Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critical after supermarket shooting spree; 6 others dead, gunman in custody

Click headline for NPR article.

              
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was re-elected to a third term in November
(photo by Drew Angerer/AP)

The kind of stuff Rush Limbaugh thinks is fiction

Click the headline -- Mesmerizing -- Keep your eye on India; births/deaths in a real horse race!

Please, America, WAKE UP!

Sit up. Splash some water on your face. Put your feet on the ground. LISTEN UP!

Think back, oh, before Obama, before Bush, even. Do you ever, EVER remember having a conversation with anybody and the subject was how great health care was in this country? How many horror stories do you personally know, of folks who have been screwed out of coverage because of some bureaucratic song-and-dance?

Have you noticed how many health insurance companies are advertising on TV these days? Don't you wonder why? They're trying to lock in your money before the roof caves in on them, that's why!

Obama and the Democrats are certainly no White Knight, here. They're playing almost as many games with your health and well being as big Pharma and the GOP, but with one essential difference: the carrot they're holding out is yours, not the privileged two percent oligarchy.

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How to Drive

Over the past decade or so, it has become obvious to Jaxonia's automotive staff that most people either have forgotten how to drive or else they never learned correctly. Our New Year's Resolution, then, is to re-acquaint the forgetters with some essential driving fundamentals and gently to teach those who never learned. Here goes:

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Starbucks -- crazy like a fox

Starbucks has changed its logo, dropping 'coffee' and the Starbucks name and softening the siren gal with a green background. In the land of the Mad Men, this is a huge deal, and 'experts' are coming down on both sides; some call the move 'nuts,' while others question why the coffee giant is changing anything.

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Stuff our news media doesn't report

 Earlier today, the new Moon passed in front of the sun, slightly off-center, producing a partial solar eclipse and a fantastic crescent sunrise over Europe. Dennis Put took this picture from Maasvlakte, The Netherlands:

"The eclipse was absolutely stunning!" says Put. "At first some major cloud fronts threatened to hide the event. I was very pleased to meet the two peaks of the crescent Sun rising above the clouds around 9 o'clock."

Click on 'partial solar eclipse', above, for more info.

Oscar-nominated actor Pete Postlethwaite dead at 64

(from BBC News)
Oscar-nominated British actor Pete Postlethwaite, who has died at the age of 64, had a successful 40-year career which spanned the screen and stage.�The Warrington-born actor, who was once described by director Steven Spielberg as the "the best actor in the world", shot to fame in the 1993 film In The Name Of The Father.

He had, however, originally planned to be a priest.�The youngest of four children, he did a short stint as teacher before eventually following his passion for the stage at the age of 24, training at the Bristol Old Vic.�Once trained, he started out by touring pubs in a theatre group with then girlfriend Julie Walters.

His early roles included a spell at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool where he worked with other future stars as Bill Nighy, Alan Bleasdale and Jonathan Pryce.�Later he returned to Bristol, where he became artistic director of The Little Theatre Company and forged a friendship with Daniel Day-Lewis.
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Smashburger can make you forget Five Guys

A better roll, bigger burger, not as greasy, booth service, some veggie alternatives, and the burger you get actually looks like the picture on the menu! But for me, the killer was Taylor Ham egg and cheese on the menu. There's a new one in Florham Park

Florham Park is starting to piss me off. First it was the only Mickey D's in the neighborhood, then came Brick Oven Pizza, then Nona's and now Smashburger. And need I mention J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS?
I'm still a Madison homey, but FP is definitely on a 21st century roll! The Rose City better wake up and get something into the old CVS store and Jaguar joint; there's more to life than NJT Manhattan Direct!

Click the headline for more info.

Dream Act -- thoughts to start the new year

* It affects young people who came to America with their parents. America is the only country they really know.
* They are all high school graduates or GED equivalent. Their 'illegal alien' status, not of their making, is a brick wall blocking their path to any viable future.
* Enactment of the Dream Act will give them an arduous, eight-year path to permanent residency and citizenship, at the end of which they will all be either two-year veterans of military service or college graduates.
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Look around -- how many citizens do you know who are military veterans? College graduates?

Let these kids have their dream -- it's the American way.


(Click the headline for more information)