valuable pieces of media criticism in the world. They are probably worth more than early Civil War daguerreotypes, and can likely be resold for millions of dollars. (But they should be donated the Newseum, obviously.)

www.huffingtonpost.com

When I was a kid, everyone was a creep.  That was my mom’s word for anyone she came across who she didn’t like.  This word was most often applied to my sister’s boyfriends, salesmen, and anyone, who in the slightest degree looked suspicious to her for any reason.

I never really understood this word, especially in the context for which my mother chose to use it.  She used it so much and so often that the meaning had become generic.  To me, it had become just another noun to describe a person that my mother thought she didn’t like.

Now; thanks to Donald Trump, I understand the meaning of the word Creep. He is the walking, talking definition of the word creep.   

Robert De Niro to, Donald Trump: 'How Dare You!'

In a conversation dedicated to his movies, Robert De Niro took a few moments to talk about the real life melodrama happening in Washington, DC.
The Oscar-winning actor sat down with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams in a special live conversation at the Tribeca Film Fest in New York on Saturday night, discussing his parade of legendary films, visions for future products and even his myriad "Saturday Night Live' hosting gigs over the last three decades. But it was when De Niro, a longtime political activist and outspoken liberal, got into current events that he really made headlines.
Discussing the recently averted -- for now -- government shutdown, De Niro expressed disgust with what he considers games being played by politicians, especially the Republicans, and the political jockeying's impact on working Americans.
“I think of the possibility of the government being shut down, and I say, ‘How did we get to this point?’” he said, according to Movieline. “I remember it happened years ago. And I just say, ‘How did we ever get to that point?’ Because the people who suffer are the one who have jobs where every week, they’ve gotta make these payments. How did we get there? What is this about? This is crazy. And I know Obama was trying to bridge the gap. His intentions are really good. Maybe some things are not as good as we all would like, but his intentions were right. A lot of these guys, they’re intentions are not even good. They’re just playing the game. And they’re playing with people’s lives.”
De Niro campaigned for Obama in 2008; during one event during the Democratic primary that year, De Niro said:
"I've never made a speech like this at a political event before. So what am I doing here? I'm here because finally one person has inspired me. One person has given me hope. One person has made me believe that we can make a change."
The star also seemed to be hitting out at Republican birthers who doubt President Obama's birth certificate, among other accusations.

 

“I won’t mention names, but certain people in the news the last couple weeks, just, what are they doing? It’s crazy. They’re making statements about people that they don’t even back up," De Niro alluded. "Go get the facts before you start saying things about people."
When Williams asked him if he was talking about potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump -- "Any of those people have shows on my network on Sunday night?" he inquired -- De Niro confirmed that, indeed, Trump, who has been on a national campaign questioning the President's birth certificate, was who he was talking about.
"It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman. Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? That’s awful to do. To just go out and speak and say these terrible things? Unless you just wanna get over and get the job. It’s crazy.”
De Niro would be just the latest celebrity to call out Trump; Jerry Seinfeld and potential GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump erupted into a war of words this week after Seinfeld pulled out of Trump's son's charity event over the mogul's recent spate of public statements doubting the President's Hawaii birth.

www.huffingtonpost.com